Louie da fly

Getting close to completion. Rigging is always a hassle (though at least it's a little less complex on a lateener). You've done a nice job. Steven

Putting on the safety railing and the mesh below it. I cut the mesh a little wide so it would overlap the upper and lower edges a bit and leave me a little wriggle room - once the upper and lower edges were attached I could trim it to fit exactly. Upper edge panel added aft of the paddlewheels. On the real thing there is a rail behind this panel, made of steel pipe. But I didn't bother to put that on - it would have been invisible anyway. Forward of the wheels doesn't have this panel, just the rail. My trusty plastic mini-pegs put to work again! The panel is made of very thin wooden sheet which bends easily around a relatively tight radius. The sheet wood was only long enough to do one side, so I had to cut two strips and join them at the stern with a vertical mini-scarph joint. And the top rail - made of a thin bamboo rod from a bamboo blind (think of a kitchen bamboo skewer - very similar, but longer), sliced in half so there was a flat face against the mesh. I didn't take photos of the beginning and intermediate steps with this one. And the lower edge added to sandwich the mesh between it and the deck at the bottom. Due to the configuration of the deck, I couldn't use pegs, so I used dressmaking pins instead. Very useful at times, and better than push-pins because they make a much smaller hole. The scarph joint. I didn't want to put pins too near the edges of the bottom strip in case they made it split, so I held the ends down with a bit of masking tape over the top. And once that was added, I put on the paddle wheels. I kept that till very late in the build because they're fragile and I didn't want to break them while I was working on other things. To push the top surface of the wheel assembly up against the bottom of the deck, I slid a couple of bits of wooden sheet in between the wheel and the table, acting as a sort of clamp. That being done, I finally got onto the wavy top border for the awning. I got a bit of old bedsheet (grey unfortunately, I didn't have white) and impregnated it with white acrylic paint, to change the colour but more important to stiffen the fabric so I could cut the wavy border into it later. Then I measured the pattern of the wave and hand-drew it onto the fabric. Very time-consuming. And here it is about half-way through the cutting. Seems to be working ok, but also very time-consuming and rather hard on the fingers. Steven

I soak mine then bend them around the barrel of a cheap electric soldering iron held in a vise. Steven

That is amazingly cool. You've really taken the carving thing and run with it! And those spikes are actually quite within the possibilities for a Viking ship. Note the holes on this weather vane, one of quite a number that have been found: They have been variously interpreted as being for pendants, tassels etc but if you look at some Viking cloak-pins that appear to be representations of one of these weather-vanes, whatever is supported by these holes seems to be more like spikes, going out radially: So I think you've got a very good case for your spikes. Nice work, mate. Steven

That's not just good carving for a beginner, that's good carving, period. You've done a beautiful job with it. And unlike some dragon-heads I've seen, he really looks like he belongs on a Viking ship. Oh, and the rest of the ship is good, too. 😁 Steven

I do have aluminium sheet and I have considered it, but I think it would be harder to work than painted fabric. I'll experiment to see how it all goes. Steven

Looking good, Doug. Generally, the cardboard replica seems to be good. Grytpype-Thynne and Moriarty would be proud of you - for those not acquainted with the original lantern-slide type wireless Goon Show (see 8:50 and onward for the cardboard replica) A couple of observations which you are at liberty to ignore if you wish - it's your model after all. First, perhaps the forecastle is a tiny bit high. Is there a deck on the top of that structure or is that the height of the bulwark/railing, with the deck somewhat lower? If the second, not so much of an issue, but you might still just have a bit of a look at it and see if you're happy with it. Next, are the triangles at the front of the forecastle going to join at the apices (plural of apex) as you have on the cardboard replica? I would have thought there should be a flat plane and/or perhaps a curved surface, across the forecastle at each point, comme ça - That seems to be what is shown in contemporary pics, though admittedly they are a little hard to interpret. I think your placement of the shrouds looks good, and yes, they never recovered the masts, so you can only go with the best available guesswork information. I'd agree the maintop should be somewhat higher than the foretop, in line with the whole mast being bigger and taller. And those guns look very good. Coming along nicely. Steven

So many ropes! Steven

Thanks everybody for the likes and comments. Firdajan, yes archery was still an important part of the armament of the Mary Rose - in fact I've seen some of the bows in the museum where she's held - along with all kinds of other interesting artefacts including a beautiful parrel truck and a complete fighting top. Back then they were still thinking more in terms of hand-to-hand combat than gunfire, which is why the Mary Rose had such a tall forecastle and aftercastle - to make boarding difficult for the enemy. Tony, thanks. Yes, I'd had no idea that there was this period where they were very wary about installing gunports - I thought artillery went straight from gunwale-mounted to long ranks of gunports. But it's very understandable when you consider the problems that had to be overcome before they could become an integral and usual part of a ship's armament. Mikki, I'm glad you liked it. I do enjoy sharing these discoveries with my fellow enthusiasts. Steven

Yes, I'm still trying to work out the best way to do it. Scissors don't come with that profile, unfortunately (though they do for half the scale, so long as it's paper you want to cut). I'm thinking mainly of fabric impregnated with paint, and cutting carefully with a craft knife or similar. Or perhaps silkspan . . . As it's by a lake, I have to think about the effect of moisture. Steven

Well, I'm very chuffed. In response to a request from me for a bit more information and a clear photo of an 'arquebus' (precursor of the musket) found on the Lomellina, Max Guérout sent me a thoroughly researched and incredibly comprehensive paper he'd written, covering not only the guns found on the wreck, but every type of gun in common use at the time, with photos, technical drawings, construction analyses, you name it. 108 pages long. But all in French. Fortunately, Google Translate has come a long way since I first started using it, and despite the occasional howler of a translation, that plus my own schoolboy french was very useful in getting the full sense of the paper. Wonderful. One thing I found fascinating was the fact that as gunports had only just come into use -before this all guns were supported on the gunwales (which is why they have that name) - they were so new that the problems hadn't yet been worked out (keeping water out was an issue, muzzles only barely stuck out past the front of the carriage - they were actually within the hull itself when the gun went off - so there was a considerable danger of fire, there were structural issues with putting holes in the side of the ship, as well as supporting the weight of ever bigger and heavier guns). So they weren't very trusting of this new development and initially ships were pierced with very few gunports - possibly only one or two per side, as in the pictures below, with other guns (even big ones) being still on the upper deck and fired over the gunwale. The French ship Loyse (Louise) - c. 1486-1508 From the manuscript of Rochechouart c. 1502. Among the finds on the Lomellina were a number of large wheels, much larger than those of the usual carriage found on shipboard guns of this time (though note the Mary Rose had them too) - about the size you'd expect for field guns. Except that some of these didn't have iron tyres, or even the rusted remnants of them (which are usually very obvious because they make a huge swollen mass). No good for wheels that had to stand up to travelling along the dreadful roads of the time (or, worse still, off-road). Which indicates they were intended to be used, not on land, but on board ship, as shown in the picture. There's a good chance that despite a dozen gun barrels having been found in the wreck, the gunport and portlid found on the Lomellina were the only ones on that side of the ship, and the other guns were on the upper deck. Loving this. Steven

That's the problem with the breech-box method. And pretty hard on the gun itself having all those combustion gases escaping between the barrel and the breech-box. That video was fantastic to watch. I've put it in my favourites. Steven

But when you come to Ballarat, be sure to let me know you're coming and I'll show you around. Steven

Nice work, Mikki. Coming along well. Steven

It's a very nice trip around the lake, nice views and just an enjoyable time. But just a heads-up - only on Sundays (it's run purely by volunteers), and subject to weather conditions (the lake can get a bit scary in high winds). Here's their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/goldencitypaddlesteamer But I'm afraid they don't necessarily keep it updated as much as they should, so perhaps phone them beforehand to check if she's running that day. Steven

Nice work, mate. Looking good. Steven

Patrick, in Australian terminology, you're a dead-set legend! Perhaps this is not the time to repeat the joke about the Scottish soldiers and the wire brush? Steven

'Good beginning is half won'. Or - 'If you're given two hours to cut down a tree, spend the first hour and a half sharpening your axe.' Steven

I've (finally) completed the buttock lines, and have amended the body sections to align with them. I'm hoping that will all work when it comes to making them. Last time I did it by eye (with the Great Harry it was completely wrong. We'll see if this works better. Steven

I've finished painting the awning. Still have to put the wavy fringe along the edge - not sure how I'm going to do that - paper? Card? Thin aluminium sheet? And here are the paddlewheels, as promised. I used my usual technique to make them - wet the wood and 'roll' it around a (cheap and nasty) soldering iron. Note that I've only made a segment of each, because the rest of the wheel is supposed to be hidden by the housing attached to the hull. Lining up pairs of "wheels" with each other so they would all be nice and square. Didn't really work all that well . . . And trimming them to remove excess. Adding the paddles. Putting the two halves together. It took quite a while to get these acceptable - the tolerances are very strict, the construction is quite frail, and warps and mutates when you look at it, and it was hard to get everything square, particularly the paddles. I eventually put an extra panel at the bottom of each assembly (top, really, as they'll be turned up the other way) to give them rigidity and keep them square. Not perfect, but adequate. And removed the side pieces which had kept everything together up till then. And painted. And here are the registration numbers on the bow, done with a fine watercolour paintbrush. A little wavery, but overall not too shabby considering the difficulties. Steven

That's coming together well, Doug. Good work on the placement of the guns, the formation of the forecastle. For the full forecastle are you going to make a preliminary cardboard replica (as per the highly esteemed wireless-type Goon Show) to see how it looks before you cut wood? Steven

Yes. I'm amazed what they can reconstruct sometimes with the scattered remains they are able to recover. Steven

That's beautiful work, Richard. One small point regarding the blocks - the early ones I'm familiar with (admittedly mediaeval rather than ancient) seem generally to be rectangular rather than round. Some examples: Though there is one with a rounded end: It might be worthwhile to see if you can find surviving examples from your period to check against. Steven

Thanks for this information. Every so often another wreck from this period comes to notice that I'd never heard of before. I've had a look at the site you linked, and it's fascinating. I'd love to see the archaeological reports on this one - in particular the kind of information that relates to modelling - the 'lines' of the ship, the equipment found on board, the masts etc. It's a shame nothing else seems to have happened about the Okänt Skepp, but unfortunately these things happen - if it's not Covid then it's lack of funding or some other thing. I'm still hoping there's eventually enough money to see if the forecastle of the Mary Rose can be located. That would be a real find! Steven

A small update. First, I hadn't mentioned how I'd done the logo on the paddlewheel housing. I had a photo of the vessel side-on, but the definition was pretty bad - certainly not good enough for the model. So I printed the photo out in colour, photocopied it up to the right size, then traced it onto white paper (up against a window in daytime), then re-did it as a new painting. Then colour photocopied it twice, so I had one for each side. And here it is on the model. Pretty happy with that. I've also made the little gates that stop people walking off into the water when she's under way. And I'm working on the painting of the awning roof. Red and white stripes. I've completed the white and just started on the red. First a coat of cheap acrylic - the colour is rather too pink, but it makes a basis and I'll be putting on extra coats with an enamel paint (Humbrol) that is the right colour. Steven