dafi

Assembling a Carronade.
 
This is one area of the build that seems to present Pickle builders with problems,  trying to assemble the trunnions of the Pickle Carronades.
 
The instructions really should carry a mental health warning.
 
These are tiny beasts consisting of two trunnions, a spigot, two bearings, all threaded onto a piece of 0.5mm wire and assembled within a space of 1.5mm between the trunnions.

Assembly without devising a mini jig would I think prove very, very, frustrating.
A sense of the scale of the things can be gathered from the following photos.
 

The jig to hold the trunnions.
 

The assembled trunnions attached to the slide bed.
 

The assembly completed.
 
I wasn’t too impressed by the use of a length of 0.7mm wire to represent the elevating screw so I added a small refinement in the form of turning bars, and a metal plate to sit the elevating screw on.I also moved the breeching rope lead ring slightly further back than suggested by Jotika, I felt it gave a better lie to the rope.
 
These bijou carronades along with all the other brass etched fittings have been treated with Carr’s Blackening for Brass, having first been dipped in acetone and scrubbed with an old toothbrush, well I think it was an old toothbrush, anways, I know it wasn’t mine.
 
Even so the inevitable handling in assembly results in some loss of black, and paint touch ins are necessary.
Assembly of the first carronade took all of this morning including the jig making.
 

 

 
Fortunately there are only six carronades supplied with Pickle, although other sources suggest she carried eight. Having assembled one I am sorely tempted to oik four of ‘em overboard as Lapenotiere, did on his voyage.
 
At full scale these twelve pounder carronades are incredibly small when one is used to looking at the sixty eight pounder smashers on Victory.
 
Full size they would be a mere 2’2” compared to over nine feet for a carriage mounted long gun of the same calibre, and only a fraction of the weight. Even so they do look very insignificant on the Pickle.
 
Here’s a shot of ‘Dick’ apparently dwarfing a carronade, but the relative scales are correct.

 
B.E.
 

Coamings, Carronades, and Companionways..
 
Now I reach the point where I start to enjoy myself, fiddling with the fittings.
 
First up.... Hatch coamings.
 
One of my pet kit hates.
 
Jotika in common with many other kit manufacturers show these items as boxy surrounds with flat gratings enclosed within.
 

They don’t make reference to the greater depth that should apply to the Head Ledges, or shaping the same to form that gentle arc, with the gratings shaped to follow this line to the coamings. A check of any contemporary ship models of the seventeenth and eighteenth century will show the correct form.
 
On little Pickle however, for the Main Hatch, boards are shown rather than gratings.

This is perfectly acceptable and certainly applicable to merchant vessels, but with naval vessels I prefer gratings. Besides it avoids having to make all those irritating little ring bolts for the boards.
 
The Main hatch cover has therefore been modified to reflect my own preferences; the supplied walnut strip suggested for the coamings etc; was discarded in favour of boxwood. (It was in any case of dubious quality) Once assembled and fitted the gratings were gently sanded to conform to the arc of the head ledges.

The grating strips provided by Jotika are excellent, accurately cut with no broken teeth, a close fit, and good for scale.
 

Schooners were very wet boats and I fixed my coamings at 4mm height rather than the 3mm suggested; this is equivalent to 10” at full scale.
 

None of the gratings have been fixed in position as yet - this will be done once all the bulwark ring bolts have all been secured.
 
At this point the Carronade pads have been fitted and the deck has been sealed with Caldercraft water based Flat-matt varnish, which does not darken the deck planking; the gratings will be treated the same, but the coamings will be varnished with satin cote varnish.
 
 

Naming Pickle
 
The kit provides for brass etched lettering to be painted white.
 

I disliked the look of this arrangement, the brass etch letters stand out too much, the font style looks too modern, and I have doubts that the lettering on British naval ships of the period was painted white.
 
I tried different options from vinyl lettering to water slide decals but eventually settled on letraset transfers, Times New Roman, at 5mm in gold.
 
I had initially feared that applying dry rub letters to the stern in situ would present problems of alignment and good adhesion but as it happens they went on a treat and here’s the result.  

A coat of satin varnish, and the job’s done.
 

The official inspection has reported favourably, so work can now proceed to fitting out the deck.
 

 
B.E.
 
 
 
 

Launch cont'd
 
Jotika only provide two half chocks to support the boat, the inference being that the boat is supported on the starboard side by the Pickle’s bulwark.
 
This seemed odd to me so I fashioned a pair of full chocks on which to rest the Launch.

 

Having spent a fair bit of time making the bally boat, I’m now not sure I like it - hmmn I think I will have to ponder on that.
I certainly think I will only display one boat on the deck even if I decide to go ahead.
 

The kit arrangement.
 
How would they manhandle a boat of that size outboard given the rigging incumbrances.
 
I've a fair idea of how the boats were swung in and out, using a triatic stay slung between the two mast pendants, with tackles attached to ring bolts within the boat to raise it above the bulwarks, further tackles slung from the yardarm, and probably the Fore gaff, to swing it out.
 
Can you imagine how tricky that could be with an overlarge ships boat, keeping it steady to avoid crashing into the rigging, or worse the masts, she would have to hove to in any case to launch a boat, but in anything other than a millpond sea, she would still be rolling and pitching to varying degrees.
 
I really wanted to display a boat on the deck, maybe a replacement cutter of slightly less size, and some modifications learned from the building of the Launch.
 
The 14’ Cutter
 
This is not a bad shape and at least I know it will fit on the deck without giving the impression of trying to squeeze a quart into a pint pot.
 
I took a different approach with the Jolly boat.
 
Exterior planking was done clinker fashion using strips from computer label paper.
 

I decided that planking the inside of the hull was a waste of time as the planks were hardly visible on the larger boat when finished, and they just add to the thickness of the gunwales.
 
On this boat I used styrene strip of 0.5 x 1.5mm for the ribs and keelson, 0.5 x 2 mm for the rising plank.
The gunnels I made from 0.75mmx1.5mm styrene strip.

Small boats are tricky to hold whilst working, but a cut out in a block of balsa goes a long way to keep it steady.
To avoid unnecessary thickness I left the ribs long so that they would support the thin gunnels.

Basic internal structure completed, paper patterns for the foredeck and stern sheet gratings
 
Jotika suggest that there were no bottom boards or knees, but I have modified the interior to reflect the drawings in the McGowan Victory book, and other reference sources.

Bottom boards have been fitted, a grating in the stern sheets, and a small foredeck at the bow. The gratings which are nice features in small boats were left over from the main build but necessitated taking down to a fraction of their original thickness to suit.
 
Boxwood strip was used for the thwarts and ring bolts fitted at the bow and stern.

Modified chocks.
 

 

In keeping with the muted colours of the main model I decided to colour the oars in a natural wood finish, white looked too stark to my eye, and there is no white anywhere else on the vessel.
 
She certainly looks more in scale to the size of Pickle, so the 19’ launch will not be displayed on the model.
 
B.E.
 
 

The Pickle Boats
 
Jotika have provided two boats, a `19’ Launch and a 14’ Cutter or Jolly boat.
 
I rather think that a cutter would be more likely than a Launch in such a small vessel, but whatever, the 19’ boat is shaped more like a Launch, whereas the jolly boat is more definitely a cutter shape.
 
Two boats would seem to be the right complement for the Pickle, but I would have preferred it had Jotika supplied an 18’ cutter rather than the launch. I do know that Pickle carried two boats, a cutter and a jolly boat, why Jotika went with a 19' Launch I don't know.
 
Provided are blank resin hulls; black cartridge paper is provided to make and represent the ribs. The hull is supposed to be simply painted with the application of walnut strip to make the thwarts and strakes etc.
 
These are the basic hulls.

The idea of cartridge paper for the ribs did not really appeal, and I decided to use styrene strip for the interior framework. I also wanted to reflect the planking on the inside but without adding too much to the thickness.
 
First off a keelson was laid down the centre using 1x1.5mm strip.
 
To represent the planking from the inside I used strips of good quality printer paper stuck down with pva. Over this are fixed the ribs of 0.75 x 1.5mm styrene strip.
 
The ‘paper’ planking was coated with a light oak water based varnish with a touch of Caldercraft yellow ochre w/b paint added.
Several coats later and a topping of Caldercraft Flat- Matt varnish, this is the result.

The planking lines are apparent and the desired effect achieved.
 
Much of it will be covered by the ribs and other internal fittings, and final finishing will be done once the ribs are put into place.
Next the ribs of 0.75 x 1.5mm styrene strip are added.

Here all the ribs are in place and the Rising Planks on which the thwarts rest have been fitted. A simple depth jig was used to check that the rising planks were the required 3mm below the top of the sides along the length of the hull.
 
Temporary thwarts are in place to check the levels across the boat.
 
If you’re not a purist, I am certainly not, styrene strip makes excellent internal small boat structures, although had the boats been of all wooden contruction I would have put in the extra effort to replicate the ribs etc in boxwood strip.
 
Still at the end of the day, it’s how the finished article looks and how far it fulfils a modellers satisfaction levels.
 

To reflect the finish of Pickle herself, I planked the outside with 2.5mm boxwood and ebony strip, applied with ca. I wanted to continue the theme of as little paint as possible so the hull will be left natural.

The bottom boards or footwaling.
 
Jotika provide a ply template for this over which boarding is stuck.
 
The bottom boards are butted together and run the length of the boat. This accords with the fittings of many Launches of the period. Boxwood strip rather than the provided walnut was used. The only addition, a step to take the mast, and a ring bolt at the stern.

A 0.75x2.5mm styrene strip capping rail was fitted, into which the rowlocks were cut, I also took the opportunity to fit a breasthook.*

*( A breasthook is a wooden knee to add strength to the bows, no ship’s boat should be without one)

 

 
When I tried the Launch/cutter on the Pickle deck it seemed to take up an inordinate amount of room, looks like it would have been a tricky exercise getting the boat over the side avoiding the shrouds and stays.
The backstays and vang tackle are not even fitted at this stage.

 
to be cont'd...
 
B.E.

The home straight – Rigging the Square yards.
 
This is quite a simple affair (I use the term loosely) on a schooner such as Pickle consisting of Lifts and braces for the Spread yard and Topsail yards, and sheets and clew lines for the Topsail.
 
I made life somewhat more difficult for myself by not pinning the yards to the mast as suggested. As far as possible I prefer to have the yards free to move around.
 
One outcome of this and a niggle that has caught my eye for some time is that the spread yard had been pulled out of the horizontal as determined by the sling and stop cleats. The culprit is the yard sling and the pull of the single Truss pendant.
 
To put matters right I had to cut the lower sling thimble from the yard and re- seize it once the yard had been adjusted.
Without yard pinning a tension balance has to be achieved between all the lines to hold the yards secure, and this entails loosely fitting all the running rigging and then tightening it by degrees.

Once done the yards are held quite rigidly.
Although for one or two lines I have fitted traditional looped and seized belays to the pins, I wanted the main working lines to be loosely draped over the pins as in a working situation.

The coils were made separately, fitted over the pins and draped into shape using diluted pva.
 
Two things I should have done earlier in the build is attach the pendants and blocks around the Main masthead to take the topsail braces, failure to do this resulted in an exercise of frustration trying to seize the pesky things between the masthead and topmast at the doublings.
 
Moral of tale double check that all necessary attachments are made before starting rigging.
 
Jotika show brace pendants fitted to the crossjack yard at 60mm in length., when fitted they looked a little long to my eye.
I also pondered whether the fitting of brace pendants was appropriate at all, by the time of Trafalgar they would be somewhat dated.
 
Still I decided to go with them, they add a little interest if nothing else, but according to Lees, brace pendants should be 0.3 of the respective yard in length; this would give an overall pendant length of 52mm.
 
The braces are the last kit rigging item to be fitted, and quite a tricky one at that. Equalising the tension between the opposing braces to ensure that the yard is not pulled out of line, or indeed the shroud with the lead blocks attached, makes for slow progress.

With braces I rather like a degree of slack in them, but the set up of the running part of the braces make it very difficult to achieve a realistic look; with brace block on the yard the situation would be different.
 
Note to myself:
Don’t rig the fore gaff vang tackles before fitting the belay coils for the braces, the bally things are perfect snag magnets, and are best done after the other coils are in place.
 
I have noticed that since fitting, the footrope stirrups have developed a little curl, something I don’t like.

I have tried to remedy the situation by hanging weights on the footropes and stiffening the stirrups with neat pva, only time will tell.
 
So folks that about does it for the rigging, unless the mood takes me to fit one or two extra lines not covered by the kit, but I am conscious of the fact that this model will not be cased so too much top hamper will get in the way of cleaning.
 
Now what to do about the boats.
 
B.E.

Rigging the boom
 
I have a couple of issues with the Driver boom, one is the absence of sheets, and the other the form of the Topping lifts.
Jotika make no mention of sheets, but every driver boom I’ve ever seen has them rigged.
They were quite heavy tackles consisting at scale of a 4mm double and 3mm single block with falls of 0.5mm dia line.

These were fitted along with a boom cleat to secure the block.

The Jotika method of rigging the Topping lift which is single, is to seize it around the boom end, pass it up thro’ the port sheave of the double block at the masthead cap, thence down towards the deck where a tackle is attached, and belayed to the mast cleat.
There are different ways of rigging topping lifts, and a single version was used in fair weather but I can’t quite believe that Pickle battling the Atlantic wouldn’t have used double lifts.

I have gone with a standard approach of twin lifts middled around the boom with a clove hitch, each end passing thro’ a single block strapped around the masthead, thence to the deck with tackles attached, as per the Jotika suggestion.
For those who may think yes, but the gaff is trapped between the topping lifts, in reality the lee lift was slackened off when sailing.
 

In setting the boom it is important that it clears the head of the Helmsman, Dick here checks that all health and safety obligations are complied with.
 
Bits and bobs inside the Transom – things I should have done earlier.
 
Apart from the stern gunport eyebolts the transom according to the Jotika plan is quite free of fittings.
Because I fitted a boom sheet an eyebolt and cleat were required, and because I fashioned an Ensign staff, a tabernacle and halyard cleat were also required.
 

These would have been easier to fit earlier in the build before the boom was fitted, but the additions were achieved without too much trauma.

A coat was also made to fit around the rudder head using my old standby micro- porus tape. This is not to be confused with the rudder coat which is fitted beneath the transom where the rudder enters the hull.
 

Boom horses were also fitted, I can’t understand why Jotika omitted these fairly common aids to working on the boom.
 
Guy pendants and tackles are last item to be fitted.

I finally made the decision to secure the Kedge anchor to the skylight framing.

 
Onto the Square Yards, and then some tidying up.
 
B.E
 

The final bits of Standing Rigging
 
Now that the stun’sl booms have been sorted I can rig the Topmast Backstays and Main T’gallant stay.
 

Jotika suggest 0.25mm line for the backstays, but I consider they should be the same thickness as the Topmast shrouds, so I have gone with 0.5mm line. The tackle lanyards are of 0.25mm line as suggested.
 
Note:
The kit instructions suggest that the Fore T’gallant stay and Main T’gallant stay be fitted before the Topmast backstays.
If this is done the backstays will have to be fitted insitu, with more difficulty in getting a neat seizing and with attendant tired arms.
 
It’s much easier to form the backstay eye splice off the model and slip it over the masthead before fitting the T’gallant stays.
A bit of work in rigging these backstays, they end with a double block thro’ which a tackle is rove from a single block with hook that is attached to the backstay plate before belaying on bulwark cleats.
 
A lot quicker to write it than do it.
 

Attaching the blocks to the ends of the stays is an exercise in frustration, the same method has to be applied as with deadeyes, but without the nice groove around the block they take every opportunity to escape the noose of the stay.
 

 

Now the backstay tackles and Fore Gaff Vangs are in place there is even less room to swing a 19’ Launch, just about get the Jolly boat over the side without fouling the rigging.
 

All the loose tackles have now been belayed at the foot of the Fore mast.
 

 

The black lines attached to the cleats at the mast foot are temporary, to hold down the Crossjack yard against the pull of the lifts until the Topsail sheets are rigged.
 
One of the penalties of not pinning the yards is that they flop about until stabilised by the opposing forces of the completed rigging.
 

The Crossjack yard lifts are seen here rolled on the yard; I won’t fit them until I have the sheet blocks fitted so that I can balance the two.
 

 
The next phase will see the rigging completed.
 
B.E.

Messing about with Studding Booms
 
In my never ending quest to make my models different from what is supplied I rather belatedly thought about adding Studding (Stun’sl) booms to the model.
 
These are not supplied by Jotika, but my research suggests that they would have been carried by Pickle.
 
The Booms themselves are not a problem, sanded down from 2mm lime dowel to something a tad over 1mm Ø .
It is the yard irons thro’ which they pass that presents the difficulty, particularly as a retro fit, something I would not recommend.
 
I decided to make the Crossjack yard irons out of slices of Styrene tubing and the boom iron out of brass eyelets.
Here’s the result.
 

Completed irons in place.

Boom irons and booms for the Topsail Yard
 
For the yard irons I used the edging frame of the brass etched eyelets supplied by Jotika.
I have mentioned it before but these brass strips have a multitude of uses from hinges, brackets, strappings, Pintles and Gudgeons, and of course yard irons.
 

Cro’jack yard booms in place.

Topsail yard booms.
 

The completed set up, apart from the lashing of the booms at the inner end.
The Stuns’ll booms have simply been coated with brushing wax.
A good mod I think, the naturally varnished booms contrast nicely with the black yards.
 
I can now get started on the Running rigging.
 
B.E.
 

A Rattlin’ good yarn or yet another step backwards
 
According to the plans only the first three shrouds are fitted with ratlines both on the Fore and main masts.
Jotika specifically mention that the fourth shroud is a backstay and was never fitted with ratlines.
 
So I proceed on this basis, even so with a little niggle in the back of my mind. By the time I had rigged twenty or so ratlines I thought I don’t like the look of this and on a practical level there is insufficient room to allow the climbing of the mast even by one crewman, let alone several if attention was required in a hurry.
 
Of course towards the top the shrouds narrow considerably, and they’re not that wide to start with.
Nothing for it I summoned ‘Dick’ and he in turn sent old Tom aloft to check things out.
 

 

 

 
My point proven I think, poor Tom has to hang onto the ‘backstay’ as Jotika call it to assist his climb. As the shrouds on Pickle consist of two pairs each side, to refer to the last shroud as a backstay seems questionable, it’s a shroud by any other name.
 
Many drawings both modern and contemporary of schooners show the ratlines across all lower ‘shrouds’ and I think it looks more balanced.
 
This view is supported by the builder of the Pickle model in the Royal Naval Museum, Rear Admiral C.M. Blackman, who shows the ratlines across all four ‘shrouds’ an arrangement that looks better and for my Pickle I’m going with it.
 
Only option then to remove the ratlines already fitted and start again. Fortunately I had sealed the end knots with diluted pva rather than ca so a little application of water and they all came away. Had I use ca I think we would have been in deep doo doo .
 
So after a false start the ratlines are complete, along with most of the standing rigging.
Amati 0.1mm dia line is used and on this build I have blackened the ratlines rather than leave them natural, this is in accord with the plans, but my decision is based purely on how they look.
 

Spaced at 5mm (13” ) intervals it is not too onerous a job on a model like Pickle.
 
One small deviation in tying ratlines they should be done with a clove hitch but at this scale I have gone with a simple figure of eight, it produces a smaller knot that looks more in scale particularly as the top of the shroud is reached where the space is very tight. It is also much quicker to do fo8 knots.
 

Getting very crowded around the Fore topmast head
 
Also fitted the Futtock staves which allows the completion of the Topmast shrouds. These run down inside the lower shrouds and belay to the channel deadeyes which would particularly have made the rattlin’ down more difficult if left until later in the build. A degree of foresight helps in rigging so you don’t by one action make things difficult for some later attachment.
 
Two blocks in a span are required to fit over the lower mast cap to take the cro’jack yard lifts. Best to fit them before the Topmast shrouds are fitted which would get in the way of the attachment.
 
They are quite tricky little beasts to do as the span has to be of the required length, falls of sufficient length have to be seized to the **** of the block, and the span has to fitted around the cap with a half hitch.
 
This is not work to try and do on the model, apart from the arm ache it will cause, stropping the blocks and doing the necessary six seizings in situ will be much more difficult.
 
Oh dear after all my work I found that the 3mm blocks would not pass between the masthead gap. Thankfully I had not glued the caps to the masthead and a little tap with a jewellers hammer released it.
 
The moral of this tale is that on any build if you can get away without gluing such things as caps, it may save a lot of aggravation down the road, but it does depend on the item having a snug fit.
 
Rigging the Gaffs
 
Some slight deviations from the kit instructions here.
The Fore Gaff (standing sling) and the Main Gaff (throat halyard)

Shot of the Main Gaff Throat halliard.
 
I made some changes to the suggested arrangement in terms of the sling set up and block and line sizes for the Main Gaff throat halyards. 3mm blocks and 0.1mm Ø line for the falls are indicated, but I have gone with 4mm blocks and 0.25mm line.
 

Belay of the Throat halyard.
 
Topmast Shrouds.
 
These are of 0.5mm dia line, stained, stretched, and waxed. They are eye spliced in pairs over the hounds and are fitted with a thimble tackle attached to the lower deadeyes, having passed inside the futtock staves of the lower mast shrouds.
 
Jotika suggest simply seizing them to the lower deadeye but I think a thimble tackle is more appropriate. 2.5mm boxwood thimbles were used.
 
Outer Jib or Topmast Stay and T’Gallant stay
 
Both of these are given as 0.25mm line, but ideally the T’gallant should be slightly thinner.
There is a slight difference between the Amati and Jotika 0.25mm line (the Jotika larger) I therefore used that for the outer jib and the Amati for the T’gallant.

Rigging of the Bowsprit/Jibboom completed, apart from horses, not included in the plan, but I think would have been rigged.

The Tgallant stay is supposed to pass thro’ a 3mm single block at the Jibboom stop, but this was replaced by triple 3mm block to allow for the Topsail bowlines (not included in the Jotika plan.)
 
The Topsail yard is now fitted, the trickiest part being attaching the parrel.

For the halyard I have used a eye and hook arrangement rather than tie the sling
Jotika suggest only one row of parrel ribs and rollers are fitted, but I feel a double row is more appropriate. I also didn’t like the provided brass etched ribs, or for that matter the black and shiny rollers.
I replaced them with boxwood ribs and seed bead rollers. I also diverted from the plan by adding footropes to the yard.
 
I am toying at the moment as to whether to fit studding booms to the yards, and until I finally decide I cannot tie off the parrels.
 
B.E.

A minor blip in proceedings
 
On Schooners the Main stay (sometimes called a jumper-stay.) was rigged very differently to other vessels because of the need not to interfere with the Fore gaff sail. For this reason it was taken from the Main Mast head thro’ a block on the aft side of the Foremast, had a double block turned in the end, with a tackle hooked to a ring bolt on the deck aft of the Foremast.
 
Following the Jotika plans a 1mm Ø line was required as with the Forestay,
 
Sooo.... the line was prepared, stretched, dyed , waxed, served, and moused, only to look far too heavy when fitted.

Oh dear I thinks to myself that surely can’t be right, so a ferret thro’ my reference works is required.
I find that:
Under this arrangement the Fore stay carried most of the load for both masts and had a stronger stay than that of the Main stay which was of a similar diameter to the lower shrouds.

So much for:-
The Rigging plans have been drawn following extensive research, contemporary and modern. We would recommend that you follow these drawings exactly unless you are converting the model to an earlier or later version of the ship. (Whatever that means)
 
Nothing for it but to start again, this time using 0.75mmØ line

Doesn’t look much different on the photos perhaps but in reality there is a marked difference in the look of the line. Note also the 5mm lead block at the Foremast head, this is the much improved JB pear wood version.
 
Moral of the tale – check every line size against reliable sources before going ahead.
 
Still could be worse I could be relying on AL rigging plans
 
Rigging the Fore gaff – a juddering halt
 
This is a confusing area in schooner rigging both in arrangements and terminology.
 
Fore and aft schooners sometimes carried a sail equivalent to the Fore course on a square rigger, and this yard called a crossjack yard, was raised and lowered on the foremast. With this arrangement the gaff for practical purposes was above the yard.
 
The gaffs could either be slung ( held in place with a sling) in which case they did not travel up and down the yard; or could be hoisted up and down the mast, in which case a throat halliard was employed.
This was often the case where the gaff was associated with a boom (as on the Main mast) obviously in this case the gaff would have to be below the square yard.
 
Topsail schooners which carried a square topsail had a crossjack yard or perhaps more properly a spreader yard to carry the clew of the topsail.
When I came to do this the plans call for the gaff to be slung above the Crossjack yard on the Foremast.

This puzzled me somewhat as the plans and references I have seen for Topsail schooners show the gaff below the yard. The more I thought about it the more it niggled me.
It didn’t seem logical that the gaff would be above the square yard even if fixed, so the rigging came to grinding halt. I had to reconcile this before I could move on.
The more I read the more the doubts increased.
 
Pictures by Geoff Hunt, Gordon Frickers, the model in the Naval museum, the replica Pickle all showed the gaff below the square yard, but of course these aren’t contemporary references.
 
More in hope than expectation I phoned Jotika and spoke to Richard, designer of the kit, a very helpful guy whose obviously very interested in his subject.
 
It seems he has gone with contemporary sources, notably a painting by Robert Dodd, an artist of the time, and a book entitled News of Nelson by Derek Allen and Peter Hore.
 
I have this little book and very interesting it is too.
 
So on the one hand there is a contemporary painting, and on the other many published works and other references that show the gaff below the yard.
 
No doubt all these worthies took time and trouble to research their subject, and no doubt had access to information and historians that I do not
 
The more I looked at the spread yard / fore gaff relationship the odder it looked to me.
The Jotika plans for the spread yard indicate its position some 45mm below the Trestletrees; this would result in an enormous roach to the topsail to avoid excessive rubbing of the Fore and jib stays, far more than would appear on the Dodd painting.
 
There are no plans of Pickle, there is no real evidence what she actually looked like, even her origin is open to debate, she was after all a small work horse vessel and would not have gained fame were it not for the Trafalgar dispatches.
 
The arrangement in the Dodd painting may or may not be correct, but work by other contemporary artists show the gaff below the yard.
 
I scoured every book in my collection for contemporary art work that supports the Dodd image but could find none. Except that is in relation to Fore and aft schooners where a square sail was set on a crossjack yard.
 
In the meantime I received an e-mail reply from Richard Wright the Technical Manager at Jotika.
I repeat it here for any future Pickle builders for whom the same conundrum may arise.
 
3 September 2010
I apologise for the delay in getting this over to you but please see the attached image, an enlarged section of the painting by Robert Dodd titled “Victory of Trafalgar in the Rear”, showing the Schooner Pickle. This was our primary reference for depicting Pickle with the gaff above the crossjack.
I have also pulled out some of my old notes and found specific reference to this point which, in brief, is as follows:
Fore Gaff above or below Crossjack?
Evidence of both methods on various plans of Schooners from the period – majority appear to be below.
Unable to find specific documentation to detail preference of one method over the other – appears that positioning the crossjack below the gaff allows a larger spread of sail?
Use reference of Robert Dodd image, gaff above crossjack, as most likely orientation for Pickle.
I should also point out that my notes deal with the omission, from the kit, of the topgallant (or royal) yard on the fore mast as well as the topsail gaff on the mizzen mast (shown in the painting) – on a schooner the size of Pickle these would rarely have been shipped and only then in conditions of very light breezes. I am of the opinion that Lapenotiere has had Robert Dodd show them on Pickle in order to have his own schooner appear a little more grand than she might without them.
Please note that the attached pdf was originally emailed to me during my correspondence with Peter Hore and I am providing it here for your own reference only. Copyright for the image is owned by the author/publisher.
Kind regards
Richard Wright
Technical Manager
 
It was very good of Richard to take the time to respond to my query, and shows perhaps the commitment of Jotika to their customers. This is a big plus in my opinion.
 
However, after more deliberation the huge gore requirement in the Topsail clinched it and I decided I couldn’t live with the given plan so the Fore Gaff sling was cut and the gaff was moved down the mast to allow room for the spread yard.
 
To finish off the gaff the spread yard now had to be fitted so that the truss could be put into place before the gaff sling was re-rigged. This wouldn’t have mattered with the yard in the lower position.
The gaff can then be finished off with the seizing of the standing sling and rigging of the Topping lifts.
Topping Lifts took various forms but after some research I decided to go with the particular line arrangement indicated in the plans, and on the Dodd painting as far as I can see. I wasn’t however impressed by the Jotika method of making a ‘sister’ block from a supplied 5mm common.

Topping lift set up
 
Until the Vangs are put into place the correct degree of tension cannot be applied to the Topping lifts.
What Jotika refer to as a ‘sister’ block is more properly a Leg and fall block, which I fashioned from a 7mm boxwood single, the extra size gave more scope to get the correct profile.
 

Leg and fall block on Main Gaff.
 
So here we have the revised arrangement , the spread yard will swing somewhat free until fully rigged; one of my foibles is to glue as little as possible on models and I really don’t like pinning yards to masts if I can avoid it.

 
A comparison with the kit arrangement can be seen in these photos.
 

Kit plan set up.

This is the familiar set up of topsail schooners
 

With the yard in this position is can be seen what a large gore would be required in the topsail to clear the stays.
 
The yard could be moved up some I suppose, but not in my case where I have fitted cheeks below the Trestletrees.

 
B.E.

Anyone got a good Mouser
 

No not you Tommy..
 
Tommy was a good mouser, but not the sort I’m after.
Before I can do the Forestay a mouse has to be made.
Mouses are easy enough to make, it’s the finish that matters.
In reality they were ‘raised’ on the stay itself and have a distinctive woven appearance, this is the tricky bit to replicate, particularly at small scale, and even at 1:64 the Pickle Mouse is still only 6x3mm.
I have made my mouses using styrene tubing shaped on a length of 1mm brass wire.

So far so good.
But how to replicate that woven look in a scale pattern.
 
A rummage thro’ Mrs W’s tights (panti hose to our American cousins) drawer, to find a pair past their best. This is the most dangerous part of the build so far.
 
I would have asked but she’s gone to the Golf Club, and well needs must....
 

A piece of the material is stretched around the mouse which has been coated in ca, when dry it is trimmed and painted.
 

The completed article.
 
The Forestay collar is served from the eye to the mouse, for this I used super fine silk thread.
 

This was done by hand but if I had to do much of it I think a small serving device would need to be cobbled together.
 

The served collar before staining and on completion with the mouse fitted.

 

I will not seize off the lanyard until later in the build, minor adjustments may be required when the other tackle is installed.

I include this pic to show the effect of stretching and waxing the stay. It hangs loose in a natural curve without any tendency to kink.
 

 
The completed stay with deadeyes and lanyard fitted, the same procedure will be followed for the other fore and aft stays.
 
B.E.
 

Standing Rigging – Mast Pendants and shrouds.
 
The first item over the mast head are the Mast Pendants, of the same size line as the shrouds.
Jotika suggest that a 3mm block is seized into the ends of the pendants but I prefer to fit a thimble into which a tackle may be hooked. (Both arrangements are acceptable)
 

Having seized the first pendant the second thimble is inserted at the correct length before seizing.
 

One of the reasons why I tend not to glue the mastheads in place at the outset is so that the pendants and shrouds can be made off the model and then be slipped over the masthead for final settling.
It is less tiring and easier to do the seizing than if the shrouds were fitted insitu. A piece of square section stuff is used as a former around which the shrouds are made.

A cobbled together jig for setting up the shroud seizings.
 
As with the blocks I have opted to use JB Pearwood 4mm deadeyes, these were lightly stained in mellow pine to darken them a little.

Here a piece of bent wire is used to gauge the distance between the deadeyes.
The shrouds are of 0.75mm line and the lanyards 0.25mm. Seizings were of 0.1mm line. The seizings once secured were painted with diluted pva to secure the knots.
The beauty of pva is that once dried it does not show unlike ca which dries shiny.
 
Once fitted the lanyards are tightened progressively and the excess fed thro’ the shroud bight, back around the shroud, under itself, pulled taut, and then wound around the shroud above the deadeye before being seized.

This is not a particularly tidy arrangement as can be seen on Victory, something I have tried to replicate on Pickle. (well that’s my excuse anyway)
 

 

 

Starting to look quite schoonerish I think.

Compared to shrouding a big square rigger with its 28 pairs, fitting eight pairs on a fore and aft schooner is something of a doddle.
 
Before I go .... .........pan outwards - this is the reality of the chaos I actually work in.

Moving swiftly onto the stays I think.
 
B.E.

The Yards
 
Fortunately there are only two of these to make, both from dowel with the ends tapered. (Jotika)
The centre section of yards on British vessels were generally octagonal in shape so rather than use the provided dowel, I turned the yards from square section walnut strip, forming the octagonal first and then rounding the arms on the lathe.
 

There are only short octagonal centre sections for the yards so having marked the lines in pencil, I used flat needle files to form the octagon, not even enough room for my miniature bull nose.

 

The completed Topsail yard fitted with sling cleats and stop cleats.
 
Rigging the yards.
 
Footropes are shown fitted to the lower (Spread) yard, but none on the Topsail yard.
 
Jotika suggest using brass wire for the stirrups, fixed into holes drilled in the underside of the yard, and having eyes formed in the end to carry the horses.
 
This is a method I have used on small scales, but at 1:64 a more realistic representation can be made.
 
The stirrups should hang down the back of a yard with sufficient line to be wrapped three times around the yard and then nailed. Each stirrup having a thimble turned into the end thro’ which the footropes can pass.

The thimbles, of necessity very small, were cut from 0.9mm brass micro tubing in 0.75mm slices. The stirrup was seized around the thimble and secured with a spot of ca.
 
Fortunately there are only four to make.
 
They should hang around 36” below the yard - 14mm at scale - but see below:-
 

I brought my Heath Robinson patent yard dressing jig into use to fit the stirrups.

Once fitted the stirrup is painted with dilute pva to stiffen it up, and weights are attached until dry.

The Footropes(Horses) can then be threaded thro' and each seized on opposite sides of the slings.
Also attached are the thimbles for the yard sling and truss pendant, and a 5mm block to take the Topsail sheets. This is one of the JB blocks, much improved over the boxy kit ones, having the correct shape and including sheaves.
 

Given the size of the yard the footropes looked to hang too low given Jotika’s suggested 15mm, even tho’ that equates to only 36” if it don’t look right it won’t do.

I had to conjure up a 1:64 scale top-man to verify the accuracy.
 
Tom is a scale 5’6” tall, and the footropes actually hang 12mm below the yard, a scale 30”.
They are I think low enough, but with a 15mm drop poor Tom would be hard pressed to have a foothold when leaning over the yard to gather in the sail.
 
The yards will be put aside now until the shrouds are fitted, the next major operation.
 
B.E.
 
 

The Ensign Staff and Ensign.
 
The Ensign was printed on Modelspan tissue.
 
The advantage of this method is that the exact required size of flag can be obtained with on the model trialling until a size that pleases the eye is found.
 
A disadvantage of the method more specifically to the White Ensign is that the white background which of course is the basic paper colour does not show to the same advantage as the Red and Blue Ensigns.
 
To address the problem I coated the modelspan with diluted white water based paint before printing the flag and then painted over the Union colours using again water based paints.
 
I find that Chisel edged brushes are the best type to use for this action.
 
The modelspan is only coated on one side prior to printing because I found that coating both sides didn’t allow the printer ink to penetrate sufficiently thro’ to the other side.
 

Fixed to the flagstaff the ensign was then subjected to a little steam and was teased into shape using rods of differing thicknesses to hold the flag in a drooping attitude.

Matt varnish was then sprayed onto the flag to hold it in position, very light coats are required lest the colours run.

 

 
The same method was used for the Union Flag at the Jackstaff; the staff itself was made from micro bore brass tubing with a styrene truck, thro’ which holes were drilled to take the Halyard.
 

When I set the Union flag on the jackstaff I hadn't noticed that it was upside down, but fortunately my friend Pete Coleman on his forum where this log was originally posted  pointed this out and saved me from further embarrassment. Flying the ensign upside down is a  distress signal.
The matter was rectified.

A brass fret strip was used to make the tabernacle and the assembly was fixed to the aft face of the bowsprit cap using ca.

 
B.E

Cheers Chris
 
Anchors
 
A white metal anchor is provided with the Pickle kit to be fitted on the Starboard side.
 
I was a little puzzled by this as my research suggested that she should have at least three, two bowers of 6cwt plus a smaller kedge.
I bought a second matching anchor plus a kedge.
 

The observant may have noticed the absence of catheads on Pickle, something that puzzled me somewhat.
 
In my research I discovered that it is entirely possible that catheads were not fitted given the relatively light weight of the anchors, and that a Fish tackle from the Masthead was used to raise the anchor.
 
I may still yet fit one of these to demonstrate the principle.
 

The stocks of the anchors required some fettlin’ to obtain the correct shape and I wasn’t happy with the given dimensions of the anchor rings.
 
The ends of the anchor stocks have been rounded off in accordance with practice of the time.
 
The use of an inside clinch to secure the anchor cable can be seen here. I was tempted to use a Fishermans Bend, an interesting knot, which was sometimes used on smaller anchors, but decided in the end to stick with the clinch.

Jotika suggest that wire is wrapped around a 6mm dia dowel to produce the rings, but this looked out of scale to my eye.
 
As with everything naval, anchor proportions were subject to specific rules, the ring diameter on small anchors is something in the order of 1/8th of the length of the shank.
 
This is 33.15mm so the anchor ring should be in the order of 4mm.
 
After clean up the anchors were painted with humbrol iron grey rather than black, gave a better scale effect I thought.
 
For the iron stock bands Jotika suggest using strips of black cartridge paper,I preferred to use the brass etched framing from their eyelets as the banding.
 
1.3mm line is supplied for the anchor cable; I checked this against known formulae - ½” circumference of line for every foot of maximum hull width.
 
This did indeed work out at 1.3mm Ø line – well done Jotika.

The anchor cable however is far too white for my taste ; I rather thought it would have a sort of greyish appearance so I soaked it in ‘dirty’ water to dull it down.
The anchor is secured to eyebolts fixed atop the rail with thread.

I wasn’t sure about the authenticity of this so I modified the lashing using 23 links to the inch chain to secure the one fastening with chain secured with a rope lashing to a ring bolt in the deck. The second lashing was line secured around the capping rail eyebolt.
The effect I was after with the anchors was a slightly worn/weathered appearance, and to this end I am satisfied with the result.
The Kedge
This is lashed to the Starboard aft bulwark on the Naval Museum model, Jotika did not include one with their kit.

No historical evidence for it but I rather fancied securing it to aft face of the skylight, seemed a reasonable place to store it.

 
B.E.

Hi Peter,
 
That contemporary painting of Pickle by Robert Dodd does indeed show the Foremast vertical and the Mainmast with rake.
When I spoke to Richard Wright at Jotika he said that the painting was the main source of information for the placing of the gaff above the crossjack yard. They obviously didn’t also take the relative mast positions into account.
 
I always thought the Foremast was set a little far back but I spent hours staring at schooners in several books and came to the conclusion that the mast positions varied greatly and there were examples very similar to the Pickle kit set up.
 
Colin White the Curator of the Naval Museum has stated As far as we have been able to tell, no plans of Pickle survive and none of the many paintings she appears in can be considered definitive.
 
The Naval museum model of the Pickle  commissioned in 1968 is also at variance with what we know of Pickle in terms of the armament and doubts have been raised that the model  truly represented her. There is a suggestion that it was based on the plans of HMS Haddock.
 
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/85908.html
 
Colin White is also said to believe that the model was not intended to be “Pickle“, rather a close representation of a naval schooner of that period.
 
This is partly because of the inconclusive research available when the model was made and partly because the model is very unlike any smart cutter, as “Sting” was described, of the period.
Significantly, by the late 18th century “smart cutters” were built with finer lines than those of the model.
 
For those who may not have seen the Naval Museum model here's a few photos taken for me by my  friend Chris (chrism as on the old MSW) as part of my research for the build.

 

The set up with the bitts is different to the kit, and there is no windlass.
 

There is just one small jolly boat set centrally, the set up not particularly well done I thought.
 

She is fitted with eight carronades and two carriage guns, not what is recorded as the Pickle ordnance.
 

 
As with many things to do with our interest there are more questions than answers, and even the ‘experts’ can’t always agree.
 
All of this is of course academic as what we are dealing with here is a beginner level kit that most builders accept at face value and it does make up into an attractive model with more than a nod to a schooner of the period.
 
Jotika may be at fault by claiming that the kit is an exact scale model designed using original Admiralty plans , which infers that the plans were of Pickle without clarifying that they didn’t specifically mean Pickle, but  plans of a schooner of the period. There are a lot worse examples in other kit manufacturers claiming a real history for none existent ships.
 
I have seen working boats of the sort of Pickle dimension with the small jolly boat parked on the side, but I also think centrally placed would be better. Pickle was said to carry a cutter and a jolly boat.
 
On the model there is just enough room to fit a scale 16’ cutter (Jolly boat) between the Mainmast and the Galley chimney, and I could have placed the smaller boat in that position.
 
I still like Pickle as a model and the foregoing would not put me off building it.
 
Regards,
 
B.E.
 
 

Hello Dafi
 
According to John Masefield's "Sea life in Nelsons time"  the breech ropes were doubled for a general fleet engagement, as the recoil
would get more violent as the guns heated being continuouly fired.
 
I wonder what you'll find next to amaze us

I figured while I was waiting,  I might as well stain the stern cap rails to see what they would look like
                                                   

 

 
the other ones weren't ready yet,   so I decided to do the starboard side.
 

 

 

 

 

The ship currently has retractable stanchions. I am not sure of their history (i.e. whether they are a modern refit or not). They are hinged on top and swung up and well secured (you would not want to get knocked on the head with one of these) when clearing the deck for action.

So the pot is empty ...
 

 
... time to do something more important and worthy ...
 

 
... as both scuttles for the vent trunks were mere black holes. So they got their wooden cases and look much more in tune now  :-)
 

 
And here some fresh impressions from the shipyard.
 

 

 

 

 
Good night, Daniel

Hello dear friends,
Today I will show you the comparison of my model caronade with the photo of an original French Carronade of 1840.
I think that there are many similarities.

Hello Tony,
this I have made here.
The two models for casting, I made from brass like this one.

 
And here again the castings.

 
Incidentally, Thank you for your interest in my model.
 

Hello,
here are more pictures of the construction of the gun carriages for the carronades.

 

 

 

 

Hello friends of model building,
today I show you a further continuation for the construction of gun carriages.