Morgan

Daniel, Also looks like a metal hoop fitted over the end of the axle, it wasn’t to retain the wheel as we can see the socket for the pin. I assume it is merely to strengthen the axle at its narrowest point to stop it splitting. Gary

Daniel, One thought is that the cleats and horns were made of soft wood and were of a sacrificial nature and regularly replaced as these took the bulk of the wear and tear. Another is that they were fitted by the carpenter and that the carriages were supplied without them. They could have been painted red, to be honest I haven’t seen anything on paint analysis, the publications available haven’t addressed the carriages. Gary

One issue with the Victory gun carriages is that when reconstructed in the 1920’s (and earlier) the carriages used as a template were fort carriages. You will see in many earlier photos the guns do not sit central to the gunports. This issue was identified by Peter Goodwin. The carriages have been modified to rectify the centring of the guns, but those rear eyebolts persist. The St. George carriages Dafi points to are strictly contemporary with Victory in 1805, the St. George being refitted almost immediately after Victory. You will also note the positioning of the eyes on the carriage cheek are not as represented on many models. Some of these St. George carriages retain the side cleats, and also have evidence of fitting points for frontal horns which acted as a ‘stand-off’ from the ships side. Gary

Dave, That would work, I’d just slightly round-over the inside edge by sanding rather than leave an angular edge. In respect if any scarphs part of the waterway in reality sits under the side planking so you would not see a full scarph. This could make things easier to simulate if you go down that route. Gary

Dave, I see you are also in the NE, a trip to the Trincomalee at Hartlepool could provide you with a wealth of information on Waterways and many other aspects. Also the Pannet Park Museum and Captain Cook Museum at Whitby both have a wealth of model ships and related artefacts, many of which are period specific for the Endevour. Not to mention the the Captain Cook and Staithes Heritage Centre / Museum at Staiths. Gary

The picture provided by Spyglass is a good example of the tapering and curving of the planks that Druxy mentioned, ignore the inner margin plank and joggling or cutting-in of the planks. On the Endeavour these would have been straight butt joints between the deck planks and the darker waterway. Gary

Dave, The Waterway followed the ships side in a continuous fashion, so is the only ‘plank’ to follow the run circumferentially of those sides as it were, as a regular margin feature. Traditionally the joints were scarphed together. They did not run across the stern or transom. Personally I would work from the bow to the stern. To obtain the profile they may best be cut from a sheet as opposed to strip wood if available. On the Victory for reference they are 12” wide, but I would expect Endeavour to be narrower. As a guide Victory’s main historic deck planking is 10” wide, that is 4mm @ 1:64. Also for note the outermost 2 planks on each side of Victory these wider at 12” wide (5mm @ 1:64) which helps with the run-out of the planks. Hopefully these measurements will allow you to work out dimensions relative to what the kit materials provide you with. Gary

The waterway is a shaped plank that follows the bulwark as you say. In practice it was a heavier timber in section than the deck planks, and profiled not only to meet the deck planks, but also to marry up to the inner side planking, both above and below. It would be slightly raised in comparison to the deck planks and transition down at the edge to meet the deck planks, at anything smaller than 1:48 you would not notice it being thicker. The purpose, in part, was to channel water to the scuppers rather than let it get into the ships side timbers. Gary

Dave, There is no evidence of this on the surviving historic ships in the UK. I’ve looked at the remaining original decks of Victory, Trincomalee and Unicorn and they do not ‘joggle’ in to the margin planks. They simply run-out and are butted against the waterway / margin plank at whatever angle they intersect it. The use of fishes was used later in the 19th Century, however some modellers do this for aesthetic purposes. In my view it would be inaccurate, and given the Endeavour was a collier it is unlikely they would have spent the time and effort. It is of course your choice. Gary

They are flag lockers and would have had a canvas front. Gary

This one from HMS Trincomalee caught my eye as I attended a talk by the Curator of the ship on Wednesday. Turns out this old photo is of the ships second figurehead which dates from 1845. It has just been recently restored and is now on display at the NMRN Hartlepool, see below. The colours are slightly different from the ship copy as research during restoration facilitated the analysis of old paint samples. Gary

I’ve got an original 1806 copy, the book is tiny, about 4” square! Going price right now is about £300 from antiquarian book sellers, it’s part of the long term pension investment, or at least that’s what I tell the Admiral! Gary

Plenty big enough for the Royal George you have been thinking off 😉 I was at the NMM Greenwich today and she is currently on display in the Nelson, Navy and Nation exhibit, unfortunately against a wall so you don’t see the planked side, but still a beautiful model. Gary

And then there was only 1 left! Just ordered the second but last, no fighting over the last one 🙂

The additional structure could possibly be an opening for ventilation above the stove, the immediate proximity to the chimney could make it a steam scuttle. Gary

What scale are you building to James? I’ll pop in from time to time to see how you are doing. Gary

Some lovely detail there Daniel. Gary

That’s like those Vanguard Model kits, they all come in at under £100 🙄🤥

Roger raises a valid point about a broader appeal than merely the ship. A very pertinent and striking contrast is that less than a kilometre from Unicorn is the RSS Discovery, the ship that is part of a museum complex that looks at polar exploration, and obviously Captain Scott in particular, this get far more attention from the general public. Of course there is nothing like a dead hero to create public interest. If they can get Unicorn located close bye then hopefully some footfall will rub-off. And for the Admirals there is the new Scotland Victoria and Albert museum of design, sister of the London museum, together this makes for a worthwhile destination for visitors. Gary

There is a large new building outside the museum at present where a WW2 Rescue Motor Launch is being restored. Also, the museum is bidding to buy a historic sword collection, which includes Nelson fighting sword, fingers crossed they secure it. So small steps, but it is building. Gary

Where I live in Hartlepool we have the National Museum of the Royal Navy North, home to Europe’s oldest floating warship HMS Trincomalee, Unicorn’s older sister ship, with the NMRN looking to increase its presence here. So it is possible to build around a single ship. There is a strong local attachment to Unicorn in Dundee, and I don’t imagine they will let her go, so there is that precarious tension between income and cost for a relatively unknown ship. But things look like they are moving at last. Gary

I recall reading that a several decades ago, the roof, which is original to her launch and placement in ordinary, was trimmed back, reducing the overhang. This ‘cosmetic’ change had far reaching consequences. With the pronounced overhang rainwater was kept away from the ship, but once it was cut back rainwater entered her top timbers and permeated throughout the hull. I believe it was also reduced over the bow (you can see the modern covering on the first photo above), rather than the original timber covering, this has contributed to water ingress at the bow. All of this accelerated deterioration, including the hogging. Once the impact was understood the roof was re-extended, but the damage was done. A few years ago (probably 10+ when I think about it) the planned conservation was all about minimal intrusive works and keeping as much original material as possible, even chemical injection was being considered to stabilise the timber, but it now sounds like they are beyond that if they are searching out for oak trees, probably more restoration than conservation lies ahead. And to think in the 1960’s they were still holding on to the prospect of masting her. Internally she is in fine condition, and a great testament to Sir Robert Seppings innovations. Even the roof is generally untouched, and of significant archaeological and historic importance in its own right, masting her would have destroyed that artefact. Hopefully they can find a way to get her sorted. Gary

That is one stunning kit. Well done Chris. Gary

His follow up is ‘Frigates of the Napoleonic Wars’, and there was also the earlier ‘First Frigates - Nine-Pounder and Twelve-Pounder 1748 - 1815’. Gary

Victory’s figurehead dating from 1815, that may have earlier 1803 elements has been discovered, it seems it was disassembled in 2009 with a chainsaw when they thought it was a 20th Century reconstruction! https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/defence/scientists-rediscover-200-year-old-royal-navy-figurehead-mistakenly-sawn-pieces-3129766 Gary