Morgan

Just ordered two books I’ve been drooling over, nice to see these books available once more.
 
Gary

Just ordered two books I’ve been drooling over, nice to see these books available once more.
 
Gary

Just ordered two books I’ve been drooling over, nice to see these books available once more.
 
Gary

Hi BE,
 
It was not unusual for differing partition types to be mixed, so to have the doors solid as Sphinx, hence shown on the plans, but used in conjunction with other canvas partitions, that would not be shown. This would certainly explain the apparent ‘stranded’ nature of the anomalous doors.
 
An example of mixing is Wardrooms in the mid 18th Century having a forward bulkhead of canvas stretched over frames, but mere hanging curtains to delineate cabins.  These curtains were either just weighted at the lower end or fixed to ring bolts in the deck, so no real structure to be captured on the plans.
 
I certainly wouldn’t like to model them, at 1:64 it would look like a dogs breakfast!
 
Gary

Hi BE,
 
It was not unusual for differing partition types to be mixed, so to have the doors solid as Sphinx, hence shown on the plans, but used in conjunction with other canvas partitions, that would not be shown. This would certainly explain the apparent ‘stranded’ nature of the anomalous doors.
 
An example of mixing is Wardrooms in the mid 18th Century having a forward bulkhead of canvas stretched over frames, but mere hanging curtains to delineate cabins.  These curtains were either just weighted at the lower end or fixed to ring bolts in the deck, so no real structure to be captured on the plans.
 
I certainly wouldn’t like to model them, at 1:64 it would look like a dogs breakfast!
 
Gary

Hi BE,
 
Just picking up on the puzzle of the isolated doors abaft the galley.  I’ve been researching bulkheads of recent and it seems that only solid framed bulkheads, either demountable or permanent (the latter usually in the Orlop or Berth deck on a frigate), were shown on contemporary plans.  
 
Many partitions were little more than hanging canvas curtains, for instance to the Wardroom and Gunroom cabin spaces on Ships-of-the-Line, these are not shown on contemporary plans.  
 
It is entirely feasible that canvas screens were also to be found around the galley when there was a need for further enclosure, these would be rolled up and fixed under the deck beams when not required. 
 
Gary

Hi BE,
 
It was not unusual for differing partition types to be mixed, so to have the doors solid as Sphinx, hence shown on the plans, but used in conjunction with other canvas partitions, that would not be shown. This would certainly explain the apparent ‘stranded’ nature of the anomalous doors.
 
An example of mixing is Wardrooms in the mid 18th Century having a forward bulkhead of canvas stretched over frames, but mere hanging curtains to delineate cabins.  These curtains were either just weighted at the lower end or fixed to ring bolts in the deck, so no real structure to be captured on the plans.
 
I certainly wouldn’t like to model them, at 1:64 it would look like a dogs breakfast!
 
Gary

Hi BE,
 
Just picking up on the puzzle of the isolated doors abaft the galley.  I’ve been researching bulkheads of recent and it seems that only solid framed bulkheads, either demountable or permanent (the latter usually in the Orlop or Berth deck on a frigate), were shown on contemporary plans.  
 
Many partitions were little more than hanging canvas curtains, for instance to the Wardroom and Gunroom cabin spaces on Ships-of-the-Line, these are not shown on contemporary plans.  
 
It is entirely feasible that canvas screens were also to be found around the galley when there was a need for further enclosure, these would be rolled up and fixed under the deck beams when not required. 
 
Gary

Hi BE,
 
It was not unusual for differing partition types to be mixed, so to have the doors solid as Sphinx, hence shown on the plans, but used in conjunction with other canvas partitions, that would not be shown. This would certainly explain the apparent ‘stranded’ nature of the anomalous doors.
 
An example of mixing is Wardrooms in the mid 18th Century having a forward bulkhead of canvas stretched over frames, but mere hanging curtains to delineate cabins.  These curtains were either just weighted at the lower end or fixed to ring bolts in the deck, so no real structure to be captured on the plans.
 
I certainly wouldn’t like to model them, at 1:64 it would look like a dogs breakfast!
 
Gary

Little update..
 
My 'new' garage conversion is now more or less complete. I now have a good electricity supply going into the workshop and have a good amount of sockets, so no more extensions snaking all over the floor. The final job was the insulated roller shutter doors. I took a couple of pics, but realised I took these after I just finished maintenance (cleaning) of the laser machines. In this room, the parts are produced, both laser cut sheets and castings.
 
I have also added a couple of pics on my Indy prototype progress. This is the third hull since starting, and the final designs. All beams and decks above the gun deck are just dry fitted in place, to check general fit of all of these parts, the beams especially. The upper deck and poop you see are sub decks only, and they will require planking (no pre etched decks for the final kit). But I will include the etched planking on the sub decks as shown, in case some want to use as a template. Decks can be fully planked or part open, as shown. I would suggest you don't deviate too much from these openings, however, as there are 10 guns per side on the quarter and forecastle deck..
 
Gun deck inner bulwarks have been added (all pre-cut) as well as spirketting. Most of the outer hull will be planked in the traditional manner, though.
 
It has been a lot of long hours to get to this stage, but I can relax a little once all critical structural parts are finalised - but these very early stages of the pre-prototype will give you an idea of what I am aiming for, for this kit. I will keep on building using this hull until I get to the stage, like my Sphinx 'throwaway' (which I still have...) where I know everything fits as it should, then over to Jim!

Hi All -
 
It is true that SeaWatch will be reopening! I acquired the company from Bob and Cathy this week and I'm so excited to get it going. I'll do a broader announcement shortly, but I thought I'd post here initially given the focus of the thread. Note that I've read through all the comments here and the first thing I'm doing is moving the store to a true e-commerce platform. This should fix many of the fulfillment issues that were discussed. I hope to have the store open in a week or so. In the meantime, go to www.seawatchbooks.com to register for a 20% off code which will be usable as soon as we reopen.
 
I'm delighted to have the opportunity to keep SeaWatch going and I promise to continue to provide outstanding, beautiful, high-quality books and bring new titles to market!
 
Any questions, feel free to reach me at support@seawatchbooks.com.
 
More to come soon!
 
Mike

There are Vanguard 24 pdr  carriages available at 1/64, the lengths are just not not given on Chris’s website, I’ve just measured the ones I have and they are a tad under 30mm, so close to 6ft at full scale.  
 
Gary

There are Vanguard 24 pdr  carriages available at 1/64, the lengths are just not not given on Chris’s website, I’ve just measured the ones I have and they are a tad under 30mm, so close to 6ft at full scale.  
 
Gary

There are Vanguard 24 pdr  carriages available at 1/64, the lengths are just not not given on Chris’s website, I’ve just measured the ones I have and they are a tad under 30mm, so close to 6ft at full scale.  
 
Gary

From what I’ve seen of guns recovered from the wreck of the Agamemnon they were Armstrong pattern guns, Vanguard models carry both these and appropriate gun carriages.
 
If you wish to make your own you will need the 1795 pattern gun carriage which was the prevailing carriage when Agamemnon was wrecked, carriages having a lifespan of approximately 10 years.  Search the NationalMaritime Museum collections (https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects). 
 
Gary

From what I’ve seen of guns recovered from the wreck of the Agamemnon they were Armstrong pattern guns, Vanguard models carry both these and appropriate gun carriages.
 
If you wish to make your own you will need the 1795 pattern gun carriage which was the prevailing carriage when Agamemnon was wrecked, carriages having a lifespan of approximately 10 years.  Search the NationalMaritime Museum collections (https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects). 
 
Gary

From what I’ve seen of guns recovered from the wreck of the Agamemnon they were Armstrong pattern guns, Vanguard models carry both these and appropriate gun carriages.
 
If you wish to make your own you will need the 1795 pattern gun carriage which was the prevailing carriage when Agamemnon was wrecked, carriages having a lifespan of approximately 10 years.  Search the NationalMaritime Museum collections (https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects). 
 
Gary

In Hood's 1939 refit the 30ft gig position was modified to permanent 27ft whaler positions (AOTS Hood). I noticed there are a few ropes running  from the end of the boat deck towards the whalers (A); these ropes plus pulleys remain visible until the end of Hood's career (D) when a small stump mast appeared as well (F). Looking closely at images of the boat deck I also found that a rope is running from the whaler position back to the derrick of the main mast (B); I could not find a good picture showing if it is the same rope as at (A). A system of two blocks was placed on the aft of the boat deck and the system is tied up somewhere out of sight between the skylights (C).
 

 
While scanning my trusty McDermaid &; Manual of Seamanship I found the above images in the latter with a few examples of block variations (there are many others, see  this HNSA page). It appears when a rope goes back and forth between two blocks it's called a purchase when that number is even and a luff when that number is odd. So that would mean in the image above our mystery cable is a luff plus a separate block running the rope towards the skylights (I wonder how long it will take a modeller of a man-o-war to master instantly naming a hoisting system correctly).
 

 
Stump masts, ropes, blocks and  pulleys are not uncommon near davits as this sketch shows throwing me further of track. But, if you want to lower I boat then one might think that the block should be much farther away from the davits or you don't have enough rope left to lower your boat; both in this sketch and aboard HMS Hood the layout is meant to hoist something in.
 

 
The drawings of the main mast do not show any other lines other than the lift & purchase lines plus a thrice line---an additional line when hoisting a boat in that is used to pull the ring of the boat's sling over the hook---- but that is not a line that would require a system of blocks. Note that the cabling layout for the hook is called a (single?) purchase and not a(n inverted) double whip, but soit.
 

 
I later found the rope in action in this clip where the crew is lowering a boat; this rope is not meant to do any hoisting itself and appears to be merely a side guy meant to control the lateral movement of the main derrick itself. I'm now fairly certain that in the top images ropes A and B are the same.
 

 
That leaves the stump mast; I think it was added simply the clear the 4" turret when working the derrick and is not related to the davits at all. I estimated its height at 8 feet based on railing height and a side view showing the top of the mast.
 

 
The stump mast image top left shows a single lug, a studless shackle and a pulley. The lugs & shackles were made using the same methods as detailed in the post /Ground Tackle part I, top-right showing two small lugs and four rings held in position using take and a 0.2mm drill (on which the solder doesn't hold which is very convenient). The small tripod was soldered into place using a small jig made from MDF and tape. A tiny bit of reheating was enough to fix the small angled supports with a tiny bit of CA to prevent  the lug and the shackle  falling to pieces. The pulley was made from 0.5 and 0.7mm discs punched from 0.13mm styrene.

I love this complicated carving
It is a challenge to one's own technology
I try not to damage the overall structure during CNC processing,
The character and the horse are each a whole
The work is relatively difficult to complete, but the processing is relatively good
After CNC processing, it still needs manual trimming
Therefore, the whole production cycle is still relatively long
I will continue to challenge other works when I have time
Tom
 

 

 
 
 
 

The davits were made from 0.5mm brass rod with both ends tapered to 0.3mm. The pairs of holes were drilled in as explained in this post. Two davits were pairwise bent into the right position and then angled inward by about 12 degrees. Small 0.3mm rings from a 0.7mm tube with 0.2mm holes were soldered to the davits (bottom left); next two small etched parts and the rest of the tubes were added. After a few hours the davits were complete.
 

 
The gripping spar was next; I sanded the ends a bit to indicate the square region. I didn't file the ends square but flattened the ends in the vice. Two small 0.2mm holes were drilled in where the spar will be supported. I also made two "construction sites"  from MDF with four small 0.4mm tubes that will be added to the model as well. The davits and spars fit really well in this temporary position. The spar isn't soldered into place yet, two cushions need to be added that I'll make from magic sculpt pressed gently into a whaler model for a good fit, but these small models need to be made first.

It’s nice to see your work on MSW, it must be a year since I last checked out your website, I need to drop in again and see what other updates I’ve missed.
 
Gary

It’s from Peter Goodwin’s  ‘The Construction and Fitting of the English Man of War 1650 - 1850’
 
Gary

It’s from Peter Goodwin’s  ‘The Construction and Fitting of the English Man of War 1650 - 1850’
 
Gary

It’s from Peter Goodwin’s  ‘The Construction and Fitting of the English Man of War 1650 - 1850’
 
Gary

Hi Daniel, 
 
I see you have turned detective once more!
 
In this period Victory acted variously as a signalling ship and tender to the Wellington I believe, so my guess is it would be for the on watch signals team.
 
Looks like the 2 lower structures aft of the cabin are flag lockers as you have identified, with the whole Poop set up as a signals platform.
 
Gary