mcpwilk

Superb modelling to date. I enjoy splicing but splicing scale ropes is a little more taxing than splicing full size ones!

Having a scale figure helps improve perspective. If you want to try some larger scale Nelsonian sailors, the Victory Miniatures web site is worth a look (https://www.victoryminiatures.co.uk/index.php?id=about).

Mike

Very impressive build.

Mike

This has been done beautifuuly. I have one query before I fit the bowsprit on my own model. All illustrations of the time show a simple bowsprit without a dolphin striker or "jig boom". Other firms models have only the simple bowsprit. Where did Mamoli get the idea of a more involved set up, which was not uncommon on ships of the time?

Mike

Looking good so far, but Alert was clinker built (I find clinker planking easier than carvel).

Mike

Quote

Too bad that Britannic's boat racks would be useless in case of emergency (no time to move the boats from lower positions) and fortunately the ship was empty when sank.

Brittanic was not empty when she was mined. On the morning of 21 November 1916 she was shaken by an explosion caused by a mine near the Greek island of Kea and sank 55 minutes later, killing 30 people. There were 1,066 people on board; the 1,036 survivors were rescued from the water andthe lifeboats.

Very nicely done in an unusual scale. I find clinker easer than carvel planking. If using metal pins, I cut off the ends and push them in flush. Treenails I use coctail sticks which I thin down through a home made jeweller's draw plate and then sand flush. Black cartridge paper between the deck planks is a good substitute for caulking and tar (see below).

I shall look forward to future progress,

Mike

1/48 Schooner for Port Jackson (scratch built)

1/48 HM Cutter Andromeda (kit based)

I'm often in two minds about sails. They show the ship as she is meant to be but they also obscure the rigging. They are often made overscale, especially where sticthing is concerned. Your sails are a masterpiece and I am sure will enhance an extremely accurate and impressive build.

Mike

I use sewing thread for whipping and ratlines. Overscale cordage is very common on model ships.

Mike

Quote

albeit some instruction errors still exist even in 2021

This is very nicely done and the sails look just right. I understand that the plans for this kit were based on drawings by Karl Heinz Marquardt. I am currently rigging my scratch built 1/48 scale model, based on the plans from the National Maritime Museum with a sail/rigging plan drawn by David MacGregor. The NMM plans show two options; sloop rigged with a single mast and channels with three deadeyes or schooner rigged and channels with four deadeyes for both fore and mainmasts, the forward three deadeyes for the lower mast, the aft deadeye for the topmast. The rigging plans also show yards crossed on both masts with a topsail as well as a driver on the mainmast.

1/48 - really? That level of detail suggests at least 1/32 if not 1/24!

Mike

Absolutely stunning display of craftsmanship.

Mike

I alway find it easier to plank a clinker than a carvel hull!

Mike

I am in the process of rigging my scratch built 1/48 scale Schooner for Port Jackson based on the lines and details from the National Maritime Museum archives and the rig details from the late David MacGregor. The kit does not match the either the NMM plans or the rig as drawn by DM. This may not matter because there is some dispute as to whether or not the vessel was built as drawn. Persoanlly I enjoy the research as well as the build, but accept that for many people it is the build and display which floats their proverbial boat.

Mike

The planking is superb, but is carvel, not clinker.

Stunningly beautiful, exquisite modelling.

Mike

A staggeringly beautiful work of art.

Mike

Looking very good, but the ratlines look a touch overscale.

Mike

Superb artistry as well as modelling,

Mike

The secret to planking sharp curves at bow and stern is to chamfer the frames. This often requires patience, a lot of elbow grease and a sanding block!

Mike

Just a short note as a reminder that Speedy would have flown a pre 1800 Ensign, without the St Patrick's Cross. Her ensign could have been red, white or blue, depending under which Admiral she sailed.

Mike

Staggering quality - a true artist and mastercraftswoman.

Mike

This degree of obsessional and beautiful artistry is extraordinary - I'm sure there's a medical name for it!

Mike

Outstanding craftsmanship and artistry.

Mike

The caftsmanship is excellent, but having sailed dinghies for over five decades I can't help but feel that you have put the centre board and its casing in back to front, as evident on your original plan. If the dinghy struck an undersurface obstacle (sandbank etc.) with the centreboard down as modelled, instead of bouncing up, it would be forced down, damaging the boat.

Mike

I think that flying in this context means that the t'gallant was attached by each clew to the topsail yard, probably by sheets! One of the illustrations in the Anatomy of the Ship book on Alert suggests that in heavy winds a triangular t'gallant was set.

Mike