Hubac's Historian

Siggi,
 
In my estimation, you can count yourself among the very best in the ship-modeling community.  There is, simultaneously, precision of craft and the hand of the maker.  Your tiller is a real treat!
 
Best,
 
M

As ever, excellent work, and the foot bars make sense. While the boats on display at Portsmouth may only be contemporary examples, the one that looks like the launch has a planked 'deck' at about 1/3rd height vertically, sitting on cross bars. I can see what looks like a duckboard underneath this in my photos, sat on the frames. I can also just about make out the slots for the capstan, though neither this nor the little stern gantry are present on the boat. Nor is there anything that would give clues about the rigging. I imagine this launch, like the Vic itself, has had a few improvements and adaptations made over the years, and the deck may have been added as a more comfortable solution once load carrying became less relevant. It's frustrating that it's so difficult to get good photos of the boats (and that they seem to be a repository for offcuts and wood scraps). Maybe next time I'll ask if I could go inside the enclosure - it turns out I have a free pass for the historic dockyard and V@P so can visit as often as I like.

Some time ago, I made the mistake of getting involved with the boats because of the oars. Of course, this was not without consequences ...

... Here is the white “big” launch from the kit and behind it a new “decent” 34 foot launch according to McKay's drawings.

Unfortunately, the planks of the inner floor gave way during printing, there was only a small usable remnant at the front and rear.

And if you man the boat, you can see straight away that the large boats were rowed “double banked”, i.e. 2 men per thwart and if the capstan is used, one thwart cannot be used.

Oar lengths inside and outside and the position to the rower and his arms seem to be correct.

But the inside floor still gives me pause for thought. As McKay draws it, it is 30-40 cm too low for the rower's legs and too high so that 50% of the load volume is lost. So it's a strange intermediate height

Somehow this still didn't fit. I then rummaged through my documents again and found what I was looking for, as these details are seldom shown.



Here is the small kit that has evolved as a result.

The inner floor to protect the hull now rests on the frames at the very bottom. The rowers' feet have been given a bar for this purpose.

Trial sitting ...

... and it fits reasonably well. With slightly straighter legs it even fits quite well.

So the other foot bars are also installed.

After that came the thwarts and the other interior ...

 




And again we had a rehearsal sitting ...

... even multiple ones.






This also seems to fit. The capstan is removable, so two more rowers could fit in.

But the next question is, what was the rigging like?



In terms of the mast positions, I would have guessed lugger rigging, which I was able to see live a few times in France, or perhaps sprit rigging, but I'll see what Steel has to say about that later. Above all, all the fittings on the hull are still missing, which are vera often omitted.

Greetings, DAniel
 
 

Siggi,
 
In my estimation, you can count yourself among the very best in the ship-modeling community.  There is, simultaneously, precision of craft and the hand of the maker.  Your tiller is a real treat!
 
Best,
 
M

Siggi,
 
In my estimation, you can count yourself among the very best in the ship-modeling community.  There is, simultaneously, precision of craft and the hand of the maker.  Your tiller is a real treat!
 
Best,
 
M

Love it!  Looks awesome, Eric!

Finished with the third set of Trophies Of War... with the days being so long and with plenty of yardwork - and boating ! - to do, time in the shipyard is limited to 1-2 hours in the morning. The third TOW is a frontal view of a plumed helmet bracketed by spears and axes.... 
 
I can see flaws at a very close range, but I am not going to change a thing, as I think the appearance from normal viewing range is just fine. I MAY trim the axed blade on the right so it has a point on the back side, but then... maybe not.
 

 
 

 
 
I made extensive use of 28 guage copper wire to make the spears and axes. I just tapped on the wire with a small hammer on concrete to make "leaf" blades on the spear tips, as all that I needed at normal viewing distance was the hint of a point. As for the axes, I just cut tiny blades and straps from the flattened copper wire. This TOW uses polystyrene, copper wire, ApoxieSculpt, and Gorilla Glue. The actual assembly took only two hours, but I had to build in plenty of drying time.
 

 

 

Hi Ian - yeah, all is okay here - apart from annoyingly and persistently high cholesterol (how much fiber and Omega3’s can a person reasonably consume?!), I’m doing okay.
 
Life just sped up for me, is all.  I was going to do some painting last night.  I opened a new (but very old) bottle of what I assumed was ModelMaster acrylic last night.  I was trying to thin the paint with water, but it was behaving strangely.  It took me far too long to realize that what I actually had was a bottle of enamel.  I am curious to see whether all of that water I added simply returns to the surface, overnight.
 
Anyway, I’m at a sort of critical juncture with my 13-year old son, who needs me now more than ever, and my daughter, who will be off to college in a year.  Nothing alarming, there, but guidance and support are really necessary, so that is where my energies go.

..Alive and kicking - however, so softly.
 
In the time that I have available, and am ALERT, I make what little progress I can.
 
I’m working on deck furniture.  A considerable amount of time was spent, as always, on de-plasticizing the appearance of these parts; flash removal, in-filling of injection mould marks, softening of sharp edges, and general detailing.
 
I wish I were doing more, but life demands are limiting what’s possible.  As always, I so appreciate all and anyone that continues to check in, or take a look at the project.  Some day, I will finish this one! 

The lower shrouds are completed, and the lanyards are rigged but not yet tied, using sculpey clay I made up the tack fairlead, finished up the entry port by adding a step/landing. Thanks for looking.
 
Michael D.
 
 

I finally completed the lower stays, threading the 5-hole dead eyes for the Mizen stay was quite tricky even with the shrouds out of the way but I was able to get it eventually in the tight space. The Main and Mizen lower shrouds are also completed with the fore shrouds still left to complete, then on to the topmasts. Thanks for taking the time to stop by and look, very much appreciated as always.
 
Michael D.
 
 

About halfway done with the Mizen shrouds, using .25mm shroud laid rope for these along with the pendants, for the tackle I'm using 2mm single blocks with the lower one hooked to an eye bolt on the side of the hull, kind of hard to see given the scale and the other end is led trough an eye bolt on the deck and tied to the railing using 50wt thread, lanyards are 100wt thread and the dead eyes measure out at around 1.75mm, things are pretty tight in this area but looking acceptable and thanks for looking, Cheers!
 
Michael D.
 

I stropped the necessary blocks on the crossjack, the topsail sheet blocks are 2.5mm...19" at scale, lift blocks are 1.5mm and the mizen course bowline block are 2mm,16" at scale. Still contemplating if I want to rig the peak brails instead of the martnets, this will date it at around 1640 but yet Payne shows them, we shall see and thanks for looking.
 
Michael D.
 
 

Small update regarding the parrel, I'm pretty happy with the first attempt and will keep it, it will be glued to the mast once it's painted, thanks for looking.
 
Michael D.
 
 

I made up the Lateen yard and crossjack, as with the fore and main courses the Mizen course will use the tie in conjunction with the jeer, the block is 3mm and just a bit under scale and the crossjack sling block is 2.5mm, again slightly under scale. This is all in the mockup stage and still a ton of work left to do before permanently attaching the yards to the lower mast prior to gluing it in place.
 
Michael D.
 
  

I finished up the lower main shrouds to the point of getting them around the mast head so I could rig the lower main stay and lanyard, up next I'll be working on stepping the lower mizen mast in place and the mizen stay before completing the lower shrouds. Thanks for looking.
 
Michael D.
 
 

Stunning work, as always, Dan.  Portsmouth should build an annex to the  Victory museum, and call it “Daniel’s Quarter Gallery”.  You have done as much and more than the museum, itself, for understanding of the many iterations of Victory throughout her long life.

Stunning work, as always, Dan.  Portsmouth should build an annex to the  Victory museum, and call it “Daniel’s Quarter Gallery”.  You have done as much and more than the museum, itself, for understanding of the many iterations of Victory throughout her long life.

Stunning work, as always, Dan.  Portsmouth should build an annex to the  Victory museum, and call it “Daniel’s Quarter Gallery”.  You have done as much and more than the museum, itself, for understanding of the many iterations of Victory throughout her long life.

I echo that. From a technical view alone it's a superb piece of work, but the artistry is what really catches the eye. I certainly know what you mean about 15 iterations, sometimes even that isn't enough, is it.

Stunning work, as always, Dan.  Portsmouth should build an annex to the  Victory museum, and call it “Daniel’s Quarter Gallery”.  You have done as much and more than the museum, itself, for understanding of the many iterations of Victory throughout her long life.

And I was also finally able to finish the capstans.

All the parts had been in the making since well into last year, but I never really had the chance to finish them. Basic programming strictly according to plan is always done quickly, but until the look of the printout refreshes my eyes and heart in terms of model making, it takes a few more rounds of printing, tinkering and improving, version #15 is the normal case here.

Here is an intermediate version, the brass tubes have now been replaced. Still mising are the bevels on the wedges below the ribs, which allow the rope to slide smoothly from round to pentagonal or hexagonal. I take such pre-prints for color samples, and lo and behold, it looked stupid in this color scheme.

Here is already the penultimate version. [Note to self: HOPEFULLY!] Good enough for a prototype. [Note to self: HOPEFULLY!]
And what do I always say? Before applying the aging, a clean base coat must be applied. Here you go.


And then life gets in: The wood starts to show at all the rubbing points of the rope on the drums. After several tests, I decided on a non-covering drybrush, which gets across most of what I would have liked to show.


And someone else has bombed into the picture: The capstan bars ...



... to match the capstan.


I made a template for alignment, using corrugated cardboard as a base to sink the upper part of the drum into and bring the spars to paper height ...


... bars inserted into the capstan and the capstan inserted upside down ...


... bars aligned and glued.



Then the swifter is pulled in and that's it.




And here are the individual parts, the middle piece is available in two heights, depending on how the battery deck is fitted with gratings.





XXXDAn

And the pumps were also due.  


First the elm tree pump. There is a protective bracket to protect the handle and the two through-pipes for the two lower decks are also included. In order not to have a pinch-off point, the handle was printed free-flying, diameter 0.5 mm x 0.5 mm. It came out straight, but when washed in acetone it bent uniformly on all prints. It's better to make a connection at the top for the next print in the hope of minimizing warping during washing.

Therefore, a glass of hot water, briefly dipped in ...



... kept in shape while cooling down and - tata ! - everything is straight again 🙂



Here is the comparison picture. So never cold bend resin, it works wonderfully with heat!

Then I discovered that I had made a 0.15 mm hole in the 0.5 mm x 0.5 mm handle.



Checked the passage with a wire ...



... and pulled in a rope. It actually really worked 🙂
The wooden clamp is not a standard one but a mini clamp ;-)

And the chain pumps have also arrived.

XXXDAn

Oh God, now the building report has actually slipped so far down that archaeological excavations were almost necessary to find it again ...

A lot of business in the business, vacation, home garden, garden plot and life itself - lots of things that can get in the way and prevent you from tinkering.

But a little something did happen. On request, I did a bit of research into the deck accessories. First the riding bitts. Another small kit in itself of 10 parts.


XXXDAn

The last time she set sails was on 04th December 1812 heading for portsmouth to get her ballast out and the rigg cut down. Last entry on the sea going log was on 18th December 1812. This was still before the introduction of her round bow in 1816.
 
Afterwards she was still moved around a bit in front of Portsmouth but never on her own sails again.
 
The film gives a great introduction on ships of this age and is marvelously done in this regard. As the reconstruction is based on McKay and Bugler, the details shown for this timeframe 1803 to 1805, there are plenty of anachronisms like the vent trucks for the hold (19th century) and the carpenters walk (1816) and many many more.
 
XXXDAn