hamilton

That ebony looks beautiful - was this milled on a thickness sander/table saw or what was your process? I'd be interested to know. hamilton

interesting video - my favourite line - "you almost disappear into the ship" - a great description of a good day's modelling! hamilton

Just catching up on your work on Blandford, Dave - as others have said it is spectacular! Very precise and clean. hamilton

Wow - she looks really smart! Even those metal parts, which I could never make look that good, are looking nice - I like the treatment you've given them and the cabin details fit perfectly. I seem to remember diluting some burnt umber acrylic and kind of dipping the metal parts in it, letting it dry and then burnishing them. Not the most effective weathering but it didn't turn out too badly - but to be honest I think the parts look good as you have them. hamilton

It does indeed! Thanks Druxey! Any further comment on this thread would be welcome hamilton

Thanks Druxey: Is it also a question of the appearance of the grain (depending on wood species) relative to the scale of the model? As well as for the workability of the wood? Not knowing much about wood, does edge grain or face grain bend better for hull planking, e.g.? Or in the case of Boxwood, would edge grain or face grain look better as planking on a 1:48 scale model? Sorry if these questions are either obtuse or simplistic! hamilton

Hi all: Are there specific parts of a model ship for which edge or face grain work/look better? hamilton

HA - the funny thing is that I picked up Historic Model Ships at a book fair on Hornby Island where we spend our summer cabin days out here in the Pacific Northwest...it was a steal at $2.00 CDN. I have been reading through but am only around page 110!! hamilton

Thanks Mark: I guess this ambiguity gives some room for interpretation - where exact historical accuracy is not achievable, probably best to fall back on what looks good or "feels" right... Thanks all for the informative responses to this thread! hamilton

Lees makes no mention of the introduction of shroud cleats - though as Mark (SJSoane) points out, he does mention some lines being belayed (on the shrouds)....Some of his belaying notes are quite vague ("the line runs down to the deck", for example). And it would take some detailed going through to see if he specifies shroud cleats or pins on racks on the shrouds. I had been assuming that lines belayed, for example, at the fore or main or mizzen tops would be tied off on shroud cleats - otherwise, where would they go? The images posted earlier show racks on the lower shrouds, but what of the topmast shrouds? I guess I'm throwing more questions out there rather than settling anything, but....another area of conjecture hamilton

Thanks Mark for the interesting history and the lovely repros and David for the link - this has definitely made up my mind with respect to this problem. Jersey City Frankie - I agree - it's hard to imagine anyone doing anything in a way that pre-dates something we later define as useful or necessary. No cave man ever longed for the distractions provided by television, but I guess they must have had other ways of keeping the stress and bother of life at bay that they thought were both delightful and amazing (at least I like to think of cave men that way, otherwise their lives seem way too depressing)....and today how often is it that younger generations think of a way of doing something or a new technique or technology that makes what their elders did seem absurd! As a teacher, I'm exposed to this kind of thing all the time - best profession if you really want to feel the ageing process..... hamilton

Thanks Mark! So during this period would pin racks have been on the shrouds - as opposed to shroud cleats? The drawings Lees provides of belaying plans indicate pin racks on the mizzen shrouds only, while in the text he mentions that they were seen on racks on the shrouds in small ships and large ships by the end of the 18th century....nowhere have I seen images of vessels in this period with belaying pins on the crosspieces of the bitts, though this is how Corel depicts them - perhaps as a convenience or perhaps (since the kit is a kind of combination of features from different periods of Bellona's career) to reflect a later practice.... hamilton

Thanks David! Much appreciated! hamilton

Hello there: I'm curious whether belaying pins would have been used on British Royal Navy ships in 1780. James Lees, in The Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War, dates their introduction to 1745, where they were used "on racks on the shrouds of small ships but not seen on large ships until the end of the eighteenth century" (p. 139) - but "seen" where? On similar racks on the shrouds, or elsewhere as well? My subject is HMS Bellona - specifically the Corel kit, which shows belaying pins on the crosspieces of the sheet and jeer bitts of the fore and main mast, as well as on the sheet bitt of the mizzen mast. For comparison, Brian Lavery's Anatomy of the Ship HMS Bellona does not show pins on the crosspieces, though in studying his book I've noticed (as with Corel's plans) that features are given that correspond to the pre-1780 Bellona, the 1780 refit, and also features of the rig that Lees suggests did not arise until the first decade of the 19th century (towards the end of Bellona's career).... As a follow up (bonus?) question, can anyone say whether shroud cleats (on lower and topmast shrouds) would have been used at this time....? Lees doesn't give a date for these, and I have no other sources that could confirm or deny their use in 1780 on British Royal Navy ships.... Any clarity on the belaying pin and shroud cleat questions (and apologies if this has been addressed elsewhere....) would be very much appreciated. hamilton

She's looking great Ferit! Amazing work as usual hamilton