AJohnson

Hi Keith, glad to see some updates, looking great! 👍 Nothing like a steam train and a bit of hot soot in your face! I have done some volunteering on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway over the years and got a little footplate time in! 😁🚂 Though I would not count myself as a proper “spotter” 🤣

Welcome to MSW! From another Aubrey/Maturin fan. You have a good plan for building up your skills.

Welcome to MSW!

So glad that you are okay Alan, hope the repairs go smoothly and do not take too long.

Hi Graham, I’ve been following your Victory and 1:1 scale workshop builds, didn’t know you had this beauty on the go.

Oh poor you, we must look dreadful in focus! 😆 Glad you are fixed up! 🤓

Very nice. 👌 Those deck fittings look very smart and great painting. Have you put a camber on the gratings and combings?

You could easily use wire, bent to the same diameter. That way you can add "puddening" to the ring if you want. Put "puddening" or anchor rings into the search and you will find hundreds of posts of people making wire anchor rings.

I agree with the comments so far, if you are going to do the fictional Surprise, might as well go “all in” and have chain pumps to match the books and film. If someone really does want to model the factual Surprise/L’Unite then scratching a few hand pumps not too difficult.

Building in earnest has begun. I won't do a step-by-step log, as there really is no point in duplicating Chris's' superb instructions that come with the kit. Beside there are already a few logs for the Adder that go through things in much detail. I'll just highlight the things I found interesting or difficult, or both! The initial assembly of false keel and bulkheads was very straight forward, some of the slots were a bit tight, but nothing a quick rub over with sandpaper didn't fix in a moment. As with my other builds a lucky penny was glued onto the false lower deck; dated the year of the Admiral and me tying the knot - explains the knurled old looking coin that wouldn't look out of place in an archaeology dig! 😆 Fairing of bulkheads all went without major drama, and I only broke one this time! Shout out to Dan @DB789 in his Adder log who brought attention to the length of the false deck needing a trim before gluing anything permanently. First planking has started, fairly slow as this bluff bowed beastie needs a fair bit of measuring, trimming and pre-bending to get the planks to lie flat on the bulkheads. Going okay so far, but being patient, so doing some other assemblies from later in the instructions to keep the momentum up, will show those later. Thanks for looking in.

Fantastic little project Keith, love the details, fine painting and weathering!

That looks very good, hard to see any joins or seams. How are the colour pens working out Chris?

Very neat, great painting 👍

I haven’t personally stained decks, usually I just put a few coats of Danish oil on mine. If you have some off-cuts of the contrasting planks you could try out your dilute greys before committing to model, but think it could be a solution. If you don’t go for it I still think it will be great once the “clutter” of guns and other fittings are added.

The deck looks very neat Dan, I see what you mean about the planking colours, but the majority of the paler stuff will be hidden by the cannons, which will distract greatly compared to the empty deck now. 👍

Hi Dan, Planking can be frustrating, but if you are not happy then I really respect your decision to call a halt and try something else. You could still “learn” on Sherbourne, redoing the 1st planking on it can be as good tutorial if you treat it as “dress rehearsal” for the 2nd layer. I’m just starting the 1st planking on my latest project “Sparkler” a very bluff bowed beast, managed four planks in as many hours! 🤣. Hopefully adding to the building log this weekend.

Just catching up Dan with your latest VM instalment, great progress. 👏

Sanding is not the best, but as Craig said feel or touch is the best way to gauge how smooth it is. From the pictures above I think more sanding. Also holding the hull up to a light or window will show up any imperfections visually better.

We won’t tell a soul Rob! 🤣 Your planking looks very nice, you are brave putting it on the hob, my Admiral is very precious about not scratching our hob! 🫣 Hope your health doing okay Rob.

Shut the front door! 🚪 🤣 Agreed you are are going to be swamped by comments, time for Volume III I think! 😂

Good to see you back at the model workbench Andy! 👋

While starting the initial stages of the build and needing to get some pictures taken and start the build log, a little history of Sparkler, summarised from the detail available from the History of Kent forum and Wiki. HM Gunboat No.7 was built at Deptford in 1797. Immediately after her launch, she was taken to the Royal Dockyard at Deptford, where she was fitted out and her hull was coppered. Once completed she commissioned into the Channel Fleet under Lieutenant Austin Ternan. The vessel was formally named HMS Sparkler on 7th August 1797. Lieutenant Ternan was replaced by Lieutenant William Walker in June 1798. Walker's command was not a shining example, as On 2nd July 1800, Lieutenant Walker was Court Martialled. He was charged with False Muster, False Accounting and entering his infant son on the books and claiming for provisions for absent hands. He also reduced the fresh provisions for the vessel's crew and took the remainder ashore for his own use. Lieutenant Walker was found guilty of all charges by the Court Martial Board and was dishonourably dismissed from the Service. He also liked his creature comforts and applied for permission to alter the cabins to provide himself more space! This was refused, a plan from the RMG (ZAZ5028) shows the cabin arrangements as existing and Walker’s proposed alterations. Of note is a little detail I spotted, in that his cabin already had a stove, so that is one little detail I will need to add, a small chimney for that stove. (Something like the one Chris has added to Harpy) Lieutenant John Stevens was appointed to command HMS Sparkler in August 1800. In company with other Royal Navy sloops and gun-vessels drove two French sloops ashore at Grandcamp Bay in Northern France on 19 Aug 1800, and destroyed them. A dispatch dated 11 September 1800 credits the ship, along with the cutters HMS Dolphin, HMS Champion & sister ship HMS Bouncer in destroying two more French sloops on 9 September 1800. On 15 September 1800, Lieutenant Charles Papps Price, of HMS Badger, sighted a French long cutter some four miles off the West Island of the Îles Saint-Marcouf. He sent Lieutenant M'Cullen of the Royal Marines with 24 picked men in Badger's ten-oared galley and six-oared cutter to catch the French vessel. He also signaled Sparkler to draw the fire of two shore batteries, one of two 24-pounder guns and one of two 12-pounder guns, while Badger's boats cut out the French vessel. The French crew ran their cutter on shore and cut her masts and rigging. Nevertheless, the British towed her off despite heavy small-arms fire from the shore. The prize was the privateer rowboat Victoire, mounting four swivel guns, 26 oars, and having a crew of at least 40 men, under the command of Captain Barier. Price described her as "quite new... the completest Boat for the Service of the Islands that possibly could be constructed." The only British casualty was Badger's gunners mate, who took a musket ball to the shoulder. Lieutenant William Dick replaced Stevens in 1801 before Sparkler departed for the Baltic. Sparkler joined Admiral Hyde Parker's North Sea Fleet at Yarmouth to take part in the expedition to the Baltic, which had as its objective to compel the Danes to abandon their neutrality. In March Sparkler sailed with Parker's fleet from Yarmouth for Copenhagen. Sparkler was present at the Battle of Copenhagen on the 2nd April 1801, part of the supporting Gunboats to the south of the Middle ground sand banks. Sparkler's crew received head money for the engagement, but she did not actually participate in the battle and so her crew was not listed among those qualifying for the clasp "Copenhagen" Service medal. Following the Treaty of Amiens, the "Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" offered the "Sparkler Gun-Vessel, 160 Tons, Copper-bottomed", lying at Sheerness, for sale on 9 September 1802. Sparkler then became a merchantman. She was raised in 1803 and given a new top and sides of fir plank. She first appeared in the online copies of the registers in the 1804 volume of the Register of Shipping (RS). She first appeared in Lloyd's register in the volume for 1805. On 3 December 1812 the French privateer Augusta, of 14 guns and 120 men, from Saint Malo, captured several British merchantmen near Scilly. One of the captured vessels was Sparkler, Brown, master, which had been sailing from Cadiz to London. Auguste put Sparkler's crew, as well as that of two other merchantmen, aboard Mary, which Auguste then released.Mary arrived at Plymouth on 30 December On 23 December HMS Armide and the hired cutter Nimrod were in company when they recaptured the English brig Sparkler, A. Brown, master. Nimrod sent Sparkler into Portland Roads. Having been captured and recaptured, Sparkler apparently changed masters, and perhaps owner, a change that was not reflected in Lloyd's Register. The next mention of Sparkler was that on 11 July 1813 she had arrived at Gravesend from Memel, with Keith, master. In February 1814 the transport Sparkler, Keith, master, was driven ashore and wrecked at Bayonne. The French took the crew prisoner.

Wonderful build, congratulations!

I’m getting claustrophobic just looking at those pictures! 😱 😆

Another fine cutter joining the MSW fleet. I will be following along. 🍿