Thukydides

It is looking really good.

Log #17: The Platforms Despite my previous promises that I was done with test pieces, I continue to make more of them. The problem is that every one I do is just a little bit better than the last one. At some point I need to decide they are good enough, but knowing when to make that step is hard when you are a perfectionist. Below you can see my latest test piece on the left along with an earlier one on the right. You can see how much thinner the lines are on the newer one. I am using my dark glue mixture so I can clearly see how big the gaps are on these tests. I have been focusing on just practicing this particular joint as it is the most complex one in the knee of the head construction with 2 scarfs and a number of curves. I have however made some actual progress this week on the platforms. These will almost certainly not be visible, but on the off chance some angle shows them I want the bottom of the ladderways to show the planking. This is something that needs to be done prior to the structure of the bulkheads are assembled so I figured now was as good a time as any. I used scrap boxwood left over from my alert build and marked one edge of each plank with an HB pencil to show the caulking line. Then I sanded in various grits from 150 to 320 to 500 both to smooth the finish, but also to thin the planks. The ones I had were approximately 1/32 in, but I needed to thin them down to 3/128 in as the contract states the planks were to be 1.5 in thick. This really was not necessary, but I figured I might as well do it right if I could. Finally I added a coat of WOP which I quickly wiped off to give just a slight sheen.

I assume you are referring to Alert, Trial and Sherbourne. The difference in these is mostly the size and level of difficulty involved. Sherbourne is the smallest and easiest to build. Trial is in the middle in terms of size and features drop keels. Alert is the largest and features less pre-cut parts than the others (you have to plank all the way up the bulwarks etc...) Which best suits you depends a little on what you want to achieve. If you are a novice with little experience and just want to build something using out of the box parts (no modifications) then I would recommend Sherbourne. If you like the drop keel aesthetic and you have some more modelling experience then Trial might be a good choice. If you are more confident in your modelling abilities and want to push yourself by trying a bit of kitbashing then Alert would be a more appropriate choice as the smaller number of precut parts mean there is a bit more scope for kitbashing. All three will build lovely models out of the box.

Congrats and great job.

There is only the catalog entry: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C13422581

An interesting corollary of the 1782 letter is that it suggests that prior to that date the coppering was often done over the false keel.

As @Desertanimal said I think the rope looks a bit big. With 3pdr guns she would use a 3 1/2 in cir breaching and a 1 1/2 in cir tackle with 5in blocks. At this scale that works out to 0.44mm and 0.2mm diameter rope for the breeching and tackles respectively 2mm blocks would be appropriate. Rigging at this scale is a very fiddly process and I recommend using magnification as trying to do it with naked eyes is not easy. If you want to be correct to the scale you will need to use something like 10/0 fly tying thread for the seizing. If you don't want to mess with that, then I would recommend skipping the tackle and just going with the breeching ropes. Many choose to do this anyways and it is better to have no tackles then to have ones that are not at the right scale.

Great find. Thanks for sharing. I remember there was a thread a little while back discussing this very question, but there was no definitive answer. @Sizzolo you might be interested in this.

Looking good. That is a lot of plates :).

Now this is much earlier than your time period, but according to the Art of Rigging in 1806, strapping of 4 in diameter and above are wormed parceled and served and less than that just served. They discuss how the serving is done on shore and the lengths just cut off as needed. It is not clear if the splice to join the two ends of the strop (which they state is in the **** of the block :)) was then served over, but I would guess not. p44: https://books.google.ca/books?id=Cq1WAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false I am not sure exactly what you are asking here, but in general I would expect that the lower down and more permanent the block, the more likely it is to be directly attached to the structure / eyebolt. The higher up and less permanent it is the more likely it is to use a lashing to attach two ends of a loop or to use hooks. I don’t have any sources for this assertion, just what I have observed the tendency in the examples I have seen and logic (I would assume that it was much harder to do this on the top of the mast as opposed to on deck). The mast is looking good. Nice job on the fix.

Yes it was the actual cement residue that was the problem. I will remember this for next time. I just used a course dish cloth and it all came off, just it took a while.

Log #16: The Build Board & Dry Fitting I have finally finished cutting the all the bulkheads. I then had to remove the templates and rub off the rubber cement residue on them. This was actually one of those things which took a surprising amount of time to do. Then came the rather lengthy process of checking the fit of all the pieces. I want them to be snug, but not too snug such that they exert too much pressure and cause things to warp. Also I need enough play to allow me to make small adjustments to make sure everything is square when it comes time to start gluing. I made some sanding sticks to help with the process and as luck would have it, the course one was just the right thickness such that if I could get it into the slots easily they were sized correctly with only minor adjustments with files and the finer grit stick. Then it was time to make some brackets to hold the centre bulkhead straight while I am constructing the bulkheads to ensure there is no twisting till all my reinforcing pieces are in place. I just used off the shelf corner brackets and glued a piece of wood to them to allow them to reach over the keel clamp that runs along the build board. And here below you can see the current status of affairs. Everything is now ready to start building, I just need to have enough confidence to start cutting the wood for the stem/knee of the head/keel. I also need to finalize how I am going to ultimately secure the ship to the base as the hardware for that will also need to be added to the centre bulkheads prior to the structure being built. @JacquesCousteau Yes I also agree with you. It is mostly a matter of getting a tight joint. The tighter the joint, the less gap there is to be filled by the glue-paint mix and so the less visible the lines are. My goal with all of the planking etc. is to have the major structural joints only somewhat visible from 6 ft away and all the minor ones (such as the planking) to be invisible. But then when you get closer all of them can be seen. We will see how well I manage to achieve this, but that is the goal. I am still undecided on what to do with bolt joints as convention is often to have them very visible, but in real practice they were covered with wooden plugs so would not have been that visible. Similarly I have not yet figured out what I want to do with the horseshoe and fish plates. As far as my reading has gone they appear to have been made of copper, but black is a much nicer colour to show them off. So many decisions and we are getting closer to the point where I can’t put them off much longer… Thanks for stopping by.

Looking good. If I may, I would recommend rigging the breeching ropes off of the guns. It makes it much easier. See this post for an example of what I mean.

Those cannons look great. Well done! Also good job on the steps. Not adding them is one of my regrets with my Alert.

Fantastic! I like how your designs are giving more and more options for opening up more of the ship.