allanyed

This may not be of any help to you at this point, but on the "old" ships the decks were holystoned which gave them a whiter versus grey finish. Holly is an excellent wood to give this look. Allan

Welcome to the fray Bruce! Allan

Hi If you would be so kind, please let us know a little more. What is your name? What ship? Is it a kit, POF, or POB? Different solutions depending on the type of build. You will surely get some responses, but need to share a little more information. Thanks and welcome to MSW Allan

I strongly urge you to read the tutorials here on planking. If the strakes are properly cut (straight strips are not good for much of the planking) and pre-bent while wet then left to dry, there should be no edge setting issues. Walnut is a beautiful wood, but not for ship model planking, IMHO, other than perhaps for the wales to give the dark contrast rather than painting. If you can, use a more appropriate wood such as Costello box, pear or some such. If you follow the tutorials, clamping is not needed for the most part. Where clamps are required, Ed Tosti has provide a lot of information on clamps in his threads and in the Naiad books. Just one opinion based on my own experience over the years. Allan

Thanks everyone for your input. I will chock it up to experimental on paper, if not in practice. Even if in practice, and an assumption that it did not work well, it would likely have been redone in the more commonly known fashion. At least that is my story and I will stick to it until proven otherwise. Thanks again! Allan

Thanks Brian and Mark. Your answers are among the several I have considered. But, before I change a contemporary drawing, I would love to find some other examples or something definitive. Another interesting thing on this drawing is the body plan(s) which show both port and starboard for the forward stations and port and starboard for the aft stations. This was a first for me as well as the cathead. Allan

I have come across something that I have not seen before. The cathead on the profile drawing of Antelope 1703 shows the cathead angled up and aft, not up and forward as seen on other plans and contemporary models. In looking at photos of models and plans of late 17th and early 18th century British ships, none that I have seen show the cathead angled aft. Has anyone seen this configuration before? Thanks Allan

Larry, You mention in a previous post using boxwood. Seems the wood in the photo is a bit grainy for boxwood. Did you try English boxwood or is it Costello? English box is a bit on the yellow side colorwise but will hold the tiniest detail without breakage compared to other woods. It is hard to come by so I use what little I have in the bin for carvings only, and Costello boxwood for most other parts whenever possible. Allan

My pleasure Ron. Just keep in mind those are dimensions for 17th century and Norske Love is 18th century so these dimensions may not be correct. Cheers

Mark, It is the Hampton Court, 1709 Allan

Ron I looked for a Norske Love to get a better idea on the year, but cannot find a Norske love from the 17th Century. I found two from the 18th century including the Norske Love 1765 kit by Billings. If this is your model, any information from 17th century ships I gave may be inappropriate for such an 18th century ship. The information I have is for a British ship not a Scandinavian ship so may be off anyway. Regardless, here goes if anyone is interested in an English ship from the late 17th century...... I cannot find if the following are based on contempary drawings, scantlings, documents or the wreck, but looking at the deck plans for Lenox in The Restoration Warship, the planks for the gundeck are 14" wide at midships. The upper deck about 11.5" at midships. The lengths vary but are about 30 feet long. The shift shown is a 3 butt pattern for the most part. The Orlop deck planks do not shift as they are laid on the recess cut into the top edges of the beams and all appear to be about 12" wide. Quarter deck and poop deck planks appear to be 9" wide at their respective forward ends and taper to about 6" at the aft end. The taper will depend on the athwartships dimension differences at each end. The forecastle planks are 9" wide at their aft end and taper appropriately. There is no joggling of planks on these three decks. There is no appearance of anchor stock planking on the outboard planks of the gun decks as found in later periods. The Norske Love could very well have had anchor stock planking on the outboard 3 or 4 strakes. Allan

For the late 17th century, there is a wealth of detailed information in Richard Endsor's book The Restoration Warship. There are drawings, a scantling list from the 30 ship program, and more. He did a huge amount of research and the amount of information is immense. For more details on the deck planks, what size ship and which deck are you looking for? For the gun deck as an example, a seventy from the 30 ships program had waterways 6.5" thick, 14.5" in breadth. The rest of the gundeck plank to the hatchway was 4" thick. Between bitts and main partners, 3" thick. Hatchway plank was 2" thick. There were two spikes in each beam and 2 treenails in each ledge. The upper deck planking was reduced in thickness as were the decks above. Hope this helps a little. Allan

Henry, it is hard to describe in words. They are best understood when seeing them in a drawing. Hope it is clear enough for you to see the arms on the drawing. Allan

When did the use of beam arms begin? The earliest drawing showing them that I could find is a detailed set of deck plans for Elizabeth 1706. Drawings of the Lenox in the Restoration Warship which was from the late 17th century show no beam arms. Goodwin's Sailing Man of War does not give any indication of when their use began. Specific vessel that I have in mind is Antelope (50), 1703. The only drawings of Antelope that I can find do not help. Thanks, Allan

Still enjoying these a lot! The water in the painting of HMS Faulknor reminds of Carl Evers' work. Thanks again for sharing. Allan

Thanks for sharing, these are fabulous. Allan

Thanks Mark, I will take a look at the contemporary models in Museums section but I really appreciate your offer. Will let you know Allan

Mark Do you have more photos of Captain 1708 or do you know if the Science Museum has some and plans of any of the 1706 Establishment 70's? Thanks Allan

I believe all the references to soldering are for silver soldering, not soft soldering. Be sure the ends are clean. Steel wool or a quick swipe or two with a jewelers file or even Silver solder paste most often has flux and does not need to have a separate step to put flux on the part. Allan

Mark The following is a page from Scantlings of Royal Navy Ships that may help. I assume you were speaking of the counter timbers. Note that the Shipbuilder's Repository (1788) does not have all the dimensions Steel shows. Thanks for the plug Wayne. Allan

Bill I have been working on and off on drawings of Elizabeth 1706 for my next big project. Alas, with work and other adventures it will likely be quite a while before making saw dust but at least I have been able to find some time to work on the drawings. As I study the drawings of Elizabeth 1706 and Hampton Court 1709 that I have found, I would love to study the logs as well. Are they prior to her 1737 rebuild to the 1733 Establishment? Where can these be acquired? Any information you can share would be greatly appreciated and hopefully I can reciprocate in some way. Thanks Allan

Stephen The smallest carronades I could find in a quick search in Caruana' English Sea Ordinance were 12 pounders which in 1815 were 26 inches long. At your scale, if my math is right, this would be about 0.30 inches long, or half the size of the smallest in from Bluejacket. The longest 12 pounder I could find were in the 1700s and as much as 30 inches long You mention a schooner brig (hermaphrodite brig ). Do you have a specific vessel in mind? That might help determine the armament. Allan

Welcome Doc There is no better place to get a LOT of tips on building a better model ship than here. Very happy to see another scratch builder come on board. Allan

11111 If you would be so kind, please give us a name to address you. Having to call you by a number is not very nice. Thank you Allan

Hand made sticks for various shapes other than flat is a good way to go. Dowel rod, home made shapes, bow shaped etc. Allan