Jim Lad

Sorry, Piet, but I don't see the fuse screwed into the nose of that shell for the deck gun!  

John

Ollie,

I assume that the style of your coils is as per the kit instructions and indeed you will see a lot of models on the forum with coils made up exactly like that.  You'll also see such coils on many modern replicas and restored ships, however the traditional method of make up coils was a simple coil dropped over the pin, as you will see in many contemporary photos of old sailing ships.

The photos below date from the 1840's  (first photo) and 1850's (second photo) and shown perhaps not in brilliant clarity, what I mean.

John

Ollie, your only problem now is that your next models have to be of a size to fit the other shelves. 

John

Good to see that you've got such comprehensive instructions for building the boat, Popeye.    If you're going to scratch build the boat (which looks like the case), could I suggest that you ditch all the kit parts and use some decent wood for all of it.

John

Very nice, Augie.  As for the stove base, simply order a couple of hundred very tiny bricks from your local brick yard!

John

Very nice indeed, mate!

John

When you have the time, Michael.  We're a patient mob!

John

Hey!  How did I miss that funnel update?  Great work, Popeye!

John

Ollie,

The gaff angle still looks a little 'flat' for cutters in general, however the drawing and also the painting of her meeting the Makassar trepangers show it at exactly that angle, so leave it as is.  That painting also shows her carrying a much larger ensign, however that may be artistic licence to show clearly that she was a British ship, although ships of the time tended to carry very large ensigns.

As a personal choice I think I'd leave the ensign off unless you intend to rig her with sails as well.  With bare rigging the ensign draws the eye away from the model.

John

Thanks, Dave!

John

She's really looking first class!

John

Thanks again for your support, folks!

John

I would say definitely a boom crutch.  The fact that lines cross on the plan is not a definite indication that the crutch was outboard of the rail, as draughtsmen of the time often crossed lines which, by strict modern convention, shouldn't have been.  This is clear from some of the lines shown on the detail of the plan of my 'Stag', below, showing the lower sheet block; rudder and tiller and deckhouse all in solid lines behind the bulwark (with the rudder and tiller also behind the deckhouse).

The red arrows on the pictures below show the boom crutches.

John

Detail of Stag

Contemporary model at NMM

That looks really nice, Grant.  It's hard to tell from your photo, but just double check that the scale height is OK before you get much further along.

John

That's a really busy crew on that sub, Piet!

John

Slowly coming together, Mark.

John

Thanks, Piet!

John

Very nice indeed, Danny!

John

She's really looking first class, Piet.  paint your 'secret weapon' black and no one will ever know!

John

Yeah, keep it coming, Bob.  It's fascinating not only to see your build, but to see the shape of this unusual (to us) ship emerge.

John

Thank you one and all for your kind words.  Now all I have to do is to live up to your expectations!

John

Well, after another long silence - finally an update!

I'm continuing to make and fit hull frames, and am finally starting look like that job will be finished soon; only a few more to go now.  The next job after that will be to fair up the inside of the hull as needed and fit some stiffening in the form of stringers before I start to fair up the external hull for planking.

Here are a few photos of the current situation.

John

The aerials would very quickly weather in the salt air to a very dull green/grey.

John

Most books on seamanship will have a section on code flags, but I don't know of a book that will give you a complete run down on signal flags other than the old "International Code of Signals", which is the 'official' code flag book.

John

Looking great Popeye but, errrr - where are the doors to the wheelhouse?

John