Bob Legge

Thanks very much guys .
 
No, I've had enough of this model .
 
Well, this is it - Bismarck is FINISHED . Here are all the final pics - enjoy :






















 
Thanks to all those who followed this build, and especially those who commented. Now onto HMS Hood .
 
  Danny

Bonjour, enfin quelques photos.
 
Isalbert

HMS Victory
1:96 Scratchbuild Project
Part 19 – Wrapping Up
 
 
At this point just about everything I had on my list has been covered. In this last part I will cover a couple incidentals involved in wrapping the project up.
 
Excess Rope
 
 
If one looks at the lengths of rope specified in Steele’s, or even just thinks about how much rope would be left over when a line was completely hauled in, it becomes evident that there must have been an amazing amount of rope lying about the deck, especially when no sails were set and buntlines, leechlines, slab lines, bowlines, clue lines, and others were with drawn back to some stowage point ready to be let out when sails were set. I decided very early on, that I could in no way model all this clutter without obscuring a lot of the model, but I did want to model some. The following pictures illustrate how some of this was done.
 

 
Among the first excess lines to be dealt with were the fore yard jeer falls. With the yard hauled up to its normal position, from which, I believe, it was hardly ever moved, a long length of large rope remains. Seldom used, it is unlikely it would be kept too readily available. I decided to coil it up and stash it behind the mast out of the way. The main yard jeer falls are belayed on the upper gun deck out of site, so were not an issue.
 
 

 
Many lines belay on the forecastle rail where they are tied off to the timberheads there. Only some of these excess rope coils were modeled.
 
Coils were made by wrapping line around a tapered dowel, tying it off, removing it from the dowel and soaking it with flat acrylic emulsion. This left a flat finish and stiffened the rope so it stayed in place when draped over a timberhead. Coils secured around their middles were wrapped around bent wires inserted into the point grooves in a pair of screw adjustable dividers. Then when the right length was wrapped up, several turns were taken around the middle, finished off with a clove hitch and this, too, got soaked with emulsion. The dividers were then closed enough to remove the coil. These then got draped on timberheads, kevels or even tied up on a shroud if the rope was belayed there. If these coils are draped while the emulsion is still wet, they can be shaped realistically. This shape will be retained when they dry.
 
Here are some more of these on the timberheads at the fore end of the waist.
 

 
The next two pictures show lines that have been “flemished,” that is, wound into a neat circular pattern on the flat of the deck. I reserved this treatment for large lines that I expect were frequently used and therefore needed to be readily available. In the first picture below those astride the mizzenmast are the falls of the davit lifts, and those further aft are the mizzen topsail sheets.
 

 
The flemished lines in the next picture are the fore top sail sheets.
 
 

 
These arrangements were made as follows: First a small piece of paper was laid on a piece of soft Homosote board. Homosote is a compressed pulp sheet product that takes and holds pins well. A pin was then pushed through the rope near its end and pushed through the paper into the board. Titebond glue was thinly spread on the paper around the pin and a couple turns of rope taken around and pressed down on the tacky glue. At this stage the paper itself could be rotated on the pin with more rope being fed and pressed down until the desired diameter was reached. The rope was then brushed lightly with some water to bring the glue up into the rope, the pin carefully removed, a piece of waxed paper put on top, and the whole affair weighted until dry. When dry, the paper was trimmed back under the outer coil of rope with scissors. The paper was then glued down to the deck and the end of the rope tucked up to appear to emerge from its belaying point.
 
Flags
 
 
The very last item to be dealt with, aside from the case, was the question of flags. The decision on which flags to fly could result in a number anywhere from zero to probably 25 or 30, if signal flags were flown. I had diagrams for all the historic, “England expects … “ signal flags, and I had gathered data on which pennants, ensigns and other flags were likely flown at Trafalgar. In the end I settled on only the large white ensign. I find at times even this can be a distraction from what is meant to be shown on the model, but it can be easily removed, so there it is. Its quite large, 20 by 40 feet, as can be seen below.
 

 
The ensign was made from some very old fine weave drafting linen, from which the resinous wax was removed by boiling. A larger piece than required was then pressed with a steam iron and taped down flat on a board. The ensign pattern was laid out with a sharp pencil and the white, blue and red colors painted on both sides with acrylic designers guache. This was thinned only very slightly to avoid running and painted on in two coats on each side. The ensign was then trimmed to size, pressed again and draped to appear standing in still air.
 
So, this story began with a picture of Victory approaching and it ends with a view from astern.
 

 
I have enjoyed describing my experiences with the construction of this model, which spanned a period of over thirty years. Many were surprised to see it finished – and I was one of them. Looking back while writing all this has made me appreciate the time spent even more. I hope this series has been helpful in some way to those who have followed it and especially those who have stayed with it to this point.
 
As I said at the start, I did not plan to cover every step in the construction of this model. However, if there is some point of interest that was not covered please let me know and I will try to cover it.
 
Thank you for spending time with this and especially for all your comments, suggestions and generous compliments.
 
I expect soon to be posting a new series on my current modeling project, a fully framed 1:60 model of HMS Naiad, 38, 1797.
 
 
Ed Tosti

Hi, another pictures:
 
 

The voyage pattern changes at different times of the year. One of the major concerns are the currents. They can assist or slow a vessel. See 9.42.02 Brazilian coast. The vessels follow the sailing directions below.
The follow is from:Ocean Passages For The World; Third Edition 1973; Published by the Hydrographer of the Navy; NP136; To be obtained from the Agents for the Sale of Admiralty Charts. Taunton.
This book and attached charts contains directions for Power Vessels, and Sailing Routes.

 
These charts concern sailing vessels.
Chart 5308 - World Sailing Ship Routes.
Chart 5309 – Tracks followed by Sailing and Auxiliary Powered Vessels.
Direction from the Book

Page 149

9.44 From Canada and east coast of Untied States.

9.44.02. For Capetown and Good Hope.

Having crossed the Equator as recommended, stand across the South-east Trade Wind on the port tack, even should the vessel fall off to about 260deg, for the wind will draw more to the E as the vessel advances, and finally due E at the S limit of the Trade. When in the vicinity of Penedos de Sao Pedro e Sao Pedro, frequent astronomical observations should be made, the current should be watched and allowed for, and a good lookout should be kept, as these rocks are steep-to and can only be seen on a clear day from a distance of about 8 miles. The same precautions are necessary, if passing westward of Ilha de Fernando de Noronha, when approaching the dangerous Atol das Rocas.
On approaching the Brazilian coast between March and September, when the wind is from the SE and the current near the coast sets N, it will be better to keep from 120 to 150 miles off the land until well S, and steer so as to be windward of the port of destination; but from October to January, when the NE’ly winds prevail and the current sets SW, the coast may be approached with prudence, and a vessel may steer according to circumstances for her intended port.
9.44.03. For South American Ports, proceed as for Cape Town (9.44.02) as far as 5deg S, and then follow the directions given in articles 9.07.04 to 9.08.02, as required by the destination.

Page 141
9.07.04 From the Equator southward.

(not copied)

9.08.02. Rounding Cabo de Hornos westbound
(not copied) Page 229
11.129 Cabo de Hornos to San Francisco and northward.

For San Francisco, having rounded Cabo de Hornos as directed in 9.08.02, stand to the NW so as to cross the parallel of 50deg S between 80deg W, and 85deg W, and then due N to 30deg N. Thence keep off to the NW, running through the South-east Trades to cross the equator between 112deg W and 115deg W, being to the E, throughout the whole voyage from Cabo de Hornos, from September to November; and to the W from June to August.
After crossing the equator, steer so as to cross the meridian of 120deg W in 13deg N to 15deg N, where the route divides into two branches, according to season.
From November to February, make for 30deg N, 132deg W, and from that position, when the W’ly winds are met, curve gradually round towards San Francisco, making it to the N, and allowing for the current setting SE across the track.
From March to October, make for 30deg N, 137deg W, and from that position, when the W’ly winds are reached at about 35deg N; again allowing for the SE-going current across the track.
For Columbia River, Juan de Fuca Strait, or Prince Rupert, follow the routes given above as far as 30deg N; then continue to the NW, curving to the E on reaching, or nearing the parallel of 45deg N, to make destination, allowing for the current as above.
 

Hello colleagues, I continue to pass new images, as you can see I am preparing the deck of the forecastle, and also preparing the distribution in the fortress of the cabins, chapel, and main chamber.
Soon I will pass new images, greetings Liberto

Great teaching tool, excellent work.
Bob.

Great teaching tool, excellent work.
Bob.

Great teaching tool, excellent work.
Bob.

Great teaching tool, excellent work.
Bob.

Great teaching tool, excellent work.
Bob.

Hi, and tanks, Albert
 
another pictures:
 

Put me on the list for that one . It's like he climbed into my Vulture and started taking snaps - I wish .
 
  Danny

Yes, Denis's work is amazing. You should see the high resolution photos. I honestly can't tell his work from mine (well, actually I can...his work is flawless).
 
David and I will absolutely be releasing these photos, which follow our books chapter by chapter, when Denis is finished. The photos will be viewable on a PC in high resolution. Printing costs would be enormous so that's not an option. We wish to provide them, at a very reasonable price, to those who have purchased our Swan class plans over the years, sort of a parting gift from Admiralty Models for all your support over the years.

As I mentioned in an earlier post,  I have used some of my post build time to create a Photo Album of my build utilising some of the many photo's taken over the course of the build.
The album is large format (28 x 21cm) and runs to 120 pages.
The book has now arrived and I thought you may like to see how it worked out.
The book was designed and created from software downloaded from Vistaprint.  who then produced the Album.
Here's are a few pages to give you a glimpse of how it looks.







In reality the photo's are far better than may appear on this post, and it's nice to have a record outside of a computer to look back on a build.
 
Regards,
 
B.E.
 
 

By popular demand here are some photos of the whole model in and outside the case. I found that taking the photos in lower diffused light and then increasing the brightness electronically seems to work well.
 


 

 

The kit had a lovely cast wheel which I thought not good enough, so now it has one of chucks 24 mm boxwood wheels as the "piece de resistance" 

Thanks Nils and EdT. It did take me a couple of months to build the hobby bench and really enjoyed building it.  Gary 

Beautiful, Ed.
 
Bob.

Beautiful, Ed.
 
Bob.

Beautiful, Ed.
 
Bob.

Also ARDENT (1764), BELLIQUEUX (1780), NASSAU (1785), RAISONABLE (1768) and STATELY (1784),  based on the French FOUGUEUX according to Lyon.
 
Bob.

Excellent performance!
Your work inspires me.
Here LINK you can see my method for making the fittings for the dead-eyes.

 

A beautiful model.
Bob.

A beautiful model.
Bob.