CaptainSteve

Hi Bob, This is fun. At least for me. Now I can relive your build. It's like having a flash back.

I've just discovered your build log and plan to follow it among others I've found on this Website. I plan to start my Connie project in a year or so soon after I finish the Mamoli Rattlesnake following Bob Hunt's practicum.  Yours is the first I've found where you plan on deviating from the MS kit plans and revert back to the way she looked prior to 1812, that and having electrified. I look forward to your future posts.

You know, I am still surprised that I go through all of this confusion and still enjoy the puzzles.
 

Jeff,
 
Beautiful work. Thanks for sharing your progress. I look forward to seeing the masting and rigging portion of your log.

The following photos will bring my build up to date. One other deviation from the kit was painting on the friezes instead of using the printed ones. My wife did the painting.
 
Mike
 
 

 

 

 

 

Update. I finished building all the carronades and the two cannons. Not too difficult but tedious. I think the kit design for the two cannons could have been better. There are two parts that had to be scratch built that probably could have been laser cut. Oh well...I managed. I have not started rigging them yet. I plan to order some replacement blocks first. I also built the ships wheel. All the wood parts have to be built from scratch. The practicum suggested using styrene. I chose to use wood as I saw on another build log (thanks Jay). Now I move on to the skylight.
 
As a side note, I plan on starting on a side project that will be known as my "long build". I have had that particular ship on the shelf for a while and have been dying to get started on it. Right now I'm assembling the framing jig that came with the kit. That's pretty boring so I won't be posting that in a build log. Once I start work on the actual model I'll start the log.
 
Armed and dangerous!
 

 

 

At this point things are getting a bit more 'complicated'. Besides the lines shown on the sail and top masts, I have also pre-rigged the haliards and stored them in an envelope (they are some of the last lines to go onto the ship). There are also four davits and their lines in a bag. A couple of stays have been rigged on the lower main and I made the two fore stays with their 'snakes'. There are shrouds in another bag and I know there are several more stays to go between the masts. But . . .

 
I think it is about time I got going on making the bowsprit and all its details.

This arrived yesterday via courier. It was actually delivered by a driver from the very company I work for !!
I suspect it will slow my modelling down for a few days ... 
 
At top-left of above pic and this one, some dowels which I salvaged from an earlier kit (refer my MSW1 thoughts on Billings kits!!).
These are destined to become the masts/spars for my Connie's boats.

Sorry, wrong answer, i will correct myself later. Im driving now...

Look for LEDs with integral resistors, available in both 5v and 12v flavours, and save yourselves some work.

Here follows a short update on my build. Not much, since other things keep me busy as well.
 
Have begun to close the first layer of planking, which was a bit tricky due to the cables that need to exit the body of the ship somewhere and, if possible, in a nice and organized way. The first two pictures show the solution I have chosen, with a small plastic plastic pipe through which all cables are channeled out from the ship. I wonder what happens if one of the cables breaks inside the ship...
 
I have also finished the rudder and really like the result. As you can see on the pictures, I first made the mistake of choosing the wrong angle on a small piece that faces the keel. But corrected it before the assembling and gluing began.
 
I have also begun with the floor planks on the "cabin roof" (in the lack of the special, nautical terminology). Should not take me too long to finish that.
 
 

The cabin with furniture and lamps and cables in the body of the ship.

Here is an unusual piece of Naval history.
 
I am a plank owner on the USS Cook DE-1083 (later FF-1083). The Cook was named for LCdr Wilmer Paul Cook, an A4E pilot from Attack Squadron 155 off the USS Coral Sea (CVA 43). He was shot down over North Vietnam on 22 December 1967. He was listed as Killed In Action / Body Not Recovered (KIA/BNR). He remained in that status until June 21, 1988 when the Vietnamese government returned his remains. His family requested that he be buried at sea and on November 27, 1989 his ashes were scattered at sea off the coast of San Diego, CA from the ship named in his honor.
 
It is believed this is the only case where a service member's remains were buried at sea from a ship named after him.
 

 
 

I was considering building Caldercraft's Cruizer, did a little basic research on her on Wikipedia and found that there were 106 of these brig-rigged sloops built. I quickly realized a modeler could build any one of these vessels with only very slight modifications to the kit.
 
Many of these large Cruizer-class brig-sloops had very mundane, unremarkable careers. Others came to tragic ends through shipwreck on uncharted or incorrectly charted rocks and shoals or departed for a destination, never arrived and were presumed to be lost at sea. Several had very distinguished and brilliant careers and a few had engaged in historically significant ship-to-ship duels during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. I'm going to focus on eight1 of them that intrigued me as subjects for a model: seven1 that engaged US Navy sloops of war in the War of 1812 and one that had been modified with an innovative experimental arrangement of her armament.
 
 
HMS Raven - Launched 25 July, 1804
 
Raven​ was commissioned in August with Commander William Layman in command. Layman was a protege of Lord Nelson with whom he had served on three previous assignments. With Nelson's support he changed Raven's armament by planking over the two forward gun ports and the two transom gun ports, removed two 6 pounder chase guns and built platforms at those two locations where he mounted 68 pounder carronades on transverse (pivoting) mounts on the ship center line which gave each a field of fire of as much as 180 degrees or more. I have not been able to find the use of pivoting mounts on another vessel larger than coastal and fresh water gunboats prior to Raven in 1804. Otherwise Raven was typical of her class.
 
Length: 100 ft 2 in (gundeck),  77 ft 6 in (keel)
Beam: 30 ft 6 in
Tonnage: 384 (burthen)
Armament: 16 x 32 pounder carronades + 2 x 6 pounder chase guns (before modification)
                16 x 32 pounder carronades + 2 x 68 pounder carronades on transverse mounts (after modification)
Complement: 121
 
Raven arrived near Cadiz to join Nelson's squadron with dispatches on the evening of 29 January 1805. Layman ordered Raven hove to, took a sounding (no bottom with an 80 fathom lead), left orders with the officer of the watch that the lead be cast every half hour and went below.
 
At about midnight the officer of the watch woke Layman and reported the lights of the squadron, then returned in minutes with the news that the lights were Cadiz. Layman started the lead finding 18 fathoms shoaling to 5 fathoms as he turned Raven about.
 
Daylight found Raven close inshore with the Spanish fleet at anchor on one side and the shore batteries on Santa Catalina on the other. Layman worked Raven over the shoals but was forced to anchor after increasing winds caused the main yard to break in the slings. The winds further increased to gale force, dragging the anchors, and drove Raven onto the beach at Santa Catalina. Raven was unsalvageable and her crew was taken into custody by the Spanish.
 
While in custody, Layman made inquiries among the crew and learned that his orders for soundings to be made every bell were ignored. He also learned that the officer of the watch was in his quarters, drunk, when the lights of Cadiz were reported by the look-outs.
 
After an officer exchange, Lieutenant Layman reported his findings to Lord Nelson in Gibraltar who advised him not to blame his officers for the loss of Raven. Nelson feared that the officer of the watch would be executed for his conduct and assured Layman "You will not be censured."
 
Nelson had misjudged the situation. On 9 March 1805 Layman was severely reprimanded and lost all his seniority. He appealed his court martial but the Admiralty was not willing to overturn the court's verdict. Nelson was killed at Trafalgar before further action could be taken. Layman's only powerful friend could no longer help him. It appears that Layman had annoyed many senior officers with his outspoken advocacy for improvements to the Navy and its ships and his career was destroyed in consequence.
 
Subsequent courts martial found Layman's master negligent in not monitoring Raven's movements and in not taking regular soundings. Layman's second lieutenant, the officer of the watch, was dismissed from the service.
 
Layman remained in the service but never received promotion to captain. He committed suicide on 22 May 1826.
 
 
 
[sources: "HMS Raven (1804)" - Wikipedia and the bibliography for that article;  Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900;  http://aboutnelson.yuku.com/topic/808/Captain-Layman-new-thread ]
 
 
I find HMS Raven an interesting subject for a model as much for the injustice done to an energetic and intelligent young officer as for the innovation in the arrangement of her armament. Raven is also interesting for having the shortest life of any of the Cruizer class brig-sloops.2
 
I'll continue with one or more of the Cruiser-class engagements of the War of 1812 in a day or two.
 
Dave
 
Edits:  1  Increased the number by one when I realized I had overlooked one engagement that occurred after the Treaty of Ghent had been ratified 17 February 1815 in which neither combatant knew of the end of the war.
2   Added information   

No it would appear it is exactly what it says at the bottom. As a veteran of the old game... I would put forward that as a new comer he should be given a second chance...
 
Andy

Great detective work there, Crackers !!!

Takes years of practice to be able to make deductions like that....I move we let maaalso have a "do-over"...

I finished the roof for main cabin. The red colour (vermilion) was used also on Clevely´s portrait of RC.
 


 
 


 

 
The model will have an illumination from small LED diodes, here you can see the beginning of its fitting (it is not complete yet - stern and mast lanterns are missing) and functionality test....

 
 


 

 
 

 

AARRRGh!
ELETTRA yes!
I provided too many hints!
it is obvious that I am new to that game!
 
Elettra, the floating laboratory of one of the radio inventors: Guglielmo Marconi.
For Captainsteve: From that ship with a radio command he switched on the light in a Sydney exibition, far 22000 km.
Well, one piece of that ship is exposed in Sidney now.

She's looking good, Andy.
 
How about we club together and buy 'you know who' a talking parrot?  "Arrk, arrk, pictures, pictures, arrk!"
 
John

well done! that must have been a lot of work considering that Jim Beam was the beverage of choice.

Thanks Augie.
 
Transom trim using various sizes of styrene.
 
      Bob R.

Hello CaptainSteve,
 
I think that's a great idea. I've asked our Moderator Mark if he would put the rules of the game on top of the page. 
Take care,
 
Anja
 
PS- As for a tip ..... Look at what Spyglass wrote in his reply. Good luck!

Might I suggest an amendment to the game rules ??
 
If the player whose turn it is has not replied in, say, a fortnight, then the previous winner gets to post again.
 
Thoughts ??

I was hoping that you folks who know what they're doing would stay off here for a while and make the rest of us look better.  Oh well