JesseLee
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JesseLee reacted to JerseyCity Frankie in Sail photo from 1931 raises questions about sail construction
Found this great photo of life aloft on a square rigger, the caption was "The barque "Claudia" of Marstal in the Atlantic, 1931" with no other info. I was struck by how smooth the sailcloth is, I could not make out the seams for the individual cloths on the course and I am not 100% sure I can make them out on the topsail. The course sail does indeed look like it is constructed of very wide individual pieces of sailcloth, not the usual two foot wide ones. I wonder at what point wider sizes of canvas became commercially available. And I wonder if there wasn't some sacrifice in strength when they abandoned the smaller cloth size? Its a great photo though isn't it?
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JesseLee reacted to pirozzi in Sovereign of the Seas by pirozzi - FINISHED - Mantua
Completion of the second layer of planking of the upper hull and painting the necessary areas.
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JesseLee reacted to pirozzi in Sovereign of the Seas by pirozzi - FINISHED - Mantua
Placing the 2 lower gun port templates and adding the walnut finishing layer of planking to the upper hull. The very lowest gun port template has to wrap around the hull to the bow. Like before, this is made of plywood and will not make the bend without breaking. Soaking it like the deck walls and bending with a hot plank bender works fine. I bent a piece of scrap wood from the same stock as the templates first to see if it would work. (See photo).
Vince P.
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JesseLee reacted to pirozzi in Sovereign of the Seas by pirozzi - FINISHED - Mantua
Working on the decorative trim and ornaments on the deck partitions. The instructions call for doing this now before finishing the hull planking. This really makes no sense since it will be necessary to invert the hull in order to finish the planking. I did it anyway because I was on a roll and inverting the hull would not hurt these decorations. According to the instruction manual, they don't call for finishing the planking until way after working on the deck fittings. That of course is silly. I will complete the planking of the entire hull, including the second finishing layer next. All through the build it is necessary to jump around the instructions in order to make everything fit and keep things in proper order. This is one reason why experience is necessary to build this kit correctly.
Vince P.
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JesseLee reacted to pirozzi in Sovereign of the Seas by pirozzi - FINISHED - Mantua
The gun port templates provided make aligning the gun port rows easier. They are actually part of the second planking layer. The instructions call for temporarily taping them in place and drawing out the square port holes on the planking and then removing them and cutting out the port holes. I found it much easier to glue them on permantely and cut out the ports with the template in place. It makes it much easier to square out the holes in the soft balsa planking ans prevents the balsa from splitting while cutting.
Vince P.
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JesseLee reacted to pirozzi in Sovereign of the Seas by pirozzi - FINISHED - Mantua
Planking the first layer to the upper hull. The lumber supplied is balsa. While it is easier to bend, it does not hold a natural curve like harder woods. When laying the planks, make sure to watch the curves and adjust if neceaasry as you attach the plank to each bulkhead.
Vince P.
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JesseLee reacted to pirozzi in Sovereign of the Seas by pirozzi - FINISHED - Mantua
One more photo of the frame.
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JesseLee reacted to pirozzi in Sovereign of the Seas by pirozzi - FINISHED - Mantua
Okay. Since I am reposting this entire build log, I will try and start from the beginning. This is constructing the hull frame and bulkheads. First off, this kit is not for beginners. I am not by far, an expert, but the first thing you would notice is that the instructions leave alot to be desired and assume the builder knows a considerable amount about building model ships of this type, and knowledge of real ship construction. If you haven't completed at least a couple of kits in the advanced category, I believe you should pass on this one for now. It will make a dandy model when finished and the quality of the components appears to be top notch. It is one of, if not THE most detailed model kits out there.
I have already put in over a year into this project and am now working with the masts and rigging. I have encountered many errors and shortcomings in the instructions and will try to point them out as I go. Without a doubt, the plans and instructions are the weakest part of this kit. I also did alot of kit bashing by adding features and details left out, which I believe will make a better model when finished.
Vince
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JesseLee reacted to pirozzi in Sovereign of the Seas by pirozzi - FINISHED - Mantua
A view of the entire hull so you can see what she looks like as a whole.
Vince
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JesseLee reacted to pirozzi in Sovereign of the Seas by pirozzi - FINISHED - Mantua
Adding the decorative supports to the stern gallery walkways and the lower ornamentation.
Vince
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JesseLee reacted to pirozzi in Sovereign of the Seas by pirozzi - FINISHED - Mantua
The bow and prow have extensive decorations and trim. It took quite a while to trim and align each piece.
Vince P.
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JesseLee reacted to pirozzi in Sovereign of the Seas by pirozzi - FINISHED - Mantua
Completing more of the starboard and port hull ornamentation. One thing to point out. The little ornament pieces come in sealed packages with a drawing of where they should go. It would seem simple to just put them where is says. WRONG. In doing research on completed models of the SOS, it seems that several of the pieces are located in the wrong places on the drawings. After carefully examining the entire hull, On the stern, even the trim was not correct and doing it as they directed would not even allow placing all of the ornamental pieces. The photos of the stern I provided have all of the trim in the correct layout and the ornaments placed in the correct locations. I figured out where to put each piece in the correct position. Also, many of the pieces have to be trimmed down to fit in their spots on the hull.
Vince P.
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JesseLee reacted to pirozzi in Sovereign of the Seas by pirozzi - FINISHED - Mantua
One of the murdering guns that mounted on the upper decks. If you look at the ship, there are many guns on the upper decks that face into the ships decks and not outboard as you would think. These guns had a nasty purpose. They were loaded with anti-personnel schrapnel and fired across the ship's own decks to kill and mame boarding party personnel. I would imagine they got a few of their own sailors as well.
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JesseLee reacted to pirozzi in Sovereign of the Seas by pirozzi - FINISHED - Mantua
Working on the lavish stern ornamentation.
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JesseLee reacted to pirozzi in Sovereign of the Seas by pirozzi - FINISHED - Mantua
More of forward decorations. There over 600 pieces of decorations to add to the hull.
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JesseLee reacted to pirozzi in Sovereign of the Seas by pirozzi - FINISHED - Mantua
Adding trim and decorations to the bow and forward end of the hull.
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JesseLee reacted to pirozzi in Sovereign of the Seas by pirozzi - FINISHED - Mantua
Adding the main lower wales to the hull. The plans call for ending the wales at the sides of the transom, but they should wrap around the transom to the sternpost. I looked at illustrations of other completed models of the SOS and also of drawings of the real ship and they show them wrapped, so I did mine that way.
Vince
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JesseLee reacted to pirozzi in Sovereign of the Seas by pirozzi - FINISHED - Mantua
Completing the second layer of planking and applying the finish. I used 3 coats of sanding sealer with sanding with a 4800 grit fine paper bewteen each. Then applying 2 coats of a golden oak wood finish. If it comes out too shiny, which it did, I ran the 4800 grit paper over it lightly and it dulled it up just a little.
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JesseLee reacted to pirozzi in Sovereign of the Seas by pirozzi - FINISHED - Mantua
Starting the second (finish) layer of walnut planking. This needs to be precise since this layer will be the visible one on the completed ship.
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JesseLee reacted to pirozzi in Sovereign of the Seas by pirozzi - FINISHED - Mantua
Completing the first layer of hull planking. Afterwards, sanding or filling in any low spots in important before laying the top (finish) layer in order for the hull to flow smoothly and have a symetrical shape.
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JesseLee reacted to pirozzi in Sovereign of the Seas by pirozzi - FINISHED - Mantua
Constructing the cannon port doors and preparing the hull ports for hanging them. Once they are hung, the gun barrels are placed.
I only hang the doors and place the gun barrels on those ports that will get covered by the shrouds and anchors. The rest will placed at the very end of the build, as they tend to get in the way during the rigging and often get damaged along the way.
Vince
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JesseLee reacted to pirozzi in Sovereign of the Seas by pirozzi - FINISHED - Mantua
Even more belaying pins and cleats are needed to rig her properly. These were placed on the railings in their proper positions. All were additions to the kit as supplied.
Vince
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JesseLee reacted to pirozzi in Sovereign of the Seas by pirozzi - FINISHED - Mantua
The plans call for about 10 pin rails along the bulwarks. This is not nearly enough, especially if you are going to rig her with full sails like I am going to do. The photos show about twice as many pin rails. The extras were made from scratch with spare lumber from my stash.
Vince P.
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JesseLee reacted to pirozzi in Sovereign of the Seas by pirozzi - FINISHED - Mantua
The completed main deck capstan and what it would look like mounted on the deck with the arms in place for hauling. When I do mount the capstan permanently, the arms will be removed and lashed to the deck next to it. The arms in the hauling position would crowd the deck when the small boats are secured over the hatchways.
Vince P.
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JesseLee reacted to pirozzi in Sovereign of the Seas by pirozzi - FINISHED - Mantua
Decks full of murdering guns.
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