uss frolick

Well, you didn't mark the package "Do not open at mailbox", did you? 🤪

There are three old versions of the solid-hull Essex. The ancient 5/64 kit, the old 1/8th kit which is completely solid, and the updated version of the latter, which has better, newer metal fittings and the hull is carved-out down to the gun-deck. The last one, is the one you want.

A very interesting video of a very beautiful ship.

Congress had not yet authorized the rank of 'Admiral', so 'Commodore was the highest honor the navy could legally bestow upon a senior officer. The highest seniority belonged to John Rogers, a man ironically with no notable naval victories to his name.

Scale wetness? It is a ship after all ...

I can't read it without subscribing to the Bangor Daily News. Funny how the story is blurred out, but the adds aren't ... 😆

Those similarities are very interesting, but Corne's East India Marine Hall ship painting does not fly a pennant, the mark of a naval vessel in commission, but what appears to be a big merchant house flag. It could be one of the big Salem East-indiamen like the Belisarius, America or Grand Turk. The (third) America was the former 28-gun French Corvette La Blonde.

The final one of the series. I wonder what happens...

110 years ago TODAY!

Fantastic story and graphics:

And unlike L'Unite, La Tourterelle (620 tons) fought like hell before she struck to a larger opponent. She even used a special oven to heat "hot-shot" in her defense, but it didn't help her. Lively was a rare, 18-pounder 32-gun frigate. Tourterelle's "as taken" profile with carvings is just too beautiful!

So your kit could be used to make La Tourterelle (the turtledove)?

The problem is that most of the builders' plans were drawn up before 1800, at a time when carronades were not overly-common on ships of the line. After that date, bulwarks became planked over, and it was easy to determine where the Carronades went, as their bulwark openings were larger than the nine-pounders. Check later, post-1800 drafts to see where the carronades actually went. After Trafalgar, it was about an even split between the two, and the long guns jumped a caliber to 12-pounders.  Harold Underhill's commercial (3/16" scale) plans of the Armada-Class 74's, circa 1806, show where the carronades usually went.

With eighteen long-guns already on the crowded quarterdeck and forecastle, there was no extra room for adding carronades, except maybe on the poop. They sometimes replaced long guns in positions furthest from the chains, so their great flash wouldn't ignite the tar covered shrouds. Where and how many carronades varied greatly from ship to ship, and they increased in number over time. Study the six volumes of William James's "The Naval History of Great Britain" and you'll see what I mean. Their presence was a function of availability and the captain's preference.

Freaking zebra muscles!

Ein Panzerspah-flugzeug-wagen! 

I lathed out master barrels in brass for a 12-pounder long gun and a 32-pounder carronade, and took them down to my local pewter artist. He moulded off multiple copies of each for my USS Frolick project.

A posted the results few years ago:

Don't forget the relatively recent magnum opus, "Tidewater Triumph: The Development and Worldwide Success of the Chesapeake Pilot Boat Schooner." , by Geoffrey M. Footner, Mystic Seaport Museum, 1998.

A modern must-have. Amazon Link:

https://www.amazon.com/Tidewater-Triumph-Development-Worldwide-Chesapeake/dp/0913372803

"Grampa. What's a library?"

There is a secret manufacturer codeword, that is only placed on the highest quality wooden ship-model kits. Search carefully for the word "Vanguard" on the box-top.

Clayton Feldman, whose popular Model Ship Builder series on the Fair American was reprinted in paperback form, included all the lofted frame drawings in the latter. Is Dr. Feldman still with us?

Don't forget the old, reliable Fair American!

It's a good deal, if you're not set up to 3D print, which I am not, even if only the barrels are offered. (I still own DVD's!)

But there is another French vender who offers a small number of Ancre sets in both metal and resin barrels (click 'l'artillerie' in the left menu):

http://www.lahoche.fr

Phillipe! Bienvenue dans notre joyeuse petite communauté maritime!  🛶