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Introduction It’s time to attempt something I’ve been wanting to have a go at for a long time. A frigate of the napoleonic era. Having spent a lot of time looking round, I decided that I had neither the tools, the time, nor the expertise currently to complete a fully-framed scratch build. I was drawn by Chuck Passaro’s HMS Winchelsea, not least because I am sure the instructions when they are released will be utterly brilliant and the builds look beautiful so far, however at the time of writing the prototype is not yet completed. Given these factors, added to the expense and difficulty in sourcing good quality wood in the UK, I came back to model kits. I hope to keep on dabbling in scratch building though, and I have a cross-section of Triton underway for that purpose. I wanted to build a model in 1:64, partly because it would give a good contrast to the boats I already have in the house, which are of the same scale. I looked at Victory Models, however, though there Pegasus and Fly models are very handsome in their own rights, I could not reconcile that they were not quite Frigate enough in my mind to fit the bill. Having built two of Caldercraft’s models in the past (HM Schooner Pickle and HM Cutter Sherbourne), I was keen to come back to the same manufacturer, as I have found their models to be rewarding to build, and to have a level of detail that is manageable, but results in great looking models. Sadly, HMS Surprise, though prototyped, has not been released by Caldercraft so that was not an option, though I am a great fan of the Aubrey / Maturin series by Patrick O’Brian. However, Caldercraft do have another Frigate already in their line-up. HMS Diana. An Artois-class Heavy Frigate of 38 guns. Having seen other builds of sister-ships on ModelShipWorld.com, and since I am married to a Classicist, my interest was piqued by the other boats in the class, and I settled on Ethalion – built in 1797. In part because I didn’t really want a scantily clad woman glued to the front of the boat when I finished it, and Ethalion brings the possibility of a dolphin. Once that was decided, it was time to break out google and a some books, and try and track down firstly, who Ethalion was, and secondly some of the history of this particular HMS Ethalion. -
It's time to start the log Sometimes I need some rough stuff to do, with all my 3 other builds I'm in a stage of more fiddeling detailed things ... so I decided to start a fourth build ... I need sawdust ... haha ... girlfriend is not amused Intro: "On January 23, 1777, Congress "Resolved, That two frigates, one of 36, and the other of 28 guns, be immediately undertaken in the state of Connecticut." The "Confederacy" and her little sister the "Alliance". For more historical informations I suggest reading the introduction of Chuck's (as always) great instructions. Check here: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/1395-downloadable-instructions-for-the-model-shipways-confederacy-kit/ I bought the kit a while ago via ebay auction because I'm a bit lazy to go full scratch. I always regret that, haha. I guess 90% will be replaced so I call this build a semi scratch (which is actually totally irrelevant, I mean how to call it ) The wood will be mostly pear, hornbeam, maybe holly and some ebony, not sure about that yet. The crappy ME casted guns are replaced by Chuck's brass guns and I were lucky about the figurehead as Chuck found one last one somewhere in his shop No words about the ME figurehead ... Daniel Dusek is my man to mill a lot of parts for me :-) Daniel is kind, helpful, fast and I really love his work (and wood). One of the good guys LIVING his job by heart (as Chuck do too)! Parts milled and/or lasered by Daniel: My dedicated Confederacy sources are: * Chucks plans & instructions * THE CONTINENTAL FRIGATE "CONFEDERACY" by Douglas H. Robinson * NMM Plans of the renamed Confederate * Chapelle "The History of the American Sailing Navy" * Harold M. Hahns "Ships of the american revolution" and his plans * Model Shipwright article by Justin Camarata ================================================================== When I got the kit the first inspection was disappointing. I knew about the bad casts but a lot of sheets seemed to be burned with a overheated laser and the plywood was warped as s**t ... and just to thick. Even I prefer to get good stuff at the first I'm happy about ME's replacement philosophy. Some weeks later I could pick the stuff up at the customs and PAY TAX again for the parts (I allready paid tax for ... yeah!)... I hate this. The boxwood sheets where ok now, the 2nd plywood was even crapier then the first one. Quality control for the win! At this time the decision grew up to redo most of the parts in pear. Still the damn sheep plywood. 2nd replacement of the plywood: To make the story short I get in direct contact with Marc Mosko the CEO of ME and after a while and some very kind conversation he sent me another replacement with a super great plywood. Yes it looks more expensive (sure it is though ...) but I really really hope ME changes his mentality about that and will use the better plywood in future! It's lightweight, stable, correct in thickness, laserchar is easier to remove, kinda no splinter when sanding, it's eye pleasing ... and so on ... love it! New plywood: Comparison of 2nd and 3rd replacement: Anyway, while waiting for the 3rd replacement (and honestly - sorry Marc - not 100% confidental if I will get one ... hehe ...) I tried to do the best with what I had. Now I have a testbuild too My testbuild While working on my testbuild I discovered a major problem with the stem. As you can see on the plan the stem is shown in single parts (which the lasered parts are made from) and as a whole. But, these parts are NOT equal: Both stems overlayed (green is the stem as a whole and the correct one), you can see the problem: This might work out with basswood as you can bend it a bit to fit to the bulkhead former but no way with pear, the whole assemble ist too "high": A way to kinda fix it is to shorten parts S2 & S3: Fixed steam V1: cheers, Dirk -
HMS Syrius was a 36 gun fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. she was lost in 1810 when her crew scuttled her after she ran aground during the Battle of Grand Port. -
I had a search, but couldn't find any other build logs of this model, so although I feel deeply unqualified, I thought I'd post a build log. This is the first card model I've built - in fact, it is mainly paper, with a laser-cut card frame (ShipYard also do a card version which is 1:72, and much more expensive!). So this won't be a masterclass, but hopefully the surprises and lessons learned as I go will be helpful to someone else following in my footsteps I started this model last year when I went on holiday - my main build is way too big to travel, so this one is more manageable (and a little less anti-social) - it may take me a while to finish, but hopefully I'll get there. I started by assembling the card structure of the ship. The diagrams provided are excellent, and the laser-cutting so good that this was very simple, and with a little care, it went together very nicely. I've read elsewhere that using a little superglue to wick into the extensions at the tops of the bulkheads strengthens them somewhat... I was too slow, and they got pretty mashed up. I'm hoping I'll be able to make up for that later on. So far, I've skinned the lower part of the hull, and started putting the details onto the gundeck. Here's a slightly more in-depth description of what I've learned, and done so far. Basic tools: Carpenters glue (Aliphatic) UHU glue (really really useful!) Pritt stick Superglue Lots of sharp xacto blades #11 and a handle Cutting mat 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2mm card to stick the paper onto where directed. (This was found in my local art supplies shop - I found it really hard to get online) 1. Assemble the frame from the laser-cutting. I used Carpenters glue to do this, and lego bricks to check it was all lined up... I think this was probably overkill, because with the deck on, it's pretty rigid, but it was my first attempt so I wanted to make sure it was all perfect. Sandpaper was useful to bevel the frames once put together... the card won't go over them (or have a flat surface to stick to) without this step, so it's pretty crucial. That said, it's pretty quick compared to bevel the frames on wooden models... that means it's even easier to go too far! - I marked the edges of the bulwarks with a marker so I could tell when I was not only reducing one side, but the overall outline of the bulwark. Once the frame was built, a couple of detail bits get stuck on to the lower deck (a brown sharpie was useful to edge the bits that are cut out to get rid of the white edges and make it look tidy), and then the false deck was then added... I made a mistake here by splurging on carpenters glue thinking that the paper covering would lie flat if only I pushed it down enough... not so much, it seems. It ended up looking horribly bumpy and I thought I'd wrecked the model... The answer (for me) it turns out is to use UHU, add it to the card, and then use a piece of card to scrape it and make it nice and flat, then add the paper, smoothing it as you go. This ends up in a nice flat surface... Thankfully, as we'll see, the false deck gets covered over later with a second 0.5mm sheet of card with the real gundeck pattern glued on top of it, so disaster was well and truly averted, and you'd never know I stuffed up now! Here's the first gun deck - you can't see the bumps, but trust me... they're there! More later. Rob
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Hello all. Today i am starting a new adventure. I was long thinking which ship chose to build and decided to go with a frigate, it will be third build. Mamoli - La Gloire 1778. This ship is a classic frigate that belonged to the French Navy at the end of the XVIII century. The vessel was equipped with 26 12-pound guns on the battery deck, in addition to 4 6-pound guns, and 4 carronades of the main deck. La Gloire was planned by the shipbuilding engineer Guignace, and was launched at St.Malo in 1778. This model is a reproduction, scale 1:90, of the ship during the first year of navigation, with the bottom painted white. One year later, in June 1779, like with many other ships, the submerged part of the hull was sheathed with copper plates to protect it from corrosion. Kit is double plank-on bulkhead, with pre-cut wooden parts of walnut, mahogany, lime, beech, boxwood and tanganyka. Pre-finished fittings include wooden ship's boat, blocks, deadeyes and gratings, gilded metal for transom ornamentation and figurehead, brass nails and belaying pins, and finely cast white metal for the gun port frames. The 34 guns of the original ship are reproduced in burnished metal. Colorful flags, four sizes of rigging, plans and instructions are included as well. Intermediate Level Mamoli Kit No. MV34W Length 33"/Height 25"/Scale 1:90 Photos of the box and inside the box. -
Inspired by a large RC model of the Rattlesnake featured in an issue of Model Ship Builder magazine, I looked around for a subject to built and decided to built the ship in my own back yard, the sloop of war Constellation tied up in Baltimore's Inner Harbor since the mid 1950's. Some video of Rattlesnake Constellation was a sloop-of-war, of 22 guns, designed by John Lenthal, and built in 1854 by Gosport Navy Yard at Norfolk, Virginia; the last US warship designed and built to operate under sail alone. For a long time she was believed by many to be the old frigate of 1797, rebuilt and moderized, and that debate has raged in the maritime history community for decades. Her lines and sail plan were acquired from the National Archives where I got to handle the actual hand drawn documents. I decided to build her as she appeared in a portrait by deSimone when she was in Naples in 1856 and still a new ship. Her lines were drawn in 1:36 scale, which was perfect, giving a model: Beam: 13-5/8" (34.713 cm) Length over the rig: 96" (243.84 cm) Width over the rig: 36" (91.44 cm) ~ Main yard w/o stuns'l booms. Length on deck: 61" (154.94 cm) Length between perpendiculars: 59-1/8" (150.178 cm) Draft, without ballast keel: 7" (17.78 cm) With 3-1/2" ballast keel: 10-1/2" (27.94 cm) Height bottom of keel to main truck, without ballast keel: 65" (165.1 cm) With ballast keel: 69" (175.26 cm) Sail Area: 2,807.01 square inches in 17 sails (19.5 sf, 18,109.7 scm, 1.8 sqm) This log will cover my work on this model since it began in 1999 up to where it is now. Editor's Note: This is a log of how I am building this model, not a guide to how a model such as this ought to be built. It's full of fits and starts, changes of mind, errors, re-do's, more error's, a few mistakes; and somehow, despite all this, it seems to be becoming a working, sailing model that actually looks something like it's namesake. The director of the actual ship recognized it on first sight - I take that as a good sign! If you're considering taking on a project like this, please, please, don't let this build log deter you - it's not nearly as difficult as I make it seem. Just take away from it that which helps you along, and ignore the rest. -
Having completed HMS Alert, which is now safely in a case, I'm left with a kind of paper emptiness... I have plenty of projects, but I'm so accustomed to having a paper model project in the works that it just didn't seem right to not have one now. So, I've taken on the 28-gun Enterprize-class 6th rate frigate HMS Mercury. Shipyard (Vessel) makes 2 versions of HMS Mercury. One is a 1/72-scale boxed kit with laser-cut parts and all the fittings, brass cannons, resin figurehead, wooden spars, cloth sails, plus paints, brush and rigging line, etc. However, that version is a lot pricier than the simple 1/96-scale paper model where you have to cut everything out yourself. I got the latter from Ages of Sail for around $40. The kit includes pre-printed parts that you have to cut out, plus laser-cut framework that makes hull-construction very quick and accurate. I've actually had this kit for quite a while, probably at least a year or more. I also started it some time ago so I would have a hull that illustrates how these kits go together. I was going to just do a partial start and give it to Ages of Sail as a demo model. But, that never happened. As I got further along on the Alert, I thought about how interesting a larger ship might be. Also, knowing the complexities of a 3-masted square rigger, I thought I might just build this as a kind of admiralty style model. Possibly building a launch ways and adding pole masts for the launching flags. In fact, right now, that's my plan unless I eventually change my mind and decide to rig this model. The kit includes some 15 pages of printed parts, the laser cut framework, several sheets of drawings and templates, including patterns for making sails. Printed parts are included for two different color schemes. The completed, fully rigged model, measures about 26" long. The hull itself is just about 16" long. I put the hull framework together many months ago. It goes together very easily and takes very little time. More recently, I started putting on the first layer, which basically turns the model into a hollow solid hull model. As you can see, I also added the deck. The parquet floor is a separate piece which sits on top of the wood-pattern floor. Lastly, over this past weekend, I wanted a distraction, so I started working on the cabin partitions. I have to say that this is one advantage that these paper models have over their wood counterparts – there is much more internal arrangement provided in these kits. It even includes furniture for the great cabin. So, there you have it. Another paper model begun. As I said earlier, this isn't a priority project, just something I'll tinker with over time. But, like HMS Alert, it may very well get to the point where it takes on a life of its own and demands more of my time to take her to completion. Clare -
1:90 La Gloire - 1778 - French 34 gun Frigate - Dusek Ship Kits - MV34 Company: Dusek Ship Kits Kit No: MV34 Retail Price: EUR 349.- Available here: Dusek Ship Kits Description Classic frigate, belonging to the French Navy at the end of the XVlll century, Equipped with 26 12-oound guns on the battery deck, besides 4 6-pound guns and 4 carronades on the main deck. La Gloire was planned by the shipbuilding engineer, Guignace, and was launched at St, Malo in 1778, The model is the reproduction, scale 1:90, of the ship during the first year of navigation, with the bottom painted white. One year later, in June 1779, like with many other ships, the submerged part of the hull was sheathed with copper plates to protect it from corrosion. Technical data Scale: 1:90, Length: 840 mm Height: 635mm The kit 6 x Sheets of plans (DIN A2, 420 x 594 mm, 16.5 x 23.4 inches) 12 x Sheets of instructions in English, French, German and Italian (DIN A3, 297 x 420 mm, 11.7 x 16.5 x 12 inches) 2 x Sheet of model size 1:1 plan 12 sheets of lasercut wood (plywood and walnut) Various dowels for masts and yards Various strips of wood 1 x Photoetched brass parts Various cast Brittania metal parts in high quality Various Rope and all needed small parts (blocks, Pole, Chains, Fittings etc.) Flags All parts of the kit are stored safely and tidily in the box. Let's look deeper at this kit and start with the perfectly lasered plywood And we go on with the other lasered parts. There is one two layered sheet of photoetch parts A nice collection of wood For the masts and yards we get very nice dowels. There are also some pear strips for the build. The quality of the wood is excellent! More wood (see the perfect quality!) Let's check the smaller parts of this nice kit. The Flags Paperwork. Essential for ever good kit are the instructions and plans. As usually for Dusek you get the instruction in different languages. In this kit they are english, french, german and italian. The instructions are well done and an intermediate Modeller should have no problem at all. Last but not least there are two big sheets showing the modell in 1:1. Conclusion In 2016 Daniel Dusek bought all rights for producing of all Mamoli and MiniMamoli kits. Since then the kits are released in batches. So this really nice kit is available again for the passionate builder. The plans and instructions have not yet been revised by Daniel Dusek, but they do fulfil their task well and leave few to no questions unanswered, the plans are drawn in detail and printed in a great way. The woods are of very good quality, as are the metal cast parts. All parts are made of high-quality materials and you can see the attention to detail in this Dusek kit as well. Dusek Ship Kits currently lists this model for €349, and I think that represents really good value for money for this nice kit. Impression of the build model My sincere thanks go to Daniel Dusek for sending this kit for review here on Model Ship World. To buy, go to your favorite Dusek dealer or directly to http://www.dusekshipkits.com
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Hello, This is my 3D build log for HMS Pandora. The build was started in February 2011, and it is still in progress. The primary references include the Anatomy of the Ship: The 24-gun Frigate Pandora (the plans), The Shipbuilder's Repository (it contains the dimensions and the scantlings of HMS Porcupine, which is of the same class as the Pandora), and the “Swan” Series. Many other books and online resources are also referred to. I began with drafting a 2D drawing of the ship, and then I imported different parts of the 2D drawing into Solidworks to guide the 3D building process. In the following posts I will post the screenshots I captured during the build and briefly describe what is new in each figure. Jingyang
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Hi All, I am new to the forum. I am very active on another forum, but decided to join here after meeting so many wonderful people at the NRG Conference in Mystic this past fall. While at the confernece, I stumbled upon Ed Tosti's masterpiece, The Naiad Frigate,Vol 1 & 2 from SeaWatch Books. I bought them and devoured them. There is so much great information in these books for all levels of modelers. In addition to the books, Ed's log and that of Albert will come in handy as I progress. As for me, I consider myself a new intermediate modeler and welcome all constructive comments. I just finished a kitbashed POB Rattlesnake and am starting the rigging to a POF US Brig Eagle scratch build. I was not planning to start the Naiad so soon, but here it is... Since I do all of my modeling while standing in the garage, I built the building board at about 42" height. I plan to use it for more projects after this, so the construction is very solid, using kiln dried pine 1x4 and melamine. I also put in some trays so my tools wont end up on top (thats the theory...) It has the T-Tracks as specified in the book. I opted for a laminated copy of the builidng plan, since my first attempt at a spray adhesive for gluing the plans down didnt look so good. The laminated plan was less expensive than the glue. And, I like the results much more. You will note the gantry and uprights are made from Padauk. I had some laying around so decided to use it. They are also glued, screwed, and pinned. I am planning for a long life and a life time of use... The stern and stem holders are made from simple kiln dried pine and are also glued and screwed. I scored the center line to ensure that everything lines up (or so I hope...) I made multiple sets of clamps from Boxwood and 6-32 brass screws and thumb bolts. These were fun to make and really come in handy. I like them better than the small colored clips since you can adjust the pressure. Also shown is my version of the framing jib. I made a double jig as shown. In my next installment, I will share my work on the stem, knee of the head and keel. All are coming along nicely. Thank you, Gary -
It's about time I start a log on this one since it's moving right a long. This build is another commission for a pirate rein-actor. The story of his crew is that they found the ship beached and got it back to sea worthy and made it their own pirate vessel. Basically he told me he wanted a sixth rate 20 gun frigate from around 1710. He also sent me a few photos of what he would like the ship to look like. -
Greetings everyone so been discussing with frolick possible details that one might extrapolate if attempting to build a model of subscription frigate USS New York 1800-1814. coming from New York myself this is a project that would definitely interest me in time. Most of these frigates are lacking in stem and stern details (possibly deck layout as well), so it seems like it's a matter of using ones imagination while working with various themes that would have accompanied the ships via the ports they came from. Got me thinking a lot about what we do know via surviving plans of such similar ships (Essex?, Chesapeake, etc) I am reposting here what we started via message and feel free to offer any thoughts on this process and lets have fun. As per uss frolick: The Frigate New York's figurehead: Nothing is known. However, all three other 36 gun frigates had either the Allegorical figure "Columbia", or a roped female figure representing "The Genius of America" - the same thing. I am willing to bet that the New York also had the figure of Columbia on her stem - especially since the city has a great university of the same name! Even the USF United States had something very similar. A drawing of Chesapeake's "Columbia" has turned up on the first page of one of her captured logbooks. A similar figurehead appears on Chapelle's redrawing of the 36-gun class, which he said "was not used", but he doesn't say why. Another drawing of a Columbia figurehead survives in the Willia, Rush papers, but it is not identified as belonging to any specific ship. Next, the New York's stern carvings. Nothing at all is known. But it probably was a play on the Seal of New York, which was essentially the same then as it is today. From Manhattanunlocked.blogspot.com. "John Buckley Pine's, Seal and Flag of the City of New York, 1665-1915: First the basics. Let's break down the current, official seal. The seal is wrapped in a laurel wreath.Most often used as a symbol of victory (to "rest on one's laurels" is to milk past achievements), it's the bay leaf. A more familiar symbolic image may be this... An eagle, facing and rising towards asailor, surmounts a hemisphere at the top. A ribbon inscribed with the Latin words, SIGILLUM CIVITATIS NOVI EBORACI, simply translates as "Seal of the City of New York." The two figures on the seal, a sailor and a Native American, are almost always identified as having the names Dexter and Sinister. But there is a designated name for every position on a seal (for example, the eagle occupies a position called the "crest"), and “the dexter” and “the sinister” are seal positions: they are Latin for "right" and "left." On the official seal, the figureshold up the shield (they should never be leaning on it), and the sailor is the "dexter support," while the Native American the "sinister support." The sailor holds a plummet in his right hand, the Native American holds abow in his left. Some accounts say the sailor is holding a plumb, a carpenter's tool, but it's actually a lead-lined plummet used for measuring water depths. And just because visuals are fun, Both figures stand on a laurel branch. On the rare occasion that the seal gets any press coverage at all, it's usually because of the date at the bottom, which since 1977 has been 1625, a date most agree is meaningless. Over its history, though, the seal has displayed different years depending on whatever hallmark event was fashionable to recognize at the time. Now for the really interesting history. At the center, a shield is emblazoned with two beaver and two flour barrels in the spaces between the arms of a windmill. The beaver (their pelts for fur and skin for hats) is most famously associated with New York's economic beginnings under the Dutch. To give you an idea of just how central beaver were in the early economy, the Netherlands-bound ship, the Arms of Amsterdam, delivered the Schagan letter bearing the news of Peter Minuit's purchase of the island in 1626, which also enumerated this cargo: 7,246 Beaver skins 178 1/2 Otter skins 675 Otter skins 48 Mink skins 36 Lynx skins 33 Minx 34 Muskrat skin Beaver were, by far, the main commodity of New Netherland and could actually be used as currency. But according to the indispensable Gotham, by Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace, the beaver trade fell off 80% just 25 years later, by the mid-1650s. The English took over in 1664 and a decade later a "new beaver," so to speak, was found--and just for Manhattan--in the actions of Governor Andros who ordained that all imports be processed through the port of New York. As well, all exports had to be packed, loaded and shipped from New York. With Andros' decree, every community from Albany to Amboy to Hempstead had to send their cattle, pigs, and harvest to New York for export. Flour, though, was the “new beaver.” "Bolting" flour was the arduous multi-stage process of separating wheat into flour and bran. Apparently New Yorkers were quite adept at it since one of Andros' main arguments for the law was that it was needed to ensure a consistent and high quality product. With bolting, barrel-making became a booming island industry. Had the decree not come about it’s hard to say how much New York's run up to power would have been affected later on. The Erie Canal stood on the shoulders of previous booms, just as the flour boom stood on the shoulders of the beaver trade. Its benefits to Manhattan were nothing short of mind boggling. Stokes Iconography sums it up from a written complaint lodged by a New Yorker lamenting the 1694 repeal of the pro-Manhattan law. (The "Bolting Act," a term often attributed to the law itself, was actually appears to have been the repeal of the law that would release the outlying areas from Manhattan's firm economic grip.) It may be ironic that the author of these words was formulating a complaint, but that's classic New York... When the city enjoyed the bolting monopoly several advantages accrued to this city and province. In 1678, when the bolting began, there were only 343 houses in New York. By 1696, 594 new buildings had been added. This increase is to be attributed to the bolting. The revenue in the years 1678, '79, and '80 did not exceed £2,000; but after that it increased annually until it amounted in 1687 to £5,000.... In 1678, there were three ships, eight sloops and seven boats belonging to this port; in 1694, there were 60 ships, 62 sloops, and 40 boats.... In 1678, not over 400 [beaver] were killed; in 1694, nearly 4,000. Lands were low-priced during those years; since then they have advanced to ten times their value. Of the 983 houses in New York, 600 depend upon bolting. In 16 years the port went from owning 18 seaworthy vessels to 142, mostly due to sifting flour. Andros' laws did for Manhattan what the Erie Canal would do 125 years later: triple the economy in a few years and put Manhattan in the enviable position of middleman. So the flour barrel got its place on the seal. The windmill's connection to the Dutch is not necessarily a given; when it first appears on the seal we were under English rule, and windmills were popular there, too. But the 1686 seal, when it first appears, was the first seal created by New Yorkers themselves. And since there were many Dutch in positions of authority, and many of them had windmills on their coats-of-arms, it probably does symbolize Dutch heritage. But the best argument can be found in the position of the windmill's arms, they mimic the saltire, or St. Andrew's Cross, and three saltires arranged vertically was the official Dutch emblem. " -
Hello all, as promised I'd like to show my actual project: USS United States. First I have to mention that this is a really worse kit by means of historical and technical correctness. So let's have a close look at the kit and the ship itself: USS United States has been one of the "Original Six" frigates authorized 1794 by the Congress. They've been built under supervision of Joshua Humphreys. Her service history is shown on threedecks.org and Wikipedia. There's very few evidence about her appearance. It IS evident that she had a raised quarterdeck purchased by her first CO, Cpt. John Barry, shown in Chapelle's "History Of The American Sailing Navy": In these times she also had a figurehead showing the Goddess Of Liberty. Lloyd McCaffery shows us how it may have looked like: According to Osprey's "American Heavy Frigates" the figurehead disappeared around 1808 and scrollwork took place at the bow. The raised quarterdeck influenced the ship's behaviour so it has also been removed. I think this happened about 1810 during refit. Here we have another nice picture of USS United States with quarterdeck, figurehead and 2 rows of stern windows (??): Please note that there are no portholes shown... OK, that's what we have by research. Now let's have a look at the kit. HERE (Link) you'll find a very good description and some pictures (German language). Following topics have to be criticized: Scale: obviously NOT 1/150 but very close to 1/220 Outboard: portholes, closed bow, lids of gunports are parted, no hammock nettings Stern: clearly the stern of USS Constitution in the 1870s until today Inboard: no fiferails along the breastwork, gratings too simple, round skylight over Captain's cabin Equipment: only one cutter on the main grating, no clamps or ringbolts Rigging: all masts are molded as one part including yards that are molded in 90 degrees to the ship's direction, double dolphin striker In fact, you get a simplified "Constitution" kit which is miles away from USS United States. So you've got the choice either to build USS Constitution or have fun with a nearly correct USS United States... guess my choice I further decided to build her in a kind of 1842 configuration. Advantage is, the closed bow, bulwarks, gunlids and portholes can remain. I think these features have been added somewhere in the 1820s or 1830, maybe 1828 during her extensive repairs at Philadelphia Navy Yard. So let's have a walk-around: I sheathed the kit's stern with a self designed one made of cardboard, choosing a simple 5-window configuration: All gratings were replaced by self made ones. I used paper strips. Also the skylight was replaced, fiferails were made out of cardstock and wire, bitts out of cardstock, wire and parts of toothpicks. The boats were another challenge. I also made them entirely from card and paper. I also added hammock nettings and hammoks from tissue, wire and thread and put some crew members and US Marines into place. The paintwork is entirely made with acrylics, note that the bow decorations are not guilded and the white gunport belt is painted to the bows. This can be seen on older pictures of USS Constitution and USS Constellation. Now let's have a look at the pictures: I built the masts completely new, the following pictures are showing the kit's condition right now. The tops are parts of the original kit. OK, that's it for today. Looking forward to your comments. Regards Alex -
Hi, I'm considering purchasing The Frigates of the Royal Navy Series THE NAIAD FRIGATE (38) 1797 Volume 1 and 2. It looks like a great book but would like to know first how much detail is contained within the two. How does it compare to the Anatomy of the Ship, the 24 Gun Frigate Pandora for example? I am considering starting a 3D built of the Naiad with the eventual aim to built one using CNC and 3D printing myself. Is the detail sufficient for that including the interior decks? thank you for the help, -
For those of you with curiosity concerning how the first US Frigates were equipped for sea, you may find a ten page listing of the sundries received by the Frigate United States in 1798 at the following link: http://wardepartmentpapers.org/document.php?id=27521 There are some interesting items - including the quantity of powder (268 barrels), grape shot (3,705 2lb grape), compasses (several), 6 panes of glass, 99 gal sherry wine, 48 3/4 gal port wine, 62 gal molasses, and 462 gal of vinegar.
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I first set foot on board the Constitution when I was 7 years old, and I was hooked on sailing ships ever since. My elementary school library had C S Forester's The Captain From Connecticut which I loved and led me to Forester's other work, namely Hornblower. In fact, the 16 foot daysailer I've had since 1979 is named Lydia. I spent my teens and twenties working under sail and power, from barkentines to tugs. I've built several of the 1:96 scale Constitution/United States Revell kits, two of them were RCed; but I always wanted a sailing model of the ubiquitous British frigate, and no one made that kit. I finally decided to build one. Already deep into building an 1850's American sloop-of-war, and with a Baltimore Clipper schooner already planked up, I began a third model of the HMS Macedonian. I chose Macedonian because I could easily get Chapelle's drawing of her from The American Sailing Navy from the Smithsonian, and she was interesting. Macedonian by Gardner Macedonian was a Lively class frigate rated at 38 guns, another of Sir William Rule's designs. Launched in 1810, during the War of 1812 she had the misfortune to meet the American frigate United States, a Constitution class 44 and was captured. She was taken into the American Navy and served until 1828 when she was broken up and replaced by a new ship. Lively Bacchante The story of Macedonian is well told in Chronicles of the Frigate Macedonian, 1809-1922 by James T deKay and I've posted a fair history of the ship on my page There's lots of data available on how the British built and out-fitted their frigates, and even Macedonian's figurehead still exists, but I never have found any reliable information on what her stern looked like. What I've come up with is my own conjecture based on the sterns of other Lively class frigates. The mounted figure is from a statue of Alexander that existed when Macedonian was built. The round object is the "Vergina Sun" found at ancient Macedonian sites and dating from the time of Alexander's father. Symbology available when Macedonian was built and while this is my own guess, it's at least a logical guess. I considered using Alexander's profile from a coin in place of the mounted figure, but his face is already on the bow - given the choice, I'd think an English builder would choose the horse. When the drawings came in from the Smithsonian, the first thing I did was have them digitally scanned. I then rescaled them from 1:48 up to 1:36 mostly so this model would be the same scale as my Constellation. That done, I made up a sheet with each station drawn full-sized, and printed that on my plotter. At this scale, the model should be; Length: 59" taffrail to Alexander's nose Beam molded: 13.3" Draught: 6.87" without the removable ballast keel Her length over the rig will be about 7' and she will stand from keel to truck, about 4'. (I'll update this with more accurate numbers and metric equivalents at a later date) These paper patterns were used to rough cut the wooden stations from 3/8" plywood. Each paper pattern was then glued onto it's station close cut on the bandsaw, and then fined up on the beltsander where some bevel was put into the forward and after stations.
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My grandfather, Cedric Bristow, built this model abut 40 years ago. He intended to add sails but, my father said, wasn't able to because his hand became unsteady due to Motor Neurones Disease (also known as AMS). He passed away several years ago, and I've inherited the ship, which is now in a rather sad state of disarray. I am determined to bring it back to the state in which he left it, and perhaps even finish it in his memory. I admit to having minimal experience with ships and shipbuilding - especially if you don't count having read all the Hornblower and Patrick O'Brian books ever written - but I am a very competent knitter and sewer, so I've got some of the finger-skills I think I'll need plus an idea of how much patience and persistance it takes to see any good craft project through. If you're reading this, I'm certain you'll have some advice you could give me. Please drop me a line to lend a hand! -
Hello everybody ! My favorite theme in modeling is Swedish shipbuilder F.Chapman and his ships. Previously, I have built a model of the Swedish privateer on Chapman's drawings from album «Architectura navalis mercatoria» (can see in the Gallery http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/gallery/album/208-swedish-privateer/) In 2011 I started to build another model of this album - a frigate (sheet XXXIII). This project was repeatedly interrupted, but I went back to building of model. I will show gradually all steps of building model. Baseline - Chapman's drawing. Analysis design of frigate has shown that this is an earlier and smaller version of the well-known series such as frigates Bellona (1782). Swedish Maritime Museum have excellent model Bellona 1/16. Photos of this model give additional information about the hull detailing and rigging. -
Frigate : L´Hermione, scale 1:89
pilidk posted a topic in Build Logs for SCRATCH SHIP MODEL PROJECTS
Hi there! Almost finished with my Victory, and while I wait for my sewing machine to be repaired, in order to finished the sails, i have decided to make a new boat: L´Hermione. in scale 1.89, based on the plans made by the association L´hermione. I can´t wait to share with you guys some photos, comments and tips. Best regards Jean-Philippe Denmark -
Please not another „HMS Surprise“ I thought this international forum literally crowded with them, but when I looked through the pages, there were not so many examples, at least they didn´t show up to me jet. Well, there are a few possible approaches to that specific frigate: The real HMS Surprise ex Unité , which was sold (and broken up? ) in 1802 The fictional Frigate from the novels of Patrick O´Brian, beautiful but hopelessly over rigged and, over guned (which was the exact thing I did) The “Movie Surprise” (ex Rose) which played the role of the famous ship so well, that it almost dominates the public impression of the small frigate. When the book "The frigate Surprise" of Brian Lavery, Karl Heinz Marquardt und Geoff Hunt came out, I finally found my personally image of the beloved Surprise. In 2011 I started the project as a classic PoB build, scaled the plans of KH Marquardt to the dimensions of the existing NMM views of the real Surprise, took many details from the various novels of POB and finally the colors and overall appearance from the artwork of Geoff Hunt. Voila! As the Surprise is not jet finished, it is too early for the gallery and somewhat too late for the build log. If you are interested, I show some pictures from “the past” and start rigging up the yards and sails, which will hopefully come to an end this year. -
As my first scratch build project, I chose to build the frigate HMS Blanche (1800), one of the 27 Apollo class frigates of 36 guns built to the design of William Rule (see wikipedia). The Blanche was built at Deptford by John Dudman and launched in 1800. In 1805, after some success in the West Indies, she was captured and burnt after a battle with 4 French vessels. One reason I chose to start this build was the book Frigates of the Royal Navy, HMS Euryalus by Allan Yedlinski and Wayne Kempson. Without this book and the accompanying plans, I would not have even contemplated a start. Along with the book, this site and the logs on it written by extremely skilled modellers is a fantastic resource. This will not be a fast build, and there will be some work done over a few times, but a after year into the project it remains a lot of fun. Thus far, I am using Totara for the keel and frames, Kauri for the inboard planking and intend to use Rimu for some internal work. All these are New Zealand native and are sourced from old floor boards, church pews and scrap fence posts. I have the plans from Greenwich (although Wayne's plans are superb and all that is required), and also got a print from them. So, here is my Blanche ..... Cheers Rob Current build status -
SMS Trinkstein Not too long ago, I was visiting my moms family in the austrian Alps near Vienna. Then trekking a bit the mountains, I found her, in 1850 meters altitude, well hidden in the secret austrian dockyards, the SMS Trinkstein, the proud flagship of the Austrian Mountain Navy :-) The sharp lined heavy metal bow and the magnificent curves, build out of the finest local materials that made her as strong and imperturbably as possibly, made my immediately cry of happiness. Later on, in the mountain hotel, after some touristic Germknödel (yeast dough dumpling with a mix of poppy seeds and sugar, filled with spicy plum jam and melted butter on top), some Jagertee (mixing overproof rum with black tea. It is served warm and is typically consumed during winter), some Schnaps (translation unnecessary) and some more Jagertee my mind started drifting away ... ... and I saw her, the SMS Trinkstein ploughing with 11 to 12 knots through the transhumance of the Rax-Schneeberg-Plateaus, battering the elements into submission. And I recognised the SMS Trinkstein as a two masted flush deck frigate, a ship of the late Stonehenge-class, introducing the cruiser stern much earlier than any other nation. In many respects these classes were unique in many respects, but it is difficult to gather information due to the secret bases they operate from. Length over all stones is about 7,635 fathom, extreme width about 6,7 ell. The crew usually were some. And my inner eye saw the building up of the mountain waves, the storm-battered ground, cut by the sharp lined heavy metal bow ... ... and the massive stone breast hooks, giving the needed strength to the stempost ... ... down to the enormous kelsons needed for the ultimate stable installation of the masts Also I saw emerging the great bow wave, being pushed forward by the vast brutal strength of the bow though the untouched earth leaving battered earth and scattered stones all over behind. Yes I was able to hear and feel that. The ships mascot was arriving soon ... ... as was the rest of fresh pressed crew with their cute blue and white dress uniforms. And there he came, with proudly shown chest, our flamboyant master and commander, receiving his hat and uniform ... ... and being the proud conquerer of earth, wind and daisies, master of the elements :-) -
Ahoy all! I am a team member and coordinator with Hearts of Oak, an upcoming Nautical/seafaring/naval/piratical game initially set in the mid 18th century, being developed by the long-standing game modifying community at a website called PiratesAhoy!. http://www.heartsofoakgame.com/ Hopefully that gives some context for what I am doing, because though I can build in a good amount of detail, I cannot, for example, build in as much detail as the absolutely stunning 3D model of the HMS Pandora on these forums. This is because of the requirements of a game engine and the abilities of most people's computers. Anyway, hopefully what I come up with is at least somewhat visually pleasing. Quite some time ago a 3D shipbuilder named Bava(who has been active on these forums) started building a model of the HMS Southampton, and though he progressed quite far, he eventually lost interest in the project. http://modelshipworld.com/uploads/monthly_02_2013/post-395-0-97196500-1361961947.jpg http://richardsmodelboats.webs.com/32gunfrigate.htm As he worked with me for Hearts of Oak, the opportunity came up to finish the ship, and I flattered myself by taking it on https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/43901618/CArmstrong/misc/screens/Southampton/16.JPG https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/43901618/CArmstrong/misc/screens/Southampton/20.JPG https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/43901618/CArmstrong/misc/screens/Southampton/21.JPG http://media.moddb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/12.JPG While there is certainly still much to be done, I have a few questions that might be answerable with the expertise so often shown here. Should I add camber to the hatches? EDIT-yes of course, done Should the gunport lids in the waist be removed? I am not entirely sure when that practice ended.(probably will do) I had to make an odd bend in the bottom of the chainplates as they meet the hull on the wale but extend below it. Would that have been feasable, or should I add thickness to the parts below the wale instead? Might this vessel have been fitted with a skylight? Nothing is shown on the Quarterdeck aft of the mizzen in the plans, which is unusual. However with this ship being somewhat of an experiment at the time it was built, there were several features that were different from later frigates. -
I had the opportunity to visit the replica of the "Hermione" in Yorktown, VA this weekend. It was very informative and entertaining. The crew spoke some english, but nautical terms are tough to tranlate. To those of us that are or have worked on MS Rattlesnake or like ships of the 1780s, the rigging was almost exactly as put forth on the plans. Visitation was limited to the deck, much could be seen below and aloft. I will try to post picts.
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I am in the beginning research stages for the restoration of a 38-gun Artois-class fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. It is similar to HMS Diana. It has great detail but it is a wreck. The figurehead (see picture) is of a man/god waving a mace-like weapon, wearing what appears to be a flowing robe. Can anyone identify the ship from the figurehead or venture a guess as to the figurehead? Thanks, Frank
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