HM Schooner Pickle by JRB9019 - Caldercraft - Scale 1:64

[JRB9019]

Perfect - that's exactly what I meant.

I'll have to go and have a look around the local model shop and see what (if anything) they have. Model railways and Fantasy Game models seems to be the main focus unfortunately!

[JRB9019]

The Build – Phase 10

 

Skylights and Companionway

 

Here we go on the next stage. As usual, I read through the instructions and identified the parts needed.

 

Fine, this looked easy enough I thought. Join a few pieces of wood together and we’re done.

 

Of course, nothing is ever as simple as it looks, I should have know that by now.

 

I spend a frustrating half-hour trying to work out how to glue the tiny edges of the Skylights together whilst holding them perfectly still and straight at the same time. In case you were wondering, the important word in that sentence was “trying”.

 

Then I had another idea. Why not make a new build template?

 

First things first. Using some spare pieces of planking, I glued three pieces to a small block of wood, leaving just enough space to fit a section of the Skylight in between.

 

 

Next, I slotted in a side piece, now supported by the planks:

 

 

Then I added a Skylight end piece, making sure that the two pieces were square. After a dry run and check, I carefully added glue to the ends and re-positioned the pieces:

 

 

 

That seemed to work, so after waiting a while for everything to set, I removed the two pieces.

 

However, before I did so, I marked the long holding strip and after removing the pieces, I cut the holding strip to size.

 

I was then able to add the second side piece and then turning the previously made piece I slid that in to place. I also used a new piece of planking offcut (not glued) to square everything up, checked once more before removing the pieces, carefully gluing them and putting them all back together again.

 

 

Well, so far so good.

 

 

Next, once everything was dry, I replaced the three-piece skylight back into the template, this time the other way around.

 

 

Then, I added the second skylight end-piece, again using my spare plank cut-off to square everything off. A final check, then added the glue.

 

 

 

After drying, I removed the completed structure. I was very happy with the results, the structure looking very solid and, more importantly, square – well oblong, obviously, but I’m sure you know what I mean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JRB9019]

The Build – Phase 10

 

Skylights and Companionway - Part Two

 

Back again after lots of distractions, Using the method explained previously, I completed the initial build of the two skylights and the basic companionway. 

 

 

 

I had long thought about the Skylight and companionway finish. I like others were not really happy with the plain wood finish that was suggested in the kit instructions. So, I decided to teach myself some more modelling skills and started to think about cladding the outside of the skylights and companionway and then cladding the interior of the companionway.

 

My first attempt was with the larger skylight – which looked great until I saw the close-up photographs!!!

 

Oh, by the way, the gaps have been left on purpose so that once painted, I will still be able to see the individual planks - well, that's the plan anyway!!

 

Still, here’s a couple of shots.

 

 

 

 

 

I then spent a few hours cladding the second skylight and the companionway exterior and interior. Not quite as easy as I thought it would be. I used spare deck planks for the cladding but quickly realised that they were far too wide, so I spent quite a while trimming and cutting to a reasonable size. Eventually, I finished off then placed the strutures on deck to see what they looked like…..

 

 

 

On the previous photo you might have noticed a piece of wood spanning the entrance to the companionway. It wasn't until I had glued the companionway together that I noticed that one side was bending inwards. I therefore cut this truss and wedged it in - obviously cutting it down to size after I had finished the cladding

 

After a while, this seems to have worked as can be seen in the next two photographs...

 

 

 

 

 

Time to think about the paintwork........

 

 

 

 

[JRB9019]

Skylights and Companionway – Part Three

 

Finished the skylights and companionway with a final light sanding and then I painted the inner surfaces in white and the outer with Red Ochre.

 

I was careful here not to fill in the gaps when I was painting so that the individual cladding planks were still visible. Eventually, I will be finishing the structures off with black beading/coving around the bottom of each piece – but you'll have to be patient!!

 

There is still a lot of work to do yet with the fitting of window frames, bars and the companionway top still to come with a final touch-up of the paintwork that also needs doing.

 

In the meantime, here’s a couple of pictures of the painted structures:

 

 

 

 

 

[flyer]

Hi John

 

Nice work. In my experience you don't need to make extra gaps between the planks. If you use a rather viscous, water - based paint, like Admiralty paint, you will still see the individual planks.

 

peter

[JRB9019]

Thanks Peter - I'll bear that in mind next time!

[JRB9019]

A little Research

 

I decided to take a little break from the build and carry out some research....

 

As mentioned, I am planning to add sails to Pickle - but I am planning to furl mine.

 

To make sure everything is as it should be, I plan to add all the apprproriate lines - uphaul, downhaul and sheets.

 

Therefore, before I started to fix all the deck furniture i.e. the Windlass and Pawl Bitts and the skylights and companionway, I wanted to add all the additional fittings and beley points that I was going to need for the sails. Better now while I still had plenty of space to work in.

 

First things first, it was time to some research. Out came Pickle's plans and my trusty books:

   - Karl Heinz Marquardt's The Global Schooner and Eighteenth Century Rigs and Rigging and

   - Lennarth Petersson's Rigging Period Ship Models

 

 

 

I quickly realised that if I was needing to identify and add belay points, fixtures and fittings, I needed to understand what was already there. I looked at the plans and the construction book, but all I could see were B and C numbers without telling me what they were for. Perhaps JotiKa could add some sort of table to list the points with thier names/purposes, which would be a help.

 

So, what to do? Firstly, I photocopied two half's of the beley diagramme from the plans onto A4 paper, then lined them up and stuck them together. The end result was:

 

 

Next, I created a quick spreadsheet, listing all the belay points and then took the construction book and identified each of the belay points and added them to the spreadsheet. This task was made a lot easier as I had downloaded a PDF version of the construction bookm so could use the seach function to identify everything quickly. The end result of all that was:

 

 

So, armed with my new-found knowledge, I was able to go to my printed belay plan and add the titles to all the belay and anchor points. This will help once I start rigging, I'm sure.... Here's the pencil draft version. I plan to make a neater version once I am finished with everything.

 

 

 

 

So, now that the 'standard' lines and belay points had been identified, it was time to do some research to find out what else I was going to need.

 

Back to basics, first of all for the bow section, I made a sketch of the bowsprit, added and labelled the different stays and finally, sketched in and labelled the different sails...

 

 

 

The next step was to find different diagrammes from my various books and photocopy those. Now it was time to identify all the new lines and points that I was going to need - these will all get in added to my master belay plan once I'm done.

 

 

 

Hmmm, I'm quite enjoying this!

 

John

[JRB9019]

If anyone is wondering!!

 

I've got a little sidetracked of late - life has been getting in the way of my modelling.

I hope to be back on track early Autumn once all the other jobs have stopped getting in the way!!

 

Have a great summer everyone - or winter if you in the Southern Hemisphere of course!!

 

John

[JRB9019]

On 8/25/2018 at 2:25 PM, SpyGlass said:

Are you still looking for rigging information ?

And are you still planning to show furled sails?

May have a few pics which will help if so

Hi there.

Yes, I am still planning to add running rigging, sheets and sails.

My current thoughts are to have all sails furled apart from perhaps the flysheet and possibly the jib which I want to show pulled 3/4 of the way down. Likewise I want to have the Gaffsail 1/2 way down. 

As you will see from my last posts, I had started to do some research but any definitive pics, details would be fantastic.

There is a replica Pickle sailing around the north of England coast but I never seem to find out its next destination until its been and gone!!!

 

[JRB9019]

Well, to quote Sam Cooke back in the day "It's been a long time comin', but . . . ." I'm finally back in the Shipyard after a lenghty absence.

The Shipyard has been opened up again, the covers are off Pickle, workers hired and so the next phase is starting.

 

Interesting how the brain works. The first time I went back up on deck it seemed as if my fingers had swelled up 10 fold and all the ship equipment and tools had certainly shrunk by the same amount. It's taken a few days but things are (very) slowly coming back into focus. My dexterity in handling tiny items however will need a little more work it seems!

 

My first (easy) task was to touch up the paint work, especially the black - and I then noticed that most of my paints had dried up from lack of use. So it was onto the the Jotika Website for a refit of the paint stores and and the same time I ordered some chain from Cornwall Boats so that I will be able to complete the (Non-standard) rudder fittings.

 

First proper task was to complete the Companion Way and complete the doors and cover with all the hinges, handles and the like.

Just about finished and now, all I have to do is fix them and then the Companion way, Skylights, Pawl and Fore-Bitts, Windlass and rudder.

I'll post some photos once all is in position.

 

Of course, I've been putting off trying to make the Channels and wonderful Deadeye Strops. My previous attempt ended up with me snapping 6 strops so had to order new ones!! These have also arrived and I won't be able to go much further without building them. Oh I can't wait!!   

Edited February 8, 2019 by JRB9019

[JRB9019]

Sadly, I had to throw in the towel and close the yard last year as all the workers had gone out on what turned out to be a 12 month strike.

 

After a lot of discussions, the workers finally agreed to return to work for a few months so we'll try and catch up on the lost time!!!

 

Rudder Chains

 

Just before the strike, I had decided to add rudder chains to Pickle as it just didn’t seem right to launch a ship without them. The kit didn’t supply any so after further research I purchased a length of 1:64 chain with 1 mm links which other people had used.

 

Great, so now I had the chain, I needed to attach it to the stern and rudder of course. I found some spare eyelets but couldn’t see how to attach the chain to the them as the chain links were too small.

 

Then I had the bright idea of using copper wire to attach my chains to the eyelets, but I couldn’t find any wire thin enough for the job until I had the idea of stripping an old piece of electric wire as this, of course, had copper wire inside.

 

So, I stripped out some wire and, using the stand and clip to hold my eyelet, was able to tie on the chain with the wire strand. That seemed to work, so I built a second chain but won’t be attaching the chains until the end of the build as I’m sure to rip them off when I start on the rigging!!.  

 

 

 

Edited February 23, 2021 by JRB9019

[JRB9019]

Before facing my nemesis of the Deadeye Strops once again, I decided that after such a long time away, I needed an easier way to get motivated and relearn some modelling skills. So, I decided to leave other parts of the ship alone for a while and make a start on the masts and spars etc. I decided to build up each piece as much as I could and add as many fixtures and fittings too on dry land before bringing them on board.   

 

Bowsprit & Jib-boom

 

Starting with the bowsprit and jib-boom, I identified and cut my two pieces of dowel to size.

 

Then I had to learn how to do some tapering! With my newly purchased baby plane, a chisel and lots of sandpaper I eventually managed to turn out two tapered pieces to the required measurements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I added the required eyelet and drilled the hole ready for the forestay. Next it was time to build the bowsprit cap and I faced this task with some trepidation as I had read of others having quite a time with this, especially trying to find the correct angle to drill the required holes without snapping the wood.

 

Luckily, although it took a lot of time, things went well for a change. Using the plans, I firstly shaped the cap at the top and bottom and using these as a guide found the correct angles to drill the holes. A little fine-sanding later I dry-fitted the bowsprit and job-boom. Result!! After drilling guide-holes, I added the two eyelets to the bowsprit cap.

 

 

Then I was asked to perform the simple task of creating two stop cleats. Now that took a while but after four failed attempts I managed to produce two acceptable cleats which I quickly attached before I lost them! Great idea, except that when I picked up my first cleat with my tweezers, the cleat pinged off into outer space never to be seen again and so I had to go back and make a further cleat! While I was in cleat building mode, I also produced the two gammoning cleats that I saw I would need later in the build.

 

Time to assemble what I had built and with that done, I fixed the stop and gammoning cleats. Finally, I painted the required sections in black and stained the rest in walnut. Like many, I’m not too happy with the result and may use some fine sandpaper to lighten things up a little before final fitting.

 

 

During a test fitting of the completed bowsprit to confirm the correct placing of the gammoning cleats I realised that after consulting the plans, I had fitted the pawl bitts too far back and therefore the bowsprit was not positioned correctly. Luckily the pawl bitt assembly was not fixed in place so it was simply a task of re-measuring and drilling new holes. So now the pawl bitt assembly is in the correct place!!

 

[JRB9019]

Main Mast

 

Still avoiding the deadeye strops, I made a start on the masts.

 

I started with the main mast. This is supposedly cut from the provided 6mm dowel. Trouble is, the dowel varies from 6.2 to 6.8 mm. I guess I have no option other than to sand for hours by hand to get the mast down to the correct diameter.

 

I then noticed that my planking had been too generous around the mast step so out came my file and I carefully sanded away until I could get the mast to fit. I was shocked at first when I saw the resulting mast angled the way it was but after checking with the plans, I blew a huge sigh of relief as I realised that this was how it was supposed to be!!

 

The fun and games continued when I found I had to drill a hole down the centre of the dowel and again with the 4x4 mm walnut. An easy job for those of you with bench drill rigs but by hand?? I had a practice run but the holes weren’t dead straight. After a lot of rummaging in the garage, I dug out an old table vice and a rusty set square. Setting the vice on the table (sorry, it’s a work bench!) and clamping the dowel, I then stood the set square as a guide and slowly re-drilled the hole. I think. I finished by drilling the hole in the walnut upper mast section, too small to be worth clamping so I did this by hand as best I could.

 

Moment of truth time, I tried to fit the two pieces together and found they really didn’t align as the top section veered off at an alarming angle. I took a closed look at the two sections and found that my cutting wasn’t 100% true and had left a slight angle which wasn’t really noticeable before. Out with a fine file and attempted to level things off and then I glued everything together holding the upper section as straight as I could. After trial-fitting fitting the mast, I thought everything looked OK from the bow: 

 

 

 

However, looking at the mast from the starboard side, I saw that I had produced a fine mast rake, perfect in a racing yacht but I have a feeling it's not appropriate for Pickle. However, I don’t really think I can change this so that’s the way it’s going to have to stay unless anyone has some bright ideas??

 

Hopefully, when I add the upper mast and cross trees it won't look too bad. The difficult bit is going to be to get the fore-mast looking exactly the same!! 

 

 

[Beef Wellington]

Hi John, your Pickle is looking very nice.  My suggestion would be to redo the mast, and instead of using a joining a separate section, just file down the dowel to the appropriate size.  Aside from visually wanting the mast and topmast to be parallel, I suspect that this would be a potential area of weakness that may prove to be a problem when you come to rig the backstays.

[JRB9019]

1 hour ago, Beef Wellington said:

Hi John, your Pickle is looking very nice.  My suggestion would be to redo the mast, and instead of using a joining a separate section, just file down the dowel to the appropriate size.  Aside from visually wanting the mast and topmast to be parallel, I suspect that this would be a potential area of weakness that may prove to be a problem when you come to rig the backstays.

Hi Jason, 

Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to have to get some new dowel from my local DIY shop as the kit only provides enough for the 2 masts. Yes, I guess it will be worthwhile in the end. Gosh, that's a lot of sanding to do!!!!

 

[JRB9019]

Having reviewed my attempt at my mainmast I decided that it wasn't good enough.

The method of connecting the two mast sections might be good enough for the excellent modellers at Jotika models or the Mr Longridge of "The Anatomy of Nelson's Ships" and Victory scratch-build models but, as suggested by Jason (Beef Wellington) and the method used by others,  I decided to purchase some new dowel and start again!!

 

Down to my local DIY shop and I rummaged through their 6mm dowelling before eventually finding a piece that was decent enough and wasn't bent by 20-30%!!

 

Back at the shipyard, I cut the mainmast to size (including the top section!! and started off cutting the square 4mm section with my baby plane and lots of sandpaper, but eventually I finished and after checking with my micrometre signed the work off.   

  

[JRB9019]

Thinking that I am still interested in attempting to make sails for Pickle, in the next step, I wanted attempt to craft some Sail Hoops for the Main Driver. I had seen them on my real-life reference ship Ruth that I was lucky enough to find in a local Ships festival in Gloucester England.

 

Here's a shot of Ruth and a close-up of the sail hoops

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had been inspired by Flyer and Blue Ensign and how they had created the hoops for their models, so putting the main mast aside for now, I decided to set my apprentices to work to craft the hoops, following the instructions that I gave them as learned from the two master craftsmen.

 

Below are the results. I shouldn't be too harsh. They are apprentices after all but after this attempt, they have been tasked with cleaning the shipyard from top to bottom!!!

 

  

 

 

Back to the main Topmast then. . . . .  

 

 

 

[JRB9019]

Completing the Main Mast

 

Back at the shipyard, as per the instructions, I shaped the lower main topmast, then tapered the top section and after drilling the two sections were pinned together, this time everything looked straight!

 

Next I had fun and games learning what a 'Fid' was, then I made one and after drilling the appropriate hole dry fitted it.

 

Then it was on to making the Main lower top trestletrees that wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be. I needed a lot of test fitting and fine filing before everything fitted but we got there in the end.

 

Once again referring to Flyer and Blue Ensign's builds I also decided to create cheeks to support the lower top trestletrees. I made four whilst I was at it as I will obviously use cheeks on both masts.

 

Finally a few final dry runs and everything was ready for the final main mast assembly.  

 

 

As can be seen, I stained the masts but this time, I used a cloth instead of a brush which has left a better, lighter finish.

I also sanded flat a section either side of the main mast which will let the cheeks sit better.

 

After the final careful assembly, I then painted the relevant mast sections in black and being pleased with the result let the workers off early for a well earned cup of tea!!

 

 

Edited March 22, 2021 by JRB9019

[JRB9019]

Fitting Blocks and Eyelets

 

So after finishing the mast build, the next instructions told me to "fit two eyelets  . . . .  together with their respective blocks".

Great, wonderful. But how was I supposed to do that? No idea! I was a little cross at this point. So far the fantastic very detailed build instructions had been a real help in my new hobby. Sure, I had some steep learning curves, but that was to be expected but as a long as I read the instructions carefully, the method was there. . . . .  and suddenly I was left with 'fit the blocks' Thanks for nothing!

 

OK, so I spend a day or two scouring the various books that I had and then went online and finally found what I thought were the answer. I finished my first attempt and I was really not happy with the result. . . . 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No, not acceptable. Back to research and finally found a couple of really useful videos. After studying these, the penny dropped as I had finally found someone who seized blocks and tackle with whipping twine as would happen in real life. Great. Further investigation led me to to news that these modellers were using twine that was meant for tying flies (for fly-fishing!). A few clicks later, I found a great UK supplier and within 24 hours I was the proud owner of 50 metres of black 6/0 thread shown here next to the original 0.10 mm kit thread.

 

 

I requested and was granted release from my duties to attend nautical school for a while to learn how to do some proper rigging and attaching blocks, hooks and spars etc. Hopefully I pass the final exam!!/

    

 

[JRB9019]

I spend a few days attempting to master the black art of Block Stropping and whipping.

In the end, and referring to various comments and videos I succeeded in completing my first Block.

 

I used one small vice to hold one set of tweezers holding a block and my 'jewellers stand and crocodile clips to hold the eye.

I used dabs of white wood-glue to attach the Stropping rope to the block and then 3/4 small strips of masking tape to hold the ropes in thier right place.

 

I then attached my whipping twine with another piece of masking tape, then made a loop in the other end and taped that down out of the way too. Now 'all' that I had to do was whip the stropping together with 7-8 turns, finishing by threading the strop end through the loop. Finally, I undid the opposite end of the whipping twine and pulled gently until the loop had tightened, holding everything in place.

 

A final trim of all the twines and I was done. Not perfect, but now I finally understand the technique I'm sure my work will improve by the time I've completed the last block. Thank goodness this has all taken place in the workshops and not onboard!!!

 

I have made a detailed set of photographs of the full process if anyone is interested, but in the meantime, here's a photo to finish.

 

 

  

[AJohnson]

Hi John,

 

Looking good, I'm just at this stage on my Bounty, looking at how to tie blocks to eyelets and hooks, so glad to come across someone doing the same.  Yep  CC instructions are brill aren't they!  😆 

 I've got myself some illuminated headset magnifying lenses, as my eyesight is not what it once was! 🤓

[JRB9019]

Back to completing the main mast. As I mentioned back in March in post 51, I had made several attempts to create the hoops for the main driver sail and was really not happy with the results. After a further unsuccessful attempt, still using diluted wood glue for the job (I mean after all, paper was wood once so it should be OK!!) I found some PVA Paper glue and tried it with that.

That worked . . . . .  except that I couldn't get them off my dowel and had to resort to cutting them off which did rather spoil things!!

OK, so one last attempt. This time I would some kitchen foil around my dowel followed by a few turns of cling-film. 

 

Finally, I think I'd cracked it and not only was I able to remove my roll from the dowel but after drying for 24 hours I carefully used my fine saw to create 9 hoops!!! Persistence finally paid off and they are much, much better than my original attempts for sure.  

 

                                                                 

 

After some careful sanding and bevelling of the outer edges, I gave the rings a further good coat of my PVA glue and sent them to the drying room overnight. . . . . 

 

                                                                   

 

I was originally going to paint the hoops black, but research from my books and Flyer's comments showed that the the hoops would have been made of Ash. After consulting with the Shipyard Owner (she knows about these things!) it was suggested that a mix of white, dark walnut and a touch of ochre would give the required finish. Sure enough the lady was correct of course, so two coats of the colour was added followed the next day by a good coat of mat varnish. I happened to have some small Ash pieces lying around so used one to compare the colour and am pretty pleased with the result . . . . 

 

                                                                       

 

Done! So the next step was to fit the Driver Boom Saddle and supports. Back to my 4*4 mm Walnut for some delicate cutting and sawing and while I was at it read ahead and noticed that I would need at least another 10 or so of these so I produced them all at the same time, stuck them onto upturned masking tape which made the subsequent painting a lot easier.

 

So, my shift was just about to finish so just before I packed up for the night I carefully glued the Driver Boom Saddle and left the fitting of the supports until the next day . . . . . . which I thought about as I woke up and suddenly remembered with a true Homer Simson 'Duuhhhh' moment that I had forgotten to fit the hoops first!!!

 

First task was to remove the Driver Boom Saddle then. Not an easy task but after carefully soaking the edges with acetone (Nail varnish remover!!) a couple of times and carefully using plyers, the saddle eventually detached. Phew!

I cleaned the area up, and reattached the saddle AFTER threading the hoops first!!. Fiddly messing around to fit the 3 supports and the Main mast was done and ready for fitting in due time . . . . . on to the fore-mast...

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

                              

 

[allanyed]

Hi John,

As you are no doubt aware of the history of Pickle, including the fact that she was the first ship to bring the news of Nelson's victory at Trafalgar to Great Britain, arriving at Falmouth on 4 November, I thought you and your build log followers would be interested in the TV series being written by screenwriter Adam Preston.   If so, please see the Trafalgar post in the Nautical/Naval History section here at MSW titled TV series about Nelson and Maritime Britain during the Trafalgar period.     The various posts, including the post from Adam explain in detail. Thanks!!

[JRB9019]

At last with a little help from the Flyer Swiss Seamans Recruitment Agency, I was able to organise a Captain and crew to help get the Pickle build completed. Sadly, their previous voyage had been an Antarctic expedition and they all arrived at the dockside looking a lot worse for wear and as can be seen, still suffering from a lot of frostbite.

 

The crew appeared to be happy to be back on dry land and, as was their wont, immediately took to heavy drinking and fighting amongst them selves. The new crew then broke into the wood stores and made a right mess> The lookout kept watch and yelled out a warning but too late, the Captain found them all and he was not amused.

 

The crew were sentenced to hard labour to clear up the the mess they had made and to make themselves presentable for inspection . . . .      

 

 

Edited May 28, 2021 by JRB9019