HMS Pegasus by Blue Ensign - FINISHED - Amati/Victory Models - 1:64 scale

[druxey]

Congratulations, Blue Ensign, on a lovely result. You have done a really fine job on your Peggy!

Edited February 13, 2018 by druxey

[diablo0007]

wow great work specially with rigging 
i believe i will learn too much from your blog when i reach my rigging stage 

[Blue Ensign]

Thanks,Paul, druxey, and diablo, for your kind words, much appreciated. 

 

B.E.

[DelF]

Hi B.E.

 

As I've mentioned before, I often dip into your Pegasus log for ideas and inspiration. As my own project nears completion (well, just the running rigging to go so it must be nearly done?!) I've been reminded of your display case. I'm also looking for a clear case with no obstructing frames. My own research turned up a few potential suppliers in the UK, amongst which I thought Display Cases International looked the likeliest. Before I take the plunge, would you mind sharing your supplier and your impression of their product (it certainly looks great in your photos)? 

 

Thanks

 

Derek

[Blue Ensign]

Hi Derek,

 

Here's the link to the supplier I use.

http://www.just-bases.co.uk/?page_id=135

 

Paul has made several cases for my ship models both small and large, and I've always been pleased with his cases.

 

Cheers,

 

B.E.

[DelF]

Brilliant - just what I was after!

[Blue Ensign]

Thanks Wallace, it is nice to have a hard copy album of build progress photo's to flick thro' rather than sit at the desk top.☺️

 

B.E.

[Keith Black]

 I just came across your build while searching "buoy". What a fantastic piece of work your Pegasus is! I'll be spending alot of enjoyable time going over the entirety of your build log, thank you for sharing your skills and the journey.........Keith

[Blue Ensign]

Thank you Keith, glad you like it, and I hope it will be of some use to you.

 

Regards,

 

B,E,

[SkipW]

On 3/3/2017 at 11:45 AM, Blue Ensign said:

The lower rail
Another very fragile piece, but with the position of the SoE discharge pipes established these can next be fitted.
The pre-cut notches in the head timbers seem too large for the rail and so required a little packing.
I made replacement lower rails out of laminated boxwood strip; what little sods they were. Just as I would get close to finishing one, a bit would break off and another hours’ work went down the tubes.

The photo also includes a roughed out False Rail that comes into the picture later.
Still after several attempts the objective was finally achieved but even so the thin end of the port rail splintered a little but the situation was saved by the use of Super phatic glue which wickes into the fibres, and is supposed to be stronger than CA.

Here the lower rails are fixed into place and the Ekeing rail is trial fitted.

The Ekeing rail
In the kit the Ekeing rail is represented by a decorative white metal strip that simply has to be curved to shape and cut to size, attaching to the bottom of the Cathead support and joining with the Lower Rail.
OK as it goes but it lacks the subtle shape of a true Ekeing rail being only on one plane, not fitting well to the adjoining timbers, and lacking a good match to the other timbers. As it has to be painted it is any case of no use to me as I need all the rails to match in natural boxwood finish.
I don’t think the job could easily be done with walnut, and it wouldn’t be easy to include a laser cut version in the kit because this rail has to be fettled to suit the shape of the bow which in practice would vary slightly from build to build.
The metal strip does however provide a good template to assist making a wooden replacement.
Firstly a piece of the metal strip is cut and shaped to size, it is then transferred to a boxwood blank, and the shaping can then begin.

Metal strip on right used as a template.
I used a Jewellers saw to rough out the shape, and from then it was a question of sanding and whittling away until the desired shape was achieved.

 

The piece was soaked and then clamped to give a round to the lower end.
Once the plan shape is achieved the face is then tapered down from where it meets the Cathead support to finally fay into the Lower rail.
The back of the Ekeing rail needs to remain flush with the hull to which it is glued, which means that a little trial and error shaping is required. The face tapers evenly down from the support and as it turns across the round of the bow it is progressively thinned and tapered to meet the thickness of the lower rail.

A fair bit of scarring to the paintwork during the course of rail fitting.

Seem to have taken a chunk out of the stem during the proceedings, fortunately the Pegasus figure will cover this.
Not as formidable a job as I had imagined, patience and a fine grained wood does the trick. I didn’t cut the rail with a built in lateral curve but relied upon the thinness of the timber plus a little water based bending to achieve the end result.
The trickiest part is fixing the rail to the hull, there is no easy way to clamp the rail whilst the glue sets. I glued it by degrees and pinned at two points.

The Ekeing rail just cuts across the top of the Hawse holes.

The grating set up between the Main rails now completed, needs some fine sanding before a varnish.

I have also added a Breast hook over the Bowsprit, courtesy of Rabone Chesterman, and the piece was fixed into the bows using eight iron bolts.
Below it can be seen the Bowsprit partners raised above the deck planking level.

Still some way to go before I’m sufficiently happy with it and Part Four should see the final additions.

B.E.

 

 

Really appreciate the explanation of the catheads - - I've been struggling with this for several days.  You're exactly right - the only way to completely comply with the kit parts and drawings and keep them below the rail is to install them "upside down".  It wasn't until I saw your write-up that I realized they needed modification to get the proper upward angle coming thru the side.  Thanks!

[Blue Ensign]

You're welcome Skip, glad you found it of use, headworks are tricky things.

 

Cheers,

 

B.E.

[Radmancoop]

Hello Blue Ensign.

 

I'm in awe of your build. Not only the incredible craftmanship but also the meticulous documentation with pictures and text. What a gift. 

 

I have been building along with your log. I am wondering how you created the netting on with side of the bow around the bowkins. Did you weave that prior to placing on the bow? Is the black horizontal top and bottom wood or cord? 

 

Thank you so much again. Truly incredible. 

 

[Blue Ensign]

Thank you Radmancoop, I'm pleased my log is of help, and I hope you are enjoying your Pegasus build.

 

I've looked back through my files and below I have copied the section on the Bowsprit netting and set up.

09/02/015

Returning to the head

With the Bowsprit fixed and the gammoning in place I can return to the head .

14

 The Berthing rail and stanchion which provide a safety barrier can now be put into place. For the rail 0.7mm brass tubing is used.

I had previously fixed the eyelets to take the rail and small hooks inside the False rail to hold the lower edge of the netting that completes the job.

26

For the netting I returned to my stock of old  net curtain material which has 1mm square holes; cut on the diagonal it looks about right.

 Colron Light Oak wood dye was used to colour the netting, the dye was simply brushed across the netting both sides and allowed to dry.

This produced a pale hempy colour similar to the running rigging scale hemp and to my eye gives a reasonable scale effect of untarred rope.

The Boomkins

Dimensions taken from Steel and made from 3mm dia dowel tapered down to 2mm.

Outside of the False rail there is a curve in the spar, this was induced by firstly soaking and then curving over a suitable former.

30

69

48

51

60

 

Regards,

 

B.E.

 

 

[Smudgemjay]

Difficult to add to what others have said about your build and build log Blue Ensign. But just to say — inspirational. And sad I didn't find it until well into my build of Fly. Thankyou

[Richard44]

5 hours ago, Smudgemjay said:

Difficult to add to what others have said about your build and build log Blue Ensign. But just to say — inspirational. And sad I didn't find it until well into my build of Fly. Thankyou

 I agree wholeheartedly. BE's log is a constant source of ideas - though all errors are of course mine 😕

 

Cheers

[Radmancoop]

Many thanks BE for the response, description and photos in characteristic precise and thorough fashion. Very much appreciated. 

[dunnock]

I would like to add my congratulations on your build of Pegasus. It has helped me tremendously with my first real build of a model ship, HMS Fly. (I completed Hunter by Mamoli about 25 years ago.) I attempted many of your simpler suggested modifications where I thought I could but definitely never to the same quality that you have achieved. My rendition is far from perfect I know, but I am still quite pleased with the result and hope I have learnt enough during the build to improve on my next project, HMS Diana. I still have a few tweaks to make on Fly but when complete, I will post a few pictures. Thanks again BE and I intend to post a build log of Diana as I begin the project in the next month or so.

[Blue Ensign]

Thank you dunnock, I’m pleased you found it of use, and best wishes for your new project HMS Diana, she is a fine frigate. 

 

A build log log is the way to go to gain information and assistance with your build.

 

Regards,

 

B.E.

[Radmancoop]

On 3/9/2017 at 12:46 AM, Blue Ensign said:

Fitting the Fore Yard

I am fitting the Fore yard at this point to maximise the finger space behind the mast to rig the Truss Pendants.

Requirements.

 Small thimbles, (2). 4" line, (0.50mm ). 24' long (114mm). (4) 8" double blocks,(3mm). 2½" strop hooks,(1mm). 2" tackle line (0.25mm). 96' long.(457mm)

Attaching the thimbles and pendant line to the yards is fiddly but not difficult with the yards off the model, but fitting once the yards are in place can turn into a very frustrating exercise.

There are details of fitting the pendants in the ffm. Lees, and Longridge's  Anatomy of Nelson's ships, which I think is the clearer description, and drawing.

The truss pendants are temporarily fixed to the eyebolts to mark the point where the blocks will be attached.

Fixing the pendant block.

Starboard tackle rigged.

 

Next up the jeer tyes

7" line (0.9mm) (4)12" double blocks ( 4.76mm) (2)hooks, 2½" tackle line (0.30mm)

Conveniently Syren do both 0.88mm and 0.30mm  line.

According to ffm 60' (scaling to 12")of jeer tye line is required.

This works out pretty spot on.

Tye threaded thro' the jeer blocks.

Jeer tyes (but wrong side of the yards at present.)

This shot shows the completed jeers tyes and truss pendants.

Before I rig the Jeer tye falls I will return to fit the Topmast  stays. The tackle for these are fitted inside the jeer falls, between the bitts and mast and are best dealt with first.

B.E.

 

Greetings Blue Ensign. I hope you are doing well and staying safe. I'm progressing along on my build and remain captivated by your build log and talents.

 

I am wondering if the truss pendants you are referring to on this post (fore mast and main mast) are the same pendants/thimbles that you secured onto the masts earlier in the build (attached to the mast stem), before the placing the shrouds. Or are they in addition to those thimbles?

 

Thanks much in advance. 

[Blue Ensign]

Thank you Radmancoop,

The Truss pendants secure the yards to the mast as indicated above.

The other pendants you refer to are the Burton pendants or Pendants of tackles. These go over the masthead before the shrouds, thimbles are attached to the ends to take tackles for heavy lifting, altho’ sometimes blocks are secured directly to the pendants.

Regards,

 

B.E.

[terryp]

Hi Ensign, I am due soon to build my Pegasus after I have finished my 4 year victory build. I have been going through your build and beautiful she is. Could I ask please if you had any dimensions for your stove build, I see many references to it but no measurements as such. Thank you for any assistance.

 

Terry

[Blue Ensign]

Thank you Terry

I didn’t record the dimensions, but they are not difficult to work out.

The width of the stove is governed by the space between the standards of the Riding Bitts, the height by the beam of the Fore deck which on my model I recessed to take the chimney.

The length of the stove can be gauged near enough from the photos.

I think others have also included a stove in their builds and those logs may contain dimensions if you’re lucky.

Good luck with your build.

 

Regards,

 

B.E.

[terryp]

Thanks Ensign, I'll use your information against prints to get an idea. Regards.

[Richard44]

On 3/6/2021 at 11:01 PM, terryp said:

Hi Ensign, I am due soon to build my Pegasus after I have finished my 4 year victory build. I have been going through your build and beautiful she is. Could I ask please if you had any dimensions for your stove build, I see many references to it but no measurements as such. Thank you for any assistance.

 

Terry

Hi Terry,

 

I've attached a pdf file that shows the plan of the stove - this has been taken from TFFM with Greg's permission (one of the authors). The original scale of the plan was 1:48, I have no idea just what the scale is now after scanning, but I added a scale bar (in cm) so you should be able to work out the actual dimensions you need.

 

Cheers

 

 

 

Pegasus stove.pdf

Edited March 7, 2021 by Richard44

[Wood gnome]

On 3/3/2017 at 8:49 AM, Blue Ensign said:

Beneath the Foc'sle (Part 2)

This is a little modification that can be done by those who may be technically challenged (me) yet are concerned about what just may be glimpsed thro’ the foremost ports beneath the Foc’sle. It may also appeal to those who are reluctant to weaken the deck support system, or get too involved in serious modification at the bows (me)

Firstly, the solid false keel extension piece between the Foremast lug and the bowsprit step is converted into a beam and pillar arrangement by removal of the solid centre.

This allows light to pass from one side of the ship to the other thro’ the foremost (Bridle) ports.
Next a section of dowel which represents the continuance of the bowsprit to what would be the chock and step, is cut to the stive and fitted in the available space.

This can be seen thro’ the Bridle ports where a gun is not situated, but cannot be detected as being separate to the actual bowsprit.

Once the legs of the Fore Topsail sheet Bitts are in place they form what would be in reality the angled uprights of the bowsprit step.
This is completed by the addition of the Bowsprit step chocks.

 

With the Bitt uprights in place, the set up is complete.

Next the Manger boards and the related deck cants.

Are also seen thro’ the ports, and are cut to meet up with the second bulkhead frame.

The final modification is of the Fore Jeer bitt uprights.
In the kit these travel thro’ the Foc’sle deck to seat in the upper deck, just forward of the Galley stove and abaft the Foremast.
In reality they should be pinned to the Fo’csle deck beams, this frees up a very crowded area on the Upper deck and gives more space to work the stove.

The modification involves fixing short sections of brass square section tubing beneath the Fore deck into which the Bitt legs can be glued. The arrangement is formed into a deck beam.

With a tight fit and strong glue the bitts should hold against any pull of the rigging.

All of this of course is totally unnecessary in the overall scheme of things but.......
you never know who you may find peering thro’ that open port.

Hi Daniel.

And this does provide tantalising little glimpses of what one would expect to see without revealing the sham nature of the modification.

So what does lie beneath..

Thro’ the port side bridle port a fair amount of detail can be identified.

The Bowsprit is clearly in view here, along with the manger boarding.

Here the manger boarding and bowsprit step are evident from this shot taken beneath the Foc’sle deck.
One modification that I didn't do, but wish I had, was to modify the Bridle port. On the kit the port is the same size as the other gunports, but it should be somewgat narrower.

B.E.

 

Hi B.E. your boat looks great .I have just started HMS fly and I have noticed that on the foc'sle deck you don't see the tops of the frames did you cut them flush with the false deck.thanks wood gnome.

 

[Blue Ensign]

Hi Wood gnome, thanks for looking in.

Yes, once the false deck was installed, which was cut around the bulkhead tops, the tops were cut down and covered by the the Margin Plank. The bulkheads do not correspond with 'frames' which on the kit are represented by the timberheads added later.

The inside of the bulwarks were then lined.

Hope you enjoy your Fly build.

 

B.E.

[PRS]

Absoluteley georgeous!

 

Such a fine build and the presentation from the case and table to the book is top notch.

[Wood gnome]

1 hour ago, Blue Ensign said:

Hi Wood gnome, thanks for looking in.

Yes, once the false deck was installed, which was cut around the bulkhead tops, the tops were cut down and covered by the the Margin Plank. The bulkheads do not correspond with 'frames' which on the kit are represented by the timberheads added later.

The inside of the bulwarks were then lined.

 

Hope you enjoy your Fly build.

 

 

 

B.E.

 

BE thank you for your reply will do that as well instructions with kit not very instructive more as a guide I suppose .I would like to do a build log as well but not very good with the site layout. Thanks again wood gnome.

[The Bitter End]

On 3/5/2017 at 7:34 PM, Blue Ensign said:

Block stropping - an exercise in frustration
Over the past few days I have started to work out a strategy for stropping the various blocks; how close I can get to actual practice given the scale, how practical is serving on certain strops, and how feasible it is to form eyes and seizings to strops given the scale constraints involved.
In my view there is little point in following actual practice if the end result looks lumpy and out of scale. My prime consideration will be to achieve a neat appearance and as far as possible give a nod to authenticity.
Starting with the Main yard I will be using Syren boxwood blocks, and maybe some of JBs pearwood blocks where the size better suits.
The Jeer Block.
At 20” this is the largest block on the yard and a good place to start. The block scales to 7.93mm but the largest Syren produce are 6mm, so I will be going for JB 7mm Pearwood.

This block is double stropped with served line, a long and short leg, and a seizing between the two eyes.
The trial strop here is made from 0.5mm line spliced into a loop of 45mm calculated length.

The tricky part is getting the right length of legs to fit around the yard centre, and this is the purpose of this particular exercise.

This is my third attempt to work out the optimum length; getting closer but the eyes are still too close together, there needs to be a definable seizing between the two to make the effort worthwhile.
I will now progress to remaking the strop a little shorter and using served line.
I have calculated that 80mm of served line formed into a 40mm loop may do the trick leaving a credible space between the eyes to form the lashing on the front of the yard.
I had originally intended to use 0.5mm dia line for the strop but with the addition of serving thought it may look too bulky especially around the eyes, so I will now use 0.25mm line served with 0.1mm line.
The line is Amati natural thread dyed to my less than black colour.

The line is served, the length required is marked by a piece of cotton.

With the process completed there are two ends of unserved line.

Using a needle these were crossed passing thro’ the served ends and drawn together to form the ‘false’ splice which was then sealed with pva and trimmed off.

The block is then stropped using pva to secure the line and the process begins to fit the lanyard between the eyes using a needle to assist.

Another mm in length of the strop would have allowed a slight increase in the length of the short leg which would have been better but once trimmed it doesn’t look too bad.

Using line greater than 0.25mm +0.1mm serving would I think have made the seizing to the yard too bulky.

Having satisfied myself the method albeit very fiddly, works, I will now try to improve the technique for fitting the Fore Jeer block, which may of course result in my re-visiting this one.
I will have plenty of opportunity to practice Jeer stropping there are six to do in total.
Quarter Blocks
14” Quarter blocks – scale to 5.5mm blocks. I have used 5mm JB Pearwood Blocks for the purpose.

The Quarter Blocks hang within the slings below the Jeer Block.

For the Quarter block strops which are served, there is less than 5mm in which to form two eye splices and a seizing between, much of which is hidden behind the slings. Having faffed around for some time I came to the conclusion that forming eye splices with a seizing between was not going to work (for me) but serving the strops was doable and I used 0.25mm Ø Amati thread served with 0.1mm thread.

The sytem I used was to serve sufficient line to carry the strop around and over the yard, but with sufficient unserved line left each end to secure the strop with a small knot behind the yard pulling the two ends of the served line together.
As with the Jeer Block the trick with this method is to judge how long the served line should be and how long each leg of the strop should be so the knot appears in the most unobtrusive place behind the yard.
For my yard it worked out at 38mm of served line to strop the block and secure around the yard.

Moving outwards the 9” clue blocks are next; these scale to 3.57mm. I have gone here with Syren 5/32” single boxwood. These are a little overscale but I want to maintain a visual difference between these and the slightly smaller bunt and leechline blocks.

These should also have served strops with eyes but given the small scale I have forgone the pleasure of attempting this and simply used 0.25mm line for the strops.
In my mind I’m now starting to establish my parameters for block stropping.
Blocks 5mm size and over - strops will be served, eyes and lashings attempted.
Blocks of 4mm size - strops may be served depending on my mood.
Blocks below 4mm size - I don’t think I’ll bother.
Moving out along the yard the Bunt (8”) and Leechline (7”) blocks are required next.

For these I have gone with 3mm pearwood blocks.

Note: The kit plan include only the buntline blocks.
The smallest blocks along the yard are the 6” Tricing line blocks which scale to 2.38mm.
That completes the first run of block stropping and yard attachment, quite a slow business.
Before any more blocks are attached I need to fit the stirrups and add the horses as these go over the yardarms first before the yard tackle and brace pendants, and sheet Blocks.
The Main yard will serve as an example of yard rigging on my Pegasus but I won’t bore you with endless repetition of blocking all the yards, unlike myself who will have to go thro’ the tedium of each and everyone.

My young apprentice William is completely bored with the whole procedure already and rather wishes we were doing something else.!

B.E.
 

 

Good Morning Blue

 

I would firstly like to thank you once again for this incredible build log. It has genuinely been a source of joy for me. It has lead me down a path of learning on my first build which goes far beyond just copying instructions on plans like building a puzzle. This was always what I was looking for in this hobby and you have helped me to find it.

 

This leads me to my more specific question. In the quoted post you do the rigging for what I assume is the lower main mast yard, you then say that that is your sample and that you will be doing all 10. does this mean that all 10 yards are rigged with blocks in an identical manner(I assume not), and if not then do I just follow the block rigging instructions which are on the plans provided by Amati for the rest of the yards?

 

Any guidance on this would be great.

 

Kid Regards

 

Haiko

[Blue Ensign]

Hello Haiko, I’m pleased that you are finding my log of use.

The main yard served as an example of my approach to the fitting and stropping of the blocks used on the yards, but there are differences both in the numbers and sizes of blocks used on the Topsail and T’gallant yards, and you go thro’ the log you will see that I have detailed the blocks used by size and type as I attend to each of the other yards.

I didn’t use the kit rigging plans, my rigging was based on Steel’s rigging tables, and the excellent Volume IV of The Fully Framed Model, Rigging a sixth rate sloop of 1767- 1780 by David Antscherl.

 

Regards,

 

B.E.