18TH c. English Pinnace by Blue Ensign - FINISHED - Model Shipways - 1:24 scale

[Sailor1234567890]

Normally the square part is just inside the pivot point and the reason for having it square is that the additional weight helps balance the oar to ease the workload on the oarsman.

[Mirabell61]

Hi B.E.,

that pinnace looks lovely, and so is also "George" in his outfit and the rowing position...

did you find the figurine in 1:24, or any "surgery" involved and perhaps custom made period clothing, wunderbar !

 

Nils

[Blue Ensign]

Thank you Sailor and Nils.

@ Nils -  George is a Dean's Marine 1.24 scale figure, but he underwent some serious surgery. originally he was a Vietnam War period American soldier in Jungle gear. His arms were broken in two places, his uniform and jungle hat cut away and he was given some clothes from the slop chest. I was pleased that at a given 1:24 scale he fitted the boat spot on. 

 

B.E.

 

[Justin P.]

On 8/14/2017 at 11:57 AM, Landlubber Mike said:

Beautiful, the profile moulding is a really nice touch.

I agree, its really in these details that impress!     Also very much enjoyed your brief bit about the treenailing, Ive found that much of the treenails Ive seen look somewhat out of scale, but your's looks well suited. I also appreciate that they aren't overly dark as some tend to be as well. 

[Mirabell61]

1 hour ago, Blue Ensign said:

Thank you Sailor and Nils.

@ Nils -  George is a Dean's Marine 1.24 scale figure, but he underwent some serious surgery. originally he was a Vietnam War period American soldier in Jungle gear. His arms were broken in two places, his uniform and jungle hat cut away and he was given some clothes from the slop chest. I was pleased that at a given 1:24 scale he fitted the boat spot on. 

 

B.E.

 

Smart solution B.E.

 

Nils

[Blue Ensign]

A small diversion to play with the boat equipment.

The Grapnel

The grapnel as provided by the kit seems to have been rigged without the benefit of a ring, the line secured directly thro' the eye in the shank where the ring should be.

A grapnel as illustrated by Steel shows a ring fitted thro' the eye.

Steel gives a grapnel rope circ for ships boats as 3" - 3½" which equates to around 1mm diameter line at scale.

0946

This alone would not be possible without a ring, particularly as the classic hitch for small anchors is a Fisherman's Bend where the line passes twice thro' the ring.

 He also gives 35 fathoms as the length of the grapnel rope. which scales to 2667mm. This is 8.75ft at scale, where would all that fit in the boat!

0967(2)

I satisfied myself with a rope length of around 30' - 300mm which I figured would be long enough for what is essentially a harbour boat.

Boat Hook

This is shown on the plan but the makings are not included with the kit.

 

0950

Not too difficult an item to reproduce, I use a soft white metal strip (the arm from one of Mrs W's hair clips, cut and shaped with files, and inserted into a length of thin Walnut dowel.

0948

0964

0956

The Thole pins and chocks are also shown on these shots. Nothing much to say about the tholes except they are fiddly little things to make, parts very small, fingers too big.

I changed the style slightly from the plans, and left them unpainted as a contrast to the predominantly red  scheme.

0961

Just the Splashguards left to do now.

 

B.E.

Edited September 15, 2017 by Blue Ensign

[MEDDO]

Wonderful details 

[Justin P.]

Indeed, wonderful details. 

[Gahm]

Beautiful work, B.E.! And thank you for all the research you are doing . . . this will come in very handy when I have to do the longboat of the Syren  Did you carve George the oarsman? He looks very good!

 

Thomas

[Blue Ensign]

I wish Thomas, no he was a modified bought figure (see my reply to Nils above.) 

 

Regards,

 

B.E.

[Martin W]

Wow, BE!  You just keep doing it, and better and better!  And I'm always impressed at your ability to find materials ready to hand.

 

(Does Mrs W know you nicked one of her hairpins?  Did William forgive you for pulling out the bristle on his brush?)

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

 

PS -- As for those figures, I looked at various places and couldn't find any that would fit 1/64 scale -- are they still available somewhere?

Edited September 15, 2017 by Martin W

[Blue Ensign]

Thanks Martin, both Mrs W and William are quite forgiving of my raiding of their respective possessions to serve in the shipyard.

Both Amati and Mantua do a range of period figures for 1:64 scale at around 25mm high. Artesania do a range of 27mm figures one of which I used to represent the ill fated Captain; Cmdr John Hamilton Gore on my Pegasus.

In the UK I use either Cornwall Model Boats, or the Model Dockyard, (both in Cornwall) but my 1:24 scale Pinnace figure I purchased from Dean's Marine.

Regards,

 

B.E.

[Tigersteve]

Nicely done. I also intend to add the boat hook(if I can finally get this planking done!) 

Steve

Edited July 2, 2018 by Tigersteve

[Blue Ensign]

Splashguards

I toyed with the idea of making replacements out of Boxwood, but on reflection  I think the kit provided items are just fine, particularly as they are painted.

I did some preparatory painting before gluing the two elements together, the panel faces, and inner moulding edges. The guards were then sanded down to around 0.9mm in thickness.

Before fitting, the seat back needed some very careful paring back using a scalpel and light sanding. I also needed to shape down the backrest top to fall just below the splashguard top edges.

This all needs to be done with soft hands and by fine degrees, any slips at this point could prove problematic in restoration.

The guards require the water /heat treatment to impart some curve to follow the line of the rail. This is another exercise that requires some care.

It was good to have a spare unit in the kit as I did break one.

I was a little concerned that the water would weaken the pva, but immersion was only for a few seconds before  pegging around a jar top to apply the heat.

On my Pinnace at least, two curves were required, a short one where the guard passed around the seat back, and a more gentle curve forward.

0968

Forming the aft curve.

0970

and the forward curve.

Getting the curve right is necessary for the guard to sit on the rail without tension, otherwise gluing it will be a difficult task.

 

0974

Once I was happy with the fit I painted the exterior face of the guard.

0975

To get a good grip it was necessary to scrape a paint free line along the top of the rail. This was carefully done with a scalpel point.

0981

The actual fitting of the guards was problem free with quick grab using full strength pva. The inside faces of the guards were painted once in place.

0982

0983

0984

So the Pinnace is effectively finished, some fettlin' to do, and a base to make which I don't think will take too long.

 

B.E.

 

 

 

 

[rafine]

I really like it B.E. A lovely piece of work.

 

Bob

 

 

[gjdale]

Congratulations on yet another fine piece of work B.E. 

[md1400cs]

B.E.,

 

Just catching up - as usual brilliant work in such a small scale.

That hook tip is superb as well.

Your colors also work so well together.

 

Cheers,

[Martin W]

Finished!  So soon that I've barely gotten used to the project.  Congratulations  !!!

 

What's up next?

 

Martin

[Tigersteve]

I think he's tackling the 18th century longboat next. ;-)

Sfeve

[Barbossa]

When hobby & craftmanship are becoming an art

Just outstanding work and inspiring as ever.

Sincere congrats

[Blue Ensign]

Thank you Bob, Grant, Michael, Martin, Steve, and Christian.

 

So this build is completed after a leisurely five month exercise.

The final item to make the base board and hull supports.

1034

For the base I have used a plain piece of Boxwood sheet of 3mm thickness with slightly chamfered edges.

1036

 You may recognise what I enlisted into service for the supports.

 

1037

For a change I made a greater effort for the final photo shoot.

 

and here are the results.

0444

0448

0465

0475

0496

0497

1029

1038

1040

1044

1045

1046

1048

1049

1050

1053

1054

1056.

Thoughts on the Pinnace kit.

My thanks go to Chuck for designing this fine kit and giving us modellers the opportunity to build a nicely scaled model of an iconic 18th c boat.

This is a fine little model but a sod to plank, although I did use rather thin Boxwood strip which allowed a very small margin for sanding corrections .

The supplied basswood is not really suitable for a model of this single planked type being too soft and feathery to get clean edges. I did replace much of the wood with my stock Boxwood and were I to do it again I would use Boxwood overall albeit of a somewhat thicker strip for the exterior planking, allowing me a little more leeway for my planking deficiencies.

I wasn't too happy with my work at the outset but as the build progressed and I got into the detail I eased up on myself somewhat, a model is more than the sum of its parts, and although I don't rate it as one of my best efforts, I do rather like the look of it outside of the prying eye of the macro lens.

This has been a nice little five month summer project, not entirely relaxing, but with a satisfying result, and it has wetted my appetite for Chuck's forthcoming Barge kit.

 

Regards,

 

B.E.

Edited September 17, 2017 by Blue Ensign

[Mirabell61]

Congratulatios B.E.,

This is an awesome model, a real gem, and very well built...

 

Nils

[Tigersteve]

Congrats and nicely done. This is a difficult kit. I don't know how the results would be with basswood. I think the long runs and severe curves make it especially difficult. Cheers to moving forward!

Steve

Edited September 17, 2017 by Tigersteve

[MEDDO]

 Outstanding buildlog BE!   Definitely a go to reference for future builds of this boat. 

[Gahm]

Another little gem from master shipwright B.E.! Congratulations on a very fine job!!

 

Thomas

[Derek C]

Great job B.E.  

You built a beautiful boat !

[alde]

Very nice build. She looks great.

[donrobinson]

Another beauty B.E., great work!

[Landlubber Mike]

Beautiful work as always BE, very nice job!  Thank you for sharing your build with us.  I know I speak for many that we learn a ton from your modeling techniques and are always inspired by your work.

 

I was going to ask what was next, but saw you already started the Longboat.  I really need to log on here more often

[KenW]

I just discovered this build and enjoyed reading it.  I’m also very impressed with the excellent result.  A great looking model.

I do have one question - what does your wife’s soft metal hairpin look like?  Nne of my wife’s hair pins are made of soft metal.  Maybe it is a British/American thing.

Great work - now I have to look up your Cheerful log.

Cheers