17th Century Battle Station from HMS Mordaunt by DocBlake - FINISHED - 1:32

[DocBlake]

I've been busy with a lot of things, but now we are in autumn and it's time to get back in the shipyard!

 

Here are the cannons, with the cap squares applied and the breeching line attached.  Don made the line with his ropewalk.

[Osmosis]

Doc,

 

Just found this thread and read the entire thing. This is amazing. 

[Osmosis]

I would love to build one of these but lack the workshop resources (and probably the skill). Understanding that the kit itself would probably not be the same quality as we are seeing here. I would still like to give it a go.

 

I was just wondering is there any reason that anyone in general, MSW members in particular should not order one of the kits from MSB?

 

Thanks

[DocBlake]

A lot of things have gotten in the way, including a 17 day holiday, but I'm back in the shipyard.  The next thing up on the battle station build is the blocks.  Trying to stick to the totally scratch built principle, I made them from scratch.  The blocks for the cannons would be 8" long, or 1/4" long in scale.  I milled up some 3/16" square stock for the double blocks and 1/8" X 3/16" stock for the single blocks.  I need 6 double blocks and 10 single blocks.  The extra single blocks are for rigging the gun port lid control lines.  The stock is swiss pear.

 

I marked and drilled the sheave holes with a #60 drill, then used a curved X-acto blade to cut out the simulated sheaves.  The blocks were sanded round on the stock, then cut off and the other side sanded round.  The stropping grooves were marked with an X-Acto and shaped with a file.  All that is left is a final sanding and a bath in some boiled linseed oil to darken and protect them.

Edited December 8, 2018 by DocBlake

[DocBlake]

 Here are the final blocks after fine sanding and treatment with boiled linseed oil.  The oil really darkens them and brings out the color.  Overall, I think they look pretty good.  Also pictured are two swiss pear blanks.

[jct]

Dave, this build is absolutely gorgeous... excellent chose of woods and you workmanship is top notch

[DocBlake]

Thanks!

 

I thought it was time to get back to this build and finish it.  Next up is to mount the guns on the lower deck.  I drilled holes in the gun carriages and the deck and glued brass rad into place to pin the guns to the deck.  Next was rigging.  I started by attaching hooks to the 6 double blocks for the carriage tackles.

[donrobinson]

Those blocks sure look good Dave

[DocBlake]

Thanks, Don!

 

 I turned my attention to the gun port lids. These are made in two parts: the outer layer duplicates the outboard bulwark planking and is boxwood. The inner layer is made of 3 vertically aligned boards and made of swiss pear. The nail holes were laser etched into the inner layer. The hull is curved, but the parts for the lids aren't, so it was necessary to sand a curve into the outer layer. The original plan was to have operating gun port lids, and Don came up with some made of brass rod and sheet brass. Unfortunately I broke two of them while prepping for blackening. Sorry, Don!  The port lids will be vulnerable when glued in place, and I am obviously a klutz, so I figured I better make stronger, permanent and non-working lids. The hinge straps are cardstock with small yellow nails painted black. The "pins" holding the lids in place are .032" (21 gauge) brass rod. Solid. The hinge mechanism will be brass rod also. The eyebolts for the lid control lines has yet to be placed.

[donrobinson]

I gave you a like even though you broke my hinges!! LOL

[DocBlake]

I glued and pinned the two cannons on the gun deck in place.  I glued the rings and eyebolts for the breeching lines to the bulwark.

[yvesvidal]

That is a very clean deck..... Superb!!

 

Yves

[donrobinson]

Nice job Dave

[DocBlake]

Thanks, guys and for all the "likes".

[DocBlake]

  Because of the port lids, I had to mount the guns in their full run out position, ready for firing.  That meant that the tackle had the blocks right next to each other when I rigged them  If I'd have rigged them any further inboard, you wouldn't be able to see them from the outboard side of the model,  The picture shows the tackle in place, but the line is just loosely coiled and not glued down.

Edited May 3, 2019 by DocBlake

[Osmosis]

Glad to see you back to work on this one Doc. Just curious about your method for the barrel bands. My shakey hands make a mess of them and yours are so nice and clean.

Edited May 3, 2019 by Osmosis

[DocBlake]

 Don actually made the barrels, but only 3 for each of us.  I felt I needed some additional stuff to add a little interest to the gun deck.  I decided to turn a few smaller barrels, some storage casks and three match tubs.  The match tubs have a little recess on top for some white glue and then sand!

 

The parts are all turned on the lathe.  The barrel bands are made by using a skew chisel to cut grooves in the parts for the bands before cutting the part from the stock.  Black rigging line is glued into the grooves to complete the bands.

[Osmosis]

Thanks for sharing that Doc. That was one of those "Now why didn't I think of that" moments. I will certainly use that from now on. Beats the heck out of trying to paint them on.

[DocBlake]

 Guys:  I'm thinking of leaving off the gun carriage tackle and going with just the breeching line for a cleaner look.  Also, I don't want to go through the hassle of making the rope coils that lay on the deck.  What do you think?

[MEDDO]

 In general I think I prefer the clean look myself. I think that many people who rig the guns tend to use oversize blocks and oversize line which tends to make it look very cluttered and clunky. If you can get down to the appropriate size blocks and make sure that the lines fall properly then they can look very nice.  With how clean and neat your build looks so far it would be a shame to make it look too clunky.  On the other hand it certainly is more authentic if you do rig them. These were very cramped and tight workstations with lots of moving parts and pieces.

[DocBlake]

Thanks Michael.  I'm leaning toward including the rigging.

 

 I spent the afternoon yesterday finishing up the detailing of the ancillary equipment for each battle station. I added rope handles to the lid of the tall storage casks and fitted metal handles to the match tubs. These were glued into #77 holes using black annealed 28 gauge wire as the handles. I then put some WeldBond glue into the recesses on the top of each match tub, packed them with sand and let them dry over night. The results are in the photo. The match tub was a safe place to rest a burning slow match when not in use. A water bucket was the typical place to extinguish it. Each battle station will have it's own worm, sponge and powder ladle also.

Edited May 5, 2019 by DocBlake

[Tigerdvr]

Magnificent project Doc. A thought comes to mind, on a real ship, when would a cannon carriage only be secured by the breach lines?

Even though the clean concept has it's merits, when one looks at all the efforts you have made for realism, does the clean concept fit your overall goal.

Thanks for sharing an outstanding build log.

 

Harley

[DocBlake]

Thanks, everyone, and for the "likes".

 

I decided to rig the guns, run out and ready to fire.  Here is how the gun deck appears.

[yvesvidal]

This is superb. The wood aspect is simply amazing. Would you mind elaborating on your techniques to get something so perfect?

 

Are you going to add some scale sailors?

 

Yves

Edited May 7, 2019 by yvesvidal

[captain_hook]

Very nice work, looks fantastic.

[DocBlake]

Thanks, guys!

 

I'm getting close to done.  I installed the upper deck, pinned and glued the cannon and rigged it.  Then I added the various gun accessories.  The only task left is to place stanchions with a guard rope around the ladder passageway.

[Sea Hoss]

Fantastic and inspiring, way cool !

[Osmosis]

Wow you have been busy. Very nice.

[DocBlake]

Thanks, guys!

In thinking about things, I realized that the hatch with the ladder to the gun deck would need a railing of some sort to keep the sailors from falling below deck and breaking their necks.  I also realized that in bad weather or heavy seas, this hatch, like the others on deck, would need to be "battened down".  The easiest solution was a rope line strung through removable stanchions, probably made of cast iron.  I added the rope line to the coaming.  I'm not sure if it's historically accurate, but it makes sense to me!

[shipshaper]

Doc,

Just ran across this and it is AWESOME! The only thing better is seeing your work in person, up close and personal. Will you be bringing this to Manitowoc this weekend? I would love to attend but will be at my Grand Daughter's high school graduation in New Mexico. Thanks for sharing, your work is beautiful!