17th Century Battle Station by donrobinson - FINISHED - 1:32 scale

[donrobinson]

This will be my log on building the 17th Century Battle Station based on plans by Jeff Staudt. This was a joint effort by three of us to develop this model and they are Mike Shanks, Doc Blake and myself. Doc did all the milling work on the wood, Mike supplied the expertise and skills on the cnc and laser machines and I did the turnings and whatever metal work that was required. The model is not entirely historically correct, however, does make into a nice model for display. We did do some minor changes to the plans and things, such as the grates, we did a little out of the norm but it was all out of fun and experimentation.

 Doc Blake has a log already started here so if you haven't visited his yet you may want to as his has a more detailed description of the process. His writing skills are much more advanced than mine, I am finding that with everything else with my body and mind the writing skills are also slipping away. I am not using spell check for single syllable words yet but I am sure it is not too far in the future!😉

 I must also apologise ahead of time, I did at one time have extensive pictures of what I have done(such as turning the cannons) but seem to have misplaced them. If I do ever find them I will post, in the meantime I will continue beating myself.

So let's start:

Here is a rare shot of one half of my shipyard, I say rare as it is never this clean. I am starting my build a little different while I wait for parts to come from Mike, I will be doing the cannons and carriages first.

 

 

Another rarity, and that is a picture of the cannon turning. Unfortunately I have none of the actual brass cannons being turned. With the 1/2" brass rod being over $30/ft I made several ( around 😎 of these first out of wood first, carefully documenting all steps and measurements.

 The process I finally used was to first drill the trunnion hole on the mill move to the lathe mount in chuck face the blank and drill out the bore. From this point on it is a good idea to not remove the blank from the chuck until completion. Next is to set the angle of the headstock then start turning as per the determined steps and dimensions. 

 

Here are some pictures of Mike's laser and cnc machine. I had the opportunity to visit Mike this summer in North Carolina to see these in action, they are just incredible what they are capable of. Mike's wife has a home business called "Well Written Gifts" where they are etching everything from wine glasses to cutting boards and numerous other items, to watch these in action is a real treat.

 

 

Mike sent some prototype carriages to try with the wooden barrels

 

 

And here is the final result, there are two different sized barrels both on the same sized carriages, not historically correct I'm sure but will work for this model as that is what the plans called for

 

 

Now for the real thing, cut from boxwood

 

 

Here I am drilling the quoin for the handles

 

 

And drilling the axles

 

 

Drilling the back bed that supports the cannon, this should be drilled completely through

 

 

And drilling the front support, which also needs to be drilled completely through. I did not realise until too late but I should have only drilled halfway through then flipped it and completed the drilling, these tiny bits tend to wander.

 I am at my max fifteen pics so I will be right back!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[donrobinson]

And the last few pictures for now:

 

The carriages completed

 

Bolts, rings and cannons added

 

Partially rigged sitting on the cherry wood base I intend on using.

Thanks for having a look and if you want to see more please visit Doc Blake's log as he is much further ahead with his and is doing a beautiful job. I would place a link here for it but I am not sure how do do that

[shipmodel]

Hi Don - 

 

This looks like it will be a fascinating project, and I will be following along with interest.  The barrels in particular are quite nice.

 

However, before you go much further, I wonder where your carriage design comes from.  It has always been my understanding that there were significant differences between British 17th C. carriages and those of the French/Dutch/Continental practice.  The most significant ones are that the Continental ones have solid base plates, while the British ones have open bottoms, and because of that the breaching ropes for the Continental cannon went through holes in the carriage itself, while the British ones are secured to the gun's cascabel.  Here is a combination illustration of the two designs and how I converted a commercially available cannon kit from British style to French style.  I made up a base plate and a bumper at the rear of the carriage, then drilled a hole through the carriage for the breaching rope.

And here is how it looks fully rigged and at its battle station.

On the other hand, you seem to have a solid base plate in the Continental style, yet your breaching rope goes to the cascabel in the British style.  It leaves me unsure of which one you intended.  

 

I do not mean to make you go back to the beginning, and there is certainly no need to be hyper-concerned with historic accuracy, but such a discrepancy may impact the popularity of your project.

 

Whatever you decide, you have my best wishes for success.

 

Dan

[donrobinson]

Thanks for your comments Dan. We were also unsure where this style of carriage came from but decided to go with it as the plans showed this. To be honest I have never seen where the breaching rope went though the carriage like that, I am certainly no expert on armament, you have completely surprised me with this. I will defiantly give this some thought.

 If you happen to stick around longer with this build you will notice more things that are not necessarily correct in actual ship building that we did not bother to change from the plans. I am thinking Jeff designed this plan for novice scratch builders, such as myself, not so much for historical value but more for "getting your feet wet" in the world of scratch building. 

 In saying that I am not really sure why I am here as I am learning neither, being that all the pieces are pre made!! I am having fun though if that counts.

 Again thanks for your input, it is because of your information I have now learned something today👍!  Hope you stay on board

[EJ_L]

Looking forward to this build Don. Got my chair pulled up, note pad at the ready and a drink poured. I'm ready to learn!

[donrobinson]

Thanks E.J., I'm also ready to learn. So I think I'll also pour a drink and hope Dan sticks around with more information for us!!

[Elijah]

Those cannon barrels are nice Don! This looks like a fun build! 

[donrobinson]

Thanks Elijah, I am hoping it will be fun

[davyboy]

Hello Don,

 

Your gun carriages are correct for the 17th century. The design of the carriages you have made was not changed until around the 1730's. To quote Laverys' Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War 1600-1815. "Around 1725 it was discovered that the bed of the carriage was not really necessary. The brackets were extended lower down,the axles were fixed by a more complex joint to give greater strength and a separate surface known as the stool bed was provided for the sole purpose of supporting the wedge or quoin used for elevation. The bed was dispensed with and the carriage made slightly lighter". Also,English gun carriages never had holes for the breeching rope bored through the carriage sides as Dan has suggested.

 

I shall enjoy following your build,keep up the good work.

 

Dave 

 

Edited August 17, 2018 by davyboy

[donrobinson]

Thanks for stopping Dave and for the information, in just a matter one day I have learned so much about carriages

[donrobinson]

The weekend proved to be a little fruitful and a little work was accomplished on the Station:

Gunport sills are being added to the frames. Frames and sills are made from cherry

 

The sills are made over sized then need to be trimmed flush to the frames

 

The final product

 

Frames are erected and glued into place

 

 

 

Installing the lower deck has begun, deck planks are made from maple

 

 

Here is a picture of the planks while still in their billets

 

 

Lower deck completed completed with one coat of wipe on poly applied

 

 

Installing the top moulding, this is an extra we added to the plans. The moulding is made from swiss pear with a strip of maple glued into a groove that was cut

 

Here is how it looks now. Woods used are ebony, boxwood and swiss pear. am now deciding whether to stop any further planking. I like the cherry frames so much that I hate to cover them entirely up. 

 So until I decide on this that's it for now.

 Thanks to you all for the interest, comments and likes. Have a great Day!!

 

 

Edited August 20, 2018 by donrobinson

[marktiedens]

Wow - that`s a real beauty!

 

Mark

[EJ_L]

That wood work is indeed beautiful. I would leave part of it exposed to show it off. 

[donrobinson]

Hey all, just to put a finish to this project I will show the final product and save you the boredom of the entire build. Any questions please ask and I do apologise for the delay.

 

 

Thanks for having look

 

Take Care

[DocBlake]

Awesome, Don!!

[donrobinson]

Thanks Dave

[VTHokiEE]

This looks really awesome! Someday I think I’d like to do a battle station like this. Very nicely done!

[JpR62]

Superb ! The choice of the different wood species is excellent. Nicely done !

[donrobinson]

Thanks guys

[Heronguy]

Very handsome indeed!  Well done.

[donrobinson]

Thanks Doug

[EJ_L]

Beautiful work! Well done!

[BobG]

Hey Don, I somehow missed seeing this build of yours. Wow...fantastic work! This battle station is right up there with the best I've ever seen. It's nice to see you back here sharing your beautiful work with us after a bit of a hiatus. Congratulations!

 

What's the next project we might see coming from your shipyard?

[donrobinson]

Thanks Bob, the HMS Ontario by MarisStella will be my next venture

[BobG]

2 hours ago, donrobinson said:

Thanks Bob, the HMS Ontario by MarisStella will be my next venture

I'll be following along on that one, Don. I'm sure your build will be impressive as always.

[Hubac's Historian]

Incredible work, Don - really nicely done!

[donrobinson]

Thanks so much