HMS Vulture 1776 by Dan Vadas - FINISHED - 1:48 scale - 16-gun Swan-class sloop from TFFM plans

[Vivian Galad]

Great pictures, Danny. Take off my hat for your work. Every detail is fantastic.

[MEDDO]

Wonderful shots there. The more I see of the 1/2 planked and 1/2 open style the more I like it.

[dvm27]

Remco was right - we haven't seen the full project recently. It looks phenomenal, Dan!

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks again John, Vivian, Michael, John and Greg - your comments are always appreciated.

 

Bridle Port

 

Looking through the above pics I realized I'd forgotten to mention the Bridle Port. This port is the foremost one, and is quite a bit different to the gunports. It's main function was to assist in attaching the tackle to the anchor when it broke the water so it could be stowed. An ancillary function was to provide ventilation below the foredeck which houses the galley, the manger and in some ships was used as a recovery area for sick or injured crew.

 

Unlike the gunports the bridle port is hinged horizontally. It's construction was otherwise similar to the gunport :

 

 

 

 

  Danny

[clipper]

hi Danny, a superb example of master ship modelling mate.

Tony

Edited August 31, 2014 by clipper

[Mirabell61]

Wonderful built model Danny,

 

I admire this build from beginning on, it is giving so much Inspiration and samples of most skilled handcraft work, especialy knowing what all is behind in the interior of the hull with its decks. Thanks so much for sharing this very extensive and well organized log.

I like very much that you did not use paint on the ship, the composition of Wood tones speaks for ist own...

 

Nils

[hlipplaa]

Hello, my comliments. We want more! hehe. Your work is inspirational for my own build. Not to be satisfied with flawed parts and bad finish.

 

Hjalmar

[mtaylor]

Sweet bridle port Danny.  The full pics probably don't do her justice as one can't zoom in, but wow!!!!

[scratch]

Lovely work indeed Danny . Your ship modeling skills and knowledge of the workings of each part of the ship are inspiring .  

[AnobiumPunctatum]

Dan,

 

the pictures of your fly are just outstanding. Really really beautyful

 

Christian

[Remcohe]

Thanks :)

[CaptainSteve]

Lovely work indeed Danny . Your ship modeling skills and knowledge of the workings of each part of the ship are inspiring .  

 

Brilliant as always, Danny ... I truly didn't realize that a "gun-port" turned inwards like that !!

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks once again for the kind comments Tony, Nils, Spyglass, Hjalmar, Mark, David, Christian, Remco and Steve, and all the "Likes". Always appreciated.

 

Mast Cheeks

 

The Foremast and Mainmast both have Cheeks fitted to each side of the mast. These extend from the top of the Hounds to about 3/4 of the way to the deck. The Hounds are incorporated in them at their top - something I'd always puzzled about in previous builds, but now have become clear .

 

First the mast had to be narrowed to accommodate them, all the way to the top :

 

 

 

Next I tapered the cheeks to the same width as the flats on the mast, half-rounded them to the bottom of the hounds, and cut in the scarf joints for the Bibs. As the bibs are thinner than the hounds the scarf joints were cut in to their thickness :

 

 

The bottom of the cheeks were shaped into a "duckbill", with the inner face scalloped out for the last couple of millimetres :

 

 

 

Filler pieces were then glued to the masthead and tapered :

 

 

A tenon for the Cap was cut into the top of masthead at an angle. In real practice this was done to prevent the very heavy cap from tilting down at the fore end :

 

 

 

The lower Woolding Bands were made from thin card. They measure 0.8mm wide by 0.3mm thick. The wooldings will be added when my next stock of rigging thread arrives, and an upper band will finish them off :

 

 

  Danny

[Dan Vadas]

Bibs

 

The Bibs were made next and fitted. As with everything else on the masts the sizes are all proportional to the mainmast :

 

 

The Mizzen Mast has a very abbreviated pair of Cheeks :

 

 

Trestle Trees

 

The Trestle Trees took quite a bit of working out to get them spaced correctly. Unlike the earlier volumes of TFFM there are almost no detailed scale drawings of the various parts needed for the masts, and everything has to be calculated :

 

 

  Danny

[Jason]

Superlative work!  Your artistic use of the different wood species according to their color is masterful.

 

Best Regards,

 

[Dan Vadas]

And thank you too Geoff and Jason.

 

Cross Trees

 

The Cross Trees are the Top supports that run athwartships. All the work in cutting the rebates was done on the Byrnes saw, and the tapers were done on the disc sander :

 

 

 

  Danny

[capnharv2]

Thank you for sharing with us Danny. I always find something new, useful and innovative when I visit you build log.

 

Harvey

[dgbot]

Your attention to detail is astounding.

David B

[clipper]

Danny, I have heard and seen cheeks before but I never realised that there were such things as bibs. I am still learning.

Tony

[cog]

Danny,

 

Though your working environment might have diminished in size, your work certainly does not suffer from it. Outstanding results on the mast and trees!

[Trussben]

Sweet work Danny, did you buy the mast plans from Admiralty models? As you say TFFM4 doesn't have scale drawings.

 

Ben

[Dan Vadas]

And thank you Harvey, David, Tony, Cog and Ben.

 

did you buy the mast plans from Admiralty models?

 

 

Good question - I don't remember if I did or not   . I'll find out tomorrow when I pay a visit to my daughter's place where some of my stuff still is, but I hope I did .

 

EDIT - Yes I did

 

Bolsters

 

The Bolsters sit atop the trestletrees and ease the angles of the Shrouds and Forestays over them to prevent chafing :

 

 

  Danny

[vths]

Hello Danny, I just wanted to thank you for this whole thread, it is the best resource that can be found regarding the Swan class (TFFM stands apart, of course). Your photodocumentation is impeccable and I find it most helpful. Wish you many happy days shaping your Vulture, it is a gem.

[Bill Hime]

Dan, Just got caught up on your build. A true artisan you are my friend . BTW...is there anything finer than a sharp chisel, I think not

 

Kind Regards, Bill 

[Remcohe]

Nice Danny. 

 

I hope you do find the mast  plan from Admiralty models, it has all the details you need.

 

Remco

[BANYAN]

Very neat and clean finish to those cross-trees Danny.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Longstorm11]

Dan,

 

Just read through your article. I am amazed at your work. Every day I find another piece of craftsmanship that is truly great to see. You must coming up with new ways to create these things.

 

Wonderful work.

 

Julian

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks vths, Bill, Remco (yes, I found the Masting Plans ), Pat and Julian.

 

Starboard Side Black Strake

 

I've fitted the "black" strake and the one above it to the Port side so that the Chains have something to attach to. I've also finished treenailing both :

 

 

 

  Danny

[Erebus and Terror]

Beautiful. Very good photos as well.

[Dan Vadas]

Thank you Geoff and E&T.

 

Ironwork in the Head

 

A few more eyebolts needed to be fitted in the Head for the Jib rigging. One of these (or rather two) are the Bookmin Lashing Ringbolts, which are triangular in shape :

 

 

Spanshackle Ring

 

Another interesting piece of ironwork is the Spanshackle Ring, of which I am only fitting the port side one. This "ring" is a square section piece of iron which supports the Fish Davit when it is in use. I drilled and filed the centre out from flat sheet - the lower section has a dogleg around the eyebolt which needed rounding off :

 

 

 

Fish Davit Cleats

 

And finally I made the two Fish Davit Cleats which support the davits at the railing :

 

 

 

  Danny