HM Brig Badger by captain_hook - Scale 1/48 - Modified from Caldercraft plans

[JpR62]

Remarkable work on this oven. It is true that the britannia castings provided in the kits are often of very poor quality.
The time invested to redo the oven is really worth it because the result is superb.
Always a pleasure to follow the progress on this construction 😀

[captain_hook]

Thank you Jean-Paul. The supplied oven is nothing more than a box. But scratchbuilding a more scale one in 1/64 scale would have been tough...

 

 

BTW this is the place where the oven will be placed later. It will be surrounded by a galley as well.

 

[barkeater]

Really like the stove. I assume you are going to leave the door to the cook shack open.

[captain_hook]

Thank you barkeater. Yes, I will leave it open. Have to redesign the galley to enlarge the opening a bit.

[mtaylor]

Your stove is a small masterpiece.   To look at that finished model, one would never think it was made of wood.

[captain_hook]

Thank you Mark. I sanded the bulwarks to equal height, following the deck and used a template as reference. Have to cut new gunports and then I‘m ready to add the keel.

[captain_hook]

More preparation. I made the plywood pattern for the stern and cabin and prepared the windows. Will add a fifth window, a rectangled one in the middle of the other windows to upgrade the cabin .. but haven‘t decided yet.

[captain_hook]

Time to think about the second planking. I‘m going to use boxwood as I have still a lot of strips in stock cut by Jason of Crown Timberyard. I will certainly treenail the deck and cabin, but haven‘t decided if I will also treenail the outer planking.
 

 

After compairing the NMM plan and the drawings of the Defence in the Chapelle book shown below, this is my proposed layout:  Planking will start with the upper sheer rail (2mm), followed by 4 x 2,5mm gundeck planking, followed by another sheer rail (2mm) followed by 2 x 2,5mm planking (with scuppers in the lower ones) and finally followed by the whale (6mm). These tiny strips may split or break if I try to drill holes for treenails.

 

 

I also fixed the gunports and draw new ones to their final position.

 

Experimented with profiled sheer rails and clamped a test-strip in position. Stay tuned..

 

 

 

 

Edited November 8, 2020 by captain_hook

[captain_hook]

Thank you for the likes. I have tapered the knee of the head. Because it is only a small knee I did only a slight tapering, about 0,4 mm per side. It is rather difficult to catch with my camera but clearly to see in personal. The keel is now ready to be glued to the hull.

[captain_hook]

Before I will add the keel and start to plank the hull, I have to add the waterway to add more strength to the bulwarks and cut the new gunports. Also the plywood templates for the cabin have to be added. Test-fit for the windows. Passed .. 😄

[Edwardkenway]

You're doing some very nice work with Badger, the stern windows and counter are superb. 

[captain_hook]

Thank you Edward. At the moment these are only small steps. Because I have to do a lot of unpleasant preparations first, I keep motivating myself with these little side-projects. Beside the enlargement I try to add as many details and corrections to the model as possible using the NMM plans as another reference but beside that there are limited information sources for the Badger. BTW the plywood templates will all be covered with planking later.

[barkeater]

Like the stern windows. What did you cut them from?

[JpR62]

Very beautiful windows. Precise and clean work.

It will be a very beautiful stern.

[captain_hook]

Thank you barkeater and Jean-Paul. Those are photo-etched parts made to my specifications. I draw them myself with Corel-Draw, create a template for all parts on one sheet and then they are made of 0.5mm brass sheets by a small company by demand. That saves a lot of time, especially when 200 eyebolts, 100 hooks and 50 iron bands for the guns are needed. But you have a several weeks waiting time for the parts, so I already designed the sheet in June this year.

[captain_hook]

Some more work on the stern. Prepared the stern plywood templates, only minor adjustments needed. The cabin template is just dry-fitted, it will be glued on after all planks and windows have been applied.

[captain_hook]

Some more progress. I have installed the transom support, this will supply enough glue surface for the finished transom piece later. Also made the cabin false deck and all profiled sheer rail stripes.

[captain_hook]

As I'm focussing the Coureur at the moment there is little time for the Badger but I will get back to her in January next year (or earlier if I got tired of building frames). I'm currently thinking about a custom stern gallery and have done some artwork with Corel Draw. There are two versions i prefer but I have not decided yet which one I will use. Stay tuned..and save.

 

 

Edited December 28, 2020 by captain_hook

[Edwardkenway]

They would both look good but my preference would be the second image🙂

[GuntherMT]

I agree that the bottom image's extra detail makes it look nicer.  Either would be very nice though.

[barkeater]

Both are nice but I also would go with the bottom.

[JpR62]

The two versions are nice. But if I had to choose, my choice would also be on the bottom image.

[captain_hook]

Thank you for your feedback. Yes, the lower one is also my favorite. I‘m going to change the design so the inside of the cabin will be visible through the windows. But I have to consider about how to remove the plywood bulkheads without weakening the structure. I will do that next year. Stay tuned ... and save.

[captain_hook]

As I had to wait some weeks for replacement parts I started a little side project - the 4-pounder guns. The Badger has twelve of them. For the carriage I use the gun schematic from Syren as reference, enlarged to fit the 4-pounder barrels. The handle of the quoin was made of 1,3mm boxwood dowel and turned to shape with a needle file. Still have to make the axles, the side parts and the wheels. Stay tuned...

 

 

 

[Landlubber Mike]

Very nice work!  If I had to do it again, I would have done a little more on my stern as you are showing in your Corel Draw pictures.  I like the bottom one better, but either would be a nice improvement to the kit.

 

Rigging those cannons brings back nightmares for me when it came to rigging those 2mm blocks 🙀

[barkeater]

Nice quoins. 

[AdamA]

Who makes your brass fittings? What do they do to make them so dark black?

[mtaylor]

4 hours ago, AdamA said:

Who makes your brass fittings? What do they do to make them so dark black?

Go look in here, https://modelshipworld.com/forum/19-metal-work-soldering-and-metal-fittings/    You'll find lots of topics on blackening.

 

[captain_hook]

The Coureur is having my full attention, so I have to switch between both projects for a while. But I found some time to make more cannon parts. As I don’t own a lathe, I made myself some little tools to make the wheels by using a regular bench drill.
 

 

They‘re made of stainless steel tube with a thread (cut off from of a 1,2mm diameter screw) soldered into it. The wheels are drawn with a pencil using a template, a 1,2mm central hole is drilled and then they are roughly cut off from 1/16‘‘ sheet boxwood. The tool can be used to turn the wheels in my bench drill using spacers and a micro nut to lock the boxwood part.

 

 

I use these tools for turning small parts like wheels. The wheel is made by using sanding paper and a file, two wheels can be made at one. The diameter is checked by an electronic measuring stick several times until the desired diameter is reached. 
 

 

And I managed to do all front and rear wheels at once, 48 pieces.

 

 

 

Now only the axles and the side parts are missing. 
 

Stay tuned .. and save.

 

Andreas

Edited March 14, 2021 by captain_hook

[captain_hook]

Sorry for the longer absence, I was busy building another project which turned out not as satisfying as expected and I will continue to work on the Badger soon. Just have to think about the next steps and think myself into the project again. The guns have to be finished first so the carriages have to be done next. I will use some modified schematics for that to fit the 4-pounder gun barrels. When a test-gun has been build I can determine the height of the gunports and then start planking the outside.
 

Stay tuned ..