Muirneag 1903 by Blue Ensign – FINISHED - Vanguard Models - 1:64 scale - A Scottish Zulu Fishing Boat Based on the Vanguard Models Zulu Kit

[Blue Ensign]

Post 21

 

 

Fitting the Steering Box.

 

 

 

The Steering Box and related fittings present the most fiddly modification.

 

 

The kit has a simplified all in one bench pattern (51) which incorporates a knee at the stern, doubler, and aft thwart against which the steering box butts.

 

 

Muirneag differs both in the size and position of the steering box and the layout of the thwart, knee and doublers.

 

 

There is a fair bit of trial fitting to get it all to sync together involving making separate parts.

 

 

The first job is to get the position of the steering box fixed and to cut away some of the stringer to allow the aft thwart to sit down just below the level of the rail top.

7931(2)

A spacer is used to position the box the correct distance from the companionway.

 

7922(2)

The next step is to work out the run of the rudder chains thro’ the hull to the steering rods which protrude beyond the box.

This particular chain I discarded in favour of a finer version with 26 links per inch.

 

 

With that done the box can be safely glued down along with the aft thwart.

 

7934(2)

The tricky business of shaping and fitting the doublers and stern knee can then be done.

 

Why 'doublers' I don't know, they are for all practical purposes rails.

 

For the doublers I am using 4mm Pearwood strip, edge bent to suit the line of the stern. These need to sit flush with the top rail line.

 

7947(2)

Trial fitting the wheel, it always helps to have a scale figure handy.

 

7945(2)

The height of the wheel above the box has been reduced as covered in Post 13.

 

7975

The wheel is quite a delicate item, so the stem slots into a micro brass tube fixed in the steering box which allow for its removal.

7978(2)

It is a slightly simplified design with the spokes radiating from the hub simply bent into the vertical position to provide the hand grips.

 

 

In reality the spokes extended beyond the rim and the hand grips were either bolted or welded in position.

To replicate this at 1:64 scale would be a stretch too far for me.

 

 

I will leave the final cleaning up of this area until the rudder is fitted which is the next task.

 

 

 

 

B.E.

18/10/20

 

 

[Jim Lad]

Coming along very nicely.

 

John

[Blue Ensign]

Thank you John 👍

 

Post 22

Fitting the Rudder.

Chris has designed a simplified rudder attachment system which circumvents what can be a fiddly exercise.

This has tenons on the rudder that slot into mortises on the stern post and hold the rudder in the correct position. The straps are then added to rudder and stern post to give the impression of a hung rudder.

 

The alternative is to hang the rudder using pintles and gudgeons which is more authentic but a little more involved.

To aid the modification Chuck (Syren ship models) sells a neat little rudder kit for his range of models which includes the Gudgeons and straps.

 

These are ideal for a whole range of different model types and scales.

 

7991

The gudgeons are fitted to the stern post.

It is important that the gudgeons are placed at the bottom of the mortises in the stern post for correct alignment.

 

Once the glue has hard set the gudgeons will be shaped to suit.

 

7993

I use a length of wire to align the holes for the pintles.

 

8003

The rudder could do with a touch of fettling being tapered down slightly from top to bottom and from inboard to the outboard edge.

 

The tenons on the rudder are removed and will be used to fill the now redundant mortices on the stern post.

7997

Pins have been inserted into the rudder to represent the pintles.

 

7999

With the rudder hung I can now attend to the painting and make the necessary adjustment to the white watercut line at the stern post.

8116(2)

I’ll return to this later to add the straps to the pintles and gudgeons.

 

8128(2)

She looks so much better with the rudder in place.

8130(2)

I’m beginning to like this hull shape more and more

 

 

Back to detailing the internal stern area.

 

 

B.E.

20/10/20

 

[Gahm]

It is an unusual hull shape . . . but it really looks beautiful! Especially when it is as well done as in your model 🙂

 

Thomas

[Martin W]

Hi BE -- As I watch this build -- and it was the same for the Fifie -- I'm struck by my ignorance of these vessels.  The details you're adding, and the basic sailing structures continually surprise me (ok, the ladder makes sense).  Clearly my understanding is limited to a small range of 18th-century ships.  And since much of my mind has always resided in the Baroque to Romantic eras, they are what seem natural to me.  So, following your craftsmanship and research is an education not only in technique, but also style and utility of an era and region.

 

Fabulous!

 

Cheers

 

Martin

[Blue Ensign]

Thank you Thomas,

By all accounts they were fast and handy vessels, except perhaps in harbour where they proved very heavy to manoeuvre.

I find it amazing how only a few men handled these large luggers in the less than hospitable North Sea, and effectively removed all the sailing gear once fishing started.

That large out of view rudder was also removed and stored on deck, something I find difficult to visualise. How could the pintles be located on that sharply raked sternpost, particularly in a lively sea.

 

 

Thank you Martin,

We are alike in that respect, Mrs W is convinced that I live in the 18thc in my head.

When asked what is my favourite music genre I always reply  I love the music of the 80’s, and Wam (Wham) in particular.

I quickly follow it up with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the 1780’s. 😉

I am far more familiar with ships of the 17^th/18thc than fishing boats of the early 20^th. There are terms peculiar to North East Scotland that I still don’t understand.

I’m still not sure even how to pronounce Muirneag’s name.🤔

 

 

Cheers,

 

 

B.E.

[Rik Thistle]

I'd hazard a guess at 'Muirneag' being pronunced muir (as in the moorland) plus neeg.

 

From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muir) , Muir is the Scots Gaelic for 'sea'.

 

And from https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/8b6tr/download ... you can get a .pdf of 'Gaelic Words in Caithness Scots'. I quickly scanned it but couldn't spot the initial Google Search extract which said    It seems to suit the Gaelic word, neag / èag, a notch or a channel, with a diminutive ending common in Caithness. It may also be related to the Scots and English ...

 

So combining the two Gaelic meanings we get 'sea channel', which I guess makes some sense?

 

Could use of 'channel' mean the waters between Caithness and Orkney?

 

Disclaimer: I don't speak Gaelic and have no knowledge of the Scottish fishing industry.

 

Regards,

 

Richard

 

[Blue Ensign]

Thank you Richard for having a stab, there are also variances of the meaning  of Muirneag, which is also named for a hill on the Isle of Lewis.

 

MUIRNEAG (Lewis). G. diminutive of muirn, cheerfulness, joy. Name of a beautiful hill ; the only one near here, which the fishers can see far out at sea.

Another definition repeated in several publications is as below.

 

When Alexander "Sandy" MacLeod ordered his Muirneag ("Darling Girl" in Gaelic & also the name of a prominent hill near Stornoway) in 1903, it was his second McIntosh built Zulu - the first being the SY 1108 Caberfeidh, being launched from the Portessie yard by John McIntosh in January 1896. "Sandy" had by 1903, already a reputation as a fine fisherman & mariner, his Caberfeidh being the first Stornoway Zulu to go the English herring fishing. This reputation was enhanced as he fished Muirneag continuously up to the outbreak of WW2, refusing to convert her to engine power & thus becoming one of the last links to the past, being the last British herring drifter to fish under sail power alone.

 

I would like to think that 'Darling Girl' is the meaning given that Sandy Macleod obviously had a great affection for her over many years of ownership, and in 1947 at the age of eighty,  took her to sea for the last time before she was broken up.

 

Still, enough of this nostalgia, I've a Zulu to build. 🙂

 

B.E.

 

[Rik Thistle]

I think 'Darling Girl' has a much nicer ring to it than 'sea channel'. 

 

Your link ...  http://glennmci.brinkster.net/mng/mng.html#sy1108  ... is more info I hadn't yet found ;-) ...very interesting, thanks.

 

Regards,

 

Richard

[Blue Ensign]

Post 23

Detailing the internal stern area.

 

On the real boat a 1” thick iron strip ran from the stem along the keel and up the stern post where it was riveted to the head of the sternpost.

 

This was fitted as protection when grounding.

 

The kit provides a nicely etched Bow plate which replicates the stem iron but is not carried around the keel or sternpost.

 

The flange on top of the stern post would be visible so I replicated one.

8136

I used the 0.20mm brass fret from around the decoration etch of my Pegasus kit to make the plate. This was then chemically blackened.

8142(2)

The stern area nearing completion.

A coat of wip has been applied to the stern woodwork.

The iron stern plate has been pinned into position

Along the Starboard doubler at the stern are three iron plates which take sockets for items I’ve yet to understand the purpose of.

8155(2)

The kit provided Coal bunker hatch is inset into the deck.

A nice little item this, once blackened it looks the part.

8170

The smaller and plainer pump deck plate can be seen forward on the starboard side just aft of the mast partners.

 

8146(2)

At the bow there are two knees to be fixed.

8161(2)

Usually I seal the deck with a flat water-based varnish but I have decided to leave it unsealed.

The Boxwood planking will darken with age which is my intention.

8163(2)

Yet another fill, sand, and repaint job needed to improve the rail finish but hull completion is not far away.

 

B.E.

22/10/20

[glbarlow]

I’m always amazed by the small details you add, and the creative ways you come up with to add them.  I knew I was saving all those old Pegasus parts for a reason. 

[DelF]

Fascinating build B.E., which I'm enjoying following as always.

 

Can I just ask - you mention wipe on poly, which I've struggled to find in the UK. Do you mix your own?

 

Derek

 

 

[Blue Ensign]

 Thank you Glenn and Derek.

It's always worth keeping all that pe fret and also any hard wood fret, comes in handy for scratch building many small items.

 

Hi Derek, yes I mix my own, pre-made wop is a bit of a rip -off in my opinion.

I use oil based polyurethane varnish diluted with white spirit.

There is a load of info on making your own wop on You Tube. 🙂

 

B.E.

[Blue Ensign]

Post 24

 

 

Fitting out the Poop

 

I am now into my favourite part of a build, fiddling with the fittings.

The Poop deck has a wealth of detail, the positions of which I now need to fix.

The kit contains all the right features but not necessarily in the right layout for Muirneag.(apologies to Morecambe and Wise)

The Mizen mast is square at the partners which were scratched to suit, and the other fittings positions were tweaked to reflect the layout on the Underhill plans.

The kit warp hatch rollers seem to be rather stylised and are represented by etched housings sitting above the level of the coamings covering most of the hatch space.

I was able to utilise the provided coaming which is about right for scale, but I had to enlarge the hatchway slightly to accommodate carlings below the coamings to allow for the rollers to be set lower within the hatchway.

8181

False carlings were glued beneath the hatch coamings which were drilled to take short lengths of 0.5mm brass wire passed thro’ 1mm brass tubing from side to side to secure the rollers.

8177

Completed Warp Hatch in place.

 

8174

Also in this photo the makings for slightly beefed up mast partners, the now defunct kit part can be seen on the Poop deck aft of the mast.

 

8215

The mast partners were remade using spare 3mm Pearwood from the kit fret.

 

8217

All the spare wood around the laser cut parts comes in handy for scratching alternative parts.

With the Warp hatch and partners glued into place, the position of the crutch can be determined.

 

8225

The crutch which supported the lowered Fore mast is nicely pre-made in Pearwood and on Muirneag sits immediately to the starboard side of the Mizen, rather than just aft of the partners as indicated on the kit.

The Underhill plan indicates a height of 8’ 2” = to 38.9mm at scale. The kit part is pretty much spot on for this.

8226

I used a section of square brass tubing to provide a socket to take the Crutch.

8229

These Swann- Morton micro chisels prove invaluable in cutting small holes.

The Boiler flue is provided in the form of Aluminium tubing and a circular etched brass base plate.

8224(2)

I have modified this to accord with the Underhill plans where the flue base is a concrete square set in a wooden frame.

The smaller stove flue was modified to fit a cowl over the top.

 

Blackening Aluminium doesn’t seem to work as well as on brass, and I do have a jar of Aluminium specific blackener.

8287

May need to re-visit the finish on the flues, but a part of me quite likes the weather beaten look.

 

 

8283

The partly completed capstan in place, I have been looking at photo’s of the capstan on Muirneag, and I feel the urge to have a tweak with the gearbox……

 

 

B.E.

25/10/20

 

[glbarlow]

Fascinating as always.  Are thos SM61 and SM62 blades? I’ve noted your using them before, do yo favor them over a good pair of wood working micro chisels?

[Blue Ensign]

I don’t own any other micro chisels Glenn, but these are fairly cheap to buy, the blades do hold their edge, can be re- sharpened, and are easy to replace.

 

At the scales I work at they are a useful addition.

 

B.E.

[Blue Ensign]

Post 29

Steam Capstan

 

The primary fitting on the Poop is the steam capstan, an eye catching feature which also is supplied with the Fifie kit.

 

Assembly is quite straightforward, built on a central spindle which represents the steam pipe running up the centre of the capstan.

 

For the colour scheme I have used Humbrol enamel (120 Light Green.)

I did chemically blacken the brass etch which provides a good  primer for the paint.

 

The steam capstan was introduced in 1884 by a company called Elliott and Garrood, a development that the crews of fishing boats must have been eternally grateful for when it came to raising that huge fore lug sail.

 

8296(3)

There is however a difference to the gearbox detail on the Underhill plans, compared to the kit, confirmed by photo’s of Muirneag.

 

Nothing to be lost by having a go to replicate the detail, if all else fails I can revert to the kit part.

 

Working at 1:64 scale presents more of a challenge and the most difficult task is fabricating the gear wheel guard.

 

 

Here once again 0.20mm brass fret came into use.

The pattern was cut out and a piece of narrow strip was silver soldered around the edge.

 

8299(2)

The Blu tack holds the parts in position for soldering.

8304(2)

This turned out far better than I thought it might and resulted in a strong bond.

8352(2)

8358(2)

The gearbox casing is chemically blackened.

8328

The large gear wheel was made from the brass etched end of a depth charge.

 

8376

 

8383(2)

8368

8342

This completes the Poop deck fittings for the present.

 

B.E.

26/10/20

 

Edited October 26, 2020 by Blue Ensign

[Beef Wellington]

Fascinating research and excellent execution, the usual perfect combination.  I to very much like weathered/grimy look on the funnels, and the colour tones blend very nicely and look very authentic.  Very impressed with your silver soldering results, dipping my toes into that a little myself...safe to say still at the bottom of learning curve.

[Moab]

Wow! Just caught up to your great build. A BEAUTIFUL ship. Love the paint scheme...Moab

[BobG]

Very nice work, BE. I'm very interested in learning to do a bit of silver soldering. I'm sure the learning curve will be steep as is usual for a complete beginner to soldering like me but I'm game to give it a go.

[Jim Lad]

She's just looking so good!

 

John

[gjdale]

Excellent results on the steam capstan BE - though we expect nothing less from you! She’s looking fabulous.

[Blue Ensign]

Thanks for looking in Moab and for your kind comment, and ditto Grant and John, much appreciated.

 

Thank you Jason and Bob.

I’m no expert on Silver soldering but using the paste in a syringe is a great help.

Basic silver soldering is quite easy, things like making strops and joining rings are quickly picked up.

The main things to consider are:

 Having the metals clean.

 Working out how you are going to secure the parts during the process.

Ensuring a close connection, Silver solder has no gap filling qualities.

As soon as the silver flashes, the job is done, remove part and dip.

If you want to join more than one part to another, you will need different melt point pastes, so that the first isn’t melted when the second is attached.

The piece I was most pleased with was adding two small rings at right angles to a stanchion for the guard rails on my Pegasus build.

Cheers,

 

B.E.

[Gahm]

Wonderful detail on that steam capstan! Never seen one like that before!

 

Thomas

[EKE]

Your Zulu is looking really excellent, BE.  Thanks so very much for the inspiration!

[Blue Ensign]

Thank you Thomas and Erik, much appreciated.

 

Post 30

Competing the rudder

This entails adding the straps to the gudgeons and pintles.

I am using Chuck’s fibre versions rather than the brass etched kit parts.

8387(2)

Once these are added small spots of pva are added to represent the bolt heads.

As all the straps are painted over this gives a reasonable representation.

The final part is to add the rudder chains.

The kit provides a flat brass etched tiller arm fitting which fits into a slot in the rudder head.

I replaced this with a spectacle plate made from brass strip and small eyebolts.

8389(2)

8390(2)

Spectacle plate in the raw.

Rings are added to the rudder chains which will attach to the spectacle plate.

8399(2)

The straps for the gudgeons are next fixed, short ones only, running the width of the stern post.

8403

Fixing the chains is a fiddly business as there is very little slack, several rings disappeared into the ether during the process.

8408(2)

8404(2)

8411(2)

The completed rudder

 

B.E.

31/10/20

 

[EKE]

BE, this is coming along so well!  Your attention to all of the detail is inspiring.  The details on the rudder seem just spot-on to me.   Thank you for sharingI

 

You mentioned “Chuck’s fiber versions” of the gudgeons and pintles.   Would you please explain for this newbie?  

 

-Erik

[Blue Ensign]

Thank you Erik.

 

If you look on Chuck's Syren site you will see he supplies a Laser cut Pintles and Gudgeons Mini kit at $5.50.

 

He also has many other little treasures of great value to us modellers.

 

ps: I have no association to Dads, sorry, I mean Chuck's business, just a grateful customer.😉

 

B.E.

 

 

[Ronald-V]

What a lovely colors are you using Blue Ensign!

[Blue Ensign]

Post 31

Fore thwart, and Bowsprit fitting.

 

The kit provides a laser cut Pearwood bracket that slots into the thwart to hold the Bowsprit heel.

 

There are differences between the kit, Underhill plans, and the set up on other models and plans, that I need to resolve.

 

I first need to check the comparative differences in the size of the spar.

 

The kit has a 52’ length, Underhill 49.0’

The inboard ø 10” outboard 7.5” (kit) 12” and 7” (Underhill)

 

These differences are of little consequence in the scheme of things.

 

The Underhill plans and the models by Gordon Williams, Jan van den Heuvel, and the George Macleod model in the NMM

show the Bowsprit heel cut to produce a shoulder which sits against the thwart.

 

This is not universally the case as  the plan of Fidelity shows a fully rounded bowsprit passing thro’ the bracket.

 

In considering the set-up of the Bowsprit, the position and shape of the saddle  needs to be considered. This is set up on the port side bow and as the spar crosses the saddle at an angle, final shaping can only be done insitu.

 

I have replaced the provided bracket with a version that allows for an iron securing strap to be  put in place.

8452

The arrangement is very similar to the cap squares used on 18^thc guns to secure the trunnions to the carriage.

 

8480

The Fore tack deck hooks are also in place.

8466

8469

A temporary bowsprit has been made to act as a template to shape the saddle and form the iron.

 

8474

8476

8471(2)

 Quite sticky out the Bowsprit, but it could be displayed taken inboard.

 

 

At this point I have also attached the Bow plate. This is provided in the kit as a nicely formed etched part.

This was chemically blackened and buffed.

The manual suggests that this part be glued to the stem and that short pins be inserted in shallow holes to represent the retaining nails.

 

I didn’t find this necessary and simply pinned the bow plate to the stem using blackened pins only. (shortened pins for the top two)

 

I was conscious of the fact that any stray ca getting on the Bow plate would spoil the look.

 

The top of the plate did need a spot of ca to hold it secure to the stem top before the bolt is inserted.

8482

Attached to the sides of the stem can be seen the ‘Horns’ to take the Fore tack, this is a common feature on both Fifie’s and Zulu’s.

 

8454(2)

At some point I will need to decide whether to paint the lower part of the plate in the colours of the lower hull, as I did with the Fifie.

 

8464

Still some tidying up to do on the deck and I need to decide whether to add the irons along the keel and a bilge keel.

 

B.E.

02/11/20