Granado 1742 by DocBlake - FINISHED - 1:32 Scale - Bomb Vessel Cross-Section

[DocBlake]

This is my log for my scratch build of a cross section of the bomb vessel HMS Granado.  The plans were drawn by Jeff Staudt and were based on Peter Goodwin's AOTS book, which I plan to use as a reference.  The section is from the center of the ship and includes 3 gun ports on each side, and a pit for a 13" mortar, one of two mortars  on board.  The rectangle in the image shows the location.  I purchased the plans in 1/24 scale, but that is clearly too large for the space the Admiral has alloted for the model so I'll build her in 1:32 scale.  Even at that reduced scale, the model  is 7-1/2" high, 10" wide and 10-3/4" long!

Granado was one of a dozen bomb vessels, or mortar-armed ships built by the Royal Navy between 1740 and 1742.  She was launched at Ipswich on June 22, 1742.  The vessel was 91'-1" long with a beam of 26'-2" and was 269 tons burthen.  This is just about the size of HMY Caroline!  The Granado was a small ship!  Despite this, her framing was very robust - to handle the weight and recoil force of the two mortars on board.

The framing is one double frame, followed by three single frames with this sequence repeating.  Jeff's plans were somewhat stylized for ease of construction.  Each frame uses typical chock and scarf construction, rather than the sistered frame approach used by Hahn and others. One interesting feature in construction is the use of reinforcing timbers fitted to the floors and lower futtocks of the frames below the mortars.  These were called floor and futtock riders and were designed to beef up the frames so thay could safely absorb the recoil shock from the mortars.

The double frames were 2 feet wide and 20” thick near the keel.  The single frames were 1 foot wide and 20" thick at the keel.

As is my preference, I will attempt to build without the use of paint or stains. The hog, keel and upper false keel will be beech, as will all the frames. The lower false keel will be ebony. We'll begin by constructing the framing jig             

[Edwardkenway]

I'll be looking in on this build, because  I hope to do it myself in the future. 

[Elijah]

Ooh, looks fun! If there were two mortars, where was the second?

[DocBlake]

1 hour ago, Elijah said:

Ooh, looks fun! If there were two mortars, where was the second?

The second mortar was forwad of the main mast.  Here's a shot of the deck showing the two mortar pits from Timmo's log  :  

 

[gjdale]

This is a fun build Dave and Jeff's plans are first class. I'll follow along for the ride and the memories!

[DocBlake]

Thanks all!

 

The jig is upright, like my Blandford and POF Armed Virginia sloop.  The plans for the jig top lay it out in two pieces, joined at the midline.  Proper alignment is important.  The first step is to use spray adhesive to attach the jig top template to some ¼” plywood and then cut out the center part and form the notches that hold the frames in place.  There are 5 double frames and 12 single frames – 17 in all.  The run of the frames moving aft is pretty straight except for the last few which begin to turn inward, narrowing the hull.  The last three frames also rise on the hog.  The jig top is positioned on 4 supports that hold the top such that the top surface of the jig top coincides with the load waterline.                      

 

 

[DocBlake]

The first part to make is the keel assembly.  Jeff's  plans call for this to be constructed of 4 separate parts:  The hog, keel, upper false keel and lower false keel.  I decided to make the hog, or rising wood, part of the keel.  The keel /hog assembly, and the upper false keel are European beech, the lower false keel is ebony.  There are notches cut into the hog for the various frames.  I was able to do this on my Byrnes saw, but it would have been far easier with a mill.  You can see the notches rising at the aft end of the keel.  The last task was cutting the rabbet.  The keel assembly is fixed to the build board by brass rods and is removable.   

 

 

 

[DocBlake]

With the keel completed, I turned my attention to constructing the frames.  There are 17 in all – 5 double frames and 12 single frames.  The are assembled using typical chock and scarf construction.  Because of the style of the joints, they must fit very tightly, because there isn’t much gluing surface and part of it is end grain, so the frames could be fragile.  Still. It’s possible to get pretty tight joints.  The trick is to make the chocks oversize, and sand/file  them to fit first into one scarf and then the mating scarf.  The photos show the sequence.  

 

 

[DocBlake]

Some photos of the chocks in a finished frame before sanding.  I use a variable speed Dremel on low to sand the chocks and finish with flexible sanding blocks by Norton
 

[DocBlake]

Only the last three frames have any bevel.  The photo shows how much.   

[BANYAN]

This will make into a great cross-section Doc.  The keel is progressing very nicely with nice tight joints.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[DocBlake]

I installed model railroad spikes as bolts in the double frames only.  Once that was done, the frames were given 3 coats of poly on their fore and aft faces.  I used spacers above the waterline between frames and glued them all to the keel and hog. Each frame had a spreader bar that attached to the top timbers by those little yellow nails.  No glue!  

[MEDDO]

Coming along nicely Doc

[DocBlake]

Thanks!

 

I used temporary spacers to make sure the frames sat properly on the hog or rising wood.  The double frames are constructed so that half the frame sits a little deeper than the rest of the frame.  The frame locks in place.  It can’t move once seated.  I then used epoxy the glue ar the frames in place and faired the inside of the hull.  The spacers above the waterline are glued in place.  The hull is strong enough to remove the transverse support of the jig top for and aft.  Makes it easier to work inside!  

[DocBlake]

I cut the keelson blank a bit long and then milled the two bevels on the top surface.  I then tapered the aft end to match the rise of the final four frames on the keel/hog.  I then cut the keelson to length.   

 

 

 

[DocBlake]

The keelson was glued in place using Weldbond.  The pencil lines are the locations of the five floor riders that help support the mortar.  The bolts are darkened 18 gauge brass nails.  

[Edwardkenway]

Looking good Doc, I think the beech looks very much like oak does on a full size build!

[DocBlake]

There are 5 floor riders that reinforce the frames under the mortar.  I made six!  I used swiss pear and beech for a little contrast.  The riders sit on the keelson and hug the frames and then overlap the mortar pit deck clamps.  The plan shows the location of the riders on the keelson.  As you can see, I’ve yet to cut the outline of the top of the riders that overlaps the clamp strakes.   

 

 

 

 

 

       

[Timmo]

Nice work.  The beech looks nice and crisp next to the pear.

[DocBlake]

Fitting the riders and cutting the top timbers to allow the upper and lower mortar pit clamps to fit was a real bear of a job. I spent more than 10 hours on this part of the build! The fit of the rider top timbers against the clamps isn't as tight as I'd like, but much of the detail will be obscured by the deck framing. The clamps are sitting in place, ready to be installed permanently.

[gjdale]

Very neat work Dave. She’s looking great.

[DocBlake]

Thanks Grant!

 

I finished the planking in the hold, including the limber strakes, floorwaling and thick stuff.  The mortar pit clamps are just sitting in place.  The next task is to "dress up" the planking.  I'm planning black bolts for the thick stuff and clamps and birch treenails for all the other planking.  I'll also simulate a scarf in the upper mortar pit clamp.

The limber boards are just over 3 scale feet long with finger holes drilled in each end.  They should be manageable by a single seaman himself.

 

 

[DocBlake]

The next task was to prepare the upper mortar pit clamps for installation.  These were heavy timbers that bore a lot of the brunt of the mortar's recoil force  The clamps were 24" tall and 7" thick (3/4" X 7/32").  There are 5 mortises cut into the clamp to seat the mortar pit beams.  For the most part, the clamps are straight.  But they do curve inward fairly conspicuously over the last 3 frames or so.  I needed to figure out how to bend a piece of swiss pear that was 3/4" wide X 7/32" thick.  The answer was easier than I thought.  I simply clamped the clamps to a piece of wood with the inwardly bending end raised up a little on a scarp of wood.  Two or three minutes with a heat gun (careful not to burn the wood) and the clamps were bent enough to slip in place easily.  Now on to treenail and bolts!

[gjdale]

Great, simple solution Dave. What’s that old saying about the best solutions are often the simplest?

[DocBlake]

I finished all the planking in the hold and installed both upper and lower mortar pit clamps.  Everything was given a first coat of poly.  I also cut out the shell room lower support beams.  They are boxwood.  Swiss pear and holly will be used to build the shell room.

 

 

 

[DocBlake]

Thanks for the "likes", guys!

I began construction of the shell room with the lower support beams.  I cut them to overhang the floor riders by 3/32" on each end and then chamfered both ends of each for visual interest.  These were glued in place.  Next I cut out two filler pieces to fit between the support beams.  These are 3/32" thinner than the thickness of the support beams so when the decking is installed, there will be a flush, flat surface.  Next is to trim and finish the filler pieces.

[DocBlake]

 

I finished the decking (holly) and glued it into place.  One coat of poly applied.
 

[JpR62]

Superb work. Always perfectly clean and precise. And I still admire the work on the harmony of the different wood species.

[DocBlake]

Thanks, Jean-Paul!

 

The shell room is made up of 3 rows of 6 pillars which support 24 shelves.  Each shelf has a hollow into which the mortar shells fit.  The pillars are cut from square swiss pear stock.  I used my Byrnes saw with the sliding table to cut the pillars and the notches for the shelves.  The sliding table is deadly accurate, and each pillar is EXACTLY as long as as the next, with the shelf slots perfectly aligned.  The tool is amazing!

The shelves were cut from swiss pear also.  To form the depressions that hold the shells, I used a 3/8" twist drill on my drill press.  I set the fence and the stop so each depression was in a consistent location on the shelves. 

[DocBlake]

The shell room has 6 racks for the mortar shells. Each rack has 3 pillars and 4 shelves. The pillars sit on the lower support beams directly over the floor riders. The shells are 3/8" wooden balls that I dyed black.