Royal Caroline by Bedford - Panart - 1/48

[GrandpaPhil]

Congratulations on the new home!

[Keith Black]

 Steve, a big thumbs up on getting settled into your new digs. Again, congratulations.

[Mark Pearse]

Great news Steve, that looks great; I reckon there's flathead out there too, warm water & sand bottom...

[Bedford]

Progress!

 

I've finally made some progress on the RC, the doors and windows to the kings cabin and since I want the doors open so you can see inside I had to redesign them.

 

One thing I will say to anyone wanting to build this model, for the sake of your sanity finish the exterior of this bulkhead BEFORE doing anything else on this model, don't lay the keel, don't fit the frames until this bulkhead has the facing planks, doors, windows and crest finished.

 

[Bedford]

I've clearly been busy enjoying my new surrounds and haven't done a lot on the model, and to be honest the last few months have seen me not in the right mind set for this build but I thought it was time to have a bit of a go.

 

I've decided to build the ships boat and again, the kit needed improving because the floor boards would have been way too high so I changed the way it goes together and will be sanding the floors down further to reduce the floor board height. Also it is supposed to be double planked in 0.5mm planks, not easy to get a good fair flow over only 6 molds so I opted for a single layer with filling to fair it inside and out. Exterior is done, interior next. Oh and the top rail is to be made of 3x2mm stock, this would equate to a rail 141x94mm which is way too big for a 6.6mtr boat so I'll come up with an alternative.

[Bedford]

Interior is painted and floor boards are in, yet to decide if I'll varnish them but I'll probably leave them bare.

[Bedford]

I've made the oarlocks and fitted out the boat. I decided to do the oarlocks in a run just by filing the profile then cutting them off, seems to have worked well. That being done I was able to finish painting, decorating and varnishing the boat.

 

[Bedford]

Next was the oars, I chose to only make 4.

The instructions call for you to drill 2mm holes in each end of a block of 3x3mm stock to insert the oar shaft in one end and the handle in the other.

I have learned from experience that using a conventional twist drill is likely to split the stock so I used a 2mm slot drill (used for milling, resembles a drill but with a flat end). By using an edge finder I set the machine vice to centre the hole with the help from some scrap stock glued to the vice with C.A. to ensure repeatability. The boat is done.

 

[Keith Black]

 What a little beauty. 

[Bedford]

Waste deck grating, great cabin sky light, anchor bitts, foremast pin rack and boat cradle done.

I have to say that these are far and away the best grating components I've ever used!

 

 

[Bedford]

The rudder head and tiller are done.

The main mast pin rack/aft boat cradle support is done.

 

With the dowel ends on the boat cradle the instructions call for you to drill 3mm holes into the end of each 4x4mm beam, dreamin'

I chose to spin up the dowels in the lathe and centre drill them with 1mm holes to accept brass wire as a dowel and drilled corresponding 1mm holes in the ends of the beams. Much more doable!

 

I'm not sure the pillars on top of the pin rack should be white but it just adds a bit to it, don't want it all red.

 

 

[allanyed]

Bedford,

Very neat work, congrats.

For the boats, there are contemporary drawings, many in high resolution, of ships' boats on the Wiki Commons site.   https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ship_plans_of_the_Royal_Museums_Greenwich      There are also pages of text, drawings, and scantlings in W.E. Mays' book that you may also find helpful.   There is a used copy at Abe Books for $3 but shipping may be prohibitive.  https://www.abebooks.com/9781840674316/Boats-Men-W-E-1840674318/plp

 

Regarding the oars, the following is from David Steel.  I am sure here were variations in these dimensions, but these might also be a helpful guide.

Breadth of boat

                               Oar    Handle  Loom    Body      Blade   Loom Square    Blade Breadth  BladeThickmess    Diam      

                                         Lengths                                                                Inner  Outer    Inner Outer           of handle                                

Feet                          feet      ft. in.    ft.in     ft.in.          ft.in.      in.             in.       in.          in.       in.              in.

 

7-0                            20     0-10        6-0      6-10         6-4         4               3 1/8   6 1/8     2 7/8   7/8           1 ¾

6-0                            19     0-10        5-0      7-2           6-0         3 7/8           3        6           2 ¾    7/8            1 ¾

5-0                            18     0-10        4-0      7-6           5-8         3 7/8           3        6           2 ¾    7/8            1 ¾

4-6                            17     0-10        3-6      7-4           5-4         3 ¾            2 7/8   5          2 ¾    7/8            1 ½

4-0                            16     0-10        3-0      7-4           5-4         3 ¾            2 7/8   5          2 ¾    7/8            1 ½

 

 

Edited July 11, 2022 by allanyed

[Bedford]

Foredeck fife rail and galley flue fitted.

 

Apparently the plans were drawn by someone with little knowledge of square rigged sailing. In general a square rigger would never have the wind more than a few degrees afore the beam unless lying at anchor. With this in mind the top of the flue should be aimed forward for the wind to draw the smoke but the plan calls for it to face aft like the exhaust on a Mack truck!

 

 

[allanyed]

On 7/14/2022 at 8:19 AM, Bedford said:

Apparently the plans were drawn by someone with little knowledge of square rigged sailing. .........With this in mind the top of the flue should be aimed forward for the wind to draw the smoke but the plan calls for it to face aft like the exhaust on a Mack truck!

Hi Bedford

You may be right about the little bit of knowledge as that seems to be the situation with some, not all, kit makers.  But, based on the contemporary models and photos of others that I have seen, the plans in this case are correct.   Most contemporary models that I  checked out at RMG and Preble Hall do not show the top angled piece at the top at all, but those that do invariably face aft.  Whether round or square the top pieces of the chimneys could be adjusted for the heading and direction of the wind.  Interestingly I found no contemporary plans or models with the stack the way you show it but perhaps some other member can post a photo of a contemporary model or plans with the stack facing forward.  Lavery goes into a lot of detail on the Charlie Noble (chimney) including their design and adjustments in The Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War on page 200.  

Allan

 

Edited July 15, 2022 by allanyed

[Bedford]

There's been a bit more progress.

 

The plan calls for two spiral staircases, one either side leading from the top of the kings cabin to the main deck but they don't include the doors which provide access below for the crew. According to the plan the hand rail across the front of the kings cabin carries from all the way starboard to a point which allows access to the stairway to the deck below on the port side therefore while the plan calls for two staircases it makes one redundant. 

The "anatomy of" book about this ship clearly shows there is only one staircase, to port, but there is access to the below decks on both sides.

 

The kit doesn't call for any kind of hand rail for the spiral staircase but I'm working on a wooden hand rail. I bent some brass wire around the staircase following it's descent then found a round object of the same radius and laminated two pieces of walnut around it after soaking in boiling water. So far so good but a bit of work to do yet.

[allanyed]

Bedford,

I have an open question to any member with knowledge on this, hope you don't mind.  Why does the kit have belaying pins?   Belaying pins did not come into common use for British vessels until 1771.  I realize many kit makers do little research, but this seems pretty basic.  I may be completely wrong and she did not follow normal practices in regards to rigging and belaying points.  None of the contemporary drawings for R Caroline (later R Charlotte) at RMG show belaying pins or pin racks that I could find.   
Thanks

Allan

Edited July 22, 2022 by allanyed

[Bedford]

7 hours ago, allanyed said:

Why does the kit have belaying pins?   Belaying pins did not come into common use for British vessels until 1771. 

Allan

Allan, I'm no expert but the "anatomy of" book clearly shows belaying pin rails. Also, and again I can't speak with huge authority here but, the replica Bark Endeavour, on which I have sailed, is said to be among the most accurate ship replicas in the world, the original was launched in 1764, and you guessed it, belaying pins everywhere!

 

HMS Victory launched 1765 and this is the original, not a replica. AT 33 seconds into this vid you see belaying pins!

 

[Bedford]

It's been a while between updates but I've fitted the kings cabin doors and made the masts. The wood for the masts was really white so I stained it in Baltic pine and finished them in carnauba furniture wax which looks really nice. 

 

All spars will get the same treatment. 

[harlequin]

beautiful model....I have this kit which is waiting patiently on the shelf whilst i build Endeavour, finish the rigging on Unicorn and continue with Perefrine.....A job well done Bedford and a gorgeous tribute to your daughter.

[Bedford]

Well it's been quite a while between drinks on this build, mainly because I just haven't been happy with the chain plates and couldn't see a solution so I walked away. I have also been somewhat engrossed in a slightly bigger project.....

 

I found a viable solution to the chain plate issue and was given an Amati shroud rigging jig which I promptly threw away but kept the pins. It didn't suit the lay of the shrouds on this ship and what's the use of a jig that doesn't let you mount the dead eyes until it's off the jig. I centre drilled each pin and inserted a length of 1mm brass wire so I could measure up the shrouds, drill holes in a jig for the pins and fully create the shroud including dead eyes before the rat lines. It's a lot easier than doing them in situ.

 

[Bedford]

And the other slightly bigger project.......

 

[Mark Pearse]

9 hours ago, Bedford said:

And the other slightly bigger project.......

a sailing boat?

 

[Bedford]

2 hours ago, Mark Pearse said:

a sailing boat?

 

It's a Selway Fisher Ptarmigan 17 as redrawn in the glued lapstrake format with a yawl rig

 

[Keith Black]

 Steve, she's a beautiful little rig. Wish I was there to help as I'd love to make or help make something that neat and pleasing to the eye. 

[Bedford]

5 hours ago, Keith Black said:

 Steve, she's a beautiful little rig. Wish I was there to help as I'd love to make or help make something that neat and pleasing to the eye. 

Keith, I mentioned a while back that I had to find a new place to live and a big deciding factor in moving here was the Lake Macquarie Classic Boat Association. A "Mens Shed" type arrangement, we are a group of like minded retirees that like messing around with small boats and we can build boats for ourselves with the help of many hands including a couple of shipwrights. It's a great environment and there's always something new to learn be it boat related or not.