Sherbourne by Stockholm tar - Caldercraft - 1/64

[HIPEXEC]

Beautiful build!

[Stockholm tar]

Hipexec,

 

Thank you!

 

The first item of rigging forward of the mast is the forestay, but there is one feature on the foredeck that is perhaps best put in place before fitting it, since access might be a little difficult afterwards. This is the staysail ‘horse’, which runs across the deck over the fore hatch and which takes the lower block of the staysail sheet. The horse is not included in the kit but I think one should really be fitted, otherwise the foresail will not realistically operate in practice. I wasn’t able to find a drawing from the period, and strangely enough the AOTS book on the Alert doesn’t show one fitted on either, so I decided to make one which resembled a cast iron fitting. I am sure there may have been wooden examples, but I reasoned that if other equipment such as guns, anchors and various other were of cast iron, why not the horse?

 

Fashioned out of a suitable metal rod, the ends of which were bent at right angles to the main bar, it was then simply glued into two holes drilled in the deck and at a suitable height. Its positioning was somewhat critical, having to be far enough toward the bow so as not to impede the operation of the foremost guns, yet not so much that the hatch across which it fits, couldn’t be lifted off – and, crucially, it wouldn’t work with the sail. I think I have it about right. This particular area of the deck, however, is somewhat crowded – and I would be the first to admit that the sheet, when in operation, could quite possibly foul my nice galley chimney, especially when on the larboard tack! I suppose I could move the latter, but relocating it somewhere else might be problematic.

 

Anyway, here is the horse in position:

 

 

Next time: the forestay.

[tkay11]

Kester, I really love your build -- it's not only beautiful but full of interesting insights and discussion, so provides a very useful education for me.

 

I'm glad to see the horses rearing their heads again (I'm remembering the discussion in Gregor's build at http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/2288-hmc-sherbourne-by-gregor-–-caldercraft-–-scale-164-1763/?p=187068) and that you've finally placed your bet on your favourite. I don't have anything to say about that, but very interesting for me is the placement of the chimney, or galley flue. I've been puzzling over that as in most builds of other cutters that I've seen, and in the Alert drawings, the flue comes well away from the hatch and is placed centrally. This would be logical as the galley and stove are also well away from the hatch and the central location leaves room for the galley. However, as you point out, the area fore of the mast is very crowded, so makes this difficult. So I'd be interested in your thoughts as to your decision on the placement of the stove and its flue. I can see that there's a separation as a result of the shot rack, but would the galley have fitted into the space remaining?

 

As usual, not an opinion, but a question out of ignorance!

 

Tony

Edited November 20, 2014 by tkay11

[Stockholm tar]

Hi Tony,

 

Thanks for the kind words and it's nice to know my Sherbourne is viewed as an 'educational tool'. Thanks also for the 'likes' guys.

 

As regards galley chimney, the layout of the deck as provided in the kit, doesn't really leave much option as to where to place the chimney. As far as I see it, it can go either side of the fore hatch, or not be there at all. I thought it rather a shame to leave such a feature off, so to the side it went, illogical though this might seem – and I have to agree there is a certain amount of 'artistic licence' here. I haven't found a reference to any 'side mounted' stoves yet, but I live in hope!

 

In my mind's eye, the galley stove is to starboard of the hatch, it's weight offset to larboard by increased ballast or stores! Implausible – probably, but perhaps not impossible.

[egkb]

Hi Kester.. great photo of your very busy (realistic in my opinion  ) foredeck, I'm sure such a chimney would have been removable (temporarily) whilst on Port ahem Larboard Tack.. though I really don't see it impeding the sail or it's sheet anyhoo, both of which would be rather high off the deck, for the sail, and at a large angle, for the sheet (unlike modern Foresail rigs which come virtually right to deck level)

Perhaps your galley stove is directly below the grating with an angled chimney, giving the poor cook some light  

 

All The Best

 

Eamonn

[Stockholm tar]

Eamonn,

 

You've made me feel a whole lot better!

 

Just mentally checked the angles of the sheet and sail, and you're right – it doesn't seem likely it would catch but, as you know, anything can happen at sea!

 

I had thought of an angled flue pipe under the deck too. (Actually the sheet horse is heated by the stove, through a special connection, so that the crew can warm their hands in the winter!)

[egkb]

Ahh the old Heated Horse.. I remember it well, we used gather around it to have a chin wag.. good times !   

 

Fore Stay  next for you I presume ?

 

Quick Question.. What did you make your Deadeye Strops out of.. were they Kit Supplied Photo Etched affairs of did you knock them up out of wire or somesuch ?  I'm at that stage myself on Ballier 

 

All The Best

 

Eamonn 

[tkay11]

OK, here's another question. One of the reasons for the crowding before the mast is the fact that we have a rail, a flue and a hatch to go between the mast and the bowsprit bitt assembly. In the Alert plans there is no rail in front of the mast, and now that we have all these belaying points along the sides and in front of the windlass (which replaced the smaller belaying racks) I'd like to ask if there is a strong reason to keep that rail in place. If there is no strong reason, the flue could then fit fine between the hatch and the mast.

 

I'm looking forward to the lesson about the importance of that rail as this is another demonstration of ignorance!

 

Tony

[Stockholm tar]

Eamonn,

 

Yes, the forestay next, which will take a little thinking about. I've already cut the stay to length – with enough over to seize around the deadeye at the bow and pass round the masthead, and bearing in mind that the latter end goes round itself below the mouse, and is then seized in an eye. All the top end, above the mouse, will be wormed. I've nearly finished making the latter, out of a small piece of dowel, and the stay will pass through and be glued to it at the appropriate point. The deadeye is already seized at the lower end. Anyway more about that in the next thrilling instalment of my log...

 

I made the strops for the deadeyes out of suitably-sized wire and blackened. I didn't like the kit supplied ones and I suspect, from your question, you don't either! They are probably the same fitting on both models. Mine look much better, so I would suggest you do the same.

 

Tony,

 

I kept my rail, as you see, as I intend to belay the square sail sheets for the topsail and topgallant there. These were/are normally belayed at the foot of the masts – as they have been on the vessels I have sailed on. I've added five belaying pins in the rail for that purpose, the two outer ones will take the sheets of the topgallant, the next ones in those for the topsail. The centre one I'm not quite sure of yet, but possibly the staysail halliard.

 

So, I have a shrewd suspicion my galley chimney will be staying where it is!

[egkb]

Thanks for that Kester, yea the jury is our re the photo etched ones.. that said as they will barely be noticed I haven't totally dismissed the kit ones, especially as I'll be attempting to solder the 'side opening' ... me with a soldering torch.. yup there goes the work bench..

 

Tony the Pin Rail before the mast is where you put your pint whilst warming your hands on Kesters heated horse.. 

 

All The Best

 

Eamonn

[tkay11]

Aaaah! So it was a Pint Rail after all. These spelling errors in plans cause no amount of confusion. Must have been written in Scouse, as in "Pin' rail, lad, get te i'." Now, a pint pewter pot at 1/64 scale is about 2.3mm. Maybe I'll fashion a few for the crew out of aluminium tube and leave them hanging on the rail as something that future generations will have to figure out.

 

As for the deadeye strops, I've already put the kit ones in on the starboard channel, so that's an area of the dark side I won't be visiting. At least, not for the moment ... or once I've the topsail sheet belaying points and hot horses out of my mind.

 

Tony

[Stockholm tar]

The forestay, for which I used .50mm thread, took some while to make as measurement of its various parts was somewhat critical. In total, it has to be of sufficient length to be seized around the large deadeye at its lower end then pass round the mast, in a large bight, at its upper before being seized to itself below the mouse.

 

 

When I had decided on the length, I first turned in the deadeye. I should point out here that I used the large three-hole deadeye provided in the kit, rather than the five hole one as shown for the Alert, which seems to have been the more usual. None of the pictures in the AOTS book appear to show a three-hole deadeye for the forestay of the cutters depicted, so this looks to be an error on the part of the kit manufacturers, who seem to have just made the deadeye of a larger size than those used for the shrouds – without considering whether it was historically correct.

 

 

Had I seriously thought about it earlier I would have lengthened the top of the stem, as I believe others have done, and drilled the five holes. The corresponding  five-hole deadeye would also have had to be made, as I have only ever seen three-holed ones sold as accessories. However, by the time I was considering the forestay the bow was finished with the top rail, various items of head rigging and  the catheads, all in place. The latter especially, with their proximity to the stem, made it impossible to gain access with a saw to cut off the stem top, without the danger of inflicting serious damage. I therefore decided to leave well alone – and compensated to some extent, by increasing the size of the lanyard. (In hindsight, I would advise anyone contemplating building the kit to consider this problem well before they actually get to the point of doing it!)

 

Anyway, following that slight digression, I’ll return to the forestay itself. The first thing I considered at the upper end was the ‘mouse’, as it is called, and its position on the stay. The function of the mouse was to prevent the bight of the stay around the mast from closing. It was made from a suitably-sized piece of wooden dowel, shaped and then painted matt black, before being drilled with a hole approximately the same size as the stay. Positioning it on the stay was a bit tricky and I had to measure the latter at least twice (the deadeye being held at approximately the right height from the stem, with a temporary lanyard) before marking the position with self-closing tweezers. Then with the stay off the model I threaded the mouse to the position of the tweezers, having spread a small amount of glue there beforehand. When dry, I could then seize the length of the stay above the mouse.

 

The seizing of course prevents chafe where the stay passes around the mast and my (or rather Alexey Dumanoff’s) machine did it in a matter of minutes giving a nice, even seizing over the entire length. I then passed the finished end around the mast, doubling it back on itself below the mouse, fixed it with spot of glue, and then applied a second smaller seizing to the short end by hand.

 

 

 

That done to my satisaction, I removed the temporary lanyard and replaced it with a .50mm length that had been waxed. Before passing the lanyard, it was important to take any twist out of the stay, when waxing it, so that the deadeye faced the right direction. When threading the lanyard through both deadeye and stem, I also found it necessary to pass my waxed finger and thumb over it following every pass though the holes, since the act of threading tended to make some of the hairs stand up again. When all the holes were taken up, I pulled all taught with two pairs of tweezers, and fastened the lanyard off above the deadeye in the normal way.

 

Overall I am pleased with the result, although in retrospect I think I could have made the eye just a little bigger. I apologise for the clarity of a couple of the photographs – I blame it on lack of daylight in these northern climes!

 

 

Next time: the preventer stay, and topgallant stay.

Edited December 3, 2014 by Stockholm tar

[egkb]

Kester she looks amazing !! Roll on the Preventer and T'Gallant Stays 

 

All The Best 

 

Eamonn

[Beef Wellington]

Looking great Kester, very nice rigging indeed.

[Stockholm tar]

Eamonn, Jason,

 

Thanks guys. I do my best.

[jim_smits]

Fantastic looking build with amazing details added. Something definitely to aspire to.

[Stockholm tar]

Jim,

 

Thanks for the kind words.

[tkay11]

Thanks, Kester, for continuing to explain what you do, why, and how you do it -- great tips for the likes of myself, and a lovely build to boot.

 

Tony

[Gregor]

Beautifully done, Kester, thanks for showing.

Gregor

[Stockholm tar]

Tony, Gregor,

 

Thanks again, much appreciated.

[Ulises Victoria]

Beautiful!!! Really nicely done, my friend. Hats off!

[Landlubber Mike]

Pristine work Kester.  Very nice job!  Precise rigging really makes for a nice model

[Stockholm tar]

Ulises, Mike,

 

Wow, thanks indeed!

 

I sometimes (usually) wonder whether I'm doing things right, but with replies like these from you seasoned modelmakers, I think I might be getting there!

 

As for precise rigging making a nice model – well, you would know Mike. Btw, I agree!

 

Popeye, Robin and BE thanks for the 'likes'.

Edited December 4, 2014 by Stockholm tar

[Kurt Johnson]

God Jul. I have been following this build with great pleasure. The Sherbourne is a project I'm planning on starting after the holidays. Petersson's fore and aft is a later rig, correct? What would be the best resource for her when launched?

 

Kurt

[Gregor]

I hope Kester doesn’t mind me answering Kurt’s question: Yes, the model Petersson is showing has a very much younger and more modern rigging than cutters of 1763 had. I’m guessing the model’s rigging is even younger than the contemporary model hull. 

The Sherbourne’s rigging was much more complicated. The best reference is Peter Goodwin’s book “The Naval Cutter Alert” of 1777 (http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Naval_Cutter_Alert_1777.html?id=XlytPAAACAAJ). But we have to be careful there; the Alert is bigger, younger and from a different yard.

I believe Kester is following the Alert as nearly as possible. I did something completely different with my Sherbourne. But I find this topic very interesting, so I opened a new thread here:  Let’s hope there will be a fruitful duscussion.

 

The plan of the Sherbourne of 1763 gives us the following details:

Mainmast to pole head 22 yards 10 inches (diameter 15 3/4 inches)

Topgallant mast 7 3’’ (6 ½’’)

Boom 14 19’’ (10 5/8’’)

Spread yard 11 9’’ (7 1/8’’)

Gallant yard 9 0’’ (4 5/8’’)

Gaff 10 0’’ (7 3/4‘’)

Topsail gaff 2 24’’ (4 5/8’’)

Crossjack yard 12 0’’ (6 ¼’’)

Bowsprit 15 24’’ (14 7/8’’)

Flying jib boom 9 15’’ (6 1/8’’)

N.B. Ringsail driver and studdingsail boom of usual dimensions for cutters.

The mast head (…) be 13’ 6’’ long which length includes in the pole head.

 

I couldn’t find an illustration with these specifications. Most interesting is the Flying jib boom…

 

A happy New Year,

Gregor

Edited December 31, 2014 by Gregor

[druxey]

Gregor: the length of all the spars on the draught is given in yards and inches, not feet and inches. Therefore 22 10 is actually 66 feet 10 inches long. (In English measurement a yard is 3 feet long.) 

 

I presume that a flying jib would be only rigged under exceptional circumstances.

[Stockholm tar]

Kurt,

 

I seem to have missed your post, having had a cold, and then there was something else...

 

Anyway, yes, you're right, the Sherbourne would have had an earlier rig, which Gregor has brilliantly explained, and I am indeed following the AOTS Alert book.

 

Gregor,

 

Thanks for stepping in, and no, I don't mind at all. Some of the details you have given for the Sherbourne are interesting. I take it these figures are from the NMM, although I note Druxey's comment? Indeed as you say – a flying jib boom? I also wonder about the crossjack yard.

 

I hope to be posting an update to my log soon, when Christmas and New Year is behind us – and I can concentrate on more important things!

 

In the meanwhile a Prosperous New Year to you both, and indeed all here.

Edited December 31, 2014 by Stockholm tar

[Gregor]

Kester, with my best wishes: Yes, I quoted directly from the table on the NMM plan. 

And thanks, Druxey, you are correct, of course; my wishes to you, too.

Gregor

[Stockholm tar]

The preventer stay was made in a similar way to the fore stay, except that it is of smaller circumference and employs a pair of hearts at its lower end. I used 0.7 black thread for the stay, and 0.25 black thread for the serving. As with the forestay, the stay was served above the mouse (a smaller piece of wood than that for the forestay, and painted black) where it passes around the mast. The measurements were again fairly critical to get all parts of it in the correct position, with the mouse sitting just above the larger one on the forestay.

 

  

 

I was unable to find hearts of the right size – or at least what I thought looked right to the eye, and according to the AOTS Alert book. The smallest I could find were 7mm, which were to my mind too large. I then thought to drill out two of the 3mm deadeyes that I had, which looked to be about right for the job, and stained them. I think they look acceptable. The lower of them was seized to a strop attached to an eyebolt on the stemhead, whilst the other was seized into the lower end of the preventer stay. The lower of the two hearts just clears the large deadeye on the lower stay.

 

There is no ‘snaking’ line between the forestay and preventer stay, as this would have prevented the staysail from being hoisted and lowered on the former.

 

 

I had hoped to include the rigging of the topgallant stay with this posting, but one or two problems have arisen which will be explained next time.

 

[popeye the sailor]

very nice rigging Kester.........who knows......perhaps by the next update,  you'll have found a solution to those problems you mentioned