RMS Servia by Brett Slater - FINISHED - scale 1/196

[Brett Slater]

I've been a member of the site for a few years but this will be my first nautical build and the first build in about 35 years. I modelled a lot in my youth but then it was mainly aircraft and AFVs from kits. I always remember seeing a beautifully detailed 1/700 waterline ship at a competition way back in the early 1980's and thinking that one day i'd like to tackle something along the same lines. As i said in my post in the "introduction" section for various reasons i never really had the space or time to remain active in the hobby but closer to retirement I've been able to return. For reasons that I'm still not sure about I decided to ignore the myriad unmade kits sitting in my attic and instead try my hand at a scratch built ship. My eyesight precluded me working in 1/700 and i looked for something larger which was when I stumbled across the Underhill plans for Servia, i knew almost immediately that this was the subject i wanted to try.

 

 

This project started a couple of years ago and was intended, initially at least, as an experiment and a way to get used to the tools and materials again after such a long break. Unfortunately because of this I didn't take a lot of photographs along the way but now that the project is nearing completion I thought i would start a "mini" build log with what i do have. With hind sight i wish i had just taken the plunge at the beginning as i think that advice from some of the more seasoned veterans on the site would have helped me avoid many of the pitfalls that i encountered along the way (i think that probably 20% of the time spent on the project has been undoing mistakes and rebuilding components using a different approach).

 

Since the hull is painted I decided to work in plastic as this was the medium i was most familiar with. I started with a baseboard carefully marked out from the plans and cut the various cross sections out from 2mm plastic sheet.

 

 

The hull was then skinned in 0.5mm plastic card strips apart from around the stern where balsa blocks where carved to shape. Internally the hull was then braced with more plastic and filler to provide rigidity that would allow me to smooth the hull.

 

There were now many cycles of filling/sanding and priming...

 

 

Basic superstructures were made from more plastic sheet and various detailing added to the hull

 

 

 

Deck planking was done using maple floor veneer cut into 1mm strips which were then glued into place.

 

 

Filler tinted with acrylic paint was then used caulk the planks and then sanded back.

 

 

I hunted unsuccessfully for tubing that could be used for the funnels and in the end had to fall back on plastic sheet again. I used a balsa rod and rolled paper around this until it was the correct diameter. Plastic sheet was then wrapped around this, glued and sanded back before cutting the lengths off required for the funnels. The joints between the funnel sections were again added with more plastic.

 

 

The wheelhouse, skylights etc were then fashioned from plastic sheet, primed and given an oil paint finish to simulate the wooden finish indicated by the plans.

 

 

 

Vents for the deck proved difficult. I eventually used a dapping set bought off eBay to shape heated plastic sheet into hemi-spheres, fitted these to plastic rod shafts and then filler to blend the 2 together.

 

 

For lifeboats i made a vac forming box to produce multiple copies of the various boats from masters carved from balsa

 

 

The end result was not good so the whole process was repeated and eventually i got something i could live with although i think with hind sight 3d printing might be the way to go here.

 

 

The jury is still out on these and i might look at a 4th attempt.

 

 

Masts were made from dowel and bamboo knitting needles sanded back. The long grain of bamboo makes them strong along the central axis and quite easy to sand back to the thin diameter required for the upper sections of the mast.

 

 

Ever since the whole thing started i've been dreading the point where rigging and in particular rat-lines would need to be tackled so at this point i chickened out and built a case to protect the whole thing from dust etc.

 

 

Unfortunately once this was done i had to start some rigging. I started with the upper ratlines using fishing line for the verticals. Dead eyes at this scale are too large to ignore but still very small so i devised an approach to mass produce these by pegging a loop of line between two tacks on a wooden board. Blu tac was then used to adjust the gap between the 2 lines before small plastic discs (cut using a leather punch) were glued in pairs to the 2 lines. Once dry the lines were then cut into sections, each containing 2 discs, that could be attached to the main ratline. Additional discs were then used to cap the dead eyes to produce a reasonable representation of 2 circular block with the 3 lines passing between them. Paint is then used to fill the gaps and finish them.

 

 

I used infini line for the horizontals on the ratlines and found PVA glue the best to secure them.

 

 

Shapeways produce a 1/200 set of blocks that then used on the anchors

 

 

So this is the story so far. I'll be adding more over the coming few weeks as i continue with the final fittings, railings etc.

 

[Valeriy V]

Hi Brett!

Interesting project, I would love to watch it.  What blueprints do you use to build the model?

[Brett Slater]

3 hours ago, Valeriy V said:

Hi Brett!

Interesting project, I would love to watch it.  What blueprints do you use to build the model?

 

Hi,

The plans i used were drawn by Harold Underhill, i had a link to the website where they could be purchased but this no longer seems to work. The plans consist of 3 sets of drawings; the general arrangement that you can see on the wall in one the pictures, another for section and sheer lines and another for the rigging/masts etc. Interestingly the set i bought seemed quite old and were covered in hand written notes marking differences between the plans and the builders model that lives in a museum in Canada (i think).

 

I could find little else to work with to be honest and decided to take the plans as "correct" and follow them apart from where the notes marked differences. At some point in its life the ship's sailing rig was removed, whether this was before or after it was refitted i do not know but have decided to model it in this configuration mainly because being my first attempt at anything like this i was terrified of the complexity the extra rigging would add !

[ccoyle]

I saw a dapping tool set on your bench. I just got a set for Christmas and use it for card modeling. It is quite handy for a number of tasks.

[Brett Slater]

17 hours ago, ccoyle said:

I saw a dapping tool set on your bench. I just got a set for Christmas and use it for card modeling. It is quite handy for a number of tasks.

Yes i tried various approaches to the vents but using the dapping set and heated plastic sheet seemed to give the best results. I'd love to know how others have tackled these with ordinary tools (the most complex thing in my toolbox is a drill !)

[Shotlocker]

You, sir, are indeed a master craftsman - beautiful work to behold and admire!

[druxey]

Nice precis of a complex build!

[KeithAug]

On 1/2/2022 at 6:15 PM, Brett Slater said:

The plans i used were drawn by Harold Underhill, i had a link to the website where they could be purchased but this no longer seems to work.

 

Hello Brett, nice work on the hull, it turned out very clean and given your plasticard construction technique I am impressed it turned out so well. It would have been good to see more of the process. I too considered building Servia a few years ago but abandoned the plan because my fingers and eyes don't cope well with detail at 1/192 scale. I had a look at Harold Underhills plans and like you have recently found these difficult to find following the demise of Model Dockyard. I wonder if other members know of an alternative source for Harold Underhills extensive range of plans?

[Jim Lad]

What a beautiful ship she was, and you're making a fine job of your model, Brett.

 

John

[Brett Slater]

1 hour ago, KeithAug said:

 

Hello Brett, nice work on the hull, it turned out very clean and given your plasticard construction technique I am impressed it turned out so well. It would have been good to see more of the process. I too considered building Servia a few years ago but abandoned the plan because my fingers and eyes don't cope well with detail at 1/192 scale. I had a look at Harold Underhills plans and like you have recently found these difficult to find following the demise of Model Dockyard. I wonder if other members know of an alternative source for Harold Underhills extensive range of plans?

 

Thankyou. To be honest i wouldn't recommend the plastic card approach for the hull, it came out ok in the end but the amount of time that i had to spend laying the planks, sanding and then filling/replacing them makes me think that wood is the better option. I'd also be interested to know if the Model Dockyard plans can be obtained elsewhere as they had some really interesting subjects.

[mtaylor]

4 hours ago, KeithAug said:

 

Hello Brett, nice work on the hull, it turned out very clean and given your plasticard construction technique I am impressed it turned out so well. It would have been good to see more of the process. I too considered building Servia a few years ago but abandoned the plan because my fingers and eyes don't cope well with detail at 1/192 scale. I had a look at Harold Underhills plans and like you have recently found these difficult to find following the demise of Model Dockyard. I wonder if other members know of an alternative source for Harold Underhills extensive range of plans?

Try this as quick Google says they have them.   https://www.modelerscentral.com/model-ship-plans/underhill-model-ship-plans/

[Brett Slater]

7 hours ago, mtaylor said:

Try this as quick Google says they have them.   https://www.modelerscentral.com/model-ship-plans/underhill-model-ship-plans/

Thanks for the link. It looks like they do have some of the tall ship plans but none for the steamers. I seem to recall that Model Dockyard also  had a lovely set of plans for the Queen Mary. I hope these become available elsewhere.

[KeithAug]

6 hours ago, Brett Slater said:

Thanks for the link. It looks like they do have some of the tall ship plans but none for the steamers. I seem to recall that Model Dockyard also  had a lovely set of plans for the Queen Mary. I hope these become available elsewhere.

Thank you Mark. however Brett is correct and Underhills plans were very extensive covering all sorts of subjects including Thames barges, fishing boats, steamers etc etc. Underhill seems to have made it a life work to draft plans for all sorts of historic vessels. Model Dockyard seemed to have all of them but now only a few seem to be available on the web. It would be very disappointing if this body of work had met its end with the demise of Model Dockyard.

[Jim Lad]

Try Brown, Sons and Ferguson of Glasgow.  They were the original publishers of Underhill's plans.

 

John

[Valeriy V]

50 minutes ago, Jim Lad said:

Try Brown, Sons and Ferguson of Glasgow.  They were the original publishers of Underhill's plans.

 

John

https://www.skipper.co.uk/catalogue/search/page/8?q=Harold A. Underhill, A.M.I.E.S.    

[KeithAug]

Valeriy / John - excellent - i had worried that this was a lost resource.

[mtaylor]

That's good news that the plans are till available.  

[Valeriy V]

Perhaps these pictures on the Servia deck will be helpful.

[mikegr]

looks like the 70% of the job is about making the hull and the rigging, comparing to a WW1 or later warship were superstructures is the most complex part of it.

[Brett Slater]

On 1/5/2022 at 6:10 AM, Valeriy V said:

Perhaps these pictures on the Servia deck will be helpful.

 

Thanks for posting the pictures. I did come across these before but as with most of the photos of Servia they seem to show her later in life after the refit that added the extra layer of superstructure to the mid section (you can see the white rear of this in the first photo and on the left of the people in the second) . How much this refit impacted the rest of the ship i do not know but there are even differences between the plan and some of the details on the forward section in this photo

 

 

The skylight and vents aft of the foremast are missing on the plan and on the builders model. Its hard to know where to draw the line so I've just tried to follow the plans in the hope that I can get a reasonably accurate depiction of the ship in her earlier days.

[wefalck]

Nice model of a subject that one does not see too often, the transition from sail to steam !

 

I found various plastics, polystyrene, Plexiglas and bakelite-paper very versatile materials, although some people have reservations re. the longevity and stability of polystyrene. On the other hand, at such small scales and for ships built from metal, rather than wood, many parts would be difficult to reproduce in wood, which would take a lot of effort to achieve a smooth metal-like surface.

 

Looking forward to further progress !

 

I do have an old 1980s catalogue of Underhill plans and he lists indeed a wide range of subjects, but not all plans were drawn by himself. The catalogue usually gives the original author of the plan, I think.

 

Isn't the model of the SERVIA in the Maritime Museum in Halifax, I have a vague recollection of having it seen there.

 

Edited January 6, 2022 by wefalck

[Brett Slater]

4 hours ago, wefalck said:

Isn't the model of the SERVIA in the Maritime Museum in Halifax, I have a vague recollection of having it seen there.

 

Thanks, i think i read that the builders model is in Halifax as you say. I think i also read that it is in 1/48 scale so probably getting on for 4metres in length ! I wish i could have seen it before i started this project but flying to Canada would have blown my budget !

[mtaylor]

4 hours ago, Brett Slater said:

Thanks, i think i read that the builders model is in Halifax as you say. I think i also read that it is in 1/48 scale so probably getting on for 4metres in length ! I wish i could have seen it before i started this project but flying to Canada would have blown my budget !

You might contact them at the museum and see what they have in documents that could be purchased.

[Brett Slater]

I've just finished the propeller (4th attempt) and again this is made entirely from plastic sheet. You can also see the brass lifeboat davits and the shapeways blocks that i've been using and will use when the lifeboats are fitted.

 

 

[Louie da fly]

And this is your FIRST ship???? 

 

Steven

[Brett Slater]

10 hours ago, Louie da fly said:

And this is your FIRST ship???? 

 

Steven

Yes it is (first anything in about 35 years tbh) and believe me I've made plenty of mistakes along the way (as you'll see when i post some proper pictures of the whole thing). Most i've managed to fix but some i spotted too late and will have to live with. Have too say that i've absolutely loved working on this though.

[Joe100]

Gorgeous! I built Servia myself a few years ago, certainly a unique looking liner.

[Brett Slater]

I'm calling this done. Plenty of mistakes but what a learning exercise !! Hope you enjoy the pictures...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Keith Black]

 Brett, congratulations on the completion of your beautiful Servia model. Very well done, you should be extremely proud. 

[Roger Pellett]

Gorgeous Model.  If you made any mistakes, I don’t see them.  A Steamship at this scale is a real challenge.

 

Roger