Galley Stove for an 18th century naval vessel by Blue Ensign - FINISHED - Syren Ship Model Company - 1:48 - building a display model

[Blue Ensign]

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This is a rare sight in my office and not one that can stand for long.

 

When I started Sphinx I had the idea of including in the display case a larger model of the Galley Stove.

I did the same with the Double Capstan, where I had previously made the 1:48 scale Syren model (ex-Winchelsea)

 

There is a very nice stove included with the Sphinx kit.

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but of course, it is largely hidden beneath the Foc’sle deck.

 

For this display stove I am again using a 1:48 scale kit from Syren also ex Winchelsea.

This is an all-wooden kit, no brass etch involved, and the main challenge will be turning wood into iron using weathering powders.

 

So, the trick is to turn this….

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… into this

Chuck’s stove

If I can achieve a finish close to that produced by Chuck, I will be well satisfied.

 

The stove for Winchelsea is designed to fit beneath the Foc’sle deck and detail has been simplified as much of it would be hidden from view.

My version will stand as a model open to full view and therefore added detail will be required.

The proposed additions will consist of:

Lifting rings

Side rails

Back plates for open hearth

Drain cocks- brass (1mm)

Fire grate

Pot arm

And maybe a few other things that come to mind as I progress the build.

 

B.E.

22/10/2022

 

[yvesvidal]

CAF Model also sells a 1/48th stove kit. All made of brass sheets.

I am not sure if it is more detailed than the SYREN kit, or not. You can find pictures on my Build Log of the HMS Bellona.

Maybe you could build both....

 

Yves

Edited October 22, 2022 by yvesvidal

[Blue Ensign]

Thankyou Yves,

 

Your Bellona stove is nicely detailed, and at least you have the photos to show it is there, now hidden below decks. I like the detailed boiler drain cocks, something I have to replicate on the Syren version.

 

The Sphinx version is a combination of a wooden core with brass etched facings, and had Vanguard done a 1:48 scale version I would have bought it.

 

The Syren stove is nicely designed, as are all of their products, and it does provide scope for detailing which always piques my interest in a build.

 

I am looking forward to turning wood into iron, or at least trying to.

 

Regards,

 

B.E.

 

[Blue Ensign]

Post two

The basic assembly is fairly straightforward, just need to ensure that all the parts are properly aligned.

The trickiest build areas for me were assembly of the chimney (the narrow sides need to go inside the wider sides) and the forward end of the hood has an aft slope which needs to be sharply cut to reflect a ‘metal’ appearance.

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The hood slope angle was taken from the plan, marked on the piece, pared down using a scalpel blade, and sanded to finish.

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I may yet change the configuration of the chimney.

 

The first modification is to add the fire grate.

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Conveniently provided by a section of the kit fret. This is fitted from below.

A piece of black card will be used to make the ash tray that sits below the grates, not that this will be seen.

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Black card is also used to form the back plate to the open hearth.

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The aft end of the stove is modified to give a more realistic impression of the boiler drain cocks.

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Brass cocks, yet to be fitted with the valves.

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At this point I have used double sided taped to secure a small square of wood to the base of the stove, primarily to protect the delicate legs from damage.

A small block also provides a convenient grip to hold the stove during painting and working.

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The hood has been attached to the stove body along with the connector for the still.

Now glued into place, final fettlin' will be applied to the Hood.

 

A little cleaning up and it will be ready for a first coat of black paint.

 

B.E.

23/10/2022

 

[Rik Thistle]

B.E.,

 

Looking good. 

 

I hope we will see something being cooked on your finished stove 😉

 

Which makes me ponder what did they actually cook on these stoves, how many and how quickly could the stove serve the crew,  and what fuel did they use?

 

OK, off for a wander around Google....

 

Richard

 

Edit: Found this ... 'Cooking on wooden sailing ships in the 1700s and 1800s' - https://margaretmuirauthor.blogspot.com/2012/11/cooking-on-wooden-sailing-ships-in.html

'Cooking could be done in the oven but the pork and beef was boiled in large round pots which sat in large round holes on the top - next to the hanging net bags into which each mess-table put its 6 pieces of meat and each bag was labled with the table’s name. To prevent heat descending to the wooden deck, beneath the fire hearth was a layer of sand with bricks, slate or stone slabs.'

 

Edited October 23, 2022 by Rik Thistle

[popeye2sea]

The crew mostly ate a stew made from salt beef or salt pork or salt cod and dried peas. This was boiled in the coppers behind the stove pipe (those lids on top of the stove). It was usually only the officers who got something roasted in the front of the stove. The ships biscuit or hard tack, which if you have ever tried it is too hard to bite, would have been broken into pieces and soaked in their stew to soften it up for eating.  It was pretty much the same food every day for the crew.  The officers were also privileged to get various boiled puddings made from the roasting pan drippings, suet and raisins, etc.

 

Regards, 

[Blue Ensign]

Post Three

The next task is to detail the oven doors.

Laserboard straps are provided to represent the door furniture, but these can be enhanced a little by adding hinge and latch representations.

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Pieces of styrene strip are used for the purpose, sanded to shape post fitting.

 

One of the trickiest fittings to make is the hinged pot arm which sits inside the open fire grate.

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Would have been much easier to fit this before completing the open grate.

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The brass drain cocks for the two boilers have now been completed.

 

Two coats of paint have been applied; I am using Vallejo acrylic Black Grey for the paintwork.

I think this gives a better scale colour than full black.

 

From around nine inches it doesn’t look too bad at this stage, but the macro eye tells another story.

It will need more attention before I move onto the next stage.

 

B.E.

24/10/2022

 

[Blue Ensign]

Post Four

The Spit support cranes are delicate pieces that require gentle handling. Laser cut from wood they are susceptible to breaking of the spit iron support cradles.

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Fortunately, a couple of spares are provided.

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Having secured one crane, the second is tweaked to ensure the spit is horizontal before the pva sets.  (A further tweak is evidently required)

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That’s better!

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From this point on care is required not to catch the spit cranes as they will surely snap off.

 

The next stage is to fit the pulley mechanism for the spit.

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These are laser cut assemblies supplied in three different sizes to suit individual builds.

These are also delicate fittings requiring soft handling to avoid breakage.

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Fitting the spit assembly is a tricky business.

The stove does need to be securely held, and the spit iron held in place whilst the upper spindle position is marked.

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Once in place I secured the non-pulley end with a spot of ca beneath the iron.

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Detailing will continue in the next post.

 

B.E.

26/10/2022

 

 

[Blue Ensign]

Post Five

Work continues to add detail that wouldn’t be clearly visible on a stove installed on a model.

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Lifting rings, top rails, and pot lid handles, are prepared.

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 The access hatch to the lower chimney/flue is added.

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With the basic structure now complete I move onto the weathering, and hopefully turn wood into iron.

 

B.E.

27/10/2022

 

[Rustyj]

Very nice work B.E. The stove was a fun little project and will look great in the display case!

[yvesvidal]

Will you be preparing a base made of bricks, to display it?

 

Yves

[Blue Ensign]

Thank you, Rusty and Yves,

I'm enjoying this little fill-in project, having fun playing around with the weathering powders.

I'm thinking mini dio for the presentation.

 

Cheers,

 

B.E.

[glbarlow]

Fun to watch your build of the Syren stove, you always add such clever mods.  Mine for Winchelsea is still far in the future. 

[Blue Ensign]

Thank you, Glenn.

Post six

Playing around with weathering powders is great fun, I used powders from two brands, Revell, and Vallejo.

Revell - Dark brown, Rust red; Vallejo – Slate grey.

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I think I will tone down the rust a little, no self-respecting cook would be happy with the state of that stove.

I do like the ash effect in the grate tho’.

The beauty of weathering powders is that they can be endlessly tweaked at least until interest or patience wanes.

 

Moving on to the display base preparation.

 

 

B.E.

28/10/2022

 

 

[yvesvidal]

You have done a great job at replicating the old iron used for these naval appliances.

 

Yves

[Blue Ensign]

Thank you, Yves.

 

Post Seven

Making the display base.

I utilised part of the kit display base but decided to put it on a deck setting.

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The brick design is washed over with Vallejo Black/grey.

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It is glued to a 1.3mm thick rectangle of Boxwood, which will then be planked also using Boxwood strip.

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The planked base is glued a thicker 3mm piece of Boxwood sheet to counter any risk of curl.

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The basic display base, work in progress.

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The deck boards are finished with wipe-on-poly.

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The ‘rust’ element on the stove has been toned down.

 

Next time I will be looking at dressing the display.

 

B.E.

29/10/2022

[Blue Ensign]

Post Eight

 

Dressing the dio.

No Galley display should be without a cook, and thanks to Chris Watton, a cook complete with wooden leg, at 1:48 scale, is available to give scale effect to the Galley Stove.

 

For this dio I will be painting the figure, not one of my favourite or best skilled talents, but needs must.

I have used Vallejo paints throughout.

 

The following pics show the figure after the colours have been blocked in, and the macro is used to torture myself with the deficiencies in my skill.

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I am using a fairly muted palette, the one splash of colour being the cook’s red headscarf.

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At this stage no washes, or highlighting has been applied, but overall, I am happy with the colour scheme applied.

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Still a way to go, the macro reveal where touch-ins are required.

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The base of the figure will have been removed in the final version.

 

B.E.

30/10/2022

 

[Chuck]

Just lovely work.

[mtaylor]

Wow.  There are no visible "deficiencies in your skill."

[Blue Ensign]

Thank you, Chuck and Mark.

Post Nine

Completing the Galley display.

I think I over did it with the washes.

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Mrs W cast a critical eye and opined that he is far too grubby for a cook, even one with only one leg.

She is correct of course; in fact the Navy was obsessed with cleanliness (relatively) and the crews were required to wash and keep their kit in good repair for which time was set aside.

So, in the interests of good discipline cook was ordered to wash both himself and his kit and present himself for inspection.

 

A walk around the Galley.

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I hope folks have enjoyed seeing this little project, I have certainly enjoyed myself over the past couple of weeks, and my thanks go out to Chuck for his Stove kit.

It strikes me that a nice little display at 1:48 scale could be made up simply using a combination of the fittings available at Syren.

 

Hmmn🤔

 

Cheers,

 

 

B.E.

01/11/2022

 

[yvesvidal]

Hmmm.... I want to see some grease spilled on the deck.... 🙂

 

Yves

[mtaylor]

Looks great, Grant.   As for grease on the deck around a hot stove?   I think a layer of sand would have to go down otherwise slipping would be a problem.

[Blue Ensign]

Wots that you say Yves, mess up my pristine deck, the very idea. I've had it Holystoned especially for the inspection by MSW.😉

... and don't you start Mark, sand is for the gundecks, can't have getting in the burgoo, could start a mutiny.😀

 

B.E.

 

[druxey]

The drippings fall into the grease pan, not on the deck! A very nice result, B.E. Now I want to see a LED red glow from inside and a little smoke out of the chimney....

[Blue Ensign]

Thank you kindly Druxey, I have enjoyed this little infill project and I would love to oblige but the Cook's assistants have doused the fire, raked the grate, and cleared the ashes.

 

I've now moved back to the boatyard for another testy little project.

 

Regards,

 

B.E.

[flyer]

A wonderful side project! I love the details.

 

And Chris Watton's figures really are bring a model to live.

 

Peter

[TomShipModel]

Exceptional!  Beautifully done and a very good presentation.  The figure is very lifelike.  The weathering/distressing of the stove is excellent and not overdone.  Just beautiful.

 

Tom

[Blue Ensign]

Thank you, Peter, and Tom, much appreciated.

It's great that these days we have Chuck and Chris providing the makings which allow me to indulge in this sort of thing.

 

Regards,

 

B.E.