Golden Hinde 1578 by Ferrus Manus - FINISHED - Revell - 1/96 - PLASTIC - English Galleon

[Ferrus Manus]

Apologies for the slow updates, as i have been very tired over the past few days. Today, i installed the channels/deadeyes, and the main knighthead. 

Honestly, i was really unimpressed by the quality of the knightheads, especially with the context of having seen the Heller Soleil Royal. I watched Popeye2Sea do his Soleil Royal, and he had to offset the fore knighthead because if he didn't, it would be obstructed by the previous stay. I am glad Revell did not make the same error, saving me some time and sanity. Here is the knighthead and halyard: 

And on the ship:

Now i did the best i could without buying card and making my own, and i would say i did about as well as anyone else could. But at least it isn't THIS:

Yeah, that's right, THIS is what Revell wanted me to do.

Anyways, the deadeyes were a royal pain because they didn't want to sit flush with the hull, they kept breaking in places, and they didn't want to align correctly; typical Revell deadeyes.

I have a treat for you guys after you digest this post, maybe even later tonight: i have started on the masts! See ya 'round. 

Edited February 2, 2023 by Ferrus Manus

[Ferrus Manus]

@Baker I would request you stick around for the rigging. You will surely be needed. Your Pelican model will be my primary source for the rigging. It's the dead of winter, so you probably aren't doing much work on the Mary Rose anyways. I guess this might give you your model ship fix! 

[Ferrus Manus]

"That's what the mast is, that's what the point of the mast is..."

 

So, i started on the masts. They are still not glued into place, but at least i started on the lower masts. 

I did elect to use oils, as per Kirill's advice, and i think they turned out great. The pictures did not do justice. I also practiced some rigging techniques on spare ropes. 

 

 

"Down with the topmast! Yare! Lower, lower! Bring her to try with th' main-course."

-The Tempest, Shakespeare, 1610

 

Clearly, in 1610, which is near-contemporary with the Golden Hinde (a new ship when she set sail) galleons had a method of lowering the topmasts, just like with ships of later dates. Thus, and this is important, my task for you guys is to find me a diagram of a topmast-lowering tackle or rig. 

 

 

 

[Ferrus Manus]

Today, i did the burton tackles on the main, and set up the pennants on the receiving blocks. In total, there will be eight tackles and sixteen blocks. I belayed the falls to the sheer-poles, because there was no other place to put them.

Next update will be the completion of the burton tackles and shrouds. Might be tomorrow, might be later. 

Those tackles were a S.O.B. to rig, because the receiving blocks were tucked away down between the deadeyes and the hull. 

 

Edited February 3, 2023 by Ferrus Manus

[Ferrus Manus]

Seems people have kind of lost interest in this build, which is kind of a shame. That's because i have the biggest update yet: 

 

The lower masts' standing rigging is complete! 

First i began fitting the lower shrouds (dipped) onto the fore and main lower masts. Then, with much swearing and frustration, i made a mouse, and then a seize: 

Then, i repeated the process two more times, before completing the lower standing rigging.

 

Edited February 5, 2023 by Ferrus Manus

[Louie da fly]

2 hours ago, Ferrus Manus said:

Seems people have kind of lost interest in this build, which is kind of a shame.

Hold your horses! Nobody's lost interest, just because there haven't been any responses in the last couple of days. Maybe it's just because it's the weekend. 

 

Steven

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  Since I'm on-and-off the site at irregular intervals, I miss a lot of stuff ... dang, 'just remembered there is a place to click to see posts 'since the last visit'.  I keep forgetting about that.  You know, they say the memory is the second thing to go.  What was the first? ... I forgot.

 

  Yet the GH is a definite interest of mine, and I have a Mamoli kit in my stash that I want to "bust" based on all the research available since the 80s kit was made - I inherited it from my father, and I'm amazed at the number and quality of the drawing provided, also an 'old school' feature in these days of more limited photo instructions and few full sized plans.  The Revels kit is an old standby, and you're putting much care in the build.

 

  Thanks for your clear photos and posts!      Johnny

[Ferrus Manus]

6 hours ago, Louie da fly said:

Maybe it's just because it's the weekend. 

I never knew that! is that an actual phenomenon? you'd think people would spend more time on MSW on weekends, no work or school.

[Ferrus Manus]

I am quite unimpressed with the dipped ratlines in this kit, the ones on the USS United States were much better quality. I guess they got better with time. 

[Baker]

13 hours ago, Ferrus Manus said:

Seems people have kind of lost interest in this build, which is kind of a shame. That's because i have the biggest update yet: 

besides building model ships, there is also.
work.
family.
households.
chores in the house.
etc..

[Ferrus Manus]

@Baker, have you worked on the Mary Rose lately?

[Baker]

5 hours ago, Ferrus Manus said:

@Baker, have you worked on the Mary Rose lately?

No,

besides building model ships, there is also.
work.
family.
households.
chores in the house.
etc..

Edited February 6, 2023 by Baker

[Ferrus Manus]

Just now, Baker said:

besides building model ships, there is also.
work.
family.
households.
chores in the house.
etc..

What do you do as a job? I assume you have a family. Do you like your job?

[Baker]

1 year
10 month
and 22 days
and then there is retirement 

 

 

[Ferrus Manus]

@Baker look, dude. I don't have a life. All i have most of the time is my ships, and schoolwork. 

[Baker]

1 hour ago, Ferrus Manus said:

@Baker look, dude. I don't have a life. All i have most of the time is my ships, and schoolwork. 

when i was your age, i had the same problem.
enjoy it as mutch as possible, time will go faster and faster as you get older and older.

[Louie da fly]

5 hours ago, Ferrus Manus said:

 look, dude. I don't have a life. All i have most of the time is my ships, and schoolwork. 

Just checked your profile - WOW! Born in 2004! Make the most of the hobby while you can. You've probably got more available time now than you'll ever have again.

 

Steven

[Ferrus Manus]

Yep. With the temperament of an old man, doing an old man's hobby. How old are you, @Louie da fly?

[Louie da fly]

2 hours ago, Ferrus Manus said:

How old are you, @Louie da fly?

73, mate. I remember the Beatles first becoming famous (I bought all their records as they came out), saw Bob Dylan live just as he was going 'electric', the moon landings, the sixties (old joke - if you can remember the sixties you weren't there).

 

But I was making ship models from about the age of 10, so I don't know whether it's really an old man's hobby.

 

Steven 

[Ferrus Manus]

51 minutes ago, Louie da fly said:

But I was making ship models from about the age of 10, so I don't know whether it's really an old man's hobby.

You could have gotten this kit, new, on store shelves, back when inflation wasn't really a thing. I am into newer music, but the music my generation listens to makes my ears bleed. 

I wish i had grown up when you did. The world was younger, people still cared about each other, life was simpler, and smartphones and social media weren't a thing. 

[Louie da fly]

52 minutes ago, Ferrus Manus said:

You could have gotten this kit, new, on store shelves, back when inflation wasn't really a thing.

It was probably the same price compared with earning capacity of the time . . .

 

52 minutes ago, Ferrus Manus said:

I wish i had grown up when you did. The world was younger, people still cared about each other, life was simpler, and smartphones and social media weren't a thing.

On the other hand, my generation were being sent to Vietnam without any choice in the matter, and we were just waiting for World War III which would wipe out all life on Earth . . . In some ways life is better now. But they didn't have auto-tune . . . we actually relied on people singing in tune . . .

 

Steven

[Ferrus Manus]

My dad served in the Air Force just after 'Nam. He was a flight mechanic for the F-111 fighter-bomber. His childhood was adventurous and full of excitement, even though he sometimes made poor decisions at the behest of his older brother. He is 60 years old. 

 

When you don't care if you die, life becomes a lot more freeing.

Edited February 7, 2023 by Ferrus Manus

[Ferrus Manus]

This week, i finished the topmast standing rigging. First, i did the research on a line whose purpose was to lower the topmasts on the ship. You see these appearing a lot more commonplace on later ships, especialluy in the 17th century. However, i elected to include them on the Golden Hinde. 

The line falls down to a block placed behind one of the knightheads, and belays to the knighthead. I did not want to use up a pin for these lines. 

Then, i did the rest of the standing rigging, including the backstays and the forestays for both masts. I also mounted blocks on the bowsprit. 

In the next post, i will start rigging the spritsail. I intend to avoid gluing the spritsail to the mast, instead using a parrel and several lines originating from the center of the yard. Given that Revell gave me a block specifically for use on the fore topmast stay, i don't know why they put next to no effort into the knightheads and couldn't bother to provide me with violin blocks. My other big gripe is that they molded the sheaves underneath the masttops incorrectly. 

I plan to get started on as accurate of a spritsail yard as i can. 

Edited February 9, 2023 by Ferrus Manus

[Paul Jarman]

Brilliant job working at that scale. I Would find it far to frustrating putting that ammount of detail into the build. 

Oh,and I remember the Beatles, and used to go clubbing at the Cavern Club in Liverpool.

Keep up the good work,looking forward to seeing your completed model. 

Edited February 9, 2023 by Paul Jarman

[Louie da fly]

Interesting rigging details. Do you have The Rigging of Ships in the Age of the Spritsail Topmast by R. C. Anderson? Though some decades later it's the nearest in time to your period of any reliable book I know of. 

 

Steven

[Ferrus Manus]

@Louie da fly I do not own the book, but i have heard of it and have at many points considered buying it. I still might buy it. I do know it's basically the Holy Bible for people building the Soleil Royal. I think very highly of the book, what little i know about it. Is there anything i should know in particular? how good are the diagrams? 

[Ferrus Manus]

When not used, the spritsail yard was hauled into the beakhead of the ship and stored parallel to the bowsprit on the port side (where the bowsprit wasn't). You can see this if you go to Baker's Pelican build. In order to facilitate this, i had to not only make a halyard tackle but also an inhaul, as well as a parrel that could be adjusted to allow the spritsail yard to come off the bowsprit. 

First, i made a thimble:

I then attached a line to the other side of the center of the yard, looped it around the bowsprit, through the thimble, and belayed it on the beakhead pins:

Today, i kicked back off by making the lifts and braces for the spritsail yard:

Revell wanted me to do the braces differently:

Of all the galleons i've seen, i have never seen the braces rigged like this. I am pretty sure it's inaccurate, plus it doesn't look that great. So, i went with my gut, and rigged them the way i know i should. This spritsail is in use, however, i wanted to have all the rigging there to stow it if need be. I will be using the spritsail, which is why i have left two pins empty on the beak. The spritsail sheets will belay to the cleats inside the forecastle, i have no idea why they want to belay them on a pin. 

 

Edited February 9, 2023 by Ferrus Manus

[Louie da fly]

Nicely done, mate. (NB "mate", though a nautical term, is also the normal greeting in Oz, as in "Owyergoin' mate?"

 

7 hours ago, Ferrus Manus said:

I think very highly of the book, what little i know about it. Is there anything i should know in particular? how good are the diagrams? 

The diagrams are very good, but suffer from being reduced when they published to modern paperback in a smaller format. I find that as the book was published in the 1920's the language is somewhat formal and the information is rather concentrated (LOTS of information in a very few sentences) so you really need to have your wits about you to navigate your way through the text. Having said that, I've found the book invaluable in my own Great Harry restoration, though it's even further out of my time period than it is of yours, it's by far the best thing I've been able to find, and I'd recommend it to anyone working on ships of this era.

 

Steven

[Ferrus Manus]

56 minutes ago, Louie da fly said:

(NB "mate", though a nautical term, is also the normal greeting in Oz, as in "Owyergoin' mate?"

Yeah, i know you're upside down. Is it Spider Season yet? What's the biggest monstrosity you've ever seen?

 

James Cook must've been horrified. I guess they made it a penal colony for a reason. 

[Louie da fly]

1 hour ago, Ferrus Manus said:

Is it Spider Season yet?

It's always spider season.

 

1 hour ago, Ferrus Manus said:

What's the biggest monstrosity you've ever seen?

Biggest spider? Probably a huntsman, but we have them in our houses and take them for granted (they eat flies and mozzies, so they're fairly welcome - some people give them names.) They're cute and cuddly and ready to please. My brother was bitten by one once, drew blood. But the poison's not all that serious.

Dunno about biggest monstrosity, but the worst I've ever seen was a blue-ringed octopus. Tiny but deadly. One bite has enough venom to kill 26 people.  "The venom can result in nausea, respiratory arrest, heart failure, severe and sometimes total paralysis, blindness, and can lead to death within minutes if not treated. Death, if it occurs, is usually from suffocation due to paralysis of the diaphragm." The vivid neon blue means it's p*ssed off. If it's calm and happy, the blue is paler, more like the colour of the sky.

 

1 hour ago, Ferrus Manus said:

James Cook must've been horrified. I guess they made it a penal colony for a reason. 

Yeah, nah. He thought it was pretty cool, named it New South Wales (perhaps because of the rock formations? I dunno.) But Sir Joseph Banks who was a naturalist and president of the Royal Society (and IIRC largely funded the voyage) was blown away by it and recommended that Britain settle it. The whole convict thing was because Britain had just lost the American colonies, which is where they'd sent the convicts previously. 

 

Steven