HMS Winchelsea by jfhealey - fully rigged version

scrubbyj427 · January 12

Nice work Fred, planking looks good. It appears your filler blocks paid dividends, you have a nice and fair hull. You’re moving along nicely.

Vladimir_Wairoa · January 12

fantastic work Fred. lovely.

glbarlow · January 12

Looking great Fred!

westwood · January 13

It's perfect, Fred.
And I can't wait to see more pictures of the frieze painting.

jfhealey · February 13

Thanks for the comments chaps.

Here is an update. I have completed the deck. That seems a big milestone - with the hull and deck planked all the repetetive donkey work is behind and now its the fun fiddly bits.

To plank the hull I fixed a battern with a curve that looked something like it and then tick stripped and planked from the outside inboard. I know its not the approved way but it works for me.

I glued the deck fittings down with a prit-stick - is that what you Americans call rubbber glue? - so I could pull then up to sand the deck easily.

I left out the captain's chequerboard floor. I'm not quite sure why. I suppose I slightly prefer plain old planks. What, I wonder would the chequerboard be made of? Patrick O'Brian has Captain Aubrey rolling his up when calling action stations I seem to recall so I guess its a waxed sailcloth ?

I mad the fixed blocks up on my Proxxon mill.

And here is the present state of play:

All the best everyone

Fred

scrubbyj427 · February 13

Very Nice Fred. I like how you pulled up all your fittings. I wish I had taken that route, I spent an incredible amount of time trying to carefully sand around the deck fittings. One easy block sanding and you’re all set now. Great job on the fixed blocks as well.

JJ

jfhealey · February 15

Thanks JJ and for the likes.

I've started on the cheeks and hair brackets and run into a problem. If I sit the bottom segment of the upper cheek on the top of the black strake - where it should be - the hair bracket sits a little too low against the stem. If I move the cheek up a coupls of millimetres I'll get a better fit with the hair bracket but have an awkward gap with the ends hawse hole pieces when they go in (if you see what I mean). I am inclined to go for the latter and put a little filler sliver above the black strake to fill the void. Any sugestions would be very welcome.

Here is a picture of the bottom segmentsitting on top of the black strake but see how low the hair bracket is.

Here is the middle segment filed and sanded to fit.

And here with the top segment. The Syren one was a little tioo thin to fit so I used it as a pattern and cut a new one from slightly thicker boxwood. The whole is held together by prit-stick glue so its no problem to move.

Subject to finalising the position and a little more delicate sanding I think I'm ready for a bit of CA and to splash a bit of paint around.

Fred

glbarlow · February 15

I can delete this photo, I generally don’t like other models in my log. However I thought sharing how my cheeks and hair brackets lined up might be of help, especially given how different they are or at least for comparison.

image.jpeg.aa17976c72568fc09486f3ea2848a4a4.jpeg

Edited February 16 by glbarlow

jfhealey · February 15

Glenn - Yours is one of my "go-to" logs because (a) it appears to me you are a bit of a perfectionist (b) you are clearly a wonderful photographer and (c) you are always willing to take the time to help - so thank you.

I think I probably need to line up the upper hair bracket with the top of the stem (as you have done) and fiddle the fit of the bottom layer of the upper cheek. If I do otherwise I fear I may run into problems with the rails. If I splosh a bit of paint around I suspect all will be well.

Thanks

Fred

AnobiumPunctatum · February 15

This looks like a very promising start and interesting build. I will follow you with great interest

Chuck · February 15

It looks like you have some adjustments to make....the hair brackets are not positioned correctly. In addition the stem needs some trimming and then it will all be OK.

jfhealey · February 16

Thanks Chuck. I appreciate you taking the time to offer sage advice.

Fred

FrankWouts · March 9

Hi Fred,
Very impressive your fully rigged version thusfar!
I want to keep my options open now that I'm starting chapter 4, planking the deck.

I might go for a fully rigged Winnie later on as well.

How did you determine the exact locations of the masts?
Only by the holes in the false deck , as given by Chuck?

Are all three masts right up, that is 90 degrees with the waterline?

Where did you get the plans for the Enterprise?
Is the rigging fully compatible with Winchelsea, or at least contemporary?

Thanks!

Frank.

Edited March 23 by FrankWouts

jfhealey · March 13

Hi Frank

Thanks for your message.

I located the masts by reference to both the markings on the false deck and the plans which show the mast and bowstrip stubs. As far as i can tell (and this is what I worked to) the main mast is vertical - 90 degrees to the waterline) while the mizzen and fore mast are raked. I took the angles from Chuck's plans.

The plans for the Enterprize are available from Cornwall Model Boats. Here is the box and the plates for the masts. I took the plans down to the local copyshop to scale them up to 1/48.

I do not know how accurate the Enterprize plans are for Winchelsea. The 2 frigates are 10 years apart so more or less contemporary. I also have HMS Diana from the Anatomy of the Ship series. To my un-schooled eye the Diana masts look pretty much the same as those shown by the Enterprize plans. At all events these are the best I have and good enough for me!

Looking over some of the build logs I am lost in admiration not only at the skill levels others achieve but also by the depth of scholarship others possess.

Best wishes

Fred

jfhealey · March 13

The QGs and in particular the scraped fancy rails proved a right old trial for me. I could not get the rails either to sit correctly on the compound curves of the lower portion of the QG or to follow a nice line. I ripped off the QGs twice and eventually settled upon filing the upper edge of the lower portion more or less vertical. That was the only way I could get the rail to sit nicely. Then I didn't like the join between the rail and the adjacent former.

So I cut a piece of very thin boxwood to cover it. I think it finishes off the rail nicely.

I wanted to paint the lower transom. I followed the design shown on the dustjacket of Antscherl/Herbert's Swann Class Sloop: I just liked the look of a lion's head even if that forsakes historical accuracy. I also followed the painting directions found within that work - though without success. Painting direct on to the ship is very diificult. Here I am transferring the design using transfer paper.

And here is the lion's head ready for paint.

And here I have painted the transom.

But I dont like it. So I painted the design on paper and stuck that on. It's much easier.

I used the Syren friezes. I had intended to paint the figures but it proved far too difficult. Instead I painted on a few highlights and lowlights intending that that should give a bit of a hand painted feel. A cheat I know.....

I also painted went over the letters in yellow and the blue background to match the lower transom. Its all actually quite uniform though the pictures suggest otherwise.

Far from perfect - I think my lion looks anxious/sad rather than terrifying and the right hand drape is a bit of a mess - but I will stick with it.

Thanks for looking in.

Fred

Thukydides · March 13

Great job, I always appreciate seeing people have the courage to try and paint directly on the model.

If I may make a small suggestion, a bit of colour variation on the blue would really add to it. You have this nice contrast on the yellow, but the blue stands out where it is just one flat colour.

Edited March 13 by Thukydides

jfhealey · March 13

Thank you Thukydides. Yes, it is a big expanse of blue. The dustsheet of the Swan Class books, which I followed closely-ish, shows two tassels - I guess to avoid the issue you identify. I originally intended to include two but thought they might be much harder to paint than turned out to be the case. I may think on it further though, that said, when the model is in its cradle that lower transom area is not conspicuous because of the overhang.

The Syren friezes break up the blue with a sort of subtle smokey - both black and white smoke - effect which I like but I don't see how that can be effectively painted except with an airbrush.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Fred

jfhealey · March 15

I had a go at acanthus leaves. I might leave things overnight and see what I think in the morning. Just at the moment I'm not completely convinced. I painted a continuous string of acanthus. I think it would look better broken up into shorter lengths with a small division between. And I don't like the bit over the third gunport from te stern: funny how little things that you know will get lost in the bigger picture have the capacity to bug you disproportionately.

CiscoH · March 15

nice 3D effect on the tassels

FrankWouts · March 23

On 3/13/2024 at 12:16 PM, jfhealey said:

Hi Frank

Thanks for your message.

I located the masts by reference to both the markings on the false deck and the plans which show the mast and bowstrip stubs. As far as i can tell (and this is what I worked to) the main mast is vertical - 90 degrees to the waterline) while the mizzen and fore mast are raked. I took the angles from Chuck's plans.

The plans for the Enterprize are available from Cornwall Model Boats. Here is the box and the plates for the masts. I took the plans down to the local copyshop to scale them up to 1/48.

I do not know how accurate the Enterprize plans are for Winchelsea. The 2 frigates are 10 years apart so more or less contemporary. I also have HMS Diana from the Anatomy of the Ship series. To my un-schooled eye the Diana masts look pretty much the same as those shown by the Enterprize plans. At all events these are the best I have and good enough for me!

Looking over some of the build logs I am lost in admiration not only at the skill levels others achieve but also by the depth of scholarship others possess.

Best wishes

Fred

Thanks for your elaborate answer Fred!

I will check where I can get those Shipyard Enterprise plans here in Europe!

As for the backward angles of the masts, I found on Chuck’s plans that the formast is a straight 90 degrees angle to the keel, the main mast leaning only 1 or 2 degrees backwards and the mizzen mast like 3 or 4 degrees…

I aligned my wooden ruler to the keel, is that wrong? Is the waterline that you used perhaps not parallel to the keel line?

Thanks,

Frank.

Thukydides · March 23

On 3/13/2024 at 4:02 PM, jfhealey said:

but I don't see how that can be effectively painted except with an airbrush.

Thanks for your thoughts

Sorry I never noticed your response.

You could look into glazing with a highlight in the middle of the curve. Basically you use very watery paint applied in thin layers to blurr the transitions. See the below picture which I did entirely with a brush. I talk about the method more in my build log of you are interested in more details.

In any case fantastic job.

Edited March 23 by Thukydides

jfhealey · March 24

Thanks Thukydides. That is hugely impressive painting. I am only just discovering (a) how hard it is to paint and (b) how doubly difficult it is to paint direct on to the ship. So hard,in fact, that I've given up on my feeble attempts to paint acanthus leaves: a loy more practice required. Instead I'm using the Syren friezes albeit the wrong ones - I know its inaccurate but I prefer the look and I won't be the first to say: "It's my ship........"!

I painted over the friezes a bit to add a few highlights. Probably a mistake but still....Curiously overpainting the friezes has been a good learning excercise in painting. I think I'd make a better job of acanthus leaves next time around. But overall, and looking at what others have achieved with this model i just wish I had 10 years more experience at this hobby than I have. Still, onwards and upwards as they say.

Best wishes

Fred

FrankWouts · March 25

Now we have two master painters in our mids: Dusan and you Fred!
Simply wonderful paintwork! I wish I had the courage...

Frank.

Edited March 25 by FrankWouts

Chuck · March 25

It looks fantastic...you did a sensational job on the friezes.

glbarlow · March 25

Very vivid and nicely done!

jfhealey · May 1

Thank you gentlemen for your likes and comments.

Here is a small update on the hair brackets and cheeks. I thought I would paint them blue with a yellow facing. It seemed like a good idea but it didn't work out - and sanding the paint off was a bit of a disaster. Chuck very kindly sent me replacements.

I didn't entirely follow the building order set out in the instructions. After ages of fiddling about trying to line things up I settled on starting with the upper hair bracket and using that as a datum point as it were.