HMS Diana by Sizzolo - Caldercraft - 1:64

[Sizzolo]

Yup it's 1783 (ADM 106/2509)

I'm assuming though that double banked means two sailors per row and not some kind of strange financial insurance in case it gets damaged  

 

 

(since this post I have learned ”double banked” means the sailor is using a long oar sweep and sits further away from the port/axel/pivot, not adjacent, thus generating more leverage. If boats are ‘Not’ double banked it means two sailors per bench with the sailors having less leverage at their port.). 

Edited July 17 by Sizzolo

[Sizzolo]

Larboard side second planking complete and moving on to copper. 

The nailing pattern was a lot more finickity than I thought it’d be. As the copper is on a roll it doesn’t like going flat through my home made machine and ends up losing its backing strip. Before you know it you just have a scrunched up ball of sticky copper laying in the corner. I think a 3d-printed jig would be the way to go, replicating the old style tape machines- spooling from one roll on to another.

Anyway, as you can see, I started in the traditional way at the stern post with 4 rough test pieces (couldn’t resist!). However, I’ve seen a couple of sources state that the Royal Navy overlapped their plates, lower rows going over upper, instead of upper going over lower. This means one should start at the waterline stern, not the false keel/stern post. Has anyone else noticed this or seen other sources?

 

Also I note the false keel was likely filled with closely massed iron nails instead of coppered. I’m still thinking of a way to model that. 

[Sizzolo]

For reference, this is how I’ve approached the nailing pattern:

 

 

[Sizzolo]

I’ve finished the rig: quite happy with the results of each plate. All nail holes are in the right place and I can reproduce each plate quite quickly. 

 

[Thukydides]

Looks great, how thick is that tape you are using?

[Sizzolo]

19 hours ago, Thukydides said:

how thick is that tape

It’s extremely thin - like the foil you get around chocolate bars, probably thinner. I bought a few reels quite some time ago so don’t have the details handy. It’s quite delicate until it’s stuck down - then surprisingly robust. 
 

(forgot to mention, the pic of the one plate & nail pattern above is the copper still attached to its card backing).

Edited February 6 by Sizzolo

[Sizzolo]

Coppering has started. White border is flexible tape to help me align the rows. Top row of brass is actually the waterline. Top edge will eventually be covered with a boxwood batton. RN rules of the day states the copper should be 16” above the waterline but according to the plans this could end up going over the wales - so I’m going up to the wales and stopping there. 
 

Next step is more complicated - the merging and patterns of the plating at bow and stern. 
 

Im quite happy with the nail pattern so far though. The plan seems to be working!

 

(edit - upon further review I will likely align the plate pattern roughly with the planking rather than overcomplicate with gore-line alignments etc (likely a later period method). If working from waterline-down this makes sense for the period (1794). On consideration of the sources in my separate thread on this forum I think the protocols/methods advanced rapidly during this period so I’m selecting a method of layering most likely for 1794 - ie starting at waterline and generally aligning with the planking. 
 

For info, creating the nail pattern has gone through a few iterations so I’m sure if you follow my path you’ll figure out a preferred method, after (like me) wasting a few meters of copper tape and a few days. It’s part of the process!)

Edited February 9 by Sizzolo
Updates

[Thukydides]

On 2/8/2024 at 8:00 PM, Sizzolo said:

(edit - upon further review I will likely align the plate pattern roughly with the planking rather than overcomplicate with gore-line alignments etc (likely a later period method). If working from waterline-down this makes sense for the period

So will you be tapering th plates to achieve this? I am struggling to visualize how this would work?

[Sizzolo]

Still working on the exact pattern… lots of copper on the floor now but after all the testing it’ll be repeatable for future projects. (Plan is for all ships to be of same scale, same period)

 

My other thread on coppering has some great input and pics from others. 

Edited February 15 by Sizzolo

[Sizzolo]

I think I’ve reached my happy-place now as far as super accurate plates. I’ve adjusted the gaps between the nail lines very slightly and now I rub down each plate before I consider it ready for my ‘pot of plates’ which I dip in to when plating the hull. I timed myself and, each plate takes roughly 8 seconds to produce for all steps now that I’ve settled into a good production process. 

The plate in the lower part of the picture is one that has been ‘rubbed down’ (I use my fingernail or a wine cork) to reduce the protrusions that the barrel of rivet wheels produces. I think this results in a very accurate representation of the plates in 1/64 scale. (The tiny nail marks glitter subtly from some angles to show the viewer that extra effort was made. At other angles it appears to be a clean copper plate).

 

If there’s interest I can make a post showing the tools I built to make the pattern. I also owe an answer to Thukydides (above) to show the pattern of rows I settled on. I’m super happy with it so far (but you can see my first rows are a bit clumsy and as I work down the hull the nail pattern and accuracy improves considerably). 

Edited February 28 by Sizzolo
Minor edit

[Thukydides]

Your nail pattern is looking really good. I would be interested in more detail on the tools etc.

[Sizzolo]

Here is the channel I made out of walnut. the sides of the channel are the same width as the tape (maybe very slightly wider to avoid the tape jamming). Notice the slight shims on the sides which are very slightly raised over the base - this assures correct alignment with the tape. 

This is what I refer to as the rivet barrel: I searched for washers of the correct spacing but then had an epiphany - I made them out of hardwood (pear) and got the thickness exact with my Byrns thickness sander (0.65mm). 

The wheels are part of a three wheel set made in China and comes under various branding. I bought my last one on Amazon (uk). You’ll need at least 7 boxes because each box only has one of each size (so it gets expensive)

Here’s the set up in action - I hang the copper tape reel over a spindle so that it feeds smoothly. Roll the wheel with your thumb (meaning you can roll backwards and forwards over a short length for a heavier effect. If you do this over a longer length there’s a chance the holes might not align, leading to double holes).
 

Drag the tape forward with the rivet barrel and your thumb and put something good on the telly while you feed through a few meters. Make sure the tape lays carefully on the floor as it can sometimes come apart from its baking at this point and ruin a length. 

Cut the tape into tiles (this tool assures every tile is identical)

Run a rivet tool down one short edge (the edge depends on which direction you will create the overlap so will change on larboard and starboard)

… then get sticking! The tape has sufficient stick so you don’t need any additional glues. 
 

Here is what I settled on as far as plate pattern - see my other thread on plate overlaps. My plates start at the top near the wale and go from stern to bow - so every plate lays on top of the plate behind it and above it. I started with one row of plates which follow the waterline. I tapered these at the stern due to curvature (a) but not at the bow. 

 

(b) is an insert of triangular shape to allow for the extreme concave shape there. The following picture is from 'The Introduction and Use of Copper Sheathing - a History' paper by Mark Staniforth (link). It's an excellent paper and is what I leveraged to get the exact plate dimensions and placement of the nails.

(c) all these rows are parallel with the keel as is the case for as much of the hull as possible. 
(d) you will see curves upwards following the shape of the bow. You can draw on the planks how these should align by placing a 1cm paper strip flat on the hull and see how it naturally moves upwards. 
(e) by the time we get down to this level it’s worth doing another paper strip and have following rows angle further upwards. By the time you get to the forefoot they are parallel with it (30 degrees ish).

(d and e) I took this design from a painting from the period.

Hope that helps!

Edited February 28 by Sizzolo
removed my awful drawing and used a better one!

[Sizzolo]

Starboard plating complete. I removed the false keel so that I can plate under it before applying an ebony one (larboard needs plating first though). I added the dovetail plate and horseshoe plate shapes using plumbing tape under the copper so that you can see the impression show through. These were apparently inlaid and plated over. 

Learnings - the copper tape shows every imperfection in the planking so it’s even more important to make sure your planking is perfect with no gaps. 

[Beef Wellington]

Glad I've found your log sizzolo, you have made an outstanding start with some great details.  Quick comment on the coppering, believe that the method was somewhat nation specific.  US practice as you show was to have a parallel band at the waterline, RN practice was to copper from the keel upward.  None of that takes away from the wonderful work you've done and would not be noticeable at this scale.

[Sizzolo]

On 4/2/2024 at 10:52 PM, Beef Wellington said:

(I) believe that the method was somewhat nation specific

Hi Jason!

Many thanks for your remarks and I’m glad you’re finding the blog interesting! I’m still doing the Port side and my RL jobs have had to take a priority too unfortunately. Hopefully some new progress pics in a few weeks. 
 

Anyway, wrt the coppering - I started a post on it a while back and it seems it’s not quite clear cut. Have a read here - interesting discoveries!

 

 

Edited April 9 by Sizzolo

[Sizzolo]

Sorry - It’s been a while since my last update! I’ve been busy with work but recently continued planking above the wales on starboard side so that one side is complete before I move to Port. This way I can make all my mistakes and skill improvements on just one side. This is supposed to be my progression/learning project after all. 
 

lessons on the upper planking: boxwood comes in many colours - ideally select wood of consistent colour as you move along the hull or it can end up looking patchy as if some planks were replaced over the years. As you might spot in the picture - I’m trying to stay true to the thickness of the planks which are stated in the original outboard planking plan. 
 

Plank finish - oil and/or wax. I should have realised this earlier but oil makes the trenails quite dark against the plank, whereas wax is less ‘darkening’ and has a more natural look when comparing to hms victory etc. 
 

Ebony vs painted boxwood: I think the benefits of working with boxwood outweighs the colour aspects of ebony. Ideally I’d stick to ebony for the upper bulwarks but it’s horrible to work with (chips, is oily, doesn’t bend consistently, requires superglue but can still break off easily). You can see my upper blank planks above the gun ports look quite good - they’re  painted boxwood with walnut trenails inserted after the paint process. (You’ll also spot a few errors in trenail placement on other planks and dark trenails/ planks - all of which I hope to learn from on Port side). For those that didn’t read earlier in this blog; each plank has holes drilled for every trenail and the wood trenails are then individually inserted and are to-scale (roughly 0.6mm). I’m expecting once all these bloody planks are out the way progress will accelerate rapidly!
 

[Thukydides]

Good to see you back at it. Do you have any shots of the whole ship you can share to see the overall progress?

 

The planking is looking good.

[Sizzolo]

On 5/23/2024 at 1:03 AM, Thukydides said:

the whole ship

[Sizzolo]

Upper painted strakes almost complete on starboard side. Likely there’ll be a long pause now while I repeat the last few months of work on the port side (but better, having learned from small errors on stbd). I’m sooo looking forward to the end of the plank trenails!

[Sizzolo]

I got tired of doing portside planking so needed a brief distraction - have done a day on one of the ship’s cutters (24’). I’m using one of vanguard models’ old version 3d printed hulls (clinker) and bits from one of their lovely pearwood cutter kits. I’ve studied quite a few paintings, books and photos of the boats at Chatham dockyard and am settled now on how to paint her.

Edited July 10 by Sizzolo

[Sizzolo]

[Sizzolo]

Main structure done.

Masts, sails and a boat cover next. I’m not happy with the colours so it will be repainted black. Current colours represent HMS Diana’s original colour scheme but I’m building to early 19th century design and have seen a couple of nice paintings of the period with ship’s boats being black (likely under the hull too). That would more neatly match Diana later scheme when they’re stored in the qtr davits.  

[Sizzolo]

Progress continues on the hull planking but I thought I'd update you on a rabbit hole I went down recently. You'll see earlier advice in this thread about the sail scale and appropriate materials. I decided to do a little study on what 'thin' cloth might be suitable but based upon the cloth weight to-scale instead of focussing on weave density.

 

Sails were made from canvas which were given a number based upon their lbs per bolt. According to Steele, bolts were 24" wide and 38 yards long. Therefore, the following can be said for Canvas sizes of 1,2,3,6 and 7 in their GSM weight (grams per sq meter - a weight given to modern cloth). 

 

Now if I look at scales from 1/10 through 1/16 we can see what the GSM equivalent is:

I found that a standard mens handkerchief was equivalent to <>96GSM and has a night tight weave. This is equivalent to roughly Canvas number 1 in 1/10 scale which was used for Main Course sails and others. You can therefore imagine how thin the material would need to be in 1/64 scale.

 

I then knocked together a sample two bolts wide in 1/10 scale, using a handkerchief, lightly stained with a tea bag, so that I could see how it looked and reacted to light: This would then help me better appreciate how thin the material would be at 1/64 scale. You can see how the sail is translucent with the light behind it and the seams stand out well. The stitches are approximately 1mm -2mm long. The seam between the bolts is a little too wide as it should be about 4mm wide max (sample shown is around 6mm). This was actually another successful test for me here as I wanted to get an idea on how wide the seam would appear in 1/64 scale.

After making the sample (which was quite an enjoyable project on its own, including the fancy roband rigging) I realised what an amazing curtain a well made sail based upon Steele's guide would make in 1/10 scale! I have a window which would fit a Main Topsail and if it was fully rigged it'd be quite nice to raise and lower it authentically! It should be around 1.4m at the top and 2.3 at the bottom. Future project! I have bought some perfect cloth in 80GSM and will need to buy a sewing machine (no way am I hand stitching every stitch to-scale!).

 

 

 

Edited September 22 by Sizzolo

[Sizzolo]

Just a couple of quick pics this weekend as it's been a while since I've updated this blog on progress:

I've started work on the pinnace which I'm basing on the following plans from NMM;

Again I chose to use the lovely base kit from Vanguard models which I'll be modifying (already have made gratings fore and aft (from left to right, the pinnace, the armed launch and one of the cutters). Under the boats is my first effort at silkspan sails - next version will have much thinner seams.

And the wales: I'm using the correct nail pattern on this side and spending a little more time making all the measurements correct. Top and butt is a pain in the b when using ebony!

Edited October 5 by Sizzolo

[Sizzolo]

...quick tip: Rapid scratch building pieces and correct alignment is much easyier if you print the original chart in your own scale (mine is 1:64). 

Edited October 5 by Sizzolo

[Thukydides]

The boats are looking really good. Those ebony Wales do look very nice.

Edited October 5 by Thukydides

[Sizzolo]

Pinnace floors. As it’s the officers fancy boat it will get some fancy treatment…

[Sizzolo]

Pinnace progress…

[DaveBaxt]

Excellent workmanship on those boats. This is turning out to be a great example of the Diana. Well done!

[Sizzolo]

I wanted a fancy design on the sides of the boat and saw the royal barge recently (HM QE II’s commissioned for silver jubilee). The pattern was too intricate to paint so I tried printing my own water transfer decal and it turned out quite well (took a while to colour-match paint vs printer).