Brig Freya 1840 - FINISHED - 1:100

[Dr PR]

This Freya build probably should be considered ancient history because I built the kit in the mid 1970s. But I recently saw a kit on eBay for $70.00, so it might be of interest to someone. Also, I think the kit has been released again as the Agilis "clipper:"

 

https://modelshipworld.com/topic/23067-agilis-by-jct-finished-steingraeber-160-scale-slave-ship/#elControls_682192_menu

 

I am also posting it because there are some peculiar features to this model and I am hoping some of our members who are familiar with German and Danish ship construction might comment on it.

 

Here is a photo of the kit box. "Brigg Freya um 1840. Schiffsmodellbaukasten in Holtz." A ship model kit in wood, and instructions mostly in German. Well, I majored in chemistry as a freshman and I was required to take two years of German because a lot of the chemical literature was in German. So a few (and I do mean a few) instructions in German weren't too daunting - at least in the 1970s.

 

There is no kit manufacturer's name on the box or the instructions, but it does say "made in west Germany" on the plans. Newer modelers might compare the sparse instructions and lack of pre-cut parts to more modern kits.

 

 

 

The other side of the plans sheet has instructions in four languages (German, English, French and Italian). There is a list of parts and 22 building steps. For example, step 20 says "The yards must be rigged and attached to the mast, following the drawing." There are a few helpful hints in the drawing. The parts for the hull had to be cut from a sheet of plywood that had lines printed on it. All the dowels for the masts and spars had to tapered by hand.

 

 

Here is the finished model. I do not know if it actually represents any real vessel, but I had fun building it. This was my second kit build, and I scratch built many of the pieces because I thought the kit parts were too crude.

 

When I look at it I am reminded of zu Mondfeld's comment (Historic Ship Models, page 218) about top heavy models that have overly tall masts. I have noticed that on many ships the masts are about as tall as the hull is long, or less. But in this model the masts are nearly 1 1/2 times as tall as the length of the hull.

 

Are the masts too tall? Perhaps our Forum members who are familiar with northern European ships of the 19th century can provide some information about this.

 

Another peculiarity is the angle (steeve) of the bowsprit - there is none. It is horizontal. The plans show it this way and that is how I built it. Were any real ships built this way?

 

The tall masts and horizontal bowsprit suggest to me that this vessel never went to sea where it would encounter high winds and large waves. Perhaps it worked on rivers and other inland waters?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some more photos of the decks and masts. In the upper right hand photo you can see a place where a gap opened in the hull planking. This was probably caused by the wood swelling and shrinking as moisture changed in the atmosphere. This also happened on my first plank-on-bulkhead kit model. For all subsequent builds I have coated the inside of the hull planking with thin clear epoxy paint or epoxy potting compound. The epoxy penetrates the cracks between planks and between planks and bulkheads and makes the hull rock hard. I have a plank-on-bulkhead hull over 40 years old that was covered with epoxy inside, and it still does not have cracks between the planks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was the first time I had planked a deck with individual pieces, and not a pre-printed single sheet. I had recently served on three ships in the US Navy that had wooden decks. On one the decking was replaced while I was aboard, and on another (USS Cape MSI-2) the plank seams were recaulked.

 

I had saved some of the caulking compound that was used on the Cape just for the purpose of caulking ship model decking, and I used it for this model.  So this is the real stuff you see here!

 

Kids, do not try this at home! It was really messy and the seams are probably too wide!!

 

 

 

 

The kit did not come with a ship's boat, and I thought it should have one. It did have davits at the stern for a boat, and I used the spacing between them to make a boat about to scale. Remember, this is long before the Internet and the information available there, and there were no bookstores where I was living with books about ships and ship modelling. The local hobby shops were either pushing flying model airplanes or model railroading. So I was winging it here!

 

This is a 2.1 inch (53 mm) plank on frame model boat. At 1:100 this is a scale 17 foot (5 meter) long boat. According to May's Boats of Men of War it should have more thwarts and oars, but I didn't have access to such publications back then.

 

I cut pieces for crude frames and glued them together. These were glued to a carved keel piece. And then the hull was planked with HO scale model railroad ties (the things that support the rails).

 

I didn't know if this method would work, but I gave it a try anyway and the results were adequate for this model. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I replaced a few of the parts in the model with scratch built pieces that were more detailed. I did have Chapelle's American Sailing Ships (my entire nautical library at that time) and used the illustrations in it as guides.

 

The last major modification to the kit was the transom. The kit plans showed nothing there but the plywood piece. I thought the ship should have a name, and Freya seemed appropriate. Freya was the old Norse word for noble lady, and was the goddess of love and beauty.

 

I learned a trick here that I have used several times since. I drew the letters on the plywood piece just like the printing on the kit box. Then I carved around them deep enough to cut through the outer layer of the plywood. Then I cut/peeled away the parts of the outer layer I didn't need. The rim around the transom was made in this way too. This left the letters in bas-relief. Of course, they are way too large!

 

This method is useful for creating recessed panels in doors and wainscoting.

 

So that is the story of my brig Freya um 1840 schiffsmodelbaukasten in holtz.

Edited January 15 by Dr PR
corrected log title

[Coyote_6]

Well done Phil and interesting questions posed.  Are these current photos?  If so, she has been well preserved.  Nicely done - especially the ship's boat.

 

[Dr PR]

They are current photos. If you look closely you can see dust that has accumulated with time - it doesn't have a case. I occasionally clean it, but it has been several months since the last cleaning.