Newport by Jolly Jo - Mamoli - Scale 1:57

[SaltyScot]

It does look good, Jo. Just a point on painting the bulwarks instead of planking them though - I was always under the impression that putting those inside planks on the bulwarks strengthened them somewhat and that gave the gun ports a little more stability, structurally. This is not based on fact buddy, just my opinion.

[Jolly Jo]

2 hours ago, SaltyScot said:

It does look good, Jo. Just a point on painting the bulwarks instead of planking them though - I was always under the impression that putting those inside planks on the bulwarks strengthened them somewhat and that gave the gun ports a little more stability, structurally. This is not based on fact buddy, just my opinion.

 

That sounds reasonable on a real boat but, as I see it, in this case the second planking is most of all intended to cover the naked lime wood from first planking with walnut for a nicer appearance. Therefore, as it visually wouldn't really make a difference when painted, I skipped this step.

[SaltyScot]

3 hours ago, Jolly Jo said:

Therefore, as it visually wouldn't really make a difference when painted, I skipped this step.

 

That makes perfect sense sir.

[Jolly Jo]

Planking is done.

The deck has been sanded and oiled.

[SaltyScot]

A fine looking deck, Jo. Your patience and determination certainly paid off on this one buddy.

[Coyote_6]

Beautiful work on this.   I will be following!

 

I am especially intrigued by your build as my current build is in the "odd" 1:58 scale, yet here is your beautiful schooner in 1:57!  Close enough.  It would be fun to see them side by side.

 

This build looks set, but regarding guns in post 18, for future reference the privateer "Grecian" takes an interesting approach to gun ports with lower bulkheads and the effect looks wonderful to my eye.

 

(Borrowed from a Grecian build on MSW)

 

Anyway - great work.  I'll be following.

[Jolly Jo]

1 hour ago, Coyote_6 said:

Beautiful work on this.   I will be following!

 

I am especially intrigued by your build as my current build is in the "odd" 1:58 scale, yet here is your beautiful schooner in 1:57!  Close enough.  It would be fun to see them side by side.

 

This build looks set, but regarding guns in post 18, for future reference the privateer "Grecian" takes an interesting approach to gun ports with lower bulkheads and the effect looks wonderful to my eye.

 

Anyway - great work.  I'll be following.

 

Steve,

 

thank you very much for your encouraging words!

 

Seeing our schooners side by side would be nice but as yours will be a privateer mine should better keep a distance... 😄

 

I've seen plans and models of the Grecian but honestly I don't like the look. I think it was made in this special manner to reference to columns in classical Greek architecture and hence named Grecian. Nevertheless I am already working on a solution...

 

Thank you for following. I'll follow your build too.

 

[Jolly Jo]

Hello all,

today's work was making a mockup for playing around with bulwark proportions and different aspects of armament.

 

My plan is to raise the bulwarks. At first I thought I put the deck to high but I didn't. Checking other build logs again I saw that all of them had about two and a half planks above the false deck whereas I put on just two. Therefore I will top them up with two stripes of 1.4mm oak wood of my stash I already bent to shape. The mockup represents the new height.

 

Next will be cutting two additional gun ports aft. I couldn't shake the feeling that just two 3-pounder guns per side wouldn't have been enough, even for self defense. Therefore I contacted @Daniel Dusek, the new owner of Mamoli, who generously sent me 6 barrels of his new designs for this ship. The barrels are a bit longer and better made - all muzzles got the same, evenly centered bore now.
Thanks again Daniel!

 

I was also thinking about the gun port dimensions which are currently 8x8mm like stated in the manual. I tried 7mm square on the mockup and like it better so I will change the existing gun ports accordingly.

 

Next will be scratch building carriages (the one on the pictures is an original cast metal one for the small guns) and then gun port covers.

Edited May 1 by Jolly Jo

[SaltyScot]

21 minutes ago, Jolly Jo said:

Next will be scratch building carriages

 

Scratch building eh.... Good for you buddy. That can only be beneficial for your future builds! Those mockups look great and are a good idea to get dimensions correct before moving on with the actual build. Good call.

[Jolly Jo]

Blackened the barrels with burnishing gel and built a carriage prototype from oak today.

The wheels are from stained 4 and 3 mm beech wood as I didn't have any other at hand.

 

 

As the oak didn't stand out much from the deck I decided to paint the carriage red and also sand the tail piece. The wheels are darkened in Photoshop to decide whether to paint them black or go for walnut. I'll order some walnut.

Edited May 3 by Jolly Jo

[Coyote_6]

They look good both ways.  Nice work!

[SaltyScot]

That contrast between the red and black looks good Jo.

[Jolly Jo]

The bulwarks got raised as planned after the third gun port was cut.

 

 

 

As the oak strakes were wider than the bulwarks I had to cut and sand them to the right width.

 

After repainting the bulwarks the walnut cap rails could finally be glued on and oiled.

[SaltyScot]

Those cap rails look spectacular with that oil finish, Jo. What oil did you use on them?

[Jolly Jo]

15 minutes ago, SaltyScot said:

Those cap rails look spectacular with that oil finish, Jo. What oil did you use on them?

 

Thanks Mark. It's basically double cooked linseed oil with pine extract from the German manufacturer VLVR

[Jolly Jo]

Aloha ye all!

Back from my holidays it was time to go on with the build.

 

After being a little lost what to do next I had the revolutionary idea to just follow the plan... This means fiddly stuff.

 

 

 

The bowsprit and anchor bitts are just loosely put on deck yet.

 

I also stained the port cap rail as it was of a lighter tone than the starboard one.

[SaltyScot]

Well they certainly turned out nicely, didn't they. Nice work there buddy, very nice.

[Jolly Jo]

Next on the menue were the fife rails. The measurements in the plan didn't add up and I didn't like the way they were supposed to be built either (the kit is an old mamoli one, not one after mamoli was bought by Daniel Dusek, so maybe the math is right now and/or the shape different).

Furthermore the holes for the belaying pins should have been 1mm but the pins were 1.12mm at the tip and 1.75mm at the top of the shaft.

Hence I turned my drill 90°, carefully chucked the handles into it and filed a couple of them down to 1.2mm. The pin holes were drilled accordingly.

 

After test fitting I thought the pins are to short. They are 6mm so I will order some 8mm ones.

 

As I want to add topsails I went for 4 holes in the side rails instead of 3 as the plan suggests. I cannot say I have any idea or plans for rigging or belaying yet since I never built a ship before but it doesn't hurt to have a spare hole I think...

 

 

 

[SaltyScot]

Those fife rails turned out splendidly, Jo. Love that wood!!

[Jolly Jo]

As @SaltyScot pointed out to me it was time to drill the hole for the bowsprit before the deck furniture will make it hard to do so. As it totally makes sense I did.

Thanks, buddy!

[Coyote_6]

Scary stuff drilling holes in fine bulkheads.  Well done!

[Jolly Jo]

Next piece to tackle was the binnacle. The kit supplied a solid piece of wood (looks like oak) to glue stripes to as to simulate doors etc.

I wanted it to be walnut like the rest of the deck furniture and to add a "real" window so I preferred to scratch build.

(oops, there was a dated coin in my wallet...)

 

The "glass" is cut from the clear plastic of the model's cover box, the drawers and doors are simulated by carving the outlines and tracing the grooves with a 0.3mm pencil.

 

Before adding the lid I painted the rear wall white as I thought would have made sense to augment the light from the lanterns and I didn't cut a window into the back for stealth as the ship is a smuggler.

 

The venting hood is made from a pellet head which I drilled 0,5 mm holes into. It is not fixed yet as I'm not sure about the size. What do you guys think?

[Coyote_6]

The only comment I can offer is that if the pellet is lead it may not be the best choice for a long lasting solution?  I think lead is subject to oxidation/disintegration over long periods of time.

 

https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/Warfare-Centers/NSWC-Carderock/Resources/Curator-of-Navy-Ship-Models/Lead-Corrosion-in-Exhibition-Ship-Models/

 

(Hat tip to user Bob Cleek who cited the above in the following MSW thread:

)

 

Edited 18 hours ago by Coyote_6

[Coyote_6]

(Obviously the wood and "glass" aspects look wonderful!)

[Jolly Jo]

Thank you very much, Steve!

I haven't even thought about the lead in terms of long lasting effects (besides taken care not to breath in any material while drilling).

 

I first thought of a funnel on top but in Marquardt's "The Global Schooner" there's this spherical cap instead. I think I'll stick to it in terms of shape but throw out the lead and also go for something smaller.