Yacht Mary by catopower - Mamoli Dusek - 1:54 - An Inherited Model

[catopower]

Those following my HMS Wolf card model build may be wondering where I disappeared to. So this is what I've been doing for the past couple months.  A couple years ago, I bought a Mantua/Sergal Sovereign of the Seas kit, unstated, at an estate sale. I guess the sellers were so happy to move the kit that they threw in a partially started Amati Prince (yes, the rare, and huge Amati Prince in the wooden box), and this partially completed Yacht Mary.

 

Having recently completed Woody Joe's Charles Royal Yacht, and having so enjoying modeling a royal yacht, I was interested in working on this new acquisition. But, the model left my possession for another modeler to work on. But, over time, I thought about how the original builder, a Mr. Richard Fletcher who lived up near Placerville, CA, was building this as a wedding present. I didn't know the man or the details of who it was supposed to be fore, but I didn't know that the builder's widow really wanted to know that her late husband's models were being continued.

 

Later on, finding out that the modeler I had passed this onto was turning into some random fantasy ship, I decided to try to rescue it, with the intent of finishing the model and presenting it back to the Mr. Fletcher's widow. So, with my new plans, I managed to get the model back, and start working on it.

 

My intent is not to make a perfect model of the Mary, nor a perfect model of a Dutch yacht. Rather, it's to essentially take Richard Fletcher's work and to continue the model to completion without changing too much. That's not to say I would avoid ANY "corrections" to the build, but mostly to avoid changing the nature of the model more than I need to.

 

While I don't have any photos of the model after it came back into my possession, I did have to clean up some alterations that were done to it, such as the removal of a "poop deck" railing that was installed for the fantasy model, and a couple other minor things that had been broken since I saw it last. Aside from that, I noticed the original builder had some trouble with a few things and left a big gap just between the transom and the gallery windows casting. So, I did a few small modifications to make the model look better. 

 

By the way, I've always been interested in modeling the Yacht Mary, and even have an unstarted, original Mamoli kit, which gave me access to the original, full-sized kit plans, which I found helpful. I think my interest in the model dates back to seeing the late Jean Eckert's build in the old Seaways' Ships in Scale magazine. She, by the way, started and ran the South Bay Model Shipwrights club that I'm a member of still today.

 

I'll post a series of photos later to show the progress to date. I'm hoping to complete the model by June. So, this will not be a long and detailed build log. Mostly just wanted to be able to share about the work.

 

Note: I will be getting back to my HMS Wolf build shortly!

 

 

Edited March 9 by catopower

[Gregory]

You made me dig out my digital copy of that Ships in Scale volume to confirm it's a great article.   I have my 2nd Mary kit on the shelf and look forward to getting around to it some day.

 

There is a Mary-like model of a ship called Max Emanuel built by  Theodor Klaas.

 

It has some amazing detail that I would strive to incorporate on my next Mary

 

Max Emanuel

 

One of the detail images.

Edited March 9 by Gregory

[druxey]

A little bird tells me that there will be a book out later this year on all the Stuart Royal yachts, from Mary onward!

[Gregory]

Any indication if it will include rigging detail?

[catopower]

Gregory, thanks for that link, some beautiful photos of that model there. I wish I knew more about the small details of Dutch ships. I know there are various resources to draw from, but it seems you really have to dig around and research. A little more involved than I want for finishing this model.

 

I'll hang onto my unstated Yacht Mary kit for now (though I'm trying to thin out my model kit stash), and maybe someday I'll work on my own model from the start and incorporate those details.

[catopower]

46 minutes ago, druxey said:

A little bird tells me that there will be a book out later this year on all the Stuart Royal yachts, from Mary onward!

Oh, those little birds!

[catopower]

Here's some of the first work I did on the model.

 

I decided to add a little more color to the model, so I painted the bulwarks the same shade of red I used on my Charles royal yacht. I'm doing the same with the gun carriages. Part of the reason is that the bulwarks wood was a bit splintery, and there were issues apparently when the builder was cutting the round gun ports.

 

Also, I didn't like the way that Mamoli had the caprails built up from layers of strip wood. It must have made construction easier, but the visible layers of wood seemed distracting, so I went ahead and painted those as well as the moldings around the decorative section of the bulwarks and the channels.

 

I considered using a strip of light colored wood over the moldings and maybe the edge of the caprail, but decided not to, at least not at this time.

 

I rebuilt the chimney that's just behind the windlass, added the decorative hawse pieces at the bow and drilled the hawse holes.

 

The gun ports were a bit of a challenge, as some of them didn't line up correctly. Another reason I chose to paint the bulwarks, so I could hide any corrections. The round ports on one side had only been started, so they were too small. But, a bit of filing opened them up and adjusted their heights and alignment. 

 

Decided that the model was far enough along to safely mount it. I didn't want to use the included stand. Those things are usually too flimsy and don't provide a means to really secure the model to the base. I just used the classic brass pedestals.

 

That little deck structure hasn't been permanently attached yet. I want to add the guns before I permanently fix it to the deck. Oh, and on that and on the stern cabin, I added acetate for the windows, which were left open by the original builder. I think I just used canopy glue to secure them into place.

 

Yes, before you comment on it, that gap between the rudder and stern post is... well, it's too large. After repairing the rudder and the rudder irons, I left it the way it was originally built. If it bothers me too much, I may just clip off the stuff in between, fake the hinges, and pin the rudder to the hull. Just haven't felt the need yet.

 

Lastly, I saw some photos of other Yacht Mary builds and really like the splash of color painted on some of their transoms. So, I went ahead and added some color to this one. I'm not sure if I can handle painting any better detail, but I may try. Just not really ready for it yet. I considered doing more, but I really just wanted it to have a little bit of color. Any more, and I might feel the need to paint too many other details as well.

Again, this is not intended to be an "accurized", and I'm trying not to undo too much of what the original builder did. But, as far as kit-built models go. It is started to look rather nice, and I'm happy about that.

 

 

 

[Gregory]

Great start on your re-boot of that model.

 

Let me know if I'm cluttering up your log too much, but you have really got me thinking about going forward with my Mary II..

 

I found this superb link to a model by Lloyd McCaffery.

 

There are a couple of downloadable PDF's of some of the details and also contemporary reference drawings/painting.   Mamoli did a great job of creating the details of this kit.

[catopower]

Gregory, I don't think you're cluttering up this log at all. I'm mostly just sharing about the model I received and how it's getting finished over time. I'm not demonstrating any special techniques or trying to illustrate anything special, other than to show that I'm actually doing something! 😀

 

Thanks for sharing the link to Lloyd McCaffery's model. Such beautiful work!

 

Edited Tuesday at 07:38 AM by catopower

[Baker]

Nice work, good luck with this little yacht. 

[catopower]

Thanks Patrick, I appreciate the nice comments.

 

I had a bit of a slowdown over the past week, but I think I should be on a more regular ship modeling schedule again.

 

Here's the most recent progress I made on the Yacht Mary. The lee boards were already made, but there was no pivot for it, so I drilled them out, as well as the hull, to fit a small length of dowel.

 

Also assembled the anchors and cleaned up the anchor stocks. I used black thread to wrap the stocks. I think I need better lighting, because I had a hard time seeing that the wrapping wasn't particularly straight. But, I did manage to wrap the rings on the anchors without too much problem, and then added the anchor cables.

 

When I first received the model, it had the hull ladders still intact. But, in the process of going to another ship modeler and then back to me, the ladders got broken. So, I had to remove them completely and rebuild them. I'm not really happy with the new ladders, because of the way they had to curve slightly under the hull. I'm not sure if that's because of the way the hull was built, or if perhaps they're not supposed to actually be flush with the hull as these will be. 

 

I suppose they should be straighter, but on this model, they would end up flaring out from the hull at the ladder bottoms, which would seem stranger to me. 

I didn't do much to the guns and carriages, except to paint them. They carriages were initially natural wood color, and the barrels were painted black, but were chipped. So, I painted the carriages and barrels, and then took a length of line, and threaded them through the carriages for breechings. Note that this is the style of Dutch gun carriages, but the Mary was Dutch built, so this should be correct.

 

Not sure at this point if I'm going to add gun tackle and train tackle.

Finally, I added the remainder of the decorative piece at the stern. It was a bit of a challenge to fit these parts, and the work left some notable gaps. But, I think it looks okay.

I'm starting to work on cleaning up the already made spars, and fashioning flag staffs. I've also decided to use Chuck's ULTRA rigging line and 3D printed blocks and deadeyes on this one.

 

Edited 22 hours ago by catopower

[catopower]

I'm jumping ahead now and working on the sails. At this scale, I'm going to stick with my practice of making cloth sails. I've made many sails from cloth, but still experimenting a little here and there to get the technique to work just the way I'd like.

 

 

 

However, the issue here is the make up of the main sail. If you look at the sail pattern, the mainsail shows a row of reefing points. My last Charles Yacht model had a bonnet. Not sure what is correct, but thought I'd put this question out here.

 

The Royal Museums Greenwich website shows a model of the Mary with reefing points in the main and stay sails, no reef bands, and a row of holes in the sails. One for each reef point?

 

Of course, I could just stick with the Mamoli instructions and add these reef points to the main sail, which I might just do, since It's simpler than lacing a bonnet anyway. Just wondering what might be correct?

 

Also, since I'm more accustomed to later period ships, and mostly larger ones, if the forward most shroud and mainstay should be served? Also the eyes of the shrouds around the masthead? Of course, kit instructions never tell you to do this, even if it was actual practice. Here, I'm not so sure about.

 

Seems to me that since there isn't much to chafe against, the foremost shroud would not be served. But, at the mast head? And the main stay? 

 

Again, since this is mostly a continuation of the original builder's model, I'm sure he would not have done any serving, so just going by the kit instructions is a safe route. But, I'd like to better understand this.

 

 

 

[druxey]

Look at paintings of the day; there are no reef points. Bonnets were used only on larger ships until reef points were introduced.

[catopower]

Thank you Druxey. I would gladly make the sails without reef points or bonnets!

 

Any thoughts about the serving of the shrouds or stays?

[Gregory]

The Mamoli rigging plan had the lines indicated here for furling.  I suppose they have a formal name that I do no know.