HMS Montague 1779 by garyshipwright - 74-gun Alfred-class

[paulsutcliffe]

Hi Gary

Beautiful build you are doing there, I just read your log from start to finish and also just realised I am in the same boat and need to remove all my eyebolts to fit hanging knees for the quarterdeck, anyway great work

Regards

Paul

[garyshipwright]

Hi Paul. As a great leader once said this sucks, much like the weather sir. Figure as long as we have paddles we will be okay. As far as the eyebolts  like your self I have to remove them from the port side, done the stbd side already, because of the same reason, hanging knees, but also remove the cannon's from the deck but that's due to detail that I forgot to put on them. Gary

Edited January 17, 2018 by garyshipwright

[Hubac's Historian]

Wow Gary! Another really excellent 74, and a wry sense of humor to go with it.  I’ll be following your Alfred with enthusiasm.  It continually amazes me, on this site, the many talents and accomplishments of other modelers.  Great work, so far!

 

- Marc

Edited January 25, 2018 by Hubac'sHistorian

[garyshipwright]

Hi and thanks Marc. At the moment am working on the quarter deck gun ports and some of the out side planking and maybe by the end of the week I may just have a up date, at least thats the plan. Thank  you again sir. Gary

[garyshipwright]

Well guys I finally got to a point that figure I would do a up date on Montagu. As I had posted some where, may here or on Marks log of the Bellona that I had placed my channels wales to high and had to remove them and lower them  closer to the gun deck ports. Don't ask me how, maybe along the same line as redoing the cant frames more then once but they now reside in the right place. Had to take a few addition planks off of her, guess I just didn't like their look of them. Also been working on the cheeks and the  quarter deck gun ports and happy to report, they are in the right place and one more piece and they will be done. Also installed some battern's to help with the placement of the upper railes, in the near future. That is as soon as I am happy with how they look.   Gary

[SJSoane]

Gary,

Worth the wait.  The Alfred is looking terrific!

I swear by your batten idea for aligning major planking. It helps spot where lines are not quite sweet, and I don't know how I would have aligned the wales without this. Your photos show how well this is working for the Alfred.

And the cheeks dramatically add to the character at the bow. I am sure they must have been pretty fussy to install, particularly the upper one with a scarph in the middle of a change in direction for the curve. Nicely done.

 

Mark

[garyshipwright]

Hi Mark. Thank you very much sir and all the like's. I am glad that the batten is working good for you. It really helps installing the major planking and not quite sure how I would do it other wise. As far as the cheeks sir, seems that I worked on them for about 3 days, to get them just right, and am not sure they will be the ones I use.  I still have to add the carving to them which should be a lot of fun. As far as making the upper one in two parts, I believe that they made it out of two parts. When you think about their purpose, they were just knee's to strengthen the head. Could be wrong but  making them full size would have taken a really large slab of wood. Gary

Edited February 1, 2018 by garyshipwright

[aviaamator]

Gary! You have a beautiful shop and excellent model!!!  Probably, hands covered in gold?... I just know it!

[garyshipwright]

Hi aviaamator and thank you. No sir not gold, maybe a little copper.:o) I do believe that the misses got the gold. Gary

[SJSoane]

Hi Gary,

 

As I look ahead a step on the Bellona, I noticed that Brian Lavery's book in the ship calls for two black strakes above the main wales, reducing, he notes, from 6 ¾" to 5 ½" with a step between them. But every other source I can find, including your Alfred build, shows just one black strake. Can you point me to a source for the size of the black strake as you researched it?

 

Best wishes,

 

Mark

[garyshipwright]

Hi Mark. I do believe he is right about there being two but I only read or heard that the one on top of the main wale was refered to as the black strake. Any way I have the contract of the  Marlborough of 1763 and says that the black strake was 13 inches wide and 6 1/2 inches thick and the one that was on top of that was 5 1/2 inches thick. From what I understand and reason that one might think there is only one black strak is due to the second one being blend in with the other planks that sat on top of it that ran up to the channel wale, which was reduced down to 4 inches. Also just a word of advice, once you get your main wale done install your channel wale or at least ran a batten for the bottom of the first strake of the channel. It will help you out in getting the planking from the main wale up to the channel right and looking good. Wished I had down this before installing any planks above my main wale. For me a lesson well learned. The measurement of the channel is 2 foot 9 inches board by 5 1/4 inches made up of 3 strakes, unless your plan shows it being wider. You should have 5 strakes between the main wale and the channel wale which includes the black strake. 

Gary

Edited February 1, 2018 by garyshipwright

[druxey]

There is confusion sometimes about 'black strakes'. They could be single or double as mentioned above. However, sometimes the first strake above the wale was painted black and sometimes it wasn't!

[BANYAN]

You are making great progress with Alfred Gary; very nice work on the framing and planking.  Some great adice along the way - thanks!

 

cheers

 

Pat

[garyshipwright]

Hi druxey and Pat. Druxey you are probably right and no argument form me sir.  Thanks Pat still a long way to go. Gary 

[SJSoane]

Hi Gary and druxey,

 

Here is the details of the drawing of the black strake from Brian Lavery's Bellona book ( p. 42).

 

number 10 is the wale, and 13 the black strake. It shows a distinct step between the two strakes of the black strake, but from what I see everywhere else, and from your contract, Gary, I am thinking that the two black strakes would form a single tapered surface on the outer side.

 

Best wishes,

 

Mark

Edited February 3, 2018 by SJSoane

[druxey]

Earlier ships had beveled steps as shown, later ships (after about the 1830's) had a smooth surface where strakes tapered into one another. The main wale was then not stepped at all.

[garyshipwright]

Hi Mark. You could be right sir but if you look at the photos of the model of the Bellona her self in the Gallery  you will see that the planking between the first black strake and the rest of the planking up to the channel is different. Being that the short planks between the gun ports all look the same. They could have taken off the upper edge's of the two in the photo but could this have been done to do away with the sharp edge of the strakes them self. Not to be nit picke, seems that Brain drawing is missing a strake in the main wale. Could of swore there is four. Thing is if you taper the black strake in to the other upper planks are you not doing away with a detail of her? On a different noteI have added a photo of the contract that am using to help me build Montagu and a plate from Fincham's Ship Building, reprinted by the Ship Model Society of Rhode Island, 1933, that show the step down from the black strake up to the channel wale. Either way sir Bellona will still be one outstanding model's no matter how you do this. Gary

[garyshipwright]

2 minutes ago, druxey said:

Earlier ships had beveled steps as shown, later ships (after about the 1830's) had a smooth surface where strakes tapered into one another. The main wale was then not stepped at all.

Hi druxey. You are correct sir. If one looks at the photo from Finchams book you can see that the planking from the main wale down is blending with the bottom strakes with no step in between.  Gary

Edited February 3, 2018 by garyshipwright

[garyshipwright]

Hello  Everyone. Seems its been awhile but some times life hits you between the eyes but I did get a little bit down on Montagu. Hope you enjoy the photo's. Gary

[alde]

Gary, your Alfred never ceases to amaze me. She's beautiful. I would love to know how heavy she is. I bet it's close to scale weight. Of course I'm not asking you to weigh her. That could cause too many problems.

[druxey]

Looks like some substantial progress, Gary.

[BANYAN]

Very nice Gary, some good progress despite 'life'.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[mcpwilk]

Staggeringly beautiful.

 

Mike

[Amalio]

A great model.

[SJSoane]

Gary,

The planking is looking really great. Are you going to leave some of the side un-planked to show the framing?

 

Mark

[Jack H]

I'm quite agree with Mark,the planking is really great!-Mark's Bellona is great, too,that is another style like following.

HMS Valiant 1790,Science Museum.

 

As to planking,I think it needs good experience and skill.So I think about an inexperienced builder like me how to do it accurately and aesthetically.Although it sounds unconventional,But it's just a way of planking.i make the strake by cnc directly...

The benefits are accurate, and any wood can be used.-（But this is my first experiment, version 1, and it doesn't look good enough.）I want to deal with the steps of strakes by this way.

 

But there is a problem in version1.0 that the wood grain does not bend the direction of strake.So,I'm going to use version 2.0.The rough stock was bent first, and then the NC machining is done-this can also save the material.

 

It's a pity that my wife does not agree with me to make ship model.I don't have workroom. She forbids me to make ship model in the office, so I just do some experiments.

 

Edited March 3, 2018 by hjx

[Gilles Korent]

Hi Gary,

Been a long time ..... Your HMS Alfred is looking great.

Gilles

[the learner]

Been awhile but your build is quite nice and progressing beautifully. Thanks for reposting the photos on the stern deadwood construction!

 

This was the Alfred I was telling you about, even unfinished it is still a good looking build

[Oskar24]

Haven’t done any modeling but searching for info on this subject I came across this project. It’s an amazing work beyond imagination. Can’t even dream doing anything similar but if I decide to get involved into ship modeling, it will be an inspiration what dedication and knowledge can achieve. Thank you for all the work you did to share your wonderful project

[garyshipwright]

Thanks every one. Am still kicking, just to a long break and hoping that after I retire next year or maybe sooner I get back to work on her. Once again thank you. Gary