Scottish Maid by JesseLee - FINISHED - Artesania Latina - 1:50

[JesseLee]

Scarf joints were still a lighter color after sanding sawdust down on them so I added a little stain along the joint with a toothpick & lightly sanded & they look much better now.

[SGraham]

Looking real good Jesse. I'm going to have to start saving sawdust. That's a great idea.

[themadchemist]

Beautiful work Jesse,

I see I'm not the only one that saves small containers of different wood fine sanding dust for just those perfect times when its needed.  

[aliluke]

Looking really, really good Jesse - a hull to be very proud of - near perfect from what I can see!

 

Cheers

Alistair

[JesseLee]

Glued on rubbing strake on one side. Got to the other side & even though I had already steamed & shaped it the other one broke in 2 places. Got mad at first but noticed it broke at angles along the grain which should be easy to hide when glued & it was. Then added on the stern rubbing strake reinforcements & the fenders.

 

 

[JesseLee]

Kit came with a pewter(?) cast lifeboat. Lot of imperfections & is heavy. Think I can do better. Began cutting block out to make a wooden replacement lifeboat.

 

 

[JesseLee]

Things have been slow lately. Not got much done but I do have one pic showing the lifeboat progress.

 

 

[Sailor1234567890]

Looks much nicer than the cast pewter one. 

[themadchemist]

So is that going to be a solid block long boat or is that the former to be planked. Either way the shape looks great and It blows away the metal kit piece.

 

If it is a solid block, it will be interesting to see how you hollow it out. I've seen (heck I have some of the little MS kits) of the bread and butter kits, where the inner boat is cleaned out. There are just so many interesting ways that boats and ships can be made and I want to try them all. Heck I've considered building another long boat using the solid block former method.

[JesseLee]

The plans have this lifeboat tied down upside down so whatever hollowing out I do will just be to lighten the weight some. Since the inside of the boat will not be seen I wont worry about that much. Been racking my brain as to what to do about planking. Got an idea to make planking lines since it is so small. If my idea works, upcoming pics will show what I have in mind.

[Vivian Galad]

Waiting on your next pics and idea, Jesse. As for the boat, wouldn´t be nicer to have it for show? I mean, take it hollowed and then tied but not fixed to the deck?

[themadchemist]

Hum, interesting....

It makes more sense to store the ships boat upside down to prevent water accumulation, but you typically see them displayed upright. I wonder if that just a model thing to show off the details or were the boats stored upright for faster unloading?

 

I'm with Vivian though, I was kinda looking forward to seeing what you would come up with.

[Sailor1234567890]

I second the vote to hollow it out and not paint yourself into the corner of having to leave her upside down on deck. 

[fifthace]

Coming along nicely there JesseLee, some interesting techniques.

 

I will be finishing a build of this for a friend's dad who has passed away, so will be watching your progress.

[JesseLee]

Since all that came with the kit was a cast metal boat with no detail on the inside I don't know how this lifeboat looked on the inside. Not sure which way I'll go with it at this point.

[JesseLee]

Keith, I have often wondered myself about the lifeboats being upright on deck. Did they have to dump them out every time it rained or were they really stored upside down? Upside down makes more sense to me. Maybe it is a modeling thing to have them upright & show more detail?

[themadchemist]

Jesse,

There could be a difference due to type of vessel (naval vs merchant) and/or size. With a ship like the Victory, which had 6 ships boats, they also had LOTS of crew available to keep them dry and bailed out. There is also the issue of readiness to consider, but storm or battle was not something that would sneak up so fast that there wasn't time.
I can also see smaller vessels with less crew, possibly stowing them upside-down to save on an already busy schedule.
 
All this type of stuff I like to think about as it played a part in the everyday life of an actual human beings' actual daily existent life, many individuals actually.
 
I was reading McKay's AotS and being the science/numbers nerd I am. It listed heads and who got to use what (roundhouse vs.on the beak), anyway doing the math if I recall correctly there was like 11 minutes per day per enlisted crew. Kinda makes you wonder why the naming of the poop-deck at aft but the heads in the bow. I wonder just how many of those enlisted just hung over the poop-deck side rail. LOL.
I bet chamber pots were used, but think of the mess if upended in rough seas.
 
So have you considered making a planked full version of the longboat using your block as a former? I'm having a blast working on that little bugger I'm messing around with. Its a great time killer, and helps keep you sharp. That's something  I understand about your needs, as we're kinda in the same boat with this blasted Lyme infection. Your Maid is turning out beautifully and I just like watching skilled individuals create.
 
I find some days it's tough to build (that's when I study, if that's possible), but when I do I feel better somehow. For me the act of creating something physical helps me cope. I found this hobby out of necessity. It has saved my sanity, at least what's left of it.
 

Edited March 19, 2014 by themadchemist

[themadchemist]

So that begs the question about your boat. What was the Scottish Maid? With her rig, I say a schooner, but they were used as fishing vessels as well as many other uses. I think I read somewhere once that the bluenose was a hugely successful fishing vessel, but also had one of the fastest china to new York tea runs.

 

So have you found anything on the history of the Maid? or her type of vessel in that time period? I've search for similar info on the San Francisco but anything pre 1600 is so blurred. I did read in one of the texts on ships décor that many of the galleons of the 1500's had painted sails and I've been considering that as I'm still planning on that one. Sometimes its fun to create your own history for a build also. The DSotM definitely wasn't an 1805 pilot boat.

[dcicero]

Scottish Maid was purchased in 1839 by Alexander Nicol and George Munro of Aberdeen for the purpose of competing with the Aberdeen & London Steam Navigation Company.  She worked the Aberdeen - London trade for about 50 years.

 

At the time of her building, tonnage was used to calculate various taxes and harbor duties.  Tax changes in 1836 establsihed a ship's tonnage based on depth, breadth and length at half midship depth.  Extra length above half midship depth was tax free, which drove innovation in hull design and construction.

 

Looking for ways to improve speed and performance and take advantage of the tax benefits of a longer hull, Hall & Sons (her builder) tested various hull shapes in a water tank.  They found the clipper desing to be the most efficient.  The term clipper was relatively new in 1839.  Although the re is some evidence that the term was in common use in the late 18th century, there is no written reference to a clipper ship until 1830 and the term was loosely attributed to any fast-sailing ship.  Scottish Maid was very fast.  She regularly made the 450 mile run from Aberdeen to London in 49 hours, averaging 9 knots.

 

 

 

Dan

[themadchemist]

Wow, thanks Dan.

So is she classified as a clipper. I typically think of square rig when I think clipper. There are so many 1/2 and 1/2 vessels out there also as one form developed into another.

[JesseLee]

I have found her called a Clipper-Schooner on the web. Cant find any photos except for the later re-done version & pics of models. I cant even find a pic of the figurehead anywhere

[dcicero]

Clipper Schooner is how I would describe her.

 

The "Aberdeen Bow" was quite an innovation at the time.  I found this published in the the Aberdeen Journal in 1848:

 

'The Messrs. Hall commenced framing the schooner from aft, and continued the frames until they reached the fore end of the keel.  Thus far the work had proceeded when the builders suggested a deviation from the models, which they believed would prove to be a decided improvement.  They proposed to run the stem out so as to form the cutwater, the effect of which would be to draw the waterlines finer at the bow and, as a natural consequence, the vessel would divide the water easily, the more buoyant forward, and of less registered tonnnage than if she were built on the old plan.  The idea did not at first meet the views of the owners.  A skeleton bow was then erected, and not a few of the curious examined it and were skeptical of the uncommon design.  After due consideration, the owners gave consent to proceed with the vessel according to the skeleton model, and in that style she was finished and launched.  The look of the schooner in the water was encourageiing.  It was evident from the appearance of her waterlines that the idea of a perfect bow was realized, and some of those who were at first opposed to the project were now among the warmest commendators.'

 

 

 

 

Dan

[JesseLee]

After a lot of thought I decided to continue on with my original plan to just make the lifeboat outside & not the inside & tie it down upside down like the plans show......for now. Later on one day if I have no other builds going on & want something to work on I can come back to it & make a more detailed one. Here are pics of the continued progress on the lifeboat.

 

 

[JesseLee]

I didn't want spend the time it would take to plank it it so I had this idea of how I could get the planking lines on the hull. This is a flea comb for dogs. The metal prongs are the same space apart as the plank lines on the metal boat. Practicing on scrap showed that pressing down & dragging it along the length of the hull made lines that looked like planking lines. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. The pic shows the first try. After a few attempts It turned out pretty good.

[JesseLee]

Stained it first. The pic doesn't show it but it turned out with dark & light areas that didn't look right so I lightly dry brushed some brown paint on it that was as close to the stain color as I had. The paint covered enough to make it evenly colored all over & the stain showed through just enough to keep the wooden look. I'm not sure this would work on a larger hull but on one this small it turned out better than I thought it would.

 

[themadchemist]

I never cease to be amazing at just WHAT can be used as a modeling tool. Great idea Jesse.

 

I didn't realized just how small she was until seeing your thumb next to it. WOW, she's smaller then my little build.

[Vivian Galad]

Great job, Jesse! =D

[SGraham]

Impressive critical thinking!

 

Steve

[DSiemens]

That planking works and I agree with hollowing it out and showing the detail despite how tedious it is.  

[guillemot]

Love the use of a flea comb to simulate planking. That's thinking outside the box! Just cameto your build and am catching up! Beautiful work, mate.

 

One of the big problems with researching British built ships is the fact that Britain's shipyards were repeatedly bombed during WWII. I really would love to see plans of some of the beautiful Clipper Schooners built by Whites of Cowes for yachts and opium clippers. Their drawing office got bombed and burned, same goes for Hall and quite a few others. War destroys so much history.