HMS Snake by Beef Wellington - FINISHED - Caldercraft - Scale 1: 64 - First wooden ship build

[ModelBoatMaker]

My humble opinion is that there is probably little to be gained by filing down the rivets, you can get a pretty close fit as is which is really not noticeable - hadn't even really thought about it until you asked the question!  Interesting idea, would love to see how you tackle it if you decide to go down that path.  I think I'd be more worried about getting scratches on the copper plates.

 

The colour I used is Tamiya XF-52 Flat Earth - unfortunately my local store doesn't have much selection.  I tried the Admiralty walnut but thought it too bright, and I'm not very good (I found) at mixing colours.

Ok thank you very much Jason. I have just been looking at my components for the rudder and they look slightly different to yours. Did you widen the recesses in the rudder and if so why ?

 

Pete

[Beef Wellington]

Did you widen the recesses in the rudder and if so why ?

 

Pete

 

Hi Pete - I didn't widen them, all I did was to square the corners up to allow the gudgeon and pintles to seat properly.  If I remember correctly, these also needed some filing to get them nicely squared up.  Nothing tricky, just the usual patience needed and was happy with the way things turned out.

[Beef Wellington]

Ok thank you, sorry to use your images, but I was wondering whether you have made the pintles shorter(image1) because when I put mine together you can see the pintle protrudes through the gudgeon ( unlike yours in image2)

 

Pete - Yes, I did trim the pintle, otherwise it wasn't possible to mount the rudder with the gudgeons already attached to the sternpost.

[ModelBoatMaker]

Pete - Yes, I did trim the pintle, otherwise it wasn't possible to mount the rudder with the gudgeons already attached to the sternpost.

Thanks very much for all your help Jason, I should be able to complete the rudder after the rest of the coppering is complete!

 

Pete

[cog]

Jason,

 

Just poppin' in. A bit busy at the work front. Very nice job on the chainplates, and the rudder.

[Beef Wellington]

Carl, good to hear from you

 

Building 18 carronades is quite frankly, tedious!  Haven't had much in the way of build time recently but I'm getting close - they are simply very fiddly and with so many to do its a task I need to break up.  Worked on getting some more of the structural bow details on, namely the timberheads and the fore pinrail. I had already cut the holes for the pins of the pinrsil before I had installed the fore platform as it would be next to impossible to do afterwards.  Photos are pretty self explanatory.

 

I decided to try and shape the timberheads a bit to give them less of a 'cut out of plywood' look which was pretty straightforward.  First picture shows the before and after comparison.

 

One thing I'm not sure of and as always would appreciate comments and suggestions.  The second photo shows the side profile once complete, and I have timberhead sitting right over the bridleport which doesn't seem quite right.  These were placed into the holes pre-cut in the capping rail, but books I references seem to indicate that these would have been adjacent to the port (see second picture).  The difference is quite a bit and the plans are less than clear on this.  Not sure I can change anything, but I wonder if the capping rails should have met at the front of the bow, this would be closer but still not completely right.  It would also prevent the bowsprit from fitting unless the ends were trimmed.  None of this is mentioned in the instructions of course, and of course it wasn't apparent until I was cleaning my paintbrush!  Are the knightheads too far apart, should they be closer to the bowsprit?

 

Edited June 16, 2013 by Beef Wellington

[Sjors]

Hi Jason,

 

I see that you also make your samson posts ( or timber heads )

But one question…..those at the front, are they not to big?

Because mine are all the same size if you look at the picture at the San Ildefonso ( if you can find them  ) ( picture 548 at page 37 )

For the rest it looks great!

 

[Beef Wellington]

But one question…..those at the front, are they not to big?

 

Hi Sjors, the ones at the front are (I believe) called knightheads and should be taller.

[hamilton]

Beautiful work, Jason! Re, the knightheads - I'm not too sure, but the knighthead's I've seen are normally either side of the bowsprit - it might have been different with the Snake, and it's also possible that I get this idea from exceptional (and potentially incorrect) models! Others can confirm.

 

Also - the timberheads would actually be the ends of the frames, so they wouldn't run in line of the gunports, as far as I know....I wonder if you could cut it off, sand it down, refinish and place the timberhead forward of the gunport...again others can confirm

 

She looks fantastic in any case!

hamilton

[Beef Wellington]

Hamilton, you're too kind...and I'm still pondering.

 

After some reading I found the following (not for the Snake of course), clearly shows the timberhead above a port, so that could be OK.  However, this also shows the knightheads much closer to the bowsprit (as Hamilton describes) and sort of what I would have expected for this to be a pretty fundamental to any ship design.  I'll wait for others thoughts and opinions before I resort to anything drastic with the knightheads.

[S.Coleman]

Great build nice and sharp lines in your work. I'll be waiting for more pics!

[Sjors]

Thanks Jason,

 

Learn something again 

It's always nice to see the difference between the vessels.

 

[realworkingsailor]

Have you tried fitting your bowsprit yet? (Even just the unfinished stump) it may give you a better idea of how things may look, and whether or not you want to make changes.

 

Andy

[Blue Ensign]

Hi Jason, I have looked at the framing on Pegasus, the ports sit between frames but there are filler frames below and above the ports some of which are extended to a timberhead, one being directly above the Bridle port, but there are also a couple further aft.

 

The knightheads were intended to give lateral support to the bowsprit, and certainly on Pegasus sit close either side; the arrangement you show wouldn't fulfil this purpose so I think there may be some doubt as to the  accuracy of their position.

 

B.E.

[Beef Wellington]

Thanks all for the comments...

 

This is why I seem to make such slow progress, decided that I couldn't live with the knightheads as they were so had a go at fixing.  Photos pretty self explanatory, removed the paint, loosened the PVA glue by saturating with rubbing alchohol and filled the holes.  I then shortened the knightheads by the thickness of the rail and pinned securely in place. Much happier with the result and the deviation from the plans, I'll leave everything else as is.

 

[Sjors]

That looks great Jason,

 

A real improvement !

Nice fix 

And a amazing paint job….

You can not even see where the first knightheads where...

 

[The Sailor]

Hi Jason, the position of the knightheads is more realistc now. I like the modifications you did.

[Ferit]

The all knightheads are following the inclination of the hull as continuation of frames...

I can see the planking of the forecaste deck and through the openning of the bowsprit, the planking of the main deck... Even their lines fit each other.

Superb symmetry in all... You are like a 5-axis CNC machine...

[hamilton]

Hi Jason

 

The knighthead fix is very well done! And it's a good thing that BE clarified the timberhead question (now I can add that to my modelling lore, as well and free myself from many mistakes!). The model now looks even more beautiful than before!

hamilton

[Anja]

Hello Jason,

 

 

Have a great day.

 

Anja

[Ferit]

Happy Birthday Jason...

[st george]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASON.

[ZyXuz]

Happy Birthday, Jason!

and nice fix on your knight head!!

great job!

[Sjors]

From me also Happy Birthday Jason.

Enjoy your day and get a lot of goodies for your build       

 

[Timmo]

Happy birthday Jason

[realworkingsailor]

Happy Birthday

 

Andy

[jim_smits]

Hi mate,

 

Happy Birthday!

 

Now that life has quietened down a bit again, I can start back on the Snake build and keep an eye on yours.

 

More Carronades to assemble and rig......

[Beef Wellington]

Richard, Hamilton - thanks for the kind words

 

Ferit - You're far too kind!  There are a number of items that of course I see and wished I could have gone back to redo, but I'm happy with the learning experience.  I love a quote that I saw on someone else's log "Thats what first builds are all about, second builds"

 

Anja, David, ZyXuz, Timmo, Sjors, Andy, Jim - thanks for the birthday wishes!  When I saw all the comments I was thinking that somehow there must have been a lot of progress on my ship while I was sleeping...but sadly no   I've not been able to get much time in the shipyard recently, but I can feel her calling out to me...too many outside projects and nice weather.

 

Jim - looking forward to see you moving forward again!

[drtrap]

Wishing you the best Jason for your birthday!

 

Stergios

[mobbsie]

Hi Jason,

 

Happy Birthday mate, have a good one.

 

mobbsie