HMS Unicorn by ianmajor - Corel - Scale 1:75, 1748 to 1771

[Landlubber Mike]

Very nice Ian - I love the modifications you are making.  You're going to be a tough act to follow  

 

I should be starting my Unicorn in the next couple of weeks.  I need to source some plywood as my keel is a bit warped and twisted.  I also am waiting on some tools and my wood order from Hobbymill

[ianmajor]

Thanks Mike, though I don't think mine is a hard act to follow! Hopefully I can demonstrate a few things that are or (more likely) are not possible on this beast. At least anyone deciding to do these modifications as the ship is built rather than carve in to old work will have a less stressful/traumatic time.  

 

I am keeping an eye out for the start of your Unicorn build log - now that IS going to be good.    

[petervisser]

Hi Ian,

 

Just looking in on the latest developments. I am really impressed with all the mods you have made. The extra work you have put in really shows and she is looking great.

 

I wonder if I should perhaps break out the mini chop saw and make a few alterations myself....JUST KIDDING!

 

Good luck with the research.

 

Peter

Edited April 8, 2014 by petervisser

[ZyXuz]

Nice update, Ian and I have to say that the main bit is totally brilliant! 

I really hope can make my ship as accurate as historical, but I think my ship is currently so on 'my own way' now   lol

 

[jwvolz]

Ian,

 

It's looking very nice.

 

With regards to the spreadsheet, maybe you could screen capture the page/table, and turn it into a .jpg file? Then you could post it as a photo. Should work. 

[ianmajor]

Joe,

 

Thanks for the kind words. If my Unicorn comes out any where near as good as yours (and your Prince De Neufchatel) then I will be very happy.

 

Re doing a screen capture - good thinking I will try that.

[ianmajor]

OK,

 

Using Joe's idea here is an extract of the comparison table that I produced.

 

One input was from a table in Steel that covered a 500 ton 28 gun frigate and the other input was from the Corel sheet that gives the dimensions of the masts and yards. This extract compares the Corel metric scale sizes with the metric scale sizes calculated from Steel. The P/Ns refer to the Corel part numbers in the plans.

 

 

The Corel mast lengths will not include that part which extends below the upper deck, but even so there are a lot of differences. Anybody have any thoughts (apart from my sanity or lack of)?

 

I want to get the lower parts of the masts made before finishing off the deck furniture to make sure it all fits together.

Edited April 15, 2014 by ianmajor

[jwvolz]

What jumps out at me Ian is how top heavy the Corel dimensions are relative to Steel. I'm starting to remember why I didn't use Corel's plans for the masting and rigging when I built her...Even the yard dimensions are all larger, but I think that is less of an issue than the out of balance masts. Still, I'm not saying Corel has the spars right either. 

 

My gut tells me you should stick with Steel's numbers, the masts will be much better balanced. Hard to argue with him, vs. a kit manufacturer, especially with the other errors we know are in the kit. I used a mix of sources (didn't have Steel then), that generally agreed for the most part and was pretty happy with how it came out.

[ianmajor]

Thanks Joe. Nice to know my thinking is not totally off the rails.

 

 

Time to get stuck in to the chain pumps - starting with the cisterns.

 

I started by preparing some 0.5mm thick strip of walnut with my "contraption". For the sides I produced strip 10mm wide. Along this I scored two groves and rubbed pencil lead in the them. This was to represent the edges of the planking. The strip was then cut in to 17.5mm lengths to make the four sides. 

 

Similarly 4 off pieces 5.2mm by 10mm were cut from the ends (not from the same piece as the sides since the grain does not run in the same direction. Then 2 off pieces 6.5mm by 19mm for the bottoms. Actually I cut these slightly wide then trimmed them back when it was all glued together.

 

Some other bits that I cut from this wood were 3 pieces 0.5mm square (to reinforce the corners and to make the slides into which the removable end fits) and one piece 0.5mm x 1.5mm to make the ledges on the top of the cistern at each end.

 

 

Assembly was by fixing the slides to one end of each side. Next was the corner bracing to the two fixed ends along with a piece of 0.5 x 1.5 x 5.2mm to make the ledge.

 

Each end was then fixed to one side.

 

 

These parts were then glued together and the bottoms were glue on with one end protruding from under the removable end. When dry the bottoms were trimmed to the correct width and the protruding end rounded.

 

For the inboard end of the cistern the feet were made from 6.5mm lengths of 1.0 x 1.0mm strip. These were glued across the width of the cistern (one per cistern).

 

The cisterns were then placed in the waist area and the outboard ends were packed with scrap wood until the cisterns were level. Measuring the thickness of the packing gave me the depth of the outboard feet.

 

[ianmajor]

The outboard feet were then cut from 8.5 x 1.0mm walnut strip (the grain runs vertically).

 

 

The feet were then glued to the cisterns. I will shape the bottom of the feet after I have varnished them.

 

 

Then a family group photo. I put the cisterns with other bits in the waist to make sure they fit together and that the cisterns remained level. At this stage most of the deck furniture in the photo is still dry fixed.

 

          

[Landlubber Mike]

Beautiful work on the cisterns!  I took a look at your charts last night and was also struck by how much they differ from Steel.  Interestingly, the Corel pictures don't seem to show that the masts and yards are overly thick, but maybe it's just their pictures.

[ianmajor]

I am off to Edinburgh for a about 4 days with my wife and will not have Web access. So I thought a quick update was the order of the day.

 

I am now the proud owner of a (second hand) copy of Lees. Now I will have to think up new excuses for getting the rigging wrong.

 

For the end supports for the cranks I decided to use and modify four of the redundant stantions. First I drilled the end pieces of the gratings to take the stantion pins.Then I did a trial fit using temporary pieces of 5mm brass rod to ensure all would line up. In fact I had to slightly elongate the holes to achieve this.

 

 

For the modification I cut a 2mm wide strip of brass shim to make the bases. For each base I drilled a 1mm hole 5mm from the end of the strip. I made a simple jig - a piece of plywood with a 1mm hole 2mm from the edge. The shim was trapped on to the jig using the stantion then the end of the shim bent over the edge of the jig.

 

I made a second jig to bend the 0.5mm wire that would make the brace. This consisted of a piece of scrap aluminium with a hole drilled 9mm from one edge. The wire was insert in the hole, bent towards the edge of the aluminium then bent over the edge. Using a protractor as guide I set the two bends to 45 degrees. This jig ensured that all four braces were identical.

 

At this stage I did not cut off the base or the brace from the source material - this made them easier to hold when soldering.

 

 

Next up I clamped the wooden jig in the vise and soldered the stantion in to the base - making sure the hole was pointing in the right direction!

 

Next using a clothes peg I clamped the brace in place. This only required a touch from the soldering iron to secure both ends.

 

 

The base was then trimmed and its end rounded with a file.

 

[ianmajor]

Then I tried the four braced stantions in place. They are blackened but need a polish up - they look rather uneven at the moment.

 

 

Having got the centre line of the cranks established it was now time to check the lateral position of the pump cisterns. The easiest way was to make the hoods and use their centre lines when fitted to the cisterns.

 

To make the hoods I cut the sides from 0.5mm thick walnut. The edge planking was 1.5mm wide strips of the same material.The sides were made so that they made a sliding fit inside the cisterns. The hoods when complete will rest on the edge planking.

 

I milled a piece of scrap wood to be a snug fit inside the hoods to use as an assembly jig. This piece had a 0.7mm hole drilled in it so that the sides could be lined up using the 0.7mm drill bit. With the sides clamped to the jig I checked that it would still slide inside the cistern then I to planked around the edge.

 

 

The first hood and a cistern were again tried for alignment. Once I am happy with the ride height of the hood I will fit a closure plank on the gap that still exists on both sides (the nearside gap is visible).

 

 

Now it is time to make the second hood. I intend to have a pump with the chain and sprocket visible. Making two hoods means that if I make a complete pig's ear of the chain I can glue the two hoods on and pretend that that was what I intended to do all along!

[hamilton]

Again with the astounding metal work - and fine all around craftsmanship - very well done Ian!

hamilton

[Blue Ensign]

Fine piece of detailing work Ian

 

B.E.

[ZyXuz]

wow! that's brilliant!

well done, Ian
 

[Ferit]

I love your metal works Ian...

Formidable...

[ianmajor]

Hamilton, BE, ZyXuz and Ferit - thanks for the kind words and encouragement. It helps to keep me on track.Thanks for the likes as well.

 

BE - I notice from your Pegasus log that you have been to deepest, darkest Herefordshire. If you cross the Malvern Hills from there you end up in the land where I was bred, born and brung up. My kids hate the place because "nothing happens there"!

 

Well I have had a very nice long weekend in Edinburgh with my wife. I thoroughly recommend a visit - a lovely city with friendly residents. 

 

The National Museum of Scotland is in the centre which has amongst its exhibits a collection of boat and ship models. Most are not contemporary with the period that they represent but they are interesting none the less. I have taken some photos although the quality of them is not good. The models are in cases made with relatively small panes of glass and some  have mirrors behind. When I have sorted them I will put them in to a separate log. In the meantime here is one of them that took my fancy. 

 

It is a 20th century model of the clipper schooner Bonnie Lass of 1868.

 

 

If you want to see descriptions and official photos of the collection go to http://nms.scran.ac.uk/ and put in to the search field (top right on the page) key words "model ship" to get the ship collection or "model boat" to get the boat collection.

 

So - on with the old wreck.

 

I finished planking the hoods with some closure planks. Then it was time for some crank handles. I cut some short lengths of 1mm diameter brass tube, which has a 0.4mm internal bore (this stuff is great for making working hinges). Fitted through the holes in the hoods in this way looks a bit like roddings. The cranks fore and aft of the pump bodies were made from 0.4mm diameter N/S wire. This plugs in to the brass tubing nicely. The sides of the cranks were made from 1mm wide strip of N/S which I drilled with 0.5mm holes every 4mm along its length then cut the individual parts from this. Using a 0.5mm hole for the 0.4mm wire allows a small gap for solder to enter to make a better joint.

 

I tried these out on the jig to check the fit. The cranks are yet to be blackened. I will also slice up some very small lengths of the tubing to attach the cranks to the bitt uprights for more support. 

 

I think I should have used slightly thicker material for the ends of the cranks.

 

 

I then tried a dry assembly in the actual waist area to make sure all was well. It is getting very tight in there which will make rigging a bit tricky. Also having one of the pumps open may not be a good idea in this small space. I will have to give this some more thought.

 

You may notice all the cranks hang downwards - this is because they are not as yet fixed so gravity is taking over. 

 

 

There are a lot of items in the waist which have not been permanently fixed in place yet. These are waiting on the canon rigging to be completed. Perhaps I should get stuck in to that now - I have put it off long enough.   

[Landlubber Mike]

Really nice work Ian.  The cranks are perfect.

 

Have you thought about the cannons yet?  The nice thing is that the carriages are already put together   I would make sure that you have done everything you want to the exterior of the hull, as I can't tell you how many times I popped cannons on my Badger because the barrel was sticking just outside the gun ports. 

 

Are you planning on using the same cannons for the main deck and the quarterdeck?  If I remember correctly, Chapman's book notes that the ship had 24 nine-pounders, and 4 three-pounders on the quarterdeck (or something like that).  The kit of course gives 32 guns.

Edited May 7, 2014 by Landlubber Mike

[ianmajor]

Thanks Mike,

 

Good point. I have a few things to do on the basic hull. I best get those done now.

 

Re the cannon - I am afraid I am using the Corel supplied cannon throughout. The problem is the rings on the quarter deck are now set too high for smaller cannon and changing them would be a problem.

[Landlubber Mike]

On the Badger, I generally followed the order of construction in the instructions.  For some reason, the instructions have you add on some of the rails, but not all, then add deck details like the cannons, and then go back and add the remaining rails, drill hawse holes, etc.  I probably ended up popping off each cannon two or three times adding the rails and other external hull items.  The blame is mostly mine though, as I tended to work on the model on my coffee table, and many times, on my lap.

 

For the quarterdeck guns, I bought 4-pounder Caldercraft cannon kits from Cornwall Model Boats, which are 26mm in length (Model C85040AK) to see how they look.  The guns are marketed as 1:64 scale guns circa 1790, so probably somewhat close to the 4-pounders for the Unicorn's period.  I also bought the Corel 25mm cannon barrels (Model CC21) which are blackened like the kit guns and in the same style - at first glance, they seem like they would fit on the Caldercraft carriages.  Interestingly, the Caldercraft 4-pounder carriages are almost the same size as the Corel carriages.

 

The sources I've read differ when it comes to the number of guns on the Unicorn:

 

-- Corel:  total of 32 guns, with 24 on the upper deck and 8 on the quarterdeck.  

 

-- Chapman:  his notes show the ship as having a total of 34 guns -- 24 nine-pounders on the upper deck and 10 four-pounders on the quarterdeck (no  swivel guns).  

 

-- Gardiner:  his Frigate book says that when the Unicorn and Lyme were launched in 1748, they only carried 24 nine-pounders on the upper deck, then notes when talking about successor ships to the Lyme-class like the Guadeloupe, that from 1756 these ships were allocated 4 three-pounders on the quarterdeck to introduce the new rating of 28-gun ship.

 

-- Wikipedia: lists the ship as having 24 nine-pounders on the upper deck, 4 three-pounders on the quarterdeck (after September 22, 1756), and 12 half-pounder swivel guns (after November 11, 1756).  

 

 

Gardiner is listed as one of the Wikipedia references, so that's probably why Wikipedia and Gardiner are very close.  I'm a little unclear as to why Chapman listed the Unicorn as having 10 four-pounders on the quarterdeck - my best guess is that the Chapman plans show five pairs of portholes on the quarterdeck (versus Corel having four pairs).  Interestingly, Chapman also show 13 pairs of gunports on the upper deck, whereas Corel only has 12 pairs.

 

I haven't made a final decision yet, but I'm thinking of going with the Gardiner approach of either as launched with no guns on the quarterdeck, or adding 4 three-pounders on the quarterdeck as a post-1756 version. The Caldercraft four-pounders at 1:64 scale could probably work as three-pounders at 1:75 scale.  I highly doubt that I'll add swivel guns, as they may make the model look too busy and from a practical perspective, I don't know where I would mount 12 of them.  

 

More to research I suppose    

Edited May 8, 2014 by Landlubber Mike

[ianmajor]

Mike,

 

I have taken on board your wise counsel and am tackling the remaining jobs on the basic hull. In particular I am attempting to improve the appearance of the steps. For this I made a chisel with a 1mm wide blade to trim between the treads.

 

I also noticed the Chapman plan had 13 ports per side on the upper deck. My assumption was that the foremost was the bridle port leaving 12 gun ports.

 

One thing about only using 28 of the 32 guns supplied by Corel means that I won't be using these four interesting specimen....

 

 

I am trying to decide whether they were some secret type of cannon that could fire around corners, thus removing the need for bow and stern chasers - or was it that 40 years ago, when my kit was produced, Corel didn't have access to a decent lathe. Hum.........    Note - the barrels were not supplied blackened back then.

 

I will be fitting swivel guns in the next month or so - which perhaps will give a feel for how crowded it will get.   

 

[jwvolz]

Wow Ian those are ugly. I purchased my Unicorn in about 1995 and the cannons were very nicely done, nothing like that.

 

Your build continues to look very nice.

[Landlubber Mike]

Yeah, those look like cross-eyed cannons  The cannons in my kit seem to be very nice (haven't open the bag holding them yet as I tend to lose things).

 

On the extra port, Chapman shows one port pretty much up against the stern gallery.  I haven't closely compared them, but they could be spaced and located a bit differently than how Corel does it.

Edited May 9, 2014 by Landlubber Mike

[riverboat]

Yeah, that's pretty funny Ian, can you imagine having to rely on them in battle??.... You'd be shooting yourself 

Frank

[Blue Ensign]

Beautifully neat work on those cranks Ian, a fine job you're doing.

 

ps. I agree with your kids re darkest Herefordshire and area, although as it's only an hour from me, I can enjoy what it has to offer in short visits.   Thanks for the link to the Museum .

 

B.E.

[ZyXuz]

well done on the cranks, Ian! nice and neat take a shot of your full deck view, I can sure it looks awesome! 

Anyway, sorry about your cannons..  Glad Corel didn't no produce any real ones for ship battles

[ianmajor]

Moving on from cross-eyed cannon I am trying to improve certain parts of the 30+ year old hull before fitting any of the less ocularly challenged barrels.

 

First up was the steps either side of the waist and in the heads area. Corel supply "L" shaped beech strip to make these. I used them as supplied but they were rather heavy in appearance. I would rather have replaced them with something neater. However, since they have been in place a long time my concern was that any exposed planking would look considerably lighter than the adjacent parts that have had long term exposure to the elements.

 

So I used a chisel and files to carve them back and to round all the edges except the tops of the treads. The photo is a before (left) and after (right) montage.

 

 

 

I gave the steps behind the heads the same treatment. The lowest of these steps I cut a recess to take the bowsprit.

 

In one of my discussions with Mike he pointed out the the Corel plan has two sets of gammoning. Lees says that most ships only had one set, the exception being the largest. I had already made provision for the two sets so the rear of the two holes I covered with extra grating. The second hole in the keel part will stay open - hopefully no-one will notice it.

 

The next photo shews the trimmed steps and the extra grating fitted. It also has a couple of arches on the cutting mat waiting to go on to the gallery.........

 

 

I would love to replace the transom and galleries with something nearer the mark but this would involve major surgery. So I am going to content myself with cosmetic improvements.

 

The galleries being too narrow and positioned incorrectly result in the top and bottom castings being too big giving large overhangs. I trimmed the castings back which loses some of the detail. The sides of the galleries look drab anyway.

 

So I looked around the various galleries produced by the likes of Chuck, Dan Vadas, Remco, BE and others to get some ideas. I decided on arches over the lights/windows and columns between them. The missing detail on the top casting was replaced by some Coral decorative strip which is made of hard brass. I have a small amount of filling to do and the castings need to be painted.

 

Getting the shapes of the arches over the windows correct is interesting. They are a skewed elipses. To copy these I use a soft pencil on thin paper to do a sort of brass rubbing. From this I can cut out a template from the paper to use on the wood. 

 

The next photo is another before (left) and after (right) montage. Of note is the colour of the new sill under the lights/windows and the colour of the wood between the ebony. These are both lime strip supplied with the kit. The strip between the ebony had had 4 decades of exposure the other sat in the Corel kit box for that period of time.  

 

 

I am intending to do something around the rear lights/windows.

 

I toyed with the idea of carving new figures for the transom but I don't have any suitable wood, or skills for this. I opted on trying to improve the Corel supplied casting. This is a fairly large, guilded white metal job. It looks crude because it is so thick - 2mm or so. The detail is within the outer 1mm of this depth. To give it rigidity the individual figures have thick webbing between them.

 

So I prized the casting off the transom and clamped it to the milling table face down with thick card under it to protect the detail. Then I milled off about 1mm of its depth. The indication of when I had gone far enough was the webbing starting to drop out. The rest of the webbing was then easily removed. Again another before (upper) and after (lower) montage.

 

 

Now to attempt the production of matching arches for the rear lights. 

 

 

 

 

[NenadM]

I ve just dropped. Very nice work, so I ll follow with great interest

[JohnB40]

Hi Ian,

It looks like we have been working on the same part of the Unicorn lately. I have decided to use the Corel's pot metal transom,I just couldn't see my way to making a scratch built one. I would rather spend the time opening up the ships waist as you have done. Your work is a real pleasure to view.

As I discussed on Mike's build log,I went ahead and shortened the window length by boarding over the lower set of panes. The transom is now curved with a backing of 2mm basswood sheet cut to contour. I will use veneer strips on the forward face showing above the stern rail to finish that side. I now have to sand bulkhead 17 to get the right 16 degree rake and curve for the transom to mount against. I plan to use the same approach on the gallery windows.

 

Take care, John