HMS Lyme (1748-1760) by Landlubber Mike - bash of Corel Unicorn - Scale 1:75 (CLOSED TO START SCRATCH BUILD)

[ianmajor]

Hum,

 

Yes. Corel does have the channels low down. The fore channels on Chapman only extend back beyond the rear edge of the fore deck bulwarks by a small amount. Corel has the extending by about one third their length beyond the bulwarks. The bulwarks on the model actually stop short of the rear edge of the fore deck so it may be just a case of extending the bulwarks a little.

 

This may improve the possibility of fitting a fish davit which is squeezed out in the Corel arrangement.

 

I have my channels higher than the Corel plan but still under the rail. I wont try to claim this was by design. 

 

I have my measuring stick out for a look!

 

Great fun this.

Edited May 14, 2014 by ianmajor

[Landlubber Mike]

Ian, take a look at Jay's picture on a thread about ship books.  Coincidentally, he posted a picture from the page on the rudder  It shows a larger ship, but is worth the look.

 

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/6616-what-are-your-most-interesting-andor-useful-books/?p=195797

[Landlubber Mike]

I marked up a copy of the external hull plans to show everything that appears to be different from Chapman.  I'll try and get a good resolution image up tonight.

[ianmajor]

Mike,
 
I decided to create a scale rule for the Chapman diagram so that I could get some real scale lengths to check the model against. Chapman has three scales being S, E and F. Since Chapman was Swedish I decided that they were Swedish, English and French. To confirm this I looked up the old definitions for feet in these three countries. They came out as:-
 
Stockholm (Swedish foot) pre 1863 = 29.69cm

 

English foot from 13th century = 30.48cm

 

French pied du roi pre-revolution (1795) = 32.48cm  (after 1795 there was no roi to have his pied measured).

 

I calculated the ratio between these values and they match the ratios between the three scales.

 

So I will use the E scale for the scale rule. Of course Corel may have used the Stockholm foot.

[Landlubber Mike]

Hi Ian, that's really interesting.  I always wondered what those scales referred to.

 

I went through my resources last night to research tillers, and unfortunately I didn't come across anything that mentioned for what reasons the tiller would be on the quarterdeck as opposed to below.  It looks like the tiller set up takes up quite a bit of room though - I wonder if it really was feasible (or safe) for the quarterdeck to have all that armament on it if the tiller was there?  Perhaps descendants of the Lyme class had modified sterns to move the tiller below the quarterdeck?  I'm not really sure.  The gentleman with the 1:48 scratch build added the quarterdeck tiller to his build, so you're probably right  He did add 8 cannons on the quarterdeck forward of the tiller assembly (along with 26 cannons on the upper deck).  Thankfully this is something that I have a little more time to think about.  If you did go that route, I think it would add a nice touch as it essentially is one of the few ways to expose the inner workings of the ship.

 

I also spent a couple of hours thinking about how the stern modification would need to be accomplished.  I really feel woefully in the dark on this as I only have one model under my belt.  The Badger and Pegasus kits use gunport patterns and stern extensions to create the curve of the transom and the stern counter.  Chuck's Syren kit has you add "L" shaped stern framing pieces to frame the transom and stern counter.  Given the curves and modifications, this is fairly complicated for me, and pretty much a critical thing to get right.  I'm thinking that I might have to go the framing route and just guess at contours as the Corel kit doesn't use gunport patterns.

 

To move the transom forward, have it slightly curved, and change its rake, I've come to the conclusion that bulkhead 17 has to go and that extensions or framing will have to be built on the after-face of bulkhead 16.  I'm thinking too that the stern counter has to be moved forward as well.  The kit has you add the stern counter template to what essentially is the after-face of the stern post.  In looking at Chapman however, it looks like the bottom of the stern counter should start at the fore face of the stern post.  This probably means moving bulkhead 16 forward and/or modifying it a bit so that the curve of the planking to the stern counter is relatively smooth.  That modification makes me very nervous as there are a lot of curves at that area.

 

I've also been planning ahead for the rabbets - Chuck has a very interesting approach on the Syren build.  Rather than cut the rabbet onto keel only, he adds to the edges of the keel a thin strip of material than is less wide than the keel piece so that you end up with a built-in rebate.  From there, he chisels the keel piece a bit to ensure a smooth transition into the rebate.  Seems a lot easier to do that than cut a straight consistent groove along the keel - one of those "wow, why didn't I think of that" moments  Thanks Chuck!

[ianmajor]

Mike,

 

On the stern - I don't think there is a need to move the counter forward. If you add a stern post this would in effect produce the same result without affecting the geometry of the counter. As you pointed out, the keel part is short by about 5mm so you will simply be correcting that. It certainly would making the rabbets for the rear end of the hull planks very much easier to make.

[ianmajor]

....on constructing the counters...

 

If I remember correctly the counters (pre-planking) are produced with two pieces of wood moldings ie the curve shape is already in place. These are attached either side of the keel piece to bulkhead 16 just below the position of bulkhead 17.  

 

It is possible to fit (up to) bulkhead 16 and the counter parts as per Corel but keep part 17 loose. Then you would be in a position to try out some dry run options such as making a set of "L" shaped supports to fix to these to support the transom. If they prove too difficult - no worry - off they come on goes part 17 and the construction can still be as per Corel.   

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks Ian.  I was originally intending to reduce the length of the keel, and add the stern post to it (rather than just add a stern post to the end of the current keel).  That would just push the stern further out from the last gunport.  But, I might need to reassess given that my keel is actually shorter than the keel diagram on at least one of the plans (it's longer as to the other plans).

 

Keeping bulkhead 17 around as a backup plan does make sense now that you mention it.  Too bad it is plywood, as it would be nice to contour it with a little curve.  I could always cut a new one out of basswood or walnut to serve as the template for the shape I want, and then plank over it.

[ChrisLBren]

Hi Mike,

 

Kit bashing to me always sounds way more difficult than just buying a scroll saw, quality wood, source whatever fittings you need (from Chuck for instance), and doing it yourself with solid plans (smile).  Look forward to watching your progress !

Chris

[JohnB40]

Greetings gentlemen,

Thank you for the 'welcome aboard the Unicorn club'

Mike,I think Ian is right about the stern post. Now that it has been pointed out it seems obvious that this part was ommited by Corel,and by adding it the rudder would move aft along the counter and look like it is in its proper place. All my other ships had a stern post,I thought it odd Unicorn did not,but trusted Corel's plan (foolish me). I did put some what of a post in by channeling in a groove in the end of the hull planks and inlaying a 3mm walnut strip in place,I wish I had made it wider.

 

Still thinking out the transom problem. If I decide to keep the stern demolition to a minimum this is my idea ....Leave bulkhead 17 in place and glue 2 x 0.25" thick basswood panels cut to the profile of #17 on the forward face of said bulkhead. Two are needed because the bulkhead on the front edge is divided by the keel board. There is room to slide these in the gap between #16 and #17,CA glue them to  the bulkhead and inner planks and clamp them. They will be strongly secured by the keel plywood board,the inner hull planks and bulkhead #17. I think there will be enough thickness of material that with careful sanding the curve of the transom can be produced. I will have to change the rake of the transom to 16 degrees somehow,probably by shimming.

 

I am intending to start a build log but it will take some time as I am a mid twentieth century luddite and not really computer savvy.

Regards,John

[Landlubber Mike]

Hi John, thanks for your thoughts.  Thinking a little more on it, I think you and Ian are right that maybe I should just remove bulkhead 17, tilt the transom, and  add the stern post to the end of the keel.  Attempting to move both the stern post and the transom/galleries further inwards to get the galleries closer to the last gun ports probably will cause me more problems than they are worth.  As Ian pointed out, (1) removing bulkhead 17, (2) tilting and curving the transom and (3) widening the stern galleries should get me very close to the Chapman plans without messing with bulkhead 16 and the stern counter.

 

Your approach to the transom sounds like it can actually work very well.  That's an ingenious idea to keep things in place, yet build in the curve and extra rake to the transom.  How are you thinking about doing the windows?  Are you going to paint the modified bulkhead 17 black and fit clear windows against it?  

[JohnB40]

Hi Mike,

I have not really given a lot of thought about the actual transom part construction yet. I had sidetracked into spending a bit of time cleaning up and painting the pot metal one as a diversion whilst planking the hull. If I use it I know I will later regret using it at a later date,so I will explore what is involved in building a scratch built one.

What wood sheeting are you going to use to construct your transom? I guess you could steam it and bend it round a form like a big sauce pan with the right radius.

I went ahead and added the .25" filler blocks on the front side of #17 last night using lashings of CA glue. I now have a solid area nearly forward to #16 to begin shaping. I intend to start with the angle off vertical first,then the curved contour,carefully using a block hand sander. As a rough guess using a template with the center of #17 as the highest point of the curve,the outer part of curve by the galleries will cut back into the hull planking on the sides about 5/32"/4mm forward of it present position. This is the best compromise I think I can make in making the stern/transom area shape acceptable without major demolition.

 

John

[Landlubber Mike]

Hi John,

 

I haven't really figured out how I'm going to put the transom together yet.  What i might do is start with a thin sheet of basswood or plywood to get the template down in the shape I want, then add better wood over it (either with planks or just solid pieces).  I'm also considering your approach of building up to a thicker piece, and then sanding in the contours, versus adding frames or stern extension pieces onto which to mount the transom.  

 

The general framing of the stern is really driving me nuts right now.  I'm planning to not include the flag locker, which means the top halves of bulkheads 16 and 17 need to be removed.  In doing so, I lose out on the end frames on which to attach the hull planking at the quarterdeck.  I suppose I could always do what other kits do and create a pseudo gunport pattern for the hull area at the quarterdeck, which would be attached to very thin frames at the two bulkheads which ultimately would be removed.  

 

 

 

[Landlubber Mike]

For what it's worth, I finally finished sketching out the template for the keel.  It's a bit hard to see in the picture, but the white paper templates are the stem, keel and rudder.  Because the keel is a relatively straight line, I used the bottom of the plywood piece for the keel line which is why the paper template is hanging off the edge (rather than trying to cut it on the scroll saw and have to true up such a long line)

 

 

 

I struggled a bit with deciding whether to shorten the keel, which would pull the stern galleries closer to the last gunport as per the Chapman plans.  I decided against it, as it would really throw the lines off the hull I think, particular if it compressed the area of the last three bulkheads.  So instead I decided to not shorten the keel, but rather modify the angle of the fore edge of the stern post, and add a stern post.  From my measurements, it looks like the fore edge of the stern post needed to be pushed out another 4 degrees to 103 degrees per Chapman.  I then added a stern post, which gradually tapers to a narrower width as you go up the post.  The rake of the transom in Chapman came to 106% per my measurements, so you can see how that pushed out the line.  The dotted line is where the front edge of the transom should end up.  I built out the keel a bit more to the right of the dotted line to help serve as a stern extension, which would define the foremost edge of the curved transom.

 

 

 

Here is the picture above with a tracing of the stern gallery from the kit's plans.  The windows will need to be spaced and oriented a bit differently, but you can see with the modifications how the gallery sits more forward over the stern post and rudder, where in the kit plans, it hangs way aft from them.

 

 

 

I also started sketching out the bow section a bit.  There are probably three changes I'm making to note here.  First, I think a ship like this would only have one set of gammoning.  Second, from the Chapman plans and other similar ships like the Pandora, the stem comes up and supports the bowspirit (roughly sketched).  Third, I think the kit's bow is missing the gammoning knee, which I sketched in as the part above the gammoning piece that contains the gammoning slot.  The gammoning knee has a hole for the main stay collar (not sketched in) - the kit on the other hand has you add a 5mm x 5mm piece at the top of the stem at which to take the main stay collar.  Not sure if the kit is correct or not, but I'm going to go with adding a gammoning knee piece to the stem.

 

 

 

It's a bit late for me to break out the scroll saw tonight, so I'm going to sleep on the sketch and hopefully start making sawdust later this week

 

 

[ianmajor]

Mike,

 

Excellent work.

 

An area I had problems with around the keel was along what should be the rabbet (again not sure if this was changed in the later kits). The double planking approaches 3mm thick. The bulkheads extend down quite low so that when the planking was complete there was only about 2mm or so of keel left exposed. Tried to photograph this - hope you can see what I mean. The rule slightly overlaps the planking on the right hand side - the left side is right on the edge of the planking.

 

 

Another plus point about adding a stern post is that the gudgeons will be much easier to fix. On mine the top one fitted straight on to the flared part of the stern - a real pain (plus I guess there should be more than three of them. )

 

. 

 

[Landlubber Mike]

Hi Ian, thank you very much for the heads up on this.  I wonder if the issue was from the bulkheads extending too low?  Not sure if they fixed that issue on the newer kits, as mine seem to sit higher.  I'm going to plan on taking Chuck's approach towards building in the rabbet by adding a thin strip of wood along the edges of the keel that is maybe 3mm wide, so that it builds in a rebate for the rabbet on the 5mm keel.  That will give me a little extra room so that I don't run into the issues you ran into.

 

On the keel, do you remember if you sanded down the keel at the bearding line to the edge?  That might help alleviate some of the issues you experienced at the keel and rudder.  It's good to know, just in case I run into similar problems.

 

For your bulkheads, do you remember whether the tops of the bulkheads were at the height of the keel (and just above at the crown of the bulkhead to account for the curve in the decks)?  My bulkheads seem to fit a bit higher, which means I might run into problems like you did at the keel if I lower them.

 

Hope you had fun with the grandkids

Edited May 20, 2014 by Landlubber Mike

[ianmajor]

Mike,

 

I think you have a good approach on the rabbet. I just checked the rear of the keel. No sign of any sanding down around the bearding line - I can see the edge of the 3 plys all around - another reason for some form of edging around the keel. I don't remember the instructions calling for sanding here - at the time I thought a bearding line was something to do with my face, so I would not have considered doing anything with it. (The ship that is not my face. ).

 

The bulkheads I fitted so that they were in line with the top of the keel as per diagram 2. One of them (I seem to remember it was about bulkhead 3) then extended below the bottom of the keel so I took a file to bring it in to line using bits of string across the other bulkheads.

 

Great time with the grandkids. I have made up a pirate ship with my grand-daughter. Perhaps I should put a photo of it in my log.  

[Landlubber Mike]

Here is a repost of what I posted on Ian's log in response to his thoughts on the revised lines of the quarterdeck and upperdeck which can be found here:

 

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/515-hms-unicorn-by-ianmajor-corel-scale-175-1748-to-1771/?p=202353

 

 

Looking at the Chapman plans versus the Corel plans, I think Ian is spot on as usual with respect to the line of the quarterdeck and upper deck.  A few other differences I noticed from the Corel plans:

 

1.  The height of the bulwark area of the quarterdeck section on the Corel plans gets narrower as you move forward.  From Chapman, the height seems to stay the same.

 

2.  The bottom decorative moulding at the end of the railing along the quarterdeck on Chapman seems to be a bit forward from where the Corel plans show it, as well as it should be a tad lower.

 

3.  The quarterdeck on Chapman seems to end right at the top of the decorative moulding in (2) above.

 

4.  The quarterdeck and the upper deck on Chapman seem to run parallel to one another.  

 

 

With these things in mind, I've modified the Corel plans as seen below:

 

 

 

Hopefully the changes are fairly clear:

 

1.  The top blue line at the quarterdeck bulkwark tops is the readjusted height of the bulwarks so the area stays at a consistent height (addressing observation #1 above).  It worked out to a slight slope of 1.5-2mm in added height at the fore area.  This is easily addressed on the model (I think!) because you can just use full, untapered planks to achieve the consistent height.

 

2.  The red circle on the far left is roughly the new position of the decorative moulding (addressing observation #2).  It's a tad lower, and the difference between the top of the moulding and the top of the upper deck below is about 30mm.  

 

3.  The modified upper deck line is marked as the blue lower line.  It seems to intersect at about bulkhead 12.  Working from the top of the moulding marked in red, I sketched the new quarterdeck line in red keeping a consistent 30mm height between the two decks.

 

4.  The yellow circles are the portholes, which include an additional a fifth additional one at the front of the quarterdeck.  Using the modified quarterdeck level and upper bulwark line, the portholes seem to open up fairly consistently with Chapman.

 

Taking a step back and looking at the plans, I think the upperdeck and quarterdeck lines should sweep up a little higher at the stern.  So, for the quarterdeck, I think I'm going to follow the line of the Corel plans starting around the area of the last upper deck gunport.  I'll make a corresponding change to the upper deck line as well.

 

I think if you really wanted to be consistent with Chapman, you probably would need to reduce the bulkhead height just above the upperdeck gunports.  I thought about doing that, but that would take a lot more rejiggering of the plans, and I think I'm planning on changing them enough at this point.  Changing the bulkheads is tricky business, so I'm trying to minimize them as much as possible.

[Landlubber Mike]

Quick update on where I am, as I actually started construction, rather than talking about it

 

Since I'm planning on using pear for the exposed pieces of the stem, keel and stern post, I could either cut those sections off the kit keel, or cut out a new one that didn't include those areas.  The choice was easy for me as the kit keel was warped.    So, I went ahead and cut out the modified keel using my scroll saw, touching it up in areas with my new Byrnes disc sander which is an amazing machine.  I can't seem to manually sand anything straight, and this tool really made work easy.

 

 

 

I also added a 3mm x 1mm or so strip along the edge of the keel to add a pre-made recess for the rabbet.  I wish I could take credit for it, but the idea came from Chuck's practicum on the Syren.  Thanks Chuck!  

 

 

 

Next up is to start cutting out the stern post, keel and stem pieces.  I'm taking a little time to learn how to use the Byrnes table saw, as I had a few issues from the beginning -- all user error of course, but a huge thank you to Jim Byrnes for calling me during yesterday's holiday to walk me through things and get me on the right track (talk about customer service!).  So, just a little more practice and I should start cutting out the other pieces in the next day or two.  I told Ian that I didn't want to have to change my alias on here to "9-Fingered Mike," so learning how to operate the saw safely is step 1.

[Landlubber Mike]

Hi folks, a bit of radio silence over the last week and a half, but I have been busy.  I cut the pieces for the keel, false keel, stern post and stem out of swiss pear from Hobbymill.  I've been using Jim's table saw and my Dewalt scroll saw to cut pieces out, and Jim's disc sander to shape and finish pieces, along with a sanding band on my Dremel for finishing inside curves.  So far, all my appendages are intact    From there, it's a lot of hand work with sanding blocks and needle files to work out the joints.  The scarph joint for the two stem pieces in particular took me forever (as well as a couple of attempts) to try and get a halfway decent result.  As with almost everything, making these pieces was a lot harder than it looks   I also used Jim's thickness sander to slim down the keel, as the plywood I used was about 5.75mm in thickness, whereas the kit pieces and the pear I'm working with are 5mm.  Jim's tools have been a real pleasure to work with.  In particular I am in love with his disc sander, as I never could seem to sand straight lines by hand.

 

 

The pieces aren't fully finished yet, but are reasonably close.  Before I glue the pieces to the keel, I am going to finish the rabbet joint and sand along the bearding line (which, I'll need to guess at as the kit instructions did not seem to include one).  I'll glue the stern post after the second planking, just to ensure a smooth joint.  I have to say that working with Jeff's pear really is a fantastic experience.  It machines and sands very well, and is world's better at holding an edge over the walnut in the kit wood that I had with my Badger.  

 

The upper stem piece looks like a lollipop at the moment, as I wanted to leave a little extra material to finish it.  From what I can tell from the Chapman plans and other similar vessels, the stem rose above the beakhead area to support the bowspirit.  It looks like the bowspirit was at a 25 degree angle or so, so not only will I need to angle the very top of the stem piece, but will also need to groove it a bit since the bowspirit is a cylinder sitting on a rectangular piece.  

 

I need to construct six more pieces for the stem.  I'm using the AOTS Pandora book as a model for what the pieces looked like.  I think at this stage I'm going to start building in brackets in the keel for the masts and bowspirit to help secure and position them.  The kit has you insert the masts through holes in the foredeck and quarterdeck, and then sit on the upper deck.  I'm sure I could get away with doing that, but I liked how the Badger kit had pre-cut slots in the keel for the masts to sit in.  Anything I can do now to get the masts more easily positioned is probably well worth doing.

Edited June 7, 2014 by Landlubber Mike

[riverboat]

Very nice work Mike..... looks like you're giving your new toys a good workout!! 

Frank

[ianmajor]

Mike,

 

Nice work. I can already see the overhang at the rear is much more in line with the Chapman diagram than the Corel interpretation. Excellent!

 

Are you going to chop a piece out of the keel part so that you can represent some of the lower deck? 

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks Frank!  With the tools I have now, I have no excuses for not turning out better work, right?  

 

Thanks very much Ian.  I think I managed to get the stern post angle and overhang a little closer to Chapman.  It's going to take a little planning on how to modify the stern counter.  WIth all the curves in three dimensions, I want to take my time to make sure I don't end up with a funny duck at the end.

 

On chopping out a piece of the keel, do you mean opening up some of the hull planking to show the lower deck?  I wasn't really planning on doing that at this point, as I dont have plans to work from and it's been hard enough figuring out how to modify the line of the upper deck and quarterdeck    I'll have to think about that a little more.  I suppose I can study the Pandora plans and come up with something though.

[JohnB40]

Hi Mike,

The new keel is a fine piece of work........I don't think there is going to be much of the original Corel kit remaining when you are finished.

 

The new sander is a mighty fine machine also.

 

Regards, John

[mtaylor]

Nice looking keel.. and I'm liking the planned changes.

[Landlubber Mike]

I've made a little more progress.  I sanded in a bearding line, and chiseled out the rabbet by building off the rebate from adding the thin piece of strip wood along the outside of the keel former.  I also glued on the keel pieces, and constructed the gripe (lower left part of the stem area) and the stern post (not glued yet). 

 

Ian and John, you can see how adding the stern post and pushing out the angle of the fore side of the stern post seems to help align the stern area a little better for consistency with Chapman.  

 

 

 

In Chapman's plans, the stem extends above deck level to serve as a post for the bowsprit to sit on top of.  I went ahead and did that, as well as drill a hole into bulkhead 1 and sand the corner of the keel just in front of bulkhead 1 so that I can run the bowspirit through the bulkhead.  Two reasons for this - first, I think the joinery of the bowsprit will look a lot better than trying to shape the end of the bowspirit to sit flush against the deck and bulkhead in the beakhead area as the kit instructs.  Second, with three points of contact (the stem, the bulkhead, and the deck/keel just behind the bulkhead, I hopefully will have an easier time aligning the bulkhead properly  For what it's worth, I think the bowsprit was at about a 28 degree angle from the bottom of the keel.

 

I spent a little time tonight plotting out the remaining items of the bow area.  I think the figurehead sits a bit too low, so I'm planning to raise the figurehead a bit so that it is sitting closer to the bowsprit.  All this is easier said than done, particularly since I'm planning to add rails more like Chapman's plans, and I'm not sure yet whether I will use the cast bronze figurehead, or possibly construct my own.  I'm thinking that I will build the remaining six or so pieces, but not install the piece the figurehead sits on - that I can easily add later, with the advantage of customizing it off the ship to fit the figurehead.

 

Thanks for looking in!

Edited June 25, 2014 by Landlubber Mike

[ianmajor]

Mike,

 

That is looking very nice.

 

I think your approach to the bowsprit is absolutely spot on. Unfortunately I did not take your approach and I remain concerned about attaching the bowsprit on my Unicorn in the near future, particularly when I am doing the gammoning.

[Landlubber Mike]

Hi Ian, thanks very much.  A few options that maybe you can think about for your build.  One would be to insert a pin at the end of the bowsprit, and pre-drill a hole into the bulkhead at the right angle.  Another option might be, in lieu of using a pin, to turn down the end of the bowsprit to a width of 2-3mm or so, and then pre-drill a hole into the bulkhead at the right angle.  Both options would add more stability and help with alignment, with the latter option probably a bit stronger (though, it would take a little more work to execute).  

 

I did the pin method on my Badger and it worked fairly well.  I had no problems with the bowsprit, either with alignment or with it subsequently getting loose.  The difference there, however, was that the bowsprit was run through the stem section of the hull, so you had a point further along the bowsprit that provided a good amount of lateral and downward stability.  For the Unicorn, I don't think you have any other contact points aside from the end where it sits against the deck and bulkhead 1. Given the number of times I banged into my Badger's bowsprit and popped the rigging off, I was a bit concerned that not only would I pop the rigging off, but that I would run the risk of the bowsprit detaching.  The model gets considerably longer when the bowsprit is attached, and it doesn't help when my sausage fingers, elbows, etc. get in the way     

 

For what it's worth, I also used the pin method for the spars, where I was attaching the cylindrical end pieces to the octagonal center pieces.  I experienced some issues there, where the pieces got loose at the pin connection sites, or the pieces didn't line up perfectly.  For the latter issue, it was probably because I wasn't careful enough drilling the holes for the pins, where the holes/pins were probably not centered perfectly (drill bit may have walked, etc.).  That probably could have been avoided if I had the right components for my lathe, rather than trying to do it by hand.  So, going forward on spars, I probably will shape them from a solid piece of rectangular stock.  

 

As I'm writing this, another thought comes to mind to help with stability issues.  Have you considered adding a stem extension?  You could always build one and pin it to the deck.  That would give you a second point of contact.  You could also make the stem extension wider and taller, so that it forms more of a cradle around the bowsprit to provide lateral stability.  See SLR0461 and SLR0475 from the Royal Maritime Museum below for an example of where this was done for frigates with beakhead bulkheads:

 

 

 

As another option, you could add separate knighthead looking pieces just behind the stem extensions like in SLR0397, another frigate with a beakhead bulkhead:

 

 

 

Hope those ideas help!

Edited June 25, 2014 by Landlubber Mike

[Landlubber Mike]

Happy Father's Day to all my friends out there!

 

I did a little more work this weekend.  The keel looked a tad too thick to me, so I shortened it from about 10mm in height to about 7mm or so.  I think it looks a lot better, particularly since I plan on adding the false keel which is at about 2mm in thickness.

 

I also did some more thinking and planning on the stem.  The figurehead seems to sit a bit low on the Corel plans, not only relative to Chapman's plans, but relative to most other similar vessels.  So, I started sketching the new position for the figurehead as seen in the pictures below (the second photo shows the outline of the figurehead in red):

 

 

 

 

Chapman has a different configuration for the hair and lower cheek brackets (which I've tried to outline in blue on the diagrams), as well as the headrails.  The configuration in Chapman is consistent with the configuration for other similar vessels like the Blandford and the Pandora (from the AOTS books I have), so I'm going to go off script and try to construct them the Chapman way.  I need to study plans a little more to figure out what shape the stem should take.  I looks like the countours of the top edge (and edge that runs into the back of the figurehead) of the stem should match up with the hair bracket.   I think the hair bracket sits along the edge of the stem?

 

Also, from what I can tell, the stem itself will also need a slightly different shape, with a slightly more rounded section just under the figurehead (extra material seen in the blue shaded area just under the plan's figurehead).  

 

I need to sleep on it a bit, but I think this is generally on the right path.  The lower cheek bracket probably needs to come down a bit, as the gammoning slot fits in between the lower cheek bracket and the hair bracket.

 

 

[ianmajor]

Mike,

 

The figurehead will look much better where you propose to fit it. The Corel position makes it look too delicate to me. Your position gives it a robust feel - you could have confidence to ram another (smallish) ship with it.  

 

As a matter of interest, have you seen Dan Vadas' latest work on his Vulture? His log is currently a blow by blow description of making and fitting the headworks. Perfect timing for your design work. His description starts on log page 84, entry 1253 (link) . I think your questions will be answered there, despite the Unicorn being a beakhead and Vulture isn't.

Edited June 16, 2014 by ianmajor