HMS Unicorn by JohnB40 - Corel 1:75 Scale

[JohnB40]

Hi Mike,

 

Thanks you for posting the plans for the Lyme,the detail is brilliant. I will use them to pattern the quarter deck on my Unilyme,which will be my next area of construction after I have completed the deck guns. With the exception of the solid bulwarks,I believe the layout of the quarter deck is as close as we can get to a frigate of the period and details such as the tiller/wheel mechanics and position are spot-on. Imagine the lost motion there would be in the steering tackle if the ships wheel was positioned forward of the mizzen mast as Corel depicts it.

 

How large are the plans dimensions?

 

John

[Landlubber Mike]

Yes, I'm not sure what Corel was modeling this ship off of.  I'm just impressed that Ian made the call that the tiller had to be on the quarterdeck without the benefit of all these high resolution plans!

 

The plans are probably close to three feet in width.  I'm not sure of the scale unfortunately - that will make transferring dimensions to the Corel 1:75 scale a bit tricky until the scale is determined.

[ianmajor]

Ah - being a fully paid up idiot helps me to spot these things.

 

BTW - you should be able to read off the size of items in the plan from the scale bar along the bottom of the keel. The lower numbers are feet counting up from zero left to right. The upper numbers are feet counting down from 120 left to right. Use this to measure the item in feet, then multiply by 304.8 to get the full size in milimeters then divide by 75 to get the scale size in milimeters ( or just divide the original feet measurement by 75 to get the imperial scal size).

Edited July 30, 2014 by ianmajor

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks Ian.  I was wondering about that as the bar does go to 120, which happened to match the length of the ship.

[JohnB40]

Mike,

I was so into the Lyme plans I forgot to say what a fine example of model ship construction your Badger is......Very pleasing indeed to look at.

 

Regarding your question about the quarter deck port holes....I really do not like the solid bulwark without a rail above it,it just seems too low without it. I will have to wait until the quarter deck is in place to decide what I will do. I like the look of the Lyme arrangement  of semi circular ports with railing....Who really knows how it was on the Unicorn. One of the Lyme side elevation views looks like it shows a solid bulwark with round ports,but in reality it is just an incomplete view,showing the outline of the railings.....Maybe that is what we are looking at in the Chapman's Unicorn drawing? I am going to go with what ever pleases me. In your case,if you want a historically accurately frigate from this time period,you will have to go with the Lyme. You have accurate plans for that ship,the Unicorn will always be a certain amount guess work and artistic licence

 

Ian,

Welcome back,I hope you had a nice holiday.

 

Regards John

[Landlubber Mike]

John, thanks for the very kind words.

 

The Chapman plans may seem a little confusing and wrong, but I have a feeling he might have been accurate.  His other drawings are very complete, showing railings (see the ship above the Unicorn) where there were railings.  It makes me think that there may not have been any railings on the Unicorn, as Chapman likely would have added them.  I think what you see is a solid bulwark extending all the way.  The bulwarks are fairly high up at the fore end of the quarterdeck, and maybe there less of a need for railings.

 

I took another look at Gardiner's "The Sailing Frigate" -- in Chapter 4 on "The 'True Frigate' 1748-1778", it sounds like the Unicorn might not have had a quarterdeck railing as it was substantially designed off of French lines at the time:

 

"...French designers had achieved an important advance by a subtle alteration in the layout of 'two-decked' cruisers.  British 24s had a heavily framed full height lower deck, necessary to fight the guns and to allow rowing with standing oarsmen . . . .  By contrast, in the latest French ships the lower deck was little more than a light platform, with much reduced headroom, and the deck itself, at its lowest point, positioned just below the waterline.  This compressed the height of the topside, while the forecastle and quarterdeck were unarmed and had virtually no barricades or rails to catch the wind; combined with fine lines and light framing, this made for fast and weatherly ships. . . . This formula was eventually adopted by all the major navies, and was dubbed the 'true frigate' form, in retrospect, by naval historians." (emphasis added)

 

For the Lyme plans, I think what you see are the portholes mostly existing in the open area between the top of the solid bulwarks and top of the rails.  They are almost the reverse of the Unicorn, where the porthole outer circumference opens up at the bottom, whereas the Unicorn's open at the top.  The portholes were probably somewhat decorative, and were framed on either side.  Here are a few ships shown in the Gardiner book from the NMM that I think exemplify what the Lyme's quarterdeck portholes might have looked like:

 

 

 

 

I think I am going to go with the Lyme.  The plans I have are very detailed, though I think I could use them without issue for the Unicorn.  The differences as I can tell are (1) the Unicorn was a beakhead ship, (2) the Unicorn had a Unicorn figurehead while the Lyme had a lion figurehead, (3) the Unicorn's railings were a little more decorative at the ends with the curls versus more straight ends for the Lyme, (4) the Unicorn has an extra railing at the stem which seems a bit different from other ships, and (5) the rudders and shape of the lower stem are a bit different.  For me, it just boils down to the fact that I like the looks of the Lyme a little more than the Unicorn the way the windows are sized and shaped, and the stern decorations.  Unfortunately what I can't tell from Chapman is whether the cathedral windows were full windows, or were square windows with decorative arches at the top.  The Lyme's middle window on the stern galleries is a full cathedral style window, so maybe the Unicorn actually had those windows throughout the stern?

Edited August 1, 2014 by Landlubber Mike

[JohnB40]

A Happy New Year to all,

 

Back to the log after some more progress on the Unicorn,photographed with a new unbelievably expensive Canon replacement battery in the camera.

 

I decided not to use the kit supplied deck precut part. It was a one piece configuration with the fore,gangway/plank and quarter deck on the same level. This would have been fine on a frigate of a later period with a spar deck,but not on an mid 18th century 5th rate.

I used 1/16" spruce ply and cut a new quarter deck. I followed Ian's ideas in his log and NMM's model illustrations for the Lowestoft,the Guadeloupe, and the Richmond and Amazon class Frigates. I also raised the deck so there is 28mm head room between the gun and quarter deck.

 

One problem is that the gun deck was finished about 10 years ago and the finish has yellowed through age. I hope it won't be so noticeable once the gangways,guns,ships boats etc are in place.

 

I assembed the gun deck cannons and attached the ones under the quarter deck using CA glue and 1.5mm Dia.brass rod cut to 10mm length passing through the carriage and through the deck. I only rigged the guns with the breaching rope as they can't be seen in there.

When it comes time to rig the guns on the quarter deck and in the waist I will have to find a way to rig the running out tackle without it looking like a tangled mess. I find the size of the rope and blocks in 1/75th scale really hard to work with because of my old eyes. I might try very thin brass wire painted rope colour to see if I can find a realistic substitute.

 

The companion way,gratings,coamings and capstan were also a composite of Ian's and NMM examples. The capstan is a bit of a smaller scale than it should be and the crew would disappear down the stairs as they passed by turning the capstan.The model of the Amazon class frigate in the NMM is shown in the same configuration,but has hatch doors which shut flush with the coamings. I will add these when I fit the stanchions around the companion way.

 

In the waist I cut down the bulkhead extensions Corel used to support the deck. I have not decided how to finish these off,but I am thinking along the lines of trimming them down more and making shot racks. The bulwarks have been planked and I am fabricating the gangway/plank knees which will be glued in the non painted strips. I will fit gangways with stairs leading down to the gun deck,with gangplanks connecting them to the forecastle.

 

What to do about the bulwarks on the quarter deck is still open. I don't know if I will go with Corel's original design of solid with round gun ports,or a more open version using stanchions and railings (or a combination of both). This will be the next area of construction as I intend to finish the quarter deck and work my way forward to the stem.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ianmajor]

John,

 

That is such a big improvement on the Corel set up. Lovely work. With the raised deck I think it will look great with open rails around the quarter deck.

[Landlubber Mike]

Hi John, happy new year!  Wow, that's really great work, nice job!  Very clean build, and love the improvements.  Looking forward to what you decide on the quarterdeck.  I'm hoping to get through the first planking on my Pegasus, and will turn back to my Lyme - your pictures are giving me an added push to get that planking done!

[petervisser]

Hi John,

 

I really like what you've done with your Unicorn. A nice clean build! I wonder what railings with hammock nettings would look like? I'm not even sure if it would be historically accurate. But hey, you're the shipwright/skipper/bosun. You can do as you like!

 

I will look in from time to time and see what you decide.

 

Peter

[JohnB40]

Greetings all,

 

Thanks for the replies and likes.

 

I went back over the photos from the NMM last night and have decided on open railings on the quarter deck. I will plank the bulwarks up to the level of the outer (black) planks,this will give the top of this a height of 8mm from the deck,which is an approximate scale height of 2 feet.This will be capped by the plank-sheer. From there up will be stanchion and railing construction. This should allow enough clearance for the muzzles of the guns to clear the plank-sheer,if not,at the most,a very shallow cut-out radius will be needed on the plank-sheer. I also want to fit swivel gun pedestals on the quarter deck.

 

Peter brought up the idea of hammock cranes and whether they were appropriate for this time period. Some of the models from this period in the NMM do show having them on the quarter deck,so I will add them.

 

Regards, John

[JohnB40]

Greetings all,

Time to update the log with some painfully slow progress on the Unicorn......

 I was intending to finish the quarterdeck plank-sheer and railings before moving on. I purchased some Fiebing's black leather dye and stained the wood needed in preparation. I really liked the results,the dye doesn't clog the grain like paint and leaves a nice deep even black finish. I cut the pieces needed for the quarterdeck and then realized I was getting ahead of myself. The plank-sheer would have to be constructed for the whole ship,as doing it in sections as I went forward would make the curves and joints difficult.

 

So I had to put the foredeck in place. As I have tossed Corel's supplied one piece deck, I was stuck on how long my foredeck should be. Ian was a great help in supplying me with information and side elevation views of contemporary ships. The foredeck extends rearward to the right point now but is two scale feet shorter because Corel's fore most bulkhead is two feet back from where it should be.

JPG]

 

 

Ian also mentioned the foremast was too far back on the deck by two scale feet. I will move it forward,but this puts it right above one of the deck support beams.I had to alter said beam so the mast can be put in place and and leave support for the deck. The hole should be right in the middle 

 

Now I have to finish the internals of the forecastle before the deck can be fixed in place. The guns are already assembled,just need rigging and fastening in place. I did need to construct a iron hearth stove and riding bits. I constructed the stove using .030" styrene. I would have like to use a more organic material for this but,I needed something I could cut easily and had a smooth surface that would look like Iron.

 

Now the riding bits. I am only going to make and use the rear one. Thanks again to Ian for his plan of the bits in his log

 

Here is the finished assembly and its position.

 

To be continued.......

Edited July 5, 2015 by JohnB40

[Mike French]

Hi John The stove looks very impressive  I like what I am seeing as we are travelling along similar time Lines . How did you drill out for the Bowsprit as I am about to put it in . Also at the moment I am Contemplating the headworks the same as Chapman .I will have to get some wider and thicker timber so that I can shape them.

Mike

[ianmajor]

Gosh John, that looks rather lovely. It really looks the part.

 

I think using styrene for the stove (or to make other sheet metal items) is a good move. It can be easily embossed to simulate rivet detail or easily built up to represent other surface detail using solvent as a glue. The main downside is that it has to be painted - if you happen to hate painting as I do! 

[Landlubber Mike]

Gorgeous work John.  The modifications are coming along really nicely.  Opening up the waist was a good call - thanks Ian for showing us the way!

[JohnB40]

Thank you gentlemen for the kind replies and likes.

 

Ian,

I don't know if you noticed my cheating on the capstan? I added to the height by adding red painted copper sealing rings (left over from my days as a Jag mechanic) to the top.

 

Mike,

I headed to the shops and bought a cheap kiddies set square kit and a 1/8" and 1/4" drill bits in 6" lengths. You need the longer bits to get clearance past the stem. I secured the keel in a hobby vise and using the 30 degree set square with the 1/8" bit in a pin vise,carefully drilled a pilot hole. As the bowsprit passes through the beakhead deck with its top surface at the very bottom of the first bulkhead,I marked a point 3/16" forward on the deck as a starting point. I also stopped drilling often and looked down from straight on top to make sure I was drilling in line with the keel. Once I was happy with the pilot hole position,angle and depth,I used the 1//4" bit to carefully enlarge the hole. I did the final fitting using some fine sandpaper wrapped and taped on (if I remember correctly) on a pencil until the bowsprit dowel was a snug fit. You can visualize what is needed by cutting a small piece of the 5/16" dowel at 30 degrees and positioning it on the deck and tracing the outline,the hole is an ellipse in shape.

 

I hope the helps

[Mike French]

Thanks for that John .I was thinking along those lines but wasn't sure it would work. Went out today an plashed some cash on a new Scroll saw to help with the head boards etc.  I will start practising with it shortly.

 

Mike

[sailorross]

John, would there have been gun port doors on the Unicorn? Im a new ship builder with the Unicorn being my first and am learning tons from you guys.

 

Thanks

 

Ross 

[JohnB40]

Hi Ross,

 

Welcome to the forum and Club Unicorn.

The plans for the Unicorn do not show gun port lids,but they can be seen on contemporary models at the National Maritime Museum.

 

 

You should check out Ian Major's log,if you have not done so yet,as he (and Landlubber Mike) have done a lot of research on the ship. Ian has gone with lids on the rear three and two front gun ports,which seems about right to me,I intend to do the same on mine. I hope this helps

[sailorross]

Thanks John, and yes ive been following the other builds here as well....and have looked through about 100 pages of model ship pics from the  National Maritime Museum for reference... great stuff. I wish i have some better tools and clamps for this unfortunately I am aboard a cargo ship on the East Africa trade  and cant even find a decent bottle of wood glue. Im just finishing up on the first layer of planking....how the heck do you clamp/pin the outer layer? 

[sailorross]

Hi again John, sorry water down your post here...I am just reaching the keel with my first layer of planking and wondering where to terminate. If i run both layers of planking all the way down the keel will end up being 10mm thick. Im now assuming that the inner layer should end as they come off the bulkheads (faired in towards the keel)?

 

Thanks for the help

 

Ross

[JohnB40]

Hi Ross,

 

For the second layer of planking I used plank clamps,some shop purchased,some home made as seen below.

 

 

I know how this isn't a great deal of help to someone on a ship in the Indian Ocean,but you could make the wood part of the clamps by using a strips of the basswood first planking off cuts. Glue sections together offset to form the L shape,cut to 10 - 15mm length, drill a small hole and you would end up with something like the wooden ones shown. That brings the problem of the tiny screws which are probably out of the question finding on a ship,but maybe you can find drawing (push) pins on board and use those to secure the second planks to the bulkheads. Each new plank would cover the holes from the clamps used on the plank before.

 

The Unicorn is different in the planking to other double plank ships I have built,as those had thin outer planking like veneer which were a lot easier to work with. This thickness of the two planks is what also what makes that plank to keel joint difficult. I did this phase of construction a long time ago before joining the forum and didn't have the expertise of the members to draw on. The proper way to do this is to make a rabbet (or rebate) in the keel.This is a groove,in this case a V shaped one cut all all along the keel and up the stem where the last planks join the keel. This makes a nice blended joint. I however laid the first layer planks angled on the edge where they butt to the keel. I then used a 6" thin steel rule to protect the keels veneer and used a wide bladed craft knife to scrape the planks thinner towards the keel and shape the joint. The second planking was done in the same fashion and I ended up with something I could live with....I'm glad this is on the least viewable part of the ship though. The next build (if I ever finish this) I will use the rabbet joint.

 

I hope this helps