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FYI, another great book for the library, to go with the Swan-Class books............

        I'll be ordering mine soon :)

 

http://seawatchbooks.com/114002

 

The Royal Navy Fireship COMET of 1783 
COMET_Cover.jpg

A Monograph on the Building of the Model
          by David Antscherl

      8 ½”x11”, 160 pages, case bound with jacket, color section, 6 sheets of plans.

This book describes a late eighteenth century fireship built by a private yard for the Royal Navy. Although built for the express purpose of setting on fire, Comet was lavishly decorated in high Georgian style. She was also in of the first naval ships to be fully armed with carronades.

 

This book describes Comet’s brief history, then details her construction where it varied from standard sixth rate of the period. This work contains a color section showing David’ beautiful model and six sheets of plans. Readers will find this a useful continuation of David’s series on sixth rate sloops.ages, case bound with jacket, color section, 6 sheets of plans.

Edited by solemar
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Wow, what a beautiful looking model and ship! 

 

But I have to admit to not understanding the whole reasoning behind building such a beautiful vessel, just so you can set fire to her.

 

I would think you'd just find some old merchant ship and send her off to her doom (and the enemy's too, hopefully). Or was it considered so great a duty that the ship would be bestowed great honors before going to its death. I guess I'm going to have to buy the book to find out!

 

Thanks Bob for releasing what looks like another fascinating title!

 

Clare

Clare Hess

He's a -> "HE"

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I had the privilege to preview this book and see the model while under construction and I can say that it is a must for any scratch builder or kit basher.  There are a lot of new areas covered that are not to be found in the TFFM series such as an extremely detaled description on building the galleries, not to mention the design and construction of a ship with the specific purpose of being a fire ship.

 

I was supposed to be proof reading for errors but  I became totally engrossed in the text and illustrations and enjoyed the read as much as I found an appreciation for its usefulness to the model builder.

 

 

Allan

PLEASE take 30 SECONDS and sign up for the epic Nelson/Trafalgar project if you would like to see it made into a TV series.   Click on http://trafalgar.tv   There is no cost other than the 30 seconds of your time.  THANK YOU

 

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This book looks like a good Christmas present for myself :)

Regards Christian

 

Current build: HM Cutter Alert, 1777; HM Sloop Fly, 1776 - 1/36

On the drawing board: English Ship Sloops Fly, 1776, Comet, 1783 and Aetna, 1776; Naval Cutter Alert, 1777

Paused: HMS Triton, 1771 - 1/48

"Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it." Salvador Dali

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  • 2 weeks later...

I just received a copy of Comet of 1783 by David Antscherl over the weekend. To say the least the book is outstanding. What I found most interesting was David's detailed description of the fire room and how it works. I personally had no idea about a fire ship and am amazed at the complexity of the structure. David does not repeat what he has written in TheFullyFramed Model; however, the Comet does show the detail differences in a fire ship. In addition the book includes a very detailed description of building quarter galleries and the armament of the ship which is 18 pound carronades. These are not covered in the FFM books. This book is a must for  anyone who is interested in 18th-century British naval power. Congratulations David for another outstanding contribution to our literature. Laman

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On the night of September 2nd, 1814, the wounded USS Wasp was briefly chased by a former British fireship, HMS Tartarus, following the former's victory over HMS Avon. But by then, the Tartarus had been converted to a heavy sloop of war, as had her sisters, and she was rated at twenty guns. She reportedly mounted twenty-two 24-pounder carronades on her main deck, with eight 18-pounder carronades and two long nines on her upper deck, or thirty-two guns in total. Fortunately for the Americans, the Tartarus sailed off in the wrong direction after the Wasp altered course in the dark ...

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Tartarus was one of the Thais class of fireship, built to the same lines as Comet, but far less decorated. Wasp was lucky, as Tartarus and her sister ships were very fast.

Be sure to sign up for an epic Nelson/Trafalgar project if you would like to see it made into a TV series  http://trafalgar.tv

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I received my autographed copy of Comet this weekend at the NRG show and have made it through the first few chapters.  As one would expect, the book is well written with numerous sketches and full-color photos of the completed hull.  There are six sheets of plans which include all of the frames fully lofted.  A great addition for anyone interested in 18th and early 19th century military ships.

Toni


Chairman Nautical Research Guild

Member Nautical Research and Model Society

Member Midwest Model Shipwrights

 

Current Builds:     NRG Rigging Project

Completed Builds: Longboat - 1:48 scale       HMS Atalanta-1775 - 1:48 scale       Half Hull Planking Project      Capstan Project     Swallow 1779 - 1:48 scale               Echo Cross Section   

Gallery:  Hannah - 1:36 scale.

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I received my copy and read through the entire book.  Its a just a great book and I have already picked up a few tricks from it.  There are quite a few nice techniques described in this book that will help you as a model builder construct fittings and ship's details that would be part of any Eighteenth Century vessel.  I highly recommend it.  Well worth a look!! even if you dont plan on building the Comet.   

 

Chuck

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am delighted to report that the Royal Navy's Fireship Comet safely negotiated the Pacific (sans pyrotechnics) and docked in Canberra.

 

Should keep me occupied for weeks and as others have reported:

 

(a) complements nicely the four volumes of sloops by the same author and Greg Herbert; and

 

( B) provides additional valuable insights into the dark arts of this craft).

 

It is wonderful to track the progression and evolution of David Antscherl's various builds over the years from Polyphemus, through Resolution and now Comet.

 

One wonders what comes next?

 

It will be well thumbed before the year is out and a great addition to the library.

 

One small gripe (from one located in the Antipodes) mine is not signed. Sigh!   ;)

 

Great stuff nonetheless.

 

Cheers

 

Alan

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alan

 

 

Edited by alangr4
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Pardon for a silly question, but where can I find more photos of that beautiful model? There is one tiny pic on a page with book description, but I can't google anything extra.

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Mike on the Nautical Research Guild's web site two of the models I mentioned Polyphemus and Resolution feature in the member gallery. For Comet colour pics feature in David's book. It is worth buying for the pics alone.

 

Alan

 

Thanks for the info. It is just a bit, hmm, strange to have a model recently built, but with no pictures on the internet! :)

Planning to have TFFM and the Comet book as a Christmas present for myself.

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post-505-0-99620700-1415149785_thumb.jpgDavid Antscherl has given me permission to post a couple photos of his lovely Comet here. The model is not finished - it is in the process of being fully rigged.

 

post-505-0-05961300-1415139422_thumb.jpg

 

Edited by dvm27

Greg

website
Admiralty Models

moderator Echo Cross-section build
Admiralty Models Cross-section Build

Finished build
Pegasus, 1776, cross-section

Current build
Speedwell, 1752

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I have to admit to not understanding the whole reasoning behind building such a beautiful vessel, just so you can set fire to her.

 

I would think you'd just find some old merchant ship and send her off to her doom (and the enemy's too, hopefully). Or was it considered so great a duty that the ship would be bestowed great honors before going to its death.

 

 

Clare

 

The Royal Navy employed merchant ships to begin with but they were deemed too slow to keep up with the ships of the line and fire-ships eventually developed into quite complex vessels which made converting existing ships harder so the Tisiphone class (to which Comet belongs) was introduced.Of the nine vessels in this class of ship only Comet and Conflagration were actually used in their intended role

Edited by algeciras1801

Regards, Algie

 

AKA Tony

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Mike on the Nautical Research Guild's web site two of the models I mentioned Polyphemus and Resolution feature in the member gallery. For Comet colour pics feature in David's book. It is worth buying for the pics alone.

 

Alan

 

Actually, the NRG directors apparently decided to eliminate the gallery. The MSW gallery is now the only way the NRG specific stuff is being shown. I'm not too thrilled about the call myself.

 

But on the upside, I just got my copy of this wonderful book. Well written and beautiful photos of an exquisite looking model. The plans are in a separate folder that comes with the book. I'll probably never get around to building something as beautiful as the author's model. I just look at the book and drool mostly...

 

Clare

Clare Hess

He's a -> "HE"

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  • 1 month later...

Received a copy of this beautiful book as a Christmas present from the Admiral, spent a few days reading and my compliments to David for yet another fine read.

As said before it doesn't reitterate TFFM but it does build on and give more info and insights on building RN ships of that era, especially interesting is a breakdown of building quarter galleries which is an art of itself.

I have placed on the bookshelf right next to my copies of TFFM. Wish mine was signed by the author as well.

 

Ben

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