SMS WESPE 1876 by wefalck – 1/160 scale - Armoured Gunboat (1876) of the Imperial German Navy as first commissioned

[GrandpaPhil]

Eberhard,

  That jolly boat is looking good!

[druxey]

Extraordinary work at that scale.

 

I'm sorry for the loss of your obviously very talented colleague, Eberhard.

[FriedClams]

Excellent sub-atomic modeling once again Wefalck!  What an exercise in patience that must have been.  Very nice.

 

Gary

[wefalck]

Thank you very much for the encouraging words !

 

Jolly-Boat continued 6

 

For some family-related reasons the boat-workshop had been nearly closed for a few weeks. Nevertheless, I managed to apply a few coats of white overall. Then the real painting begun.

 

According, to a 1874 ordinance, the boats where to be painted white outside and inside, the top two strakes black, while the rubbing strake between them was left natural wood, as was the top of the wash-strake. Natural wood were also the seats and stern-sheets. The rowing-locks were bronze and were left bare. 

 

The boat still has to be kitted out with some galvanised iron-work and, of course, all the equipment such as the oars, fenders, a water-cask etc. There is conflicting information, as to whether the mast and the sails would have been stowed in the ‘ready-boat’.

 

Somehow, I am not really satisfied with my paint-job. I didn’t get the colour of the seats etc. right, they look too reddish. I hope a wash of light ochre will correct this. I also had great difficulty to paint the rubbing-strake from a 0.2 mm wire cleanly. I tried to do it freehand, but perhaps should have masked it …

 

With this, the workshop will close for the holiday-period.

 

To be continued ....

[Bedford]

We tend to be our own worst critics but then we build for our pleasure so must please ourselves. I think it looks pretty damn good.

[Keith Black]

 Painting a .008 rubbing strake freehand makes my eyes hurt. Considering the jolly boat's size, Eberhard, it looks absolutely amazing! Great job. 

[BANYAN]

Ditto; an exercise in patience and expertise.  Looks very good Eberhard.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[mtaylor]

Macro is out enemy especially on such tiny model as that boat.   It does look great from here.  And Bedford is right about being our own worst enemy.  Enjoy (hopefully) you're time off for the holidays.

[KeithAug]

Eberhard, beautiful paint job.

[druxey]

The size is deceiving in the photos, but for the cork! A happy holiday season to you Eberhard.

[Tony Hunt]

I think a lot of us would be happy to achieve results that good at considerably larger scales. 

 

[Gahm]

Amazing!! Given the size the details and quality you achieve are mind bugling!

 

Thomas

[wefalck]

Thank you to all for your kind words !

 

**************************************

 

Completion of the Boats

 

Sorry for the long hiatus, but again real life with various obligations and diversions got in the way. Also, there has been a lot of correction work and making small details that are not a lot to show, but take time.

 

I adjusted the colour of the seats etc. somewhat and also worked on the rubbing strakes. For this I got myself a couple of markers with acrylic pigment paint (Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens with fine hard tip and soft brush-like tips) in various ‘wood’ colours, which really turned out to be useful for touching up etc.

 

 

Then I turned my attention to the oars and with a bit of trial and error managed to produce relatively reasonable laser-cut parts. Each oar is lacquered together from three layers to simulate the shaping. The round was build up with more varnish and they were finally painted in wood colour and the iron band around the blade simulated with my 0.1 mm marker pen. Not sure, whether they should be black though, as the original specification called for copper bands. There are a lot of unknown details. I know from the sources that the oars should be stowed ready for use in order of the benches, the outer pair for the first bench in the bow and so on. However, I don’t know how they would have been secured for the sea, probably with a rope around the benches. However, laying out the oars like that would have meant that there would have been no space for the men to step into the boat when lowered. So, I arranged them in bunches alongside.

 

I also realised that I forgot the spur for the heel of the mast, so this was added.

 

While arranging for the hoisting chains on the covered boats was easy, here it is a rather flimsy affair and I am not sure that it will work, as they are only glued. Likewise, the stays. The chains were simulated by drilling together two 0.2 mm wires until the pitch was about (without measuring) the length of a ring in the chain. Two of those drilled-together wires were drilled together. The overall appearance is roughly like a twisted chain.

 

Boats need rudders, so I drew one and cut it from Canson-paper in the usual way. When hoisted, the rudders are unshipped and stowed in the boat. However, I don’t really know where and how.

 

Stowage of various items is another uncertain point. There are a lot of items in the surviving inventories, such as an anchor, a small water-cask, a compass and a boat-hook, but I do not know how and where they were stowed. So I will omit them from the already quite crowded looking jolly-boat. The only thing I made were four fenders that are hung inside the boat.

 

 

With this the jolly-boat is complete.

 

In parallel I worked on the second cutter that also will be shown covered. As this is the same process as for the other covered boats, I do not show the process again. Just a couple of shots of the collection of finished boats. 

 

To be continued ....

Edited February 12, 2023 by wefalck

[Keith Black]

 Really nice work, Eberhard. The jolly boat is a little beauty, I look forward seeing her in her slings aboard the Wespe. 

[druxey]

Insanely small and well done!

[BANYAN]

A mini-masterpiece Eberhard.  I love the weather worn look of those bench seats/thwarts.  I am also grateful for the photos which show how you have addressed the chain sling component of the boat lifting/lowering arrangement as that is something I need to address also.  

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Louie da fly]

Those boats are beautiful!

[mbp521]

Beautiful micro details Eberhard! Glad to see you back at it. 
 

-Brian

[Bob Cleek]

Beautiful work! I think you are channeling Donald McNarry's ghost!

 

[Ras Ambrioso]

Amazing miniature work. Can’t even imagine a 0.1 mm marker pen

[KeithAug]

As always very impressive work Eberhard. The oars are particularly realistic but I’m not sure how you manage to keep them so straight and smooth given the assembly method?

[wefalck]

Thank you very much gentlemen for your kind words 😇

 

McNarry was far more productive and worked on much smaller scales (I think in 1:384 = 32 ft to the inch mainly), so I am far away from challenging him ...

 

Pat, I am currently working on editing a number of manuscripts that will eventually form a book on the ships' boats of the Prussian and then Imperial German Navy 1852-1918 to be published by our society. Some of our members have carried archival etc. research for several decades. One of whom, for instance, focused on two series of Crimean-type steam-gunboats that were built between 1859 and 1865 and unearthed various inventories, including detailed their boat inventories. According to those the hoisting strops could be either rope or chain. The main point of attachment was a ring-bolt through the keel, just abaft and before the aprons of the stem- and stern-posts respectively. However, if you were to hook the tackle directly into those rings, you would suspend the boat from underneath its centre of gravity and it would fall over. To raise the points of suspension to around the level of the gunwale, a strop is rigged and is steadied with a more or less horizontal strop that attaches to a ring in the stem- and stern-posts respectively. Likewise, from the ring were the two strops meet, stays extend to the sides of the boat, to prevent it from leaning over. As far as we know, this arrangement persisted since the 1850s, but chains replaced ropes.

It is quite likely, that it was at the same on RN, as in fact the early boats on some German ships for which also have inventories were RN boats - the ships were purchased second hand from the RN. The Prussian navy put these boats through trials in order to assess them and develop design criteria for standardised German-built boats. The reports on these trials have survived in the archives.

Incidentally, the Prussian navy also undertook in 1860 experiments with Clifford's release gear for boats, but so far it is not clear, whether it was actually adopted, but I don't think it was, as it is not mentioned in later textbooks on the Imperial Navy's boats.

 

Keith, the laser-cut parts for the oars are really flooded with the varnish on a sheet of glass and cautiously aligned until dry. The paper then is quite stiff. I smooth it then a bit with a diamond nail-file, but that is difficult with such flimsy parts as the oars. Adding more lacquer and then paint will smooth out the whole thing. Did this answer your question?

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

   Here's a crowded and confusing view inside a German WWI U-boat ... what an array of valves and stuff ! 

 

 

Edited March 9, 2023 by Snug Harbor Johnny

[BANYAN]

Thanks for that very helpful explanation Eberhard; much appreciated.  I would agree, this looks very similar to the three-leg sling chain arrangement used by the RN.  At one stage (about 1858 I think) the "Victoria" experimented with a new lifting and lowering arrangement, especially a new release mechanism designed by a Mr. Clifford.  I have yet to determine the result of the trials and whether she kept that arrangement.  Happy to send you some details if you would like them.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[KeithAug]

12 hours ago, wefalck said:

Did this answer your question?

Yes thank you.

[wefalck]

Pat, I gather this publication by Clifford (https://books.google.co.mz/books?id=dzMDAAAAQAAJ) is based on his patent(s) and served to encourage its exploitation. We have not followed this further, but it appears that in the end it was not used in the German navies. I gather one reason is, that the mechanisms occupies quite a bit of space in the boats.

In Admiral Pâris' reports on the world exhibitions in London in 1862 and 1867 there are also various quick-release gears illustrated, but I have not found yet good scans of the plates. I still have some photocopies from a copy of the book in the library of the Zürich Polytechnic, when I was a student there in 1977 ...

[BANYAN]

Thanks again Eberhard, that's the one.  I have some original plates I purchased on-line which appear to have been cut from this or similar article.  I also had seen some patent descriptions/articles in a couple of contemporary magazines, but the linked thesis is great, thanks.

 

I'll keep my eyes open for any other release mechanisms I have come across, especially if in good condition.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[FriedClams]

Beautiful crazy small sub-miniature work. Excellent result.

 

Gary

[wefalck]

Well, the master-miniaturist speaks - Thank You !

 

************************************************

Small bits and pieces

 

Here are a couple of ‘family pictures’ that show all boats together and with a 1 €-Cent coin for size reference. The jolly-boat also got a bow- and a stern-lanyard added that I had forgot earlier.

From top to down: 1^st cutter, 2^nd cutter, gig, and jolly-boat

 

Now that with the boats the major ‘sub-models’ have been completed. The process of putting everything together continues.

Thus, I have put the gun onto the tracks of the lower carriage. It was just glued in place – something I am not entirely happy with considering the top-weight of the barrel, but hopefully I have added enough white glue at hidden places. The original had clamps that go under the tracks, but this was difficult to reproduce at this scale.

The gun in its emplacement in the barbette

 

The two engine-room telegraphs were installed on the bridge.

Engine-room telegraphs on the bridge

 

I am not sure that these were rigged like that, as the existing photographs are either not taken from the right angle or the resolutions is not good enough for the forecastle is too messy. Anyway, two cable stoppers fashioned from ‘rope’ were attached to eyebolts (which were drawn in the plans) and provide additional security against the anchor-chain flying about on the forecastle

 

Cable stopper to secure the anchor-chains.

 

The four anchor cranes were completed with the tackle and temporarily installed. There would have been quite a few metres of the running part to stow securely while on sea. Judging by the photograph of S.M.S. CROCODILL below, it was slung around the cranes in a perhaps not quite so ‘ship-shape and Bristol-fashion’. Anyway, I emulated this on the model.

Anchor cranes on S.M.S. CROCODILL later in her life

 

The anchor cranes on the model

 

Next up is the most dreaded part of the model, the installation of the various chain rails. Because of these I hesitated for a long time to tackle this project.

 

To be continued ....

[druxey]

Impressive is an understatement, Eberhard!