Sovereign of The Seas by SawdustDave - FINISHED

[jbshan]

I read somewhere that these were fine and dandy (and stylish) for harbor duty, but something simpler might have been used if repair was needed at sea.  Conversely, that the rigging line was deemed unreliable and the multiple tackles were used to spread the load along the stay or shroud.

[Rustyj]

Hi Dave, It was a pleasure to sit back and catch up on your build. Very nice.  

[SawdustDave]

Great to see you stop by Rusty.
Coming along slowly, but finally getting past the rat lines, I feel like we're moving at a good pace now.

 

Thanks

And thanks to so many of you mates for popping in and boosting me along.  The help with the "crows feet" term meant a lot.

 

Cheers

[dgbot]

I am surprised that you have any hair left and are sober after all that fiddling around.  Looks great.

David B

[BANYAN]

Nice work on the rigging, especially the crows feet  mate; it's a wonder you didn't turn to something a little stronger to drink

 

cheers

 

Pat

[edmay]

Absolutly stunning,bravo Edwin

[SawdustDave]

Took an inventory of remaining tasks this morning.....

Anchor davits, six anchors, poop deck flag staff, add extension to beak, pin rails, capstan, two pumps, create 4 flags, all spars..... three major carvings, including the beak head figure of King Chuck on a horse.

Good news.... NO CROWS FEET!

 

Then comes final rigging.

I have not decided on canvas yet.  

[michael mott]

Dave that bowsprit rigging looks to be as challenging a piece of rigging as any that I have seen well done.

 

Michael

[davyboy]

Dave,

 

It looks like you are having an "interesting" time with the standing rigging of your S o S model. Looking very good,must have been a bosuns' nightmare then. If you plan on fitting sails with their running rigging,just wait 'til you get to the Fore and Mainsail Martnets   

 

It would pay dividends if you get hold of a copy of R.C. Anderson's book The Rigging of Ships in the days of the Spritsail Topmast. There are plenty for sale on Abe Books and this book has much info therein,some pertaining to the Sovereign. There is another book by him,17th Century Rigging which is even better IMO. Not listed on Abe Books just now but should be available elsewhere.

 

Happy rigging  

 

Dave   

[SawdustDave]

Creating six anchors....

I turned to my favorite material for creating parts that will be painted.... plastic (pvc) faux wood grain Vientiane blind slats.

 

 

First anchor shaped, assembled, and painted....

 

 

One down - five to go.
 

[riverboat]

Nice!! looking anchors Dave.........

 

frank

[SawdustDave]

Anchors installed....

I still need to wax the ropes a little in order to get them to appear more natural.

 

 

 

 

[VACorsair]

Dave,  As I scroll through this build log I am utterly mesmerized.  I can stare at the detail for hours. Simply amazing.  :im Not Worthy:

 

Stan

[SawdustDave]

Guess I've put off the figurehead sculpting long enough.  King Chuck sitting on his royal steed with raised sward is kinda intimidating, to say the least.

I'm just playing around with some Sculpy for now, as I need to get the scale right on the first pass.
 

 

Also, I have known for a long time that the beak has got to be extended by about 1/2" to accommodate this figure. 

 

 

Edited November 3, 2016 by SawdustDave

[SawdustDave]

Beak extension .... used a small nail to reinforce this joint.  Once painted, I think the joint line will blend in perfectly.

 

 

Figurehead roughly shaped.... just removed from the oven..

 

Can't say I'm real happy with it at this point.  We'll just wait and see how it cleans up.

 

 

[BANYAN]

Better than my carving mate

 

cheers

 

Pat

[JesseLee]

Amazing work as usual Dave. I need to learn to make anchors from scratch like you do. I have one or two that need replacing.

 

Jesse

[SawdustDave]

Thanks Pat...... Looks like the "clean up" is going pretty well.  I'll post results in a few.

 

Jessie Lee - Only six pieces counting the ring.  
Once the parts are cut and assembled, everything is filing and shaping and wrapping.
Give it a shot....just take your time.  You can do it.
 

[SawdustDave]

King Chuck mounted and ready for a fight.

Guess the figurehead sculpture cleaned up fairly well.

I do not want to hear that the horse looks a little bit like a donkey. That is a camera angle thing I didn't notice until after I posted this pic. I'm just glad I do not have to make a living with a camera.

 

I also added the little lion laying in front of the steed.

I've got to do some cleaning up and adding some hind paws to that little figure.......looked ok until the camera told me otherwise.

 

 

While waiting for the figures to dry, I began hanging the lanteen yard.

 

 

Back to a little bit of rigging.... no crows feet on this one.

Edited November 4, 2016 by SawdustDave

[BANYAN]

The King Chuck carving came up pretty nice Dave. and the ship overall is looking good.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[jbshan]

Obviously the Arabian stock had not yet been introduced.  Medieval horse stocks had heavier, stocky bodies.

[SawdustDave]

Began the morning working on these pin rails that will be located at the fore mast and main mast.
 

 

After staining, I added the little gold lions faces to the tops of the rail posts.

 

 

Thinking the pins are much too heavy for scale.  Easy enough to scale down slightly before gluing them in place.  
Once again, as usual, the camera is our biggest critic.

[michael mott]

Looks great Dave. The small details just keep accumulating, bringing more and more depth to the overall look.

 

Michael

[SawdustDave]

Improved Pinrails....

After trimming the oversized pins, looks more better....

[SawdustDave]

Began hanging the Mizzen spars.

 

 

 

I guess this stage might be the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.
Already beginning to have thoughts about which ship I might want to build next.  

Edited November 10, 2016 by SawdustDave

[BANYAN]

and I thought my rigging project was complicated - nice job Dave!

 

cheers

 

Pat

[SawdustDave]

Plenty of rigging for sure Pat.... and made especially difficult by the fact that I am working from a set of plan sheets that does not indicate belaying points!

Having to rely on my personal experience with other large ships of the line I have built over the years.
I think I can get it pretty close, but will have to make a lot of guessing.
These have got to be the worst set of plan sheets I have ever worked with.

Thanks for your visit.

[CaptainSteve]

For someone who is flying blind, you are doing a fantastic job, Dave.

[SawdustDave]

Hoping to hang the final four spars to her masts today.....leaving three to go on the bow sprit.

Finally taking a serious look at just how pitiful the plan sheets really are regarding the belaying of virtually all of this model's running rigging.
Guess I am completely spoiled by Chuck's thorough guidance in rigging.  Makes me really appreciate the time he puts into his description scripts.
Just look at this miserable mess....
 

 

Edited November 16, 2016 by SawdustDave

[AVBiker]

Hi  Dave

 

Look here for the Rigg

 

Cheers Hubert