My Workbench

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Navwar 1/1200 14 Gun Cutter


Here is what I was able to make of the Navwar version of the 14 gun cutter. As with all Navwar models, I had to scratch build the mast, bowsprit, sails and yards.

The kit (x 2). I separated the jib and fore staysail hoping to use them.


Measurement of the masts
I use music wire. Size .47 for the main mast, .39 for the maintop mast.
The built masts and bow sprits for both vessels
Primed
Sails are drawn on sketch paper and ready to be cut out
Sails are coated on both sides with diluted PVA glue and laid across curved shapes to dry.
The dried sails are then painted and final details added.
The finished model:











This one I made American. I have the other Navwar cutter and another Langton cutter left to do. I am thinking of making one Spanish and one French.

Here are comparison shots between the two cutters built thus far; Langton on the left and Navwar on the right.


Saturday, June 28, 2014

Langton 14 Gun 1/1200 Cutter

Continuing with the smaller vessels I finished the first of two cutters I picked up from Rob at Waterloo Minis. Both are all plain sail brass photo-etched sets. I may add studding sails to the next one. I also have two Navwar cutters I want to see what can be done with.




 Here is the finished cutter.
















Thursday, June 26, 2014

GHQ 10 Gun Baltimore Clipper

I finished another small vessel a few days ago. This one is GHQ's 10 gun Baltimore Clipper. I don't know what size guns or much of anything about these vessels. This is what Wiki says:

Baltimore Clipper is the colloquial name for fast sailing ships built on the mid-Atlantic seaboard of the Unites States of America, especially at the port of Baltimore, Maryland. The name is most commonly applied to two-masted schooners and brigantines.
Baltimore clippers were first built as small, fast sailing vessels for trade around the coastlines of the United States and the Caribbean Islands. Their hull-lines tended to be very sharp, with a "V"-shaped cross-section below the waterline and strongly raked stem, stern posts, and masts. The origins of the type are unknown but certainly hulls conforming to the concept were being built in Jamaica and Bermuda (the hull of the Bermuda sloop, designed for the open ocean, was broader than the Jamaican and deeper than the American or Iroquois) by the late 17th century and by the late 18th century were popular both in Britain and the United States.
They were especially suited to moving low-density, high value perishable cargoes such as slaves, and in that trade operated as far afield as the west coast of Africa. Similar vessels were built as privateers during theWar of Independance and the War of 1812, and as pilot boats. The famous yacht America, derived from the lines of a New York pilot boat, was conceptually not far removed from the Baltimore clipper. Many such vessels went to Australia during the Australia gold rush, or after being seized as slavers and sold.
One particularly famous Baltimore Clipper, and one of the last of the type in commercial service, was the schooner Vigilant that traded around the Danish Caribbean islands for over a century before sinking in a hurricane on September 12, 1928. She was believed to have been built in the 1790s.
A modern replica of an early 19th-century Baltimore Clipper was the ill-fated Pride of Baltimore and her replacement Pride of Baltimore II.
An original Baltimore Clipper. These were used as privateers during the War of 1812.
I bought this kit second hand and it was missing the fore top and fore t'gallant sails. I used a small Navwar spritsail that was about the right size for the fore top sail. I probably should have just made these sails but I was in a bit of a hurry at the time.













Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Davco 36 Gun Spanish Frigate Ninfa

I had another frigate in the dry dock for my Spanish fleet. I finished it a month ago but never got around to posting it. This is another Davco model and not as well molded as others I've built, more like a Navwar model.

The Ninfa was a 36 gun 5th rate Spanish frigate built in 1795. The Ninfa was captured by HMS Irresistible 74 and HMS Emerald 36 April 26, 1797. The Ninfa was taken into the Royal Navy and renamed HMS Hamadryad. She was 960 tons.
Armament:
Upper gun deck 26 x 12 pounders
Quarterdeck: 8 x 6 pounders, 6 x 32 pound carronades
Forecastle: 2 x 6 pounders, 2 x 32 pound carronades

The finished hull
The sails are painted and spars set
Finishing touches detailing the sails 
Masts & Sails set
OOPS!  I usually get the ratlines on before this.
Making the ratlines



One finished ratline, 11 more to go











Next to the Salvador del Mundo 112 gun