Post 40

Thinking aloud - The question of rigging fittings, and what to do about the iron work.

 I am thinking about whether to attach the rigging fittings to the boat in the absence of actually masting and rigging her.

 We know that ship’s boats were all rigged for sailing as well as rowing, some with one, some with two masts, and a variety of sail plans.

 The Medway Longboat is perhaps a rare exception of a contemporary model shown as rigged, most boat models and plans don’t have these details.

 The fittings are quite simple, a couple of deadeye straps and ring supports for a bowsprit.

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The contemporary unrigged model does not have these fittings, apart from the Bowsprit ring at the stem, and the mast support clamp on the thwart. There is no indication of the location points where they would otherwise be fitted.

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The deadeye straps would need to be firmly fixed, how was this done; presumably bolted to the side thro’ the wale; were they left insitu when the boat was being rowed or fitted as required; in that case surely the fixing points would be apparent.

 

It begs the question whether the 18^th century modelmaker had simply left these things off, but why not the hole thro’ the forward thwart when you’ve bothered to show the stem ring.

 

I have found no other contemporary models of boats that show deadeye fixings, and none of the complement of boats set on HMS Victory have any indication of fixing points for rigging.

 

I think I will certainly add the stem ring but am less certain about the deadeye straps which may spoil the lines without the masting and rigging in place.

 

The aft Bowsprit support ring also may look odd without the Bowsprit in place. It could of course be made and placed across the forward thwart.

 

Enough of these musings, I need to do it to see it.

 

 

B.E.

31/08/2024

Post 41

Bowsprit fixings (Part One)

With the unrigged version I need to adopt a different approach to that used by Chuck.

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As can be seen the stem ring hangs loose so the use of tape to simulate the ring is not an option. I would in any case opt for heat shrink tubing for this item.

I will use a brass ring silver soldered to the stem bar for the purpose but I first need to make up the Bowsprit to gauge the fit of the rings.

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For speed I did the turning using 5mm ø Ramin dowel.

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For the ring I used 7mm ø Brass tubing for the Bowsprit stem support.

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1/16^th wide slices were taken from the tube.

The support bars for the rings were cut from 1/16^th square section brass rod.

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A pin was filed into one end to fit a small hole drilled into the rings before cutting.

I noticed looking closely at the contemporary model that the aft Bowsprit support is of rectangular section rather than round which makes better sense.

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I remade a square section ring for the aft support.

This shot shows the items after silver soldering but before cleaning up.

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With the fit to the Bowsprit established I can move onto the fitting of the ‘ironwork’.

 

B.E.

02/09/2024

Post 42

Bowsprit fixings (Part Two)

Now comes the tricky bit - getting the aft support in the correct position and correct length, because the forward thwart must be drilled.

l approach this job with Chuck’s warning you only have one shot at this seared into my mind.

I can almost sense that index finger pointing from across the big water.

A scary thought as I have already glued the thwart and knees in place.

With the Bowsprit temporarily held in place adjustments are made by degrees to both length and position of the shaft on the thwart.

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I used a short length of rod and tape to determine where the thwart hole is to be drilled.

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Note that the Bowsprit does not sit flush with the capping rail but has a slight downward angle created by the height of the aft support.

If it followed the capping rail it would have an upward angle.

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I have decided to leave the aft support in place.

Getting close to completion now but there are some cosmetic flaws to be attended to and a few bits to make.

 

B.E.

02/09/2024

Post 43

Finishings - bits and pieces.

The rigged contemporary Longboat has an iron horse athwartships at the stern, along which the main sheet runs.

This sits below the Tiller which naturally begs the obvious question.

It is a question asked and discussed many times in this forum, but that is how the contemporary craftsman back in 1742 did it, so monkey see, monkey do.

The contemporary unrigged model does not include it, so I could dodge the issue and follow suit.

Still, I like such fittings on a model so I have included it.

A length of 1mm brass wire was used for the purpose.

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There is a slight round-up to the Horse.

The spar set is now complete.

The Boom is unusual in that it tapers from the centre both fore and aft. The taper is slightly less forward to a finished diameter of 4mm.

The Bowsprit and Gaff are straightforward to make turning and tapering on the wood lathe.

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I used Ramin dowel for the spars rather than the square stock Box I used for the mast.

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I will need to work out how to display the mast and spars off the model.

Mast step

Chuck has provided a pre-cut step as a simplification; one that I am happy to accept.

In practise the mast heel would have been located in the keelson.

I doubled up on the pieces as I thought it looked better than the single thickness.

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Positioning the step is another testy little exercise and I had left the thwart aft of the mast unfixed to aid this process.

I used a dummy mast stub to hold the step for position and I used tape to mark the lines and to prevent any glue spread.

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Small weights are used to ensure a good bond.

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The thwart aft of the mast is not properly positioned in this shot

As I’ve made the sticks might as well see how they look in position.

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It is very tempting to mast and rig her, but she does have quite a large footprint.

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Not quite done yet.

B.E.

04/09/2024

Post 44

A final fussing and faffing around the model, touch-ins here and there, and a final coat of w-o-p.

I have tried various combinations to display the mast and spars alongside the model but arrived at having the Mast and Boom on the display base, and the Bowsprit and Gaff onboard the boat.

This avoids having to have a wider display base which I don’t really want.

So, here are the completion photos.

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As with the Queen Ann Barge and Cheerful the ‘Medway’ Longboat has been a pleasure to build.

The combination of quality materials, excellent designs, and elements that test your ingenuity and skill provide a high level of build satisfaction.

Thank you, Chuck for the makings.

 

I do have a few more photos that members may find of interest; I will add these in the following post.

 

B.E.

06/09/2024

Beautiful build. I finished my Medway about 3 years ago and forgot how much I enjoyed it. It was real challenge but excellent instruction and advise from other builders resulted in an acceptable finished product.

Post 45

The following photos are ones I have taken with the usual photo build record book I make for each of my builds, in mind.

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One of the reasons I didn’t mast and rig her apart from space considerations is that I also have the Chuck designed Model Shipways Longboat at 1:48 scale, fully rigged.

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My eyes find it hard to believe the scale difference between 1:48 and 1:24 for basically the same boat, but I love the look of them both.

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Similarly, the same scale Model Shipways Pinnace at 1:24 looks tiny against it.

Again, I love this model, but if Chuck were to redo it under Syren it would probably have to be a 1:12 scale to give the same size impact.

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Chuck’s two Syren small boat kits together.

Queen Ann Royal Barge, and ‘Medway’ Longboat.

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They make a beautiful pair of models, that I thoroughly recommend to those who wish to push the wooden kit build experience just a little bit further.

And finally…..

Those familiar with my logs will know that I create a build photo book for my builds.

The one for the ‘Medway’ Longboat has just been received.

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Regards,

 

B.E.

24/09/2024

Wonderfully done Maurice. Thanks for sharing.

Beautiful work sir! I like your idea of creating a book of your build. Great idea.

Cheers,

Todd

Thank you Rusty and Todd, much appreciated.

These Syren kits are a joy to build, and have to enjoy

Maurice