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Thanks Colin .. yes always nice to have figures on board, more realistic at the end of the day when on the water ... Ive settled for 120mm ones if I can get them to suit the style and mood of this boat ?

Hi Mark, yet more amazing work. I do have one query though. You have the gammoning cleats fitted to the bowsprit stub but are they not a bit too far forward. In this position the gammoning which fits forward of the cleats would run at a high angle back to the head timbers. As the purpose of the gammoning was to hold the sprit down to the head against the pull of the jib stay such a high angle would not work very well as it is more pulling the spar backwards rather than down. All references I have show the gammoning much more vertical. Not intended as a criticism just wondering.
Jim

Still working on the main mast electrics, also start getting ready for making the 4.5 MK8 mod 0 main gun master for later moulding.

This is an interesting discussion. A lot of these older designs can be contradictory when it comes to defining a scale. Sometimes they can apparently be used for representing different scales but there are then some details or fittings which can tie the model to a particular scale. Often the biggest problem is matching them to suitable crew figures.

I am using Vic Smeed's classic 'Silver Mist' plan from 1958 as a basis for a near scale model. Vic made no bones about it being a representational model for beginners and not true scale. The plan was marketed as 7/16th to the Foot scale which is around 1:27. But many of the dimensions shown, including things like handrail and door heights and apparent wheelhouse headroom, are much nearer to 1:35 scale which is what I am working with.

Fortunately a lot of the James Silver boats on which Silver Mist was based have survived and there are many photos on the yacht broker internet sites which are very informative. These do have to be used with caution though as James Silver built many variations of his boats and some of the full size ones were scaled up or down in line with the depths of the pockets of their owners. It is all something of a 3D jigsaw and quite fascinating to research.

In contrast, the Fairey powerboat kits marketed by SLEC and designed by the late great Dave Milbourn, whilst simplified, are true to scale and the 1:16 versions lend themselves to being crewed by Bruder figurines which greatly enhance the appearance of the model. I also used these on my freelance Greek Fishing Boat. The hull design is used  for many different full size boats but the superstructure and fittings on a model has to conform to your own chosen scale.

With these large scale but small models, crew figures really do enhance the boats and give them a sense of proportion. There is always something missing when seeing a scale power boat barrelling around the lake with nobody at the helm!

Colin

I also got around to doing the blue paint on the hull - the splash of gloss paint showed up some flaws, so....back to putty and sanding before a second coat of blue.


My new model rocket igniters showed up yesterday, so I'll be puttering around with the VLS design again this weekend for the R/C version.  If I can get one of my minions to assist me with filming, we might even see a launch or two.

Someone forwarded me a brochure for the RCD showing the latest version of the mast, so I spent a bit of time redoing the mast to the 'current' version:

For some reason I cant attach images... lets try this...  no, doesn't work...

These vintage models were a bit freelance, and not to precise scales.  So I am not sure you can tie them down to a specific scale.  Just do what suits your vision.
David

Thanks David, yes Dodgy Geezer said something similar and I think that's what Ive gone with and tried to do, trusted my instinct and done what looks right, seen mention of the Sea Queen, its a lovely model, with it fitting an action man isn't it closer to 1/6 scale ?? ... on which point I'm happy I think to settle for the this version of Gwen Eagle model scale at 1/12 .

 
Afternoon All!
 
Sorry about the outage earlier ..... the Domain Name - modelboatmayhem.co.uk - had expired & the
 'domain registrar', didn't think I needed a reminder... Last renewed 2022 !

Anyway, now renewed for Nine years (max), you guys have got December 2035 to finish off your current projects!   

Another update from me 


This time it's the catheads and snatch sheave blocks.  So starting with the catheads I first milled out the slots for the sheaves.  Unfortunately my end mill was a little short so I had to turn them over to get all of the way through.











Making the catheads was easy - fitting them though was scary as I had to cut through the hull and didn't want to mess it up.














Next I made the snatch sheave blocks which fit over the top of the cat heads.





Then I made the sheaves which I used a piece of ebony which has been knocking around in my draw for years.








I then finished these parts off by making the iron work and fitting the sheaves








And finally fitted all of the parts onto the ship














So my next job is to finish the windlass by making the locking pawl for it.


Cheers Mark