Euromodel – Lyde (1787).07.ship’s boat & beakhead.January.2021

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An interpretive build of the Lyde English Schooner 1787 Scale 1:80

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07.SHIP’S BOAT & BEAKHEAD January 2021

My interpretive build is based on the supplied drawings, the kit material – and an amount of extra material .

This work only illustrates how this ship might be built.The level of

complexity chosen is up to the individual

This resource information was based on the original text supplied by Euromodel and then expanded in detail as the actual ship was constructed by the author, Peter Coward. Neither the author or Euromodel have any commercial interest in this information and it is published on the Euromodel web site in good faith for other persons who may wish to build this ship. Euromodel does not accept any responsibility for the contents that follow.

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[To navigate through the contents – use ‘control + click’]

Contents Chapter 1 - SHIP’S BOAT ...... 4 Construction Choices ...... 4 Plastic Resin vs Timber ...... 5 Possible Modifications...... 6 Weathering ...... 10 Tholepin/ Thole ...... 12

Chapter 2 – BEAKHEAD ORNAMENTATION ...... 13 Overview ...... 13 Drawing Modification ...... 14 Rail ...... 15 Construction ...... 16

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Illustrations Figure 1: Non-modification of Supplied Boat ...... 4 Figure 2: Forward Boat Crutch ...... 5 Figure 3: Support Cross-Section ...... 5 Figure 4: Cutting & Sanding Tools ...... 5 Figure 5: Ship's Boat Longitudinal Shaping ...... 6 Figure 6: Post ...... 6 Figure 7: Bottom Boards ...... 6 Figure 8: Possible Internal Contouring ...... 7 Figure 9: Terminology ...... 7 Figure 10: Immersion in Ammonia Soln...... 8 Figure 11: Shaping (another ship) ...... 8 Figure 12: Ribs in Position ...... 8 Figure 13: ...... 8 Figure 14: Athwartship Boards ...... 9 Figure 15: Raised Stern Area ...... 9 Figure 16: Bottom Boards ...... 9 Figure 17: Risers ...... 9 Figure 18: Paint Selection for Dry Brushing ...... 10 Figure 19: Wet Brush Layer ...... 10 Figure 20: Stern Sheets & Thwarts ...... 11 Figure 21: Supporting Knee & Step...... 11 Figure 22: Post Extension ...... 11 Figure 23: and Arm ...... 11 Figure 24: Oar Lashed to a Tholepin ...... 12 Figure 25: Tholepins Inserted ...... 12 Figure 26: Beakhead, portside ...... 13 Figure 27: Beakhead, starboard ...... 13 Figure 28: Cheek, Top View ...... 13 Figure 29: Original Beakhead Position ...... 14 Figure 30: Modification of Plan Sheet 1 Beakhead Position ...... 14 Figure 31: Top Rail End Against the ...... 15 Figure 32: Top Rail Forming Support Bracket Under ...... 15 Figure 33: Top Rail (plan view)...... 15 Figure 34: Initial Shaping of Top Rail ...... 16

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Chapter 1 - SHIP’S BOAT

Supplied is a nominal 120 mm in length

Construction Choices

Alternative 1:

Most models are built with part of the gun barrels projecting out past the hull profile suggesting a

state of readiness for battle. If this is the case, then to clear the Main for battle, the ship’s

boats were removed and towed behind the ship. The boats then are not built – making this a

simple exercise for the builder.

Alternative 2: If the boat supplied in the kit is to be included, then it can be suitably painted as it is and eventually installed with perhaps only the thwarts installed. Euromodel supplies simple plastic resin hulls which will save much time and far less patience.

Alternative 3a: Install interior fittings in supplied boat. (Fig. 1)

Alternative 3b: Modify the longitudinal profile (and perhaps interior profile as well) and install all interior fittings.

Figure 1: Non-modification of Supplied Boat

Alternative 4: The supplied boats are discarded and new ones built from scratch. This is only for the ardent builder !

After some deliberation, ‘Alternative 3b’ was selected.

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Crutches

Mounted on the hatchway cover and open hatchway, they were a pair of wooden supports having two different sizes on which the ship’s boat (cutter) was secured.

Figure 2: Forward Boat Crutch

The cutter supports produced had a deeper cross-section than that shown in the drawings so allowance was made in cutting the pieces out of some 4 mm. scrap timber.

Figure 3: Support Cross-Section

Plastic Resin vs Timber The plastic resin was incredibly easy to work with and equipped with a Dremel and a number of differently-shaped cutting and sanding tools, I was able to alter the standard shape to conform quite closely to the drawings supplied.

Figure 4: Cutting & Sanding Tools

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Possible Modifications

Many of the features shown in the drawings were adopted BUT in the interest of simplicity, builders often ignore them.

Figure 5: Ship's Boat Longitudinal Shaping

• The (top edge) was altered to form a curved longitudinal profile.

• A stern post made from scrap timber.

Figure 6: Stern Post

• The inside area of the stern was made more square

• The hull bottom flat profile (shaded red) can be readily adapted to suit the bottom boards. The surface is painted black and boards added directly onto the painted surface. The ribs only need to be small lengths of upright pieces as seen in Fig. 7 below – a logical but simplistic approach.

Figure 7: Bottom Boards

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• In spite of the previous comment, the flat base was changed into a concave surface matching the outside. A Dremel cutting bit with a rounded shape made this task simple and approx. 5 mm. was cut out from the bottom. The guide to cutting down to a suitable depth involved holding the boat up to a strong light and observing a uniform translucent colour (to begin with, thick bottom was totally opaque to light). The concave inner surface is shown in Fig. 8 below. Also evident is the total removal of the inner ledge allowing the full rib profile to be included.

Figure 8: Possible Internal Contouring

Figure 9 displays extensive detail for fitting out a boat. Note that in this drawing the ribs are not visible.

athwartship boards supported at mid-line thwarts by keel stringers

stern sheets bottom boards fixed onto the rib structure Figure 9: Terminology

Having modified the hull, it needed to be fitted out with ribs, risers bottom boards, thwarts, rudder etc., etc. How much detail and what proportions are used is very much up to the individual.

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Ribs

Eleven ribs were cut (from 0.5 x 4.0 mm. planks) to a length of approx. 60 mm and a width of 1.8 mm. allowing spacings along the keel approx. 8.0 mm. apart.

[The extra length allowed easier manipulation of the ribs; the extra width should/could have been reduced]

To fit ribs against the curved boat interior without breaking, the strips were soaked in dilute ammonia solution – available from supermarkets as a cleaning agent Figure 10: Immersion in Ammonia Soln. called ‘cloudy ammonia’.

The timber strips were removed after 6-8 hours of soaking, wiped with a dry cloth and then held in position in a block grouping (Fig. 11) allowing at least 12 hours to dry.

Even though the athwartships width varies across the boat along the length, the dry ribs were easily fitted into position.

Figure 11: Rib Shaping (another ship)

Figure 12: Ribs in Position

Keel & Athwartship Boards Due to a difference in width between the longitudinal supplied boat and the boat drawing, the bottom boards construction differed in some respects. not shown in drawing The athwartships boards were 0.5 x 5.0 mm.

2 x 2 mm. keel athwartship boards added over ribs Figure 13: Keel 8 Euromodel – Lyde (1787).07.ship’s boat & beakhead.January.2021

Figure 14: Athwartship Boards

A 2mm. block of timber was placed at the stern over the athwartship boards. It was then covered with a few strips of the same timber used for the other athwartships boards.

The bottom boards shown in Fig. 58 were 0.8 x 1.5 mm.

Figure 15: Raised Stern Area

Figure 16: Bottom Boards

Figure 17: Risers

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Dryad Bark (‘base’) Weathering Constructing a boat out of timber seemed to be the ideal but having settled on using the supplied white plastic piece, the hull needed painting (before fitting out) to create a weathered finish. Dry brushing was Dawnstone (‘layer’) utilised to achieve this. [The paints used were a brand called ‘Citadel’ from Games Workshop that seem to have outlets in many countries. Model Ship World Forum contains a number of very excellent & specific references.]

Skrag Brown (‘layer’)

Figure 18: Paint Selection for Dry Brushing

Weathering, Part 1: Wet Brush Layer (Dryad Bark)

Figure 19: Wet Brush Layer

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Final Structures

Figure 20: Stern Sheets & Thwarts The centralised thwart supports were not added.

Figure 21: Supporting Knee & Mast Step

The stem post needed to be extended upwards ... a small timber block was pinned, glued and then shaped. Figure 22: Stem Post Extension

The tiller arm .... hole for the rudder was drilled out first in a larger piece of timber. The shape for the arm was then created around the hole !

Figure 23: Rudder and Tiller Arm

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Tholepin/ Thole These pins, either singly or in pairs were embedded into the gunwale to act as a fulcrum for the oar. Fig. 24 is from an actual boat.

Fig. 25 shows the eight tholepins [ouch – the camera magnification highlights the many blemishes !!!] Figure 24: Oar Lashed to a Tholepin

Figure 25: Tholepins Inserted

Weathering, Part 2: Dry Brushing Layers (in sequence): 1. 75% Dryad Bark & 25% Skrag Brown 2. 50% Dryad Bark & 50% Skrag Brown 3. Dawnstone

Dry brushing involves a specific brush being lightly filled with the paint applied and then stroking that brush over paper until all the paint appears to be used. The brush is then lightly applied to the base coat until an amount of colouration can just be perceived. That is the point when the brushing on of that new ‘layer’ is stopped. If multiple brush coat ‘layers’ are used, then it becomes a mixture of colours rather than just a multi- layered application of paint.

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Chapter 2 – BEAKHEAD ORNAMENTATION

Overview On each side of the beakhead (Figs. 26 & 27) , there are three rails ...

• top rail (brown) curves upwards and underneath the cathead • middle rail (blue) • bottom rail (green)

There are also cheeks (yellow) that appear to be rails but are not (see below)

Figure 26: Beakhead, portside Figure 27: Beakhead, starboard (front view) (side view)

Cheeks (yell ow) are used to support the knee

(lower pa rt) of the head. The best way to view

them from above and seeing them as triangular sections (Fig. 28) heavily curved inwards on

two sides. The outer edge of the cheeks are painted giv ing the appearance of a strip.

Figure 28: Cheek, Top View

In years gone by, Euromodel produced cast metal pieces for the beakhead decorations but they proved unsatisfactory and so the builder must resort to hand-crafting the rails from scrap timber.

Serious reservations need to be levelled at the supplied drawings for the above rails and so it was a matter of making some serious interpretations that not all will agree with.

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Drawing Modification

Plan Sheet 1 is a conceptual drawing only and the beakhead positioning/ rail detail is far from correct. Especially so is the mis-leading forward and aft edges of the beakhead and the forward end of the rails ‘hanging’ in the air.

Figure 29: Original Beakhead Position

It was necessary to superimpose the beakhead profile from Plan Sheet 2 onto Plan Sheet 1 drawing to clearly show the positioning of the top rail in relation to the beakhead.

This was particularly important to work out the position of the tightly-curled carving at the forward end of the head rail.

Figure 30: Modification of Plan Sheet 1 Beakhead Position

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Top Rail

The design of this rail is contingent on the cathead being fixed in position.

Plan Sheet 1 and one diagram in Plan Sheet 2 (Fig. 31) both suggest that the upward sweep of this rail virtually abuts the underside of the cathead adjacent to the hull.

Figure 31: Top Rail Aft End Against the Hull

Another diagram in Plan Sheet 2 is distinctly different to Fig. 31 and suggests the rail forms more of a supporting bracket underneath the cathead (Fig. 32). The latter concept was adopted since that was typically the case in many ships.

The rail appears to curve away from hull just below the cathead. Figure 32: Top Rail Forming Support Bracket Under Cathead

Top rail (Fig. 33) is divided into a number of sections … • flat curling plate against beakhead (blue) – refer back to Fig. 30,

• tapered length (dark brown),

• curved and rising section (light brown) under cathead.

The tapered length is virtually straight in carved plan elevation but distinctly curved from one piece downwards in side elevation. The latter, again, is illustrated back in Fig. 30.

Figure 33: Top Rail (plan view)

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Construction Two blocks, scrap timber each 15 x 20 x 75 mm., were cut to an initial shape from a template using the plan view outline as discussed in Fig. 33. The shapes at this stage were deliberately made greater in width than necessary to allow for some modification. Ignore the markings on the inside surface !

Figure 34: Initial Shaping of Top Rail

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