The Mary Rose

G

Graham

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My next build will be the Mary Rose, a ship I have been interested in since she was found in 1971 and raised in 1982. Since then she has been the subject of intense conservation, from the timbers to the everyday objects of those who were onboard her when she sank in 1545 within sight of King Henry VIII who had built her.
Let's have a look in the box -

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In addition there are 8 pages of plans. First impressions are that the wood looks of good quality and the laser cutting seems fine. After my experience with the HMS Snake build regarding the poor quality of the white metal castings I am pleased to see that the cannon castings in this kit look OK with minimal flashings.

I also got the following publication -

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The book is an excellent publication which details all parts of the ship, what has been learned from the remains, what might be assumed for the missing structure and what is still left to be further investigated. I have found it very readable and, thank goodness, it includes a glossary for all of the many names given to the various parts of the ship. Accompanying the book is a separate publication containing fifteen plans and sections showing what has been found as superimposed on a fully scaled schematic of the likely complete ship -

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The drawings are very good and I think that any scratch builder (not me!) could build with them and make a very good model. One of the drawings shows the possible sail configuration (no sails are included in the kit) so that is something I might well do, but it's early days yet. You will appreciate that I can not show photos from the book or plans due to copyright, but I will be using them in my build and will pass on what I hope are some interesting facts. No model of the Mary Rose can be an exact replica of the actual ship because what they have found is still being reconstructed, some timbers (the collapsed bow) are still on the seabed and yet to be recovered; therefore, assumptions have to be made around what has been lost due to time and tides. Still, the book contains a lot of useful information which goes a long way towards putting some flesh on the bones of both the ship and the people who sailed her.
 
Hi Graham,

That wil be an interesting build, I love this vessel shape as wel as the Henry Grace a Dieu of which sergal had a kit in the past.
Lots of succes I will be in the front row on this one.

PS next holiday to Portsmouth to visit the actual thing, very impressive.

Regs Maarten
 
Hi Maarten,
I need to visit the Mary Rose Museum myself, I was there about 10 years ago and since then the constant sprays (for the conservation) have been turned off and there are a lot more artefacts on display. You'd better make a weekend of it and visit the Victory and Warrior as well!
 
This is an impressive kit, I am sure it will be a nice build.
Just one word of caution. I haven't seen any belaying pin on the photos, but they might still be there. They did not exist at that time so it would be a big error including them. Kit manufacturers tend to supply them irrespective of the era of the model. I also had it in the Carracca Atlantica kit and I installed them but later realized thst this was an error so I corrected it now.
Janos
 
I am also looking forward to see your building log of this Jotika kit, which I also have never seen before finished.
In principle the quality of Jotika is very good, although it is one of the earlier kits, I think. But with the help of the book and plans as reference I am sure to see here a very interesting log.
 
janos said:
This is an impressive kit, I am sure it will be a nice build.
Just one word of caution. I haven't seen any belaying pin on the photos, but they might still be there. They did not exist at that time so it would be a big error including them. Kit manufacturers tend to supply them irrespective of the era of the model. I also had it in the Carracca Atlantica kit and I installed them but later realized thst this was an error so I corrected it now.
Janos
Click to expand...

Thanks Janos, I had noted that from the above book and all ropes seem to have been tied off on rails along the bulwarks. Following your post I had a scout around on the internet but can't find anything which indicates when belaying pins were introduced - anyone have any ideas? Looks like some very good modellers are interested in this log so I had better get on with it and will post something over the next couple of days. Cheers.
 
Off we go, then. The keel and bulkheads are 5mm ply and slot together well -

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At this stage of a build I prefer to bolt a couple of 'L' brackets through the keel as it makes things easier to handle until the keel clamp comes into play -

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Next is the main deck with the mounting plates for the dummy guns -

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This slots in place, holds the bulkheads in position and all is quite square. I do not really know how much of this deck is visible through the open gunports, and it is definitely overkill, but I will paint the whole lot black. The deck beams to support the upper deck are then glued in place -

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After using thin CA on all joints it is time to chamfer the bulkheads to take the lay of the planks. There is a bit of a problem with the transom bulkhead because in order to chamfer it sufficiently I will impinge on the slot which holds the upper transom supports -

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A quick fix was to glue on a strip of balsa to add extra thickness -

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Keel edged in walnut and I also used balsa block for the infills at the bow as it is a lot easier to shape than hardwood -

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Upper and castle decks dry fitted and edges shaped. I can now start to get an idea of the plank runs and where other bits might go -

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I now depart from the instructions which say to part plank the upper deck (not the edges at the waist), fix it in place, snap off the top of the bulkheads at a later stage and complete the deck planking when the hull is complete. Instead I will fully plank the upper deck, snap off the top of the bulkheads at the waist, fit it and plank down from the level of the deck. That worked when I built the Snake (same Caldercraft methodology) so it should work here.

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The upper deck has to be cut in half in order to get it in due to the way the bulkheads are angled inwards at the bow and stern, so I will slot the central line of planks in when I fit the deck in place. In planking a deck we all strive for a mirror image of port and stbd and pay great attention to a but-shift system. However, in looking at the actual ship the planking on the surviving side of the wreck (the stbd side) is somewhat hotch-potch and almost as if they nailed down whatever came from the saw pits and made it fit. So, I have sort of 'planked casual'; most of the stern of this deck (on the left in the above photo) is covered by the castle deck, so it was OK to run quite long lengths as they will not be seen.
While I am at it I will also complete the planking of both castle decks.
 
I am glad to see your start......thanks for the details and explanation.
I am sure it will be an interesting log....
 
There are fwd and stern bulkheads to line up while the deck is not yet fitted. The slots for the fwd bulkhead are slightly out -
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After some minor adjustment this is where they will go -
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Further progress. The calking is represented by a charcoal pencil on the edges of the planks, the nails by a pencil and I found a 2HB to be the best to use. On the actual ship the planks were fixed with iron nails (2 per plank width), the caulking was a mixture of plant fibres and goat/horse hair. -



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The upper deck in position and glued -

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Marking the nails was extremely tedious, but I gritted my teeth and also did the fore and stern castle decks -
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Deck hatches for the stern castle (top) and upper deck (bottom). I can fit the upper deck hatches next, but due to the port/stbd camber on the stern castle deck (not to be fitted until after planking) I fear than in bending the deck slightly to fit it I will spring the hatches, so I'll leave that until later -

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There are four ladders leading down from the upper deck. All access around the ship was via ladders (there were no companionways as in later ships), so moving heavy items like shot, ropes etc would have been awkward and hard work. However, frame 5 sits across the two fwd holes. Strange that, but I'll drill down into it and tidy up with a chisel

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Ladder holes tidied up and I decided to also edge them -
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Centre line hatches in place and edged -

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Remaining hatches build and in place -

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No gratings have been found on the actual ship and access was either by open or covered hatch ways. Gratings, whilst stopping sailors falling down open hatches, also provided essential ventilation, so the Mary Rose must have been pretty dank and smelly below decks.

Deck beams to support the castle decks in place -

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I think while I can get in between the decks before planking I might as well fit the four ladders, so will build those next. We all have things that we dislike making during a build (what's yours?) and with me it's ladders. I hate making ladders.
 
Graham
Nice looking build. Especially admire the deck finish. Would you mind sharing what you used as a finish? It appears in the pics that it raised the grain and made the caulking and nails very realistic.
Sideliner
 
This makes me want to purchase this kit right now, but I have too many in my current waiting list. But, I will follow along with keen interest!

Bill
 
Cheers, Bill

Sideliner - the stain is oil based, medium teak and is a furniture stain made here in the UK by Rustin's. The finish is satin acrylic lacquer.
 
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