Esping in 1:64 scale [COMPLETED BUILD]

dockattner

dockattner

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The Swedish warship Vasa was built between 1626 and 1628 and promptly sank after sailing roughly 1300 m into her maiden voyage on 10 August 1628. She slipped into the obscurity of history only to be relocated in the late 1950's. Beginning in 1961 she was raised largely intact and now has the place of honor at the VasaMuseet in Stockholm.

The last find recovered from the Vasa wreck site was a longboat. During the excavation of the lower gun deck of the mother ship two leeboards and a windlass were found and they fit the recovered longboat perfectly. Experts have concluded, therefore, that the longboat belonged to the Vasa.

An esping is a Swedish support boat that was either rowed or sailed. They were typically as long as the width of the ship they supported. The esping located with the Vasa is 11.7 meters long and the beam of the Vasa is 11.3 m. The esping is 3.2 m at her extreme beam. She does not have a keel, only two partial false keels at both ends to protect against abrasion. The flat bottom is made of four broad straight boards. The hull is built of oak (including trenails) and other parts of the boat are made from pine. There are also nails and bolts from wrought iron.

I am attempting this scratch build with the goal of displaying it alongside my 1:64 Vasa.

Vasa - 1:65 DeAgostini [COMPLETED BUILD]

Editorial note added following the completion of this build: This build report is crazy long - unhelpfully so. If you're not interested in all the details and just want to see how it all turned out use this link to see the final result: Final Images. If that sparks your interest and you want to...
shipsofscale.com

Screenshot 2022-07-23 07.37.26.jpg
 
My research began many months ago. In my case, that research not only included research on what an esping was, but also how to build one from scratch (that is, how to build any small boat from scratch).

Not much has been published on espings (apart from the information available from the Vasa Museum), though I believe they share much in common with a Dutch 'boot' and there is an excellent thread on our forum if you share my interest:

Sloops and boats for Dutch ships

Making sloops and boats is mostly a job at the end of a long proces of building a ship model and can be regarded as the cherry on the cake. Some kit makers produce longboats and all kinds of sloops, but for builders of Dutch ships there is nothing on the market (yet). By rare occasion literature...
shipsofscale.com

As for my research on how to build a boat from scratch - that is cause for some level of concern... There are several examples of scratch-built boats (sloops, lifeboats, etc.) on this forum and others - though typically by builders who are much more advanced in their skills than I am. Indeed, those experienced builders often neglect to provide the level of explanation I would need to replicate their work.

Helpfully, Dr. Hocker (from the VasaMuseet) was kind to send me drawings of the raised longboat. I do not have permission to share those drawings with others (though they will appear in partial form on some of the images included in this build report). I hope that will not be a violation - it is certainly not my intent to be a bad player with regard to the drawings. I am confident that Dr. Hocker would send them to anyone wanting to build an esping for personal use.

Of course having drawings in hand is not the same as understanding those drawings. I hope I will have gleaned enough primitive information to make an attempt at this build.
 
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I decided to build my esping based on a solid hull template. I will then plank that solid hull template and later remove the hull in order to add frames and other details afterwards (hull first rather than frame first).

A chunk of basswood in hand I have now used rubber cement to paste my plans to the block of wood:

IMG_8799.JPG

I then used the drawings to create shape templates that correspond to various locations along the hull of the ship (it is here I hope I have understood the drawings and how to best use the loft lines). These templates will guide the shaping of the solid hull form...

IMG_8795.JPG

Wish me luck!
 
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dockattner said:
I decided to build my esping based on a solid hull template. I would then plank that solid hull template and later remove the hull in order to add frames and other details afterwards (hull first rather than frame first).

A chunk of basswood in hand I have now used rubber cement to paste my plans to the block of wood:

View attachment 340726

I then used the drawings to create shape templates that correspond to various locations along the hull of the ship (it is here I hope I have understood the drawings and how to best use the loft lines). These templates will guide the shaping of the solid hull form...

View attachment 340727

Wish me luck!
Click to expand...
Hi Paul. Besides the ‘luck’, I wish you a lot of building fun with your scratch building of this beautiful little ship. And the construction method is challenging. And with your skills, your common sense is more useful than ’just luck’. With making the templates you shows that directly.
Regards, Peter
 
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