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HMS Litchfield (48) 1695 1:64 scale

It has been a year since giving a go at Litchfield due to other priorities. Latest project is the port lids.
Making port lids can be tedious, but not as much as tying ratlines :) I chose to close a few ports and open others. Lids were laminates, built so the the inside layer would seat inside the stops and help keep water out. While this is not the tiniest common scale, the size of parts makes things tricky for these old eyes and hands. I did what some may call cheating and drew up the hinges then had them made by a 3D printer. As I glued them to the port lids, I was concerned that they are oversized so again checked contemporary models and scaled them in CAD but found scant additional information on their sizes. Goodwin gives an example at 4 inches wide which is what I used when drawing these. Scaling photos of 60 gun contemporary models show hinges at 4.5 inches, so I am comfortable with what I have which is 4 inches at the widest point.

From what I could find, a single ring was common for lifting the lids on ships of her size and time. Ships larger than Litchfield sometimes had two rings but a single lift line with a wye to connect it to the two rings.

The inboard side at the time of Litchfield still often had lion faces painted on the lids. Rather than trying to paint the inside of dozens of lids I did a drawing and printed enough copies for the model.

Pictures and a thousand words, etc.

Allan

Contemporary model examples
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Sheet of lion faces made on my computer.

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Lids for Litchfield. These are samples I made to be sure they were right. After looking at these photos I found that I need to be more careful when making them so the corners are perfectly square and the lift ring needs to be smaller. I am happy with the appearance of the lion face even if it is more detailed than those on many contemporary models. Not having to paint all of them at least makes them consistent,........ but maybe too consistent.
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Many thanks Paul. I used to love photography but now I am not so sure. What looks good turns out to be less, when taking pics and seeing the details up close. Sorry the pic was so blurry. Tried to zoom in too much I guess without macro.
Allan
 
Many thanks Paul. I used to love photography but now I am not so sure. What looks good turns out to be less, when taking pics and seeing the details up close. Sorry the pic was so blurry. Tried to zoom in too much I guess without macro.
Allan
Agreed. There are few critics who/that are more critical than macro photos of our own work. But I recognize the effort that went into creating what you showed and admire your outcome.
 
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