Mary Rose "Your Noblest Shippe" 1545 scale 1/50

[Roger Pellett]

Sharp Bow: it’s interesting that paintings of these old ships, often those made in the Nineteenth Century, and older ship model kits represent these Sixteenth Century warships with bluff bows and very full hull forms. Maritime archeology studies of actual vessels shows fine lined sharp bow hull forms. Examples include Mary Rose, the Newport ship and the Red Bay Galleon. Two out of three of these examples are of Basque construction. This puts the Spanish Armada stereotype of lumbering tubs to doubt. Actually what appears is a “boat like” lower hull form with massive upper works added on.

Examination of her hull form also sheds light on her catastrophic loss. Initial stability is an exponential function of the area of the vessel’s water plane. (The area enclosed by the waterline at which she floats). Vessels with poor initial stability heel easily until the change in water plane area stops it. They, therefore, do not necessarily capsize. Mary Rose, however, was apparently sailing with open gunports, and when she heeled to the point where she exposed one of these then loss of buoyancy and the effect of water sloshing back and forth in her lower hull caused her to capsize and sink.

It would seem that the blame lies with dockyard officials who decided to add gunports low in the hull that were necessary for large bore guns to a hull not originally intended to carry them. In their defense the concept of initial stability would not be known for another two hundred years.

Roger

 

[Patrick_Be]

WOW!! Very nice work there compatriot! Greetings from
Sint-Niklaas!

 

[Backer64]

Sharp Bow: it’s interesting that paintings of these old ships, often those made in the Nineteenth Century, and older ship model kits represent these Sixteenth Century warships with bluff bows and very full hull forms. Maritime archeology studies of actual vessels shows fine lined sharp bow hull forms. Examples include Mary Rose, the Newport ship and the Red Bay Galleon. Two out of three of these examples are of Basque construction. This puts the Spanish Armada stereotype of lumbering tubs to doubt. Actually what appears is a “boat like” lower hull form with massive upper works added on.

Examination of her hull form also sheds light on her catastrophic loss. Initial stability is an exponential function of the area of the vessel’s water plane. (The area enclosed by the waterline at which she floats). Vessels with poor initial stability heel easily until the change in water plane area stops it. They, therefore, do not necessarily capsize. Mary Rose, however, was apparently sailing with open gunports, and when she heeled to the point where she exposed one of these then loss of buoyancy and the effect of water sloshing back and forth in her lower hull caused her to capsize and sink.

It would seem that the blame lies with dockyard officials who decided to add gunports low in the hull that were necessary for large bore guns to a hull not originally intended to carry them. In their defense the concept of initial stability would not be known for another two hundred years.

Roger

Thanks Roger, this explanation saves me a lot of Google Translate work.

Also, don't forget that the gun ports were not operated by the cannon crew themselves, but by someone on the deck above.
Communication was done by shouting through openings in the deck...

 

[Backer64]

WOW!! Very nice work there compatriot! Greetings from
Sint-Niklaas!

Thanks
Your Bounty also looks great

 

[Backer64]

Planking the bow.
Purely speculative. The planking here is horizontal; on many carracks it is curved vertical, but at the time of the sinking of the Mary Rose this seems to be becoming somewhat old-fashioned. Most drawings then show horizontal planking.

First " a clean up" of the inside

And step by step, the bow is being built up.

The planking of the bow is finished. It is not clearly visible in the photos, but there are still some dips and dips in the shape here and there. However, the planks are thick enough to sand away these irregularities.
So still sanding, inserting treenails into the planks, etc. to do.

Not happy with the blunders on the right, but fortunately we won't see any of that later. And still needs further sanding (left).

With the cardboard front castle. In this new setup, the height of this castle has already decreased by 1.5 cm.

 

[Backer64]

The planking at the bow has been further sanded and fitted with treenails.

Back to the rear castle.
Smallerwales are placed on the clinker planking. Naturally, none of these have the same dimensions.
The drawings and photos are consulted partly to determine the "correct" position. The spacing between the wales was also already taken into account for future painting work.

All wales are installed on the clinker-built planking.

On the starboard side, the beam has been replicated on which the swivel cannons will later be mounted.

And the frames are to thick, they must be thinned
First a pencil line.

Then "heavy material" deployed cautiously, of course.

One side is reduced from 6 to 5 mm; the intention is to later make the frames above the beam of the pivot bearings even thinner to 4 or, if possible, 3 mm.

 

[Backer64]

With the beam for the port side swivels also installed and the frames thinned, it is time to continue working on the transom.
The clinkerplanking that was installed initially has been removed.

The intention is to install two cannons here; the openings of the "swivels" will then remain empty.
Installing the same number of cannons as the Anthony drawing is not feasible. It is a beautiful drawing to show to a king, but in reality, this is not a practical design.
Various attempts...

And in the end, this is what it turned out to be (so attempt 3).

Then finish the holes for the struts on the port and starboard sides with a beam at the top.
First, grooves are made.

This is more work, but positioning the beam correctly becomes much easier.
And above this, clinker planking returns. This will provide more strength to the structure when the frames are made thinner later.

 

[Backer64]

The frames of the upper deck.

Logically seen and thinking.
This bulwark is constructed with a section of planking and a section of shields. In accordance with the mid-deck, which also has partial shields, why should all the frames extend all the way to the top? If their sole purpose is to hold up a beam from which shields hang?
Therefore, the height of the majority of the frames extends only to the planking. And a few go higher; the distance between these frames is approximately in accordance with that of the mid-deck.

Saw off the frames to height and then narrow them to 3mm with a chisel and rasp.

A beam is glued above the overlapping planking. The connections are solely to maintain sufficient strength on the model.

Then the longest frames are narrowed and brought up to height. This height is speculative; the shortest frame was the measure (little other choice).

Starboard is finished, only a small beam remains to be attached at the top, and a little extra planking has been added (arrow).

With all the frames thinned and the last planks attached to the transom, the rough shape of the hull and the aftcastle is largely complete.

A whole lot of wood chips. And the first pot of PVA glue is empty.
The workbench has been cleared for a moment. With paint cans visible in the background, it is time for some freshening up of the hobby room first.

status with a cardboard fore castle

 

[Backer64]

Mary Rose was then a little time on hold.
Repainted and reorganished the hobby room. Now also with a small stereo that produces a truly old-fashioned sound. 40 years old...

Everything in order, no more searching for tools

And cleaning of the military collection. About 1450 models...

 

[Backer64]

With the room completely cleaned, repainted, and reorganized, and a clean military collection. There was time for Mary again.
The gun deck is fitted with planks where the stairs will go. And it has received a coat of diluted and polished Tamya paint.
Later, little or nothing of all this will be visible.

The railing of the top deck is finished.

Color test for the hull.
It is not known for certain whether the original ship was white below the waterline. It is possible, but it has never been investigated further.
To get the maximum effect from the treenails, oil will be applied to the hull. I had some walnut oil left over as a test. Much better than the very diluted Tamya paints.
Walnut oil gives a beautiful result on wood, but you have to finish and repeat the treatment.
So it will be Danish oil

No comment

Applying masking tape to overlapping planking is not practical.
And, they didn't have masking tape back then in the 16th century either... So everything is marked out and painted "freehand".
Materials used: Tamiya paint, paint markers, and Danish oil.

If you are right-handed, it is easiest to always paint the left line.

The colors are applied step by step. The book cover serves as a guide, but was not followed completely.
Port serves as the test side. So starboard still needs to be done.

All "untreated" wood parts are finished with a layer of Danish oil.
No white below the waterline.
The original may have been painted white, or not.
Not a single ship on the Antony roll has a white underside.
This way, the treenails are most visible.

 

[Backer64]

The starboard side is painted.

Now for the outer standards (a sort of extra frames as additional support for the rearcastle), quite a job of fitting and measuring...

dry fit


The color scheme on the transom just isn't working out. After 3 different schemes that didn't work.
A new start, with a schedule that will resemble the Anthony Roll more.

The fourth attempt will be better...
After adding some extra wale, a sketch was made first.

And this is the result, pretty okay I think, after 4 attempts...

 

[GrantTyler]

Good morning Patrick. Beautiful work. Cheers Grant

 

[Backer64]

Moving on to the standards.
Not all standards match the paintwork Painter's mistake, says the carpenter....

Painting in advance also has disadvantages if you need to glue.

Clamps

Constructing the "channel"
I have never seen such a long and narrow channel. Moreover, it only touches the hull itself in 2 places.

The channel has been installed, now to make the small stands and glue them in place.

 

[Backer64]

Good morning Patrick. Beautiful work. Cheers Grant

Thank you Grant

A "rigging rail" has also been installed.
In theory, a part of the running rigging is attached to this later.


The same little job on the port side is also finished.

 

[Backer64]

Now the same principle follows at the bow.

So, with virtually nothing remaining of this part of the ship, it becomes a matter of searching and thinking.
I already have a rough idea of what it's going to be. Now I just need to convey this to Mary Rose

Before proceeding with the outer castle, a few smaller items were added first.

The starboard cabin at this location, a hole has been made through the hull here (purpose??)
So there is also one provided on the port side.

Preparation of a few more pieces


With the rough shape of the channel of the foremast. It is made of 3 parts.

 

[iutar]

Great news! I've been following this construction project and was very sad to see it lost.

 

[Backer64]

On each side, 3 "standards" are placed as a base for the rest and the "rigging rail".

My first impression of this tranquility
The right side should become narrower and would function as a rigging rail.
In the middle come the standing rigging (6)
And the left side should also be made narrower so that one of the two anchors can be attached to it.

Ideas and comments on this are always welcome.
Almost all the drawings contradict each other (even in the same book...), some have 2 rests stacked on top of each other here, others 1, but higher.
The main requirement is that there is sufficient space in relation to the forecastle to attach the ropework to it later without snagging.
The channels, with their accessories, on both sides of the bow are ready.

Status

 

[Backer64]

Great news! I've been following this construction project and was very sad to see it lost.

Welcome back, Mary is NOT LOST but "under repair

Further with Mary
Below is a first idea of the lowest deck of the forecastle.

The construction of the forecastle has only just begun and I am already making mistakes. There simply cannot be a beam in the middle, because then there is no room for the foremast...
So a new plan without a beam in the middle.
After testing where the foremast and the bowsprit could be placed.

there a base of the forecastle with the curved sides glued to

Final check to make sure it is properly straight.

Everything is ready to start on the sides.

The planking of the front castle has started. At the bottom, there will first be 3 standard planks, followed by clinker planking above that.

Stock of sawn decking planks.

And the lowest deck is planked. This will be virtually invisible later, so I haven't put much time into it.

 

[Backer64]

And now to put up the frames.

All the frames are in place

A temporary reinforcement has been placed at the top.
There is one gunport per side. On the Anthony Roll there are two, but that is very optimistic in my opinion. There is simply no room for them.

The interior finish will be executed in the same style as the rear castle.

The upper planking is also clinker style.

 

[Backer64]

Slow, but...


The lowest deck is starting to become difficult to reach and has therefore already been treated with a layer of Danish oil.

Almost forgotten, the bowsprit.

Roughly determine where this goes with a dummy

The correct angle is ??

So something like that

Barely, but it fits.

And has support.

The shape of the forward section under the bowsprit still needs to be adjusted.
How exactly, I don't know yet.