Kingfisher 1770 1:48 POF

dockattner said:
Dear SOS Family,

Over the past four years we have needed to set one less place at the holiday table each year (two fathers and two sisters). But we have also added three more chairs at the kid's table over that same time period. Even in loss, there is the gift of new life - a sure sign of God's faithfulness.

Merry Christmas from our house to yours! May the Christ of Christmas bless you and those you love in the year to come!

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From left to right: Damian 3, Ethan 4, Ellie 2.
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Hi Paul
Nice picture
Happy holidays to you and your family
 
dockattner said:
Grab a coffee - this post is longer than most. Blessed with some extra modeling time this week I have a fair amount of work to share with you...

The Kingfisher comes equipped with a gangway (well, technically, two gangways - one is fixed, and the other is removable). The fixed gangway is related to the steps in the exterior hull, and the removeable gangway provides convenient access to the quarterdeck. All in all, they are a rather simple affair right up until you discover that they are supported by knees...

But before gangways can be installed, wisdom suggests it would be best to install the guns (access to the guns will be diminished by the addition of gangways overhead).

Here we go...
First, the framework for the fixed gangway:

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The guns installed:

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I have suggested previously that rigging guns is the single most miserable task in all of ship modeling. After this additional research I am pleased to confirm that rigging guns is the single most miserable task in all of ship modeling. No need to write to make your case for ratlines or treenails...

Entry #2

With the cap rails in place, I could see no reason to further delay the installation of the timberheads. A modeler with actual skills would have run the designated top timbers long and then added the cap rails over the top of them. What I did instead was cut off the top timbers a long time ago necessitating the fabrication of faux timberheads.

On the 'frames' side of the model the timberheads were left unfinished as if they were top timbers awaiting shaping. On the 'finished' side of the model that simplification was not be possible. The challenge was to create 19 IDENTICAL timberheads. Previously I have chosen to craft these sorts of things by hand (XActo, files, sanding sticks) but there is no way I could make 19 by hand and have them look the same.

My solution was to use my small table saw along with a sliding table to standardize the fabrication of these little bits...

A photo essay showing the processing of timberheads:

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The angled portion was done by hand with a #11 blade. I suspect I could have figured out a way of doing that on the mill but that felt like a lot of effort during the holidays.

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And now onto the ship:

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Unfinished timberheads:

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I see I neglected to get a finish (wipe-on-poly, in my case) on the cap rail and unfinished timberheads...

Attention now turns to the long-ignored headworks. As always, I am truly grateful you have taken the time to visit.
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As always nicely finished parts, Paul. And the rigged guns looks great under the gangway. The unfinished and finished timberheads is a visual attractive option.
Regards, Peter.
 
Very nice work, I really like the difference between the two sides, it's something. I really like the way your timber heads are made and the way you approach them, I've learned something new. All I can say about your cannons is that they're perfect. I'm at the point with La Coureur right now and I "hate" it. That's probably why I keep starting and then stopping again. But now I have to overcome my inner laziness.
 
Hi Paul,
Talk about confusion as there are three profiles, ZAZ4651, 7454 and 7455. As you no doubt found in your research, ZAZ7451 is described as follows, including as built. Plan showing the body plan with stern board outline and decoration detail, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for the Kingfisher (1770), a 14-gun Sloop, as built at Chatham Dockyard. The other two are dated 1766, thus working copies as RMG describes. The portion of the Hahn drawing that you show looks like the as-built.
Allan
 
RogerD said:
Beautiful work Paul and as for rigging those guns I can but sympathize with you. It is indeed time consuming, fiddly and frustrating, all rolled into one. Though from what I see you have done an excellent job it.
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Thanks, Roger. I'm happy to have only done four rather than the fourteen the ship is rated for (actually she was rated for 16 but it never happened).
 
Tobias said:
Very nice work, I really like the difference between the two sides, it's something. I really like the way your timber heads are made and the way you approach them, I've learned something new. All I can say about your cannons is that they're perfect. I'm at the point with La Coureur right now and I "hate" it. That's probably why I keep starting and then stopping again. But now I have to overcome my inner laziness.
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Thank you very much, Tobias. I'm not sure my approach to the timberheads was the right way - but it was my way.

As for the guns...the carts are certainly tedious, the metalwork exacting, but the rigging: UGH. Getting hooks onto eyebolts is like a grown-up version of Monkeys in a Barrel.

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AllanKP69 said:
Hi Paul,
Talk about confusion as there are three profiles, ZAZ4651, 7454 and 7455. As you no doubt found in your research, ZAZ7451 is described as follows, including as built. Plan showing the body plan with stern board outline and decoration detail, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for the Kingfisher (1770), a 14-gun Sloop, as built at Chatham Dockyard. The other two are dated 1766, thus working copies as RMG describes. The portion of the Hahn drawing that you show looks like the as-built.
Allan
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Huh. There are words on those drawings? ROTF ROTF ROTF
 
Herman said:
I also love the timberheads finished as well as the unfinished side.
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To be honest I was sort of dreading these because I thought it would be difficult to get them convincingly aligned. A simple jig made all my concerns go away. Having the cap rails dead level (left to right) made it a simple matter of honoring the sheer. Disaster avoided.
 
Chestcutter said:
Simple and yet perfectly executed. The 11 blade use on the heads,… was that done freehand or do you use a jig of some kind? The reproduction is impressive.
Your Quoins are nice, are they fixed or loose on deck?
Thanks for sharing Paul your work continues to educate and inspire.
Michael
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Much appreciated, Michael. The bevel was cut freehand but I had guardrails: start 1 mm from the top edge and cut down to the base of the deeper saw cut. Fine-tooth file to smooth it out.

The quoins are glued to the decking. I would have put them in their proper place but that angled the gun down too far. There's a mistake somewhere (gun ports too high, deck clamp too low, gun cart configured wrong - too many possibilities that I wasn't going to fix anyway so I just dropped them on the deck as if it was my plan all along).
 
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