Mantua Cannoniera Olandese no.2

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Oct 17, 2019
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Although I've already built this, I did take photos as I went along so I thought you might be interested. It's a strange looking thing, flat bottomed and 'sharper' at the stern rather than the bow. I'm not a fan of repetitive fiddly things and masses of sails and rigging, so 5 big canon and one main mast + bow-sprit, etc seemed within my capabilities. It does have a massive sail area compared to beam which makes me think a good blow would tip it over, but it's a model of a real ship so it must have been fine. It was actually blown up by the captain at the siege of Antwerp in 1831 rather than be taken by insurgents.

The joy of opening a box and seeing the wood, plans and shiny things.01.JPG02.JPG03.JPG05.JPG
 
I fitted the false keel and frames just to see how well they went together, not to actually start building it ... but then once you've got going ...
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My homemade plank bending thingy. I don't claim to have invented the set up, but mine is about as basic as it gets - soak, bend, heat gun.
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spaces at bow and stern filled in to aid planking. I didn't really want to do this because of the fitting and tedious sanding, but I'm so glad I did.
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Deck finished and hull ready for planking
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The bow in the process of being tidied up plus handrail and anchor supports installed. I was following another modeller's build and he said leave the rail until later otherwise it gets in the way - it was a good tip

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Rudder installed and deck fittings begun

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Deck fittings - sorry about the window at the back. The forward big gun is on a turntable

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There was a bit of a gap when I wasn't taking photos so now the rest of the hull fittings, the main mast, the damsels and ratlines are done or in progress. The boat is in the back of my car - I have the good fortune of being able to do things whilst I'm at work.

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sails - this my level of construction:
I've folded over the edges and sewn all around, the bolt rope is hand sewn, but the panel seams are drawn on. My skills don't extend to sewing parallel lines.

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There was a bit of a gap when I wasn't taking photos so now the rest of the hull fittings, the main mast, the damsels and ratlines are done or in progress. The boat is in the back of my car - I have the good fortune of being able to do things whilst I'm at work.

View attachment 116964View attachment 116965

sails - this my level of construction:
I've folded over the edges and sewn all around, the bolt rope is hand sewn, but the panel seams are drawn on. My skills don't extend to sewing parallel lines.

View attachment 116966View attachment 116967
A mobile workshop, thats the first I came across.
I sometimes take parts with me on bussiness travels to do some work at it in my hotel room. Thats the positive side of this hobby.
 
more sails and rigging

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The Mantua system of numbering the rigging sheets looks ok but I found it didn't help to do them in numerical order. I sort of started from bow to stern, installing sails and the necessary rigging to keep them up, writing down the numbers as I did them. I put them in the appropriate belaying pin racks but didn't fix them, in case I had to adjust tensions as I went along (which I did need to do). This might be obvious to you galleon builders but it was headscratching for me as this was the first sailing boat I've built. How you cope with double/triple masted ships I haven't a clue and have nothing but admiration for you builders out there.
On this single-master there was occasional cursing as I knocked something off as I tried to get a sheet through a block or eyelet. At one point I clouted the bowsprit, dislodged it and it's attached sails and rigging and said a prolonged series of harsh words.

This is my attempt at rope coiling

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and more rough and ready rigging

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