Go to P3 for start of pics.
General hints for anyone building this kit.
1. There are no sails, there is no sail plan., the kit quality is good. As for historical accuracy and the sales blurb that it reflects Mary Rose Trust studies... well maybe it did 20 years ago but the research has moved a long way since they thought it only had the two decks. To get a more updated idea get the AOTS book which is on Kindle. You can then decide whether you want to hybridise a build to reflect later knowledge. Having said that the hull is fully attested... but really everything from the gunwales up is largely speculation. If I built it a second time I would do this but adding two decks forward and maybe three aft within the constraints of the full length tumblehome will get a bit closer to a scratch build that I really want but am not qualified for.
2. The plans are excellent and need to read carefully. Several times I thought things were wrong but they ended up being right,. Some areas like the changes in deck levels are not that easy to read what is required.
3. The gunports are critical and do present you with a couple of problems..there is some inconsistency in the plans around the minor gunports in particular. The six near waterline are in a straight line and OK...although it is not totally obvious they are in a straight line. When setting them think ahead to where the port lids will need to go. Approach the gunports with much reading before any cutting. You would expect them to be a PITA and you wont be disappointed.
More on gunports..... If you are not careful or very lucky you can end up with guns aimed at shroud lanyards and deadeyes. ..also when you have made the guns the barrel height is not the right height for the plan position, in nearly every case the gun with wheels on axle is too high to fit.
How I will do it next time is...
3.1 Mark the gunports from the plan in pencil on the hull both inside and out
3.2 Make the cannons offline.
3.3 Cut out all the channels and temporarily attach to the gunwale position as on the plan.
3.4 Position your guns in the gunport pencil marked positions...
3.5 Adjust the gunport positions you have marked so the guns are in centre of the port (vertical) and dont sit behind shrouds (horizontal), and have room for port lids to be attached above them
4. Discussion by some builders that the shrouds foul the topsides and you need to add false channels to widen out the deadeyes at the chainplates. If you check the scale you can see that the kit masts are too short at the scale by a fairly significant 11%.... if you make the masts the "right" length then the shrouds dont foul on the topsides. there is documentary evidence {see AOTS} that the maimmast was "at least 150 ft"... converted and scaled down you get better lengths.
5. For some reason there is no main topgallant in the kit ...guess it wasnt accepted before the AOTS was published. Easy enough to include if inclined.
6. The chain provided for the chainplates is very fine. It will not allow the copper anchorage pins through a link,so you have tho thread it and tie it...then you cant get a thread through the link.... it is probably about 12 links to cm. I had some slightly larger chain which I used and it was much better to work with.
7 Recent work on the wreck has revealed a wooden emblem of Tudor Rose which is shown on Anthony Roll mounted facing Fwd next to the bowsprit. I did a big kit bash and had a Tudor Rose embroidered on the foresail... yeah I know, stretching it a bit but looks good.
8. Rigging.... everyone has their own order of rigging but having just been through it here are some thoughts.
8.1 The shrouds are 21 per side and pretty effectively block access to the centre of the ship so my decision to do them dead last proved a good call.
8.2 Do the mast stays which are along the centreline and then the spar handling running rigging.
8.3 If you belay the running rigging internally as the plan mostly suggests then you can install anti boarding netting on the aft deck because there are lines everywhere. If you belayed them to the exrternal belaying rails then you would have the option of netting that deck. You can net the mid-deck as there is no rigging there.
8.4 Be sure to rig the top shrouds before you install the masts as if yuo forget they are extremely difficult at the end when you are doing the main shrouds.
General hints for anyone building this kit.
1. There are no sails, there is no sail plan., the kit quality is good. As for historical accuracy and the sales blurb that it reflects Mary Rose Trust studies... well maybe it did 20 years ago but the research has moved a long way since they thought it only had the two decks. To get a more updated idea get the AOTS book which is on Kindle. You can then decide whether you want to hybridise a build to reflect later knowledge. Having said that the hull is fully attested... but really everything from the gunwales up is largely speculation. If I built it a second time I would do this but adding two decks forward and maybe three aft within the constraints of the full length tumblehome will get a bit closer to a scratch build that I really want but am not qualified for.
2. The plans are excellent and need to read carefully. Several times I thought things were wrong but they ended up being right,. Some areas like the changes in deck levels are not that easy to read what is required.
3. The gunports are critical and do present you with a couple of problems..there is some inconsistency in the plans around the minor gunports in particular. The six near waterline are in a straight line and OK...although it is not totally obvious they are in a straight line. When setting them think ahead to where the port lids will need to go. Approach the gunports with much reading before any cutting. You would expect them to be a PITA and you wont be disappointed.
More on gunports..... If you are not careful or very lucky you can end up with guns aimed at shroud lanyards and deadeyes. ..also when you have made the guns the barrel height is not the right height for the plan position, in nearly every case the gun with wheels on axle is too high to fit.
How I will do it next time is...
3.1 Mark the gunports from the plan in pencil on the hull both inside and out
3.2 Make the cannons offline.
3.3 Cut out all the channels and temporarily attach to the gunwale position as on the plan.
3.4 Position your guns in the gunport pencil marked positions...
3.5 Adjust the gunport positions you have marked so the guns are in centre of the port (vertical) and dont sit behind shrouds (horizontal), and have room for port lids to be attached above them
4. Discussion by some builders that the shrouds foul the topsides and you need to add false channels to widen out the deadeyes at the chainplates. If you check the scale you can see that the kit masts are too short at the scale by a fairly significant 11%.... if you make the masts the "right" length then the shrouds dont foul on the topsides. there is documentary evidence {see AOTS} that the maimmast was "at least 150 ft"... converted and scaled down you get better lengths.
5. For some reason there is no main topgallant in the kit ...guess it wasnt accepted before the AOTS was published. Easy enough to include if inclined.
6. The chain provided for the chainplates is very fine. It will not allow the copper anchorage pins through a link,so you have tho thread it and tie it...then you cant get a thread through the link.... it is probably about 12 links to cm. I had some slightly larger chain which I used and it was much better to work with.
7 Recent work on the wreck has revealed a wooden emblem of Tudor Rose which is shown on Anthony Roll mounted facing Fwd next to the bowsprit. I did a big kit bash and had a Tudor Rose embroidered on the foresail... yeah I know, stretching it a bit but looks good.
8. Rigging.... everyone has their own order of rigging but having just been through it here are some thoughts.
8.1 The shrouds are 21 per side and pretty effectively block access to the centre of the ship so my decision to do them dead last proved a good call.
8.2 Do the mast stays which are along the centreline and then the spar handling running rigging.
8.3 If you belay the running rigging internally as the plan mostly suggests then you can install anti boarding netting on the aft deck because there are lines everywhere. If you belayed them to the exrternal belaying rails then you would have the option of netting that deck. You can net the mid-deck as there is no rigging there.
8.4 Be sure to rig the top shrouds before you install the masts as if yuo forget they are extremely difficult at the end when you are doing the main shrouds.
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