Saint Albans 1687 in Navy Board Style - 1 : 48 scale [COMPLETED BUILD]

[Foxtrott]

Thanks for your kind words and for the likes!

Dear Willi,

your negatives are a real treasure.

The modelbuilders of the 17 th century had very interesting methods of making the ships eyecatchers. I am currently learning a lot.

Cheers, Alexander

 

[Uwek]

Hallo Alexander alias @Foxtrott
we wish you all the BEST and a HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Keep care my friend

Alles Alles Gute zu deinem Geburtstag - Feiere schön

 

[Jimsky]

Happy Birthday, Alexsander! Health and Happiness for many more years!

 

[Foxtrott]

Thanks a lot for your wishes, Jim and Uwe!
Birthday in hard times

Cheers, Alexander

​

 

[Bryian]

Gosh, just caught up on this wonderful build log. Excellent work Alexander.

 

[Foxtrott]

Seven men have been hired

Carved from boxwood, primed with gesso and painted with acrylic paint







Cheers, Alexander

 

[Jimsky]

Nicely done, Alexander! Can you show the gesso primer?

 

[Foxtrott]

Nicely done, Alexander! Can you show the gesso primer?

Thanks, Jim
This gesso I use:

 

[Jimsky]

Thank you, no wonder I had no idea what is it.

 

[Foxtrott]

Before I finally fix the front bulkhead (Beakhead Bulkhead), I wanted to make the head gratings, because it would then be difficult to adapt
them later.


The shape of the grating can be seen in this picture from the original model from the Trinity House. The holes run slightly radially, so that it is not possible to make them with a circular saw. Older Navy board models do not have built gratings, but it is a single piece of wood made of end grain wood, which has been provided with holes. So I wanted to try it.




The carpenter sawed me a rather thick box trunk in 1 to 2 mm thick slices. He managed that quite well.



Such a disc I glued to a wooden board. Paper serves as a release agent so that the filigree part can be removed later.
The disc is polished absolutely flat with files and sandpaper.



Then the plan of the grating is transferred to the wood with an iron.

The exact lines of the holes are scratched into the wood using a stylus on a metal ruler.

The holes are drilled on the coordinate table and then expanded with carving tools and a scalpel. I used a mini file with max. 1 mm thick for the finish.



Ready for later installation!





Regards, Alexander

 

[Bryian]

Great idea about making the gratings.

 

[NMBROOK]

Fabulous work Alexander.I knew this is how they were made but it is surprising the wood does not just break apart,it must be very fragile.

Kind Regards

Nigel

 

[Jimsky]

Great work!! It is probably most difficult to control the squareness of cells and keep them the same size!

 

[Uwek]

Very good result - this technique was new for me - so I have learnt something new today

 

[schifferlbauer]

Hi Alexander
Grat work, well done

regards
Willi (schifferlbauer)

 

[Foxtrott]

Thanks for your positive assessment, Brian, Nigel, Jim, Uwe,Willi and for the likes. That is a good motivation for my further work.

The bow at the transition to the forecastle has now also received its final planking.



Cleats are embedded in the side wall of the Sanint Albans and are equipped with one or two sheaves. From the outside, however, the planks only show holes for the ropes to enter. Visible, these blocks are only inboard. I have never seen this before.







I attached the bits to the rail of the forecastle.





The catheads were then attached. I simply punched the sheaves out of the end grain with a suitable carving knife. Further processing and the incorporation of a running groove was done with needle files.





The attachment of the catheads to the first deck beam.







That’s it again. Have a nice Monday!

Regards, Alexander

 

[Bryian]

Super effort. Well done.

 

[Foxtrott]

Hair cutting has been allowed again in Corona-Germany since the beginning of the week and Saint Albans also had to go under the scissors.

The frames were cut to the correct size and the side planks were attached. Now you can admire the beautiful lines of a 50-cannon ship. Frank Fox said in Great Ships p. 158 that the ships of the 3rd rate from 1678-80 were the "best-looking warships ever built". Well, the ships of the 4th rate from that time were not necessarily bad.

A small drawback is that I had to make the forecastel 3mm higher in the black-painted aerea, because the catheads got a bit too high. I made a mistake interpreting the plan - Herbert Read drew the deck beam and the supports of the Catheads in the longitudinal plan as a connected something. I didn't recognize that. But I can't change it now. That worries me a lot.









Two tools that were very helpful during construction:
I got saw blades that cut in all directions. They are twisted. This is very practical when cutting out the gunports and shortening the frames.

Secondly I got a "Triton Acrylic Paint Marker" of Goya - Kreul. The color is matte black. With this marker, I was paint the handrail exactly off the profile, which would certainly not have been successful with a brush.



Regards, Alexander

 

[Maarten]

Hi Alexander,

Beautiful build.
The raised cat head is that also the reason for the bend in the top wale at the fore castle deck?

 

[Foxtrott]

Hi Alexander,

Beautiful build.
The raised cat head is that also the reason for the bend in the top wale at the fore castle deck?

Thanks, Marten!
The slight bend should be according the plan but maybe its a little bit more. Here a photo of the original model


Cheers, Alexander