Sovereign of The Seas 1637 - Heavily modified Mantua kit

modelshipwright · May 19, 2016

Graham said:
Hi Bill and thanks for your response regarding the woods you use. A neighbour was recently lopping his cherry tree so I acquired some logs for my wood burner - is cherry a good modelling wood and might be worth me hanging on to? They are pretty straight and branch (so hopefully knot) free. Sorry, but a second question - why is the bowsprit offset? The old ship builders certainly knew a thing or two, but you would think that in the long run that would impart unequal stresses on the ship. Cheers.

I too have some Cherry wood from an orchard and it is now well seasoned ( 10 years ). It would make an excellent modelling wood as do all of the fruit tree woods.

As the bowsprit entered the hull and projected below decks, it would have found interference in the form of the foremast and as a result it was offset. The fore mast on the Sovereign was stepped quite far forward. I cannot comment on what this would mean in terms of stresses.

Regards,
Bill

modelshipwright · May 19, 2016

The plywood form is now planked. It will be mostly covered in sculptures when mounted in place on the beak head. It is shown lying loosely on the ship.

Now the work begins on decorating the beak bulkhead. An entrance way with a set of doors is shown sitting loosely on the model.

The backing panels for the six sculptures that will adorn the bulkhead are now in position.

This partial view of the Van de Velde sketch shows the area in question and above the backing panels are decorative carvings with rectangular protrusions.

The picture below shows these decorative carvings in process. Using my table saw, partial cuts were taken in two directions to create the raised areas. next I will form each carving and separate them later for mounting on the buklhead.

More to follow.........

modelshipwright · May 20, 2016

After separation, some of the detail has been carved into one of the pieces.

Progress continues on the bulkhead sculptures with the mounting of the six carved pieces above the vertical panels. They are carved from English Boxwood.

More to follow.......
All comments and suggestions gratefully received.

modelshipwright · May 21, 2016

The first photo shows the boxwood blank to be used for the pedestal that the carved figure will stand on along side of one already rough carved.

This photo shows two of the carved pedestals mounted on the bulkhead ready for the carved figures to come. Note the darker colour of the Boxwood as I milled some new stock yesterday from a 60 year old piece of Boxwood I was saving for the carvings.

More to follow............

eric67 · May 22, 2016

Hi Bill, I like your idea of the slats on the beak instead of gratings, in your research what did the Sovereign actually have, slats or gratings?

Now, as you have offset the bowsprit, I notice that the gammoning slots are on the centreline which make me wonder, when the gammon ropes are tightened would they not want to pull the mast further to the right (looking from the front). Normally the ropes would be vertical but in this case they would be almost 45 degrees.

Forgive my confusion.

Regards
Eric

modelshipwright · May 22, 2016

eric61 said:
Hi Bill, I like your idea of the slats on the beak instead of gratings, in your research what did the Sovereign actually have, slats or gratings?

Now, as you have offset the bowsprit, I notice that the gammoning slots are on the centreline which make me wonder, when the gammon ropes are tightened would they not want to pull the mast further to the right (looking from the front). Normally the ropes would be vertical but in this case they would be almost 45 degrees.

Forgive my confusion.

Regards
Eric

Hi Eric,

In my travels I noted that the Vasa of 1628 had a similar treatment to the beak as I have done and since the ships were so close together in time, I used that as my guide. I have not come across any description of the floor of the Sovereign's beak in my research.

The offset of the bowsprit would indeed cause issues with gammoning and to the best of my knowledge there was a bracing block placed between the bowsprit and the stem extension above deck to alleviate the tendency for it to be pulled sideways.

Regards,
Bill

eric67 · May 22, 2016

Thanks for that Bill, I am having a lot of trouble with the gratings so I may 'borrow' your idea of the slats.
Regards
Eric

modelshipwright · May 23, 2016

Taking a break from carving the pedestals, I fabricated the ladder shown in the next photo.

Another pedestal has been completed and mounted on the bulkhead. They are proving to be difficult to hold on to when carving as I accidentally ran the tip of my left thumb into the blade of my Preac saw a few days ago. A dumb move for sure! Now that it is healing, I can churn these out a little faster.

In the meantime I did fashion a couple of heads for the beak based on a keyhole design that allowed standup and seated use. I will mount these on the beak head after the side panels are fastened.

More to follow......

modelshipwright · May 23, 2016

The thumb has healed for the most part and work continues on the pedestals for the six sculptures to stand on against the bulkhead. The final pedestal is in place and it is time to contemplate carving the sculptures.

It is indeed interesting the Van de Velde showed the stay coming through the bulkhead which would lead to the assumption that it then emerged through the deck above on its way to the mast. Was it the artist's impression, or was it indeed rigged that way?

The first of the six sculptures is shown in this picture. They represented Consilium, that is Counsell; Cura, that is Care; Conamen, that is Industry; Vis which implied force; Virtus or Virtue; and Victoria, that is Victory. This description of the figures is taken from the text of "A True Description of His Majesty's Royall Ship" by Thomas Heywood written in 1638.

Two of the six sculptures are completed and mounted on the pedestals. Note the bottom of each sculpture forms the top of the pedestal.

A side view of the new sculptures.

More to follow...........

GaryM · May 23, 2016

Nothing beat the look of wood carved. The detail is great and makes some nice looking statues.

modelshipwright · May 23, 2016

GaryM said:
Nothing beat the look of wood carved. The detail is great and makes some nice looking statues.

Carved boxwood is especially nice as it has a lovely honey colour which will naturally get darker in time as the light acts on it. Ship models in the Rogers Collection at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis that are hundreds of years old show boxwood carvings that are a dark brown in colour and show many variations in the crevices depending on how much light hits them. Just beautiful.

Regards,
Bill

modelshipwright · May 24, 2016

Sculpture number three is now mounted on the bulkhead. It is certainly a stunning viewpoint of the Sovereign and must have been glorious to see gilded in gold with the sun shining on it.

Spring has sprung and so has my garden. It has taken several days to get it under control so not too much time for The Sovereign. Here is a photo with sculpture number four completed and mounted on the model. Number Five is under way. Then I will look at the gunports and provision for the main stay.

More to follow.........

modelshipwright · May 25, 2016

Thanks to those who visited the build.

The fifth sculpture is now complete and mounted on the bulkhead. It is starting to fill in nicely.

More to follow........
Comments and suggestions are appreciated.
Bill

modelshipwright · May 25, 2016

The last figure is now mounted on the bulkhead and the next chore is to carve the gunport surrounds.

The blanks for the gunport surrounds are cut and the first is roughed out with the dental drill ready for finished carving.

More to follow..........

Bill

modelshipwright · May 27, 2016

This photo shows the size of the gunport surround carving in its rough format. It remains to clean up and finish the carving prior to mounting on the bulkhead.

The carving is now mounted on the bulkhead. There will be a crown added directly above it in the future. The bulkhead is starting to look filled in, slowly but surely.

Gun surround number two is carved and in place. I set one of the blanks for carving number three against the bulkhead to show the raw blank sketched and ready for carving.

Now for number three.

More to follow............

modelshipwright · May 28, 2016

Well, after a disastrous first attempt ending up in the scrap box, the third gun port surround is now completed and in place on the model.

Thanks to everyone who dropped by.

Well, after gun surround #4 found the scrap bin as it broke in two, I spent yesterday planking the side panel for the beak on the port side in preparation for mounting after the bulkhead ornamentation is completed. I carved a new surround this morning and it thankfully survived the process in one piece.

Here it is mounted on the bulkhead and the set of four is now complete.

More to follow...........

Comments and suggestions gratefully received,

Bill

modelshipwright · May 28, 2016

The first of four crowns to be mounted above the fleur-de-lis at each of the gun ports on the beakhead bulkhead is underway.

Life got in the way of my ship modelling over the past week or so. The first crown is mounted on the bulkhead.

The four crowns are now mounted. Now to consider the additional two ports on either side of the bulkhead and their relationship with the catheads and carved figures supporting them.

More to follow............

modelshipwright · May 29, 2016

While contemplating the arrangement and spacing of the catheads and whether or not to add two more ports to the bulkhead I put my attention to carving a head for one of the spaces below the fleur-de-lies.

The rough out of the carving.