Sovereign of the Seas by Sergal - 1/78 Scale Kit Build.

Ok, two steps forward one step back.. hahah. Started fiddling with the rudder fitting, stuffed it up and had to start again. It is just rough at the moment, needs cleaning up and repainting before proceeding. Measure twice….comes to mind. Anyway alls well, I have retouched the decorations with a brighter gold paint as some of the original pieces are all sorts of odd discoloured shades. Also cleaning up and retouching the hull to cover the hand marks from handling it while working. Probably finish the rudder hinges and the guns and ports on the stern after that.

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Finally some cool wet weather here in West Oz, we haven’t seen this weather for about six months, very welcome indeed. Good for the man cave too.. Back to some deck fittings this week. Pumps, bell housing and capstan. I am bit wary about putting the bow section on as the mounting piece is a bit flimsy even with the reinforcement I added when it was repaired last. I can probably leave till later on as it doesn’t impact any other bow works or rigging…

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Peter Gutterman said:
With so much ship above the waterline, it's a wonder these ships stayed upright at all in heavy weather. The Sovereign purportedly was very slow and slow to answer the helm. Charles the First spared no expense in her construction,.. of taxpayer's money, and literally lost his head over the issue. :rolleyes:
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According to my references, the Sovereign was actually a relatively fast and maneuverable sailor. Pett certainly designed and built an exceptional ship, but I am not sure that it was worth regicide! Yet, in the three Anglo-Dutch Wars, the Dutch were very impressed by her. They called her the Gilded Devil . . .

Bill
 
linton said:
Well. Still labouring away with the second planking. Pics later. Meanwhile a new dilemma has raised its head. I have been given these two ships from a freinds deceased estate. Very tempted to start one as a side job. Like there's not enough to do already. Also did some work on the display stand and had a name plate made up.

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Be careful about both Revell kits. The Kearsarge represents the ship as she appeared after the war. The Alabama needs extensive work to represent the actual ship. There are after-market products that correct most issues, especially for the Alabama.

Bill
 
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WilliamM said:
According to my references, the Sovereign was actually a relatively fast and maneuverable sailor. Pett certainly designed and built an exceptional ship, but I am not sure that it was worth regicide! Yet, in the three Anglo-Dutch Wars, the Dutch were very impressed by her. They called her the Gilded Devil . . .

Bill
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I Accede to better informed and more knowledgeable scholars on the subject than I.
 
linton said:
The sea has always had a magnetic attraction. A mixture of curiosity, fear and profound respect. It also puts these large, powerful ships into perspective. No matter how large the ship, the sea will prevail. This is looking out on the Indian ocean from SW Australia.

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I spent my first career (US Navy) at sea and feel every bit about it the way you described. Well said, sir!

Bill
 
janos said:
Nice work! The rudder hinges (pintles and gudgeons?) seem to be upside down though.
János
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I was wondering when someone would pick pick up on that. Haha. I realised as I took the photo and have now rectified the rather obvious error. A real rookies mistake on my part, not sure how I let that one slip through. The ship was upside down when I was doing it….must be going dislexic.
 
Your workmanship is really good, kudos. Sadly, Sergal has never been on top of things when it comes to realism. The cannon should be Browne or PItt pattern barrels which were common from circa 1625-1650. They can be 3D printed for less than $1 each if you prefer to have realistic guns and I would be happy to email you the 3D drawings in the various calibers and lengths. Example of 2D drawings of the barrels is attached below so the differences with the kit cannon can be seen. The photo below the drawing is a Pitt pattern barrel. You can see these are nothing like the ones in the kit which look a lot like Spanish cannon. She may have been refitted with Commonwealth pattern barrels after 1650 as she had a long career. Commonwealth pattern examples are below as well.

The gratings are 90 degrees out of kilter. The battens always run fore and aft, not athwartships. The openings were typically 2.5" to 3" (0.03-0.035" at 1:78) . The kit gratings look to be much larger.

Allan
Browne Pattern 1625 to 1649 2.PNGCannon-Pitt-04.jpg
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