The Mary Rose

I found some suitable shields online, copied onto a slide, tweaked the colour saturation and printed. As luck would have it the old printer packed up a couple of months ago and the new one is markedly better definition-wise. I don't know what it is with printers, the old printer hated me and the new one isn't that keen on me either.

Thin PVA used to stick on black card -

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All cut out and a black Sharpie used to run around the edges to blend in the white edge of the paper -

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My plan is to glue the shields to thin strips of card which can then be glued on the rails around the fighting platforms. We'll see how that goes.
 
I have to say that I have been very impressed with this build and have thoroughly enjoyed watching the ship come together. I will be sort of sad when you finish it, but that is the way it is with model projects.
 
Stevinne said:
I have to say that I have been very impressed with this build and have thoroughly enjoyed watching the ship come together. I will be sort of sad when you finish it, but that is the way it is with model projects.
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Thank you, that's most appreciated. I have some more ideas in the pipeline for this build before it is finished, so I hope you will stick with me. You're right that it is always a bittersweet moment when a build is finished, but my mind is ticking over regarding what the next one should be. Maybe something in the Admiralty style.
 
Gluing the shields onto strips of card did not work too well - too fiddly in working around the rigging lines and I needed an extra thumb. So I just eyeballed it and CA'd them on. I used a medium CA because it has a longer drying time (around 30 seconds) than the thin CA and gives me a bit more wiggle time.

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Next job is to paint some figures (see earlier post) and see if I want to add them; not too many, just a few for a sense of scale. But I need to set the ship aside for a couple of weeks and crack on with some carvings for Christmas gifts. Keep well.
 
Storm Bart has hit the UK. High winds, snow, rain and dire weather warnings. Seems like a Winter's day to me, but the boss says it's too cold to be in the wood shop ripping wood.

She's probably right and I know better than to argue, so meet the crew. Flesh tones first -



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Making progress with the clothing. I am mixing up various acrylics to get a bit of variety, but keeping it to earth tones -

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That's the painting completed. One of the guys on the left has no feet as they did not print well and he lost them in the Battle of the Sprue. I will nestle him in one of the fighting platforms behind the shields and nobody will know - apart from you guys.
I have modified the guys on the right so that they will stand on the deck. I used my finest drill in a pin vice to make a hole in the leg and then glued in some wire. For the wire I cut some bristles off a wire brush; strong but very fine.

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Graham said:
That's the painting completed. One of the guys on the left has no feet as they did not print well and he lost them in the Battle of the Sprue. I will nestle him in one of the fighting platforms behind the shields and nobody will know - apart from you guys.
I have modified the guys on the right so that they will stand on the deck. I used my finest drill in a pin vice to make a hole in the leg and then glued in some wire. For the wire I cut some bristles off a wire brush; strong but very fine.

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Very cool Graham.
 
The Mary Rose had a figurehead and this has been recovered. Although badly eroded it was carved with the Tudor rose -

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It is also depicted on the Anthony Roll illustration -

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It is said to be the first depiction of a figurehead and laid the way for future figureheads on English ships. I think that there is a whole debate there somewhere.

Anyway, here is my stab at it. A bit small to attempt a carving, so I made a waterslip transfer -

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and fitted -

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Dear Graham. This is a wonderful build. There are some models (very few) that I would dearly like to see in the flesh, touch and examine in detail. This model gives free reigns to my imagination of what life onboard must have been in days yonder. Congratulations, my friend.
 
Heinrich said:
Dear Graham. This is a wonderful build. There are some models (very few) that I would dearly like to see in the flesh, touch and examine in detail. This model gives free reigns to my imagination of what life onboard must have been in days yonder. Congratulations, my friend.
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Thank you, Heintich, that is very kind of you and means a lot to me. Keep well.
 
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Gunport lids. The ones that come with the kit are laser cut ply and, to my eye, look a bit clunky and lack detail, so I decided to make some out of spare 0.5mm strip.

Laying out -

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Cut to size and interior face painted -

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Exterior face painted and blackened hinges fitted -

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Archaeological evidence can not confirm whether the lids were painted or not. I made the decision to do so because the strip I used looked a bit ratty when stained and was not a good look.

The planks on the gunport lids of the actual ship were put together by using rove nails, where a longer nail is used and the protruding pointed end is then hammered down flat.
 
Reference to the book Your Noblest Shippe reveals a question around the operation of the gunport lids. Basically it illustrates the following :-

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The gunport ports lids were not rigged as per the upper illustration because there is no corresponding hole in the hull to enable the rope to pass through. The lower illustration is a possible suggestion for rigging to the upper rail.

My reference book was published in 2009 and I wondered whether findings may have moved on, so I contacted the Mary Rose museum and had an interesting discussion with their Head of Research. Basically the work on the port lids in respect of understanding the concretions on the iron fittings has not yet been done, and so no definitive statement can be made based on archaeological proof.

They did, however, point me to the painting of The Embarcation of Henry VIII at Dover in 1520. This shows the events of 1520 when he departed to meet King Francis I at what later became known as the Field of the Cloth of Gold -

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The painting is very detailed, but shows no lines running from the gunport lids to the upper rail or chainplates. Upon closer examination the gunport lids are shown propped open -

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Further information was provided on how the gunports were closed -

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Very prophetic words.

So, I will assume that the gunport lids were propped open and will endeavour to fit a small ring on the inner face.

Many thanks to the Mary Rose museum for their kind and detailed assistance.
 
Stevinne said:
Very interesting and something I haven't seen in any of the many books on Mary Rose that I have read. Great research.
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Thank you, Stevinne.
The archaeologists can't underwrite my assumption as they can only go by hard evidence, but I think my gut feel is correct. At the start of this little investigation I was half hoping that evidence would swing towards the gunport lids being tied to the upper rail and chainplates - that would have looked really cool!
Keep well.
 
Rings now added to the gunport lid inner faces - see earlier post. Made by wrapping 0.5mm wire around a drill bit then cut through with a grinding disc.
The props to keep them open are made from cord stiffened with CA and then painted and rubbed with pastel chalks.

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Fixing the gunport lids. The cord I made the struts from didn't look right for scale so I dropped to 0.25mm and made some more. Fitting these struts has turned out to be a true test of patience and they have fought me every step of the way. But we're getting there -

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While these are drying I am thinking about the anchors. I do not have a suitable thickness for the anchor cable and the cord which comes with the kit looks more like parcel string. I will try and make my own and have come up with what is probably the worst ropewalk in the history of modelling -

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Numerous tries later to get the lay of the strands better and after a coat of lacquer to stop it twisting back on itself when the tension is released -

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It's not perfect, but I only need a couple of inches per side so I think I can get away with it. I saw the ropewalk at Chatham in operation and it makes me appreciate what a very clever piece of engineering it is.
 
Graham said:
Fixing the gunport lids. The cord I made the struts from didn't look right for scale so I dropped to 0.25mm and made some more. Fitting these struts has turned out to be a true test of patience and they have fought me every step of the way. But we're getting there -

View attachment 500909

While these are drying I am thinking about the anchors. I do not have a suitable thickness for the anchor cable and the cord which comes with the kit looks more like parcel string. I will try and make my own and have come up with what is probably the worst ropewalk in the history of modelling -

View attachment 500910

Numerous tries later to get the lay of the strands better and after a coat of lacquer to stop it twisting back on itself when the tension is released -

View attachment 500911

It's not perfect, but I only need a couple of inches per side so I think I can get away with it. I saw the ropewalk at Chatham in operation and it makes me appreciate what a very clever piece of engineering it is.
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Good evening Graham. Your tested patience with those struts is paying off…..never have I seen such a rope walk ;). If it works Kudos. Cheers Grant
 
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