1588 English Galleon 1

English Galleon 1588 A Scratch Build by

Gene Bodnar

Introduction The plans for this ship appear on pages 11-13 of Wolfram zu Mondfeld's Historic Ship Models. Models. Using the Brava Reader program, they have been enlarged to 1:24 scale (1/2" = 1'). Even though this seems like a very large scale, the length of the deck for the finished ship will only measure 24". As drawn in Mondfeld's book, the plans are suitable for a POB model, but not a POF. Since I expect to build this ship with no part of the hull exposed, I decided to use the existing plans by adding additional frames, such that there will be a one-inch gap between each frame. The vessel will only have a maximum of 18 frames, but this will still allow sufficient surface area for the exterior planking to rest upon without any distortion. The first task was to locate the exact placement of each frame. I decided to use no cant frames, because they are unnecessary for a fully enclosed hull. I believe the foremost frame at the bow will be widened to act as a filling block as well as a frame. After deciding on the placement of the frames, I drew the additional frames requires. Then I determined the exact location of the keel (including the notches for the frames), stem, sternpost, and deadwood. Then I drew the top part of the framing jig, which will be used to place and fit each frame at it is built. In another thread on this site, there was some discussion about this vessel, especially as to what vessel is represented. Ilhan posted a set of plans for the Golden Hind, which looked almost exactly like the plans from zu Mondfeld. Perhaps this ship indeed is the Golden Hind. I thought of naming it "Pelican," which is the original name of the Golden Hind before Sir Francis Drake changed it. In any event, I decided to leave the vessel unnamed at this stage of the gameA few sheets of the enlarged plans appear below. There was a lot of printing and taping involved involved gettingthese plans assembled assembled properly properly

The Keel Assembly: Assembly : This consists of the keel itself, the stem, the sternpost, and the deadwood areas at the

The Keel Assembly: Assembly : This consists of the keel itself, the stem, the sternpost, and the deadwood areas at the

bow and stern. Keel The keel is a perfectly straight piece of 3/8" square basswood. It should be cut a few inches longer than necessary at the stern, so it will give the building jig something to hold securely to. Stem The stem is the cut out from 3/8 " basswood. Note that the top edge of the stem is also the bottom edge of  the rabbet. Sternpost Cut out another piece of 3/8" basswood, following the lines given on the plan. Assembly these pieces with mortise and tenon or lap joints, with the pieces resting right atop the plans. Glue everything on a very flat surface, because you want no curvature or warping anywhere in this assembly. [/b]Rabbet [/b]Rabbet:: Use a piece of 1/16" basswood, cutting it 1/4" wide and the length of the keel, stem, and sternpost (or use multiple pieces. Glue this strip onto the keel, stem, and sternpost. It represents the rabbet necessary for the planking. It is 1/8" narrower than the keel, thus allowing 1/16" extra space on both sides of the keel, which represents the area where all planking will lie. This is a lot easier than trying to measure and cut out a rabbet by hand. Deadwood: Using the redrawn plans as a guide, cut out the stern deadwood piece and the bow deadwood piece, and glue both direcly onto the rabbet piece. Central Frame Piece Now cut out a piece of 3/8" basswood, making it 3/4" wide, so it will fit snugly between the bow and stern deadwood area. Mark out the frame notches and cut them 3/8" deep and 3/8" wide (the width of all frames. Building Board: Using a 10" wide piece of painted particle board about 3' long, draw a centerline all the way down its length. Place the keel assembly on the board and locate the frame spacing on the board. Use a T-suare and mark all frames on the building board. Now return the keel assembly precisely in position on the board, and glue 1/4" square short strips of wood at intervals down the length of both sides of the keel. Also place a couple of strips at both ends of the keel to act as stoppers. Then, using angle irons (or pieces of wood cut with an exact 90-degree angle), place them at both ends of the keel assembly. The goal is to make the keel assembly held in the jig so that it is perfectly perpendicular to the building board

Framing A dozen frames have been installed so far, with five left to go. For the frames that fit in the keel notches, they are made of 5 pieces of 3/8" basswood, such that the grain of the basswood following the curvature of the frame. There is a one-inch space between each frame on the keel. For the frames that rest on the deadwood areas at the bow and stern, each half-frame is made of 2 pieces of basswood, again with the grain of the basswood following the curvature of the frame. It is recommended that each joint in every frame be glued and double-doweled with toothpicks before cutting

them out. They have a tendency to break at the joints if no dowels are used. The Framing Jig The jig itself is made of a piece of 1/8" Masonite. All notches are cut precisely where each frame will rest at the waterline (KWL on the plans). The blocks of wood beneath the jig that support it in position have been cut to a height of 2 1/2". The size of the blocks is irrelevant as long at the height is right. They have been super-glued to the base board, making sure that it will properly hold the jig, and finally the Masonite jig was glued to the blocks in perfect alignment with the framing, and held down with weights

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Frames and Deck Ledges In the photos below, you will notice the following: 1. The rest of the frames have been installed at the bow deadwood area. Also the stern frame and its extension has been installeld, as shown on the plans. 2. The interior parts of the frames have been sanded smooth, so that a long test strip of wood will rest firmly on each frame. A small drum sander attached to a Dremel works well, and so does a small disk sander. 3. Install a long strip of 1/16" x 3/8" basswood all along the interior of both sides the frames, followintg the natural curvature of the ship. Glue in place, and doweling in place also helps. These pieces provide structural support for the frames, holding them in place so there is no shifting of the frames when you begin sanding the exterior. 4. Next, determine the location of all decks from the main deck up. Using the waterline as a reference point on the plans (and the building jig), place marks on each frame at the bottom edges of each deck. Install strips of basswood so that the top edges of the strips are glued in place at your deck markings. Do the same thing for all decks. Note that these deck ledges serve two functions: First, they locate the placement of all deck beams (later), and second, they provide structural support. 5. Again using the waterline as a reference point, carefully mark the top edges of all frames. Note that there is a slight curvature in some areas. Now, using a reciprocating saw (for modeling), lop off all the excess frame lengths at your marks. 6. Now you may begin sanding the exterior of the frames. You will need a combination of sanding devices, including a full-size disk sander for rough sanding, a full-size pad sanding for finishing some areas, a Dremel drum sander for the tight areas at the bow and the stern, and a hand sanding block for smoothing everyting to a neat finish. The tops of the frames should be sanded to a thickness of about 3/16", and they should very gradually widen as you go to the rabbet. If you leave any part above the gun deck too thick, your guns will not fit properly, and the bulwarks will appear too thick when viewed from above. Maintain the proper curvature of the frames all the while you are sanding. This process will generate lots and lots of sawdust, so you might want to wear a mask. So far, only the portside frames are almost finished in the photos

Gun Port Casings After sanding the starboard side of the frames, I measured out the location of the 12 gun ports on the frames. This is rather tedious and time consuming. The procedure is illustrated in the first photo below. There are three different sizes for gun ports, as shown on the plans. 1. Measure the inside length and width of the gun port, and then make gun port casings to those measurements. Note that some of the gun port casings will use different sizes of wood, so take heed (see the plans). They should be made at least 1/2 inch deep so that you have extra area that will match the curvature of  the frames. The excess wood will eventually be sanded to the shape of the deck planks -- but that's far down the road. 2. To determine the exact location of each gun port casing, measure the cannons first. The center of each casing can be determined from the size of the cannon -- it's simply the distance from the bottom of a carriage wheel to the center of the gun barrel. 3. You have already layed out the deck ledges. Now take a couple of strips of wood the size of your deck planking, and lay them across the ship on the deck ledges, as shown in the photo below. 4. Now mark the point at which the center of the gun barrel will lie (as determined in #2 above 5. Now place your gun casing so that the point you just marked in in the very center of the gun casing. Then place a mark at the top and bottom of the gun casing. This is where the gun casing should be inserted. Note that from the bottom mark to the top of the deck planking is the distance above the deck planking that must be cut out for the gun casing. The vertical part of the gun casing is, of course, measured from the plans, using the frames as reference points. Some of the gun port casings can be glued directly to an existing frame. Others will require that a frame be partially or fully sawn off. Do whatever is necessary. Observe that the vertical parts of the gun port casings are ALWAYS perpendicular to the keel. Also observe the the horizontal parts of the gun port casings are ALWAYS parallel to the deck planking

1. Place the ship securely in the framing jig, making sure the waterline is properly aligned all around the ship. 2. Use the waterline as your reference point on the plans. For EVERY frame, place one end of you proportional dividers on the waterline on the plans, and extend the other end to the bottom edge of the deck planking. Transfer this measurement to the corresponding frame by placing one end of the proprtional dividers at the ship's waterline (the top edge of your framing jig), and mark a point at the other end on the frame near its edge. Do this for the other side of the frame also, marking the same edge of the frame. 3. Repeat this process for all frames, 4. Next, cut as many lengths of straight pieces of wood (1/4" is sufficiently wide) as you have frames so that they're long enough to extend across the beam of your ship. 5. Using a touch of wood glue, temporarily tack each strip of wood across the beam of each frame, with the bottom edge of the strip set precisely at your marked points for the deck-ledge locations. Repeat this for each frame. Make sure that both sides are perfectly aligned before tacking in place. Do this for one deck at a time. 6. Cut out strips of wood that will be for your deck ledges (1/4" wide or less is sufficient for the main deck). Run a bead of glue across one side of this deck ledge. Install it on the inside of the frames exactly abutting against the points UNDER your temporarily strips tacked across the beam. You will find a slight curvature that will conform to the shape of the deck. Clamp it or pin it in place at each frame. (It's a little awkward to handle, but do whatever is necessary to hold it in place until the glue dries.) 7. After the glue dries, remove the temporary beam strips. Your deck ledge is now in place. Follow this same procedure for other decks at the forecastle and poop decks. Note, however, that these deck ledges will also act as the interior bulwarks planks, so they should be an appropriate width for interior planking. Incidentally, I DO NOT recommend marking these points on the frames as the frames are built and installed. I have tried this method on a few models, but there are always some minor inconsistencies after the frames are installed, for whatever reason. It's best to mark it out AFTER the frames are on the keel. This is a relatively foolproof method of locating the placement of deck beams and deck planking, assuming all your measurements have been properly accomplished. Yes, it's time-consuming and rather tedious, but it's also foolproof 

Gun Deck Beams: All of the beams are shaped like the one illustrated above. Each on is cut with a deck camber that is found on the plans. They are installed as shown above with super-glue. Some of the deck beams were cut to allow for a large grating that will appear in the central area of the gun deck. Mast Holes: The fore and main masts are 1/2" think at this gun deck. Make a solid piece of basswood, cut out to fit between the deck beams, and drilled with the proper size hole. Note that the main mast is perpendicular to the keel, the fore mast has a 1-degree rake forward, and the mizzen mast has a 6-degree rake aft -- allow for these rakes in your measurements for drilling the holes, because the fore and mizzen masts have the forecastle and poop decks above these holes. Waterways: The waterways run the full length of the gun deck. In the plans, they are 1/4" high and 1/4: wide, with a circular concavity that will allow the forward wheels of the gun carriages to rest directly atgainst it. To make the waterways glue two length of wood as long as the deck together. One piece measures 1/4" by 1/16" and the other measures 3/16" by 1/16". Glue them together in an L-shape. After the glue dries, fill the inner part of the L with Stainable Wood Filler, and use your finger to smooth it out to a semi-circle. After the wood filler dries, wrap a piece of fine sandpaper around a 1/4" dowel and sand the wood filler smooth. Use a sanding stick to sand the edges, if necessary. Apply woodworker's glue to all areas where the waterways will rest, which includes the frames, deck ledge, and deck beams. Clamp in place all along the frames Gun Deck Beams: All of the beams are shaped like the one illustrated above. Each on is cut with a deck camber that is found on the plans. They are installed as shown above with super-glue. Some of the deck beams were cut to allow for a large grating that will appear in the central area of the gun deck. Mast Holes: The fore and main masts are 1/2" think at this gun deck. Make a solid piece of basswood, cut out to fit between the deck beams, and drilled with the proper size hole. Note that the main mast is perpendicular to the keel, the fore mast has a 1-degree rake forward, and the mizzen mast has a 6-degree rake aft -- allow for these rakes in your measurements for drilling the holes, because the fore and mizzen masts have the forecastle and poop decks above these holes. Waterways:

The waterways run the full length of the gun deck. In the plans, they are 1/4" high and 1/4: wide, with a circular concavity that will allow the forward wheels of the gun carriages to rest directly atgainst it. To make the waterways glue two length of wood as long as the deck together. One piece measures 1/4" by 1/16" and the other measures 3/16" by 1/16". Glue them together in an L-shape. After the glue dries, fill the inner part of the L with Stainable Wood Filler, and use your finger to smooth it out to a semi-circle. After the wood filler dries, wrap a piece of fine sandpaper around a 1/4" dowel and sand the wood filler smooth. Use a sanding stick to sand the edges, if necessary. Apply woodworker's glue to all areas where the waterways will rest, which includes the frames, deck ledge, and deck beams. Clamp in place all along the frames

Interior Bulwark Planking After painting the waterways black, it's time to begin planking the interior bulwarks. Using 1/16"-thick basswood, cut strips about a half-foot wide on your scale. Single planks should be no longer than 15-20 feet. Following the curvature of the frames, run the planking right up to the gun casings. If a plank does not fit snugly against the frames, you may need to add filler pieces or sand it down some more. After you've completed planking above the gun casings, you will sand down the edges of the casings so that they are even with the planking. Do not plank any higher than shown in the photo, because more deck beams are required at the forecastle and poop decks. They will be installed next, before any further planking is attempted Interior Bulwark Planking After painting the waterways black, it's time to begin planking the interior bulwarks. Using 1/16"-thick basswood, cut strips about a half-foot wide on your scale. Single planks should be no longer than 15-20 feet. Following the curvature of the frames, run the planking right up to the gun casings. If a plank does not fit snugly against the frames, you may need to add filler pieces or sand it down some more. After you've completed planking above the gun casings, you will sand down the edges of the casings so that they are even with the planking. Do not plank any higher than shown in the photo, because more deck beams are required at the forecastle and poop decks. They will be installed next, before any further planking is attempted

Bulwark Planking The bulwark planking extends from the waterway up to the top edge of the rail. It has been stained with a couple of coats of Minwax Golden Oak Stain/ Gun Deck Planking The gun deck planking is 1/16" thick by 1/4" wide. One edge of each plank is rubbed with a very soft ( 6B) pencil to simulate caulking. All planks were glued in place with Elmer's Carpenter's glue and weighted down until it dried. Afterward, the full length of the deck was sanded smooth with fine sandpaper. Then a coat of Minwax Golden Pecan Stain was applied. Bulwark Planking The bulwark planking extends from the waterway up to the top edge of the rail. It has been stained with a couple of coats of Minwax Golden Oak Stain/ Gun Deck Planking The gun deck planking is 1/16" thick by 1/4" wide. One edge of each plank is rubbed with a very soft ( 6B) pencil to simulate caulking. All planks were glued in place with Elmer's Carpenter's glue and weighted down until it dried. Afterward, the full length of the deck was sanded smooth with fine sandpaper. Then a coat of Minwax Golden Pecan Stain was applied.

1. Make a pattern of a deck camber, which is taken from a sectional plan view (I've made all beams the same deck camber). 2. Using the pattern, mark off beams at 1/4" intervals. 3. Cut off top part (camber) with a band saw, then sand camber smooth. 4. Cut off another with band saw and sand. And repeat. There is no such thing as a stupid question

The Stern 1. The stern planking has been finished, except for staining. All planks are made of 1/16" by 1/4" basswood. Note that the planking near the gallery is horizonal, while the planking below the gallery is laid diagonally. 2. The main stern decoration -- Elizabeth's coat of arms -- was carved from 4 pieces of 3/32" pieces of apple wood, and they include the lion, the winged demon figure, the coat of arms and crown, and the ribbon. The pattern for each piece was transferred to the apple wood with carbon paper, then jigsawed out very carefully. The final shaping was done with a variety of  Dremel carving bits, mirco-files, and small sanding sticks. The ribbon was painted "real blue" and the lettering was created on a word processor and glued on. The remaining fi gures were spray-painted with gold paint. The coat of arms was painted by hand with very small brushes and acrylic paint. 3. The background upon which the fi gures rest is made from a series of 1/32" basswood strips, glued together and stained with Minwax Golden Oak Stain. 4. The yellow border all around the background is made from 1/32" basswood. 5. The area above the coat of arms consists of dozens of little pieces of 1/32" basswood pieces cut to size, painted individeually, and then glued in place. 6. Finally, the black strips were cut out, painted black, and glued in place. Make sure you view these photos from a distance; there are too many fl aws for close-up viewing

Stern (continued) The stern cabin consists of various thicknesses of basswood, painted with acrylic paints. The windows in the stern cabin were made as follows: 1. Create a wooden frame, notched with a razor blade all around the edges at 1/8" invervals. 2. Wrap #40 DMC thread tightly around and around each notch in one continuous length of thread, then tie it off  so it won't unravel. 3. Coat the notched thread with a 50/50 mix of Elmer's Glue and water. Let dry. 4. Coat with yellow acrylic paint mixed with a small amount of water. Let dry. 5. Cut off the string all around the inner side of the frame. You end up with a stiff grid that can be cut to fit the window openings. 6. Finally, small pieces of acetate were cut out and glued with jeweler's glue atop the windows. (Do not use super-glue -- it will cloud the acetate.) Exterior Planking The exterior planking in the geometric decoration area concists of two layers of 1/32" basswood. The first layer is cut to shape and installed on the frames. The second layer consists of multiple pieces plainted each of the colors and then glued atop the first layer. The thin black accent lines are basswood cut very thin and painted black, then glued in place.

Decorative Planking Believe it or not, I actually cut out each piece with a razor blade from 1/32" basswood, painted them imdividually, and reassembled them and glued them to a 1/32" base piece of basswood. Tedious but effective

The semi-circles were the only exception. I used the end of a wooden dowel to lay out the semi-circles, drawing them with a sharp-pointed pencil, then painted the yellow and white, then used a fine-point black felt-tip pen to line in the black with a very steady hand.

The long thin black lines are 1/16" square length of basswood painted with acrylic black paint, left to dry, and then glued in place with Elmer's Carpenter's Glue. All the rest of the decorative painting was done as follows: 1. Cut out two lengths of 1/32" basswood for each tier of decoration, and make sure each pair is identical. 2. Glue one strip in place onto the frames of the ship. 3. Coat the second strip with sanding sealer and let it dry. (This allows the paint to adhere a little better.) 4. Draw the design pattern all the way across this strip. 5. Place a piece of masking tape upside-down on a board, and tape both ends to the board -- so that most of  the sticky side is face up. 6. Cut out each design on the second strip of basswood, one piece at a time, and place it in the same position on the sticky tape as it is in on the ship. Leave a little space between each piece. Repeat this process until every piece of the strip is laid out in the same order. 7. Paint each piece of wood on the sticky tape with its appropriate color, using a single coat of arcylic paint. That slight shininess you see is probably the sanding sealer showing through a little. However, I like to use the sanding sealer first on any basswood surface that will be painted, because then it only requires a single coat of paint. 8. Starting at one end of the strip that has already been glued to the frames of the ship, place an ample amount of Elmer's Carpenter's Glue across the strip, an inch or two at a time. Take each piece from your sticky tape, and place it in its proper position in its same order, and assemble. It's much like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. Keep adding more glue as you move along, making sure that the pieces are placed in their perfect positions. This method is obviously very time-consuming -- I think I spent 3 hours just on one strip of the red-and-white layer at the bottom. However, I think this method looks much more effective than constantly taping portions of  the patterns, then painting, then removing tape, then placing more tape, and so forth. Furthermore, I have yet to find a tape to use where the paint doesn't bleed a little under the tape. And I don't like trying to repaint these lines, because the repainted areas stand out far too much. Decorative Planking Finished[/b The forecastle decorative planking was completed in a manner similar to the rest of the ship. [b]Gun Ports Before starting the exterior planking, I added small piece of basswood to the gun ports, where necessary, then sand them so they protrude 1/16" from the planking, and then painted them Chocolate Brown

How to Determine Where Planks Will Lie The first things that must be decided is approximately how wide your planks should be. Typically, for a galleon planks were around 8-10" wide. On the scale I am working on, this comes to about 1/3" for the average width of each strake of planking. Next, I find the center point of the planking for the midship frame and for a few frames on either side of the midship frame. Just cut a long strip of paper, and then lay it at the rabbet in the keel, and carry it all the way up

to the point where you want the planking to start. Cut the paper at this point. My piece of paper measure 21 thirds long; since it's easier to deal with even numbers, I decided to run 20 strakes of planking on the ship from the top to the keel rabbet. Now, fold the strip of paper in half, which is the center point, and then half again, so that it's folded in 4 equal measurements. Place it back on the same frame, the mark these folded points right on the frame. Now you have divded the frame into four parts; since 20 frames represent the total, now each quarter space should contain 5 strakes of planking. Do this for several frames on either side of the midship frame. Now cut 6 long strips of 1/32" basswood so that the strips run the full length of the ship. These will be used as temporary strakes or battens to locate where the planking will lie. Take one strip of basswood and pin it on the frames exactly at the points you have located. Of course, you only marked a few of the frames, with none marked at the bow and stern areas. Continue pinning the basswood strip all the way to each end of the ship, making sure the central area is pinned to your markings -- the object is to get a nice curve of planking that looks pleasing to the eye. The basswood strip should not be twisted out of shape to accomplish this. Let is take its own curve. The only thing to watch out for is that the distance betwen these temporary battens at both the bow and the stern should be approximately equal, give or take a little. It doesn't have to be perfect spacing it just has to look pleasing to the eye. (See photos below.) Repeat this process for all the temporary battens. When you've finished all six, they should like something like the photos. Now draw a dark pencil line across each frame at the top of your battens. This is shown in the third photo below. Now you can remove and discard the temporary battens. You are now ready to plank the vessel. To do the planking I use 1/16" basswood, measured with proportional dividers, cut with an x-Acto knife, and glued on with Elmer's Carpenter's Glue, and pinned in place until the glue dries. If anyone is not familiar with the planking method described above, let me know and I will be more than happy to provide all the details. The method is the same one described by Haold Underhill in Plank-on-Frame Models

Originally, I intended on staining the hull above the waterline with a deep-toned walnut stain. I even tried it out on a piece of basswood, and I thought it looked pretty good. However, when I stained the entire starboard side of  the galleon, I was completely dissatisfied. It turned out blotchy and rather ugly, and there was no uniformity in the color at all. So, I ended up painting over the stain with a Burnt Umber acrylic. It doesn't look too bad, but still, it's not really what it should be. In the 1500s, it was typical for ships to be left an oaken color, bare wood. Anyway, Below the waterline has been painted with an acrylic white. I use ordinary masking tape for painting the straight line. The channels were cut out with the required notches, following the slight curvature of the hull, and painted black. Note that I installed small dowels (round toothpicks, in this case) that will be inserted into the hull. The channels will take quite a bit of stress from the shrouds, so they need to be strongly secured to the hull by coating the dowels and the flat surface with CA glue. The channels are shown in the first photo below. Each wale consists of two strips of 1/16" basswood, one glued on top the other. I t's easier to bend 1/16" basswood instead of 1/18" basswood. They were cut out with a slight spile at the bow, then bent to shape, then painted black, and finally glued in place, generally following the sweep of the planking.

Exterior Planking, Wales, and Channels The port side of the ship has now been finished. Making Gratings 1. Start with about 20 4" lengths of 1/8" square basswood. Line them up on a cutting board, and surround them with basswood sticks glued to the cutting board. 2. Mark 1/8" intervals on both sides of the glued-on pieces. Using a razor blade and a steel ruler, cut straight across all the lined-up pieces, but only cut about halfway through. This is shown in the first "making gratings" photo below. 3. Using an X-Acto knife, pop out every other half-square so you have pieces that look like those on the left of  the second photo for making gratings. 4. Cut each stick exactly in half. Glue and assemble the greatings. Place a heavy weight on the glued-up assembly. 5. After the glue dries, sand the assembled grating so that it has a slight curvature, like the camber of the deck. 7. Install edging pieces for the gratings. Then paint with Autumn Brown acrylic paint. 8. Glue in place on the deck.

Main Deck Guns There are 8 guns on the main deck. The photo below shows how they are constructed. The barrel is turned on a lathe from basswood. The hole of the barrel was reamed out with a Dremel attachment. The head of a round pin is glued in to represent the cascabel, along with an eye made from 22-gauge black wire. The trunnion is a length of  a toothpick. The carriage is made mostly of 1/8" pieces of basswood, cut out from a pattern for each piece. The eyes in the sides of the carriage are also 22=gauge black wire. The wheels are all cut from various sizes of dowels. All assembly was done with Elmer's Carpenter's glue. The trunnion brackets are made of pieces of thin cardboard The next step will be to paint all black and install on deck.

Main Deck Guns Finished All 8 guns have been assembled, painted with black acrylic paint, installed on the deck with super glue, and tied to eyes in the bulwarks with ecru-colored rope.

Bitts, Pin Rails, Etc. All bitts -- literally everything attached to the deck -- is reinforced with a small dowel at its bottom, so that the dowel is inserted in a hole in the deck to give it better strength. Everything is made of basswood and stained with Golden Oak stain, and then glued in place with Elmer's Carpenter's glue. The interior wall at the poop deck was made similarly to the stern wall, door, and window.

Pin Rails and Kevels Most of the pin rails have been installed. The pins were turned from toothpicks chucked in a drill collet. With the drill running, I shaped each pin with miniature files. The kevels are made from basswood to the patterns provided by the plans. For each pin rails and for each kevel I inserted pins in their edges, and then drilled correspondingly tiny holes in the bulwarks. I used CA glue along the edges and the pins as I installed them in the bulwarks. The glue alone is not enough, because the stress of the rigging may pull the pin rail or kevel out of its positiion; thus, they are worthy of reinforcement.

Well Pump Using the plans as patterns, the well pump is made wholly from 1/16" basswood, except for the iron straps around the pump, which are strips of thin card painted black. 22-gauge black wire was installed on the end of  the well pump handle. More Deck Planking This planking is done just like the main gun deck planking, with 1/16" basswood. To suggest the caulking I covered the edge of the planking with a 6B pencil. All was given a coat of Natural wood stain.

Miscellaneous Deck Fittings Another grating has been added, this time on the poop deck. It's made similar to the one on the gun deck. Two ladders have been installed, one leading from the gun deck to the poop deck, and another leading from the gun deck to belowdeck. A decorative pin rail has also been added. The planking for the poop deck is also finished. Leterally everything is made from basswood, and either stained with Natural stain or Golden Oak stain, or

painted with acrylic paint.

Whipstaff Correction The covering for the whipstaff should have an opening for the whipstaff operator to see out. I have simply cut the opening and then painted a rectangular area beneath the opening to suggest the location of the whipstaff. Forecastle Finished The forecastle deck and the bow foecastle bulwark has been finished. These areas are repetitions of things built for other areas of the vessel, so there is nothing new in the construction methods.

Main Rail Using 1/8" thick basswood, the main rail was cut almost 1/2 " wide, rounded on the edges with a sanding strip, and painted with acrylic red paint. It was then glued in place with CA glue. The rounded parts of the rail were cut out from a small block of basswood on a jigsaw, and then treated as above.

Beakhead and Bow Area The first step is to build the grating. I installed 1/8" x 1/4" pieces of basswood in the notches of the cutwater, using only rubber cement to hold them because I wanted to lift them out after the gratings themselves are installed. For the grating material, I used 1/16" square pieces of basswood, making them all of equal length. Each pieces is staggered to form the opernings of the gratings, and the area where the bowsprit gammoning rests is left open. I purposely left everything wider than necessary so I can left it out and cut to shape after the rest of the beakhead is built.

Beakhead Continued The beakhead gratings have been given a preliminary coat of burnt umber acrylic paint and installed. The small deck contains joggled planking. The first tier of decorations have been made and installed, all similar to decorations explained elsewhere on this build. Finally, I have outlined the figurehead on a block of basswood, ready to cut out on a jigsaw and carve.

Finishing the Beakhead Everything was cyt frin basswood, painted with acrylics, and glued in place with CA. The figurehead was carved from a block of basswood, except for the wings and tail, which were made of  separate pieces of thinner basswood and glued in position. The whole thing was painted with acrylic yellow paint. The small curlicue just below the figurehead is a piece of Sculpey rolled out very thin, shaped as shown, baked in an oven, and painted yellow, then glued in place

Stern Gallery All pieces of the stern gallery, except the planking, are from 1/16" basswood and painted with acrylic paints. The planking is 1/32" basswood glued atop 1/16".

The decorations on the stern gallery will follow.

Finishing the Stern Gallery The letters E and R are cut from card with an X-Acto knife, painted with acrylics, and glued in place. All of the decorations around the gallery are made of Sculpey. First, I carved an original from apple wood, then made a mold from Sculpey, and finally made the required number of decorations out of Sculpey using the mold. Rudder The rudder is made from 3/8" thick basswood, cut to shape, and rounded on the aft side. The gudgeons and pintles are made from card and toothpicks. The whole is painted with acrylics

Ship's Boat in Progress To build the ship's boat I used the method illustrated in zu Mondfeld's Historic Ship Models. First, I carved a block of basswood to the shape of the hull. Then I made a jig of the top view of the boat and cut notches for the ribs and the stem. The ribs are made from thick strips of card. One end of each wa s glued into a notch in the jig, pulled tightly around the hull, and glued in the opposite notch in the jig. After all the ribs were installed on the jig, I cut out the keel, stem, and sternpost from a single 1/8"-thick piece of basswood. I cut small notches in the keel at each rib location. Using a small amount of Carpenter's glue at each of these notches, I glued the keel assembly to the ribs, clamping it until dry. Don't use too much glue, because you don't want to glue the keel to the hull -- you want it to lift out easily when the planking is finished. The clinker-built planking was made of 1/32" strips of basswood cut to shape and glued to the ribs and keel, again using a small amount of glue.After all the glue dried, I cut off the edge of the ribs glued to the jig, and the boat easily lifted off the solid hull. I then trimmed up the ribs with a pair of toenail clippers. The photo illustrates to ship's boat to this point

Gun Port Lids The gun port lids were made of two pieces of basswood, the outer piece 1/16" thick a nd the inner piece 1/32"