Nautical Research Journal
additions. I also applied the fi rm’s (tiny!) black laser- cut royal insignia monograms to the breeches I then tethered each cannon’s cascabel with breeching ropes and necessary anchoring hardware, all from Syren.
Because I was depicting Swan at sea, I chose to make tompions for the eight exposed cannon muzzles. A small, rounded piece of pear wood with a center- mounted black eyebolt was fashioned for each. A release rope was tied to each tompion and dressed back through the respective gunport openings. I painted Swan’s tompions bright crimson, similar to those I saw fi rst-hand in HMS Victory’s guns.
T e bitts, companionways and gratings, galley stove’s exhaust, a detailed helmsman’s binnacle (with a compass made from brass tubing), and nearly all the ship’s deck furniture were scratch built, mostly from Swiss pear. Some kit elements, like the ship’s turned brass bell, the photo-etched window frames over the offi cer’s quarters, and milled ladder rails, were used. All components of the chain pumps were scratch built and the pump handles were wrapped with rope, a detailing touch I learned from my earlier nautical research. A single stern lantern, fabricated in photo- etch and leſt over from another kit, was added.
Masting, rigging, and the tophamper
T e four masts (including bowsprit and bees), fi ghting tops and a sundry of wooden elements were scratch built from Swiss pear. All yards were made from square boxwood, the booms from walnut. To achieve octagonal center shapes for the yards, a planing jig was used to shape the square stock. A separate, spare topmast was fashioned and then secured amidships. T is spare was an insurance policy carried by many Royal Navy warships; oſt en the more fearsome enemies were storms and squalls that could heavily damage or carry away critical propulsion elements.
T e rigging followed James Lees’s conventions for both standing and running rigging. All rigging rope
was in two colors in six diff erent sizes. Blocks and rope were purchased from Syren. T e boxwood blocks, including a handful of the vendor’s mini-kit items—like closed and open hearts—were stained with Fiebing’s Leather Dye (#121 Medium Brown) to be consistent with those I have seen on museum models. Nearly every rigging block I have seen fi rst- hand is a very dark, reddish-brown chestnut color, sometimes even black. I have carefully noted the colors of the rigging materials—sails, ropes, and blocks—on full-size sailing warships or (Constitution, Victory, Niagara).
replicas 201
14. T e Swan-class sloops also carried sixteen half-pounder swivel guns; the basic idea in a sea encounter was to capture an opposing ship, not sink it. Oſt en, this task was accomplished without a shot being fi red, either from swivels or cannons.
15. Many warships carried one or more spare topmasts. T ese were not only insurance policies for dealing with the aſt ermath of heated battles, but, more oſt en than not, they were needed for repairs at sea following a bad storm.
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