"Two Navwar 1:1200 50 Gun Ships " Topic

The latest from my workbench are the Navwar Dutch 4th rate 50 gun ships Rotterdam and Batavier.

These ships are typical for Navwar, taking a considerable amount of work. New masts, sprit and jib boom had to be built for both ships. I use two methods for sails for these ships. For the Rotterdam I cut new sails out of thin brass sheet, attached clew lines and yards, then painted them. For the Batavier I cut the Navwar sails off of the spindly masts and reshaped them using a small sanding drum attached to my Dremel tool. Then I attached clew lines and yards to the modified sails and painted them.

In the photos below the Batavier is on the left and the Rotterdam is on the right. I would sincerely appreciate comments or votes on which sail set looks the best, the modified sails on Batavier or the scratch-built brass sails on the Rotterdam.

volsminiatures.blogspot.com

Thanks for looking.

Regards,
Vol

I like the Rotterdam's rig a little better. It has a feeling of "lightness" and more sense of motion. I'm guessing it was also a little less work.

Both are lovely, though.

Jeff

Thanks Jeff, and yes the brass sails are less work.

Are pennants on thread, or on the mast Vol
Be safe
Rory

Nicely done :)

Thread Rory, and thanks David.
Regards,
Vol

They are both very nicely put together, but I prefer the thinner set of sails on the Rotterdam. If Langton or GHQ ever put out brass sail sets, I do believe I would resail all my ships despite the cost, based on your side by side comparison. After all, it's only time and money, right?

Langton do brass sails for all ships
Rory

That's fantastic!! I like them both but I'd prefer the brass, if as you said is easier to do!!

Cheers.

Great !!

Very nice work sir, the navwar ships scrub up very well :)

In general I much prefer the brass sails of the Rotterdam, but from the front on some of the pics (specifically the second photo) I like the fullness of the modified navwar sails. Having said that from all other points the brass sails look more dynamic, effective and alive.

But having said that both ships look brilliant

Thank you all for the comments. I like the way both turned out. I have several more Navwar ships to do and need to decide how to do the sails on them. Since I couldn't decide for myself, I put this out for a vote. So far it looks like the brass has it.

I feel the need to divulge a gross error in my ship rigging. A good friend just pointed out that my mizzen running rigging is incorrect for these ships. It seems I have rigged all of my ships Royal Navy style with the mizzen yards back to the driver. All other nations should be rigged mizzen yards to the mainmast. So I have some work cut out for me to rerig the mizzens on all my non-Brit ships. Thank you Rory for the correction.

Regards,
Vol

The ships look great Vol – I think I'm with others on the brass sails. And the brass gives you options for how 'billowy' a look you want.

I hadn't heard of the difference in the mizzen rigging between nationalities. I may go on pretending ignorance now, partly because I like the look of the lines going back to the driver (makes it look like there is more rigging to my eye), and partly because those lines help the overall tension. They pull the mizzen topmast and topgallant mast back. And then the driver itself can be anchored down to the hull, giving that much more strength to the whole. That way the lines remain straight and taut, and the masts unbent.

But I'd still admire your dedication to accuracy for taking on all that additional work!
- James

James,

I agree with you. Rigging back to the driver gaff definitely strengthens the mizzen mast and driver, and really the whole model. I will most likely be leaving the ships with the soft metal factory masts rigged to the gaff. But the ships with scratch built masts are very sturdy and really don't need any rigging at all for stability, so I will be correcting those.

PS: Glad to hear from you James. It means you weren't in Boston yesterday.

Regards,
Vol

Thanks Vol, safe here in Brooklyn, though I was in Boston again recently. Such a shocking attack. I just hope they track down the culprit soon. – James

Gad you are safe James. Vol said you maybe in Boston. A part of me wishes I had not said to Vol about the rigging and I would not up set him, he is a good friend. But he can now make the chose of how to rig his ships
Be safe
Rory

I love your model ships, every picture is just packed with fine detail. Simply beautiful.

Lee.

Thank you Lee.

Superb- I have the utmost respect for anyone who can rig a ship in this scale!
Cheers
Thomas

@Volunteer: beautiful "tall ladies" you have there. The thinner brass sails look better to me.

I know a trick for getting a compound curve in metals: You need a marble and an upside-down mouse pad. Put the brass down onto the 'sticky' side of the mouse pad, and take the time to push the marble across the brass sail both top to bottom and a little port to starboard. Make sure you keep the marble close to the bottom of the sail for the port&starboard working.

I just described an 'English Wheel', but for miniature scale. I haven't seen a tiny one, so I had to improvise.

I'm not familiar with the term "English Wheel" Lion. What is it?

As A kid at school I made a tea caddy spoon from a piece of flat brass. I put it in a soft leather cushion and hit it with a hammer to make the bowl. I think it's the same idea, only not so violent.
Be safe
Rory

Volunteer,

Your ships here and on your blog have inspired me to want to build myself a few of the Langton models! I do have some experience (Navwar, years ago)but I'm keen to work with the etched brass sail sets. This represents a complete change of direction as I usually paint 6mm Napoleonic figures but something about those Napoleonic fighting ships really grabs me …… been watching some documentaries and I'm hooked.

I'll subscribe to your blog as there seems to be plenty of useful info on there.

Thanks,
Lee.

Thank you Lee for the very nice comments. I am actually enjoying trying to make the Navwar ships better so they won't look so out of place next to the Langton and GHQ ships on the gaming table. The Davcos are nice ships too. The Navwars are more of a challenge I guess. I only have about 80 or so ships left to build. That's if I stop ordering more of course.

Regards,
Vol