WAVEGUIDE The Newsletter of The Southend Model Power Boat Club WINTER 2006 The new committee wish the members a Happy New Year. DON T FORGET! 7 th January 2007: Tony Rose Frostbite Regatta Note the April Meeting at the Civic Centre will be on 30 th March to avoid Good Friday From the editor s desk The club held it s annual general meeting on the 1 st December, as usual there was a good turn out but it would be nice to see more members attend. This is the opportunity for all members to voice their opinions on how they would like to see the club progress. A new committee was voted in for 2007, there are two new faces in the vice chairman and sailing secretary. Chairman: Terry Moffat Vice Chairman: John Saterlay Secretary: Gerry Towner Treasurer: Dave Hallam Scale Secretary: Andy Seymour Fast Electric Secretary: Les Mathews Sailing Secretary: John Wilkins Next an apology to Les Cook who represented the club at the Up River Yacht Club, I missed this event out from the last Waveguide, sorry Les. This event clashed with Wings and Wheels and the Blackwater Country show on the Sunday but fortunately Les was able to go with 10 models to display.
At the club meeting on 6 th October the annual competition for the Prototype Cup and Go Fast trophies was held. Paul Darch brought 2 scratch built steam launches Victoria and Joaney and Gerry Towner brought his survey vessel Flat Holm. It was difficult to choose between Paul s models so he was awarded the Prototype Cup for both and Gerry the Go Fast Trophy. It would be nice to see more models at the October meeting so now is the time to start building. One change for Waveguide for 2007 will be to e-mail the newsletter to those members who are on broadband, this will keep costs down so any member wanting to have their Waveguide sent this way please enter your e-mail address when filling in your renewal form. Success for Southend members at the MPBA Fast Electric Nationals On the 2 nd and 3 rd September Bob Yates and Roger Cumbers made the long journey north to Bridlington in East Yorkshire to take part in the MPBA Fast Electric National Championships. Here s how they did:- Bob Yates 1 st Hydro 2 2 nd Mono 2R 3 rd ECO 400 7 th ECO Expert 8 th Hydro 1 Roger Cumbers 1 st FM1 2 nd ECO 400 5 th ECO Expert Bob Yates + Roger Cumbers (with Stephen Hart of ELECTRA) 1 st ECO Expert Team I trust the members will be proud of Bob and Roger s achievements. And now for something completely different! Most of the club members will know that our club President John Chapman has the nickname Lighthouse and each year he gives us a seasonal message Another Beam From The Lighthouse. This he has done for a number of years but how many of you know the real Chapman Lighthouse? Well here it is:-
ANOTHER BEAM FROM THE LIGHTHOUSE Sadly it s that time of year again when we come to the end of another sailing season, but look forward to the start of the 2007 sailing season. 2007 will be the Southend Model Power Boat Club s 59 th season. As I have said before, the club survives thanks to the Club Committee and the support of the Club Members. May this continue to be so. Each year it costs more to run the Club. If and when there is an increase in the subs, this is only to keep our Club going and pay our way. May I personally thank all those who donated raffle prizes, and those who buy the raffle tickets; it does really help the Club funds. I was delighted to see some new models on the water in 2006. The standard of model making seems to improve each year. Mini electric, hovercraft, sailing craft, scale, steam boats, fast electric, even a showcase bone model sailing ship. Can t wait to see what turns up in 2007. Most months the Club or Club members get a mention in the Model Boats magazine, which is all good publicity for our Club. Keep building. Please support our Club events. May I thank the Committee Members and those that help keep our Club afloat. A BIG THANK YOU If anyone would like to bring their latest project along to the Club meetings at the Civic Centre, or give a talk, it would be most appreciated; please contact our Hon.Sec. All the Best for 2007. J Chapman Hon.Pres.
NAPOLEONIC PRISONER-OF-WAR BONE SHIP My attempt at a 48 Gun Frigate by Dennis Bailey For many years from 1793 to 1815 England was at war with France; in those years many prisoners were taken, about 123,000. They were held in prison hulks and numerous prisons (~ 30?) all over England. To pass the time away and to support themselves they made all sorts of items out of materials that were around such as bone, straw and shells etc. Bones were in plentiful supply, prisoners were getting through 5 to 6 bullocks per day at one jail along with mutton etc. The straw came from their bedding while other materials were bartered for outside of the prison walls. Prisoners were allowed to go to the markets, under guard, to sell the items they had made, and get tools from tradesmen such as blacksmiths, carpenters and wood turners in the villages. Most of the larger items they made were of bone; ships of the time the models were made of varying degrees of skill accorded to the maker. Each model was made from memory, as plans did not exist sometimes by as many as 3 or 4 men in a production line; and each sharing in the profits, the more skilled craftsman getting the larger share. Most of these ships have ended up in museums such as Greenwich Maritime museum, Science museum, in Liverpool and throughout England. They are also found in France, the United States and in the possession of the descendants of the original purchasers. Many soldiers and sailors were taken from civilian life; they were not regulars but craftsmen such as ivory carvers from Dieppe. They were gemstone polishers, jewellers, clock and watchmakers; wood carvers, tin and coppersmiths, all had great skills they could put to use. This has been a brief account to introduce the subject of this article, the bone ship. Many of the examples of these ships could suffer if not kept under cover such as a glass dome or cabinet. An antique dealer of my acquaintance knew I built model ships and asked if I would be interested in restoring a bone ship he had acquired in France. The model was a complete wreck, not a mast standing; many pieces missing and the rigging had disintegrated to dust but the moment I had it in my hands I fell in love with it. The ship was all bone, it had 3 masts and with brass cannons; 12 guns, a one decker. It was a thrill to work on something so old you could almost feel the presences of the original maker. The restoration took 8 days to complete to the best of my ability back to its original state when made many years ago. The restored model was very pleasing to the eye complete with its Georgian cabinet, which I also restored with new glass and French polished. The restoration involved carving and turning proved to be an altogether enjoyable project. When I handed the model back to its owner I felt a great loss, how I would love to own such a ship worth thousands of pounds and well beyond the means of a pensioner. I thought why not build my own bone ship; there were no plans only a few pictures to go by. What a challenge, it was not beyond my ability after all I had built all sorts of model ships, some such ships were built twice but that is another story, I had found my next project. My first call was to the butchers and after sweet-talking he agreed to supply me with the bones that I needed. The majority of these were thigh and calf bones, a few ribs and a shoulder blade. These were supplied over a period of a few weeks, the first batch I boiled for 2 days, a very hot and hard process so much so I tried a different approach. The next batch I cut up into smaller pieces, the knuckle ends were of no
use; and the marrow removed. These were boiled for 8 hours and were perfect; the bones were then cut down again and boiled for a second time; and upon drying they were nicely white. This process was repeated many times, each time they were grouped by size and placed into numerous plastic containers. Between the boiling processes I made a start on the hull, the size of the model was important not too large not too small. I decided on 23 inches overall as it would sit nicely on the cabinet I had chosen to stand it. I drew a few sketches and hull lines along with deck lines, up to the first deck would be of solid wood as this model was going to be as close to the real thing, a reproduction. The bottom half of the hull was carved and sanded to shape and recessed to allow the keel to be fitted. The next deck the gun deck was cut as 2 sides 7mm thick and shaped to the lower deck before fitting. All the gun ports were cut out, 15 each side and were screwed into place with 6 hand made screws. Inside these walls another was fitted to each side, this time they were 18mm thick, 6mm holes were then drilled in line with the gun ports to take the lower gun deck cannons. After this work was completed a top deck was fitted leaving access to the lower deck, a wood rudder liner was made to shape and from now on everything would be of bone except the brass cannons. There were 48 of these in all, 30 on the lower deck and 18 on the upper deck all turned on my Myford Super 7, each gun carriage having 4 wheels and cannon balls alongside. The first job with the bone was to cut, scrape and sand the planking to cover the sides of the hull. Each piece was hand drilled to form a line of ribs then glued with fish glue and pinned onto the frame. After planking up to the main deck with pieces between 2 and 4 inches long and 1mm thick the keel and rudder were covered. I next turned to the deck the planking or I should say pieces of bone strip 0.25 inches by 2 to 4 inches long and 1mm thick were glued but not pinned to the deck. The stern housing was added and covered in bone, each piece was hand carved, shaped, turned and engraved. I altered this a couple of times till I got the overall effect I liked. Next I picked out all the bone pieces I needed to make the masts and yards, these were roughly shaped and put aside till later. All the gunwales and rails were made and shaped as before, these ships models have lots of hand work that give character to the finished model. Items such as hammock nettings, long boat, handrails, stairs and figurehead, which is a centurion soldier. The long boat that is planked is mounted amidships and has a mast, boom, oars and seats. There is also a capstan, ships wheel, lantern light window and a hand cut lantern on the stern. The next job was to make and fit a bowsprit, 3 masts with all their fittings and yards etc.; the lower parts of the masts were bound to create Royal Masts. The pieces for the masts had to be scarfe jointed together and pinned to get the correct length, all the drills I used were hand made, the yards however were in 1 piece. On to the rigging, the mast supports are 0.75mm thread; the entire yard rigging is 0.5mm, the shrouds and ratlines using the same 2 sizes of thread. There are 41 dead eyes of 7mm diameter, approximately 100 bulls eyes of various sizes, 7 double blocks and 2 anchors all being hand made and drilled which proved very time consuming. All these were assembled into the bone ship. The next job was to make the showcase, made in oak with lighting, the 4 corners were carved with cross over ribbon effect with Tudor Roses top and bottom. The ship and its cabinet was started in November 2005 and finished in May 2006, which you may think is not too long but I worked 30 to 35 hours a week which was a 5 day week for 28 weeks, a total of approximately 925 hours but was worth every minute spent. I now own my own Bone Ship in its cabinet, which I am very pleased
with and if I ever build another I will get a dust extractor as it took a week to clean up my workshop! I know this is not a working boat but hey you have to have a change sometimes; and think of all the money I saved on radio gear and motors etc. I hope you have enjoyed this article: - Dennis Bailey, SO7 Southend MPBC Picture gallery The Bone Ship in its case.