HMS surprise

[david hunt 6Participant @davidhunt6]

[david hunt 6Participant @davidhunt6]

I would dearly like to build a model of HMS Surprise,but kits are few and very expensive-are there detailed plans about that would allow me to make formers,etc.and build a scratch model?

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Hello David,

Which HMS Surprise is it that you mean: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Surprise ?

/Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 12/08/2015 09:55:10

Edited By Banjoman on 12/08/2015 09:55:19

[david hunt 6Participant @davidhunt6]

Hi,

So caught up in the P.O'Brian books forgot that many ships were called Surprise.I mean the French built corvette Unite,later captured and re-named.

Dave

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Hello David,

You can find a total of six contemporary plans, including lines drawings and drawn up by John Marshall, at the Royal Maritime Museum in Greenwhich: **LINK**. What's more, the musuem sells these as prints, be it said, though, that they don't exactly give them away …

I have no idea whether anyone has made modern, commercially available plan based on these, but anyway there is at least the original, straight-from-the-horse's mouth version available, be it at a price.

Good luck with your project!

/Mattias

[david hunt 6Participant @davidhunt6]

Hi Mattias,

Thanks for the link-not sure that they show enough for my level of ability,but very informative for starters.

Regards,

David

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Hi David,

If you are thinking of scratch building a (static) wooden ship, such as HMS Surprise, I would strongly recommend that you have a good and thorough look at Harold A. Underhill's classic book, Plank-On-Frame Models and Scale Masting & Rigging in two volumes (**LINK** and **LINK** respectively). Although the book is comparatively old (the first edition of vol. 1 came out in 1958), it is still published and still very relevant, I would say.

Among other things, vol. 1 explains very clearly and in detail how to use a lines drawing, like the one for HMS Surprise that you could get from RMG, to make your own templates for the frames.

The two volumes are extremely rich in information, and I would heartilly recommend them to anyone thinking about scratch building a wooden sailing ship model; they are also a nice read. And if you don't want to buy unseen why not check with your local public library if they have them or could get them for you as an inter-library loan?!

A site-and-forum where you might also find more information, and where there's likely to be people around who would know if there are any modern plans available, is NRG's Model Ship World, where many Napoleonic period man-o'-war modellers tend to congregate: **LINK**.

Best of luck,

/Mattias

[Francis MacnaughtonParticipant @francismacnaughton39461]

I would suggest getting hold of "The frigate Surprise" by Brian Lavery and Geoff Hunt which includes a mini Anatomy of the ship set of plans and drawings by Marquand (albeit at a rather small scale) plus lots of Geoff Hunt pictures to inspire you further. I got mine at a low price as a surplus sale item a while back so worth looking out for.

[david hunt 6Participant @davidhunt6]

Thanks everybody for the responses,very useful and food for thought.Lots of research to do plainly,so off I go….

David

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Hi again David,

I just wanted to second most emphatically what Francis Macnaughton says! The Anatomy of the Ship books are truly excellent sources of information – I have the Bounty and Endeavour volumes, and they are really great!

Again, alack and alas!, they don't exactly come cheap! The publishers are asking £90 (**LINK**), and Amazon wants £100 – although this is apparaently for a limited (250 copies) edition, sgined by the authors. The regular hardback, priced at £27/30, seems to be momentarily out of print at the editors … (**LINK**).

Again, might just be worth it to see if your local public library could find one on an inter-library loan … ?!

Good hunting and enjoy the research – that is almost half the fun, I always think, to get to know and understand your subject

/Mattias

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Well – having done the bit of looking-stuff-up required for my previous post, I got enough carried away that I actually went and put my money where my mouth is, and ordered a copy of The Frigate Surprise from Bllomsbury (together with the (rather less expensive) soft cover version of their The 100-Gun Ship Victory, also from the Anatomy of the Ship series! Both books have been on my wishlist for quite some time now, and looking at them again proved to be the one temptation too many …

However, telling that is not really the main point of this posting: rather, I wanted to say that it might also be of some interest to you to have a look at the "under development" pages for the upcoming Caldercraft HSM Surprise kit: **LINK** – there are 20 or so web pages there of detailed construction photos of their prototype build!

Again, good information hunting

/Mattias

[david hunt 6Participant @davidhunt6]

Hi Mattias,

I have "The Frigate Surprise",and have been looking at the Caldercraft website for what seems like years!Theirs is indeed a very long-winded development,and certainly looks wonderful.I hope I live long enough to get the kit!

Dave

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Hello Dave,

I see – and yes: it has indeed (and alas!) seemed to take ages and ages for them to get anywhere with that particular project, which is a pity as I'd say that if one wants to build Napoleonic era from a kit, the Caldercraft ones are among the best available right now! Well researched, quality materials and fittings, extremely good and detailed build instructions, and just generally nice kits that go together very well … something that, from what I've gathered from other builders, cannot always be said about some of the other kit brands on the market.

For my part, a Napoleonic era frigate is definitely on the to-do list, albeit not necessarilly today or tomorrow, as I would be inclined to have a go at scratch building one, and that would be a project that needed more time than I can spare right now. Also, there are a few other build ideas higher up on that list, so again, not today, nor tomorrow …but one day, retirement will come, and then – who knows?! And in the meantime, I might as well buy a copy of the Surprise book while it is still easy to find, eh, wot wot?!

/Mattias

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