1/100 HMS Zinnia ( 1915 )

[Laurent]

Hi Guys ,

I built yesterday afternoon two superstructures , one being the CO's cabin , the other the "main" superstructure , which will be removeable to get access to the RC gear & battery inside the hull

the main superstructure encloses , from front to astern : boiler room , galley , engine room , access to the Officer's mess

CO's cabin :

first of all , to get cardboard of the desired thickness , we had to eat some lasagne ...



not bad at all , with courgettes , sweet peppers & lamb chopped meat , garlic and thyme

not forgetting the unavoidable glass of french red wine

hmmmmmmmmm ?

oh yes , the CO's cabin ...






the sliding door to go into the cabin , door being made of 6 parts of mahogany wood ( still have to sand it to shape )


To make my portholes in the cardboard , I use such a shoe maker plier , to make little holes in leather belts , for instance ...



Now , the main supertructure :

same cardboard , same method ...




ths superstructure being painted , three coats of primer from the automotive industry , in cans ...




I discovered later that the CO's cabin was too low ( 1 mm ) , so I'll have to rebuild it at the correct height

last work I did yesterday , the boat's deck , being cut to shape , some part of the planking has been drawn , the two holes for the funnels are made ...



after part of the boat's deck , with the place where the 4.7 incher has to come , the hole for the after mast , and two square holes , the one a little aside is an ammunition hatch , the other one being a stairway to the Officer's mess entrance


That's all for today , I guess , depends on what CIC decided to do this afternoon ( I'd take a nap , for sure , it's sunday after all )

Regards ,

Laurent

[Reid]

WOW very cool and RC too but how are you going to keep the water of the cardboard and keep it from warping and betting mushy.

[Laurent]

Hi Reid ,

I'll just impregnate the cardboard with polyurethane resin , in the case of the superstuctures , just the inside will be coated , the paint on the outside will get a layer of matt varnish , and that'll be it ...

for the plating , same material , but the polyurethane coating will be on the outside , once all the plates are glued on place , two or three thin layers of paint and matt varnish on top ...

Don't worry , I have enough experience with cardboard , Zinnia will be my fourth RC sailing model with cardboard plating ...

Regards ,

Laurent

[MichelB]

That's shaping up to be a very nice model.

BTW, can you tell where the name 'Zinnia' comes from?

[Neptune]

If I'm not mistaken it's a flower. All the Belgian minehunters and replenishers were named after flowers. Zinnia and Godetia were the last replenishers.

This is indeed a very nice model Laurent, I like the anchor pipes! Very clean build!

[Laurent]

Hi Michel ,

the WW1 "flower" class sloops were named after ... flowers .

the WW1 "flower" class vessels are also known as the "herbaceous borders" ...

Anyway , there was a subdivision among them , three sub-classes existed :

- "Azalea"
- "Acacia" ( Zinnia belongs to them )
- "Arabis"

hereby two links to the sub-classes , with a lot of pictures :
http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/acacia_class.htm
http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/arabis_class.htm

Dimensions between the sub-classes were little , some were a little longer & broader , but the machinery ( two boilers and a four cylinder triple expansion propulsion engine ) was the same ...

The French Navy got eight sloops , very similar to those , built in UK , but with a more powerful machinery ...

Thanks , Neptune ...

Indeed , the Belgian Navy continued the tradition , & named two of the auxiliaries built in Belgium in 1966 & 1967 after flowers , "Zinnia" ( after this one ) and "God�tia" , after a WW2 corvette , manned by Belgian Sailors

When Belgium got involved in the tripartite minehunters program , they also called their vessels after flowers ...

Interesting note to all the historians here : all the RN ships completely manned by belgian sailors during WW2 were the only ships in the whole Royal Navy to wear two ensigns : the white one ( british ) and the belgian one .

Belgium is also the only foreign State which may do a parade with armed troops around the Cenotaph at London on the sunday before the Belgian National Day ( 21th of July )

Regards ,

Laurent

[Laurent]

Hi Guys ,

hereby an update , with the non watertight doors being glued & painted on the main superstructure , I left the door handles in brass , just to give some "Ol'Navy" fashion...





the accesses to the sailor's mess under the f'c's'le deck , before the deck is glued on :




the f'c's'le deck being glued on ( not a lot to be seen there under ) :



the new raised CO's quarter :



Yesterday eve , I began with the building of the Chart room , just above the CO's cabin , and there up , the wheelhouse , open to the elements , as it was in use on those days .

Material used : cardboard again ( glossy thick paper in this case , coming from a 2006 calendar )

Wheelhouse looks a little rickety , there is no roof on the chartroom yet ...



inside the wheelhouse ( pic sucks ... )


I still have a problem with those "portable decks" !

I got some information from a french fellow modeller on another board , he told me , without being sure about it , that those portable decks were just gratings , fixed on the deck , to protect the planking from the gangway's scrubing

might be an option , anyway .

I thought that those "portable decks" meant that there was a hole in the deck , but I don't think so as for now ...

hereby a picture of the two places I thought I had to cut , but I'm waiting for more information about that ...



see you next time for more updates

Laurent

[ARH]

Very Nice.

[JIM BAUMANN]

Looking sharp laurent!

It all looks nice an perpendicular-with--as far as I can see--good symetry!



JIM B

[Jefgte]

High quality work




Jef

[MichelB]

So, a flower. I thought it might have been something from Belgian folklore or mythology...

[Dave Wooley]

Hi Laurent Superb job and a good deck camber .
Dave Wooley

[vedro]

Hi,
these photos looks very nice. Wonderful building!
And first of all, thank you for such detailed photos. They will be very helpful

[Laurent]

Hi Guys ,

thanks for the comments ...

the next step , aside of the main building , will be the building of the two 27 feet whalers .

But I'll do a full "step by step" building of those whalers in the "tips & tricks" section ...

Stay tuned & have a nice weekend ...

Laurent

[Edward Pinniger]

Looking very good! The deck planking looks great, I'd never have thought you could use cardboard like this.
I'll be interested to see your post on building the ship's boats - this is something I need to learn myself.

[MichelB]

...I forgot to mention, my dear neighbour, that your Zinnia is looking very fine!

[Laurent]

...I forgot to mention, my dear neighbour, that your Zinnia is looking very fine!

Thanks Michel ,

which part of the Netherlands are you from ?

if you're not living too far , my Zinnia will be visible at the MODELMA event , at Brussels , in March this year ...

To EPinniger ,

the pattern ( mold ) for my 27ft whaler is done , I'm writing the full article right now , I just have to put pictures , it should be ready by sunday eve ...

Regards ,

laurent

[MichelB]

...I forgot to mention, my dear neighbour, that your Zinnia is looking very fine!

Thanks Michel ,

which part of the Netherlands are you from ?

if you're not living too far , my Zinnia will be visible at the MODELMA event , at Brussels , in March this year ...

To EPinniger ,

the pattern ( mold ) for my 27ft whaler is done , I'm writing the full article right now , I just have to put pictures , it should be ready by sunday eve ...

Regards ,

laurent

Utrecht, so 'above the rivers' as we say. But most part of my life I lived within 5 clicks of the Belgian border. Grew up on belgian tv...

[Laurent]

Hi Guys ,

didn't do a lot on Zinnia last week , I was busy with the building of the two 27ft whalers , see topic here :
http://www.shipmodels.info/mwphpBB2/vie ... hp?t=16105

I just painted the chart room and the wheelhouse , nothing is glued for the moment , just dry fit ...









By the way , before I ask it on the main forum , has anyone any picture or drawing of the Welin davits used to stow those 27ft whalers on RN ships of that era ?

Cheers ,

Laurent

[Dave Wooley]

Hi Laurent a typical davit as fitted to RN warships of the period requested, hope this is of some help.

Dave Wooley