These lovely three gallions had been in the same family for many, many years, showing off their finery to all who admired them. Time waits for no-one and as the years passed their beauty faded and (like me!) bits began to show their age.
The time had finally come for some cosmetic surgery and the patients were delivered during one of the less onerous periods of the CoVid lockdown. Sitting proudly on the garden table it was plain to see that underneath the dust and crumbling sails were three magnificent models:
The first one into the workshop was possibly the lesser detailed of the three. She required a good clean & replacement of the running rigging. The ratlines were in good condition as where the sails. The latter benfitting from a careful clean. A little touching up of the paint here & there soon had her looking grand again:
She looked quite different sat out on the table again in the Autumn sunshine.
Next on the blocks was the ‘Revenge’. This was an altogether more detailed model. All of the running rigging needed to be replaced as did the sails. The sails appeared to be card which had been doped at some point. Unfortunately, this had meant that over the years the sails had twisted & become brittle. So much so that rescuing them was really out of the question. They were replaced with a 200gsm card which when rigged were stiff enough to be pulled into a nice ‘billowing’ shape, rather than like cloth sails which tend to hang limply. Unless of course they are painted like the first galleon. Again the ratlines were in excellent condition & it required some touching up of the paintwork:
The ‘Revenge’ was completed on the 27th December, hust in time for the first deep frost in the garden! None the less, she looked grand.
The ‘Golden Hind’ was the last one up. This followed pretty much the process of the ‘Revenge’ except more of the Standing rigging was in better shape. The sails carried some intricate Tudor emblems & these had to be replicated. With modern technology they were printed onto the sails. The ‘Golden Hind’ was completed on the coldest day of the winter so far, but she had to pose for picture the same as the other two!
Three great projects for lockdown & a cold snap. The workshop got moved into the warmth of the dining room (with the agreement of the boss!) for the duration.
Time to bring all three together again for a group portrait….