HMS 'Niobe' (1866)

Scale: 1:24. A model depicting the port bow of HMS 'Niobe' (1866), a single screw sloop, made largely from wood. The outboard side of the hull is painted black overall, with the decoration above the hawse pipes picked out in gold. The outer face of the external rim of the hawse pipes is painted red, which follows through into the inboard side, and both are stopped with wooden plugs. The inboard side of the model is complete with a planked deck scored on a single piece of varnished wood. The bulwarks are a creamy white with a dark brown and flesh stripe along the top of the deck and waterways. Where the bow has been sectioned the wood has been painted a light brown and grained to show the construction of the hull in terms of the outboard planking, hull framing and inboard ceiling, as well as the iron deck beams below deck.

The main feature of the model shows the two-tier system of hawse pipes and bucklers, which are working and illustrate their operation both when in use and when stoppered for water tightness when underway. Just aft of the hawse pipes is a single port. At the bow is a hinged port made of metal, providing an opening at the top of the stem head within the bulwarks, which is hinged and works.

The whole model is mounted on a stained, polished and moulded mahogany rectangular baseboard with four bun feet.

Original size: 174 mm x 407 mm x 210 mm