zoly99sask

Here is the forecastle shuttle in the bow and the companionway in the stern ... The interior at this model turn out very well, so let the openings be wide open ...

So, in the end, when finished, the deck looks like this :
 

Hi All,
I started this some time ago as a little "Light" relief after the Cutty Sark.
Was hoping for a quick build, but as we all are aware, there is no really "Quick" build in this hobby.
I only have a "Smattering"of Photos in the very early stages of the build before I literally "Shelved" the project.
The build is a little more advanced with Bulwarks, Etc. attached but will need to think about De-Constructing these and making good. As stated, it's been away for a while but I think that I will concentrate after Pen Duick in, hopefully 2 - 3 weeks time.
 
Unfortunately, I cannot do multiple builds, I need to focus on one thing at a time.
 
Looking at LA Don's build has given me a bit of incentive to complete this.
 
I think that this will also benefit from LED Lighting.

The late Frank Mastini, a master modeler and author developed a chair for working high on the model
 
Take an old wooden captains dining room chair, even the armrest all around and nail a board  across the arms toward the rear to sit on. Your feet will stay on the seat of the chair. This will raise you up a good 8-10 inches depending on the chair. You can also rest you elbows just behind your knee for steadiness.
 
Regards

That is a good idea Michael. I think I know where some old captains chairs are at that I could easily get a hold of one. May have to look into that as it sounds like it just might do the trick and be very cheap to modify. 
 
Thanks Don! I think I am starting to develop a good pattern now to tying them. Of course I will completely forget what that is by the time I get back around to them on the next ship but that just seems to be the way the cycle goes.
 
Zoltan, what I do to keep the tension on my shrouds is mostly work one side at a time. I pull my rope down through the lubber's hole and secure the deadeye to it. Throw the rest of the rope over the opposite side of the top and place a hemostat clamp on the line for weight. Any weighted clamp will do, you just need something to provide resistance when you rig the deadeyes. Then I run my rope for the first set of deadeyes, making sure to keep tension on the opposite side (side with weight) so I can set the desired elevation of the top deadeye. Once I am satisfied I secure the deadeye rigging and dab a little glue on the ends to make sure nothing slips. Next, remove the weight and cut the rope to the length needed for the opposite deadeye. Be sure to leave a little extra to make adjustments with. Pull the rope through the opposite lubber's hole and check to make sure that the rope is laying where and how you want it around the mast. When happy with the position I add a little glue to hold the rope in place to the mast. this keeps the right amount of tension on the side I have already done and keeps the shrouds in alignment so they do not bunch up on top of each other at the top. Now just repeat the process on the remaining side.
 
I don't try to get a perfect alignment with my deadeyes. I do try to get close but if some of them are off a little I don't worry to much. I have seen both sides of this debate on keeping them aligned and I lean towards the side of since they are designed to keep tension on the shrouds and are meant to be adjustable, they would probably not always have been perfectly even. Granted this does not always a cosmetically pleasing effect which is typically what we are trying to achieve in ship models. So to each their own on that.
 
So basically, weight and lots of glue make tight shrouds.
 
Well, I didn't spend much time in the shipyard tonight but I did get started on the first back stay. More to follow soon I hope!

The boat looks really nice, Pierre. I love boats with hard chines like that. We should get Zoran to do a Lightning and Star kit. I'll have to send him a note. 
 
Cheers, 
 
Rick

I'm really liking your work Pierre. Keep the photos coming.
 
Ian

Thanks guy's,
Did a bit more work on the tops, ready for rough sanding. I think I'm getting the hang of it. A few pieces on the interior and the floor left. Really enjoying this build looking forward to starting the Santa Maria, hopefully next week.
 

 
Cheers.

Greetings and Salutations,
I have wanted to start a build log and successfully complete a build log for a long time.  I have a true mental block when it comes to building a hull that is not solid out of the box.  Master Korabel has all the parts and pieces precut so I figured ‘how hard can this be?’.
The Cannon Jolle 1801, was up for auction and I won the bid for about 1/3 the original price.  This supports my opinion that this will not be a hard build.  Expensive kits are hard, inexpensive kits should therefore be easy.

 
The box is about 14"x8" inches and it is full of empty space because inside the parts and pieces are very small.
 

 
Please notice the size of the kit when compared to a U.S. dime.  Well this means that I need a smaller work space for this particular kit.
 

 
Even though the written instructions are in Russian, the photos of the actual build are clear and concise.
 
I will finish this log.  It good then great, if bad, then everyone can learn what not to do.
 
What can possibly go wrong?
 
Chuck A

Finished ratting down the fore top mast shrouds! Always a good feeling when those are done. So here is where she sits. Starting to get some of that height going which is making me have to stand up to do a lot of the rigging as my chair doesn't adjust any higher. May need to get an adjustable stool so I don;t have to stand for all the rigging. Plus S.R. is even taller!
 
Next up will be the stays. As I mentioned in my earlier post, the back stays are straight forward and familiar however, the fore stays are rigged differently than ones I have done before so those will be an adventure. I'm ready to get started though not till after I have had some sleep.    So with that, I say good night and enjoy the pictures! 

The sad part about not including the laser cut templates is that it takes away the possibility of scratch building the kit - though I completely understand the logic. I'm building Syren right now, and one of the laser cut bulkheads (#4) had some gaps in the wood on the bulkhead extension, so I had to cut a new one - using the template - though I guess the part itself would have served.
 
My wife runs a design business and she has had no end of problems with both foreign manufacturers AND European and American companies ripping off her designs - I have to say that in our experience this is not a phenomenon exclusive to Russia and China - it is in the very nature of Internet-based (or internet-facilitated) businesses. I have another friend who discovered that a song of his was being used in a Samsung commercial in S. Korea - without his permission. The payout he got allowed him to renovate his kitchen, but music publishing rights are pretty clear cut and enforceable.
 
My wife, however, has been burned by some recognisable US, Swedish, Australian and UK companies as well.....her and her partner have had to become very savvy about licensing and copyright on the designs and on how they are marketed online - though access to the images themselves cannot prevent copycats from just biting their style. They modify one small aspect (like the layout of a set of graphic elements or the colour of an image) and call it "unique". The "creative" in "creative economy" is very widely interpreted, it seems.....and is even a possibility for those for whom "creativity" is just novel ways of thieving other people's labour....
hamilton

Had to take a few days shore leave. Back at it this morning. Got the first of the top gallant boards shaped and glued in place.
 

 
Next I will install the seat before doing the second top galant, this will make it possible to slide the seat in easily ( Thanks Don, I almost forgot you mentioned to do the seat first.) I will post more images once seat and 2nd row of top gallants are in place..

Preparation and Planning…. The keel former and bulkheads
 
 
I wanted to check everything was just right before I went too far. Having been inspired by some of the other Diana builders, I set up a program called QCAD to use inches as unit.
 
I imported aligned ship’s lines from AOTS Diana (I had to cut the pages out of the book to get them to scan neatly, as the image crosses the centre-fold, but they scanned very nicely at high-res, and so I was able to stitch together a full size plan for the side, overhead and front elevations of Ethalion. This was cross-checked, against the ship’s plans from NMM by overlaying it. The following was used.
 
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/82225.html
 
This is Ethalion, but you can also find:
 
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/82174.html “Artois”
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/82195.html “Jason”
 
There are a few differences… Note the bulkheads, and chainplate attachment points.
 
I’ve never used a CAD program before and I think I must have set up the CAD drawing a little wrong, because I found that to print at scale I needed to print at 1:768 (12 x 64) (in fact, trial and error testing showed that 1:786 was closer for my printer). Nevertheless, what an amazing tool.
 
That done I was able to trace the lines and create a print out of the side, overhead and fore and aft views to cross-check the hull.
 

 
I also scanned the frames so that I could check they were indeed symmetrical.
 
I marked the waterlines onto the keel former carefully, and then marked them onto the bulkheads too. Once that was done, I could take measurements from the overhead view at each waterline at the fore and aft edge of the bulkhead and mark the amount that needed bevelling onto the bulkhead.
 
Once that was marked onto the bulkhead, a smooth line could be drawn to represent the bevelling required. I intentionally made the overhead view slightly smaller so that each bevel would be a little less than was actually required. This would leave a little room to fine-tune the bevel once the bulkheads were assembled on the keel former.
 

 

 
Before beginning to bevel, I coloured in the edge of each bulkhead with a black Sharpie so that I could see how much of the bulkhead had been bevelled… I didn’t want to reduce the overall size or profile of the bulkhead, and this would help me avoid that.
 
I made a sanding stick from a length of chipboard roughly 2”x1/2” by 10” with a sheet of very rough sandpaper (grade 80) stapled around it. This will help me get a smooth run and remove the worst of the material at a reasonable pace. Before this was used, however, I used a sharp craft knife to whittle away the worst of the material on bulkhead 2 (the most severely bevelled at the fore end.) The hope being that this would remove the need for me to disappear in a mound of sanding dust over the coming days.
 
I’ve made a replacement beakhead with solid castello boxwood (the ply is just ugly, and I can’t bring myself to paint it – I’ll know it’s ply!) I’ve marked out the section I wish to replace, taking note of Jason’s (Beef Wellington) work in this area, especially with respect to the bowsprit. I intend to do the same – removing the support at the top of the keel former in order to allow the bowsprit to pass through bulkhead 2, and thus have more support. It also allows the bowsprit to stay at 10mm, rather than having to reduce to 6.5mm, and to be at the correct angle.
 
Jason noted that removing the top of the stem meant there was no support for the planking… To avoid this, I’ve almost entirely cut through the pattern, but not quite. The hope is that the support will be there until the last minute, when I can simply remove it… We’ll see if this works.
 

 
I’ve also made a replacement stern post ply with castello boxwood, with taper from 9mm at the top down to 4mm at the base to fit in with tapered rudder (again Jason (Beef Wellington) has done this excellently, and I hope to follow in his footsteps.
 

 
This is the only other area where the plywood of the keel former is visible once built, so that should provide a much nicer look once done.
 
Tasks ahead before I glue the frame together:
Plan ahead, marking out rabbets, and how the planking will fall for first and second planking. I want to have at least thought this through even if it ends up looking quite different.
  I’ll leave the sternpost and beakhead off for as long as possible to prevent them from getting battered as the planking goes on.
  Insert tubes into keel former ready to take rods for display stand.
  Finish tapering bulkheads.  
[edited to move photos onto MSW, 11/13 July 2017]

Links
 
 
More details of the movements of HMS Ethalion can be found in Naval History of Great Britain, Vol II by William James at the following locations:
Tory Island and capture of Bellone: pp140-163
  Brest blockade duty: p300
  Capture of Thetis: pp401-402
  List of captured vessels in 1799: pp473-474  
A map showing the movements of the Ethalion up until the moment she struck the rocks can be found on this website:
http://www.archeosousmarine.net/ethalion.html

Service
 
(some of the text content below copied with thanks from Wikipedia under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License)
 
 
Ethalion entered service in 1797, operating in the English Channel as part of the Channel Fleet.
 
Battle of Tory Island
 
Soon after commissioning in April under Captain George Countess, Ethalion was engaged in chasing a French squadron under Jean-Baptiste-François Bompart intent on invading Ireland during the Rebellion of 1798. Countess kept the French fleet in sight for several days and was able to signal for assistance. This brought a significant force under John Borlase Warren to the region and the French were defeated at the Battle of Tory Island. Ethalion, with Melampus, took the 40-gun Bellone, which the Royal Navy took into service. Ethalion had one man killed and three wounded; the French lost 20 men killed. In 1847 the Battle of Tory Island earned for any still surviving crew members the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "12th October 1798".

(See here for more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tory_Island )
 
 
Capture of Boulonnoise cutter
 
On 2 February 1799, Ethalion was operating with Anson when together they captured a 14-gun privateer Bayonnaise cutter. She was the Boulonnoise, out of Dunkirk, and had been "greatly annoyed the trade in the North Sea". She had a crew of 70 men and had been the revenue cutter Swan. Swan had been captured some two years earlier off the Isle of Wight in an action that cost the life of Captain Sarmon, her commander.
 
Capture of Infatigable
 
On 6 March Ethalion captured the 18-gun privateer Infatigable in the Channel after a 10-hour chase. Infatigable was armed with 18 guns and had a crew of 120 men. She was only one day out of Nantes, provisioned for a four-month cruise. Later that year Captain James Young took command.[2]
 
Capture of Thetis and Santa Brigada (Action of 16 October 1799)

In 1799 Ethalion was operating with four other frigates off Vera Cruz against Spanish shipping. The British frigate Naiad, Captain William Pierrepont, was patrolling off the coast of Spain when she sighted two Spanish 34-gun frigates, Santa-Brigida and Thetis. On 15 October 1799 the British frigate Naiad sighted two Spanish frigates. Captain Pierrepont of Naiad gave chase and before dawn Ethalion spotted them and joined the pursuit. At 7.00am the two Spaniards parted company so Pierrepont followed one frigate, together with Alcmene and Triton, which too had joined the chase, while directing Ethalion, to pursue the other frigate. By 11.30am, Ethalion had caught up with her quarry and after a short engagement the Spanish vessel struck her colours. Ethalion had no casualties though the Spaniard had one man killed and nine wounded.

Triton, the fastest of the three British frigates, led the chase of the second frigate. The next morning Triton struck some rocks as she tried to prevent her quarry from reaching port. Triton got off the rocks and resumed the chase despite taking on water. She and Alcmene then exchanged fire with the Spanish frigate, which surrendered before Naiad could catch up. Four large Spanish ships came out from Vigo but then retreated when the three British frigates made ready to engage them. Alcmene had one man killed and nine wounded, and Triton had one man wounded; Santa Brigida had two men killed and eight men wounded.

The vessel that Ethalion had captured turned out to be the Thetis, under the command of Captain-Don Juan de Mendoza. She homeward-bound from Vera Cruz with a cargo of cocoa, cochineal and sugar, and more importantly, specie worth 1,385,292 Spanish dollars (£312,000). The vessel that Triton, Alcmene and Naiad had captured was the Santa Brigada, under the command of Captain Don Antonio Pillon. She was carrying a cargo of drugs, annatto, cochineal, indigo and sugar, and some 1,500,000 dollars. Prize money was paid on 14 January 1800.

In December Ethalion, by then under Captain John Searle, was engaged in the blockade of the French Atlantic Coast.
 
Loss
 
On 25 December she was wrecked on a reef off the Penmarks. Attempts were made to save the stricken ship but the damage was too severe. Danae, Sylph and the hired armed cutter Nimrod assisted in rescuing the crew; Ethalion's first lieutenant then set the remains on fire. Searle, the first lieutenant, and the master's mate were the last to leave. The subsequent court martial honourably acquitted Searle and his officers for the loss. The board ruled that the accident was due to unusual tides against which the skill and zeal of the officers and ship's company were unavailing.
 
Looking in the Naval Chronicles (through Google Books) we find the following entries.
 
Naval Chronicle : July – December 1799 (Vol 2)
 
p707, uncertainty about whether Ethalion is lost

“Wind E. Rather Mild. Arrived the Swift cutter, Lieutenant Sanders, from off Brest. By her, accounts are brought, that between the Saints and Penmarks they hooked up a few days since several pieces of floating wreck; one piece a gun carriage marked Ethalion, 24 pounder, and a writing desk: but whether the Ethalion, 38 guns, Captain Searle, is lost on the Saints, or in distress had thrown any guns overboard, still remains in a state of incertitude.”
 
Naval Chronicle : Jan-Jul (Vol 3)
 
p84, Notice of Court Martial and verdict for Ethalion’s captain, officers and ship’s company

“Plymouth, Jan. 10. A Court Martial was held on board the Cambridge flag ship in Hamoaze, on Captain SEARLE, his officers, and ship’s company for the loss of his Majesty’s frigate the Ethalion, on the Saints Rocks, December 25, 1799.
    “After an impartial investigation of the existing circumstances, the Court most honourably acquitted Captain Searle, his officers, and crew. It appeared that the accident was occasioned by an unusual course of tide, and but little wind; that every exertion which skill and zeal could effect was made by Captain Searle and his officers, and the utmost discipline and subordination was observed by the ship’s company, so highly honourably to British seamen in times of danger. The Ethalion was stationed off the Saints, to preserve the line of cruisers watching the enemy’s ports.”
 
 
pp86-87, Account by Captain Searle of the sinking of Ethalion

“MONTHLY REGISTER OF NAVAL EVENTS”

“Captain SEARLE’s Narrative of the Proceedings on board his Majesty’s Ship the Ethalion, from the Evening of the 24th of December, 1799 till the Moment in which the Captain and Officers were under the painful Necessity of quitting her.

"At four P.M. Point Le Cheure bore S. E. by E. three of four leagues, standing off and on off St. Matthew’s, with an intention of beating to windward in the morning, to reconnoitre the position of the enemy’s fleet : a service I was particularly anxious to perform, as I knew no opportunity had occurred for that purpose since the 18th of December, when the Fisgard, Ethalion, and Sylph, were all driven off the coast by a hard gale of wind ; and I knew the Fisgard could not have regained here station at that time.  

"At eight o’clock I gave the usual and necessary directions and precautions, to the officer of the watch, and to the pilot, for keeping the Ship in a proper situation during the night; and to inform me if any change of wind or weather took place, and whenever the pilot wished the Ship to be put on the opposite tack ; and at the end of each watch to acquaint me (as was the custom every night) with the situation of the Ship with respect to the distance from the land-- St. Matthew’s light then (at eight P.M.) bore E. by N. about three leagues ; the Ship then standing to the southward under her treble-reefed topsails, fore-topmast staysail, and mizen staysail, with the wind S. E. and lying up S. S. W. going a knot and a half.

"At half past ten she was, by the desire of the pilot, again wore. At twelve the light bore N. E. by E. three or four leagues ; at which time Lieutenant Jauncey told me there was not much wind, and I directed a reef to be let out of the topsails, and the jib to be loosed, to be in readiness to make sail at a moment’s warning ; which order was complied with.

"At half past one A. M. the light bearing E. N. E. between five and seven miles, Lieutenant Quillim, the officer of the watch, acquainted me, it was the desire of the pilot to wear again, and stand to the southward till four o’clock as there was but little wind ; but at ten minutes past three, although the Ship had not gone more than two miles from the time of her being wore, and the light was then in sight, and bearing N. E. by E. (the night very dark) the rocks were discovered close ahead, and in attempting to wear clear of them, the Ship struck : when I ordered the hands to be turned up, and got the pumps to work, and the boats out ; sent the Master to sound ; started the water ; threw the guns overboard ; and used every exertion possible to get the Ship off.

"At four she struck very hard, and knocked away the stern-post : made signals of distress to the Sylph. At six she fell over on the starboard side, and bulged.

"At day-light saw the Danaë, Sylph, and Nimrod cutter ; made the signal for boats to assist – finding she had bulged in several places, and parted on the starboard side amidships ; and seeing the impossibility of saving any of her stores; sent away the idlers, and the first division of seamen, in our own boats, to the Danaë, Sylph, and Nimrod.

"At nine Lord Proby came alongside, and another boat also from the Danaë, followed by one from the Sylph. The water was now over the lee gunwale, and the greater part of the stern totally under water ; and it was at this time difficult and dangerous for boats to approach the Ship, owing to the very great surf amongst the rocks. At eleven o’clock, having got all the people out of the Ship, the first Lieutenant by my directions set fire to her remains, and Mr. Bellinghall, the Master’s Mate, cut away her lower masts, which being done, and after I had seen all the commissioned Officers and the Master into the remaining boat, I was then under the painful necessity of abandoning her. –

"The anguish of my feelings during the whole of this unfortunate affair, but particularly at the moment when I was obliged to abandon the Ship, those who have experienced a similar misfortune will readily judge of. – I wish it was in my power on any other occasion to describe the very great merit of all the officers and ship’s company ; sure I am their exertions, their promptness in executing my orders, and the steady perseverance they shewed, was never on on any other occasion exceeded ; for in no similar instance was there ever less confusion.  

"I now think it necessary to observe, that the shortness of the days at this season of the year makes it utterly impossible for any Ship to reconnoitre the enemy’s fleets in Brest, unless she keeps off St. Matthew’s during the night ; and I need not observe how difficult it is to ascertain the precise distance of a light, and the uncertainty of keeping a Ship in a safe position, without the assistance of some headland or mark for a cross bearing ; which in this instance was prevented from the extreme darkness of the night , for although the bearing of the light is always a sufficient guide with respect to the Parquet and Black rocks, yet it is of no use to avoid the dangers of the Saints when cruising within them ; and neither myself, the Master, or Pilot, thought it possible that the light could be seen at all at the distance of eighteen miles which the Ship was from it when she struck, although it was then so distant, and this opinion will be corroborated by the testimony of all the officers. It is also material to observe, that the Master of the Nimrod, who has been some time employed in the same service off Brest, was likewise on that night as deceived by the appearance of the light, that he drove amongst the rocks at a little distance from us, but got off without receiving any material damage –  
 
"I flatter myself the above statement will receive the testimony and concurrence of those officers who have been employed off Brest, and that it will afford the most satisfactory proof that my wish to keep off St. Matthew’s proceeded from a zealous desire to fulfil the purport of my orders."
 
 
p174 : An sad, and ironic footnote.

“Jan. 15. Win N. W. Cloudy. Arrived from a cruise the Sylph sloop of war, Captain Dashwood. A seaman of the Ethalion, from excessive joy at the very honourable acquittal of Captain Searle, the officers, seamen, and marines of that ship, drank so much liquor, that he fell, fractured his skull, and died instantly. Verdict. Accidental death.
 

 

"HMS Ethalion in action with the Spanish frigate Thetis off Cape Finisterre, 16th October 1799", Thomas Whitcombe, 1800
(public domain image from Wikipedia)

Ethalion: the mythological figureEthalion actually only gets the very briefest of mentions, but mentioned he is. He turns up in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, but with his name spelt Aethálion. You can find it in the first section of Pentheus and Bacchus, in the account of Acoetes and the Lydian sailors.
Acoetes is a farmer’s son with itchy feet. He doesn’t want to take on the family trade so he sets himself up as a merchant instead. He gets his own ship, and off he goes.
The action takes place on one day when they’re on a voyage to Delos, an Island in the South Aegean sea. The wind blows them off course to the Island of Chios, and “by skilful rowing we made the shore.”
On the shore they set up camp for the night, and as dawn breaks Acoetes orders his men to take on water. When they come back, they’re all there, but there’s trouble brewing. Mate, Opheltes has a boy in tow. He found him, and now he intends to take him home as a prize slave.
Acoetes picks up something’s wrong – this is no mortal in this body – he asks the god to pray for the men… but the men are having none of it… “don’t bother praying for us” they say…
Acoetes tries to stand up to his crew, but it’s full mutiny… the most violent punches him in the throat, and he barely manages to save himself from falling into the sea…
Bacchus – who was disguised as the boy – is properly awake now, and asks them where they’re going take him… The crew, tell him not to worry and ask him where he wants to go.
“Naxos. That’s my home.” He says. And the crew swear that’s where they’ll take him…
Acoetes starts trimming the sails to sail to Naxos, when the crew overtake him… They want to go in the opposite direction…
The crew, in full mutiny now, push Acoetes back.
“I suppose our safety depends on none but you!”
says Aethelion as he jumps to the tiller to steer away from Naxos.
Bacchus pretends to weep, but as they bend to their oars to row the boat suddenly stops, stock-still in the midst of the waves and sea…
Raising the oars they realise they’re tangled with ivy, and vines reach up to entangle the rigging, as Bacchus rises up his head adorned with grapes, waving a spear and surrounded by a mirage of tigers and lynxes and panthers…
The sailors are terrified and jump up even as their spines begin to curve, and their skin grow black, and their noses protrude, and their hands turn to fins and they become dolphins…
And so only Acoetes remained of the sailors to set course for Naxos and tell the story.

Introduction
 
It’s time to attempt something I’ve been wanting to have a go at for a long time. A frigate of the napoleonic era. Having spent a lot of time looking round, I decided that I had neither the tools, the time, nor the expertise currently to complete a fully-framed scratch build. I was drawn by Chuck Passaro’s HMS Winchelsea, not least because I am sure the instructions when they are released will be utterly brilliant and the builds look beautiful so far, however at the time of writing the prototype is not yet completed. Given these factors, added to the expense and difficulty in sourcing good quality wood in the UK, I came back to model kits. I hope to keep on dabbling in scratch building though, and I have a cross-section of Triton underway for that purpose.
I wanted to build a model in 1:64, partly because it would give a good contrast to the boats I already have in the house, which are of the same scale. I looked at Victory Models, however, though there Pegasus and Fly models are very handsome in their own rights, I could not reconcile that they were not quite Frigate enough in my mind to fit the bill.
Having built two of Caldercraft’s models in the past (HM Schooner Pickle and HM Cutter Sherbourne), I was keen to come back to the same manufacturer, as I have found their models to be rewarding to build, and to have a level of detail that is manageable, but results in great looking models.
Sadly, HMS Surprise, though prototyped, has not been released by Caldercraft so that was not an option, though I am a great fan of the Aubrey / Maturin series by Patrick O’Brian. However, Caldercraft do have another Frigate already in their line-up. HMS Diana. An Artois-class Heavy Frigate of 38 guns.
Having seen other builds of sister-ships on ModelShipWorld.com, and since I am married to a Classicist, my interest was piqued by the other boats in the class, and I settled on Ethalion – built in 1797. In part because I didn’t really want a scantily clad woman glued to the front of the boat when I finished it, and Ethalion brings the possibility of a dolphin.
Once that was decided, it was time to break out google and a some books, and try and track down firstly, who Ethalion was, and secondly some of the history of this particular HMS Ethalion.

Michael,
I've been rather fortunate this past year with my free time. My Admiral has been in a 2 year clinical internship for her Masters degree and so while she is doing 70-80 hour work/school/internship weeks I have been left by myself a lot at home. Yes, my workload has picked up around the house as I am the only one available to do things there but, I still have lots of free time and since she is too busy for us to do much out or with friends I get more hobby time. Life will be returning more to normal though after she graduates this summer so I am sure that I will slow down then. Plus with my wood shop up and running I have a few projects out there that will be taking up some of that time.
 
Admittedly though there are some things that I should slow down and do a bit better and plenty that I wished I had taken more time on. Changing those stubborn habits can be a bit of a challenge though. I still have a lot of stuff to build on her though so there is hope for me yet!   

So today marked the one year anniversary of building La Couronne. Spent time rigging blocks to the fore top mast to roll over my 710th hour. Wow! Time sure can fly when you are having fun! Plus it makes the Admiral happy to see that large financial investment stretch out as long as it does and keep me happily occupied. Money well spent she has told me. I just happen to send her links to many of our fine sponsors with my wish lists as my birthday is next month....
 
So here are a couple of pictures of her to celebrate. The first is the very first stage in her build and the second is how she looks today minus the blocks I rigged tonight. I will update pictures of all of that in the next day or two.

Hello friends.
Main frames.
Karl
 
 
 
Part 3

Hello friends.
Manufacture and construction of the first frames of a total of eighty-five.
Thickness 2x3 mm
Karl
 
 
Part 2

Almost done for the deck furnitures. I only need to do the fake hinges on the companionway. Thinking about doing fake rivets for it.
Looks like I need to get a soldering iron...
 
In the mean time I worked on the decking. I am using boxwood.
 
A few mistakes.
- My pattern is every 4 and with the size of the deck I think every 3 would have been better.
- I did the first few planks with a small incorrect angle and with the width of the strip of wood used I am a bit off.
 
I contemplated redoing everything but due to budgetany consideration I am going to have to live with it
Still learning how to properly plank....

We should make your log mandatory viewing for anyone who purchases our plans Kevin. Your videos have been a joy to watch and I hope you continue them. I really chuckle when I see you building in shorts, barefoot and hear rain in the background. Makes me want to hop on a plane...

I've trudged through some progress this week, whittling away at the repetitive bits.  I'm doubling up on photos from a previous post here (sorry) but I'd worked on prepping all the deadeyes and strops while working on the gunport lids.  
 

 
This ended up being pretty valuable time use, so when it came time to mount the channel plates and subsequently the deadeyes, it was a nice little assembly line.
 
   I prepped my eyebolts and nails with 50/50 black-it and water mix.  I always have a bit of trouble with eyebolts as the metal is difficult to prep, and the blackening doesn't end up super consistent.  Most of the time it ends up requiring some touch up.  My plan is to go through and touch up the shiny bits after all the deadeyes are fully mounted.
 

 
   I also realize I didn't quite get the angles correct on the strops when they're mounted to the hull. I had some difficulty with the different lengths of strop parts and getting them arranged properly.  The difference in sizes was SO minute that I just couldn't figure out the different lengths to create a proper parallel line on the hull withe the different angles.  Ugh.
 

 
   At any rate - the good news here (I guess) is that this won't be particularly noticeable to the average eye since there aren't any ratlines or shrouds actually attached to the deadeyes, so the lines from the masts and crosstrees to the hull won't be inconsistent... cuz there won't be any...
 
yes... I'm rationalizing.