Trussben

Aft deadwood piece was cleaned of char and adjusted so it was a nice tight fit in its position, it’s not been glued in as its shape needs to be sanded closer to what it will finally look like.



 

Here are the first few Starboard side frames installed, we will begin to get a proper feel for what the model is going to look like now.
The designer has left lots of “meat on the bones” for later fairing of the hull when framing is complete.
 

Starboard side gunport framing completed, now to start cleaning the char from the Frame pieces and begin installing them. I intend to frame this side and when done turn her around and frame all the port side.
 

Hance pieces and fairing caps installed and I’ve started framing the starboard side gunports.
 

 


 
 
 

Starboard side framing completed, now onto the port side.
Obviously it looks awful at this stage as it needs “a **** ton” of sanding and fairing but we will get to that soon enough.
 



 

Starboard side framing completed, now onto the port side.
Obviously it looks awful at this stage as it needs “a **** ton” of sanding and fairing but we will get to that soon enough.
 



 

Starboard side framing completed, now onto the port side.
Obviously it looks awful at this stage as it needs “a **** ton” of sanding and fairing but we will get to that soon enough.
 



 

Starboard side framing completed, now onto the port side.
Obviously it looks awful at this stage as it needs “a **** ton” of sanding and fairing but we will get to that soon enough.
 



 

Starboard side framing completed, now onto the port side.
Obviously it looks awful at this stage as it needs “a **** ton” of sanding and fairing but we will get to that soon enough.
 



 

Hi All,
 
About to start a new build of the beautiful 50gun 4th rate HMS Portland of 1770, This kit has been developed by the Portland Scale Ship company based in Oregon USA.
 

Starboard side framing completed, now onto the port side.
Obviously it looks awful at this stage as it needs “a **** ton” of sanding and fairing but we will get to that soon enough.
 



 

Starboard side framing completed, now onto the port side.
Obviously it looks awful at this stage as it needs “a **** ton” of sanding and fairing but we will get to that soon enough.
 



 

Starboard side framing completed, now onto the port side.
Obviously it looks awful at this stage as it needs “a **** ton” of sanding and fairing but we will get to that soon enough.
 



 

Starboard side framing completed, now onto the port side.
Obviously it looks awful at this stage as it needs “a **** ton” of sanding and fairing but we will get to that soon enough.
 



 

Its coming along nicely!!!

Starboard side framing completed, now onto the port side.
Obviously it looks awful at this stage as it needs “a **** ton” of sanding and fairing but we will get to that soon enough.
 



 

so the framing fun began 

Work on the forward apron and cant frames has begun, nothing glued in place yet, just checking the fit.


 

I went a little further with the masts:
 





 

Stern Details
 
It has been a while since I reported on my progress. For the stern details I followed the instructions. For the bottom molding, I used a fairly similar pattern as the one starboard and port. The frieze was then glued with little tweaking to adjust the width and size. The upper molding in two layers was scraped and glued on. Here is a general view:
 

The columns and carved transom were done next. The laser parts fit quite nicely and only little tweaking is needed here.  Here is another view:
 

I painted the top of the transom with a mix of black, burnt sienna and blue, trying to match the frieze's background. Once everything was glued in place, I noted the some of the background black was showing between the carved transom and the windows. I may have to scrape that paint or move the carving down slightly. I will address that later. I then proceeded to complete the molding to wrap around the stern and provide a base for the two standing figures. This is a rather tricky operation and there are a lot of angles to adjust.  The next photo shows details of this construction:
 

The last step is to carve the figure bases and glue the standing figures. I dry fitted these and realized that there is very little area available to glue the figures on. Therefore, I decided to postpone this step for now. I doubt that I could complete the project without knocking those off a few times...
 
 
Limber Strakes
 
As chapter 4 was not out yet, when I reached this point, I decided to make the limber strakes from scratch. I created the rabbet by gluing two 3/64" planks shaped according to the plan.  A bit time consuming, but no char to deal with! I received Chapter 4 just in time to carry on with the project. The mast steps were added next. 
 

Next I will report on the platform construction. 
 

Nice, enjoy the framing!

Work on the forward apron and cant frames has begun, nothing glued in place yet, just checking the fit.


 

Work on the forward apron and cant frames has begun, nothing glued in place yet, just checking the fit.


 

Work on the forward apron and cant frames has begun, nothing glued in place yet, just checking the fit.


 

Work on the forward apron and cant frames has begun, nothing glued in place yet, just checking the fit.