hollowneck

Although it appears the davit is too far extended, I like that the Lowestoft model shows large blocks and tackle affixed to the end and back to the channel, presumably to raise an anchor. If a fish davit was used, would the hauling rope thus be affixed to a capstan? And, would there still be a need for an anchor lining? It seems the fish davit/spanshackle combo disappeared by the late 1700's, yes? ...finally, was a fish davit used for any other purpose (e.g. lifting a boat onto the deck or loading ship's stores)? I'll bet you know the answers to this sailor's burning questions! Ron

Your insights are always valuable and valued! That makes good sense, Druxey; just follow the Laws of Physics. The fish davit is not only lengthy, it it bulky and had to be a really heavy lift to put into service. The ropes along its midsection for sailors to manhandle* also makes perfect sense. My Granado model's fish davit is lashed down across the foc'sle. Knowing how bomb vessels were deployed, having a handy fish davit makes perfect sense too. Cheers, Ron *manhandle. I love this word, almost as much as spanshackle.

Ai! - Exactement, charaid. You're the winner of my Dalwhinnie dram. I'd be pleased to down that Tallister of Tennant's on my next visit to Falkirk (after dropping in to the Tun Mash in Forres). You won't be surprised to know that I also built the Caldercraft Granado a few builds (and years) back and - discovered the spanshackle hardware artifact - and I subsequently looked it up in Lee's. Sláinte! Ron

Thank you, Chris. I am really glad that I can make this excellent kit's designer pleased. I can't wait to take some hi-res, properly lit pics of this beauty. I can see the finish line on completing the hull and it's truly been a fun project right from Page 1. I am now looking forward to getting started on her masting and rigging. I plan to make some modifications with materials for this part of the build; I'll clearly note where I've substituted (initially, for masting/yards). I always use square section sticks - either pear, box or a combo of both, so I'll put the kit's walnut dowel in a wood stash. I've done a little research on how stunsails were deployed on these 5th and 6th rates. It seems that some ships used stunsail booms (the flip-out yards mounted to the channels), but some mounted these helper sails "loose-footed" - the bottom of the stunsail held taut with a single rope lashed to a triangular arrangement at the foot. Apparently, there were advantages to both methods. I'm mentioning this now as I haven't decided whether or not to mount the kit's provided stunsail booms to their channels since I intend to make and mount these sails in addition to the vessel's normal complement, a first for me. I love a new challenge - obviously! Hey Glenn. Good eye...but...actually, Camilla can turn to port and starboard. In both of my photos the opposing end of the steering rope is hidden behind the wheel's stanchion(s). It really does descend down and right through the first Lieutenant's cabin. I know this because he asked me if I knew what a "spanshackle" was. (I'm holding-off on giving a definition for a few days; I'm curious how many builders of this era have this bit of arcane nautical engineering knowledge. Hint: the device was a critical piece of gear that helped to weigh anchor.) NO GOOGLING (please)....🤨 Ron

Mike, Thanks for the shout-out! I hope to get to her masts before the Season wipes out my shop time (7 children, 13 g'kids.) Happy Holidays (did I say this already?) Ron

In between the Holiday Madness...more detail work...a few things left, then off to masts & yards. Love this rope! The correct scale, the correct color...but it unravels into three wild-hair strands if one isn't careful! Russian rope (Falkonet),da! The rope feeds through the deck and is termed "steering rope" as it guides the rudder via a series of below decks pulleys. I kept the outer brass circular P/E "ring" and made the main P/E component of the Big Wheel in "wood." I added three layers of burnt umber acrylic paint to build up the handles and spokes (slightly). Being P/E, these are all flat. I also did a paint "fill-in" on the P/E ring: after painting (and drying), you scrape-off the paint with a knife or sanding file (my preferred technique). This leaves the tiny brass heads and the shiny rings intact with the paint only filling the lower recess all around. The binnacle, mounted. Temp mast in-place for scale. A gull's eye view of midships. A nice clean deck, unlike the hood of my car. This is a three-piece, layered detail. Not clear in the manual, but spotted in the lasered pear sheets. This is the fish davit crutch. I kept looking for the spanshackle* P/E, but there aren't any. Will I scratch one? probably not since I'd be then semi-obligated to add the actual lengthy davit that literally spans across the entire foc'sle deck!... *this is a test: what is this and what does it do? Correct answers to what this is will get a free shot of 18yo Inverness Scotch (neat or rocks) at my house this Holiday Season... Breastrail and gangway details close-up; the rope is much brighter here due to intense overhead lighting*. The rope is the same tawny hemp color seen in previous detail photos in my log. Yummy stuff, this rope. * I use three direct overhead light sources which helps immensely, especially when I'm evaluating critical color painting and then shooting decent detail photos. A view that says:" I'm nearly done with the hull!" Hammock cranes come next after installation of the chains, which I always leave for much later in my builds. Rigging (reeving) tools: I use brown upholstery thread for reeving. In this photo I'm tying-off the ends of the cannon breeching lines to their eyebolts. Tweezers mandatory. Quadhands holder is excellent for this although I only needed two of the four flexible tentacles to get the job done. I use CA in infitessimally small drops to secure the lines...and a secret weapon for nearly all rigging tasks: my Gingher embroidery scissors. My inspiration for adding the companionway doors to Camilla; this is a pic of an NMM "Admiralty Board" model of a 5th-rate that is nearly identical to the Vanguard's Sphinx kit of the same era. The double wheel is kool and I thought about scratching this too. The Sphinx (& Camilla) didn't carry normal Ferguson long cannon on their q'decks normally - but, rather the shorter 12lb carronades (in trucks, not swivels) which I'll add as soon as Vanguard can send them. Midships closeup; gangway rails, steps and companionway doors (scratch added). Borrowed (unused) P/E hinges from an earlier part of the kit build and made simple 3mm pear strips. See previous museum photo. Ron

Thank you, gentlemen. Indeed, this is the "fun part!" Ron

Well done, Sir. I like how you've tackled the one-piece wale patterns and solved the dilemma at the stern. After scratch-planking my wales I moved the six scuppers up from the wale to just above the black strake. The "angle of drainage" from the waterways still works. Perhaps Chris can 3D print Lord Cochrane sitting on a seat of ease for you! We need to be able to view him thru the gallery lights though... Ron

Progress...more detailing. Upgrading the binnacle. Fashioning and finishing the fife rail. Snatch block with sheave. Bitts and belaying pins. Gratings for the q'deck "fix." The kit's binnacle is laser-etched pear and it assembles nicely- however- it was missing its windows! The brisk and unrelenting wind on the weatherdeck would have constantly blown out the illumination source and made it difficult for the helmsman to see what heading the ship was on! I remedied the situation with a couple small pieces of clear acetate before I buttoned-up the assembly. Voila! Kool brass chimney (painted flat black) on this little top deck eye candy. Stained with Natural Minwax only. Needs some rope to keep it from toppling over; on my punch list for later this week... a detail that can't been seen in this photo is the thin, internal P/E brass piece that depicts dual compasses and a place for an oil lamp in the center. I know it's there, a "sweet touch." BTW: the cannon on this deck will be early 12 pounder carronades on "trucks" (essentially a version of long cannon carriages). I am looking at where the four carronades will be positioned along the slender bulwarks and exposed timberheads and fife rail stanchions. 6th-rate (and 5th rate) "post ships" quickly adopted carronades on their quarterdecks (and later the foc'sle). It didn't take long for the Navy Board to discover that these ships needed to have "built-up" bulwarks to protect the crews and come up with a new method for mounting the powerful "smashers" to the bulwarks. The unique "sliding carriage" was invented specifically for these large-muzzled, close-range intimidators (it also pivoted the carronade on a single-point axis in the center of the gunport). I'm making my HMS Camilla an "early adopter" of carronades (just four on her q'deck), but prior to having her aft bulwarks enhanced with more planking. I'm liking the superbly-designed fife rails provided in the kit, their delicate look that is part of the OTT decorative "art" she was so confident to display. Cut the Falkonet gratings to size, testing their locations. Another view of the quarterdeck showing the breast and fife rails. I'm keeping both in natural wood finishes. The gunwales will still be painted black, but I may leave all the timberheads in natural; haven't decided on this color detail just yet. I'll scrape-off the black paint on the pair of black-painted timberheads shown here should I go for the "all natural look." Black paint hides so much of the delicate wood carving. Another midships view; starting to paint the gunwales in black. Another view showing the slender fife rail mounted. A cannon placed temporarily (a placeholder, of sorts) for evaluating the positions of the four carronades that will be mounted on the quarterdeck (two on each side). A close-up of the aft-most portion of the fife rail.The arrow points to the "alignment holes" that are provided to align the three-piece, built-up rail. Thin nails help align the pear pieces for gluing and are then removed. The holes are eyesores (like others sprinkled throughout the design) and need to be filled. My choice again: stainable filler. The "O" ring is a rigging piece in P/E that will be painted black. I've added pear sheaves to the snatch blocks located on the foc'sle gunwales. The 4mm diameter sheaves are from Falkonet, a Russian ship model company that are making very nice, scale-accurate "bits" (as well as a few kits)... I'll likely feed anchor rigging ropes through these blocks. It would look really peculiar to see ropes winding through empty assemblies. Snatch blocks with sheave, mounted and ready to do some heavy lifting. Enlarging the holes in the forward bitts to make room for belaying pins. I'll add 9mm turned pear belaying pins throughout my build (from Falkonet as previously mentioned in my thread). These are things of beauty, scale-accurate and they'll be stained natural (unstained shown here). I used a needle file to gently turn the square P/E pin lasered holes into round-ish ones. I'm approaching the halfway point in just a few weeks. I call it this because the masting, rigging and sailmaking will take about the same amount of time that I've devoted to the kit's completed hull build. My personal rule-of-thumb over the past several years of building ships in the Era of Sail is that I'm still many fathoms away from home port when the hull is completed. I know there are ship modelers who don't look forward to the "other half" of their sailing ship's completion. I'm not one of them. I relish the next stages; it's not over until the wind meets the canvas ... and with HMS Camilla, her keel hitting the H2O. Ron

Chris, Nice set-up! Is the orange flash drive sending prototype files at 18.02 to the BIG GCC for the HMS Bristol?🤫 Inquiring minds need to know! Cheers, Ron

A Royal Barge on the Yangtze? Ron

Eric, The English have a great one vowel word: "naff." This is not quite the same meaning as your use of the word "stupid" - but reasonably close. Perhaps the closest colloquial expression is "lame." Nice work on your Perry BTW; not stupid, lame nor naff. Ron

A change of mind on Camilla's Foc'sle deck details...namely, "super detailing" the belfry. NO black paint here. The "enhanced belfry" assembled, modified and mounted in position on the foc'sle deck. A closeup; the black bar will get a length of rope so the bell can be rung from the gun deck. Tweezers shown for scale. The kit's basic pieces that comprise this delicate item are fine, however, this little jewel still screamed out to me to be "Superdetailed." I replaced the thin cleats with two beefier ones (at the base of the assembly). An extension bar was added so a rope can be attached to the bell's support yoke (a tiny brass eyelet shown in front forms the bar for attaching the rope). Incised marks were carefully cut into the yoke's ends (it has to swing on a fore/aft axis in order for the bell to ring!). Tiny alignment holes in the layered, laser-engraved capping on both sides were filled and then stained. I also "darkened" some areas with a chestnut stain to highlight carved details like the marks to either side of the bell's yoke. A set of starboard belaying rails have been mounted alongside the belfry. To me, these small items look especially good in natural wood finish after I bevel-detailed the three post heads. I'll add a complementary set of rails to complete the port side. I can't recall where I bought these very small brass eyelets; if I remember I'll post the source later. I use these eyelets in several instances that demand very small hardware. In addition to forming the extension bar for the belfry, I'll use these eyelets on the tompions for the ship's cannon. When I begin rigging, I may add a few in strategic spots in addition to the P/E that's provided in the fittings that came with the kit. These brass eyelets blacken nicely and of course, can also be painted.

I'm also not a fan of vast expanses of white paint applied to hull planking, even considering it is likely a historically accurate representation for this era. Tinting white paint to a more yellowish, tallow-looking color is still jarring to the eye. Your hull planking job is very attractive, should be displayed IMHO- and most important, viewed "au natural." I'm curious to see how you handle the model's wales. Ron

I've been anxious to see what the delicate breast rail and fife rails will look like. The kit provides two complete sets of pear wood balustrades for the breast rail. I was able to shape these six supports without pinging one into the ether...still, it was comforting to know that if I'd bunged a couple, there were more at the ready. The kit includes many duplicate laser-etched pieces as spares. Fastening the lower and upper rails requires a light touch to get all pieces aligned. After gluing the balustrades while ensuring they were perfectly perpendicular to plumb and all aligned to the transverse on the beam, the top breast rail fit perfectly; I also used my thumb drill to align the hammock crane holes in all four pear patterns. The top rail is two laminated pattern pieces that required clamps to set correctly. Again, I used scrap pieces under the mini-alligators to keep from marring the smooth wood. The completed breast rail. This is one of a number of very attractive aspects of this model. The manual shows all the elements of this item painted in black. I chose to keep the upright balustrades as well as the top rail in natural pear which I have stained with Natural Minwax. The holes at the top hold the hammock cranes when they're installed later. A close-up of the breast rail. The delicate shape to the laser-etched 2mm thick balustrades was demanding; time-consuming and twitchy due to their small size and the delicate sections. I spent 3 hours fashioning these 6 pieces. I am pleased with the result, the time was worth it. Even Lord Cochrane thinks it's a good idea to hang out by Lady Camilla's fancy breast rail...😂... The basic belfry assembly at the foc'sle deck's edge. A cleverly-designed, and nicely detailed little thing, this is. I may paint it black as shown in the plans, but I'm not certain yet. I may keep it in natural pear after fixing the tiny alignment holes (at the top) with stainable filler. Also, the cleats (lower portion) will be replaced with extras from thicker stock. There will be rigging lines attached to these cleats and I want them sturdier than the thin ones shown here. The belfry supports I will likely paint black regardless of my decision on the finish for the belfry. Vanguard Models includes nice"surprise" goodies with their kits - like this useful coaster that supports a Peroni beer every once in a while...🤪 A previous photo that shows the nicely-molded scale figure of Lord Cochrane came with an earlier kit I purchased from Vanguard. I also received a paperback novel in another kit (the story of Captain Cochrane). Nice perks, Chris (Watton)...much appreciated. Ron

You are welcome, Bob - I'm pleased that you found my techniques helpful. Ron

I also get my silkspan from SIG, although I have also bought some from Bluejacket Shipcrafters in the past. I've ordered different weights from SIG, but have mainly worked with the lightest weight material. I'm not surprised SIG's inventory is on a slow boat. I believe it's manufactured in Japan, but it's possible that the latest manufacturing has shifted to China. I like your treatment showing a partially furled sail, great job! Ron

Thanks again, Mike. My "frieze" (shown in the previous pic) was, in fact, the P/E that came with the Pegasus kit; I turned all the bulwarks and quarter gallery pieces into "wood carvings" using my matte acrylic build-up and paint/wash technique - after I attempted to paint a decorative, flowing acanthus with various objects (fruit, cherubs, little creatures, drapes...you get the idea) at this small scale; it didn't look great and it was painstaking to accomplish. I tossed my mediocre-looking paper strip that would have been applied to the upper bulwarks area (only - not the q'galleries). If I build a model at 1:48, frieze painting might work better for me. I may - or may not - ever find out since 1:64 is my preferred build "zone." Thanks for the reference to the Russian site...however, I was warned off in three different browsers that it could be hacked. Russia, With Love. They have so much to give and show us, these Russian masters - including internet pandemic digital diseases. Sorry. There are only a couple Russian sites I trust and this one didn't make my "safe" list. Thanks anyway. You should be aware of www.craftysailor.com (Canada). Igor, the owner, is a friendly reseller of excellent, untainted Russian goodies - like Falkonet and Master Korabel; Both Russian companies that are basically endorsed by Chris Watton and Jim Hatch. My Tiger (Vanguard's Alert kit) also has a minimal amount of P/E decorations on the aft bulwarks that I turned into carvings. Here's a pic of the effect. Ron

Mike, Thanks. Gilding wax, something I've never heard of! Perhaps, I possibly could have used some of that on my granddaughter's doll house! I actually "coppered" portions of the Victorian Mansard roofs - wait for it - with copper foil. Harry Potter wands. Kool. They'll treasure those wands forever I'll bet! If you do use the gilding wax on a build, I'd like to see the effect, the outcome. Modelers here have also added "weathering metallic" to the black resin cannon of their HMS Sphinx builds to impart a more metallic look; it does render a nice, realistic look to the metal cannon but I'm of a different mind about this: I prefer the dull, flat, nasty black iron appearance of the Vanguard cast resin cannon. The gesso build-up I employ on flat P/E (or on some of the stacked decorative pieces) helps immensely to better depict wood carving. It's another step to add to the multi-step painting/finishing process but I think it is worth the effort. Here's a pic showing how I used this "fake wood" technique on my HMS Swan (nee' Pegasus) model. Best to you - and your family - on this Thanksgiving Eve! Ron

Bob, thank you. I haven't demonstrated my technique on a Build Log here, however I did an in-person demo a couple years ago at the annual Joint Clubs Northeast Ship Modeler's Show. Here is a link to a video that was made of my demo: https://www.philadelphiashipmodelsociety.com/presentations/ I've basically created an amalgam of various techniques of others plus a couple new processes that I conceived. There aren't that many different ways to create realistic-looking set sails; virtually all typically involve making them from either paper or the material, silkspan - or both (in my case). Creating set sails was a challenge that I set myself to somehow solve and come up with ways to make sails look like they're actually working: e.g.; "blowing (billowing) in the wind" so-to-speak. The photo here shows me doing a little maintenance on a nave model I built for a church in New York: my model, HMS Godspeed, is a four-masted schooner with 17 sails if I recall. These sails had only a slight set to them as all the sails are lateen, fore-to-aft rigged typical of these ships. It was after this build that I experimented and figured out how to make set sails on square-rigged ships look like they were doing the work! Ron

Progress on the Q'deck. A balustrade on the q'deck, shaped and mounted (finger for scale). It is upright, parallel to the vertical, not cocked; my camera was at a slight angle. There are six of these little guys. The first one took me about 30 minutes to shape the lasered pearwood pattern. Five more to go! Better "upright" view of a balustrade. The manual says to paint them black. I'll likely leave them in stained natural wood if they all turn out this nicely after shaping. The natural wood tone will emphasize the shapes of these delicate pieces; black paint would partly disguise their attractiveness. This one of my favorite parts of a build for ships of this era. Art and design mattered to the craftsman and the officers alike, nearly as much as speed and firepower of these hunter-seekers. The tools I use to shape the delicate pear pieces. Gentle curves and squared-off angles: diamonds (and patience) can be a ship modeler's best friend. Take your time with these little guys; they will be quite prominent when completed, whether black or natural. A work-in-progress midships view. Eyebolts and cleats mounted along the q'deck bulwarks. I'm contemplating a couple critical decisions now: whether to add a slightly darker stain to the quarterdeck and whether or not to stick with my original plan to build-up the bulwarks on the quarterdeck so that Camilla can carry four additional, new-fangled carronades. The thin fife rails along the entire length of the quarterdeck are very appealing to my eye. I've tested "the look" of the delicate woodworking pieces and studied the temporarily placed timberheads against the overall lines of the hull; I'm now less inclined to add these carronade "upgrades" to her. NOTE: the P/E hammock cranes along the q'deck bulwarks are NOT SHOWN in the manual prototype build - but shown prominently on the plans). Decisions, decisions. My same technique for gluing the sweeping quarterdeck gunwales to the bulwarks: nails and clamps exerting downward force so the gunwales are evenly attached along the entire length of the pear wood pattern- on both sides. Post gluing (white glue BTW), the nails are removed. The nails were inserted into drilled holes, unlike the foc'sle gunwales patterns that have lasered holes for these temporary positioning pins. Doesn't matter: the little mounting holes will be filled with stainable filler, sanded and then painted flat black. The capstan and a q'deck look-in. The manual calls for painting both capstans in red (to match the interior bulwarks). I prefer a natural look to all these components. I retained the red as a minimal contrast to the interior and the thin "line" on the exterior bulwark sweep. Like gold paint, less is more. The brass pins on the capstan's cam locks will be painted black., the über-delicate pear wood ladder will be stained natural. As I've noted previously, I paint, stain, and finish as I build. Don't forget to "break" all the sharp edges of the lasered pear, like the capstan drum head components, the coamings and grates. The stern transom support: the Q'deck- to - bulwark/gunwale connection. This piece is tricky to get right as it needs a reverse, double sanded angle to fit correctly. The clamp is holding the gunwale firmly in-place as the glue dries. The brass nail had a positioning hole drilled into the wood to secure the gunwale after glue was applied. All this to prevent this piece from rising-up and having visible gaps. Speaking of which: the tiny gap between the bulwarks finishing strip and the deck I can live with. It's about .002-003 under this magnification. Despite this minor annoyance, the tolerances with many of the components of this kit are impressive. The leading timberheads at the Quarterdeck. The thin edges will get painted black with a smaller brush better suited for this task than the one I used to get the black on the larger surfaces. DON'T FORGET TO GIVE CHARACTERISTIC SHAPE TO THESE four pear wood pieces; all the "heads" along the gunwales require precise shaping to render an accurate depiction of these utilitarian posts. Another close-up of the transom area. In keeping with my visual preferences, there is no red paint here. Because my one-piece quarterdeck pattern didn't fit flush to the angled transom, there was a small gap (noted in the previous post). I added two pieces of 1mm square section of pear to either side of the ensign mounting base at the deck. Looks fine, like it belongs.😉

Thank You druxey, what a good suggestion. Your fix would certainly make this area present better. Should I end up scratching the entire top rail, I can likely fashion a small transition piece to make the cathead support and ekeing rail a better fit. It's occurred to me more than once that ship modeler's of 18th century frigates need to develop a unique vocabulary all our own; it's a good thing we both speak English! Ron

A few progress photos for today with helpful descriptions hopefully! Dos Oros Liquidos. I decided to use two slightly different shades of "gold" on Camilla's P/E decorations. I believe this helps to add a little more visual interest to these pieces. Still in the category of "less is more" for my build. Vallejo offers several "metallic" paints and they are not inexpensive...however, they have no equal in my experience, other than applying gold leafing! A delicate repair job. A tiny piece of the upper rail that joins the bulwarks at the foc'sle broke off; I have no idea how this happened with my obsession to make these curvy gems a special feature of my build. Oh well...I snipped a piece of pear from some scrap and carefully glued it with white glue and then sanded it. I was envisioning a little "divot" showing-up - a gap when I am ready to paint all the gunwales black. In this case, a "divot" (and not a "davit") is not desirable. Drilling-down again. Don't forget to drill-out the numerous lasered square holes along the edges of the quarterdeck pattern, immediately adjacent to the built-up bulwarks. These will receive eyebolts for various rigging lines and trying to get into this area after the entire q'deck is completed will be a challenge better resolved sooner than later. The long, thin (.06mm pear) finishing pieces fit extremely well along the edges that meet the q'deck; be aware that it's very easy to swap the two sides and you'll hide the small engraving the defines the rigging pulleys on both sides of the q'deck. My Quarterdeck pattern came-up a little short of a snug fit to the transom's interior boarding. I'll add a small strip of .6mm boxwood to hide this tiny, yet very visible gap. The transom knees, various cleats and the ensign supports haven't been mounted yet, but I still think a gap here would be unacceptable. I maintain a supply of "small section" hardwoods (pear and boxwood, 1mm strip and smaller) for fixing problems like this one where my joinery has been less than perfect. Pthalo Blue acrylic paint to be applied to the area where I removed a portion of the ill-fitting rail pieces that fall under the cathead supports. Both sweeping top rails are in-place but I'm going to stain them in a darker oak color to better match their surrounding elements of darker pear. The various lasered wood pieces in this kit match-up very well generally - except in this instance. This kit's laminated rail piece is a clever build-up to this difficult part of the model's headworks. This is one of the most difficult areas to execute well - whether scratch or kit provided - but here as you can see, the mismatch in the wood color stands out like a sore thumb if not toned-down in appearance. The shape and the build-up design is fine, but not the resulting coloration. This may not be the case with other's kits where the differences in the lasered pear stock may not be so evident. If, after I stain the top rails a darker tone to compensate for this visual disparity and it still doesn't look right to me, I'll scratch pear replacements using the kit's "spare" pattern as a template. Ron

I've used the lightest weight silkspan for my sails as I laminate two layers of silkspan to both sides of normal office bond paper; this technique I use for set sails only, not furled. Even with the three layers, this still allows nice translucency which I believe is important. This also emphasizes the various tablings and linings of large sails with ambient lighting of all kinds. Another benefit of the thinnest silkspan is that after it's glued to the bond paper (diluted white glue) it "shrivels" slightly as it dries; this imparts a nice fabric texture that subtly simulates canvas. Photo example is attached. This is a close-up of my HMS Swan, rigged and sails fashioned with guidance from druxey's Swan Class, Vol IV book. Never tried this, but it makes perfect sense to me! Ron

Back at the bench. A week of distractions. Here are some photos of progress in several areas of my build. All these show critical detail work. Introducing Lady Camilla, a Sphinx if ever I saw one. I'm following my philosophy with Vallejo Liquid Gold paint: less is more. The resin cast figurehead is a beautiful thing, ready to mount (more or less- I had to do some minor filing to get the fit to the stem). Camilla is indeed a Satyresque being and thus, her brown, furry, feral body. But she does have golden wings! - and a human head and protruding human breasts which I suspect my painting details will get a few snickers here by the "guys." The dangling headworks rail is only temporary; there's an ugly gap at the forward support which I think I'll fix with some flat black paint post-gluing. Gangway pattern "tweaked." After aligning the mid-ship gunwale in its optimum position, and then placing the starboard gangway tight against it, I needed to remove a tiny sliver of where the gangway met the multi-stacked volute detail. The gunwale is temporarily aligned with a small nail. This view is looking toward the prow, the foc'sle deck pattern. The five layers that comprise the volute are quite evident and again, the gunwales will be painted black along the entire model. This volute has been carefully sanded and filed and will look good when all is completed. ANOTHER REMINDER FOR ALL WHO ARE BUILDING THIS MODEL: the tolerances are quite tight nearly everywhere throughout this build. I recommend dry-fitting every wooden component. In this photo, to make everything fit nicely, I had to do the complete opposite of what is instructed in the manual by retaining the full width of the gangway and relieving the areas where it meets the forward and aft volutes on both sides; it also varied slightly with the port gangway fit. I suspect others might not face this change, but it does illustrate (at least with my execution) how critical the tolerances are to this overall design. A Good Thing- but demanding an extra dose of patience - and careful sanding!..🤪 The gangway at the starboard quarterdeck: a slight sanded "relief" to mate the parts; the last gangway support (not seen, below the wide portion where it meets the beam) is a little high and I'll alter it to lower the position of the gangway when I mount it. There are additional parts to add in this area, a "step" of sorts and this needs to fit properly as it will be very visible when completed. Once again, note the five layers that comprise the aft volute. The fit requires precise fitting of all the layers to look right. Be careful on these wonderful decorative details; it's tempting to file and sand too much and destroy these delicate embellishments. Problem areas; my fixes include some post-gluing paint, (on the left) and removing a little of the odd curved piece just below the cathead support. I haven't stained the pear support (nor the curved upper piece temporarily in position - forgot its name!) yet which will better match the surrounding details when completed. The magnification here is another reminder that attending to the minor details does matter. Scary, but necessary IMHO! Glue time for the quarterdeck pattern. The only way that I could think of to get a tight fit to the multiple curved beams and a full alignment front-to-rear, was to temporarily place the bulwarks build-up pieces against the sides and clamp them down against the deck. Same for the alligator clips on the front beam (with anti-marring scraps). The temporary mizzen mast also has a clamp that's pressing down the middle of the pattern which wants to rise up. Even with all this, I found myself holding and pressing the pattern with my fingers. I did apply white glue across every beam (there are many as we know), especially at the outer ends that meet the bulwarks on both sides. The aft end of the deck pattern needs to fit tightly against the thin plywood support and flush against the inner transom. Phew! After overnight drying, everything seems to have worked well. No buckling or huge gaps AFTER Removing the temporarily placed, bulwarks build-up pieces. They're next to mount- three per side. These all do align nicely and will require only minor tweaking (a small gap to fill) but a single long pear piece (.6mm) - watch for the engraved side only evident at the brace bulwarks pulley ! - will cover the gap. Another glue view. Get those clamps ready. Careful where you place them. I did knock-off one channel support in error, but it was easily re-attached. As Salt n' Pepa sang in the 80's: "Push it. Push It Real Good!" Ahhhh, yes. My continuing obsession with these volutes. Doesn't this detail look good? Just wait 'til it's painted and forms a continuous sinewy, snake-like undulation along the length of her entire svelte body... there will be a lowering of the gangway support here too as well as getting the final pear interior bulwark of the quarterdeck to more precisely meet-up with the volute. Arrow indicates where I'll sand the deck clamp (it got too elevated here) so it drops the gangway into a better, slightly lower position. This gluing task was fun (not); the toothpick performed an essential job to hold the thick (2mm) pear build-up volute piece in position as it dried. After dry-fitting this area it became immediately apparent that I had to mount the volute pieces out-of-order from the instructions. This area can easily be messed-up if you don't double-check all your fits before moving ahead. You'll also note I foreshortened one of the gangway supports (that won't be viewed by anyone unless they break their neck peeking), so I wouldn't need to wrestle the angle of the gangway when It comes time to glue it in-place. That's my story, and I'm sticking.... Ron