Jaager

It is not necessarily an  either-or situation.   Do a final shaping on the outside of the solid hull.  Fix it to a base upside down and use it as a mould for planking.  Study the planking run using serious sources. I don't think the serious up curve at each end is what it appears to be.  It is carving in large chunks of wood I think - not my area.

A license and inspection is not needed for home built furniture, but if you use a simple plate glass and some sort of accident happens and the glass breaks into obsidian sharp spear points you might wish that you had been required to use a tempered glass that shatters into harmless balls. 

Lee Valley sells small packages of 3 shades of shellac flakes
The dark amber looks pretty garnet-like to me -  I plan to try it on Maple.
https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/supplies/finishing/finishes/76311-shellacs?item=56Z4028

Tung oil will go over a shellac base, so you have burned no bridges.
If you do not wish to wait for pure Tung oil to polymerize naturally
Sutherland Wells offers a variety of already partially polymerized Tung oil - and now they have 4 oz sample sizes that will not break the bank.
https://www.sutherlandwelles.com/original.html

The raw dark shellac has a wax component.  The wax increases solubility in ethanol.
The more refined the shellac, the more wax is removed.
There is a shellac that is one step more refined than super blonde,  super blonde is pretty refined.
I think amber is close to saturated at 4 lb cut
I think super blonde is about saturated at 2 lb cut,
1 lb cut is a good concentration if you have the patience.
 
If you round 
1 gal = ~ 4000ml
1 lb =  ~ 500g
500/4000 = 12.5%    10% is easy to make if you get a 100 ml graduated cylinder  and Amazon has electronic scales for~$15
so small batches are easy to make.  I like round numbers 10% 20% .....
 

My bias
1st - prime with 50% diluted super blonde shellac.  Most anything is compatible over it.
Pre 20th C sail, - matte
For your glue 1st or finish first - consider protecting the bond area foot print with high quality painters tape, cut JUSST shy of its full outline, and finish, remove tape, glue.
I am giving Sutherland Welles polymerized Tung oil a close look.
Otherwise, several 100% shellac - rag app  or pure Tung oil - rag app.
Renaissance Wax as a final.
About the only way to protect against dust - a case.
Pay attention to ventilation of the case, having it be an oven would not be good.

There is a problem - an unavoidable barrier - with any kit supplied sails.  The numbers are huge against any materiel that a kit manufacturer can afford to supply being anywhere close to the canvas being in scale. 
If this is important to you,  but you wish to display sails - a fabric like paper - SilkSpan for example - will get you much closer to realistic.  This is a scratch project - but one requiring almost no additional expenditure on tools.  Being paper,  you can practice and discard as much as is needed.  Instructions abound here and in a SeaWatch publication.
This means that the presence or absence of sails should be a non-factor in your choice of kit.
A cost is that each sail comes with its own additional set of lines to mount and run.  It makes rigging significantly more in factors of time and complexity.
 
Galleons - race galleons - were a lot more popular in the early days of ship modeling.  The second hand books with these 1920's 30's 40's adventures could be fun to explore for things to do with the kit. 
and this book:    THE GALLEON   PETER KIRSCH  US NAVAL INSTITUTE PRESS  ANNAPOLIS, MD  1990
is excellent - if you can find it.

A license and inspection is not needed for home built furniture, but if you use a simple plate glass and some sort of accident happens and the glass breaks into obsidian sharp spear points you might wish that you had been required to use a tempered glass that shatters into harmless balls. 

LED version of fluorescent 4' light  - evenly spaced.
Cover the bottom and sides of the box with aluminum foil - heavy duty probably plays nicer - 3M spray adhesive might work to bond it
 Suspended above the LED's  =
 
Kyped from Home Depot  $16 each:
 
OPTIX
23.75 in. x 47.75 in. White Acrylic Light Panel
Acrylic lighting panels offer good light transmission
Prismatic surface helps diffuse light from a fluorescent bulb
Lightweight structure makes it easy to place and move
Acrylic lighting panels are an economical, lightweight and easy to use solution for all your fluorescent lighting cover needs. Standard sizes fit most drop-in ceiling systems as well as many standard fluorescent lighting fixtures. They can be cut fairly easily using standard handheld plastic sheet cutters to fit custom lighting fixtures. Available in multiple finishes and colors, these panels are ready for use in a variety of both commercial and residential locations including kitchen and bath fixtures, basements, office buildings, schools, garages and recreation rooms. Soften any fluorescent light fixture to create a professional looking presentation today with these acrylic light panel covers.
    Made of white, non-yellowing acrylic
    Commercial-grade suspended-ceiling light panel
    Approximately 8 sq. ft. coverage area per piece
    Prismatic surface disperses light evenly
 
Working surface should probably be tempered glass

Glass Tops Direct.
48" x 96" Rectangle Glass Top 1/2" Thick - 1" Bevel Edge With 1" Radius Corners
Save 50% Original price $1,689.90
Current price $844.95
 
 

A license and inspection is not needed for home built furniture, but if you use a simple plate glass and some sort of accident happens and the glass breaks into obsidian sharp spear points you might wish that you had been required to use a tempered glass that shatters into harmless balls. 

A license and inspection is not needed for home built furniture, but if you use a simple plate glass and some sort of accident happens and the glass breaks into obsidian sharp spear points you might wish that you had been required to use a tempered glass that shatters into harmless balls. 

No miscommunication.  I just took the opportunity for a riff.   After we got our hands waked for venturing out our area....  Your interpretation looks accurate to me.  And you certainly have enough experience to essay as much of the structural fine points as you can tolerate.  You know what is involved.  It is a cost-benefit situation.  I am thinking that by sticking to only the necessary, two and maybe three ships could be built for the time and effort required by a fully detailed model.  But what do I know?  I am still stuck in my framing rut.
It has been a while, but I was channeling the occasional tyro who bangs in with too much enthusiasm and a mistaken certainty that a fully detailed first rate from scratch is not really a problem and manageable. 

Allan,
 
Touching base, but I have nothing to offer on this point.
I do have one "wonder" about this sort of detail on a design plan.
I have the impression that prior to Anson's control of shipbuilding,  that the individual masters at each yard were very protective of their "prerogatives".  Allin's exercise of this lead to a disastrous  result for Victory 1737.  Would they pay any attention to construction detail like scarphs ?
 
 
Since we do not have a seminar room for scratch builders,  jumping on any opportunity for general discourse seems worthwhile.
 
 
I am a bit of heretic on this sort of detail. 
I am purely superficial about otherwise hidden detail. 
I prefer fully planked decks, so I opt for simple one piece beams - since they are hidden. This saves on carlings, ledges, and all sort of knees.
 
I know that many of the contemporary English shipyard models feature minimally planked decks.  No definitive information would be added by speculating on the reasons behind it, but after years of observation, my determination is that once I have seen one, I have seen enough.  Too busy and unfinished looking for my eye.
 
I do not intend to be negative about this, I am suggesting that rather than mechanically following a formula for an acceptable look, take a wide angle view and determine what sort of final look will fit your esthetic.  I wonder just how many derelict scratch build logs would have reached finished status if the author had not become overwhelmed by the complex internal detail?  A shallow and superficial epidermis only works just as well for everyone but the cognoscenti.
 
To offer a comment about decks that I did not see commented on, since I am suggesting fully planking the decks:
A recent photo of the deck of Tennessee showed the deck.  Tennessee was a later era and another country, but I saw no evidence of any trunnels - plus I saw no butts on any of the strakes.  To my eye, the deck was clear of any of the faddish detail distractions so popular now.
 
Dean
 

It is not necessarily an  either-or situation.   Do a final shaping on the outside of the solid hull.  Fix it to a base upside down and use it as a mould for planking.  Study the planking run using serious sources. I don't think the serious up curve at each end is what it appears to be.  It is carving in large chunks of wood I think - not my area.

It is not necessarily an  either-or situation.   Do a final shaping on the outside of the solid hull.  Fix it to a base upside down and use it as a mould for planking.  Study the planking run using serious sources. I don't think the serious up curve at each end is what it appears to be.  It is carving in large chunks of wood I think - not my area.

It is not necessarily an  either-or situation.   Do a final shaping on the outside of the solid hull.  Fix it to a base upside down and use it as a mould for planking.  Study the planking run using serious sources. I don't think the serious up curve at each end is what it appears to be.  It is carving in large chunks of wood I think - not my area.

I was able to source some Holly that was on the hoof.  In order to defeat the competing Blue Mold invasion I immediately cut it into 1" billets and removed to bark, and sealed the ends with a thick coating of leftover latex house paint.
I purchased a 4' x 8' sheet of 1" foil faced house insulation foam. I cut it into 4 x 4' pieces to make the 4 sides of a box.  It does not need to be either strong or tight fitting.  I fit it into an open shelf in my garage.  The ends were made from the 2 x 2 x 1" project Styrofoam that Home Depot sells.   The foil was on the inside face.   A couple of ceramic surface mount light fixtures and a  200W and a 100W incandescent light bulb generated enough heat - often 200W was enough.  A surplus computer muffin fan on one end was sufficient to exhaust the heated humid air.  I had a digital - remember the highest temp thermometer - to make sure it did not get too hot.   I stickered the billets.  A probe moisture meter sufficient for our needs is not expensive.  3 months was more than enough time.  For a temp, I just guessed about a temp that was above what the mold could survive.  Too much heat and the wood may case harden instead of allowing the water in the middle of a billet to migrate out.  There is probably a Zen type factor in all this.
 
You may be able to stay ahead of the checking with your "Lilac" by using a similar setup.  It will still be a month or so before the sap starts rising, if you wish to try this year.  Washington state appears to have a significant Apple growing base.  You are maybe not too far north for there to be Apple trees?  Apple wood is King.  But the only real way to get it is to harvest your own.  The hot box might save you the best part of year in getting a dry supply to use.  
 
Not far south of you is a supplier of Pacific Madrone. (Portland).  The wood reads like it can easily substitute for Pear or Black Cherry.  It is a bear to season.  It requires a specialized kiln operation.  It is not a DIY species per my reading.  It also wants to be picked over in the yard to get the color and grain that is desired.  

LED version of fluorescent 4' light  - evenly spaced.
Cover the bottom and sides of the box with aluminum foil - heavy duty probably plays nicer - 3M spray adhesive might work to bond it
 Suspended above the LED's  =
 
Kyped from Home Depot  $16 each:
 
OPTIX
23.75 in. x 47.75 in. White Acrylic Light Panel
Acrylic lighting panels offer good light transmission
Prismatic surface helps diffuse light from a fluorescent bulb
Lightweight structure makes it easy to place and move
Acrylic lighting panels are an economical, lightweight and easy to use solution for all your fluorescent lighting cover needs. Standard sizes fit most drop-in ceiling systems as well as many standard fluorescent lighting fixtures. They can be cut fairly easily using standard handheld plastic sheet cutters to fit custom lighting fixtures. Available in multiple finishes and colors, these panels are ready for use in a variety of both commercial and residential locations including kitchen and bath fixtures, basements, office buildings, schools, garages and recreation rooms. Soften any fluorescent light fixture to create a professional looking presentation today with these acrylic light panel covers.
    Made of white, non-yellowing acrylic
    Commercial-grade suspended-ceiling light panel
    Approximately 8 sq. ft. coverage area per piece
    Prismatic surface disperses light evenly
 
Working surface should probably be tempered glass

Glass Tops Direct.
48" x 96" Rectangle Glass Top 1/2" Thick - 1" Bevel Edge With 1" Radius Corners
Save 50% Original price $1,689.90
Current price $844.95
 
 

Lee Valley sells small packages of 3 shades of shellac flakes
The dark amber looks pretty garnet-like to me -  I plan to try it on Maple.
https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/supplies/finishing/finishes/76311-shellacs?item=56Z4028

The raw dark shellac has a wax component.  The wax increases solubility in ethanol.
The more refined the shellac, the more wax is removed.
There is a shellac that is one step more refined than super blonde,  super blonde is pretty refined.
I think amber is close to saturated at 4 lb cut
I think super blonde is about saturated at 2 lb cut,
1 lb cut is a good concentration if you have the patience.
 
If you round 
1 gal = ~ 4000ml
1 lb =  ~ 500g
500/4000 = 12.5%    10% is easy to make if you get a 100 ml graduated cylinder  and Amazon has electronic scales for~$15
so small batches are easy to make.  I like round numbers 10% 20% .....
 

LED version of fluorescent 4' light  - evenly spaced.
Cover the bottom and sides of the box with aluminum foil - heavy duty probably plays nicer - 3M spray adhesive might work to bond it
 Suspended above the LED's  =
 
Kyped from Home Depot  $16 each:
 
OPTIX
23.75 in. x 47.75 in. White Acrylic Light Panel
Acrylic lighting panels offer good light transmission
Prismatic surface helps diffuse light from a fluorescent bulb
Lightweight structure makes it easy to place and move
Acrylic lighting panels are an economical, lightweight and easy to use solution for all your fluorescent lighting cover needs. Standard sizes fit most drop-in ceiling systems as well as many standard fluorescent lighting fixtures. They can be cut fairly easily using standard handheld plastic sheet cutters to fit custom lighting fixtures. Available in multiple finishes and colors, these panels are ready for use in a variety of both commercial and residential locations including kitchen and bath fixtures, basements, office buildings, schools, garages and recreation rooms. Soften any fluorescent light fixture to create a professional looking presentation today with these acrylic light panel covers.
    Made of white, non-yellowing acrylic
    Commercial-grade suspended-ceiling light panel
    Approximately 8 sq. ft. coverage area per piece
    Prismatic surface disperses light evenly
 
Working surface should probably be tempered glass

Glass Tops Direct.
48" x 96" Rectangle Glass Top 1/2" Thick - 1" Bevel Edge With 1" Radius Corners
Save 50% Original price $1,689.90
Current price $844.95
 
 

The raw dark shellac has a wax component.  The wax increases solubility in ethanol.
The more refined the shellac, the more wax is removed.
There is a shellac that is one step more refined than super blonde,  super blonde is pretty refined.
I think amber is close to saturated at 4 lb cut
I think super blonde is about saturated at 2 lb cut,
1 lb cut is a good concentration if you have the patience.
 
If you round 
1 gal = ~ 4000ml
1 lb =  ~ 500g
500/4000 = 12.5%    10% is easy to make if you get a 100 ml graduated cylinder  and Amazon has electronic scales for~$15
so small batches are easy to make.  I like round numbers 10% 20% .....
 

The raw dark shellac has a wax component.  The wax increases solubility in ethanol.
The more refined the shellac, the more wax is removed.
There is a shellac that is one step more refined than super blonde,  super blonde is pretty refined.
I think amber is close to saturated at 4 lb cut
I think super blonde is about saturated at 2 lb cut,
1 lb cut is a good concentration if you have the patience.
 
If you round 
1 gal = ~ 4000ml
1 lb =  ~ 500g
500/4000 = 12.5%    10% is easy to make if you get a 100 ml graduated cylinder  and Amazon has electronic scales for~$15
so small batches are easy to make.  I like round numbers 10% 20% .....
 

An excellent job so far  - on one of the more difficult ships to model.

Bob,
I have not read that one before,  but it seems to reflect the reality of the situation, if not the actual cause.  Buxus sempervirens seems to have been loved to death.
The imp on my shoulder  prods me to make a glib answer = for enough Buxus to provide frame timbers for a large scale multi deck vessel,  a Wayback machine is probably needed.
I recall reading that Harold Hahn had acquired a supply.  But he was mostly 1:96.   The strength is helpful in the miniature or semi-miniature scales, fur suure.