Back in the mid-1980s, I wrote the Maritime Museum, and they eventually provided a set of plans for the HMS Roebuck (lead ship of the class from which Serapis was built). Being a young LT in the US Navy, recently married and two kids emerging on the scene, the Scratch Build proceeded extremely SLOW! It started on Ford Island, in Hawaii, followed us to Machrihanish Scotland, San Diego CA, Manama Bahrain, Monterey CA, and finally Denver CO (where I retired and finished the project)!!! I don't have much documentation of the first 25 years of the build but I'll provide a short photo montage of the last decade, with comments when needed.
This is how she looked after 25 years...the main gun deck beams, grating and decking. I used alder for everything and several shades of WATCO wood oil to "paint" the model and accent different aspects. Eventually, when I got to the carvings, I used Pearwood.
In 2021, I had built the stern up according to the Roebuck plans, with two levels of windows (from my understanding, they only shed light on one deck but were supposed to simulate/deceive others into thinking it was a larger ship). See photo below.
Around this time, I discovered there is debate on whether the Serapis actually was built with the two layers of false windows. I also discovered there were plans for the Serapis 1782 from the NMM. Instead of 3 months snail mail, I ordered these plans online and received them in 2 weeks!! Since the argument has never (to my knowledge) been definitively answered, I opted to redo the stern with one row of windows. I also found the carvings on the 1782 very helpful in deciding how to carve the stern decorations and figurehead. Here is the redo of the stern.
Finally, the Roebuck plans and 1782 stern plans side by side.
