druxey

Pat, it's so good to see you back working on Victoria. I'm really looking forward to this part of your build. 

Doesn't look like luck to me.  Very high skill required to get the results I see.  Superb work, Pat.

Good to see here more progress indeed 👍🏻
 
These roller filing guides are useful implements. They used to be standard items on watchmakers lathes.

Good to see you back at it, Patrick!
 
John

Hi again folks, back at the bench having caught up with the chores, and finding a temporary solution for the 'old fella' shakes - Beta Blockers.  These have a limited effect but enough to allow me to do a few things.
 
I have started back on the masts and their furniture.  The following shows me making the second of the top masts (still have the mizen to go).  These are a combined stick or pole mast where the top, top gallant and royal masts are all in one.  I cheat and turn these up in the lathe, using files and sanding sticks.  I support where the various steps (shoulders) are cut to delineate the masts with a 'jack'.  Not visible is a shallow 'v' groove but I cannot put much pressure on this as the mast is tapered and therefore not fully supported across the saddle - I really need to make a small saddle piece for this jack.

 
The other photos show my approach for filing the flats on each side of the tapered lower mast in which the hounds/cheeks (iron) sit.  The process is to gently hold the mast in the jaws of my indexing head (for a Sherline mill), then line up the end of the inset/flat with the end guide of my filing guide.  Adjusting the height is very finicky but I got there, and now that it is set-up I can do both flats exactly to the same depth, length and 180 opposed.  It took a while for me to sort how I was going to do this, but this worked.  One learning point though is that I will need to better protect the mast in the jaws.  I ended up with a very small mark but nothing significant.  The hardened rollers allow me to get an even flat surface to the depth set (manually) while the roller lugs act as an end stop.  Even though manually adjusted I lucked out and got it about right.
 
Now that the flats are done, I can determine the exact width the trestle trees need to be apart so that I can build a jig to solder them to the formed rim part (fore crosstree plus rim).  I will show that soon.  The brass (photoetched) hounds were designed with the trestle tree attached (with a fold line) which I have done.  This is a test piece which has not been cleaned up yet.  I will also drill out the bolt holes and use simulated bolt heads and nuts in a staggered/alternating pattern when fitting to the mast.  the idea of the flats was to ensure the hounds (cheeks) and trestletree remained perpendicular to the mast centerline axis rather than sloping inwards.  The fore-and-aft angle will also need to be adjusted to ensure the trestle trees remain parallel with the deck/waterline when fitted.
 
cheers 
 
Pat
     
 
 

I'm thoroughly enjoying watching your progress on this model, Baker.

Thank You...
 
With the catheads completed I could finish some inboard details at the bow in preparation for fitting the bulwarks with the pissdale and other stuff.
 
In this photo you can see the the waterway was added around the perimeter of the fcastle deck.  It was done exactly like the other decks.  
 
Then I I added the final breast hook at the bow.  This was done just like the others on the deck below it.  It was laser cut in two pieces.  I made sure to bevel the inside edge so I got a tight fit against the bulwarks and stem.  I added nine bolts that stood proud using 30lb black fishing line.   Then it was painted red.
 

 
Lastly,  I added the thin an delicate molding strip on the inboard bulwarks.   If this is made too heavy it would just look bad.  So I made sure it was very thin and not too wide.  Its a nice feature on the model actually.  You guys wont have to worry about scraping the fancy profile into a strip of wood.  I laser cut these for you with the profile.  But I didnt use wood.  I laser cut them from very thin syre-nite acrylic.  This stuff is awesome really.  It is very, very flexible.  And we will need it to be, which is why I chose to use it.  It bends so nicely without breaking.   We will need that flexibility when it has to go around the top edge of the pissdales which are up next.   I would just recommend that you round off the top edge to make it look like a nice fancy molding strip.  Just be careful and use a fine 400 grit sandpaper.  Its beige to match the wood color but I could have actually laser cut them in red.  But for those of you who want to go natural without paint I am using the stuff that looks like boxwood.  The same stuff I used for the stern lights etc.   So you must paint it red before you glue it on the hull.  
 
It runs from the aft side of the cat tail and along the sheer in the waist.  It continues all the way back to the poop bulkhead.  
 

You really must try and keep a nice run with this molding.  It should be a graceful run from bow to stern without any dips or waviness.  Follow the run of your inboard planking.  the top of the molding is flush with the top of the cap rail along the waist.
 

Mark - 
 
I don't believe that I will ever build such a large, complicated ship in the years remaining to me.  But your explanations have been fascinating and your drawings and illustrations have been brilliant.
 
Thanks for a diverting, engaging, and educational build log.
 
Dan

Late to this discussion, but it triggers memories of many years ago when I was building Polyphemus, 64 guns of 1782. I also had a time puzzling out this geometry - particularly the jog aft at quarter deck level. This is not immediately apparent in the sheer plan. It looks like "By George, he's got it!"

I think so, Chris. The tails come to a little above the knee. Check contemporary full-length paintings.
 
 

Also, the length of the tailcoat?

John's advice is right on the mark. One of the great things about model building is that one is always learning and figuring out new or better ways to do things. 

A damp brush gets nicely into corners to remove dust.

Late to this discussion, but it triggers memories of many years ago when I was building Polyphemus, 64 guns of 1782. I also had a time puzzling out this geometry - particularly the jog aft at quarter deck level. This is not immediately apparent in the sheer plan. It looks like "By George, he's got it!"

John's advice is right on the mark. One of the great things about model building is that one is always learning and figuring out new or better ways to do things. 

I think so, Chris. The tails come to a little above the knee. Check contemporary full-length paintings.
 
 

Also, the length of the tailcoat?

I think so, Chris. The tails come to a little above the knee. Check contemporary full-length paintings.
 
 

Also, the length of the tailcoat?

John's advice is right on the mark. One of the great things about model building is that one is always learning and figuring out new or better ways to do things. 

Also, the length of the tailcoat?

Now for some analysis of geometry and construction. 
 
Fifteen years ago, I built the stern frame based on my observation of the first Bellona model, and the Admiralty drawings. I did not understand what I was building at the time, I just followed what I saw. And now I understand as I get into the details.
 
In the model, you can see a couple of strange things. first, the tops of counter timbers with the dovetail joints stand proud of the horizontal transom tying them together. This leaves a gap of about 2". I now realize that these gaps provide a space for the bank of sash windows to slide up into. It means that the windows can be opened at the bottom by about 9"; not a lot, but better than no opening!
 
Second, the side counter timbers, effectively the end of the hull frame, project out from the bottom of the balcony upwards. that is, the bank of windows are recessed back relative to the balcony, creating a shadow line between the upper and lower parts of the stern. There is no functional reason I can see here; it is a visual trick to emphasize the sweeping serpentine curve of the balcony from one side of the composition to the other.

That creates some complication in how this is constructed. The green line shows the aft most edge of the side counter timbers, or hull. There is one moulding along the tops of the window bank, just under the balcony, in red below. Another moulding runs along the base of the balcony, in orange below.
 

 
when the balcony swings out from the stern, the two mouldings split from each other:
 

The next item I did not fully appreciate until I started constructing the stern is how its design needs to reconcile  two geometries working against each other; the upper sweep of the sheer, and the flatter sweep up of the decks (red lines below). The conflict shows a little where the gun ports cut into the sheer in odd places.

But at the stern they really need to be resolved. One of the most important, I discovered, is that the moulding at the tops of the windows must align with the sheer of the deck at its upper edge (orange line below), since it sits flush under the deck itself; but its lower edge must conform to the sheer of the hull (dotted red line below), since it turns the corner and runs along the side of the quarter galleries that align with the hull's sheer.
 

And then one more thing about the stern. In 2014, ten years ago, I posted a question about the stern geometry (posting #173). I noticed a discrepancy in the drawings relative to the roundup of the quarterdeck. If I continued the deck aft with its normal roundup, it was a couple of inches lower than the deck as it was shown coming out into the balcony. There was a lot of discussion around posting 173 as to whether this was a mistake in the drawing, or something else. I finally found in Steel that the quarterdeck does indeed increase its roundup as it approaches the stern balcony, to give a lighter, more springy feeling to the visual lines of the stern. So the drawing is correct, and this needs to be accounted for:
 
 

So, construction next!
 
Mark
 

Don't despair about your perceived mistakes.  You'll find better ways to do things on your future ship models.  This is a hobby after all. We build ship models, or models in general, for enjoyment.  You did a good job on your hull planking by the way.  Mistakes can always be fixed.

Occre San Juan, it's a first attempt and mistakes have been made!

I'm not too sure about the rear view of the standing figure, there seems to be an unnatural look to the upper body, and the coat looks odd without tail vents, as per the sitting figure.
 
B.E.