rybakov

Hello, and many thank for your kind comments and likes
 
today I build the wardroom lights. 

And I hope that they may fit. That will I see tomorrow

Part 12
The Case of the Case
 
In the latter part of October, 2022, I drew up plans for the display case that would protect Victory from dust, cats, and the few individuals that can't resist touching something. I did this "Old School", something I really enjoy, with drafting tools and a mechanical pencil on my drafting table. Dimentions of the base are 54 1/2" L  x 17 5/8" W x 3 1/2" T. The case frame for the plex is 53" L x 16" x 21" T. I chose Maple for the material and Minwax "Gunstock" for the stain.
 
I've built smaller cases before and a few furniture pieces. I estimated about a month to do this. Then the rains came through the Central Coast of California.
 
To be continued.

The cap rail installed on the gangway railing.
 
Druxey kindly pointed out to me that I had used New Times Bold type face for the VICTORY letters. This reqired a repainting of the counter, which I'm much happier with.
 
So, along comes a unexpected fun detail that adds so much. While fabricating the ensign fixture and staff I decided to make the ensign. I did this using Photoshop. Just adds an extra magesty to the ship.
 
One of the last extra finishing touches was I went over the hand cut balistrades airbrushed in gold leaf and with a small brush over painted, glazed burnt umber washes to give a 3D woven look that is seen in the 1765 model. Tedious but was all done in a day. 
 
Victory was now finished to where I wanted it to be my the end of October, 2022. She was now ready for a museum quality case.
 
Next in Part 12
The Case of the Case
 

Part 11 Road to completion
 
It has been a long, long road. After a two year break (October 2020 to October 2022) from painting to finish Victory. Here's the last few details.
 
Another one of those mini projects that was set aside was how to make rigols. Using 20 guage copper wire, anealed over the gas stove, I drilled holes in a wood block to install brass pins for shaping.  Small pieces of manela file folder stock were glued underneath and cut to shape useing an X-acto knife. Drilled holes in the hull to press fit the finished rigol. Bingo. Problem solved.
 
Next came the gangway rails. Photos explain.

Post One  hundred and nine
 
And more fettlin’
This seemed an opportune time to assemble the Catheads and open up the apertures.
Only the basic assembly at this stage, finishing will be done later.

2766

2769
The completed Catheads are 6mm square so a fair bit of filing is required to open up the bulwark location.
Flat and triangular needle files were used for the purpose.
The  triple  sheaves  are patterned  on the  catheads and require drilling thro’ if they are to be rigged.

2788
The line of the sheave is offset to counter the stive of the Cathead, so that the tackle hangs vertically.
A slight round to the faux sheaves improves the look.
 
Back to the stern
The decorative mouldings are now fitted around the stern and Qtr galleries.
The trick here is to ensure that the upper counter mouldings match up with those of the Qtr galleries and have a neat finish at the corners.
Failure to achieve this will certainly catch the eye and detract from the overall look of the model.
In working this area position of the model is everything to get the right viewing angle to secure the mouldings.

2772
For me raising the hull at the stern gives me the best approach.

2780
I start with the upper counter rail, followed by the corresponding Qtr gallery rail.

2774

2778
I thought about applying a mitre joint to the corners but opted for a straight butt joint which worked out ok once carefully sanded.
Atop the rails  a strip is added to create  a simple  profile.

2791

2793

2802
Fairly satisfied with the run of the rails, but for the present I’m moving onto the Headworks.
 
B.E.
19/11/2023
 

Hello,
these windows now are installed and I'm pleased with the result. For tomorrow there are some smaller things to do like repainting some parts, and then are the other windows to build. They are a little easier to build I hope.


JJ, it is't so hard to build the windows this way. I glued the battens to a 0,3 mm acrylic pane with acrylic thinner, solvent. After all has hardened and is fast, I saw and grind the outer battens to the right shape, so that they fit into the frame. At the next picture you see the steps. The brush is to get the thinner under the battens. Don't press too hard, only lightly so that you not press the thinner out and the wood flat at the underside. 

And this is the thinner, solvent I use.

 

Hello, and many thanks for all the likes.
The leaves from the trees kept me busy the last time, but today I found time to build the windows. When I looked at the picture, I think two at least I have to build new.  The frames are broader then I need them, so half of them I have to grind away.

Post One Hundred and Eight
 
Capping rails.
A little more progress but exceedingly slow.
I have now added the Capping rails for the waist, along the  gangways.

2761
The kit version which were a tad short were replaced with Boxwood versions.

2760
I lined up the inner edge with the Qtr deck and Foc’sle mouldings and shaved the outer edge back to the outer line.

2753
Poop rails were trimmed slightly at the aft end but otherwise fit without issue.

2754
The Qtr deck rails line up accurately, and are fitted as with all the cappings, with the inner edge flush to the bulwark.
 
The tricky ones are the Foc’sle cappings, but even so are not far off the Bow  Bulwark shape.

2750
As part of my modifications the rail continues to enclose the bow.

2749

2756
The Bowsprit slips below the rail and Bow Hook to tenon into the step on the deck below.

2751

2759

2758
The fettlin’ continues…..
 
B.E.
16/11/2023
 
 

Post One Hundred and seven
 
Gunport mouldings
The kit provides 3mm and 1mm Pearwood strip to make up the profile.
A simple affair with the 1mm strip providing the relief profile.
 
I had considered scribing my own profile, but long lengths are involved, which could prove tricky, and I thought that the kit ‘simple’ arrangement would probably look ok with the edges softened to remove the ‘blocky’ look.
 
The prime objective is to get a smooth even curve from gallery to stem following the sheer.
On my build I have used Boxwood strip for the makings, to match the Boxwood planking.

2718
A simple jig is used to assemble the two parts before sanding and shaping.

2722
The mouldings are in two sections each side, running from stern to port eight, at which point the sheer has levelled out, and then onto the bow.
 
Between the upper rails and the Main wale I am now able to tweak the line particularly at the bow and stern, to satisfy the eye.
As it turned out there wasn’t much of a ‘tweak’ required.
The upper line was then taped and the moulding glued below.
It is better to fit long sections to achieve a smooth curve, rather than fit short sections between the ports.

2725
I did further divide the forward strip into two sections for ease of fitting around the bow.
Ca was used to fix the moulding.

2729

2732

2733

2734

2737

2741

2748
Trimming around port openings is a time-consuming business, three days work to reach this point with more time required to clean up the surfaces.
The process also mars the surrounding areas, which I expected and will be rectified later.
 
B.E.
14/11/2023

Hello,
it is done! The window frames are ready at this deck. 

James A. Flood
 
By the mid-1600s, it was taken for granted that warships had to look awesome. Decorations were no longer being painted or tacked on, but were being incorporated into the ship’s architecture. Louis XIV and his ministers were obsessed with having French ships look bigger and richer than their British counterparts. They hired the best artists in France to design statues, friezes, and decorative woodwork. Louis’s chief minion, Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert, engaged artist Charles Le Brun to design statuary for Versailles, and when Colbert was given the additional position of Minister of Marine in 1669, he made Le Brun responsible for the decoration of  the king’s newly-built fleet of ships-of-the-line as well. Le Brun set up sculpture academies in the shipbuilding centers of Brest, Toulon, and Rochefort to train the army of sculptors needed. The task of designing the architecture and decoration for the ships was assigned to the same artists who worked on the palace of Versailles, like Jean Bérain, and they churned out preparatory drawings to be given to the sculptors.
 

 
The Italian-trained artist Pierre Puget was appointed head sculptor at the shipyard in Toulon after notable success decorating France’s Mediterranean galley fleet. His fanciful statues and designs for the new warships were inspired by Italian theater sets. This was an age when popular stage productions were growing more elaborate. Opera had been newly invented. Music specifically for the stage was being composed. The palace of Versailles had its own theater and the king and his aristocrats took part in the productions. Puget’s theatrical shipboard tableaux were immediately popular and widely copied. They looked a lot like opera backdrops.
 

Two of Puget's ship designs. You kind of expect someone to come out on the balcony and start singing . . . . 
 
Puget’s sculptures were unquestionably awesome, but were also huge, heavy, and for the most part impractical. His boss, Le Brun, refused several of his designs with the note that they were “very handsome but not at all convenient for ships.” It was because of Puget’s extreme theatricality that Le Brun issued an order in 1673 indicating that sterns would not be allowed to carry figures so big that they affected the stability of the ship. Puget resigned in 1679, but one of the 1689 Bérain drawings of the Soleil Royal has the scribbled notation that it was made “apres Pierre Puget.” This caused at least one 19th-century French ship historian to attribute all of the Soleil Royal’s sculptures to Puget, in spite of evidence to the contrary. (Puget worked in Toulon; the Soleil Royal was built in Brest.)
 

 
Instead of Puget, it’s fairly easy to connect the carvings on the Soleil Royal to the work of Charles Le Brun. Most of the figures turn out to be adaptations of Le Brun’s sculptural work at Versailles, especially his statues designed for the Versailles gardens in the grand commande (great commission) of 1674. The statues on the ship were originally made with Puget’s grandiosity in mind, but were later “adjusted” in size—in some cases replaced, in others, hollowed out—to reduce the weight and improve the ship’s stability. In a further effort to improve the ship’s handling, several of the larger statues were unshipped by Admiral De Tourville and left behind when the flagship went to war. These carvings were available for reuse on the Soleil Royal II, built in 1693. The new ship’s builder, Étienne Hubac, had been responsible for rebuilding the Soleil Royal I in 1689 and still had all of les garabits (templates and patterns) for the revised statuary. And so (we suppose), the second ship was decorated much like the first.
 

 
There’s a weird thing about the symbolism and statuary on the Soleil Royal— well, weird for 1693— and that’s the ship’s total lack of Christian motifs and symbols. We’re used to thinking of the Baroque era as a religious age, one dominated by cardinals and cathedrals, sacred relics, bible-inspired art, witch-finders, and endless Catholic-Protestant wars. The hierarchy of the church was at the top of the social heap and kings wielded their power by divine right. The open-minded period of the Enlightenment was over half a century in the future.
 
But without being terribly anti-clerical about it, along came Louis XIV with his aristocrats, retainers, bureaucrats, and artisans, and overt Christianity suddenly took a back seat to a revived interest in pre-Christian classical paganism. Instead of Christ, angels, and saints, the denizens of Versailles were more fascinated by gods, demigods, and caesars. In paintings, Louis had himself and his family portrayed as characters out of classical mythology.
 

Louis and his over-extended family . . . . just another day of lounging around like Olympian gods.
 
I’m sure the whys and hows are the subject of numerous books I’ll never get around to reading. For the time being, though, we can contemplate how all this influenced the decorations on Louis’s warships.
 
What was in the art on the Soleil Royal? What did it represent? What did it all mean? Why was it there?
 
First point—the art was meant to be symbolism. It consisted of elements meant to be read for their symbolic value by a largely unlettered population. Everybody back then was used to reading symbolism. It was all over their churches. Even if they couldn’t read, the populace knew all the bible stories by looking at the statuary, paintings, icons, altarpieces, carvings, and stained-glass that decorated their houses of worship. Every saint has his/her symbols for identification. Every condition or attribute had its own visual elements for storytelling purposes. The carvings on the Soleil Royal didn’t use Christian iconography, but the same principles applied. Artists like Le Brun even had textbooks of common iconography they could consult, like Caesar Ripa’s Iconologia, which described in detail what visual attributes went with which allegorical or historic figures.
 

Caesar Ripa's Iconologia.
 
Next point—this was Louis’s ship. Louis XIV was an absolute monarch, and when he famously proclaimed “L’État, c’est moi,” he meant it. The ships as well as the state were his, and the most important (gilded) artistic elements on the ship proclaimed his ownership. First, there was his Bourbon coat-of-arms on the bow and the stern, Azure, three fleurs-de-lys or—three gold fleur d’lis on a blue field, topped by a crown to indicate royalty. The fleurs would be repeated many places on the ship. On my model, white, open-faced fleurs (lilies seen from the top) are used on the quarter deck/forecastle level. There was also the king’s monogram, two intertwined, mirrored “L”s, also topped with a crown and surrounded by acanthus stems and chains of bellflowers, on the length of the upper gundeck. On the quarter galleries, the monograms are surrounded with a classical-antiquity-inspired laurel crown. You couldn’t go ten feet in any direction on this ship without being reminded it was Louis’s. The name itself, “the Royal Sun,” was one of his self-aggrandizing unofficial titles.
 

Whose ship was it again?
 
Louis himself is represented several times. The beaming face of the Sun King surrounded by solar rays appears on the headrail medallions and on the dormers of the quarter galleries—looking out from the four quarters of the ship. These were all elements I chose to paint as if they were gilded on my model. The same devices are always gilded where they appear at Versailles.
 

Right, the face of the Sun King at Versailles, same as on the ship.
 
Louis also starred in the most distinctive piece of décor on the ship—the Apollo solar chariot frieze on the stern-plate. The zodiac frieze above the chariot and the clouds below it show that the tableau is supposed to be occurring in the heavens, far above lowly Earth. Louis, as Apollo, drives the solar chariot on its daily celestial path. He's not carrying the sun. He is the sun. The gold leaf would have blazed in daylight. The frieze was patterned after the Apollo fountain, a major sculptural group by Charles Le Brun in the gardens of Versailles. Louis was supposedly a devout Catholic who did a lot to enhance the power of the church, including expelling all French protestants. I don’t know how he managed to reconcile his devotion with presenting himself as an Olympian god. 
 

Charles Le Brun's Apollo fountain at Versailles.
 
Charles Le Brun was responsible for the other sculptural groups on the ship’s stern. He designed four statues for the gardens of Versailles to represent the four seasons. Variations of these serve as pillars between the ship's middle deck and upper deck balconies. Louis was being advertised as literally, a “king for all seasons.” 
 

Le Brun's original design drawings for the Four Seasons, Autumn, Spring, Summer, and Winter. The statues were executed by hired sculptors. I don't know where or if the statues survived. They no longer seem to be at Versailles.
 
At the bottoms of the quarter galleries are mermen, two split-tailed tritons from classical mythology. These were often used on French ship décor. Their function was to hail Louis as master of the seas. The ship’s figurehead is a classical winged sea nymph on the back of a sea horse (literally, a mer-horse with a fish tail)—a herald for the procession of royal emblems to follow. Another nautical-themed element was the bevy of scallop shells. The ribs on the scallops represented the sun’s rays, so they worked as one of Louis’s solar symbols as well as a symbol of the sea.
 

 
Surrounding the stern plate are allegorical figures representing the four continents (as they were known at the time), representing the wide overseas reach of French power. Reclining atop the zodiac frieze above the Apollo chariot are the figures of Europe, port, in classical garb with a horse, and Asia, starboard, in “eastern” dress, a turban, and a camel. On the lower port of the stern-plate is a female figure representing the Americas, in a straw skirt and feather crown. Starboard is the figure of Africa, with a distinct elephant-head headdress. These, too, are variants on Le Brun’s Versailles sculptures. The figures of the Americas and Africa on the Soleil Royal have exactly the same headdresses. This and the Apollo's chariot frieze are the strongest links between the ship's sculpture and Charles Le Brun. Pierre Puget—sorry, nope!
 

Charles Le Brun, the Four Continents. Still on display at Versailles.
 
In the Heller kit, I felt that the two figures on the lower stern-plate corners were too large and not very attractive to boot. I needed a smaller Africa and the Americas.
 

 
I went looking for other model figures to use. What size was okay? I thought 1/48 (O scale)—about 10–12 feet in 1/100— was about the largest that would be reasonable. After an internet search, I focused on some 3D-printed figures by a company named Printle on the Shapeways.com website. Some were copies of classical statues. Some were female nudes. They were cheap enough; I ordered a few.
 

The quality was good. The plastic was easy to cut, so I could make adjustments to the positions of arms and legs. I added clothing (not much, admittedly) and headdresses with scraps of styrene. The figures might not be identical to the ones in the Bérain drawings, but neither is the ship. I think these figures work fine.
 

 

 
Shapeways also supplied me with figures to make the two missing statues shown on the Cherbourg Library drawing of the quarter galleries. The starboard one (the only one shown in the Cherbourg drawing) was Kronos, “Father Time,” the Greek-mythology titan, first king of the Olympian gods, whose symbols were a scythe and an hourglass. The figure I got from Shapeways was a standing figure of Zeus. I cut and re-glued the figure at neck, waist, and knees to give him more of a sitting posture and replaced Zeus’s thunderbolt with Kronos’s scythe. Why was Kronos there? What did he represent? What did he have to do with the sun-god Apollo? I don’t know if I ever found a good answer. In mythology, Kronos reigned during the “golden age” (this is where we get the term) before he was slain and replaced by his son Zeus, who in turn was the father of Apollo. So Kronos was Apollo’s grandfather. And his “golden age” might be considered to have returned under the reign of his “grandson,” Apollo-Louis.
 

 
It didn’t make sense to repeat the same statue on the port side. Another accompanying figure was needed. What figure went along with Kronos, though? I decided it had to be Rhea, Kronos’s consort, first queen of the gods, Apollo’s grandmother, who served as midwife for the sun-god’s birth. Rhea’s main symbolic attributes were a mural crown (representing fortress walls) and a chariot drawn by lions. I opted to give my figure the crown and forget about the lions. Again, I used a nude Shapeways figure and dressed her somewhat with scrap styrene.
 

 
I think I’ve caught everyone up on my Heller model to the present. Posts from me are going to get less frequent from now on. I’m busy right now working—and re-working—the masts and rigging. I’m on my fourth try at installing foremast shrouds. Man, I thought building the hull was tough. It’s nothing compared to the complexity of the rigging. Slow process. I thought I’d be done with this model in a year. Now I’m giving it two.
 
My model has grown a beard. It’s all the lines running from the forecastle pin rails and deck cleats. I figured I’d better tie them in before the foremast shrouds go on and get in the way. I belayed the lines according to a rigging plan, so I know what each line is and where it is going to go once the masts and yardarms are up. Most of the lines are three feet or more in length.
 

 

 
As far as postings go, there’s still a discussion of deck furniture to do, which I’ll put off once more. And my rigging diagram is in a constant state of re-evolution as I absorb stuff from Jean Boudroit's monograph The Three-Decker of the Chevalier De Tourville. You’ll find out more about that next time, whenever that will be. With the holidays coming up, it’s hard to tell how much modeling time I'll have.
 
Happy Meleagris gallopavo day. The bird formerly known as turkey. Let’s all be respectful with our culinary nomenclature this Thanksgiving and eat some nice roast gallopavo with stuffing. And have fun building and rigging model ships over the holiday. 
 
Speaking of turkeys—
 

Post One Hundred and Six
 
I have now reached a part of the build where there is a lot of bits and pieces.
Bulwarks to sand level, gunports to clean up, and mouldings and cappings to fit.
There is also a lot more dust.
Getting the rails to run correctly and look acceptable to the eye has proven the most difficult part of the build for me thus far.
It took several constructions/de-constructions, to arrive at a sequence I found acceptable, without the urge to instantly rip it all off again.
 
This is what I found by trial and error worked best for me.
 
The most critical rail is that running between the gun-deck ports following the sheer of the hull.
I opted not to fix this first, as indicated, but I marked the line of the rail using Tape.

2714
Before I commit to glue I want to see how it will eventually relate to the rails above it.
 
Before adding the capping rail along the waist (section515) I think it is better to add the continuation of the 3mm strip to the forward end of the waist, following the sheer.

2688
I also added these before adding the topside decoration along the Qtr deck and Foc’sle.
 
Below this the 4mm strip can be added.( I am using Boxwood strip) I stop the strake short of the forward end of the waist. This strip is referred to as the ‘second wale’ left over from Indy’s time as a Sixty-four.
The forward sections of the 3mm and 4mm strips are then added to terminate at the bow stem.

2689
I am keeping an eye on the line of the main gundeck rail still marked by tape.

2700
Before fixing I use the upper rail with the scroll work to check how that will eventually relate to the intended fixing line.

2702
The lower 4mm (second wale) is then added.

2710
Once fitted the decorative rail is fitted above it, ensuring an even curve, and that the scroll work at the aft end meets the rail below it.

2712
 2mm strips are then added to the 3mm rail, this completes the  Wale for the Fore channels.

2715
The decorative scroll work at the break of the Qtr deck is now fitted ensuring the scroll meets the rail below it.
The Topsides are instantly improved by the addition of the mouldings.

2695
To complete the rails a 2mm strip which defines the Channel areas is applied atop the 3mm rail.

2711
The rails line up at the bow but need a fair bit of cleaning up at this point.

2716
This is not the end of the story, the gunport rails and waist capping rails are now to be added, and the decorative rails and
scroll work need some fettlin’ to address the rather ‘blocky’ look of them.
 
I am relieved that this part of the project has been completed  without ending up with any mismatches or ugly rail angles at the bow. I found it quite a testy part of the build.
Onwards….
 
B.E.
11/11/2023

Hello,
today I worked on the window frames. First to fit them in and second to determine the position of the windows. I changed the arrangement after I had a look at the first pictures I took. But now I think it is ok.

Post One Hundred and five.
 
Bulwark Spirketting
This is now added to the Quarterdeck and Poop decks, pre-painted before gluing into place.

2661
Painting on the model is made more difficult due to the tumblehome of the Topsides along the Qtr deck.

2668

2669
Quite a change to the look of the model once this is done, but with gunport fettlin’ and other work, some restoration will be inevitable as the build progresses.

2673
The decorative facia panels at the break of the decks are also added at this time.
These remain unpainted and are treated with w-o-p.
 
Toprope scuttles
Back in Post 99 I said that I have some reservations about the Top rope scuttles being represented by gratings.

0050
They are generally shown as closed boards, without framing, and with lifting rings attached, as on Victory (Above)

2664

2667
This seemed a good point to knock up a couple of closed scuttles to see how they look.

2670
Altho’ more historically correct, I’m not sure I prefer them to the supplied gratings from a purely aesthetical viewpoint.

2675
 
B.E.
08/11/2023
 
 

Hello and many thanks for all the likes.
Today I set in the floors for the quarter galleries. Now all has a lot more stability. The next complicated task would be to build the frames for the windows here. 


My way to make sure that the quarter pieces are at the same angle

Post One hundred and Four
 
Gangways
The sub-deck pieces slot neatly atop the skid beams held in position by the bulwark lugs.

2646
Separating the deck sections made it necessary for me to add a support beam at the forward end to support the joint against the Foc’sle breast beam.
 
It struck me that on the plans there are no butt joints to the planking. The length of the Gangway is some 41’ which would suggest that some butt ends would be required.
 
The planks would be fixed to the beams which are unevenly spaced across the waist with spaces of: 2@50mm 2@30mm, and 2@ 35mm. which makes it a little more difficult to work out a repeat pattern, but there are only six strakes.
With an open sided gangway it is obvious if a butt join has nothing to support it beneath.

2649
I worked a system using scale planks of around 28’ maximum to utilise the available fixing points.
I started with the innermost strake and worked towards outboard with a final spiled plank at the bulwark.
 
This completes the Indy planking on my version.

2652

2660

2650

2651

2659

2656

2657

2653
I have to say that the Castello Boxwood supplied by Vahur at Hobbymill EU was a pleasure to use, excellent quality.
Movin’ on.
 
B.E.
06/11/2023
 

Hello,
after a short pause at the shipyard, we managed to fit in the quarter pieces. It's not all done till now, but we are on the way.

 

Hello,
the great moment has come, the window frames are glued on. Also the toilets for the officers are installed and I changed the aft part of the quarter deck. So I hope that the captain could pass here later to the galleries, without difficulty.

Thank you David, other photos.

Hi photo Victory.

Post One Hundred and three
Foc’sle completion.

2627
The planking begins at the centre working outwards, roughly following the layout on Plan sheet C1.

2630
There are eight strakes of Joggled planks, to do each side, Fairly straightforward, it’s getting a clean cut that’s the tricky bit.

2629
Use of a scalpel and micro chisels simplify the procedure.
 
Bowsprit partners
These were fitted to ships, but one is not shown on the Indy plan. However, it struck me that the area of the deck around the Bowsprit looked unfinished.

2632
Based on my own preference I added one. It also had the advantage of covering the scars of the now removed posts.
 
Hook

2633
Version four at last fitted. The dimensions were taken from the Adm Plan and scaled to 1:64.

2640

2635

2637

2644

2642
Just the gangways left to do, then a clean-up of the planking and a coat of flat varnish.
 
B.E.
04/11/2023
 
 
 
 

Post One Hundred and two
 
Foc’sle stuff cont’d.
 A day spent fitting small sections of planking to suit the cut-away plan. Each one requires tapering to suit. Not difficult but time consuming.

2627
The tricky part is the eight or so strakes that will require  joggling into the margin planks
 
As an update from my previous post I have found a contemporary model of a large Frigate (Diana) 1794 which indeed does show a hook at the Foc’sle.

 
As the razeed Indy plan also details this feature albeit at a slightly higher level, I grasped the nettle and removed those two uprights either side of the bowsprit.
Necessary  to fit a hook.
 
The bulwark spirketting was clamped into place and given the heat treatment.
I didn’t find it necessary to wet the wood.

2615
One potential issue is that the spirketting sits some 3mm above the outer bulwarks towards the fore end, including the top hole for the ring bolts.
I can’t imagine how this has come about, all the other reference points seem to be correct.
I resolved the issue by carefully shaving the bottom edge of the spirketting to bring things into line.

2623
With the spirketting glued into place, small additional pieces were required to be added, cut from matching fret.

2617
There is an untidy area where the topside planking meets the stem at the bow that could use a little fettlin’.
It is mostly hidden once the Bowsprit is in place, but that’s no reason not to sort it.
 

2618
A simple job to tidy up the plank ends and slot in a filler piece.

2621
A bridging piece is now fitted over the top of the Bowsprit opening. The capping rails will eventually cover this.
Still a lot of cleaning up to do but getting there.

I can now work the hook and finish off around the bowsprit area.

2625
 
This is the second hook I am working on, tricky little beggar to get a good fit, and I may well end up with a third.
 
B.E.
02/11/2023
 
 
 
 
 

Thank you, Allan
I’m not sure, my main concern is to improve authenticity where I can, given the kit limitations. The fore end of the kit is solid to provide a strong block to build the hull, which is perfectly ok as Chris designed the model to be fully planked which would hide all this raw stuff.
 

2106
As you can see on the photo the carlings end in mid air, and the Bowsprit step was originally fixed further forward, I moved it back to its proper position between the Bitt posts.
The way I’ve designed my planking layout is to hide this stuff, a sort of smoke and mirrors job, but I can’t hide those posts fully open to view.
Before I started to look in depth at this issue those two bulkhead extensions either side of the bowsprit looked odd to my eye, and I couldn’t find anything similar on contemporary models of large frigates of the time.
The problem is that these Razees are anomalies, and you won’t find a hook on the foc’sle of specifically built frigates- as far as I know.
An interesting little exercise ahead.
 
B.E.
 

Thank you Mugjie, Ron, and Allan, much appreciated, and thanks  for all those 'Likes'
 
Post One Hundred and Two
 
Planking the Foc’sle
This is the most difficult deck to plank by reason of the sharp curves to the bow.

2607
The Margin plank will need to be 7mm in width to cover the rough edges and bulkhead tops, and the severity of the curve  rules out using strip.

2609

2610
It is simpler to cut out the margins from 1mm Box sheet on the scroll saw, and then tweak to shape.

2612
The main advantage of cutting out the margins is that there is no stress in conformation against the bulwark.
 
In thinking about the Foc’sle, questions come to mind.
 
Should there be a Bowsprit step over the deck area where it passes through?
 
Those two posts either side of the Bowsprit look awkward, what are they for? They don’t seem to align with the knighthead tops that are fitted separately on the capping rails.
 
They may of course just be a simplification of the kit design and construction for practical purposes rather than any actual feature, and there’s no indication to remove them as with the other bulkhead tops.
 
The Adm Plan of the Foc’sle indicates a ‘hook at the height of the foremost Port cills. The kit has a couple of pin racks in this area.

2614
Foc'sle of the Razeed Indefatigable
 
This would have been the Upper gun deck before she was razeed and to fit a hook seems reasonable in this area, but those posts preclude such a fitting and would require at least reducing in height, becoming in effect supports for the hook.
 
I’m not really convinced by the present arrangement, and I’m minded to fit a hook.
There is no indication of an open space between the Foc’sle bulwarks above the bowsprit  but I need to ponder on it before I do anything too drastic.
 
In the meantime I can progress some of the deck planking
 
B.E.
01/11/2023
 

 

Post One Hundred and one
 
Poop deck
As with the other decks I have left very little planking to be done.
My aim is to maximise the view of all that wonderful detail that Chris has provided in the cabins below.

2591

2592
With the sub-deck modified and secured, planking can begin. I start with the margins using 5mm strip.

2597

2599
The remaining planking is straightforward, the worst part fitting some (26) 15mm tapered lengths along the taffarel.

2604

2605
I have taken the pre-caution of fitting an acetate cover for the poop to keep the worst of the dust out whilst the build continues.

2601
Whilst I’m on a roll I think I will carry on and plank the Foc’sle and Gangways.
 
B.E.
31/10/2023