robdurant

Thanks for all the likes, kind comments, and encouragement. A mini-update to end the day... The railings have had their first coat of paint... This angle seems to show every slight imperfection, but they look much better in real life

Thanks Eamonn. It's a great subject to model and I'm really pleased with how it's gone so far the top photo is taken with my SLR camera which definitely does a nicer job than the mobile at catching the colours.

A small update... the port channels all have their deadeyes and chainplates attached. I need to fill the gaps in the channels and smooth them back, but it's nice to have this done. I've also been working a little more on the open rails on the quarterdeck. I've started filling in the central row of the top railing with 1x1mm walnut, and then I'll put the rail on the outside edge to complete. A 1mm brass wire was added at the bow end to straighten up the rail. It should be virtually invisible once complete, but should add strength too, for when (not if) I knock it! Happy building Rob

Because of the tiny size of these carronades you may decide to simplify... normally you have two things going on... 1. A thicker rope that goes round the back of the gun and fixss to either side of the gunport. This is to contain the recoil. 2. thinner rope used to haul it out ready to fire. 3. Also on the pic in the last post you can see another set used to point the carronade. (Training tackle) On my model I decided just to put the breech rope... But this is where each of our models ends up unique... regardless of what you choose I'd recommend making up a template for where the holes will go on the hull and drilling them out using that so they all end up uniform. It maybe worth trying one off the model in a card mockup to see if your plan will work. Finally as you drill the holes watch out they don't pop out on the other side Rob

Hi Peter, I haven't put any finish on the parts that will remain unpainted, as I didn't want to find I'd put a finish on and then couldn't attach other parts (steps etc..) to the outer hull, but at various stages as I've worked, I've used paper and masking tape to protect it as I work on other parts - especially when I've been painting things. I'm still in two minds about how to finish it. In the past, I just haven't used anything, but I think I'd like to do something this time. The wipe-on poly that seems to be so popular in the states seems harder to get hold of over here in the UK, and I'm wary of using oil in case the surface ends up sticky and attracting everything in sight... some testing will be required, I think. Great start on the copper plating It goes pretty quickly once you get in the groove... Rob

Thanks Yes I did.

Hi mugje, I expect solid walnut at that sort of size would have been too fragile as it would split along the grain... plywood walnut is a better material for the task, but it does bring with it the challenge of tidying it.up to look neat. The alternative would be a harder finer grained wood such as european boxwood, but it's very expensive compared to walnut. Well done with those carronades! They look fantastic... much neater than my effort... Pickle was my first wooden model too. Keep up the great work. Rob

Thanks Jason. Yes it does feel like a milestone... not too far until the hull is done and then onto the masting and rigging!

Just found this log. great to see you making a start Vane. looks like you have a few projects on the go there. They're going to make a great shipyard when done. Rob

Thanks Vane. I think you overestimate my skills After a fairly long break over the summer, with Prince of Wales finished, it's time to un-stall this project and get it moving again. Things that need doing: Finish the channels on the port side (dead-eyes, strops, chain plates, etc.. ) (Starboard is complete) Work out how to create the open rail on the quarterdeck. Move on with the beakhead rails. These have all proved to be head-scratchers for me, hence the tentative progress. But I think yesterday I made real progress. Rails: Before I went away I glued a 1.5mm square strip of walnut down the centre of the top of the quarterdeck rail. I cut sections out of this for the gunports and to 3mm of each side. The uprights will sit here. Now, I glued a 1.5mm square strip of walnut down the outside (pre-painted to avoid a nightmare cutting in later). 4mm maple was used for the uprights, which was cut to size using the attached diagram. Openrails.pdf (an A3 diagram) Progress so far is encouraging. The top rail is only dry-fitted to get an idea of the height and how I might add this part. (probably a variation of how I did it at the bottom). The channels are also coming on. Not much to show here as the process is exactly the same as for the starboard side.

That looks like a good fix you've done there. Great progress! It's going to look even better once the walnut's covered up. Are you planning.to copper it? I may have mentioned before but I would highly recommend the vapour mask (not the same as a dust mask) I pointed to on my log if you're using superglue.... it takes a lot of the stuff over an extended time and it saved it messing with my lungs. I've just got back to Ethalion after a big break over the summer so it's encouraging to me to see your Diana coming along so well. Rob

Hi Jason No need to apologise. Glad of your excellent input. Rob

Hi Vane, Thanks for your encouragement The Anatomy of the Ship on HMS Diana note nine ships as you mentioned. Of these the seventh and eigth (Clyde and Tamar) were built out of fir rather than oak (the latter being in short supply by that point in the Revolutionary Wars. The final, Ethalion, was built out of oak again. You can look up the plans for each of the ships on the Maritime museum's website, and that's where I began my search when I was thinking about building Ethalion instead of Diana. As it turns out, the differences between the sister ships are somewhat lesser than the differences between the kit and the actual frigates. These differences include the width of the stern, and so the layout of the gallery and stern lights, etc..., the layout of the gun ports, and the layout of the channels to name but a few. The more you look, the more you'll see subtle differences. The following is a side-by-side comparison of Ethalion, Artois, and Jason (from the RMG plans) compared to the Anatomy of the Ship plans for Diana to give you an idea of some of the subtle differences. If you look at the mizzen channels for Jason and Artois you'll notice they're split, whereas Ethalion (and Diana from AOTS) are the same. That has a bearing on where the chainplates land around the gunports towards the stern, but the hull shape remains unchanged. One of the more noticable differences as well is the bulkheads on the quarter deck... on Ethalion here. they're open - vertical pillars with a rail on top. On Jason and Diana below, they're enclosed (as the kit Diana depicts)... I've chosen to build them open - a decision I may regret when I get there! but I believe Ethalion's rails were enclosed in a refit. Also Ethalion's rails terminate at the fore end in a vertical... the others are more ornamental. The diagram above is comprised of pictures from the following links from the Royal Museums Greenwich website: http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/82225.html (Ethalion) http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/82174.html (Artois) http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/82195.html (Jason) Also, the profile from diagram A1/1 by David White in Anatomy of The Ship - The Frigate Diana. For comparison purposes only. I trust having cited these there will be no copyright issue, but please advise me if this is incorrect as I will happily remove the image. Having said all this, my primary desire was to build a ship that hadn't been built before. One must be careful when doing this not to accidentally end up using plans of other ships that had the same name (i.e. Ethalion 1802). I found following the historical trail of the ship fascinating, and it really did feel like I was treading on scarce travelled paths in doing so. I was able to go into the National Archives and read the master's and captain's logs which was a true privilege. The Diana kit is a great challenge, and a tremendous kit... it's not only big, but about as beautiful as shipbuilding got. I wish you every success should you follow me and others building these frigates. Do make a build log! It'll show me where I could have done better

Well, I couldn't resist - The stump masts were looking a little.... stumpy? So I sat down and worked out what lengths I thought the masts ought to be... AOTS has them as being significantly shorter than the Jotika plans - two to three centimetres. This is what I came up with... So the measurements are taken from the bottom of the mast to the upper deck (marked "B") - this was measured from the stump masts, I'd already made. Then the second measurement was taken from AOTS diagram F1/5, F1/6 and F2/1 from the upper deck braces to the top of the mast. By working out the distance between the upper (gun deck) and the fore / quarter deck above it (which turned out to be approx 3cm) I could then work out the entire length of the mast from mast step to top. As I said, this ended up 419mm for the main mast, 345 for the foremast, and 239 for the mizzen. Top and TGt masts were also calculated using the AOTS diagrams F1/3, F1/4, F1/5. And here it is, with some scrap left at the top of each mast for when I put it into the lathe to turn it down... In other news, I also attached the channels on the port side today, and drilled the holes for the chain plates to attach to the hull. As always, thanks so much for the likes, and here's to happy building! Rob

She's looking great Peter keep up the good work. I've been surprised how this step up in model complexity means I have to draw on my perseverance more. It's all worth it though.