Beef Wellington

Hi Dave, have fun with the experimentation. Hope you don't mind me jumping in with a comment on your wood selection dilemma. The Tanganika supplied with my kit also had terrible grain which prompted me to go down the maple route. I had sourced maple from Cornwall Model Boats, and the initial supply provided was generally OK, but the edges were rough and did require tidying up - there were also quite a few unacceptable strips. In retrospect, I did not order enough at that time and underestimated wastage/QA failures, and had to purchase more to finish the decking on the quarterdeck and foc's'l. Despite purchasing again from CMBs, I had to make multiple purchases as I got some really poor quality wood. In retrospect I wish I had ordered enough at the start to ensure consistency and quality between the decks. I also found that the wood provided often wasn't even maple - and can be further confused with the various species (hard maple being desireable, the soft maple having a much more pronounced grain). That may well have been a covid era problem that is now resolved.

An amazing model, thanks for sharing your progress. I can understand why this has taken so long!

I know its not my pocket making the decision, but good call on the boxwood! Love the carronade, is it an antique or replica (asking jealously)?

Sorry, I was not entirely clear. There is no issue with the area where the steps are, I did however make a silly mistake by placing the larger gap in the wrong spot (its all in my log in gory detail!). As for the foremost frame, yes, I strngthened with the added ply to allow the gunport placement to be correct (in my judgement 🙂 ).

Will be following this one closely, you are a lucky man!

Hi Dave, glad to see another Diana build get started, I must confess that I have been less than active recently (both online and in the shipyard!), so I'm sure you'll finish well before me. One general comment that I'm sure you're considering but worth repeating is that the dimensions of kit parts and plans, NMM plans and AOTS diagrams are not completely consistent, so compromise and estimation is needed. Thinking well ahead will save a lot of pain. Couple of specific comments on the topics raised above: Keel - David (DAvidEN) is spot on with his comment on the profile of the keel. This is easily addressed once the hull has been planked which is really only when you can see what is needed. Without building up the depth of the keel, the profile is much too shallow and will not look correct. Stern post - will be easier early on to adapt the sternpost to more prototypical dimensions if thats a path you want to go down (wider at the top, tapering to the keel) rather than the consistent 5mm thickness dictated by the keel former. Gunport alignment - the ports follow the alignment of the frames, which means the mid-ships ports will be perpendicular to the keel, and those toward the stem and stern will be perpendicular to the hull so AOTS can help with this. As for placement, adjusting the foremost frame as described above is pretty straightforward if you decide to go down that route. From memory, I seem to recall looking to directionally follow the plans with equidistant ports (except for where the steps are). All the best. Jason

Dave, first off - wonderful work, continue to be amazed at the detail you're pursuing which are projects in of themselves. Not sure if you have seen it, but the well known Bellona model made for George III shows the same launching system in a very nice display along the same lines. There are some other contemporary examples illustrated in Brian Lavery's "The ship of the line" book to peruse for ideas. Looking forward to see where you land.

Congratulations, and best wishes for future continued success!

Excellent work on the masts, wolding, and tops David. The detail on the hounds us especially nice. I know I'm not going to mast 'Jason' (in this lifetime anyway) so will need to live vicariously through you. Have you considered putting swivel guns in the tops?

This method of construction appears deceptively simple, but definitely still needs planning and experience to execute well as you have shown. Glad I'm not the only one that requires 'redos' 🙂 . Looking great BE.

Looking good...but of course would have expected nothing else!

Looks like a very interesting subject. I'm loathe to post this because of clogging up this thread...but, I wonder if it would make sense to start a new thread specific to each new kit project? Hopefully that will keep people on topic and focused, and reduce the inevitable back and forth with parallel development activities, pet peeves etc.

Thanks for the very kind words and likes everyone - sadly no further progress (or even pent-up progress). @westwood The colour is 'red ochre' from the Admiralty paints series sold by Caldercraft.

I was also impressed with their service. If you are concerned, I would suggest ordering just one to see if you like the product before committing to the full complement.

Agree with everyone's comments, your barricade is so much more in keeping with your model. Nicely done!

Final shaping of the hull, installation of tafferal and plansheer: Happy New Year everyone! Lots of work over the holidays has finally resulted in what I consider to be a major milestone, namely the final shaping of the hull, installation of tafferal and plansheer. Before I could proceed, had to finally deal with some cannon dislocations that I had been putting off for a while - two of the rear cannons has become loose, the carriages were still firmly fixed luckily, but the barrels had broken away. Thank goodness for those long thin CA tubes that allowed these to be re-glued through the gunport...panic over. Once the volutes had been installed and the gunports were cut out and finished (photos below show the aft and fore positioning), it was possible to install the remainder of the quarterdeck drift which was installed parallel to the main wale. This then allowed the final shape of the upper hull to be determined, once again parallel to the main wale. The topside of the bulwarks should be horizontal, and I found that the easiest way to do this was to use a long enough file that would reach from one side to the other, fine tuning one side at a time. The upper edge of the tafferal was also tweaked to ensure it was parallel the keel (even on the original NMM drawings, it was not possible to determine whether this should be parallel to the sheer of the quarterdeck or keel. After making a template, the tafferal was cut out of a pear sheet, and pre-bent on a template previously made when originally making the stern fascia - this needs to be made from 3 pieces. This seemed the most reliable way to get this done given the compound curves, and the pear wood was soaked and steamed on the former before being left to dry for 24hrs to ensure it was fully dried. Once the main section had been installed, the two small sections over the quarter galleries needed to be made. To do this, a separate former was made up to introduce the different curvature - these pieces are small, and proved to be quite challenging to shape (The second photo illustrates this step, but shows a 'reject'). Painting the edge highlight also proved 'challenging' to say the least. It was also realized that the rear edge of the hull planking needed to be extended further aft - this is needed to account for the counter timbers which of course are not present in the POB kit. I debated doing this, but felt it would be necessary to ensure the tafferal fife rail can terminate properly and not be left hanging in space. The tops of the counter timbers will not be added until the tafferal fife rail is installed down the road as I suspect this will be a magnet for damage. Not much more to be said, here are some overall shots of the finalized stern and quarter gallery area. I am satisfied with the way this turned out, but as anyone who has built this kit can testify, getting the positioning and sizing of all these elements 'right; is a challenge. Overall, it has been an exercise in constant compromize and adjustment between the original plan dimensions, the AOTS diagrams (which are not all consistent or fully representative of 3D reality) and the kit dimensions. I will likely need to reduce the dimensions shown on the plans of the decorative upper finishing fretwork that will be installed on top of the quarter gallery roof by 1mm or so to avoid it protruding above the stern fascia - another decision for down the road. Gunports were tested with anticipated armament, in this case Vanguard 9lb carriages and Syren barrels. Had I been only using these, I'm sure I would have used the Vanguard barrels as well, but I wanted to keep the use of brass barrels for consistency... ...and finally some overall shots of where things stand, the lights are only temporarily installed for now.

I think the specific problem though is that the beams really hinder the ability to fair the interior face. Is it possible to mount and fair as you go, e.g starting midships and adding a couple of frames immediately fore and aft and fair these, then add a few more. The access will diminish, but there would theoretically be less and less to fine at each step.

Love it, love it, love it. You've excelled yourself on the period feel once again, well worth the effort!

Glad you've started a build log MM, this is a particularly intriguing kit. Look forward to seeing your progress.

Jeff, I'm not familiar with Badger, but there are plenty of Badger logs on the site for you to reference which would likely be of value. The construction method you reference is pretty common to all Caldercraft (and other kits). You'll be surprised at the strength of the final hull once the second planking has been installed, and especially after the additional interior planking has been attached. Just be sure to get a good glue bond between the ply template and the limewood first planking edges. I have found that a SMALL amount of PVA glue on the bulkhead extensions can help ensure these stay positioned appropriately Personally, I've never found a use for the pins, but many people here seem to use them. BTW - welcome to MSW, and I'd strongly suggest starting a build log, photos are a big help to others to help you, and you will get plenty of good advice and support.

Wonderful detailing David, looks great. I do dislike the supplied funnel, 2lbs of poorly defined white metal, but you've managed to get it looking good.

Think it is also worth adding that there is not always an answer to all questions, even with AOTS books, NMM plans, models etc. There are often many small discrepancies and inconsistencies between even contemporary sources (especially the Artois's!), but part of fun is learning from this and working through these challenges to find the direction you want to go in. Look forward to seeing you start.

What a wonderful model Derek, only just caught up on your progress. Aside from the excellent execution, the tones of the boxwood sit very nicely with the eye.

Beautiful pictures Peter, you've done an amazing job on the hull and the sails and running rigging look fantastic. The detail in the deck shots really show your workmanship.

Work continues slowly, but not really anything that would be noticeable in a photo update. In a shameless attempt to cover this up, sharing some contemporary print images that I've been trying to get my hands on for quite some time now. (The 3rd print below first appeared in my second post in this log back in 2014...ahem...I'm including here for completeness). Three of the four are by Robert Dodd, and the other is by John Fairburn, and correlating with NMM records, were contemporaneously created between 1798 and 1801. Its hard to corroborate the details between artists because the Robert Dodd prints are of a much higher quality - a comment on Dodd reflects that he is likely a reasonably reliable source "Although technically accurate and meticulous, his artistic talents were somewhat eclipsed by the greatest of his peers, and it is his contribution to the historical record that is his greatest legacy". Considering that the representations were 'inscribed to' the ship's captains, one might think that they would be accurate on key points. Full details below, but a couple of things jump out, nothing here will change the approach being taken on this build, but may be of value to others. I'm really hoping I can get my hands on building contracts now. Shock and horror! - there 'aint a figurehead! Jason is clearly shown with a fiddlehead stem! - this is contradictory to available plans and seems unlikely to be an artistic creation. Especially as other ships represented show quite detailed figureheads. Jason is shown with 14 quarterdeck 'guns' - impossible to tell whether these are carronades or cannons. In any event, these exceeds the number described in AOTS Diana and seems to exceed Admiralty regulations. Perhaps Capt. Sterling pulled in some favours to obtain additional ordinance...It's hard to draw any conclusions on the bow armament because its just not clear enough. The Mizzen channel is also clearly shown at its original lower location together with a backstay stool (4th picture below). This reflects the earlier (original as designed/built?) configuration, and contradicts the single channel configuration located higher up the hull that is shown in AOTS and (possible subsequent alterations) on NMM plans. Interestingly, the same configuration is shown in second picture below, but the mizzen backstay stool is missing. Try as I might, I just can't resolve much in the way of clues to the stern decoration. Maybe wishful thinking, but the central figure on the stern in second picture below could be a golden fleece (as would possibly be expected!), and what I'm noodling over for 'my' Jason. The outboard supporting figures also look 'male' to my eye...but not sure. There are a number of details here that suggest a different representation here (e.g. ar those columns between the lights?). Wish I'd managed to get my hands on this years ago. Unfortunately, the representation by John Fairburn is of much lower artistic and technical and just seems to show smudges. Sequel to the action between L'Hercule and Mars (April 21, 1798): Artist: Robert Dodd ca.1798 Inscription “Sequel to the Action of L’HERCULE and MARS, on the Night of April 24th 1798. Representing the MARS bringing her PRIZE out of the Passage Du Raz, the JASON FRIGATE having come up some time after the ENEMY had STRUCK, assisting in shifting the Prisoners.” Capture of La Seine: Artist: Robert Dodd Inscription “CAPTURE of LA SEINE most respectfully Inscribed to the Captains STERLING & MILNE. This Action commenced in a running fight between LA PIQUE and LA SEINE the former was disabled by the loss of her Main Topmast and the JASON coming up between & received the fire of the Enemy Her Action continued when the [unreadable] Ships grounded on the French Coast near Midnight LA SEINE still making a most exemplary defense, and did not surrender until totally dismasted with the loss of 170 Men killed & 100 badly wounded” A REPRESENTATION of the JASON 38 guns capturing LA SEINE: Artist: John Fairburn, 1 Oct 1798 Inscription “A REPRESENTATION of the JASON 38 guns capturing LA SEINE, a FRENCH FRIGATE of 42 Guns near PENMARK ROCK, June 30th 1798 The La Pique Frigate had engaged the La Seine for a considerable time, before the Jason came up, but did unfortunately run aground in the action & bilged & was afterwards burn'd by her own crew" Situation of Jason and La Pique the morning after the engagement: Artist: Robert Dodd Description taken from NMM: A depiction of the British frigates Jason and La Pique on moderate seas, flying the British ensign, with their prize, La Seine, on 29 June 1798; troops can be seen on land in the distance. The Jason is shown in the foreground in port-broadside view, behind her is La Seine with her masts cut off; La Pique (port quarter view) is on the right in the process of sinking, shown with her crew climbing down on to a rowing boat. Several other rowing boats can be seen in the foreground. The sails of the Jason and La Pique show extensive damage from cannon fire. Inscription “SITUATION of the JASON and LA PIQUE with their Prize on the Morning after the Action. Representing the Jason as just having hove off the ground. La Pique being unfortunately bilged was cleared of her Stores and destroyed by her own Crew, the wounded Men of the Enemy were put on Shore and given in charge to a division of their [unreadable] ARMY of ENGLAND who appeared in numbers on the Beach unable to molest(?) the British Ships or prevent their captured Frigate from being brought off.”