Beef Wellington

Somehow missed the end of this...looks fantastic Mike.

A stern very much after my own tastes in the colour palette BE, very nice indeed.

Just stunning Chuck....

Love it Chris. Don't know how you do it at that tiny scale.

You have a beautiful model coming together here Boris, I particular like the way you will be showing her with an earlier look rather than the ubiquitous Nelson chequer.

The counter applique looks fantastic, great idea, assume you will seal this somehow. The curvature on the counter rail looks spot on, did you prebend this?

Tom - your rigging is looking really good, very impressed that you've dived into making your own rope, must feel very satisfying.

Welcome aboard Tom, and thankyou for the kind words. Your Victory is looking very nice, and your attention to detail on the rigging is definitely paying off.

Hi Mike - yes they do taper, and I took exactly the same approach used for the quarterdeck planking described in post #668, being about 3mm at the bow and 3.8mm at the waist, and re-used an appropriate section of the template used to shape the quarterdeck planks rather than creating a new one. I've found that until you really get well into it, the curve is rather hard to discern, but the good news is that there isn't the same constraint as on the quarterdeck to terminate against the waterway.

Thanks everyone for the continued interest and kind words. Planking of the foc's'l has started and wanted to catch up before I get too far behind, wanted to record how I approached this for my own benefit as much as anything. Breaking down into the main tasks: Ensuring appropriate sheer of the foc's'l: There was always going to be something to fettle here. There were a number of items that needed to be fine tuned before planking could get underway on the deck. There are a number of items that need to look right: Sheer of the foc's'l planking- this should be parallel to the wale Sheer of the deck - need to avoid any unnatural dips and bumps, probably caused by the false deck supports not being perfectly positioned These two elements need to also come together in a way that gives a gradual steady decrease in the bulwark height, and avoid situation where this does not transition smoothly This did require some filling of the false deck and additional sanding to get this to where I was happy. Marking the edge of the deck with a pencil line really helped with the visuals here as there are many curves competing with each other. Determining the appropriate taper of the planks: Really not much to go on here and went with a planned reduction of around 10-15% between the waist and the bow which seems consistent with many pictures and plans I could find. The only consideration here was to not taper these too much so that a 'half moon' shape develops towards the edge of the deck. Considering this, and estimating the number of planks needed, I used the same jig used for the quarterdeck to introduce the curve. Bowsprit partner: In David Antscherl's TFFM series, he notes that sometimes partners were used on the bowsprit. I latched onto this as a way to tidy up the way that planks terminate against the bowsprit....especially because I think at this point I will not be adding one (more on that later). Adding the partner here neatens up the planking in this area and also helps hide the PoF constuction a little more with the bowsprit not hiding this. This wasn't too challenging to make, first a key was cut into the false deck and a plug made to match. This was then glued to a larger boxwood sheet that would be visible, and which ensured that the partner would sit snuggly when in place. The top was deliberately left oversize at this point as the final dimensions would be dictated by the width of the planking. The concave curve of the underside was made with a suitably sized file approximating the bowsprit dimensions. Planking: With all the prelim work done, planking could commence! First step was to install some scrap wood strip on one side of the center line using a ruler as a guide. This proves to be very helpful in ensuring that the initial runs stay true as once the coamings are installed there is no simple way to do this other than relying on one's eyeball, and once the first central plank is in place can be easily removed. The fore-grating could now be installed, and experience from the quarterdeck suggested that using the bare minimum of PVA glue is a good idea in case that it proves necessary to fine tune the position. Luckily however this did not prove necessary. The remaining wildcard is how the planks will butt up against the installed coamings. As for the quarterdeck, fine adjustments were made to the strips to ensure that they would not result in inappropriately thin widths around the coaming. This also allowed the bowsprit partner dimensions to be finalised so that they all align appropriately. It's interesting to note that the partner is a slight wedge shape, reflecting the inward curve of the planking. Once the first 4 planks were on, the margin planks needed to be installed as all planking from here will butt up against it. For now, only the forward section has been installed, and the joint between then will (hopefully!) be hidden by the cathead. Planking could then continue aft, with a similar approach being taken for the steam grating coaming as before and the top of the beam being installed. The area directly to the rear of this was a bit of a pain as the planking strips are only about 5mm long and difficult to get nice clean tight joints. It proved necessary to once again make custom planks from maple sheet athwart the steam grating coaming, and these proved surprisingly challenging, mainly because there are many edges that need close alignment. The maple being used also does have a tendency to splinter at the edges. The gap on the outmost plank is where the top tackle scuttle will be. Hopefully things will speed up a little now the foundations are in place, at least until hooked planks are needed....

I definitely fall into the non-gold camp as well...my personal opinion is that the gold actually cheapens the look of a model. I also suspect that gold paint was not used (did it even exist at this period?) and that actual gold leaf would have been the method used. I recently obtained a copy of "Old Ship Figureheads and Sterns", in it the author alludes to the very elaborate and complex figureheads of the mid 1700's on 1st and 2nd rates (Victory of 1737 and Royal George 1756 being illustrated) were only partially 'guilded' on the primary element, with supporting details being painted.

I think the 2.1mm is much closer to the actual dimension than the kit supplied stuff which is much more in line with a first rate. I remember BE had put the formula(s) somewhere in his excellent Pegasus log. I used similar size rope from Syren as Ropes of Scale wasn't around when I ordered.

Beautiful model you have going here Bug. Your approach to the various enhancement definitely adds to the period authenticity and well worth the extra time and effort. Your observation is spot on about always needing to think ahead is rule #1, rule #2 being (for me at least), don't permanently attach something unless you absolutely need to...which help mitigate #1 above

Looking good as always! Did you cut the slots at the side of the forecastle false deck or did it come that way? Seems a really obvious (in retrospect!) way to help ensure the deck sits properly without having to force it too much.

Somehow missed your updates, looking good Vane.

Fascinating to see the development of these new kits, thanks for shring.

Using foil is a really neat idea. I did remember seeing this in Dan Vadas' excellent Vulture build....that solution seem to provide more flexibility, utility and ability to easily maintain.

Remember that 'period' is also a factor here as paint options changed significantly over time and all we can refer to are really 'trends', certainly in the Royal Navy, and to Mark's comment above would be somewhat driven by the cost and availability of paint. There was no 'standard' to know how a specific ship was painted, looking at models in the NMM online archive will show quite a bit of variety between models of the same period. Red and yellow ochres were cheap(er) options in mid to late 18th century so would likely have been more commonplace being mixed by the painters whether onboard or in dockyards. In the Royal Navy, green and white became more common going into the 19th century as materials advanced, fashions changed, and the cost of paint became economically viable. I'm sure Vanguard probably went through many repaints and would have looked different at each. The hulls of ships were definitely unique, and helped in identification, until the nelson chequer became ubiquitous.

Very nice Mort, some really interesting modifications. Looking very shipshape.

She's looking fantastic Peter, always appreciate seeing updates so glad you got a prod! Your method for making the coils gives some very good results (assuming you are soaking with dilute PVA?), must confess that I don't really enjoy doing those too much myself but your efforts speak for themselves. Looking at the shots above, I'm wondering if you plan to mount the ships boats in the waist, it would be a shame to lose sight of all the details on the main deck.

Happy New Year everyone! Know I have been absent for what seems an eternity, my usually slow pace was additionally impacted by the many hurricanes and storms that hit the US earlier this year, our basement had some water damage that put an end to ship modelling activities until it was sorted....which it just has been. Luckily, no damage was sustained to any models, but, I did lose a number of kit pieces and wood strip supplies that were stored in cardboard boxes. Luckily nothing terminal. Decent maple strip now needs to be even more carefully husbanded but hoping I will have enough to ensure consistent material on the remaining planking. The holidays provided an opportunity to get back into it and finally was able to complete the quarterdeck planking. Very slow and intensive, but I am happy with the result and the fact this is task at least is done. The pictures below show the deck without any tidying up and show the slight differences in plank thicknesses and pencil lead smudging, so next step will be to clean all of this up. The forecastle planking will require a slightly different approach and planning, but there are some additional things to finalise first which can wait for a future post. Cheers

Great to see you back at it Andy, your Confederacy is looking very nice, the blue will make for a nice change.

Spectacular Thomas, only wish the pictures you have posted could be enlarged more!

Catching up a little Rob, seems I've missed a few trials and tribulations but you've definitely overcome them. She really is turning into a beauty. The kit seems intriguing, they provide some really very low level detail but seem to omit or simplify some of the larger scale items like the rudder.

Nice work ECK, you do work at a prodigious pace, I'm very envious 🙂 Congratulations on completing her, that is a very impressive model collection you have there.