Beef Wellington

Thanks whitejames, Eamonn, Joe, Martin, Stergios, mugje, Mike and all the 'likes' for the continued interest and encouragement.  Happy New year to everyone!
 
Anchors:
Adding some appropriate features here at the bow will do much to enhance the overall look of the model, the kit itself leaves the bow area a little sparse, especially the rigging which has already been commented on.  The kit provides 4 full sized 'bower' anchors.  However, Steele indicates that a ship of Snakes size and class would only carry 3, in addition to a smaller kedge and stream anchor : “Ships of 110 to, 100, 98, and 90 guns, have seven anchors; from 80 to 20 guns inclusive, 6 anchors; ships of 300 tons, and sloops, have 5; and brigs and cutters 3 anchors.” - This would include the large (best, small, and spare) bower anchors, stream and kedge anchors.
 
As for positioning, per Steele:  "The spare anchor is stowed on the starboard side, and is seldom used, but when one of the others is lost......The stream anchor is stowed on the spare anchor; and, when used, it is sent in the long-boat or launch, with its cable bent, and let go at any particular spot, either for steadying the ship, when riding by only one bower, or to assist a ship when in shore, or to warp her, &c. ......the kedge is stowed on the stream and spare anchors, and is frequently used to stop a ship for a tide in little winds…”
 
A number of years ago (!) I had purchased a smaller Caldercraft anchor for the kedge anchor, and luckily was able to find it.  Not much to cover in the making up of these anchors, which had previously started some time ago.  The ends of the stocks were rounded of and tapered.  One mistake I did make that I am now aware of is that there should be gap between the two halves, speculating to retard rot.  I found the 'puddening' particular challenging to complete as the pieces are hard to hold securely but finally got there - once again the 'springiness' of the kit supplied rope seems very capable of undoing work at the most inconvenient moment.
 
The next question was how to install on the model.  Info on anchor handling practices seems to be a little sparse, with diagrams and descriptions appearing in 'Lever' being replicated in other reference books.  Other logs, especially BE's fantastic Pegasus build, helped fill in areas of confusion.  Again Steele sheds a bit more light:  “The best bower is then placed forward near the bows on the starboard side; the small bower near the bows on the larboard side, a little abaft their respective catheads; and are secured by their stoppers, from the catheads and shank-painters. The stopper has one end clinched round the cathead; the other end passes through the ring of the anchor, returns upwards, and leads over a large thumb cleat bolted to the cathead, and is made fast with several turns, and the end hitched round the head-rail and timber-head, on the fore side of the cathead.”

Anchor hawse clinch:
The approach to attaching the hawse to the anchors using a clinch is shown pretty clearly in 'Lever'.  A bight is made by lashings ("no larger than the anchor ring") and the hawse fed through the anchor ring and the bight.  Nothing too complicated, but this was rather tricky to execute because it needed to be done in situ, a tin was used to rest the anchor while this was performed.  Before the last bight lashings were put on, the intended end of the hawse was seized to prevent it unravelling once cut.  This approach seemed to work well, and the extra untrimmed length of the hawse was helpful in keeping things positioned to allow the last lashing to be put in place.
 

Anchor stopper:
Per Steele:  "The stopper has one end clinched round the cathead; the other end passes through the ring of the anchor, returns upwards, and leads over a large thumb cleat bolted to the cathead, and is made fast with several turns, and the end hitched round the head-rail and timber-head, on the fore side of the cathead." 
 
The rope would likely need to be reasonably substantial, and given a diagram in Lever which corroborated, 0.75mm rope was used.  Although the size looked appropriate, the poor quality of the kit rope led me to look for options, and a solution became clear after looking at some photo's of Victory.  It seems the stopper was served (presumably for protection), so this was replicated and it went a long way to improving the visual appeal.
 

Cat block:
The cat blocks seem to be a nice feature to add for visual interest.  The blocks were made up from a couple of kit 7mm double blocks and shaped.  Card was used for the iron band and brass ringbolts used for the hook and the simulated axle.  A small PE eye bolt was installed on the rear of the cathead and 0.5mm line attached and fed through the block before securing to a cleat at the base.
 

 
Shank painter:
Per Steele:  "The shank-painter hangs the shank and fluke of the anchor to the ship's side outboard; and when stowed, the shank-painter is passed under the inner fluke round the shank of the anchor, and made fast with two or three turns, and the end stopt round timber-heads on the forecastle."  Lever also has a well replicated diagram showing how this would be used.
 
Luckily I had some spare chain left over from the rudder, and this was used for the shank painter together with some 0.5mm line.  At first, I felt this was a little oversized, but looking at photos again of Victory it doesn't seem too out of line.  Against the black background of the hull it sits OK with my eye.  I suspect that the end of the chain ended in a hook, but this detail was omitted for convenience, as it would not be very visible.
 

Undecided as of now whether to leave the port anchor suspended from the catblock or replicate that used on the starboard side.

 

@Mike - thanks for the kind words!
@Martin - I guess I'm located in the valley just over the hills from the Litchfield Hills of Connecticut 🙂
 
Rope Coils...
Before any more rigging can be completed, rope coils really need to be attended to.  Once the remaining braces, cluelines and sheets go on, access will be impossibly restricted.  I'm not a fan of gravity defying suspended circular coils which don't quite look right to my eye.  I really wasn't quite sure of the approach to take, but I knew I wanted to try to replicate the shear mass of heaps of rope often shown on period photos and try to give the rope some mass, but knew that doing so would be very difficult using the kit rope.
 
After many attempts, a mock up of the pin rail was made up and the rope stretched around a belaying pin and some wire.  Dilute PVA was then applied to ensure it kept its shape, and some extra rope wrapped around to keep the shape.  Once trimmed and the glue has dried, these can be hung over the desired location.  These still require some fettling and wanted to see how I feel about them in a few days with a number on position before securing or trying an alternative approach.  I'd welcome thoughts and suggestions...
 

 

Post Three

Fairing and planking – on hold.

The vulnerable stem piece is on my mind as I prepare to start the fairing.


9990
With good reason, as before I even start the stem piece comes away with the slightest of touch, and then breaks into three pieces.


9987(2)
This is not going to work as the stem with its rabbet is a critical piece, requiring lateral strength to hold the plank ends.

Once the stage is reached whereby the first planking strake is secured in the rabbet the whole process then becomes stronger but getting there is the issue.


9993(2)
It may be that my example is particularly weak, but having this fragile upright extension cut with cross grain is probably a contributing factor.

I think I need to remodel the stem cut on the longitudinal grain and form a scarph joint to hold the remade piece more securely.


 
I may be some time. 🤔


 
B.E.

21/01/21

 
 

Glad to see you have taken these on, can fully appreciate the fiddle factor but you seem quite the old hand on these smaller boats.  I agree there has been a huge gap in the market for these high quality minikits, these seem like a great upgrade to the older kit supplied options.

Michael - welcome aboard and thanks to you and the others for the interest.
 
Nun-Buoys:
I've been trying to get my head around these for some time, there seems to be little info on these in sources but seeing how others have tackled these (esp. BE and Chuck) were of great help.  I seem to recall that the buoys should be around 1/3 to 1/4 the length of the anchor but for the life of me can't find the reference or place that I read that to confirm.  The body of the buoy was shaped from some spare dowel, and 2 ringbolts inserted at the extremities leaving some of the length exposed.  These would have been made from leather and would have been 'served' with leather strips as suggested by Lavery, but this was a detail I ommitted, and these were simply painted with brown and black paint.  In a slightly larger size, these would be fun items to add a little more detail on (as I think BE did on his on his Pegasus build)

To make up the anchor buoy slings, eyes were seized into some rope, and threaded onto the rope that will become the hoops.  I wasn't quite sure what size to use, but considering that in practice these would have been wormed, parcelled and served - presumably for protection - it seems likely that they would be reasonably substantial.  I used some Syren line to get a little definition, and used a black marker to darken as I only had some tan stuff handy.

Mounting the slings on the buoy itself proved quite the challenge.  Firstly, the hoops were made up with a single overhand knot, secured with GS Hypo glue, and then trimmed.  The slings on each end need to go underneath the hoop on the opposite end.  I found the best method was to suspend in some helping hands to fine tune, although this proved very fiddly.

Once everything was satisfactorily in position, the 4 slings were seized around the ringbolt (which simulates the loop the slings would make), and then trimmed.

This was then attached to a pre-made coil to represent the length of rope needed for given depths of water, and then secured to the shrouds for storage, and attached to the anchor.  On many models, these are shown as rather drab items, I have to believe in practice that these would have received some sort of brightly coloured paint to aid visibility, but I stayed with the more conservative muted tones.



So at this point, the only item remaining to be completed is an ensign of some sort, and some tweaking of the rigging...
 
 

Michael - welcome aboard and thanks to you and the others for the interest.
 
Nun-Buoys:
I've been trying to get my head around these for some time, there seems to be little info on these in sources but seeing how others have tackled these (esp. BE and Chuck) were of great help.  I seem to recall that the buoys should be around 1/3 to 1/4 the length of the anchor but for the life of me can't find the reference or place that I read that to confirm.  The body of the buoy was shaped from some spare dowel, and 2 ringbolts inserted at the extremities leaving some of the length exposed.  These would have been made from leather and would have been 'served' with leather strips as suggested by Lavery, but this was a detail I ommitted, and these were simply painted with brown and black paint.  In a slightly larger size, these would be fun items to add a little more detail on (as I think BE did on his on his Pegasus build)

To make up the anchor buoy slings, eyes were seized into some rope, and threaded onto the rope that will become the hoops.  I wasn't quite sure what size to use, but considering that in practice these would have been wormed, parcelled and served - presumably for protection - it seems likely that they would be reasonably substantial.  I used some Syren line to get a little definition, and used a black marker to darken as I only had some tan stuff handy.

Mounting the slings on the buoy itself proved quite the challenge.  Firstly, the hoops were made up with a single overhand knot, secured with GS Hypo glue, and then trimmed.  The slings on each end need to go underneath the hoop on the opposite end.  I found the best method was to suspend in some helping hands to fine tune, although this proved very fiddly.

Once everything was satisfactorily in position, the 4 slings were seized around the ringbolt (which simulates the loop the slings would make), and then trimmed.

This was then attached to a pre-made coil to represent the length of rope needed for given depths of water, and then secured to the shrouds for storage, and attached to the anchor.  On many models, these are shown as rather drab items, I have to believe in practice that these would have received some sort of brightly coloured paint to aid visibility, but I stayed with the more conservative muted tones.



So at this point, the only item remaining to be completed is an ensign of some sort, and some tweaking of the rigging...
 
 

Michael - welcome aboard and thanks to you and the others for the interest.
 
Nun-Buoys:
I've been trying to get my head around these for some time, there seems to be little info on these in sources but seeing how others have tackled these (esp. BE and Chuck) were of great help.  I seem to recall that the buoys should be around 1/3 to 1/4 the length of the anchor but for the life of me can't find the reference or place that I read that to confirm.  The body of the buoy was shaped from some spare dowel, and 2 ringbolts inserted at the extremities leaving some of the length exposed.  These would have been made from leather and would have been 'served' with leather strips as suggested by Lavery, but this was a detail I ommitted, and these were simply painted with brown and black paint.  In a slightly larger size, these would be fun items to add a little more detail on (as I think BE did on his on his Pegasus build)

To make up the anchor buoy slings, eyes were seized into some rope, and threaded onto the rope that will become the hoops.  I wasn't quite sure what size to use, but considering that in practice these would have been wormed, parcelled and served - presumably for protection - it seems likely that they would be reasonably substantial.  I used some Syren line to get a little definition, and used a black marker to darken as I only had some tan stuff handy.

Mounting the slings on the buoy itself proved quite the challenge.  Firstly, the hoops were made up with a single overhand knot, secured with GS Hypo glue, and then trimmed.  The slings on each end need to go underneath the hoop on the opposite end.  I found the best method was to suspend in some helping hands to fine tune, although this proved very fiddly.

Once everything was satisfactorily in position, the 4 slings were seized around the ringbolt (which simulates the loop the slings would make), and then trimmed.

This was then attached to a pre-made coil to represent the length of rope needed for given depths of water, and then secured to the shrouds for storage, and attached to the anchor.  On many models, these are shown as rather drab items, I have to believe in practice that these would have received some sort of brightly coloured paint to aid visibility, but I stayed with the more conservative muted tones.



So at this point, the only item remaining to be completed is an ensign of some sort, and some tweaking of the rigging...
 
 

Felt good to finally get some paint on this, after such a long period of it sitting on the shelf.  I ended up priming with thinned Vallejo black primer.  For the gray, there are various grays used by different shipyards.  This ship was built by the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal.  Some companies like Tamiya make paint colors specific to the various shipyards (Kure, Maizuru, Yokosuka, etc.).  I wanted to stick with Vallejo, so I went with Vallejo Medium Gunship Gray with a  tiny bit of Vallejo Intermediate Blue mixed in to get what I think is a fairly close match to what the Tamiya paint (XF 91) looked like.  It gets a little crazy trying to be exact, as colors render differently on the computer and even vary across pictures of the same paints posted by different sellers.  With shading and weathering, things will change in the end anyway. 
 
 

 
I like how things came out.  With the black primer base, I lightly sprayed the gray so the hull is already shaded in the various recesses, which makes things much easier.  Next I'll try to add some washes and a touch of highlighting, and then start adding the remaining details like the rails which are still on the PE frets but painted.
 
Thanks for looking in!

Jason,
 
Have not commented too often -- should have --   awesome log along with brilliant work!!
 
Regards,

Glad to see you have taken these on, can fully appreciate the fiddle factor but you seem quite the old hand on these smaller boats.  I agree there has been a huge gap in the market for these high quality minikits, these seem like a great upgrade to the older kit supplied options.

Building a 22’ Yawl.
 
I was pleased to see that Chris had extended his range of ships boats to cover almost everything that the builder of 1:64 scale 18thc ships could want.
The only possible exception is a Longboat.
 

Yawl as built by James Hatch.
I was instantly drawn to the Yawl, a boat type I have not built, and this mini kit looked too good to pass.
 

9953(2)
Here’s the makings for this mini kit.
The first thing I notice is the inclusion of all Pearwood for the  keel parts and planking and the much reduced thickness of the timbers to better reflect scale. The build board and sacrificial bulkheads are of PDF.
 
The usual etched gratings and bottom boards are similar to the old cutter kit, but as with that kit I don’t think I will use the  rudder covers.
A set of Pearwood oars are provided in addition to the brass etched versions. These are very fine but provide a good template to build up the looms.
 
 
A little history about Yawls.
 
This boat type was developed at Deal on the Kent coast and was traditionally clinker built. The Yawl became part of the Navy boat establishment in 1701 but its form developed over the succeeding years.
 
In terms of naval use, both clinker and carvel planked versions were in operation at various periods and concurrently during the 18th century, but the Navy had a preference for carvel-built boats, and Yawls built in Naval Dockyards took this form.
 
The strength and lightness of clinker boats were often favoured by ship Captains, but the drawback to Clinker built boats was difficulty of repair compared with carvel-built boats, and the Navy only issued carvel versions to ships destined for foreign service.
 
The kit represents a carvel version as built in a naval yard rather than a private yard where clinker would prevail
 
For this build I am going to follow the carvel route.
 
Looking ahead I have a fancy to mast and rig my version.
 
First steps.
 
The first thing that is instantly apparent with this kit is the fragility of the parts, very soft hands will be required at least in the early stages of the assembly.
 

9965
Even so, in the process of fitting the forward bulkheads and filler pieces, I managed with the slightest touch to snap off the upper part of the stem which contains the rabbet.
This is not a criticism of the kit which by its scale nature requires fine parts.
 

9968
So, first stages comes to a shuddering halt whilst I wait for the Aliphatic resin to hopefully secure the now re-attached stem head.
 

9967
However, until the boat is secured on its board I will live in fear of the Pearwood keel snapping.
 
 
B.E.
20/01/21
 
 

Post Nine
 
 
 
Faffing and fiddling to the finish line
 
 
The rudder is completed with straps and the tiller and can now be set in place.
 

9919(2)
I used thin black card for the purposes of the straps.
 
 
I decided to make the oars using Boxwood as the brass etched versions lacked the looms, and you can’t get away from the two-dimensional aspect of brass etch.
 

9943(2)
The kit supplies two sweet little etched grappling hooks, I silver soldered the arms rather than use ca which would have been detrimental to the blackening process.
 
The boat hook was fitted in a Boxwood handle rather than use the etched version.
 
The grapnel as provided by the kit lacks the benefit of a ring, easily rectified, which is needed to attach the classic Fisherman's Bend hitch for small anchors, where the line needs to pass twice thro' the ring.
 
Steel gives a grapnel rope circ for ships boats as 3"-3½"
I used .30mm ø line for the purpose.
 

9944(2)
The completed set.
 

9927(2)
Wipe-on-poly is used to enhance the natural colour of the timbers, I decided not to use paint on the model.
 

9928(2)
It was necessary to use Light oak wood stain on the keel, which would still have been the case had I used the supplied Pearwood.
 

9930(2)

9932(2)
An enjoyable little interlude to occupy myself during the Bathroom re-fit which looks to continue for a few days more.
 

9949
A better appreciation of the relative size of this bijou build, I think it will be a cutter for a cutter and join Alert in her display case.
 
As I finish this project Chris has issued his replacement, enhanced, 18’ cutter.
Having a Pearwood keel is a good improvement and the use of thinner 0.6mm strip is more scale appropriate. The build sequence is also more logical and I like the inclusion of Pearwood oars, something else I feel is preferable.
 
 
I have decided to rename this log as 18th c ships boats – 1:64 scale - Vanguard Models, as today I received another of Chris’s little gems, this time the 22’ Yawl.
 
 
 
This build will continue in this section.
 
 
B.E.
19/01/21

Post Eight


 
Sheer strakes, Gunwales and Washboards.


 
These terms can be a little confusing in relation to cutters.


 
David White- The Frigate Diana describes the upper strake as the Wash Strake and below this the Upper Strake. The Gun wale is shown as running inside the framing.


 
Peter Goodwin – The Cutter Alert describes the upper strake as the Gunwale (wash strake) and below this the sheer strake.


 
Brian Lavery – Arming and Fitting describes the upper strake as a thicker piece of timber known as the Gunwale, fitted with thole pins or rowlocks. After the mid-eighteenth century a removeable wash- strake was fitted on many boats, above the gunwale.


 
For the purposes of my build I will use the terms Gunwale and Wash strake.


 
Gunwale


9872
I used 0.7mm x 1.8mm ebony strip for the purpose, ca’d level with the top of the bulwark.
 
Wash-strake


 
These are likely to prove tricky to fit because there is little effectively to support them inboard.


9863(2)
The knees that fit to the thwarts should run up to the top of the Wash strake, which they don’t on my build unless they are fitted with the long end upwards which I did as I couldn’t face making replacements of these tiny items.

 

9864(2)
With this arrangement there will be support for the Wash-boards but before these are fitted it is necessary to consider the Rowlock positions.


 
The kit seems to indicate three sets of rowlocks serving the forward three thwarts. This would suggest that it is set up for double banked rowing, and the oar length would support this


There is a plan for an 18’ cutter in the Cutter Alert book showing this set up.


 
However, there are plans indicating offset rowlocks for 18’ cutters which would indicate a single bank arrangement.

There is a plan for an 18’ cutter in the Frigate Diana book (David White) which has this arrangement.


 
I am using 1.7mm x 0.7mm Boxwood strip for the wash strakes.

The strakes need to be heat bent to fit atop the bulwark without tension which will greatly assist a successful result.


 
The kit blurb suggests gluing strips of wood along the bulwark leaving 1mm gaps for the Rowlocks.


9880
My approach is to fit the strake as a whole which has the advantage of maintaining a better round to follow the hull.

I used spots of ca on the brackets and the strip to secure the strake.


9879(2)
A micro-saw is then used to cut the rowlocks. I use an Airwaves etched stainless steel saw blade that has incredibly fine teeth and fits into a Swann Morten scalpel blade.
Anything coarser would inevitably break the glue bond or the wood strip.


9887(2)
This finishes the basic construction, but the macro’s I took show up areas requiring further cleaning up before the final finish is applied.


 
B.E.

17/01/21

 
 

Looks great Rob!  You've clearly been busy.  Forgive me if I missed it, what did you decide on for the topgallant masts (stump, common or long)?  Also curious if you are following the plans, or the rigging diagram in the AOTS Diana book, and whether you've seen any differences.

Michael - welcome aboard and thanks to you and the others for the interest.
 
Nun-Buoys:
I've been trying to get my head around these for some time, there seems to be little info on these in sources but seeing how others have tackled these (esp. BE and Chuck) were of great help.  I seem to recall that the buoys should be around 1/3 to 1/4 the length of the anchor but for the life of me can't find the reference or place that I read that to confirm.  The body of the buoy was shaped from some spare dowel, and 2 ringbolts inserted at the extremities leaving some of the length exposed.  These would have been made from leather and would have been 'served' with leather strips as suggested by Lavery, but this was a detail I ommitted, and these were simply painted with brown and black paint.  In a slightly larger size, these would be fun items to add a little more detail on (as I think BE did on his on his Pegasus build)

To make up the anchor buoy slings, eyes were seized into some rope, and threaded onto the rope that will become the hoops.  I wasn't quite sure what size to use, but considering that in practice these would have been wormed, parcelled and served - presumably for protection - it seems likely that they would be reasonably substantial.  I used some Syren line to get a little definition, and used a black marker to darken as I only had some tan stuff handy.

Mounting the slings on the buoy itself proved quite the challenge.  Firstly, the hoops were made up with a single overhand knot, secured with GS Hypo glue, and then trimmed.  The slings on each end need to go underneath the hoop on the opposite end.  I found the best method was to suspend in some helping hands to fine tune, although this proved very fiddly.

Once everything was satisfactorily in position, the 4 slings were seized around the ringbolt (which simulates the loop the slings would make), and then trimmed.

This was then attached to a pre-made coil to represent the length of rope needed for given depths of water, and then secured to the shrouds for storage, and attached to the anchor.  On many models, these are shown as rather drab items, I have to believe in practice that these would have received some sort of brightly coloured paint to aid visibility, but I stayed with the more conservative muted tones.



So at this point, the only item remaining to be completed is an ensign of some sort, and some tweaking of the rigging...
 
 

Michael - welcome aboard and thanks to you and the others for the interest.
 
Nun-Buoys:
I've been trying to get my head around these for some time, there seems to be little info on these in sources but seeing how others have tackled these (esp. BE and Chuck) were of great help.  I seem to recall that the buoys should be around 1/3 to 1/4 the length of the anchor but for the life of me can't find the reference or place that I read that to confirm.  The body of the buoy was shaped from some spare dowel, and 2 ringbolts inserted at the extremities leaving some of the length exposed.  These would have been made from leather and would have been 'served' with leather strips as suggested by Lavery, but this was a detail I ommitted, and these were simply painted with brown and black paint.  In a slightly larger size, these would be fun items to add a little more detail on (as I think BE did on his on his Pegasus build)

To make up the anchor buoy slings, eyes were seized into some rope, and threaded onto the rope that will become the hoops.  I wasn't quite sure what size to use, but considering that in practice these would have been wormed, parcelled and served - presumably for protection - it seems likely that they would be reasonably substantial.  I used some Syren line to get a little definition, and used a black marker to darken as I only had some tan stuff handy.

Mounting the slings on the buoy itself proved quite the challenge.  Firstly, the hoops were made up with a single overhand knot, secured with GS Hypo glue, and then trimmed.  The slings on each end need to go underneath the hoop on the opposite end.  I found the best method was to suspend in some helping hands to fine tune, although this proved very fiddly.

Once everything was satisfactorily in position, the 4 slings were seized around the ringbolt (which simulates the loop the slings would make), and then trimmed.

This was then attached to a pre-made coil to represent the length of rope needed for given depths of water, and then secured to the shrouds for storage, and attached to the anchor.  On many models, these are shown as rather drab items, I have to believe in practice that these would have received some sort of brightly coloured paint to aid visibility, but I stayed with the more conservative muted tones.



So at this point, the only item remaining to be completed is an ensign of some sort, and some tweaking of the rigging...
 
 

Michael - welcome aboard and thanks to you and the others for the interest.
 
Nun-Buoys:
I've been trying to get my head around these for some time, there seems to be little info on these in sources but seeing how others have tackled these (esp. BE and Chuck) were of great help.  I seem to recall that the buoys should be around 1/3 to 1/4 the length of the anchor but for the life of me can't find the reference or place that I read that to confirm.  The body of the buoy was shaped from some spare dowel, and 2 ringbolts inserted at the extremities leaving some of the length exposed.  These would have been made from leather and would have been 'served' with leather strips as suggested by Lavery, but this was a detail I ommitted, and these were simply painted with brown and black paint.  In a slightly larger size, these would be fun items to add a little more detail on (as I think BE did on his on his Pegasus build)

To make up the anchor buoy slings, eyes were seized into some rope, and threaded onto the rope that will become the hoops.  I wasn't quite sure what size to use, but considering that in practice these would have been wormed, parcelled and served - presumably for protection - it seems likely that they would be reasonably substantial.  I used some Syren line to get a little definition, and used a black marker to darken as I only had some tan stuff handy.

Mounting the slings on the buoy itself proved quite the challenge.  Firstly, the hoops were made up with a single overhand knot, secured with GS Hypo glue, and then trimmed.  The slings on each end need to go underneath the hoop on the opposite end.  I found the best method was to suspend in some helping hands to fine tune, although this proved very fiddly.

Once everything was satisfactorily in position, the 4 slings were seized around the ringbolt (which simulates the loop the slings would make), and then trimmed.

This was then attached to a pre-made coil to represent the length of rope needed for given depths of water, and then secured to the shrouds for storage, and attached to the anchor.  On many models, these are shown as rather drab items, I have to believe in practice that these would have received some sort of brightly coloured paint to aid visibility, but I stayed with the more conservative muted tones.



So at this point, the only item remaining to be completed is an ensign of some sort, and some tweaking of the rigging...
 
 

I've just completed the main mast stays - topmast, topgallant, and royal stays, as per the fore mast. And in doing so I ran out of .5mm natural thread.... again... but not before I got all of the yards attached to the masts, and the spritsail yard attached too with their trusses and parrel beads as appropriate.
 
Here's what I did (although I'm aware that in various places it may be a little unorthodox - not least because I forgot to put the cleats on the masts, and it's way too late to start at this stage! Lesson learned!
 
The bits that hold the yards up (trusses, parrel beads, and halyards?)
 
Main yards and cross jack
 
The main, fore and cross jack yards (those that are lowest on the masts) are fixed with trusses. I formed these by tying two lengths round the yards with loops in the ends at the yard. This was done off the model. Then the yards were put back in place, and the opposite ends passed through the loops and then down to the deck and fixed tied off to a double 3mm block opposite a single block hooked into the eyelet on the deck just behind the mast with a lanyard which ends on the cleat on the mast (or on the bitts if you've forgotten them!). There's a good illustration of this in the instructions, and an even better picture in Lennarth Petersson's book... but here's my attempt.
 

 

 

 
Parrel beads (top / topgt yards)
 
The maintop, maintopgallant, foremaintop, and foremaintopgallant yards have parrel beads in two rows with parrel bead separators between them. These are noted as being castings in my instructions, but were in fact brass etched. They need blackening / painting before you begin. Then you have to start the tortuous needs-five-hands-at-least task of getting them rigged. 

To make this easier, I did as much as I could off the model.
 
.5mm rope was looped round the yard through the footropes, where it would finally end up, and parrel beads were threaded onto the rope, interspersed with the spacers - currently only on one rope (paying attention to which way round the spacers are - the curved edge will face out from the mast when fixed). Then, the other end of the rope was passed through the other hole in the spacers.
 
The picture will make it more clear, hopefully...
 

 
 
Once done, masking tape is applied to the loose ends to stop it all falling off...
 

 
...and the yard is then attached to the mast (it's pinned). Then the loose ends can be passed round the mast on the inner side of any rigging, ensuring that it isn't above or below any blocks that it shouldn't be... and fastened with a knot into a loop in as inconspicuous fashion as possible.
 
I'll admit, I'm not great at this... but it's done for another model!
 
I've seen others put extra layers on from this point to go round the middle of the parrel beads, but I call it a day at this point... or my head hurts too much!
 
Here's an end shot.
 

 

 
The fore and aft booms on the mizzen mast are secured with a single thread with parrel beads on it, but no spacers.
 
Spritsail yard
 
This is placed in a sling as shown below... A loop is tied round the bowsprit, and then another round the spritsail yard. It's all tied off in the middle.
 

 

 
The spritsail yard stay can then be rigged...
 

 

 

 

 
Finally, the heavy loops that support the weight of the yards, and are formed with suitably heavy rope along with the big 7mm blocks which were rigged and pass down to the deck to be rigged to the eyelets just fore of the mast being tied off on the bitts.
 

 
So far so good. The gaps to fit one's hands in are growing smaller... but we're getting there.
 
Rob

Michael - welcome aboard and thanks to you and the others for the interest.
 
Nun-Buoys:
I've been trying to get my head around these for some time, there seems to be little info on these in sources but seeing how others have tackled these (esp. BE and Chuck) were of great help.  I seem to recall that the buoys should be around 1/3 to 1/4 the length of the anchor but for the life of me can't find the reference or place that I read that to confirm.  The body of the buoy was shaped from some spare dowel, and 2 ringbolts inserted at the extremities leaving some of the length exposed.  These would have been made from leather and would have been 'served' with leather strips as suggested by Lavery, but this was a detail I ommitted, and these were simply painted with brown and black paint.  In a slightly larger size, these would be fun items to add a little more detail on (as I think BE did on his on his Pegasus build)

To make up the anchor buoy slings, eyes were seized into some rope, and threaded onto the rope that will become the hoops.  I wasn't quite sure what size to use, but considering that in practice these would have been wormed, parcelled and served - presumably for protection - it seems likely that they would be reasonably substantial.  I used some Syren line to get a little definition, and used a black marker to darken as I only had some tan stuff handy.

Mounting the slings on the buoy itself proved quite the challenge.  Firstly, the hoops were made up with a single overhand knot, secured with GS Hypo glue, and then trimmed.  The slings on each end need to go underneath the hoop on the opposite end.  I found the best method was to suspend in some helping hands to fine tune, although this proved very fiddly.

Once everything was satisfactorily in position, the 4 slings were seized around the ringbolt (which simulates the loop the slings would make), and then trimmed.

This was then attached to a pre-made coil to represent the length of rope needed for given depths of water, and then secured to the shrouds for storage, and attached to the anchor.  On many models, these are shown as rather drab items, I have to believe in practice that these would have received some sort of brightly coloured paint to aid visibility, but I stayed with the more conservative muted tones.



So at this point, the only item remaining to be completed is an ensign of some sort, and some tweaking of the rigging...
 
 

Michael - welcome aboard and thanks to you and the others for the interest.
 
Nun-Buoys:
I've been trying to get my head around these for some time, there seems to be little info on these in sources but seeing how others have tackled these (esp. BE and Chuck) were of great help.  I seem to recall that the buoys should be around 1/3 to 1/4 the length of the anchor but for the life of me can't find the reference or place that I read that to confirm.  The body of the buoy was shaped from some spare dowel, and 2 ringbolts inserted at the extremities leaving some of the length exposed.  These would have been made from leather and would have been 'served' with leather strips as suggested by Lavery, but this was a detail I ommitted, and these were simply painted with brown and black paint.  In a slightly larger size, these would be fun items to add a little more detail on (as I think BE did on his on his Pegasus build)

To make up the anchor buoy slings, eyes were seized into some rope, and threaded onto the rope that will become the hoops.  I wasn't quite sure what size to use, but considering that in practice these would have been wormed, parcelled and served - presumably for protection - it seems likely that they would be reasonably substantial.  I used some Syren line to get a little definition, and used a black marker to darken as I only had some tan stuff handy.

Mounting the slings on the buoy itself proved quite the challenge.  Firstly, the hoops were made up with a single overhand knot, secured with GS Hypo glue, and then trimmed.  The slings on each end need to go underneath the hoop on the opposite end.  I found the best method was to suspend in some helping hands to fine tune, although this proved very fiddly.

Once everything was satisfactorily in position, the 4 slings were seized around the ringbolt (which simulates the loop the slings would make), and then trimmed.

This was then attached to a pre-made coil to represent the length of rope needed for given depths of water, and then secured to the shrouds for storage, and attached to the anchor.  On many models, these are shown as rather drab items, I have to believe in practice that these would have received some sort of brightly coloured paint to aid visibility, but I stayed with the more conservative muted tones.



So at this point, the only item remaining to be completed is an ensign of some sort, and some tweaking of the rigging...
 
 

Thanks whitejames, Eamonn, Joe, Martin, Stergios, mugje, Mike and all the 'likes' for the continued interest and encouragement.  Happy New year to everyone!
 
Anchors:
Adding some appropriate features here at the bow will do much to enhance the overall look of the model, the kit itself leaves the bow area a little sparse, especially the rigging which has already been commented on.  The kit provides 4 full sized 'bower' anchors.  However, Steele indicates that a ship of Snakes size and class would only carry 3, in addition to a smaller kedge and stream anchor : “Ships of 110 to, 100, 98, and 90 guns, have seven anchors; from 80 to 20 guns inclusive, 6 anchors; ships of 300 tons, and sloops, have 5; and brigs and cutters 3 anchors.” - This would include the large (best, small, and spare) bower anchors, stream and kedge anchors.
 
As for positioning, per Steele:  "The spare anchor is stowed on the starboard side, and is seldom used, but when one of the others is lost......The stream anchor is stowed on the spare anchor; and, when used, it is sent in the long-boat or launch, with its cable bent, and let go at any particular spot, either for steadying the ship, when riding by only one bower, or to assist a ship when in shore, or to warp her, &c. ......the kedge is stowed on the stream and spare anchors, and is frequently used to stop a ship for a tide in little winds…”
 
A number of years ago (!) I had purchased a smaller Caldercraft anchor for the kedge anchor, and luckily was able to find it.  Not much to cover in the making up of these anchors, which had previously started some time ago.  The ends of the stocks were rounded of and tapered.  One mistake I did make that I am now aware of is that there should be gap between the two halves, speculating to retard rot.  I found the 'puddening' particular challenging to complete as the pieces are hard to hold securely but finally got there - once again the 'springiness' of the kit supplied rope seems very capable of undoing work at the most inconvenient moment.
 
The next question was how to install on the model.  Info on anchor handling practices seems to be a little sparse, with diagrams and descriptions appearing in 'Lever' being replicated in other reference books.  Other logs, especially BE's fantastic Pegasus build, helped fill in areas of confusion.  Again Steele sheds a bit more light:  “The best bower is then placed forward near the bows on the starboard side; the small bower near the bows on the larboard side, a little abaft their respective catheads; and are secured by their stoppers, from the catheads and shank-painters. The stopper has one end clinched round the cathead; the other end passes through the ring of the anchor, returns upwards, and leads over a large thumb cleat bolted to the cathead, and is made fast with several turns, and the end hitched round the head-rail and timber-head, on the fore side of the cathead.”

Anchor hawse clinch:
The approach to attaching the hawse to the anchors using a clinch is shown pretty clearly in 'Lever'.  A bight is made by lashings ("no larger than the anchor ring") and the hawse fed through the anchor ring and the bight.  Nothing too complicated, but this was rather tricky to execute because it needed to be done in situ, a tin was used to rest the anchor while this was performed.  Before the last bight lashings were put on, the intended end of the hawse was seized to prevent it unravelling once cut.  This approach seemed to work well, and the extra untrimmed length of the hawse was helpful in keeping things positioned to allow the last lashing to be put in place.
 

Anchor stopper:
Per Steele:  "The stopper has one end clinched round the cathead; the other end passes through the ring of the anchor, returns upwards, and leads over a large thumb cleat bolted to the cathead, and is made fast with several turns, and the end hitched round the head-rail and timber-head, on the fore side of the cathead." 
 
The rope would likely need to be reasonably substantial, and given a diagram in Lever which corroborated, 0.75mm rope was used.  Although the size looked appropriate, the poor quality of the kit rope led me to look for options, and a solution became clear after looking at some photo's of Victory.  It seems the stopper was served (presumably for protection), so this was replicated and it went a long way to improving the visual appeal.
 

Cat block:
The cat blocks seem to be a nice feature to add for visual interest.  The blocks were made up from a couple of kit 7mm double blocks and shaped.  Card was used for the iron band and brass ringbolts used for the hook and the simulated axle.  A small PE eye bolt was installed on the rear of the cathead and 0.5mm line attached and fed through the block before securing to a cleat at the base.
 

 
Shank painter:
Per Steele:  "The shank-painter hangs the shank and fluke of the anchor to the ship's side outboard; and when stowed, the shank-painter is passed under the inner fluke round the shank of the anchor, and made fast with two or three turns, and the end stopt round timber-heads on the forecastle."  Lever also has a well replicated diagram showing how this would be used.
 
Luckily I had some spare chain left over from the rudder, and this was used for the shank painter together with some 0.5mm line.  At first, I felt this was a little oversized, but looking at photos again of Victory it doesn't seem too out of line.  Against the black background of the hull it sits OK with my eye.  I suspect that the end of the chain ended in a hook, but this detail was omitted for convenience, as it would not be very visible.
 

Undecided as of now whether to leave the port anchor suspended from the catblock or replicate that used on the starboard side.

 

I still can't help myself. I spent a couple of days working on a jig to make the gun capsquares. I did manage to put something together, making left and right hand pieces (because of the angle of the carriage sides). It got complicated, working out how to get the male and female parts to line up when the holes were drilled at opposite angles:
 

 
It worked:
 

 
But the angle barely shows at this scale, not worth all of the extra work.
Tomorrow, I will try simplifying this to a 90 degree angle used for both sides, then make the jigs for the other two gun sizes before I forget how I did all of this....
 
Mark
 
 
 
 
 

A few steps forward, a few back, and then some more forward.
 
Finished the planking inside and out.  Cut out the gun and sweep ports.

 
The eagle-eyed might spot that the waterline batten is gone.  I had placed it using the supplied drawing, matching the position at the cut-water.  The more I looked at it, the more convinced I was that it was too high.  Checking agains the rudder it really was apparent at the stern.  So off it came.  
 
I also realised that I hadn't quite got the line of the port main wale right at the stern (not sure how).  Anyway, with much trepidation I trimmed off a lower portion and spliced in a wedge-shaped piece at the top.  To my great relief it worked fine.  Lessons: pay more attention, and don't be afraid to remedy a mistake.
 
 
 
Here she is with the outboard bulwarks painted yellow ochre, and then masked up for the red and black to follow. 

 
And here she is all freshly painted.

 
Now on with the deck planking!

Michael - welcome aboard and thanks to you and the others for the interest.
 
Nun-Buoys:
I've been trying to get my head around these for some time, there seems to be little info on these in sources but seeing how others have tackled these (esp. BE and Chuck) were of great help.  I seem to recall that the buoys should be around 1/3 to 1/4 the length of the anchor but for the life of me can't find the reference or place that I read that to confirm.  The body of the buoy was shaped from some spare dowel, and 2 ringbolts inserted at the extremities leaving some of the length exposed.  These would have been made from leather and would have been 'served' with leather strips as suggested by Lavery, but this was a detail I ommitted, and these were simply painted with brown and black paint.  In a slightly larger size, these would be fun items to add a little more detail on (as I think BE did on his on his Pegasus build)

To make up the anchor buoy slings, eyes were seized into some rope, and threaded onto the rope that will become the hoops.  I wasn't quite sure what size to use, but considering that in practice these would have been wormed, parcelled and served - presumably for protection - it seems likely that they would be reasonably substantial.  I used some Syren line to get a little definition, and used a black marker to darken as I only had some tan stuff handy.

Mounting the slings on the buoy itself proved quite the challenge.  Firstly, the hoops were made up with a single overhand knot, secured with GS Hypo glue, and then trimmed.  The slings on each end need to go underneath the hoop on the opposite end.  I found the best method was to suspend in some helping hands to fine tune, although this proved very fiddly.

Once everything was satisfactorily in position, the 4 slings were seized around the ringbolt (which simulates the loop the slings would make), and then trimmed.

This was then attached to a pre-made coil to represent the length of rope needed for given depths of water, and then secured to the shrouds for storage, and attached to the anchor.  On many models, these are shown as rather drab items, I have to believe in practice that these would have received some sort of brightly coloured paint to aid visibility, but I stayed with the more conservative muted tones.



So at this point, the only item remaining to be completed is an ensign of some sort, and some tweaking of the rigging...
 
 

Some progress on the longboat: Planking and clean-up is finished (imgs 1-3), hull is painted (imgs 4-5), floor boards, front grating and thwarts are done (imgs 6-7), chocks are mounted on the gallows bits (img 8), and the windlass is installed (img 9). Img 10 gives an overall impression of the Syren with the (unfinished) longboat in place.
 
Thomas
 

Image 1
 

Image 2
 

Image 3
 

Image 4
 

Image 5
 

Image 6
 

Image 7
 

Image 8
 

Image 9
 

Image 10