Beef Wellington

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
 
 

I was asked by Valentina Golycheva if I could do a painting of the attack on Convoy BD-5 - 12 August, 1944: The Marina Raskova was a soviet cargo ship that was torpedoed and damaged in the Kara Sea by U-365 (commander Kapitänleutnant H.Wedemeyer) while heading from Molotovsk to Kara's naval base at Port Dikson to supply food, technical equipment relief personnel and their families. The merchant ship was being escorted by three minesweepers from the 6. Minesweeper Division, and two of them were also sunk by the German submarine (T-118 and T-114). Marina Raskova was sunk by a coup de grâce the day after. Of the 632 men Women and Children on the three ships, 373 were lost and only 259 were rescued. Valentina's Father was among those killed. A little known event among the the the many tragedies during the war at sea in the Arctic Convoys. It is well worth looking into the story of Convoy BD-5 and subsequent expedition in 2015 to find and honour the remains of those who did not return Valentina Golysheva is well known in connection with Russian Arctic Convoy associations and Rememberance events in Russia and UK. She is Associate Professor, PhD Director of the British Centre Department of English School of Social Sciences and Humanities and International Communications Northern ( Arctic) Federal University (NARFU) Arkhangelsk

Congratulations Bob, a very fine looking model.

She finished up nicely Bob, very well done. Congrats on the build!

Well the thing is finally finished, though I will put a few rope coils here and there later today.  It's quite a challenging model.  As I have noted earlier in this log, the materials supplied were quite variable  - some was really  quite poor (some of the timber strip was unusable).  The instructions were good and the parts list was really well done.
 
This is how it's turned out.
 
Here I have blue-tacked a very small crew member onto the deck to give some idea of scale.  He is a 1:72 person and of course the model is 1:64.  Once some of his 1:64 colleagues are delivered I will put him ashore.  I don't know what to do with the 'lids' for the rear mortar.  Leaving them strewn around the deck does not seem satisfactory.
 

 
 

 
 

 
Whoops - my man seems to have been at the grog locker.

 
 

 

 

 

 

 
We are returning to the south coast on Monday for a week and I had hoped to bring Speedy with me to make a start.  It was supposed to be delivered on Friday .....
 
 

Hello,
and many thanks for your likes and wishes.
After a short break between the years, I'm back at the shipyard. Now all port lids at least are build, but not all are lined. 
 

 

 
At the picture above you see the lids without lining, flush with the planking. At the picture below the lids have already the lining, and they are now not flush with the planking. All who where not ill with measles ore what else when it came to addition at school, know what is now to do. And that is not a shortcut ☹️
 

 

 
Above without lining and below with lining. 
 

 
At the picture above the lids are looking more like at most historic models. At the Centurion (below) is interesting, that they build the lids just plain, without the bulky wails or thick planking on top! 
 

Finished deck planking and gratings.
The latter were purchased. Why am I thinking about Belgian Waffles ?
 
Many French ships seem to have this characteristic :  darker (sometimes black) strips are embedded inside the deck planking. Although I  can only guess the purpose, I copied the idea as it is pleasing to the eye. As a matter of exercise,  planks were a bit tapered towards the bow. I'm planning to implement this on the forecastle, according to plan.
 
Put her alongside HMS Diana, from which I removed the dust. Regarding this matter, a solution is in the making (it's about time, shame on me).
The photo is deceiving : HMS Diana is not that smaller, in real.

Welcome aboard Rob and Thunder and thanks for your comments and encouragement.
 
I ordered some boxwood from OM for the stem and sternpost plus a few sheets of 1.5 and 3mm which arrived the other day. As you say, they are most helpful and respond to enquiries very quickly. I hadn't thought of using boxwood for the visible planking above the wales but I am seriously considering it now.
 
While I was waiting for the boxwood to arrive, I planked the visible section of the false deck using the kit supplied tanganika. It is pretty rough on the edges and needed a fair bit of dressing; ok for this largely hidden area but I will be using some maple that I bought from CMB for the other decks. I used a Pigma brush pen as recommended by Ray to colour both edges of the strips before laying, which I found much easier and gave better results than my previous method of using a 4B pencil.
 

 

 
The planks in the photo look a bit muddy but are better in reality.
 
My boxwood arrived from Original Marquetry so I set about marking out a new stern post and stem. I used the drawings from AotS for the stem. Having satisfied myself that the replacements were ok, I took the plunge and cut off the appropriate parts of the keel. A little filing, sanding and a thin filling piece required, but overall I was happy with the fit.
 

 

 
At some point I had an accident with one of the bulkheads, which hopefully I can fix later.
 

 
As other builders have spotted, the position of the mizzen mast is slightly aft compared to AotS and the space between skylight mast bitts and mast is pretty tight on the kit plan. I have decided to leave the mast where it is and move the skylight back a few mm.
 

 
The bulkheads and deck are now glued and fixed.
 

 
I'll carry on with the termination pieces and the balsa infills but leave the stern section off for the time being.
 

Hi Dunnock, great to see another 'Diana' coming to life, looks like you are thinking well ahead.  I'm sure you've seen many of the other fine builds going on right now and I'd suggest letting folks know you've started your log.  Sure you'll get plenty of support and this kit definitely has its head scratching moments.  Look forward to more.

Henrik,
 
What you can do is put some sawdust with glue in the wood that is open till it is smooth as the rest.
Light sanding the whole bow part and paint it black again!
Or glue on both side a small part of wood and paint it .
But do that on both sides and nobody will see it.
Only the people who follow you 😂
For the rest looks it just great!!
 
Sjors
 
 

definition of "prolific" - producing a great number or amount of something, an abundance of inventiveness or productivity
 
I think your comment "I have no room anymore" proves it 🙂