Beef Wellington

About time I caught up with myself...
 
@Ben - I'm going to have to stand guilty as charged!  Appreciate your post, this was something that I have been wrestling with for some time and fully recognize that the approach taken is a compromise.  My thinking has been as follows, and I suspect that every model builder will arrive at a different place.  Your coils are certainly excellently executed!  
Quality of rope used:  Having used the Syren line on 'Jason', there is just no comparison between good quality custom rope and the 'stuff' supplied in kits.  My skill levels are just not up to achieving consistent coils following a seamanlike practice (that look anywhere near acceptable). Scale:  This seems to be a variable from modeler to modeler, but to my eye many of the coils using this technique just do not look right at scale, especially when many pins are used on a rail adjacent to each other. Much of the rope used per kit instructions are much thinner than your prototype - mostly kit supplied 0.25mm line which is not very substantial and subject to gravity making floating 'ovals' distracting Quantity of rope (on the actual ships):  Looking at many older photographs of ships, the one thing that stands out to me is that the quantity of belayed rope used on contemporary working vessels just looks far more voluminous for whatever reason than that seen on modern 'museum' ships, maybe because of longer working lengths, necessity to be worked by many hands etc etc. The bottom line though is that there is enough on this build that continues to bother me (both mistakes and things that I have since learned) to push me to continue  with an eye to completion.  I'll apply for parole at the duly appointed time...
 
Rigging (almost) complete:
After nearly 7 years, with all the main rigging elements in place, I can start to smell the scent of completion.  The only outstanding rigging feature (in addition to some remaining decorative coils) are the spritsail sail sheets which will be added when I'm confident that the anchor placement won't cause problems.
 
Braces:
One of the bigger challenges were the braces, mainly because many of these are bent onto various stays.  At this scale the rope doesn't behave well, and preventing the stays being pulled into all sorts of unnatural alignments by the much thinner braces, and keeping the braces taught, meant taking this very slowly, ensuring line had time settle into place and in many cases using dilute PVA while attempting to keep the stays in position.  This proved to be especially challenging for the fore and fore topsail braces which bend to the main stay in one rather tight spot.

Sheets, tacks and cluelines:
Petersson was a big help here to illustrate how these worked in practice as the instructions are simplified.  Given that both the main and fore require these, with 3 belaying points for each, some planning is needed to ensure sufficient working room as once in position access is even more severely limited.  The tack is the most substantial of the running rigging used and 0.75mm rope was used as per instructions.  At this thickness, it proved necessary to coil rope on the deck after belaying to pinrails.
 
I took the same approach to BE on his Pegasus build in having the sheets and tacks go outboard of any standing rigging, although the sheets are yet to be finally secured.


And finally, some overall shots..

 
 
 
 
 
 

About time I caught up with myself...
 
@Ben - I'm going to have to stand guilty as charged!  Appreciate your post, this was something that I have been wrestling with for some time and fully recognize that the approach taken is a compromise.  My thinking has been as follows, and I suspect that every model builder will arrive at a different place.  Your coils are certainly excellently executed!  
Quality of rope used:  Having used the Syren line on 'Jason', there is just no comparison between good quality custom rope and the 'stuff' supplied in kits.  My skill levels are just not up to achieving consistent coils following a seamanlike practice (that look anywhere near acceptable). Scale:  This seems to be a variable from modeler to modeler, but to my eye many of the coils using this technique just do not look right at scale, especially when many pins are used on a rail adjacent to each other. Much of the rope used per kit instructions are much thinner than your prototype - mostly kit supplied 0.25mm line which is not very substantial and subject to gravity making floating 'ovals' distracting Quantity of rope (on the actual ships):  Looking at many older photographs of ships, the one thing that stands out to me is that the quantity of belayed rope used on contemporary working vessels just looks far more voluminous for whatever reason than that seen on modern 'museum' ships, maybe because of longer working lengths, necessity to be worked by many hands etc etc. The bottom line though is that there is enough on this build that continues to bother me (both mistakes and things that I have since learned) to push me to continue  with an eye to completion.  I'll apply for parole at the duly appointed time...
 
Rigging (almost) complete:
After nearly 7 years, with all the main rigging elements in place, I can start to smell the scent of completion.  The only outstanding rigging feature (in addition to some remaining decorative coils) are the spritsail sail sheets which will be added when I'm confident that the anchor placement won't cause problems.
 
Braces:
One of the bigger challenges were the braces, mainly because many of these are bent onto various stays.  At this scale the rope doesn't behave well, and preventing the stays being pulled into all sorts of unnatural alignments by the much thinner braces, and keeping the braces taught, meant taking this very slowly, ensuring line had time settle into place and in many cases using dilute PVA while attempting to keep the stays in position.  This proved to be especially challenging for the fore and fore topsail braces which bend to the main stay in one rather tight spot.

Sheets, tacks and cluelines:
Petersson was a big help here to illustrate how these worked in practice as the instructions are simplified.  Given that both the main and fore require these, with 3 belaying points for each, some planning is needed to ensure sufficient working room as once in position access is even more severely limited.  The tack is the most substantial of the running rigging used and 0.75mm rope was used as per instructions.  At this thickness, it proved necessary to coil rope on the deck after belaying to pinrails.
 
I took the same approach to BE on his Pegasus build in having the sheets and tacks go outboard of any standing rigging, although the sheets are yet to be finally secured.


And finally, some overall shots..

 
 
 
 
 
 

About time I caught up with myself...
 
@Ben - I'm going to have to stand guilty as charged!  Appreciate your post, this was something that I have been wrestling with for some time and fully recognize that the approach taken is a compromise.  My thinking has been as follows, and I suspect that every model builder will arrive at a different place.  Your coils are certainly excellently executed!  
Quality of rope used:  Having used the Syren line on 'Jason', there is just no comparison between good quality custom rope and the 'stuff' supplied in kits.  My skill levels are just not up to achieving consistent coils following a seamanlike practice (that look anywhere near acceptable). Scale:  This seems to be a variable from modeler to modeler, but to my eye many of the coils using this technique just do not look right at scale, especially when many pins are used on a rail adjacent to each other. Much of the rope used per kit instructions are much thinner than your prototype - mostly kit supplied 0.25mm line which is not very substantial and subject to gravity making floating 'ovals' distracting Quantity of rope (on the actual ships):  Looking at many older photographs of ships, the one thing that stands out to me is that the quantity of belayed rope used on contemporary working vessels just looks far more voluminous for whatever reason than that seen on modern 'museum' ships, maybe because of longer working lengths, necessity to be worked by many hands etc etc. The bottom line though is that there is enough on this build that continues to bother me (both mistakes and things that I have since learned) to push me to continue  with an eye to completion.  I'll apply for parole at the duly appointed time...
 
Rigging (almost) complete:
After nearly 7 years, with all the main rigging elements in place, I can start to smell the scent of completion.  The only outstanding rigging feature (in addition to some remaining decorative coils) are the spritsail sail sheets which will be added when I'm confident that the anchor placement won't cause problems.
 
Braces:
One of the bigger challenges were the braces, mainly because many of these are bent onto various stays.  At this scale the rope doesn't behave well, and preventing the stays being pulled into all sorts of unnatural alignments by the much thinner braces, and keeping the braces taught, meant taking this very slowly, ensuring line had time settle into place and in many cases using dilute PVA while attempting to keep the stays in position.  This proved to be especially challenging for the fore and fore topsail braces which bend to the main stay in one rather tight spot.

Sheets, tacks and cluelines:
Petersson was a big help here to illustrate how these worked in practice as the instructions are simplified.  Given that both the main and fore require these, with 3 belaying points for each, some planning is needed to ensure sufficient working room as once in position access is even more severely limited.  The tack is the most substantial of the running rigging used and 0.75mm rope was used as per instructions.  At this thickness, it proved necessary to coil rope on the deck after belaying to pinrails.
 
I took the same approach to BE on his Pegasus build in having the sheets and tacks go outboard of any standing rigging, although the sheets are yet to be finally secured.


And finally, some overall shots..

 
 
 
 
 
 

About time I caught up with myself...
 
@Ben - I'm going to have to stand guilty as charged!  Appreciate your post, this was something that I have been wrestling with for some time and fully recognize that the approach taken is a compromise.  My thinking has been as follows, and I suspect that every model builder will arrive at a different place.  Your coils are certainly excellently executed!  
Quality of rope used:  Having used the Syren line on 'Jason', there is just no comparison between good quality custom rope and the 'stuff' supplied in kits.  My skill levels are just not up to achieving consistent coils following a seamanlike practice (that look anywhere near acceptable). Scale:  This seems to be a variable from modeler to modeler, but to my eye many of the coils using this technique just do not look right at scale, especially when many pins are used on a rail adjacent to each other. Much of the rope used per kit instructions are much thinner than your prototype - mostly kit supplied 0.25mm line which is not very substantial and subject to gravity making floating 'ovals' distracting Quantity of rope (on the actual ships):  Looking at many older photographs of ships, the one thing that stands out to me is that the quantity of belayed rope used on contemporary working vessels just looks far more voluminous for whatever reason than that seen on modern 'museum' ships, maybe because of longer working lengths, necessity to be worked by many hands etc etc. The bottom line though is that there is enough on this build that continues to bother me (both mistakes and things that I have since learned) to push me to continue  with an eye to completion.  I'll apply for parole at the duly appointed time...
 
Rigging (almost) complete:
After nearly 7 years, with all the main rigging elements in place, I can start to smell the scent of completion.  The only outstanding rigging feature (in addition to some remaining decorative coils) are the spritsail sail sheets which will be added when I'm confident that the anchor placement won't cause problems.
 
Braces:
One of the bigger challenges were the braces, mainly because many of these are bent onto various stays.  At this scale the rope doesn't behave well, and preventing the stays being pulled into all sorts of unnatural alignments by the much thinner braces, and keeping the braces taught, meant taking this very slowly, ensuring line had time settle into place and in many cases using dilute PVA while attempting to keep the stays in position.  This proved to be especially challenging for the fore and fore topsail braces which bend to the main stay in one rather tight spot.

Sheets, tacks and cluelines:
Petersson was a big help here to illustrate how these worked in practice as the instructions are simplified.  Given that both the main and fore require these, with 3 belaying points for each, some planning is needed to ensure sufficient working room as once in position access is even more severely limited.  The tack is the most substantial of the running rigging used and 0.75mm rope was used as per instructions.  At this thickness, it proved necessary to coil rope on the deck after belaying to pinrails.
 
I took the same approach to BE on his Pegasus build in having the sheets and tacks go outboard of any standing rigging, although the sheets are yet to be finally secured.


And finally, some overall shots..

 
 
 
 
 
 

About time I caught up with myself...
 
@Ben - I'm going to have to stand guilty as charged!  Appreciate your post, this was something that I have been wrestling with for some time and fully recognize that the approach taken is a compromise.  My thinking has been as follows, and I suspect that every model builder will arrive at a different place.  Your coils are certainly excellently executed!  
Quality of rope used:  Having used the Syren line on 'Jason', there is just no comparison between good quality custom rope and the 'stuff' supplied in kits.  My skill levels are just not up to achieving consistent coils following a seamanlike practice (that look anywhere near acceptable). Scale:  This seems to be a variable from modeler to modeler, but to my eye many of the coils using this technique just do not look right at scale, especially when many pins are used on a rail adjacent to each other. Much of the rope used per kit instructions are much thinner than your prototype - mostly kit supplied 0.25mm line which is not very substantial and subject to gravity making floating 'ovals' distracting Quantity of rope (on the actual ships):  Looking at many older photographs of ships, the one thing that stands out to me is that the quantity of belayed rope used on contemporary working vessels just looks far more voluminous for whatever reason than that seen on modern 'museum' ships, maybe because of longer working lengths, necessity to be worked by many hands etc etc. The bottom line though is that there is enough on this build that continues to bother me (both mistakes and things that I have since learned) to push me to continue  with an eye to completion.  I'll apply for parole at the duly appointed time...
 
Rigging (almost) complete:
After nearly 7 years, with all the main rigging elements in place, I can start to smell the scent of completion.  The only outstanding rigging feature (in addition to some remaining decorative coils) are the spritsail sail sheets which will be added when I'm confident that the anchor placement won't cause problems.
 
Braces:
One of the bigger challenges were the braces, mainly because many of these are bent onto various stays.  At this scale the rope doesn't behave well, and preventing the stays being pulled into all sorts of unnatural alignments by the much thinner braces, and keeping the braces taught, meant taking this very slowly, ensuring line had time settle into place and in many cases using dilute PVA while attempting to keep the stays in position.  This proved to be especially challenging for the fore and fore topsail braces which bend to the main stay in one rather tight spot.

Sheets, tacks and cluelines:
Petersson was a big help here to illustrate how these worked in practice as the instructions are simplified.  Given that both the main and fore require these, with 3 belaying points for each, some planning is needed to ensure sufficient working room as once in position access is even more severely limited.  The tack is the most substantial of the running rigging used and 0.75mm rope was used as per instructions.  At this thickness, it proved necessary to coil rope on the deck after belaying to pinrails.
 
I took the same approach to BE on his Pegasus build in having the sheets and tacks go outboard of any standing rigging, although the sheets are yet to be finally secured.


And finally, some overall shots..

 
 
 
 
 
 

I'm gonna stop you right there, The rope police is here!  I have a link to a video from Tom Lauria about making really nice belaying hanks. I also have a picture of some I made using this his method. I also have a picture I took of the Niagara that I used for reference.  Your ship is one of my inspirations and I hope this helps! 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgWHqw4Pg8Q&list=PLnXLeuhOqKhLCIrq2IsF78Qv0UUuQmdYU&index=1&t=1s
 


 
 
 

Hi all,
 
Well, it's been almost two months since I posted, so here's a little post to show I haven't given up on Ethalion or simply disappeared. That said, I haven't been posting all the time firstly because I haven't got a huge amount done, and secondly because what I've done is a little on the repetitive side... But, here are a few pictures of progress. I've finished the futtock shrouds on the masts, and moved on to rigging the topmast shrouds and ratlines.
 
I have a workspace that wraps round the wall, and I've found this invaluable with all the turning round of the model - this is not a ship that can be built in a tiny space! And that's without the boom on the mizzen!
 

 

 

 

 
Thanks as always for the likes and encouragement, and I hope you're having a blessed advent-time!
 
Rob

And another one completed!  Well done, she's looking very nice Sjors.  You really are the most prolific of builders, think you manage to complete more ships than most people manage log updates!  Seriously, something again to be proud of, a beautiful model!
 
 

Last update.
She is finished!
It was a fun build and I enjoy it every minute.
Time to do some rigging at another model 🙂
The last picture is her final place where she is gonna stay.
 
Sjors
 
 

Wow, two updates after each other 🙂
The yards are is place and now the running rigging.....
 
Sjors
 

On a sunny day another update.
The bowsprit is done with the rigging.
Also de Jib boom and Gaf.
It's small but funny.
I'm pleased how it all comes together.
Now it is time for make the yards ready....
There all ready painted so time for the blocks.
Till another update.
Enjoy your day and keep healthy!
 
Sjors
 
 
 

Some progress.
Foremost mast ratlines done.
Main mast shrouds done, off to ratlines.
Have to finish bowsprit at some point as a lot of rigging goes those. Instructions are not so clear to understand, hope to get my answers from Thunders build.

I'm happy with the planking.  Could have done better in a few places, but sanding and a fairly modest mount of filler should fix that.  Decided to plank the stern counter as the simplest way of closing up with the hull planking.  It also means I can repair a flaw in the curvature of the counter.  Apart from trimming the planks at the stern to get at the counter, and the counter itself, I've not sanded anything yet.  I have not fully planked the false keel as an alternative to rebating the planks.  I'll see how that goes.  I soaked the planks and was surprised to see how much they swelled, and then shrank on drying.
 
Thinking that I might pin the second planking (Horror!) as it will all be painted or be beneath the copper - would welcome views on that.
 

 

Hi guys, I'm still here after so many days.
Trying now to start and establish the right steps to attach the lower yard of the fore mast.
A couple of pics trying to set according to Petterson the slin of that yard.
Thank you

Next step is to maintain the right proportion for the sling and the relative attachments




 

Cheers everyone, grateful for the continued interest to keep some wind in the sails...
 
@Kevin - I think you and I have similar workstyles, the difference though is that you get a lot more done!
 
Rigging Update...
 
As previously mentioned, rigging just does not lend itself to updates as there always seems to be just one more job to complete before an update would be appropriate.  Pretty much all rigging in the main and mizzen mast areas is complete.  This definitely required some planning ahead to ensure room to work.  The main topgallant braces were the last added as the place seriously limits access in an already tight space.  Also redid a few completed rigging items in the bowsprit that have been bothering me, but before starting rigging in earnest, I felt the old girl needed a fairlead saddle.  After trying, unsuccessfully to make something out of wood, I found that gluing a couple of styrene strips together and then bending around a dowel while steaming kept the styrene with the right curve.  The profile could then be better approximated and the hole drilled...far from perfect but looks OK to the unaided eye (the paint was used at this point only to get some contrast on the surface).  One item that continues to annoy me is the application of a single 'bee' as per the plans.  I can find no other example of this and it just doesn't seem correct, and means that a fore topmast preventer stay cannot be rigged, but sadly that is just not fixable at this point...

Bowsprit rigging:
The bowsprit rigging shown on the plans has to be the least clear of any on this model, and it seems to have been significantly simplified to the point of non-utility/confusion in a couple of cases.  I've decided to follow Lever and Lees (an excellent reference!) and leverage Petersson.  Any mistakes in interpretation and execution are of course my own...
 
I also felt that Snake deserves a 'traveller' (the jib stay being completely omitted from the plans) which needed to be installed before the jib boom horses.  This was made from a single brass wire ring, a spare PE rigging hook, and mutilated PE swivel mount.  This was my first attempt at soldering, which let me know in no uncertain terms that I have much to learn!  The hook is a little big, but looks acceptable to my eye once fully installed.
Moving on to the various rigging elements...
Spritsail sling:  The sling was made of a served line and fitted according to Lever and Lees - essentially the same as for the yard slings. Spritsail stirrups and horses: These were all fitted in situ once the spritsail yard was installed to ensure the stirrups hung vertically Jib Boom Horses: (Lees P51) Secured to eyes in the bowsprit cap, and lashed around the end of the jib boom Inner/Outer Martingales:  There does not seem to be single definitive reference to help, and it seemed necessary to piece together info from a variety of sources.  Lees indicates the late 18th/early 19th century was period of rapid changes in dolphin striker/bowsprit rigging over a pretty condensed 20yr period.  I decided to rig 2 martingales.  The inner martingale was seized around the traveler, and the outer martingale seized around the jib boom end.  Both were taken through blocks lashed to opposite sides of the bowsprit to lead them over the spritsail yard, and secured using a gun tackle setup to a timberhead. Jib Stay: (Petersson P19) A block was added to the fore topgallant mast to carry the jib stay, one end lashed to the traveler and the other secured via a tackle to inboard starboard pin rail. Fore Topgallant Stay: (Petersson P61) Led through an eye seized to the bowsprit end and secured to the stay using thimbles, a collar and a lashing which was frapped. Jib Outhaul: (Petersson P21 & P62) One end seized to the traveller, led through a sheave cut into the bowsprit to a tackle.  Petersson indicates use of a violin block, Lever suggest use of both a violin and a double block system.  For a bit of variety (and because I’ve become increasingly unhappy with the look of the supplied items), a double block system was used and this was secured to a timberhead. Jib Boom Guys: Seized around jib boom end and secured using a gun tackle to a cleat on the capping rail Spritsail Yard Halliard: (Petersson P59) Secured to a timberhead per Petersson, rather than pin rail as called out on the plans. Spritsail Braces: (Petersson P47) Plans are reasonably Spritsail lifts: (Lever Ch40, Petersson P64 and plans) Secured to timberhead per Petersson, rather than pin rail as called out on the plans. Bowsprit horses and netting: (Petersson P91, Lees 84) The location of the eyebolts seems to be shown both on the front face and top of the timberheads, and settled on the top mounted option.  These were simplified a little to and simply seized to the eyes rather than using an eye and lashing. The bowsprit netting was made from two brass wire pieces fed through the line, which were secured with some fine thread.  This was then suspended using a couple of clamps on the keel former offcut from "Jason", which allowed the ropes to be secured and wrapped around the wire.  Each turn was secured before moving onto the next.  It helped having this under slight tension throughout.  

The following show how everything ended up....

And finally...the overall state of where things stand:

 

Hi Folks,  have been away from the shipyard and this site for quite some time, and I've missed the friendly interaction.  Looking forward to catching up with everyone's builds soon!
 
@Martin - welcome to the neighborhood!  We got lucky and didn't lose power in the storms, hope you stayed safe.  We definitely need to connect at some point so I can pick your brains 🙂
@ Sjors - Good to hear from you old friend, its been a while!  Will check out your new model soon.
@ Stergios - the yards were rigged from bottom to top.  Not sure if that is the recommended way, but it made sense to me to do that way because the lower masts require quite a few items of rigging to be in place near the mast and it seemed that this would be harder if the lines from the top masts were getting in the way.  Maybe personal preference?
 
The cutter has finally been finished and the details of the final stages of construction are posted in my 'Jason' build log.  Figuring out where to place the cutter onboard Snake was a little bit of a challenge.  It seems inconceivable that a ship (sloop) like Snake would not have at least one boat, but there is simply no space to place one.  I could find no examples of solutions to this in practice (recognizing that other ships may well have had raised davits), and it seems somewhat logical to mount the supports on the coamings which would also be supported by the deck beams underneath.  Finally in position, its clear that even a modest 24' cutter has little room to spare.
 
With that done, now rigging can continue, hopefully some progress possible soon...
 

@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...
 

 

Glad to catch up on more progress on your Diana.  Good decision to do the gun ports correctly, you'll be much happier I think.   That last shot really shows off the great work on your deck - one of my struggles is finding more decent maple to do the upper decks.

With the waterline in place , it really shows that you nailed the line of the wale.  Very nice, you've got a beautiful foundation to build on.

The Skipper somewhere on the Thames late 19th Century 16.5” X 11.75”

Hi guys, being retired I can paint more or less when I want (subject to domestic chore from 'she who must be obeyed). I normally paint for about 3 to 4 hrs in the afternoo, probably 2/3 times a week.
The Belfast pic started about 1.50pm, and I took the photo about 5pm, I'll probably have an other half hour fixing bits , the after funnel top is wrong, and horizon on the right needs lifting a bit. The longest painting I have done, was three afternoons and was a diptych of  'the Tail o' the Bank' on the river Clyde .
see pictures.
jim

Hi Folks,
 
Sadly been rather absent from both the shipyard and this site for some time.  I very much hope to catch up soon on everyone else's fine builds here soon.  Time to get a little more up to date, the cutter is pretty close to completion aside from a little fettling.
 
Frames were added to the interior using strips cut from some scrap 0.5mm pear wood.  These were soaked and pre-bent in situ prior to gluing with PVA:
 

 
The frames were further reduced down to the keel former to try and get a bit more depth the boat.  To my eye, applying planking to the false deck puts the board too high, especially as there is very little room to play with considering the various structural elements still to go on. A template for the footwaling was then made up to determine the shape.  Once the placement was determined, the rising plank was added (again cut from some 0.5mm pear sheet)
 
I wanted to try and allow the footwalling to have an element of curvature which would be natural on the real boat.  A relatively straightforward way to achieve this was to apply wood strip to thin card to match the template which maintains a lot of flexibility (Straight strip was used rather than the more complicated curved planking on the plan).  Once dry, the assembly was easily glued on top of the keel former, the footwaling then follows the interior curve naturally.  
 

 
With those element in place, it was possible to add the platform under the sternsheets.  The Diana plans show these as a grating, but to my eye again the kit supplied grating is too large, so plain boards were installed instead which also appear to be used.  After the main and fore mast steps, thwarts and ringbolts I assume would be used for hoisting the boat had been added, the bow was closed in using a cover as suggested on the plan - this also helped disguise the rudimentary construction at the bow.  The rowlocks were cut, interestingly these are not symetrical between port and starboard, and one seems to sit rather awkwardly in the sternsheets.

 
The sternsheets were made up and installed, again having used a template to finalise shape, together with all the other details including mast thwarts, gunwale and knees.

 
The colour scheme follows a slightly simplified version of that shown below which seems suitably utilitarian.  Looking at this, and comparing once the black was applied, suggests to me that I made a mistake in the tapering of the clinker planking.  The black area covers both the wash strake and upper strake, and judging from these pictures it appears that these are of somewhat consistent in width, especially toward the stem.  I had tapered these proportionally as well, hoping nobody else notices...
 

@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...
 

 

@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...