Beef Wellington

Hi, yes you have Snake bulwarks!  Now that you show it, it should have been obvious from your prior posts (and I feel bad for not noticing!) but so easy to miss for those of us building Snake because it looks 'right'.  The larger gun port size is to accommodate the carronade armament rather than cannons, looking at your earlier pictures it seems they unfortunately, but correctly, supplied cannons.  What to do?  I think your options are limited to the following:
Simply install the cannons in the larger port.  If you look at my Snake log, you will see that I installed cannons in the first port which seemed to be practice at the time, this gives you a sense for how this would look. strip off wood and redo, I completely understand how painful this would be (if its any consolation I had to do that partly on my 'Jason' build to move upper deck gunports, it can be done with patience, but would totally understand your frustration.  This might be messier if you used CA glue (which I think you did) rather than PVA glue which can be softened with isopropyl alcohol. Strip off wood as per above and paint - this would give you more options to fix less 'perfectly' or comprehensively, but....you end up using paint.... Change the armament to carronades.  There would plenty of justification for this given this large class of ships would have only had cannons for a short period of time on a few of the very early built ships.  A carronade armed, 2 masted Cruizer class would probably be more historically relevant/accurate.  However, you would need to source some carronades.  It could be worth contacting CC and explain the situation, they may be willing to provide these, their customer service is typically good.  They also provide more upgraded turned brass aftermarket kits, however these are very expensive, especially for the whole ship.  

Post 18


 
The Capstan


 
 Elliott and Garrood steam capstans had been used on Fifie’s and similar since 1885, and one is provided in the kit.


 
This is the most prominent and striking fitting on the deck, a real eye catcher, and beautifully presented by Chris.

A combination of laser cut wooden parts and brass etch, which makes up into a fine little model.


 
My most difficult decision; what colour scheme to use.


5730
The suggested scheme of red and green reminded me fondly of my old lawnmower resplendent with green casing and red cylinder blades, so I opted to go with that.


 
I am using Humbrol enamel paint, Matt 80 (Green) and Vallejo Matt Red.


Most time-consuming part is painting the whelps of the capstan. These eight fine etched parts required painting before assembly.


 
The manual suggests that the drums be attached to the whelps without glue when assembling.


 
I found that without glue the whelps had a tendency to fall out during the alignment so I resorted to a spot of ca to hold the whelps in one drum whilst I fiddled to align the other.


 
The box atop the capstan fits over the end of the central spindle that runs thro’ the capstan body, (aka 3mm walnut dowel)

 

5729
A nicely turned brass warping drum is secured to the side of the box.


 
I drilled mine to take a pin to secure it to the box and gave it a chemically blackened colour.



5732
Note:-  there are two small holes in the side plates,  I’m not sure what they are for, but they are not for securing the warp drum.

 
 

5731
The central spindle of the capstan is in reality a steam pipe.
 

5736
When fitting the small hand wheel atop the box I found it best to put a spot of ca on the connecting pipe and press it down on the wheel.


 
 
B.E.


 
28/06/2020

 
 

You don't mention how you used the blackening solution and how much you diluted.   I've found results to be much more predicable with a more dilute solution, and using a nylon brush to apply while agitating the surface.  Once the reagent is spent on a small area (turning from blue colour to brown), then the brush can be simply washed in water, dried on a paper towel, and a fresh brush load applied.  I've had much less predictable results using a larger 'bath' to submerge items in.

Ben, I think your coppering looks really good, and you've got a nice curve at the waterline batten as well which really helps enhance in my view.  Obviously personal preference on pristine vs patina.  I had cleaned the copper plates on my Snake with metal cleaner once finished similar to you, mainly to get rid of any skin oils from fingerprints as these seem to accelerate the oxidation process and become pretty noticeable pretty quickly.  I've been surprised at how slowly the surface has oxidized, but that may be a fact of it sitting out of sunlight.

Nice looking rope!  I think there has been much debate on the subject of colour depending on a factors such as age.  Pristine new rope with a single application would be lighter, older rope that has got dirty, weathered and recoated would be darker.  Think you can go with your artistic gut and how much of a contrast you would like, if you are using black paint on the hull then my sense would be to use the darker brown for standing rigging, the second darkest shade could look good with an all wood finish.  All personal opinion.

Very nice, simple utilitarian beauty at its best!

You don't mention how you used the blackening solution and how much you diluted.   I've found results to be much more predicable with a more dilute solution, and using a nylon brush to apply while agitating the surface.  Once the reagent is spent on a small area (turning from blue colour to brown), then the brush can be simply washed in water, dried on a paper towel, and a fresh brush load applied.  I've had much less predictable results using a larger 'bath' to submerge items in.

Very nice, simple utilitarian beauty at its best!

Ingenious modification BE, but that shouldn’t really surprise us now should it? 👏👏👏

Post 17


 
Modifying the steering.


 
The first thing to consider is the wheel and the worm drive.


 
I’m not using the provided wheel but another of the same dimensions.

For the worm drive and fittings, I obtained a length of M1.4mm threaded brass rod with associated nuts, Hex and open.

5641(2)

I.4mm ø looks about right and importantly is a good fit for the centre of the wheel.

The brass will be chemically blackened before fitting.


 
Before I proceed too far a bit of de-construction is required.




5644

Replacing the deck planks where the holes for the wheel  standards were cut. Not a great issue and quickly done.

 

5648

Once scraped they should blend in just fine.


At this point I also put together the Companionway cover as this has a bearing for positioning the relocated wheel.



I did make a minor modification to this altering the sliding canopy arrangement and using a proper ring bolt for the door handle.



5670(2)

Next up I had to fabricate a thwart and a knee at the stern, both important for the addition of the steering gear to follow.


 
 
An important item is the section along the worm to which the steering arm is attached.




5685(2)

I made this from styrene tubing with nuts ca’d into each end thro which the worm will pass.

One half of the provided tiller arm is slotted into this.

 

5680(2)

At the aft end of the mechanism the worm screws into a supporting nut silver soldered to a plate. These are tiny and it took several goes to make the bond.

 

5689(3)

One of the consequences of this modification is that the rudder needs to be tweaked to suit the revised steering mechanism. I added a small section to the top of the rudder and filled in the slot provided for the brass etched tiller arms.


 
The mechanism is fitted into place after blackening and painting.
Note one half of the etched tiller arms is used on the worm housing.



5711(2)

The wheel is attached, and the rod trimmed to length.

 

5710(2)

 

5707(2)


 
This is as far as I can take it at present, I need to complete the rudder before the connection can be made.


B.E.

25/06/20

 
 

Thanks so much, Michael and Greg. I am sure I would have been fired many years ago if I was an apprentice to an 18th century ship model builder. Can't earn my keep!
 
I had to spend a night in a hotel earlier this week, and took the opportunity to try making a maquette of the sculptures on the stern of the Bellona. Even though I made this at twice the scale of the model itself (3/8" = 1'-0" instead of 3/16" = 1'-0"), I still did not have clay modeling tools small enough; and the clay was too soft and deflecting. So another round needed with better tools and clay. But this did give me a sense of what it is like to shape in 3 dimensions, and to see the figure itself in 3 dimensions. An entirely different world for me!
 
Best wishes,
 
Mark
 

One fun element to plastic ship modeling is you can have a hull together is pretty much one sitting, that's motivating.  I really enjoyed how this model has gone together with metal fittings and screws.   Worst part of it being this little lip at the bow.   It's a little unnerving scraping off all this detail for the brass etch replacements, less sad for the overscale diamond plate on the aft deck.  I drilled out the portholes.   I'm going to start working on the propeller assembly and filling in the seams of the hull to paint.    Any ideas on cleaning up the plastic "fuzzies" in the portholes?
 

(Sorry for the mix up, I put it in the wrong category by mistake!)
As the lockdown continues here in the UK, I have been steadily working on my Jalouse. Just finished the Ballahoo a few weeks back. 
Here are some pictures of both. I do hope this log can help future builders of the Jalouse as there seems to be no logs at all on this beautiful ship.
 
Cheers,
 
Tom

Here is Ballahoo and the beginning of Jalouse:

I don't think that such ships are an aberration - we probably will say the same thing about today's 'hybrid' cars one day. They represent the transition from one propulsion system to another with the associated uncertainties of reliability and availability of fuel supplies (before you could coal in Aden, the coal had to be shipped there first). Having both modes of propulsion increased the safety at sea and the probability that you actually got from A to B.
 
I love this transition period (in ship-building history) because it shows the introduction and progress of engineering and the (cautious) technological optimism of the time. 

KAISAR-I-HIND (I) P&O Steamer coaling at Aden w/c 11” X 9"
Jim 

I know that some modelers consider such ships as hybrid abominations, but I think they represent a rather interesting transitional period in naval architecture -- too bad that they are not well-represented in the model kit world.

'Thenistocles' trooping during WW1 w/c 11” X9”

This afternoon's effort 1960’s HMS Lowestoft and RFA Tidereach W/C 11” X 9”

New Zealand Star
Small sketch 9.5” X 7.5”
Jim

Today's effort Orient Steam Navigation Company liner Orion at Aden 
Watercolour 14” X 10”
Jim

Uruguay Star in the Southern ocean with accompanying Albatross.
W/C 14” X 10”
Jim

Ben, I think your coppering looks really good, and you've got a nice curve at the waterline batten as well which really helps enhance in my view.  Obviously personal preference on pristine vs patina.  I had cleaned the copper plates on my Snake with metal cleaner once finished similar to you, mainly to get rid of any skin oils from fingerprints as these seem to accelerate the oxidation process and become pretty noticeable pretty quickly.  I've been surprised at how slowly the surface has oxidized, but that may be a fact of it sitting out of sunlight.

The Coppering is DONE! It was hard and I'm not completely happy with it but it just going to have to do.  The humid summer weather has arrived and the finger smudges now stick out so it needs an application of polish.  Brasso works well, but the question is do I varnish afterwards or not? I have a test strip of tiles I varnished 2 years ago and it holds up well and stays shiny.  Or I could let it patina naturally.

You look to be off to a really nice clean start Stone, good choice of first build.  As you and others have found, the instructions are somewhat dated, so definitely don't feel constrained by them.  The gunport pattern is a common cause of concern, but is surprisingly strong.  Definitely put some PVA glue on the lower edge to get a good join with the top plank of the first planking as a safety measure.  Look forward to following along, and feel free to ask questions.  I'm intrigued to see how a 32lb'er fits, I know I played with an 18lb'er from Jason next to 9lb'er chase guns I used and it looked HUGE!

As others have said already, thats a fantastic looking gun and carriage.  I can only imaging the amount of work that went into this with the 3D printing and all but the results speak for themselves.  Love the overall deck shots, as well 🙂