Beef Wellington

Nice work Jason, dispite the missing reference. I would have expected the handropes for the ladder to be slack as well as a final detail, since there is no knot at that last stanchion on either side. Now I am nit picking. A very nice additional detail for the build!
 
When you are talking about me I would call it dementia, for most it will be temporary amnesia, if I can still remember it correctly

Hi Mark,
Yes, it is confusing, the Roman spear/javelin. As I read more online, there appear to be one version, the pilum, which has a long metal shaft put into a shorter handle like what the second Bellona model seems to show. But there also appears to be another version of a javelin with a metal head only a foot long, connected to a 2 meter wooden shaft. That is what appears to be held by the Bellona sculpture in posting #721 above. Lacking any further evidence, I will go with the javelin like the sculpture, treating it as a wooden shaft with a one foot long metal head. So I will have to paint the metal shaft as wood in my model.
 
While I was at it, I finally nailed down the size the hawse holes. Since I did not do my framing as actually constructed, I had no idea where the hawse pieces were located at the head, and therefore where the hawse holes were located (since they are drilled with half out of each adjacent hawse piece). So I constructed their locations here.
 
And I did this while waiting for glue to dry in more planking.
 
Mark

 
 

Hi druxey and Mark,
 
I like the idea of her holding the shield; one less hand to carve! Here is an updated version, minus the gorgon that I don't feel like drawing right now...
I put the captain next to the figurehead just to see how big this really is. She is one big lady! I remember seeing original figureheads in various maritime museums over the years; now I fully appreciate why they were so big.
 
Mark
 

 
 

Thanks for all the comments and likes everyone! I apologize that I have not posted completed pictures. Life has been busy lately. On the days I feel good enough to do something I am working on extending my lean-to shelter outside. Trying to have a little workshop out there for regular sized wood working and things are way too tight. Extending it out 12 more feet to move the lawnmowers under and free up more work space for a work table and space to use power saws, sanders, etc. With my health condition everything takes me 10 times longer than it should take.
 
Not sure what is next. With the outside projects and me building my own homemade biological filter systems for my aquariums Not sure if I will get back to any ship modeling until the warm weather season passes. Don't have any more kits. Have 2 part-built ships started by someone else that I picked somewhere along the way over the years that I always said I could fix up but have never done. I have also dabbled in SIBs some and could tackle another one of them as I always have ideas for them rolling around in my head. Plus all this depends on how I feel. 
 
Jesse

Blockading Brest during the Napoleonic Wars. A Brig brings in a captured French Lugger.
W/C  14” 10”

Based on HMCS Moncton before conversion to long foc'sl
W/C  9.5” X 6.5”
Jim

Fixed the Deliberate Mistake .. And the Other one too! (Both Double Blocks on the Mast for the Gaff were wrove through the bottoms..  )  I always try to take a good look at the photos shortly after I post them, potential mistakes not obvious at the time can show up after during a later visit ... Now if I could just get in the habit of checking the photos at the taking stage !!    I guess they don't call them Gaffs for nothing   
 
E
 

Hi Gang .. I got the Gaff sorted .. well that was fun.. trying to connect the Parrel, the Gaff Hoist and the Gaff  Topping Lift pretty much at the same time .. Oh The Fun, and how I laughed when the Topping Lift Block on the Gaff itself popped out of its strop.. Am still drying my eyes from that one     Have to say though, am totally enjoying this part of the build, when the block popped out onto the carpet monster I just took out another  (Chucks wonderful blocks btw) opened out the holes a little and got it back in (spot welded it this time   )
 
The fore Stay is now resting in its proper place (or nearly so, as the Shrouds will sit under it) and the tweezers is there purely to add weight to the system, to kind of Bed Things In so to speak..
 
All The Best Folks Thank You For All The Comments And The Likes, Always Appreciated..
 
Eamonn
 
 

Thanks Jason
 
I've been pondering the ship's boats... (My backup plan is to buy the caldercraft resin boats - which are okay, but a bit pointy at the bow, and I'd rather conquer the challenge myself) The kit bulkheads have caused me no end of trouble so far. I couldn't get the curves at either bow or stern, and if I wanted to make the center removable I couldn't get the planks to stay together. It's weird, because I managed the ship's boat on Royal Yacht Caroline - for some reason this is just fighting harder. 
 
Anyway - I decided to go back to basics. I had a look on the RMG website for 32 foot pinnaces and found a design from Portsmouth from a few years before Ethalion was launched. J0859, here: https://prints.rmg.co.uk/products/32-ft-pinnace-j0859?_pos=18&_sid=f62fc5df9&_ss=r
 
And I've been creating my own framework to build the boat on... As below:

It's a work in progress, but the resulting frame should be much much better for laying those really thin veneers onto, and getting a good curve. So far I've only cut out a few of the bulkheads to test out my theory. The design is printed onto A4 paper, glued (with Pritt-Stick / UHU-stick) onto 1.5mm ply, and then cut out with a piercing saw and finetuned to the line with sand paper and files. It's time-consuming, but quite rewarding really. As you can see, I haven't cut the centre slots yet... they weren't on the design when I did these ones. They are now. I'll add them manually for these bulkheads.
 
As you can also see, the bulkheads all stretch up to a universal line, so that they can be mounted upside down on a board, as I believe Harold Hahn did for his models.

As I say the designs are very much in progress, but here are the frames as an A4 PDF if you want to take a look.
 
wip_32ftpinnace_bulkheads.20200517.pdf
 
I expect to build the frame over the bulkheads and then remove the majority of the bulkheads - but time will tell how that really works out.
 
Anyway - that's my thinking so far.
 
Rob 
 

Post 2
Basic assembly continued.
 
Simple assembly continues with everything fitting together as perfect as a jigsaw puzzle without anything puzzling.
 
Follow the manual and you can’t go wrong, Chris’s many years of experience as a designer and builder show through. Everything is numbered, everything is clear. For the novice builder there are no headaches here.
 
At this stage I bring a support board into use.
 

5122
I used the slightly modified board I used for the Alert build, the two hull lengths are not that different.
 
The Fish hatch framing slots into place on the lower deck with a precision fit.
 
Well it didn’t last long into the build, but at this point I make a minor modification.
 
None of what follows is necessary, or has any real impact on the build, but I can’t help myself, and one of my foibles is that I like to have a glimpse of below decks, which I feel adds interest, and gives an impression of depth to a model.
 

5124
Firstly, I boarded out the lower deck within the Fish hatch framing, with 0.6mm boxwood strip on the basis that I don’t know at this stage how much of the hatch cover I will eventually leave open.
 I also may wish to open the sliding companionway roof or doors.
 

5128
To this end that section of the false keel between bulkheads 9 and 10 needs to be removed and an extension to the lower deck fashioned, easily done using spare mdf from the parts framing.
 

5129
This completes the extent of my lower deck planking.
 

5132
I coated the bulkhead surfaces with slightly diluted pva and slotted the sub deck into place. I found it best to slot one side partly into place, flex the deck up, and tease it into the other side.
 

5134
This is a little tricky and one of the bulkhead tabs did break off during the fitting, and once in place in the designated slots I still needed to weight and use elastic bands the hold the deck down at the edges.
 
 I think getting the deck out again would be a fraught business risking splitting the deck and breaking tabs.
 

5147
Next morning I also painted diluted pva on the underside of the deck along the bulkhead join.
 

5143(2)
There is a fair bit sheer on a Fifie.
 
 
This completes the basic carcass assembly; things will get a little more testy in the next phase of the build.
 
 
B.E.
19/05/2020

Well Eamonn, the difference is far from subtle, the small things can make the biggest difference.  If I had a chest of drawers, this would be in the top one!

Well Eamonn, the difference is far from subtle, the small things can make the biggest difference.  If I had a chest of drawers, this would be in the top one!

Well Eamonn, the difference is far from subtle, the small things can make the biggest difference.  If I had a chest of drawers, this would be in the top one!

Ahh Thanks Guys, such a nice thing to hear! 😊 .. Sorry for not replying sooner but for some reason I missed your Posts ...  
 
Over the last couple of days I have been setting up the Gaffs, beginning with the Fore Mast one, locating the Parrel beads and getting the blocks ready.. Oh and almost completely forgetting the Mast Hoops for the Main Mast, bit embarrassing especially after all the effort I put into them.. Don't mind admitting to an 'Oh Poop!'    moment as I looked at the Main Mast to see if they could still be placed without having to de-construct .. Phew all good as I simply had to lift off the Schooner Stay and slip the Hoops down over the various blocks.. 😌
Whilst doing all this over the past few weeks I thought I'd best show a sample of just how far 'off the reservation' (Or 'Beyond The Pale' if you will, appropriate for where  live which is just outside the actual Pale  ) I now am by showing a photo of the Ballahoo Box Art Work for the Bow area, which hopefully will give the non Ballahoo Builders an idea of just why I'm sometimes taking so long to do even the simplest stuff.. and having to research practically every Stay etc ... Fundamentally it looks the same but ... the devil is in the detail .  
 
All The Best Folks
 
Eamonn @ Excuses Excuses Ship Yards  
 
Edit ..  Oh and check out those Anchor Stocks 😕 
 
 

Planking is definitely something that you can only learn by doing, and you're doing just fine, keep going.  Everything can be solved.  Regarding planks, there is some variety here but I was guided to go with planks around 150mm long, but these would have varied somewhat for the following reason  that was not obvious to me at the time I planked mine.  The planks should terminate on a beam in practice and the position and spacing of these vary from ship to ship.  Most obviously, beams would go between the hatchways, not mid way through them.  Not a big deal at all, but just as easy to follow practice.

Some progress with planking.
 
I have messed it up by not tappering at stern and also coming to far with planks. Should have started moving to the middle from keel also.
Now the curve it the middle is too big.
I guess only way to fix it is to start coming from keel and last filler plank is what it is?
 
Really hoped that this would come out right-guess not this time.
 
Positive part is that now i understand the reason why to mark out plank positions and then you can see where to tapper etc.

The ca stains that you see can be sanded off. Did some test and planking looks good after sanding.
 
About deck planking-what would be correct plank legth and formula for this model?

Thanks, Jason, that makes sense.
 
I just didn't think the sword was prominent enough, so I followed Siggi's good advice about a removable metal shaft and went back to the lance or spear that we see in the first image in posting #1721 above. Here is what it looks like. I could make the spear out of blackened copper, and drill a hole in her hand to hold it. Or, would it be shiny metal in real life?
 
Now I really, really, am getting back to planking today!
 
Mark
 

I'm really enjoying this build because this little ship has a very similar barque rig to HMS Terror, which is what I am building. Your work is excellent and I'm sure to benefit from your research. Well done for mounting the yards in the correct position. I see a great many ships, built without sails, that depict the upper yards in the position they would be in if the sails were flying, rather than down where they ought to be. A small detail, but once you notice it, it's hard to un-notice!  I admire uour work and I'm looking forward to shamelessly copying your rigging!
 

This is looking real good. Starting to look shipshape ✔️
 
I'm still struggling with coppering the hull... 

Beautiful rigging. 
 
Robert

Very impressive.
 
Yves

Looks good, some loose ends to tie up, but it does have a tight fit I might add. No sloppy lines hanging around

Great progress. Good decision on the ladders

Hey Jason, yup those Ladders look the business, Snake's rigging is beginning to look serious now too, half expect to see dock yard workers out on those yards  
 
All The Best Mate
 
Eamonn

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!