Beef Wellington

Thanks for posting this. ' Been There, Seen the picture. Didn't get the 'T' shirt'. In 2016 I was asked if I could paint a cover and some illustrations for a book being written about the experiencies of a Ships Engineer Cadet on board a Liberty Ship the book 'Liberty's War'. To cut a long story short. The book was launched at the US Merchant Marine Academy, at Kings point. I had the Privilege and Honour to be invited to the event, and to give a short talk about how a retired ex RN Rating from a small village in Fife Scotland came to be there. The cover painting was acquired by USMMA Museum. What more could I ask, one of my paintings among such eminent company.
some photos of the cover painting, exhibition and launch.
 

Sorry, been off painting since before Christmas, just one of those things. 
Here’s the latest
 based on 'Fort Grahame' and HMS Acute J106

Starting to get the rear seating area started.  I am painting the uprights as it will be difficult later as the bench tops overhang a bit.
 

 
As I am waiting between coats of the paint I have been practicing carving.  On each piece I am getting better and doing less damage.  This time was able to avoid knocking off any of the tips.  It is about 60% there, still need more practice.
 

 
This is just a test piece so I decided to use a small portion of the most valuable thing in my shop and release it from the backing.  The isopropyl alcohol soaked in and in about 15 minutes it just floated free.
 

 
After letting it dry I just dropped it on the model to get an idea of what it would look like.  Would probably use some wipe on ploy on the final pieces.
 

I think the trim pieces should have been placed closer together but o well to the unaided eye it looks fine.
 
 
Now back to painting...

Great photos Pat, really looking good and shows off all of the excellent detail work.  I'll be honest, and I'm no expert, the air vents did not jump out at me as being  oversized at all when I saw them and considering the period.

Great photos Pat, really looking good and shows off all of the excellent detail work.  I'll be honest, and I'm no expert, the air vents did not jump out at me as being  oversized at all when I saw them and considering the period.

Great photos Pat, really looking good and shows off all of the excellent detail work.  I'll be honest, and I'm no expert, the air vents did not jump out at me as being  oversized at all when I saw them and considering the period.

And, as Beef Wellington asked, here are some overview shots showing the rest of the ship at the current state of build
 
cheers
 
Pat
 

 

As always, thanks everyone for the comments and likes!
 
Work on the main underbody details has largely been finished. I have decided to omit some of the "plumbing", mostly because it would serve only to add clutter to an already tight space, which is also the other reason as it has become increasingly difficult to do things neatly, without mucking up some of the already completed items (I've had to dust off a spiderweb of fine strands of CA glue).  The main queenposts are a white metal casting from Bethlehem Car Works I had laying about. The truss rods are made from monofilament fishing line. I prefer using fishing line as it is fairly easy to get tight and somewhat resilient to incidental contact. Wire is much harder to get to the proper tension (without destroying the car in the process), and would tend to show every impact.

For those who are interested, here's an annotated version showing the various major components:

The vast majority of the detail parts came from leftover Branchline kits and other bits and pieces in my parts bins. It should be mentioned that although the locations of the major components is somewhat reflective of prototype practice (and supported by partial photographic evidence), it is still only my general interpretation, and is not necessarily a 100% accurate. 
 
The corner steps have also been added. I've left off some of the final details such as the coupler cut levers and the connections for the steam, air and signal lines. These will be added later when I'm adding the grabirons and other final details.
The time has now come to return my attention to finishing the roof. Some sanding and filling is necessary to smooth our the joints, and an insert will have to be made for the clerestory.
 
Andy

Thanks, everyone, for the comments and likes!
 
A busy weekend in the car shops. Both car ends were installed and the side entry doors have been made and fitted.

Prior to fitting the doors, the doorways were trimmed with 0.030" styrene 1/4 round to match the prototype... almost. If you take a quick look back at my first post, you can see the 1/4 round moulding and the nicely coved corners. If this was at a larger scale I might have attempted  it, however at this scale, a simple mitre joint will suffice.
 
It was now time to turn to trucks and couplers. For some reason most "craftsman" style kits leave this step off until the end but I prefer to get this step out of the way now as this can sometimes involve some "heavy" work that may risk damaging any detail work that has been installed.

You can see clearly my king post and bolster arrangement for the trucks. The end sill is a scale 12" x 24" piece of basswood strip glued to the underside of the floor. Once the car height was set by adjusting the height of the bolster and comparing my car with other models in my collection, the couplers were installed and adjusted with a Kadee height gauge.  The couplers are Kadee #58 semi-scale knuckle couplers, which give a nicer appearance than the standard (oversized) #5. This model will ultimately be an operating model, some some compromises (like the large 2-56 screw) are necessary to ensure reliability (it really won't bee seen after the steps and end details are added).
 
Following this bit of rough work, it was time to tackle the roof (or at least the basic construction).

Shown here upside down, the roof is made up of  a couple of pre-made clerestory sections with end pieces cut from a leftover Branchline kit coach roof. The roof ends needed to be widened to better match the width of the milled clerestory sections. Some basswood strip provides for a nice friction fit in the carbody.

Some final tweaking, sanding, filling etc will be required, but otherwise the heavy work is now completed. I can now move on to the fun detail work.

Which has already begun on the underside of the car. The centre sills were made using 1/8" styrene "C" channel. The black steam pipe was also salvaged from a Branchline kit. I'm not sure if the prototype cars were also equipped with steam heating (as it is, the cars had a Baker car heater), but it adds a nice detail.
 
Next up comes the rest of the underbody detail, including the queen posts and truss rods, air tanks, brake and electrical equipment.
 
Andy

Another small update folks.  I have finished and fitted the air vents; the start of these were shown in an earlier post.  After airbrushing them white, I added some simulated some bolt heads on the flange to simulate them being bolted to the deck.  These were punched from foil (0.5mm hex shape) then painted in situ.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Hello,
 
yesterday I build up the side pieces for the cannons and today I made the drawings for the axles, so that the carpenters tomorrow have enough to work.
I work here after Muller and his list of dimensions.

Hello,
 
a short update. The painter is still working and has a lot of work waiting for him. This is the first batch of cannons, the second batch is casted but not ready painted. When all the paint is dry, I cut the cast cone. The cannons will then look like the two to the left.

I am still working on drafting the stern, which is the biggest challenge of orthographic projection I have ever attempted. Good think I have nowhere else to go. I will have more to show later.
 
But as I get up to the top of the stern, I have to make a final decision about which version of the Bellona I will build. I never did like the later 1780s remodel as shown in the second model, with its awkward railing on the sides of the poop deck:
 
SECOND MODEL

I much prefer the original design as seen in the original model below:
 
ORIGINAL MODEL
 

So to be consistent with the original design, I have decided to do all of the ornament as in the original design, which I also think is less fussy than in the second model.
 
And to be consistent, I should probably construct the serpentine curve to the balcony in the original model, as opposed to the balcony with the sharp break in the second model. Although, the original drawings show a balcony with a sharp break:
 

Hard to know how to get back to original...
 
A question for those of you with extensive libraries of photos; notice that in the second model, the decoration in the railing is pierced, whereas in the original model, it is a solid railing with the decoration applied to a solid face. Do you think this was an expediency for the model maker, or are there examples of other ships with similar decoration on a solid rail? I notice in the original model that the quarter gallery windows under the arches are carved from the solid, which I don't think would have been in the actual ship. This suggests that the railing might also be an expediency. It sure would be easier to build if it were solid and not pierced....
 
Mark
 
 
 
 

Hi Everyone as a Newbie here, this is my first post, so I hope I have completed everything ok.
Nearly finished painting all the parts for my Airfix 1:72 Golden Hind Galleon, won't be long before the Assembly begins ⚓⚓⚓⚓

Good couple of days.  I have all the lower decking installed, the cable mounts installed, and the starboard dummy carriages glued-in; the barrels are only temporarily placed to ensure they are centered on the port openings:



You can clearly see, here, the impact of broadening the hull.

The block, at center, is the foremast step (in progress), which will raise the height of the foremast proportionally with the main mast.


Barrel projection is maybe a bit more than ideal, but it’s not markedly different than Frolich’s L’Ambiteaux:


In any case, it’s a warship, and the artillery is supposed to feature prominently.  I have a good cross-vent going, but I have to take a cyano break for a little while.
 
Thank you for the likes, the interest, and for looking in.

Few notes about the tools.
First, using a small knife with a small handle is harder  to control. So I sanded  a bigger one, much more comfortable.
Second photo. It is a set of jaw which can be installed on the top of the other vice. Do you know why one side has 2 pin to secure it, and the other side has only one?
Third photo, the answer; to hold a tapered part. If the part is parallel, it also works because the pin is in the center.
Photo 4, many parts of the present assembly are tapered, so it was useful.
Parts are done, ready to glue.
 

Thanks, druxey, I like the serpentine curve as well. It is a little unusual, as best I have seen in other ships of this period. I am very tempted to make solid balcony railings. I think it is likely beyond my skills to pierce those railings at 3/16" scale.
 
There is still much more to do, but here is a status report.
I finally figured out how to make that serpentine curved balcony, using 3 sweeps (compare to the hard break version of the balcony below the center line). I also discovered that the quarter galleries are arcs of circles; I found the point of the compass for the curve in my admiralty drawing. This is always exciting, to discover the hand of the original draftsman and how he made the drawing. I also discovered that the planking on the outboard of the frame, at the location of the quarter gallery, is quite thin, about 1 1/2" to 2". I saw this in the admiralty drawing, but did not understand it before. if the normal planking at this level came through to the stern, the interior of the quarter gallery would be very narrow indeed.
 

And here is the stern drawing so far. I blew up photos of the models, and constructed scales based on a known size (width of the frame at the sill of the windows). I could then scale various parts. Since I used two different photos and two different scales, I was able to adjust for perspective while also comparing it to the admiralty sheer and section drawings. I think I am getting pretty close to the shape and location of stern details.
 

 

Looks great Lou, how much of this detail will be visible - I hope lots!

Hi Lou, looking great and I'll follow with interest.  What will the final model look like?

Hi all,
 
Plenty of progress to report. 
 
I finally put the taffrail on.
I used the violin rib bender to get the curve, which meant it was simply the right shape, and no force at all was necessary to stick it in position.
Gunport lids
The foremost gunport and three sternmost have gunport lids. These were planked with boxwood veneer, and then the blackened hinges were added. I looked at rigging them, but I wasn't confident I could do a job of this that would look a) to scale, b) neat, not least given the proximity of the chainplates and channels in places, so I opted to keep it simple and neat.
Finalizing Channels
I finally got round to filling in the gaps in the port side channels where the deadeyes are mounted. This was done with scraps of boxwood, and then the whole sanded gentle down to make neat. (This is stunningly boring stuff, so no pictures!)
  Mast bases
I sanded, painted black and installed the mast bases.

  Bow pinrail
Trying to insert the belaying pins into this part demonstrated that it was woefully small, and the pins were jammed against each other (probably because the belaying pins are somewhat oversize). Instead of trying to force the issue, I made a replacement pinrail which was a good 5mm bigger on each side. The results are below (with the original part just in front)




  The protective parts that stop the anchor damaging the channels (name?) were now put in place (stained with admiralty models ebony stain, as per the Wales)


Since then I've been working on masts... but I'll put that progress in a separate post. Happy building
 
Rob

Hi Tom,
 
Just as Timmo said above -- remember it's your ship!
 
Like you, when I built mine I kept everything fairly neutral.  Apart from black, white and the natural colours of the wood the only other colours on the ship were in the bowsprit jack and the figurehead.  Even at that, she had black hair, neutral-ish skin and a red dress.
Your chosen colour is green --- just go with what pleases you.
 

 

It is refreshing, periodically, to shift between the intensive ornamental aspects of the build, and the more constructive bones of the project.  I enjoy the ornamental work very much, but it is fatiguing.
 
So, I’ve been fitting-out the lower gun deck.  The first order of business was to scribe and secure the side platforms that will support the dummy carriages.
 
Clamping these to my “beams” was tricky because clearance between beam and plinth base is very limited.  I could get a binder clip on, near the hawse holes, but I needed to develop a system for the rest of the way.
 
Since none of this will be visible, I decided to drill holes on each side of each beam, through which I could thread ties that I could pull taught over a short length of toothpick (temporarily secured with double-stick tape), and then fix down tight with a drop of cyano:

This worked beautifully.  I then found that I could increase clamping pressure by wedging the end of a second toothpick into the tie-loop:

Once the liquid plastic adhesive had cured, I knew that I had solid connection all along the length of the hull.

Next, I wanted to scribe and secure the vertical gussets to which the middle deck “beams” will be secured.  I was careful to space them so that they did not interfere with the lower masts.
 
Simple templates were cut from index cards, and with only slight adjustments one template could produce gussets for that location, on both sides:


This has become a pretty straight-forward framing exercise that I’ve gotten to be pretty efficient at.  Here is the full run of gussets in place:
 
 
Finally, I wanted to get a sense for where my dummy carriages needed to be placed, in order to have the right amount of gun barrel poking out the side of the hull.
 
Here is where I discovered a few issues that I did not properly anticipate.
 
First of all, my early estimate of the gun platform decking thickness, combined with the height of the gunport sills above the decking, was off.  So much so, in fact, that a barrel inserted into a dummy carriage was resting on the sill.  I drilled the holes too low.
 
Okay, no problem; I simply shimmed each dummy carriage with a length of 1/16” styrene.  In the following picture, you can see these shims (on the left row), which I’ve blacked out with permanent marker, as well as the annealed wire eyelets I made for the port lid laniards:

The other little surprise that I failed to calculate was the sheer length of the lower deck gun barrels, after cutting off the cascabels.  My Initial plan was to butt my blocks up against the slight raised lip of the carriage decking, and that would determine the outboard projection of the gun barrels.  The trouble is that would place the trunnions (which had been shaved off) and the dolphin handles outside the hull!
 
Instead, I discovered that I could place the dummy carriages a little further inboard, so that the new 1/16” shim butted up against the raised lip of the platform decking.  This provided me with the extra real-estate I needed for a reasonable projection.

I wanted, however, for there to be a little extra support for the carriage blocks, so I made small outrigger blocks that I’m in the process of gluing to the inboard edge of the carriage platform decking.

There is a generous 1/4” gap between these outboard gun platforms and the inboard central decking that supports the masts.  When it comes time to secure the dummy carriages, they will be cyano’d in-place to both the decking and the out-rigger blocks.
 
While I won’t glue-in the gun barrels until the model is rigged and nearly complete, here are a few shots that show what that projection will look like:


I think that my efforts to increase the breadth of the cannons provide a better sense of heft and scale than would otherwise be the case.
 
So, that’s where the work is heading.  I still have a fair amount of repetitive work to do before I can place the middle deck beams. I won’t get much beyond that, though, because I need to buy some appropriate anchor cabling from Syren, and it may be a while before Chuck is filling orders again.
 
Anyway, if I get stuck, I’ll turn my attention to constructing the quarter galleries from the lower finishing, on up.
 
Thank you all for checking in on me, and your well-wishes during my recovery.  I’ve had some relapse of symptoms - which is apparently common - but nothing concerning.  I’m going to be just fine.
 
Until next time, stay well and close to your loved ones.
 

In the first picture the lead for the spritsail yard brace seems at least probable.  However in the second photo the lines leading from the spritsail yardarms to the fore and fore topmast yard arms do not make any sense.  The same can be said for the lines from the main topsail yard to the fore yard and the main royal yard to the fore topsail yard.
 
In fact I see many questionable leads throughout the whole rig.  It looks like whomever rigged this model took the approach of lets throw as many lines on this as possible regardless of function.
 
Regards,

Looks great Lou, how much of this detail will be visible - I hope lots!

Small sign of life 🙂
 
Heavy times in the office and also very funny moving home at Corona times, as the dozen of helpers had to be reduced to 2 as the local regulations required. 
Also I kept to my credo: knock down and build up again, this time larger scale, the kitchen proved to be the place of my darkest desires. My wife now understands the term of dafinism 😉
 
Only difference is that what used to be a 0,4 mm eyebolt is now a 4000 mm worktop in the the kitchen - a magnification of scale of the factor of 10.000!
Start of March, when life was still almost normal, I was with my Vic and my Soleil at the exhibition at Augsburg. Here some pictures from there and also some from the temporary display of my set of the 4 slices.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I am already looking forward to finish the 1803 version 🙂
 
Happy Easter and stay healthy, cheers!
 
XXXDAn