Beef Wellington

some masterful work there David, know how long that must have taken!  You've achieved a very authentic look, nicely done!

1st Layer of planking (Lime)
       I made a start on the first layer of planking 1.5mm x 6mm of lime which is very soft but easy to work with. I used Chucks method of edge bending but it always takes me a couple of planks to get into the swing of it. I  Also decided to lay the planks the full length and then cut out the gun ports as I go. This worked quite well but there is one or two areas which hopefully will be hidden one the gun port linings are fitted and sanded flush with the hull. In hind rsite I now wish I had left the sperketting off until after I fitted the liners as it would have been easier to sand them flush on the inside.
         It was important to lay the first plank level with the upper deck so this was temporarily fitted to ensure this was done. I also marked of the hull into 5 zones , each zone comprising of 6 planks. I also used a spare plank to see where each zone ended and tapered each plank accordingly. I hope this worksout ok.
 
             

Looking very nice Mark, good to see you back at her.

With great trepidation I started the rigging. I did some preparatory reading but that just led to more confusion due to the many contradictory positions. As this is the first 18th century ship I will be rigging I have decided to treat it as more of a training exercise to develop my technique. Pedants and sensitive viewers should probably look away now as I will be playing fast and loose with historical authenticity to make my life easier.

First pieces to be attempted are the pendant tackles. First rigging, first contradiction. Two sources say two pairs in the fore and main masts with a single pair on the mizzen. Two alternative sources state all masts should only have single pairs. I am going with the former as I am not confident of achieving an acceptable splice for the single pair. I used 0.8mm Ropes of Scale dark brown for these that were served with some Gutterman thread. This was fiscally imprudent of me as they are served along their entire length so I could have just used an old shoe lace and none would have been the wiser. Still, I suppose it helps maintain dimensional consistency. I had some Bluejacket cast metal thimbles that I seized into the end and then fixed the assembly to the mast starboard first then port. I hung the aft tackle about 5mm lower than the fore which scales to about a foot in real life which is apparently the convention. After I had installed them, I realised that I had made my first bungle. According to Steel these should be the same diameter as the shrouds so I have subsequently remade them using 1.2mm diameter served rope although the photos still show the thinner ones attached to the model.
 



I fashioned a top bolster out of walnut and scribed some grooves to take the lift blocks and sling. I then made a couple of cleats to take the lashing for the jeer blocks. These cleats are not the official Diana versions but ones borrowed from HMS Victory as I thought they would make my life easier when trying to keep the lashing in place.
 




I seized a couple of sister blocks to the ends of some served line for the lift blocks. These were then wrapped around the lower mast cap in the manner shown in Lees.
 




The jeer blocks were rigged with 0.8mm diameter served rope. I had initially gone with 0.5mm diameter but it looked to tentative. These were then attached to head using 5 turns of a 0.5mm diameter rope passing through the cleats.
 


 
I used a 5mm single block lashed to the head to take the main topmast stay. Looking at the rigging diagrams this appears to be a 1.25mm diameter rope. I do not think that I can open the sheave enough to take this diameter so I will probably have to substitute this for a bigger block.
 

The sling was made using 0.8mm diameter served rope. I used a slightly larger Bluejacket thimble for this one and formed the lashings as per the diagrams in Longridge and Lees. I have yet to get around to painting all of the thimbles.
 










I guess I should get onto the shrouds now. I should have done those first but I found it easier to get this other rigging on before the tops were fixed to the model.
 

Nice plan!  Do you know if Indy retained the upper wale from when she was a 64 when she was razeed?

Some progress on my Diana. 2nd planking almost done on both sides. Did some small mistakes but overall happy how it turned out. Gunports are not perfect. Difficult to get them right when everything needs to be scratchbuilt. Chris has definitely improved his solutions in the kit design since he did this like 30 years ago when everything is up to the builder.  Cant wait to do another hull with MDF and build it like Lego 🙂 . 

I cut the upper deck in 3 parts. I think it will require too much tweeking to get it in place in one piece. 

I am not yet sure how if I am doing the quarterdeck with walls or open rails which looks more beautiful but requires some scratchbuilding. 

As I said before, progress is slow due to numerous of parallell projects. In summary:
Hms Victory: rigging started
Hms Snake: yards under construction
Hms Speedy: rigging to begin
Hmbv Granado: deck details and guns
...and various plastic kits in different stages. 
 
 

Nice plan!  Do you know if Indy retained the upper wale from when she was a 64 when she was razeed?

Nice plan!  Do you know if Indy retained the upper wale from when she was a 64 when she was razeed?

Thanks for the comments and likes, much appreciated. The before and after pictures of the keelson are included. Now that the keelson sits properly on the frames present and the ends of the keel structure, each added frame can get adjusted before gluing in. Should make adding the remaining frames a simple task. More to follow. The first two pictures show how far off the keelson was with respect to the installed frames and the second two show the correct fit.
 
 
 
 

Finished!!! 

Grecian is now available and in stock.
 
All Grecian printed materials arrived yesterday, and my large photo etch shipment arrived Tuesday (Sphinx, Duchess, Fifie, Zulu, Grecian and new Speedy production PE sheets)
 
Yesterday I finished all 'woodwork' for the Trial Cutter, leaving only the rigging to do to complete this model. before starting the masts and rig, I always draw the full mast and rig plans, so I can work from them. I think this one should be ready in around 8 weeks. The only power tools I have used during the construction of the Trial Cutter is a small sanding mouse for sanding the first and second planking. The rest has been simple hand tools, David Plane for masts and spars, pin vice for hand drilling (only around 16 holes are required to be drilled, mostly for masts and yards, the rest being pre cut), needle files and my trusty Stanley Knife.
 
After this, I will sort out the refreshed Speedy designs, and get the new Speedy kit back into stock. Once done, this leaves me free to concentrate on my 15th medium/large kit.

Its a real shame that display is only temporary, everything just fits together so well, just amazing the life you've built in.

Looking very nice Mark, good to see you back at her.

Looking very nice Mark, good to see you back at her.

Looking very nice Mark, good to see you back at her.

Its a real shame that display is only temporary, everything just fits together so well, just amazing the life you've built in.

Looking very nice Mark, good to see you back at her.

Looking very nice Mark, good to see you back at her.

Looking very nice Mark, good to see you back at her.

Its a real shame that display is only temporary, everything just fits together so well, just amazing the life you've built in.

Its a real shame that display is only temporary, everything just fits together so well, just amazing the life you've built in.

One barge to go 

Coming together in the Port side 

Wales – Work In Progress
Over the last few days, I have been working on a birthday gift from my wife, which was Amati’s Royal Yacht (in a bottle). I managed to construct and shape the hull and to then paint and fit the deck and bulwarks. The problem came when I started to fit the deck items. I really struggled to located and secure the parts. After failing to fit the fore bitts and windlass assembly I decided to abandon this project as I do not have the requisite tools or eyesight (even with my magnifying glasses) as the ship is too small for me.
 
It was a nice gift to receive, and I am glad I tried to build it but unfortunately, in my opinion, it is a very poor-quality kit and very badly presented instructions.
 
You can see the difference in size in the photo below.

 
I have given the Indy hull good sand and it does look and feel reasonably smooth. I have also sanded the gun port openings. I am still debating if I should just add a varnish finish or if I should paint and copper the hull. I have started to add the wales. The first wale is a length of 4mmW boxwood. I was able to use Titebond and clamps when adding the top wale. I suspect I will have to revert to CA clue for the remaining 3 x 5mm wale planks.

 
 
 
 

Do to too much RL, it's been slow going.   But here's an update.   I've finished "stocking the fore deck and the aft deck and added the timberheads and to the aftdeck, the railings also.   I'm showing her with stubmasts as there's no place to do full masting and rigging and then have a place to display her.  At least this way, I can have a proper display. 
 
Still a ways to go yet with the works/carvings around the bow, the stern lights, etc.