Beef Wellington

If you do a quick search on Badger you will find many build logs of this kit to get more information and answer your question.  Similarly there are many many build logs of other Caldercraft kits to read through.

Before I embarked on this project I built a section model to see if I could fit machinery below the central walkway to operate the oars. This remains an option for this model which is why the canopy and internal hull structure is removable (see bolts in the above pics). The machinery is quite crude (I would aim to improve on that with the full model) but did demonstrate that independent control of port and starboard oars would be possible with machinery that would give an elliptical oar path with the right stroke length.
 
 
 

Several years ago (quite a few in fact...) I started building a 1:24 scale model of a reconstruction of an Athenian Trireme. The model is based on drawings produced by John Coats for building the full size reconstruction ("Olympias"). A number of trials were conducted with the ship in the 1980's, which have been published in a number of sources by the Trireme Trust. Well worth looking up. A fascinating example of experimental archaeology.
I did have a blog running to record the model build (on this site I think?) but have not updated for a long time and I think it is no longer there. I have now reduced my working hours which has given me more time to progress the model over the last few months, so I thought it would be worth restarting the blog.
I have just completed the framing for the canopy.
 

Snow just fell for the first time, one of the earliest times on record. News reports are predicting an "historic storm" in Northwest Montana. Which means, more time in the shop!
 
I just completed the black strake on the starboard side. Because the sheer line rises faster than the gundeck and therefore the ports, the black strake eventually crossed right through gunports, leaving only short pieces between ports.
 
My gunport stop jigs worked well here. Wedged into adjacent ports, this gave me the angle to sand on the Byrnes disk sander at both ends, and then I just sanded lightly at one end until the plank slid exactly into place.
 

The aftmost plank had a bit of a twist, so needed bedding down with a larger clamp across the stern.

The difference in thicknesses between the main wale and the black strake has left a gratifyingly consistent sliver of light, showing that they are parallel and not wavy relative to each other. Hopefully, the 4" plank on top of the black strake will form an equally even sliver of light.
 

 
Now if only I don't have to snowplow for too long tomorrow morning, I will start on the port side.
 
By the way, I received an important insight into animal behavior today. The ship's cat sleeps all day, except for the exact moments when I apply glue to something and need to work quickly without interruption to apply clamps. These are the exact moments when the cat wakes up and demands food. How do they know?🙂
 
Best wishes,
 
Mark
 
 
 

Bowsprit is now secured in place so I was able to do some testing rigging. I decided to make my own ropes. I rig the jib tack and jib tack guy. I have to say that I'm happy how that turned out. 
I have also experimented little bit with the pictures and the setup of taking the picture. So hopefuly There are more details visible. Still it is camera from my mobile phone so no miracles there. 

Not much to show. I'm working on the Guns. One line is ready. 

After gluing the completed square section to the mast it then became obvious that this was a rather large mistake.   Belatedly I realized that the only way the main top would fit was to slide it up from the bottom of the square section.  The crosstrees and the trestletrees are a very snug fit around the 7x7mm square.  The round section at the bottom of the mast is 8mm in diameter so no go there; the top of the square section has cleats and other bits and pieces on it so no go there either.  I then discovered that I had done a really good job of gluing the damn' thing on, but it eventually it came off.   Fortunately my 7x7mm was pretty accurate, but I suggest before doing anything make sure the cross- and trestletrees fit.  I suggest only after the top is dry-fitted should the bibbs be fitted, then the top glued in place.
 
Here is the completed square section.  The colour shown is an artifact of the light.  In the flesh it looks quite good.  The second photo does not show much detail, but the colour is fairly accurate.

 

Hello and thank you for your comments!
 
some news from Sphynx
have finished inboard planking on Quarterdeck.

Manufakturing of Planksheer:



Regards
 
Alex

Well done Chris, looks fantastic, i will nominated you for an award on the new years honours , for saving the British model producer award

Only  a tiny update as I steadily prep the masts. Mass gluing with little clamps
 

 
and then using a mill to drill the holes for the rigging in the tops. To get the hole location I traced the outer angle of the top on a piece of paper then marked the holes. I then cut the outer shape with scissors laid the template on the top and pushed through with a sharp point.
 

So I redid the bowspit. I had 'stained' the mast (as I have done with previous kits) and was not entirely delighted with the results. When stained it was a little too dark (and grubby) whereas when unstained the standard dowels where too white. After asking for some advice here I ordered some Castello boxwood (lemonwood) and  resolved to size it myself. This will be a long winded post as I intend to go into exhaustive detail into something that doesn't need it.
 
First up I cut my 1*1 sticks down to something that could be more easily sized. Here is the blank next to one of my earlier test bowsprits
 

Next I secured it on my lathe Using a 4 adjustable jaw chuck, which isn't ideal but unavoidable with a rectangular shape.
 

The next thing to have ready is the correct tool for the job. When I first sized the kit dowels I had tried to use my favourite sizing tool but it was actually a little too unweildy for the job. This time I searched for a more useful tool. At the bottom is the incorrect and the top the correct.
 

So first up is to roughly make it a cylinder larger than the thickest size using the default sizing tool (shown at the bottom of the photo)
 

 
I then thinned the end to 6mm before marking the correct locations using a pencil whilst the lathe spun slowly
 

Next up I sized the section from the end to the thickest section in the middle
 

 
Before using a fine sandpaper to improve the finish
 

 
Here is the 'finished' end
 

 
Next up I flipped the bowsprit around (the lathe is not long enough to do the entire thing in one 'sweep'
 

Though this did allow me to use the more accurate simultaneous contracting 3 jawed holder
 

Once sized down with the rough paring tool I switched to a thinner tool that allows exact lines to be created
 

 
And showing the result as the cap section is reduced
 

So here is almost the completed bowsprit
 

For the little extra bits I found using a particular tweezer style useful
 

I could then hold my finger under the wood and run a file over the end to 'angle' those bits that needed angling
 

Some did not and just needed to be rectangular for these I followed the wise rule of start large and then reduce to fit. I tended to cut with a scalpel then tidy with a file.
 

 
Next up I tried the wolding. For this kit I am using black thread for the standing rigging though I might well switch to dark brown for my next model. Anyway I am also trying to avoid my heavy use of superglue and very simple half hitches. So I will be trying to use knots in preference to glue. This may or may not work and I think the jury is out currently though I will get a better impression when some of the blocks are added
 
I started by masking taping one end of my thread to a spare area then winding the thread around
 

 
I then masking taped a section close to the off cut bit (but not near the actual end as I would need to use that)
 

 
I then took the spare end and threaded it under the existing loops and around the top loose piece before moving back again
 

And rope bit done
 

 
 
 
Shuffling around made this tidier but the extra thickness of two ropes in one section did generate a bulge. I have placed this under the jib boom so it wont be that obvious but if I repeat this process on the masts then I may cut a small groove to contain the under thread to avoid this (and help keep things tight).
 
I then gathered the relevant parts (including painted card) for the bands
 

These were cut into strips and wrapped around. The close up makes things look worse than they actually look (and next time I will paint the sides of the strips before attaching. For this I have to paint the sides carefully post install which is harder and is the next job from here)
 

 
Anyway even I am tired now. Next up I have to tidy the wolding before starting on blocks for the jib boom and bowsprit.
 
IMG_3829.CR2

Put on the bulkheads and then looked at the waterline. I have had lots of difficulties in the past but finally have a method I am comfortable with.
 
Firstly I mark onto the hull 2-3 locations taken from the plans and then use a coving laser to indicate a line between these points making sure the ship is as level as I can make it
 
I then check the indicated line by using calipers against the plan
 

 
which can then be placed directly agains the model to check the line
 

 
Finally I use masking tape to indicate the line itself as it is easier to adjust around to the shape
 

 
After that I used copper tape as an experiment. I have used it before on my Triton cross section and there had used the tape itself on one side and the tape plus paper backing on the other. Now of the two the version with the paper backing looked better but after three or so years started to come off whereas the tape on own lasted. I must admit to still not being entirely happy with the tape on own but think I can correct this later with smaller sections. My process here was to make a little jig to mark the plate size and to cut a strip of copper. I then used the jig to score the copper with the back of a scalpel. Once done I then used a ponce wheel to mark down the left and bottom sides of the plate. When attaching I eventually worked out it was better to keep continuous pressure and push down with the other hand. Any looseness causes slight wrinkles.
 
My photos of that were not good so I will try and generate some better ones later. After this I have just started on the planking and here is a 'moody' (read unfocsed) shot of the deck with some king planks I had just cut. You will notice the lines across the deck, these approximate to the expected locations of the beams.
 

 
I will do another post soon on the deck planking plan. Cheers for reading
 

Just a short posting from captain Slow 🙂. The shipyard activity has been low the last couple of weeks due to summer vacation with my family. First planking on on port side is almost finished and starboard (not show on this picture) is done 2/3.

Regards
 
Henrik

Time runs and it is now two weeks since I last did a post. First planking is still going on and will so for another couple of weeks. Some parts of the build result I am very happy about and others not. In general planking towards the aft looks a lot better than at the bow. The bow can be saved by filler and sanding but before that I will not show any pictures of the bow. That would be too embarrassing 😐. Instead I would like share some thoughts which came up yesterday about this problem.
 
Planking of the a hull of the size of Agamemnon has its challenges but also advantages. One row of planks stretches for about 850 mm. My apologies for not translating into imperial units 🙂. I have not got a clue. I have divided this length into typically three strips of alternating lengths. A 200-300 mm long strip is easy to handle and can be shaped and bent in practical way. Yesterday I started thinking why do the bow look so crappy when aft looks so good? My explanation is that I have started planking from bow to aft. When I come to the aft I tend to better see how each individual strip should be tapered  taking into account the natural curves of the hull. The first strip in a new planking "row" starting in the bow is difficult to get in a correct shape with correct tapering and stealers put in where they should be. I have therefore started planking from midships and going from there aft and towards the bow. The result after that change in planking approach  is much better!
 
In the meantime I will consider stripping off the worst part of the bow and as you can see on the second picture planking is closing in on the rudder post Ouhhhh!
 
Kind regards
 
Henrik


 
 
 

Thanks once again for all the encouragement and advice! The info on sawdust is fascinating!! I had no idea it could be so toxic!
 
I managed to get the bulkheads off with large wire cutters followed by a chisel and finally sandpaper. I could then plank the inside of the bow and scour the stationary shops and artistic friends in my immediate vicinity for a more of a brown red to paint it, as a bright red felt too flashy.
 
My wood filler query was not so easily resolved. I was reluctant to use the sawdust method at it had dried a lot darker than the surrounding walnut when used between my ill-fitting false keel pieces (ref. my second post). As it turns out, there is no walnut coloured wood filler in South Africa so I went with the closest match, Imbuia. My experience was a rather long and patience-cultivating endeavour. It took multiple layers to fill in my tiny defected (sanding really shows up all one's shortfalls in planking). To my frustration I learnt that being water-based meant that all it took to undo a few layers of work was one layer that was a bit too watery. I also learnt that wood filler can be undone by over-sanding or sanding with too coarse sand paper, or leaving the hull in a hot car... I became a master wood-filler-applicator by the end of the number of times that my mistakes made me redo the whole process!
 
Please don't crucify me, but I decided not to copper-plate the hull (historically accurate or not) as the wood finish is just too beautiful to cover over! I therefore first painted the blue just below the deck (I figured getting varnish on the blue was less critical than blue on the varnish) and varnished everything else. Picking the right varnish was also challenging with the hardware store having way too many options, all unrelated to my needs. I eventually settled on WSP 27 Imbuia colour (whatever that means) with an outdoor seude finish (as the indoor only came in gloss). I was very uncertain in my choice but am super chuffed with the final result!




Much to my sorrow, I didn't get a chance to seal in my wood filler effort with varnish for a few days after completing it for the hundredth time. The delay, together with holding the hull to paint the blue line, seemed to once again undo some of wood filler. I only noticed once I was into the thick of varnishing however, and therefore opted to leave it. Now if the light catches it a that right (or should I say wrong) angle you can see the imperfections outlining some of the planks, as in the photo below. These are not critical, however, and will probably only ever serve to annoy my own inner perfectionist;P

I came to greatly regret my decision to not use tapering and stealers above the bow whale line so as to allow the planks to lie flatter across their width. Wood filler masks minute defects but really seemed to struggle with the clinkering that resulted in this area. The end product is passable but I would definitely do it differently next time!

My original concern was that the stealers would be too noticeable, but after sanding, wood filler and varnish, it's no longer easy to even pick them out. I will definitely take the planks more seriously next time they try to express their indignation at my chosen angle! Despite the shade difference between planks you can see below how well the bow drop planks blended in:

From this point on I have found the instructions to be rather unhelpful in terms of order. I have therefore been doing bits and pieces everywhere to try reach my short term goal of putting the main whale planking in place (the next section in the instructions). In looking at stern fascia pictures I see I was supposed to add a 1.5mm square strip where the planks meet the stern counter. This is nowhere in the written instructions, only a later picture. By the time I saw it, that ship had unfortunately already sailed, but I don't think it looks too bad without it. I also opted to varnish the stern counter instead of painting it black. Below you can see that the stern post thankfully fitted well enough (in terms of being flush with the second planking) despite my earlier ignorance in not cutting enough of a rabbet into the false keel.

One last view for good measure;)

good evening everyone
 
i have tried to get into a routine of doing something on any of my builds every day, its surprising what can be done in a couple of hours, and it is weening me off the PC  (that can only be good)
 
most of the big bits are now started, so at any time i can go from one piece to another
 
most of the hedgehog launcher is done and protection screen
 
NOT MY PHOTO


wip on the engine room skylight

and now the depth charge racks are on the go
 

Good evening everyone
 
thank you for the like and comments, and apologies for not getting around as much as i used to
 
the depth charge racks continue
 
in the last post the outside cahe was completed, now the racks have to be put in

sorry its not so clear

not ready to be fixed in yet

this set is solely for the depth charges, to the right is on e of the 40 odd charges, it has a minimal amount of detail of, but that is removed

this is one of the smallest pieces, 

its a start

also been making up davits and charge storage rack, as well of the charge throwers

A few more hours in the shop sneaked in. Installing the black strake is going better than I expected. Careful preparation with a sanding thicknesser on the wales has so far ensured that the highlight of light at the top of the wale is pretty even along the face of the black strake. That was my biggest concern, a wavy edge between the two. So far, so good....
 
Mark

Skeleton done….  the middle plank locking everything into position required som tweeking to get in place. Had to fill down some angles to make it easier so slid into all of the bulkheads.   

Today I took the Speedy box art shots and then put the box art together, does this look OK?
 
Just have the manual and plans to put together now, all laser and PE have been sent for cutting/etching.
 

It's been over 6 weeks since I was on this model due to being hawked away for more magazine work. 
 
Got to say that I've really missed working on this little beauty, and it was good to get it back on the bench again.
 
There's not really too much to report on at the moment except to say that I've now added the wales and a few other bits. Thee wales are pre-cut in two parts per side, perfectly interlocking along the length. They really do make a hell of a difference the appearance. I also cut out the timber from the gun ports to open them up and added the cap rail sections. These needed to be carefully aligned to allow further laser cut parts to be fitted. 
 
As a slight change in working order, I have also added the transom. This isn't shown as fitted for a few stages yet, but there's no reason why it can't be added now and the preceding hull stages then completed before the bowsprit is made. 
 
Again, I am loving this build!
 





 

Yes as I understand alot of the ships in Nelson Navy was designed by him when he was working for them 15-20years ago such as the Agamemnon etc. 
 
He also worked for Amati/Victory and designed Lady Nelson, Pegasus and Vanguard.  And we are all waiting for the masterpiece HMS Victory in 1:64 to be released. 
 
Now with Vanguard models we can expect him designing a whole new line of 1:64 Royal navy ships. Just looking at the Alert and upcoming Speedy its clear that these brings the kitmodels to a complete new level of details and design for making it more easy for the modeller.
 
Caldercraft really need to start upgrading their old kits if they are not going to be outrunned by the new competition. Nelson Navy was a gamechanger 20 years ago. I recently bought the amazing Diana kit. Its one of the best looking models in my view, but opening the box you realize that plans, instructions, precuts, etc is very poor compared to newer kits. Even though you are building an advanced model, there is no reason to let the modeller basically scratchbuild alot of parts and guess the details of the design. Their newer kits such as the Granado shows how much kitdesigns deveped between 1995 and 2005. And now we are 15years more into the future. 
 
 

Work has begun on the main mast.  The Proxxon lathe made the tapering straightforward.  The square section at the top of the mast is supposed to be a piece of 7x7mm walnut.  Unfortunately it was missing from the kit.  This did not make my day.  Having said 'Gosh, what a nuisance' or words to that effect, I found some 8x8mm boxwood and sanded it down to the correct dimensions.
 

Dry-fitted:
The bibbs supplied in the kit are plywood of very indifferent quality.  Aside from this, as I will not be staining the masts walnut, the light-coloured mast and the walnut bibbs will, I think, make a poor match.  I have made up replacements which I hope will not look out of place.  The top part of these will eventually be painted black.
 

 
 
 
 
 

Thanks, druxey, Marc and Vane. I think this is probably more common that I would have thought, to live for the process more than the finished product! And also, projects that last decades...
 
In between numerous summer visitors, I have slowly been working on the black strake above the main wale.
 
A few points of possible interest in the photo below:
 
1. I finally settled on the black artist tape for locating the run of planking. I kept dislodging the string when messing with measuring the plank widths, and fitting the pieces. The tape allowed me to draw a firm and continuous pencil line on the hull, which enables me to move the tape back to the right position when it dislodges. On my solid hull, the tape pulls smoothly for developing a fair line and gives me an accurate line at any point on the hull; for plank on bulkheads, or an accurately framed model with spaces between the frames, I imagine the string will work equally effectively in marking at intervals on the frame. Each to his or her own, I imagine.
 
2. See the little wedge of planking under the first porthole. In principle, the wale below should have raised up to the edge of the port to avoid this skinny wedge. But after looking at numerous Admiralty framed models, I have seen not a single example of the wales--main or channel-- raised up or down to portholes to avoid this problem. I can only imagine that the wale did raise up or down, but it was thinned down to the adjacent planking at these points so as not to interrupt the flow of the wales. The end result visually is a thin wedge above or below ports. That is my story and I am sticking to it!
 
3. The offset of just 1 ½" in thickness between the main wale and the black strake means that there is a very fine reveal between the two. The slightest variation in thickness for either, or an inadequately clamped glue job, will show as a wavy, varying width in the reveal. To help ensure absolutely even clamping, I turned to some planking clamps I bought from Micro-Mark many years ago. They screw into the hull, and closely spaced they really pull the black strake evenly to the hull. The hole will obviously be covered up by later planking higher up. I did have to modify them, with a card pad on the clamping side, and a thicknesser above the screw to ensure that clamp grabbed evenly all the way across the plank.
 
4. I may have to make up a special sanding block to sand both the main wale and the black strake at the same time, ensuring a constant reveal between the two. We will see how close it is before I resort to this.
 
Best wishes,
 
Mark