Beef Wellington

Post 73
Completing the Guns (Part 2)
I don't glue my barrels to the carriages, preferring to hold them in place with the capsquares.
I had previously made the capsquares but these now need finishing with the holes drilled to take the joint bolts and eyebolts.
So far so good.
When I made the Pegasus guns I added the bolt that secures the cap square in place plus the key and chain.

005

050
 These were at 1:64 scale, so replicating these fittings at 1:48 scale would be a doddle,  - right, - wrong. I think going slightly larger is more difficult as detail becomes more apparent.
At this point I hit a sort of wall and have been fiddling around ever since my last post. 

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These are the makings to complete the carriage furniture.
 
The capsquares, eyebolt hinges, and  joint bolts are fairly easy.
It's making the key and attaching the chain that  tests my sanity and patience to the limit.
 
The Chain is some tiny stuff I have in stock whose origin is now obscure. 48 links to the inch just about right for the purpose, but still quite tricky to attach to the key in particular.
Working out an approach and method is the first hurdle, handling the tiny little beggars is the second.
 
I have spent several days faffing around trying to fit these tiny additions, the chain links are so small that I have to seize them to the key and retaining eyebolt, using very fine wire, and the more the gun is handled the more the finish is affected.

6334(3)
From 12" normal viewing the result doesn't look too bad, from some angles anyway.

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The joint bolt fashioned from a cut down eyebolt, I am fairly happy with.

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Not entirely sure about the height of the key bolt or the size of the key, this is the area that bothers me most.
The difficulty is fashioning these in an even smaller size.
 
A further test is how does the finished gun look in place, no good doing it if it detracts from the look.

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Is the overall result worth the effort, I'm not sure and grow less so with the prospect of a further eleven guns to dress.
 
 I will give it one last go before I start on any further guns.
 
 
B.E.
26/02/2019
 
 

Hi Peter - planking is looking good, you handled that tricky area at the stern under the wale very nicely! Always hard to tell in the photos, but did you leave a lip for those few ports that will receive a lid at the bow and stern?

Well, nearly done, the final cables and pulleys added. I want to rust up the nets some more then I can add the final anchor, strip the plastic wrap and await my colleagues 

Thanks OC. Last of the rigging, lines onto pulleys that pull out the booms from the hull and pull them back in, rigged to the capstan. Only a few hours to go now. 

I have been away for a few weeks; odd how work seems to get in the way of modelling but I suppose the joy of this hobby is that you can dip in and out, catch an hour here and an hour there which allows some momentum to be maintained. When I was last in the forum, I was mulling over whether to use Boxwood or Walnut to second plank the upper works of the ship - after much cogitation, I decided to go boxwood.  Thanks to really helpful advice from Rob, I managed to secure some decent, none too yellowy, strips in two thicknesses (why is it so expensive?) which I have been slowly fixing to the hull.  First I had to finish the Gun wales which were then painted.  I agree with another contributor that the Admiralty paint leaves an excessive shine so will go over them very lightly with gunmetal black to town them down.   I am not entirely content with the line - I tried to measure from the plans, I tried to align by eye, I mapped it to the waterline etc etc but it still seems a little low on the hull and seems to be a it distorted around the stern. 
 
I will have to make do with this and when I get to the transom, think carefully at how I bind all this together - if I was doing it again, I would lift it about 5mm up and ignore the plans. I guess a little filler is going to be used. The stern areas sits, glaring at me; almost giggling 'wait until you get to my area!!' - so I will concentrate on the hull then look carefully at the rear section. 
 
I have then been slowly sticking on second planks, needs to be done carefully but is very time consuming. I am learning the good and bad aspects of cyno glue....be quick to clear and sand off any excess.  I am still not clear on lined and non lined gunports: once the second planking is complete I will return to the 4 unlined ports on each side and see what happens there!!
 
The box wood does looks good and once sanded, relevant parts painted and the rest sealed should be pleasing to look at.   I now have to work out how to marry the differing wood thicknesses on the lower hull: boxwood 4.7 x 0.7mm; walnut 5 x1.0mm - I don't want  a bulge when it comes to the copper plates; I guess sanding is the order of the day! I have begun tapering the planks around the rudder head and then down to the eventual waterline - this is another area where I suspect there will be joyless moments ahead!
 
Anyway here she is.  I am reasonably pleased: taking my time and thinking very carefully before I commit anything to glue.  
 
Peter
  

Looking good Mike, I find making up gratings tedious but somewhat satisfying and glad it worked out for you.  I have to admire your commitment to painting with wood, especially in a kit, and suspect it takes longer to customize satisfactory solution that building from scratch.

Cheers Jim and the likes, and thanks Mort - unfortunately I'm way beyond that decision but something to think about for the future...
 
Rigging seems to be a little bit of a neglected area on this site, so wanted to post few pics of progress, for things specific to this kit where may be of help to others and also to hopefully capture where I've deviated from the plans.  Petersson has been INVALUABLE!
 
As a side note, I also nearly had a heart attack when I brought Snake outside for a few photos - I normally work in artificial light in my basement, and the natural light made all sorts of sorts of previously unseen 'fuzzies' VERY apparent.  I vow never to use kit supplied line again, but am committed to making it work here for consistency.  Will probably try brushing on some dilute PVA to try to tame them at some point.
 
I've found the following 3 scenarios to be common:
Plans are not clear - in these cases I've tried to follow Petersson Plans are clear enough and are somewhat consistent with Petersson - in these cases I've followed the plans but tweaked in some cases where it seems to make more sense Plans are clear enough, but differ from Petersson - in these cases I've followed the plans, unless Petersson seems more logical/elegant.  
Foreyard and Fore Topmast
 
Fore yard prior to installation.  Jeers and slings also pre-rigged


 
Foremast installed.  I used thicker line on the jeers (.75mm) as this seemed more in keeping with pictures I've found and attached round the yard following Petersson.   As expected, I found lashing the slings rather challenging.


I found the trusses could be made following plans and Petersson, but was the devil trying to get in place with all pendants and catharpins.  Truss in place (sorry picture is little blurry), I did not even attempt to put in the knave line!

 
Fore-topmast in place.  Found the parrals very fiddly to do, but they can be done according to Petersson.  I gave the parral beads a couple of goes in the drum sander to take off the shine and it gave a very pleasing result.

The fore-topsail yard tie and lifts were taken around the fore-topmast with an eye splice as per Petersson.


Belaying items for the foremast is rather challenging on Snake as the for'd bits are very close to the platform and leaves very little room for maneuver.  I also didn't make this any easier by belaying the hawsers around the bits either.

 
And finally, where things stand currently...I added flemish horses to the fore-topsail which are not identified in the Snake plans, but seem pretty ubiquitous and covered in Lever.

...and the result with the new bow grating angle.
 
I lost the close up photo, but one thing you can just see in the bottom picture was the enlargement of the slots for the gammoning.  As supplied, these slots were not long enough to allow the gammoning to be done properly but it was pretty easy to extend these using a needle file.

Read it ready

Painting the port lids has been a process, but it has yielded some pretty good results:

I used a translucent red/brown wash from War Hammer to get into the creases and the lows of the gilded ornaments for better contrast.  The difference is subtle, but worthwhile:

Here are a few shots of them placed, to get a sense for what that will look like.  When it actually comes time to install them, I will make up lanyard rings:


While I was at my father’s, this past weekend, I picked up the gun barrels for the middle battery.  Previously, I was puzzled as to why I only had 24 out of what Should have been 32 lower battery guns - what Heller is designating as 24 pounders.
 
Well, it turns out that the kit researchers were also aware of the practice of a mixed armament on the lower deck; for the kit, the aft four guns on each broadside, as well as the four stern chase ports are designated for 18 pound guns.  The middle battery are all 18 pounders.
 
For the record, Heller’s classification and distribution of the armament is lighter, overall, than what the ship carried in reality; for example, the lower battery was a mixture of 36 and 24 pound guns, with - if I remember correctly - the majority being the lighter 24s.
 
This discrepancy between the model and the reality bolsters my decision to beef up the gun barrels from the lower deck, on up.
 
Right now, I am replicating the same process of adding an insert for 6 of the 18 pound guns;  I may leave all four of the stern chase ports empty, or I may arm the two closest to the rudder.  I haven’t yet decided.
 
I will take one 18 pound gun barrel,  and attempt to make castings for the entire middle battery.  For my casting blanks, one half will already have the insert glued and faired, in place.  To facilitate casting, I will cut away the dolphin “handles”, which wouldn’t be visible, anyway.  I had remained hopeful that maybe I saved the 24-pounders from my first build of this kit, but I couldn’t find them anywhere.  They must have been a casualty of several purges.
 
One thing that I have begun to ponder more seriously is what, exactly, I will do about the quarter galleries.  Although, I still think that the following drawing originated from the hand of Jean Berain, there are certain problems in its presentation that need to be resolved:

The biggest issue has to do with the five windows shown in the closed middle deck tier - the functional toilet of the officers’ quarters;  first of all, the windows taper down in size from aft, moving forward.  Second, of all, this profusion of glass (whether dummy windows or actual glass) clutters the design.  Thirdly, the diamond-hatch webbing does not correspond to their corollary on the stern.
 
Resolving these issues will necessitate sketching them out. I started to do this on the computer, a couple of years ago.  I managed to get the amortisement mostly done, before the software locked up:
So, I will sketch out the lower section of the QG by hand.
 
I have this idea that I can take cues from the following Berain scheme for the Formidable to help simplify and de-clutter my new quarter galleries.  The Formidable was an Etienne Hubac built ship from 1691, and as such, a very near contemporary of the re-built (also by E. Hubac) Soleil Royal:

There is nothing, in my view, about this scheme that seems out of place or proportion.  My main approach, here, would be to reduce the four primary windows down to three, with better spacing and more consistent scale.  This will also simplify all of the fleur-de-lis paneling, beneath that.  I may, also, eliminate the smallest fifth window, replacing it with a simple panel, and perhaps an appropriate ornament - the criss-crossed L monogram, for example.
 
My first attempt at making this lower section will probably involve carving the complex, faceted form from close-grained solid wood, to which will be added moulding and paneling and carvings.
 
I had tried to do some experiments with polymerized clay, but I’m a long ways off from Doris.  I at least understand how wood behaves and how to shape it.
 
In other research news, I have struck up a very interesting and informative correspondence with Montreal native Guy Maher.  Guy is another SR obsessive, like myself, who has assembled a really impressive body of research into Soleil Royal’s early appearance.
 
There is much that he and I agree on, but naturally we have our different views about certain things.  At the moment, I am reading through one of his primary sources:

Mr. Dessert is a modern historian with a particular interest in the life and times of Louis XIV, and the ministers of his empire.  He has a number of titles to his credit, concerning this epoch.  This book, so far, is an excellent overview of all of the individual strata of Human Resources that made Colbert’s navy possible.  There promise to be a few golden nuggets about SR that may corroborate or refute some of what I’ve presented here, so far.  Either way, I remain open to the possibilities.
 
One fascinating observation from Mr. Maher, so far, is that the following drawing of the head (which also clearly appears to be Berain’s hand) makes no allowance for the actual structure of the forecastle deck.  There is only a forward sheer railing, just over the main deck ports, but no additional “step” above them to include the structure of the forecastle deck:

I am almost absolutely certain this is Berain’s hand because on the French modeling site, where Michel Saunier primarily posts his SR build, Gerard Delacroix posted very clear close-ups of this drawing.  Their style of line and shade exactly matches that of the Berain stern drawing.
 
We know, absolutely, that SR always had a forecastle.  Are we to believe that Jean Berain “forgot” to include this detail?  As many times as I have looked at this drawing, I have never noticed this discrepancy.  But, there it is!  I have no theories or explanations for that one.
 
Tanneron did not forget to include this step-up to the forecastle deck:

As it was drawn, though, it would be as though the waist rail merely continued all the way to the headrails.  Perplexing!

Busy week at work so a much less productive week on the model - I managed a few hours over the weekend.  I was at the stage where I needed to place the gunwale in the correct position - easier said than done - and start second planking.  The instructions directed that, from the plan, one should measure down from the various gunports then mark up the line and affix the gunwale: easy peasy.  Well no actually, the gunports are a mixture of lined and unlined ports and the plan/instructions make no reference to where the measurement should be from - 1mm here and 2mm there is bound to result in a badly positioned piece of wood.  I fiddled around and ended up with a variety of wavy lines which looked odd; I even stuck one down which had to come off - not right!  So I reverted to good old plagiarism and looked at both Ray's and Rob Durant's (HMS ETHALION) after which I used the instrument so vital to all Georgian master shipwrights: the Mark 1 eyeball and 'ur-int' - the feeling in ones' water!  I have now fitted it to on both sides and ….doesn't look too bad but still a tadge low for my liking.
 
Whilst looking for clues I did come across Rob's log on his build of HMS ETHALION - extraordinarily good.  I take my hat off to him for his attention to detail, precision and logical build sequence, all succinctly explained and photographically recorded: something for me to aspire to in the decades ahead; brilliant...read his not mine!!  As I read through his account, I began to appreciate the emphasis he had placed on the beauty of boxwood for the parts of  ships' sides visible above the waterline - it does look very rich and crisp.  So I have ordered a pile of 1x4mm boxwood thus will await delivery before commencing the next stage.  The various blogs are very helpful so will peruse them whilst I await the postie...oh and I will go to work!  Everyone seems to worry about the stern arrangements so I might have a look at that although not sure what I can do if it is out: we'll see. 
 
A few photos.  Speak next week. 
 
Peter then 
 
 

I then sanded, filled in the gaps with wood fill, shaped the bow and the stern areas and then re-sanded!  It took some time however it was worth it.  I then attached the quarter deck bulkheads and the final planks around the bow.  Then I looked and looked and looked at how to do the gunports. I followed Ray's advice and marked them out using the kit's template to check alignment with the frames and, just as it did with Ray, the forward gunports straddled the frames which is unhelpful.  I redrew them using the two stern most gunports as reference points and reduced the gap to 30mm from 32mm which cleared the frames.  Be very careful about the positioning.
 
I cut them out using a1.5mm drill which perforated the inside the gunports, cleaned them up with the surgical knife and then a flat file.  They were lined and then painted; I will put lids on the first three and the last one on each side so they have not yet been lined.  I need to touch up around some ports on the inside with filler to make sure the bulk heads are smooth.
 
OK - that's me upto date.  I will now ponder how to start the second planking and try and work out what a main wale is and how to position it and why! that's next weekend's job! 
 
Peter  
    

With the balsa in place and the sanding done I placed the maindeck on the and aligned against it when I started the planking process.  The instructions make reference to 5x1mm limewood strips but the kit actually comes with 6x1mm.  Not too great an issue except when checking the position of the gunports which use the bottom of the second plank from the top as a reference point: 10mm or 12mm from the top?  I measured against the plans which show 10mm so I bought a few 5mm strips and fitted those before using the 6mm for the rest of the hull - we will see how the gunports line up.  The team at Caldercraft were non-plussed! I haven't done much planking so this took time and I found the stern area tough especially twisting and fixing damp wood, during which it was clear I hadn't sanded my frames enough and I could discern a few creases in the planking as they bent over the frames.   I tried to correct the flaw but I'm not sure it is as intended!  Really sand and double check the frame lines before committing the planks; I had done the sides/bow but not enough the stern and for which I should have used some soaked planks to double check - the crucial area.  Hey ho.
 
Peter   

Thanks everyone for the very kind words and likes....we've reached another "phone a friend" moment to assist with my indecision:
 
Hauling Tackle rethink:
A previously described, looking to assemble hauling tackles off the ship.  Initially planned to use 0.3mm Syren line for the block stropping and 0.2mm for the tackle fall to get a little size contrast.  While initially happy with the result, after making some of these up and staring at them I can't help but feel the 0.2mm is undersized.  A tackle was made up with 0.3mm line to experiment, this is a little harder to work with the frapping but think a suitably repeatable processes is possible after experimentation.  Once made, they are very easy to hook into place, and seem to sit nicely even without dilute PVA.
 
So, which size do you think looks most appropriate?  While still a little undecided, I'm now leaning toward the 0.3mm, and suspect 0.25mm (if available) would be spot on!
 
After rigging the tackles and mounted in the serving machine, the frapping then becomes more manageable.  The final turn is simply fed through the previous turn and is held in place by friction quite securely.
 

 
The comparisons:  The 0.2mm tackle fall below:

 
The comparisons:  The 0.3mm tackle fall below (the line has not been trimmed yet)

 
And side by side (0.3mm on the left, 0.2mm on the right)

Thanks everyone for the very kind words and likes....we've reached another "phone a friend" moment to assist with my indecision:
 
Hauling Tackle rethink:
A previously described, looking to assemble hauling tackles off the ship.  Initially planned to use 0.3mm Syren line for the block stropping and 0.2mm for the tackle fall to get a little size contrast.  While initially happy with the result, after making some of these up and staring at them I can't help but feel the 0.2mm is undersized.  A tackle was made up with 0.3mm line to experiment, this is a little harder to work with the frapping but think a suitably repeatable processes is possible after experimentation.  Once made, they are very easy to hook into place, and seem to sit nicely even without dilute PVA.
 
So, which size do you think looks most appropriate?  While still a little undecided, I'm now leaning toward the 0.3mm, and suspect 0.25mm (if available) would be spot on!
 
After rigging the tackles and mounted in the serving machine, the frapping then becomes more manageable.  The final turn is simply fed through the previous turn and is held in place by friction quite securely.
 

 
The comparisons:  The 0.2mm tackle fall below:

 
The comparisons:  The 0.3mm tackle fall below (the line has not been trimmed yet)

 
And side by side (0.3mm on the left, 0.2mm on the right)

OC, Carl, Rob, Thomas, Mike, Dave, Pat and all the likes...definitely helps keeping one moving forward!
 
Finally, have all the guns in position an the breeching ropes in place.  Amazingly time consuming, no more need be said, and glad its behind me.  I did allow myself the small concession of using a ringbolt for the less visible guns, and went with a ringbolt and ring for those visible in the waist area.  Despite the latter being more 'correct', the jury is still out on whether the results totally warrant it at this scale as the eyebolts only version seems acceptable to my eye (comparison photo below).   As usual, dilute PVA was used to help keep the breech ropes in position and to try give them a sense of weight.  Photos seem to call attention to all the little dings and dents that seem unavoidable and thankfully not really noticeable during normal viewing.
 
A very simple jig was used to help keep lengths consistent.  When using rings, I found that opening up a ringbolt using a small metal point and reclosing was easier, faster and predictable than opening up the ring itself.
 

Love those last shots, great looking fake sheaves and wonderful rigging which looks just the right scale, very nice!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of those in the US!  Unfortunately the  shipyard has had to suddenly close due to a minor, but messy, health and safety violation involving a clumsy thumb and Xacto knife - nothing serious but plasters/band-aids preventing fine work.
 
Good opportunity to sit back and ponder gun rigging as I'll need to order additional materials from Syren.  Think I'm done with additional detailing on the cannons in the interests of sanity;
Monograms are from Syren, given a quick dash of 'dark iron' Cpaint and glued into place with CA Cap-square eyebolt made with wire and the cap square joint bolt is one of the smaller PE ring bolts.  
 
First mock up of potential rigging, as previously discussed, the breech rope is 0.88mm Syren line.  This line does make the half hitch a little more cumbersome, but think it can still work, even though they will be somewhat hidden even for most visible guns in the waist.  Going to live without the wheel lynch pin and cap square pin/chain.
 
Cannon rigging:
Breeching rope does require some dilute PVA to hold into position on the button.  Wanted to give the hauling tackle a feeling of 'weight', and have been experimenting assembling these off the model using a serving machine to get consistent spacing and also do the frapping.  Procedure still to be finalised…
 
Details as follows:
Block are 1/8" (3.18mm) single/double blocks from Syren Blocks are stropped with 0.012"(0.3mm) line Port tackle line is 0.008" (0.2mm) line Hooks are 4mm from Syren (these are black plastic which I ordered some time ago and don't think Chuck still offers them which is a shame as they seem easy to work with)

Mike - yes, the scuppers are PE from the kit...and yes, I had the same experience as you!  The carpet monster also ate a few, and I don't even have carpet!  I found the technique of attaching to masking tape, smearing some CA glue on the back side and then positioning, seemed to be enough time to adjust before it fully set.  Holes were drilled at an angle to the hull to try and give the impression of the tube angling up to the deck,  but that proved a little hit or miss.  Closeup, think the PE definitely looks overscale, but from regular viewing distance they blend in OK, and they will probably blend further when the other hull fixtures are added.
 
Well, I asked the question and MSW answered!!  Thanks everyone for your input, you've swayed me to the larger size, not a single vote for the smaller dimension.  Of course the larger rope will require far more taming but I'll solve that in due course.  Now to figure out how to attach to the ringbolt with a scale appropriate solution...
 
Just before putting this to bed, here is a picture I found from Endeavour which shows a smaller size breech rope which initially played into my deliberation.
 

 

@Pat - I tried using a very fine sanding stick after coat of primer had been sprayed on.  This worked in some cases, but less so in others, and not at all in all those hard to reach corners.  I've never seen many samples of 3D printing to compare to so I may be being a little unfair, and of course it comes down to the materials supplied.  I ordered the "Smoothest Fine Detail' option which was the 'best' finish of those available.  Its odd as one side is almost perfect, the other much rougher...https://www.shapeways.com/product/9VPR7D8CW/1-64-lower-capstan-18th-and-19th-century?optionId=64749325.  I suspect other materials offered by other suppliers could give better results.
 
Taking stock:
 
Not too much time in the shipyard this weekend, trying to get the garden ready for winter.  The shipyard did however get a bit of a spring cleaning as I was getting a little bit tired of working in a 2"x2" square on my cutting mat despite working on a pretty large table.  A few overall shots of where things stand as its been a while.  Now the channels are glued, the chainplate locations could be drilled as well as the emergency rigging eyebolt positions.  The scuppers have also been completed.  The positioning of all of these things requires quite a bit of planning and luckily I didn't encounter any problems with the airing ports.  (I seem to recall leaving off the foremost one because it is very tightly positioned between preventer links and would have been impossible to locate correctly and likely resulted in a necessary compromise with the chain alignments. 
 
Nearly all the parts for the upper gun deck have been completed an I'm still following the mantra of not gluing something into place until it absolutely needs to progress.
 

 
Syren rope will be used, and I would welcome peoples' opinions on which size to use for the breech rope.  Picked two sizes that seemed most appropriate, left is 0.025"/0.63mm, the right is 0.35"/0.88mm.  Even though I'm sure it exists, I can't find info on what regulation would be - and even if I did, the carriages and barrels are best efforts at matching scale and undoubtedly not spot on, so the right "look" is probably more important.  Upon consideration, I think I'm leaning toward the smaller size, but again would appreciate input...
 

 

Thanks everyone as always for continued interest....
 
Jim - not going to be able to put canon rigging off much longer....ugghh
 
The area around and immediately aft of the pumps is really quite congested and requires some planning.  The main jeer and topsail sheet bitts were scratched, parts from the kit look a little oversize to my eye.  Pillars were made square in section after studying as many pictures as I could find, these seem to be a mix between square and round, but I don't think my turning skills are up to making round ones.  Side blocks and fake sheaves were also added. 
 
For the aftermost stanchions, I followed the AOTS diagrams which shows these to be of smaller dimension.  All of these items will require some final finishing.  The capstan step was cut out of a single piece of 2mm boxwood and 'joints' faked by scoring with a knife and filling with pencil lead.  This took a while with just hand tools and I couldn't help but think of a toilet seat from the end result!  These details will be visible but obscured so forcing myself not to be too fussy.  The base of the capstan itself as sanded back to the pawl rim which sits in the hole in the capstan step.  (This requires a lot more finishing to get the surface to be acceptable)
 
Pictures are hopefully self explanatory.  I've shaped some box for the elm tree pump shafts and I've placed an offcut just to get a sense for positioning....
 
And to mystery that's been puzzling me for a while (and Rob alludes to in his Ethalion log), how does the placement of the pump brakes reconcile in the this workspace in such close proximity to the capstan and companion? 
I seem to recall reading 'somewhere' that some stanchions were removeable which would explain the location around the capstan  - once both sets were removed this would make this workable.  In later ships, these seem to have been replaced by hinged iron columns which makes a lot of sense.  if anyone could corroborate that would be much appreciated! Lastly, given the pump brakes also extend to this area, these would really be a permanent accident waiting to happen at the foot of the ladder to the quarterdeck which must have received quite a bit of use.  I can't find any reference to this, bit I have to suspect that pump brakes were removeable, and unshipped when not in use.  On the Artios class, there is a set forward, and 2 sets aft - in normal seagoing routine I would speculate that not all banks would have been needed, but could easily have been placed in the event or expectation of an emergency.  The last photo below from Victory seems to show exactly this, and it also makes the square section joining each brake much more functional.  Again, if anyone can point me to sources would be much appreciated!  
 
 

Cheers Gents, appreciate the support, comments and likes...
 
Welcome aboard Ian 🙂
 
A rather dreary rainy day precluded any other activities so as able get a decent amount of time in.  Spent most of the day completing the cannon carriages, these really are incredibly time consuming and seemingly never ending, but can now report are complete.  I did decide to cheat a little on those carriages that will be mostly obscured away from the waist.  Rather than continuing to use the  pins to simulate bolts which are incredibly fiddly, the carriage bolts were simulated using a fine tip black pen and then touch of dark iron paint to tone it down.  Pins have been used on all the carriages that will mount in or immediately about the waist.  The macro photo below shows the 'real' bolts in the foreground and the 'cheat' in the rear.  At real life viewing distance these are difficult to tell apart if you didn't know - the difference really being the lack of about 8hrs of cursing.
 
Experimentation with the cap squares and royal cyphers next...
 

Well I'm back on track at least after the destruction, painful, but glad its behind me....
 
The bigger channels are completed now and ready to be glued into position, I'll be leaving the attachment of the smaller channels for the topmast backstays until after the quarterdeck is glued into position.  A final finish has been put on the hull, which means that I can now start to put some of the detailing in place in conjunction with fitting the chains.  There seem to be a number of position where space will be tight, so fingers crossed previous planning works out.
 
For reference, I've marked out the expected position of the quarterdeck ports (and the previous template position with a dotted line) but will not be cutting these out until the quarterdeck is in place.  This shows them in relation to the actual position of the deadeyes, with a bit of imagination (I used string and a mock up of the masts) its clear that the previous port locations would be obscured (the second and third from the stern are the tricky ones).  Even though not obscured, the 4th port from the rear was moved so the port separation is equalized as much as possible.  My advice to anyone modifying the kit (or even building from the box) is to leave the positioning and cutting out of any these quarterdeck ports until after the final position of the deadeyes is known.
 
Unfortunately, the PE hinges supplied in the kit are too small and dimension, and too bulky, for the sizes of the sweep/airing ports estimated from the AOTS plans.  Luckily I had purchased a PE set for (I think!) the HMS Grenado way back and it contains some useable hinges.  These smaller PE sets are pretty reasonably priced, and I've found can be handy to have as they contain a multitude of potentially useful fittings (hooks etc.) which can be used to supplement the older 'bare bones' CC kit PE sets.
 
These were given a few coats of paint to bulk them up a bit as although they are theoretically the same scale, the ports on Grenado are of smaller dimension.  Placement on the airing ports proved a little challenging due to the elevated profile of the black-strake that runs through these. 
 

Destruction...
 
Need to jump in and get going with the destruction to correct the gun ports so this doesn't derail me.  There will be 3 or 4 ports per side that need to be moved, so doing individually would not make sense.  Fortuitously, I had used a strip of 6mm wide box for the uppermost strake.  With one minor exception, the rough cut ports don't extend below this so replacing this one strake seems to be the way to go.
 
Started off on the port side using isopropyl alcohol and a sharp blade to try to pry the 1mm thick strip from the 1.5mm thick template.  Although I eventually got there, its a real dogs breakfast (mess).  I just couldn't get the isopropyl to penetrate where I needed it sufficiently without compromising the surrounding structures (the template is laminate strip which will de-bond as well if too much isopropyl is used).  As you can see in the pictures, a couple of shards got stripped away in the process where the box strip had been edge glued and but not sufficiently softened.  The isopropyl also got onto the painted surface below and marred the finish, so this will need touching up.  Once replaced, filled and finished, hoping this will not be noticeable.
 

 
Before tackling the starboard side, the approach needed to be amended to allow the isopropyl to penetrate more thoroughly and evenly.  Took a  while, drilled a multitude of holes in the strake to be removed and then applied the isopropyl.  Despite taking a while to drill, this was SO much easier and gave a MUCH cleaner result.  It also allowed the glued edges to soften sufficiently to debond cleanly.  Now the scary part is over, the strake can be replaced and the template ports filled before getting back to where I was with the channels....
 

 
 

Interim update:
 
Anchor chain is on finally, been putting this off but really had to get it done so I could permanently 'right-side' the model...its amazing how many configurations there are on models and there really doesn't seem to be a standard way.

 
Next up, as a break from the repetitious chore of the gun carriages, was to finish the pumps.  I'd been overthinking how to cover the curved surface of the pump covers.  In the end, 1x2mm strip was used, with one side angled - wasn't as bad as I thought.  Once attached, the thickness was sanded down to try to get a more scale look.  Winch bearingsfor the pumps were shaped from strip and painted 'dark iron'.  Brown paint was used to simulate the leather washer for the cistern plugs.  These will be a little obscured eventually, but I think these details will be visible.
 

 
Once the pumps were completed, the next logical step is to figure out how to support these at the main hatch.  The kits indicates using wooden strip for this, but contemporary models show an iron bracket and this is what I' like to try to replicate as it seems more appropriate.  The main part of the bracket was made using an RB models stanchion, bent to shape and with the hole enlarged with a 0.8mm drill bit to accept the winches that will eventually be installed.  The height of these needs to be the same as the winch bearings so that the winch will be parallel to the deck, and they need to be parallel to the deck and over the coamings so the main hatch is not obscured - so this essentially determines the lateral placement of the pumps.  I will add an additional bracket which would have been necessary for strength, and you can see a trial made up from some scrap PE to illustrate which I think will do the trick.
 
I found thinking this through all rather intriguing as there seem to be some obvious problems.  For anyone coming from the lower deck, the ladder feads directly over the main hatch grating, and the winch brackets definitely seem to get in the way a bit here here, in addition to having to navigating the pump winches.  I can't figure out for the life of me why the ladders don't lead up forward rather than aft as this would seem to be much more practical, but this orientation is clearly shown on the original plans, AOTS Diana, as well as contemporary models...if anyone knows why, please say so!
 
Now that the positioning of the pump winches is known, the placement of the pillars for the main topsail sheet and main jeer bitts can be determined...which will probably be the next diversion.