Beef Wellington

Back to the stern galleries... I'd left these for a while before completing the decoration (I got a bit tired of them and needed a break!)... but having got the cheeks on the bow, I figured it was time to get on with finishing them off. I'd noticed a nice kind of inverted crenellation above the windows, and thought I'd have a crack at that. It was beyond my wood working abilities, but I'm, not proud, and this area is painted, so the styrene came out They were tiny little things, and I didn't want to stick them to the cutting mat (styrene glue melts it), so I masking taped the strip to the edge of a metal ruler and used that as the building board... The squares were from a square strip cut thinly, glued so the cross section was visible..., that way I got even squares.  It did mean I had to sand it down to get it nice and flat once glued, which took a few attempts, and various bits had to be reattached.
 


 

 
Looking at it now on these blown up pictures, the rear end may need lifting a little (darn those big monitors!) I'll have another look and see if it's just the angle of the shot, as it is taken slightly from above.
 
Happy building!
 
Rob
 
 
 

Nice looking rope!  I think there has been much debate on the subject of colour depending on a factors such as age.  Pristine new rope with a single application would be lighter, older rope that has got dirty, weathered and recoated would be darker.  Think you can go with your artistic gut and how much of a contrast you would like, if you are using black paint on the hull then my sense would be to use the darker brown for standing rigging, the second darkest shade could look good with an all wood finish.  All personal opinion.

I'm with you BE, my knee feels sore just looking at the height of the top step.  I think I would lean toward adding another.  I had a similar conundrum with a main hatch ladderway that is clearly shown on NMM plans but just looks plain odd in reality so went with the aesthetic solution.  Love the detail of the drainage holes.

Thanks Everyone for the likes and comments.
 
Mast Partner layouts glued onto some boxwood blanks to start making them.
 
 

Planking is finished . Everything is still in rough shape and need final sanding.

Thank you for your  comments kirill4 and OC, much appreciated.
Post 66
Continuing outboard
Thinking about Scuppers
On Cheerful there are four of them running along the hull with the outlets sited just above the wale.
As far as I can see from the plans the scuppers are 1.5mm in the clear.
I'm certainly not brave enough to  drill the holes straight thro' the hull so mine will be false scuppers.
Scuppers weren't just downward sloping holes drilled thro' the hull they were lead lined pipes exiting the hull thro' a specific block fixed between the frames, with flanges turned on either end.
I wished in some way to at least replicate the flanges.

5818
The answer came in the form of brass hollow eyelets with a thickness of 0/1mm, 1/16th" dia and 3/32" length. I remembered that I had originally bought these for use on Pegasus but they proved a tad too large for 1:64 scale, but for Cheerful at 1:48 just about right.

5813(2)
The scuppers were chemically blackened  before a push fit into the hole.

5809
So far so good, I'm happy with the outlets.
 
The internal scuppers are far more tricky with the flange fitting; part on the margin plank and part on the waterway, running to the spirketting.
I take my lead for the internal scupper arrangements from  David Antscherl's  FMM book Vol 11.
Drilling the internal scuppers needs care to avoid splitting the very fine waterway strip.
 
I spent a day forming the flanges from slices of aluminium tubing, hammered  a little, and squeezed to form an oval shape.

5852
As I thought fitting proved tricky, but in the end I didn't like the effect. I thought they looked too prominent, so off they all came.
 
Approach 2 involved stamping flange shapes from a sheet of 0.1mm thick lead foil sheet.
This was more promising as the process was quicker  and the flanges moulded closer to the profile.

5879

5876
These are in a raw state but already they look more in scale and less prominent.

5888

5883

5875
I will leave these to allow for natural patination before I consider a coat of flat grey paint.
 
Time to consider  the Chain and Backstay plates.
 
B.E
07/02/2019
 

Very nice looking coils Stergios.

And here are the preliminary results.
 

Hello Kevin,
Your Victory really looks beautiful.  I'm so glad that you decided to keep going and bring your model to fruition.  I know that when you finally see your project in a display case you will take much pride with the knowledge that you completed a gem.  I notice that you are thinking about the location of the ship's boats.  I hope you don't mind the picture intrusion I have posted because I wanted you to see that I actually placed one of the ship's boats "in the water" alongside the mother ship.  Please keep going; a lot of us can't wait to see the final job.
Best,
Jerry

I'm with you BE, my knee feels sore just looking at the height of the top step.  I think I would lean toward adding another.  I had a similar conundrum with a main hatch ladderway that is clearly shown on NMM plans but just looks plain odd in reality so went with the aesthetic solution.  Love the detail of the drainage holes.

Thanks everyone for continued interest, kind comments.and likes...
 
Block Stropping:
I've started stropping blocks for the hauling tackles.  I'm opting for a double-single block combination, although I've read that doubles were only used on 32lb'ers.  What I think this really means is that the tackle consisted of 2 double blocks.  For a mid-range 18lb'er, a double-single seems appropriate and makes engineering sense.
 
This seems yet another painfully slow repetitive process!  With this progressing in the background, will be intersperse with other sundry items.  Whilst not too difficult once the approach has been proven, clumsiness never quite seems to diminish.  Overall, happy with the way these turned out which is really testament to the fantastic blocks that Syren produces.  The picture below is the result of 3 solid evenings work....sufficient for the waist guns.
Hooks were threaded with 0.3mm Syren line, and secured using 4 alternating overhand loops using tan Uni-thread (barely visible given its so close in color, but is what was also used for the breech rope seizing).  For the 1/8" double block, the strop was twisted through 90 degrees while securing to ensure the appropriate alignment with the block. GS-Hypo was applied and left to dry before trimming off excess Uni-thread Line held in position around the block and then secured with a simple overhand loop Dilute PVA applied to the overhand loop and the stropping around the block.  Was very liberal with this as it is not visible when dry, and anything that provides additional security seems silly to ignore. Trim excess stropping line once PVA has dried
 
Waist Beams:
First off, a correction needed to be made to the interior bulkhead to correct the position of the beam at the front of the main mast.  The position of these had been taken literally from the plans very early in the build and it was clear that they are not in the appropriate position relative to the mainmast.
 
Secondly, needed to finally decide how to deal with the supplied walnut beams.  These have a pretty rough grain and require a lot of cleanup to get nice smooth curves after removing from the sheet.  Following the scheme shown on the contemporary models (painted red with upper natural face of boxwood), thin strips of overwide boxwood strips were liberally glued to the top of the beam,  gradually sanded back and painted when flush.  The lamination is virtually undetectable, and it also helps ensure the walnut grain is minimised.  Filler can be used in any stubborn imperfections.  Although a bit of a cheat, I just couldn't face cutting my own from box, and quite honestly, I doubt I could get satisfactory results with tools at my disposal.
 

 
Sub-Deck alterations:
Increasing the thickness of the beams also has the benefit that the top of the beams are flush with the sub-deck.  Hoping this means that the gang boards can now be planked with the sub-deck providing a solid base, but remaining invisible from normal viewing angles.  Slots were cut into the sub-deck to accommodate the laminated top surface.  Picture hopefully self explanatory.
 
In position, the next required adjustment is revealed.  The waist opening in the sub-deck has perfectly parallel sides.  After studying various deck plans, it appears more appropriate for the gangboards to follow the line of hull (i.e. planks are constant width throughout their length).  The approximate width of the gang boards were estimated from the AOTS plans and transferred to the deck.  The hashed area indicates what will need to be remove.  In actuality, more will be removed to set it back from the actual edge of the planking proper.
 
Back to stropping more blocks....
 

Nice looking rope!  I think there has been much debate on the subject of colour depending on a factors such as age.  Pristine new rope with a single application would be lighter, older rope that has got dirty, weathered and recoated would be darker.  Think you can go with your artistic gut and how much of a contrast you would like, if you are using black paint on the hull then my sense would be to use the darker brown for standing rigging, the second darkest shade could look good with an all wood finish.  All personal opinion.

Post 65
Returning outboard
Side steps and Channels
Surprising how much time producing these seemingly innocuous little fittings take.
There are three of these each side aligning with the inboard steps.
They are formed from 3/32" x 3/32" Boxwood strip as indicated by Chuck.

5762
I decided to mill the profile rather than use the 'scrape' method but I first had a practice on slightly larger stuff.

5764

5770
Ready for fitting.
I fit them in the order of top, bottom, and middle, taking care not to damage the moulding when removing a section to allow the top step to fit in.

5773
The 'iron' stanchions are only temporarily fitted at this point to help align the inboard and outboard steps.

5779
The question has already been discussed on Chuck's log as to why no fourth step. My eye screams at me that one should be there, along the line of the top moulding strip.
Only three are shown on the NMM original plans, so three it is, but my eye still screams at me.

5787
 
Channels
These are made from 5/32" x 5/32" strip as indicated by Chuck.
Having marked the profile  I used the little miller to produce the shape.

5790(2)

5797
The end profile was formed used a scalpel and mini round file.

5801
I decided to leave cutting the slots until later when I had a better idea of the Chainplate angles.

5804
Little by little getting there.
 
 
B.E.
05/02/2019
 

Just thought I would add a deck picture.
 
OC.
 
 

To be honest paul  just getting them glued down was a real pig  - I tried the best I could to get them the right way up, I firstly had to to try to file a small flat spot under each deadeye to aid gluing them down with no other securing what so ever, the way I look at it even if the ropes between the  channel / shroud deadeyes are a bit wavy navy  - they will be better than the all in one cast plastic shroud/deadeys assemblies - kind of a  better move even if a bit less precise than pure wood kits with  deadeye chainplates and  etc.
 
OC.

I've been working on rope making quite a lot and think Gutermann thread is the way to go.  Most people seem to be using DMC Cabella cotton thread.  It's mostly being discontinued in the right sizes so that's not really a long term option.  Anyway I've narrowed it down to four colors, two for standing rigging and two for running rigging.  I've been looking at a lot of pictures and just don't know what combination would be most accurate.  Would standing rigging covered in pine Tar really not be black as some suggest?  What color would running rigging actually be in that period? 
 
 

Thanks everyone for continued interest, kind comments.and likes...
 
Block Stropping:
I've started stropping blocks for the hauling tackles.  I'm opting for a double-single block combination, although I've read that doubles were only used on 32lb'ers.  What I think this really means is that the tackle consisted of 2 double blocks.  For a mid-range 18lb'er, a double-single seems appropriate and makes engineering sense.
 
This seems yet another painfully slow repetitive process!  With this progressing in the background, will be intersperse with other sundry items.  Whilst not too difficult once the approach has been proven, clumsiness never quite seems to diminish.  Overall, happy with the way these turned out which is really testament to the fantastic blocks that Syren produces.  The picture below is the result of 3 solid evenings work....sufficient for the waist guns.
Hooks were threaded with 0.3mm Syren line, and secured using 4 alternating overhand loops using tan Uni-thread (barely visible given its so close in color, but is what was also used for the breech rope seizing).  For the 1/8" double block, the strop was twisted through 90 degrees while securing to ensure the appropriate alignment with the block. GS-Hypo was applied and left to dry before trimming off excess Uni-thread Line held in position around the block and then secured with a simple overhand loop Dilute PVA applied to the overhand loop and the stropping around the block.  Was very liberal with this as it is not visible when dry, and anything that provides additional security seems silly to ignore. Trim excess stropping line once PVA has dried
 
Waist Beams:
First off, a correction needed to be made to the interior bulkhead to correct the position of the beam at the front of the main mast.  The position of these had been taken literally from the plans very early in the build and it was clear that they are not in the appropriate position relative to the mainmast.
 
Secondly, needed to finally decide how to deal with the supplied walnut beams.  These have a pretty rough grain and require a lot of cleanup to get nice smooth curves after removing from the sheet.  Following the scheme shown on the contemporary models (painted red with upper natural face of boxwood), thin strips of overwide boxwood strips were liberally glued to the top of the beam,  gradually sanded back and painted when flush.  The lamination is virtually undetectable, and it also helps ensure the walnut grain is minimised.  Filler can be used in any stubborn imperfections.  Although a bit of a cheat, I just couldn't face cutting my own from box, and quite honestly, I doubt I could get satisfactory results with tools at my disposal.
 

 
Sub-Deck alterations:
Increasing the thickness of the beams also has the benefit that the top of the beams are flush with the sub-deck.  Hoping this means that the gang boards can now be planked with the sub-deck providing a solid base, but remaining invisible from normal viewing angles.  Slots were cut into the sub-deck to accommodate the laminated top surface.  Picture hopefully self explanatory.
 
In position, the next required adjustment is revealed.  The waist opening in the sub-deck has perfectly parallel sides.  After studying various deck plans, it appears more appropriate for the gangboards to follow the line of hull (i.e. planks are constant width throughout their length).  The approximate width of the gang boards were estimated from the AOTS plans and transferred to the deck.  The hashed area indicates what will need to be remove.  In actuality, more will be removed to set it back from the actual edge of the planking proper.
 
Back to stropping more blocks....
 

Thanks everyone for continued interest, kind comments.and likes...
 
Block Stropping:
I've started stropping blocks for the hauling tackles.  I'm opting for a double-single block combination, although I've read that doubles were only used on 32lb'ers.  What I think this really means is that the tackle consisted of 2 double blocks.  For a mid-range 18lb'er, a double-single seems appropriate and makes engineering sense.
 
This seems yet another painfully slow repetitive process!  With this progressing in the background, will be intersperse with other sundry items.  Whilst not too difficult once the approach has been proven, clumsiness never quite seems to diminish.  Overall, happy with the way these turned out which is really testament to the fantastic blocks that Syren produces.  The picture below is the result of 3 solid evenings work....sufficient for the waist guns.
Hooks were threaded with 0.3mm Syren line, and secured using 4 alternating overhand loops using tan Uni-thread (barely visible given its so close in color, but is what was also used for the breech rope seizing).  For the 1/8" double block, the strop was twisted through 90 degrees while securing to ensure the appropriate alignment with the block. GS-Hypo was applied and left to dry before trimming off excess Uni-thread Line held in position around the block and then secured with a simple overhand loop Dilute PVA applied to the overhand loop and the stropping around the block.  Was very liberal with this as it is not visible when dry, and anything that provides additional security seems silly to ignore. Trim excess stropping line once PVA has dried
 
Waist Beams:
First off, a correction needed to be made to the interior bulkhead to correct the position of the beam at the front of the main mast.  The position of these had been taken literally from the plans very early in the build and it was clear that they are not in the appropriate position relative to the mainmast.
 
Secondly, needed to finally decide how to deal with the supplied walnut beams.  These have a pretty rough grain and require a lot of cleanup to get nice smooth curves after removing from the sheet.  Following the scheme shown on the contemporary models (painted red with upper natural face of boxwood), thin strips of overwide boxwood strips were liberally glued to the top of the beam,  gradually sanded back and painted when flush.  The lamination is virtually undetectable, and it also helps ensure the walnut grain is minimised.  Filler can be used in any stubborn imperfections.  Although a bit of a cheat, I just couldn't face cutting my own from box, and quite honestly, I doubt I could get satisfactory results with tools at my disposal.
 

 
Sub-Deck alterations:
Increasing the thickness of the beams also has the benefit that the top of the beams are flush with the sub-deck.  Hoping this means that the gang boards can now be planked with the sub-deck providing a solid base, but remaining invisible from normal viewing angles.  Slots were cut into the sub-deck to accommodate the laminated top surface.  Picture hopefully self explanatory.
 
In position, the next required adjustment is revealed.  The waist opening in the sub-deck has perfectly parallel sides.  After studying various deck plans, it appears more appropriate for the gangboards to follow the line of hull (i.e. planks are constant width throughout their length).  The approximate width of the gang boards were estimated from the AOTS plans and transferred to the deck.  The hashed area indicates what will need to be remove.  In actuality, more will be removed to set it back from the actual edge of the planking proper.
 
Back to stropping more blocks....
 

Thanks everyone for continued interest, kind comments.and likes...
 
Block Stropping:
I've started stropping blocks for the hauling tackles.  I'm opting for a double-single block combination, although I've read that doubles were only used on 32lb'ers.  What I think this really means is that the tackle consisted of 2 double blocks.  For a mid-range 18lb'er, a double-single seems appropriate and makes engineering sense.
 
This seems yet another painfully slow repetitive process!  With this progressing in the background, will be intersperse with other sundry items.  Whilst not too difficult once the approach has been proven, clumsiness never quite seems to diminish.  Overall, happy with the way these turned out which is really testament to the fantastic blocks that Syren produces.  The picture below is the result of 3 solid evenings work....sufficient for the waist guns.
Hooks were threaded with 0.3mm Syren line, and secured using 4 alternating overhand loops using tan Uni-thread (barely visible given its so close in color, but is what was also used for the breech rope seizing).  For the 1/8" double block, the strop was twisted through 90 degrees while securing to ensure the appropriate alignment with the block. GS-Hypo was applied and left to dry before trimming off excess Uni-thread Line held in position around the block and then secured with a simple overhand loop Dilute PVA applied to the overhand loop and the stropping around the block.  Was very liberal with this as it is not visible when dry, and anything that provides additional security seems silly to ignore. Trim excess stropping line once PVA has dried
 
Waist Beams:
First off, a correction needed to be made to the interior bulkhead to correct the position of the beam at the front of the main mast.  The position of these had been taken literally from the plans very early in the build and it was clear that they are not in the appropriate position relative to the mainmast.
 
Secondly, needed to finally decide how to deal with the supplied walnut beams.  These have a pretty rough grain and require a lot of cleanup to get nice smooth curves after removing from the sheet.  Following the scheme shown on the contemporary models (painted red with upper natural face of boxwood), thin strips of overwide boxwood strips were liberally glued to the top of the beam,  gradually sanded back and painted when flush.  The lamination is virtually undetectable, and it also helps ensure the walnut grain is minimised.  Filler can be used in any stubborn imperfections.  Although a bit of a cheat, I just couldn't face cutting my own from box, and quite honestly, I doubt I could get satisfactory results with tools at my disposal.
 

 
Sub-Deck alterations:
Increasing the thickness of the beams also has the benefit that the top of the beams are flush with the sub-deck.  Hoping this means that the gang boards can now be planked with the sub-deck providing a solid base, but remaining invisible from normal viewing angles.  Slots were cut into the sub-deck to accommodate the laminated top surface.  Picture hopefully self explanatory.
 
In position, the next required adjustment is revealed.  The waist opening in the sub-deck has perfectly parallel sides.  After studying various deck plans, it appears more appropriate for the gangboards to follow the line of hull (i.e. planks are constant width throughout their length).  The approximate width of the gang boards were estimated from the AOTS plans and transferred to the deck.  The hashed area indicates what will need to be remove.  In actuality, more will be removed to set it back from the actual edge of the planking proper.
 
Back to stropping more blocks....
 

Thanks everyone for continued interest, kind comments.and likes...
 
Block Stropping:
I've started stropping blocks for the hauling tackles.  I'm opting for a double-single block combination, although I've read that doubles were only used on 32lb'ers.  What I think this really means is that the tackle consisted of 2 double blocks.  For a mid-range 18lb'er, a double-single seems appropriate and makes engineering sense.
 
This seems yet another painfully slow repetitive process!  With this progressing in the background, will be intersperse with other sundry items.  Whilst not too difficult once the approach has been proven, clumsiness never quite seems to diminish.  Overall, happy with the way these turned out which is really testament to the fantastic blocks that Syren produces.  The picture below is the result of 3 solid evenings work....sufficient for the waist guns.
Hooks were threaded with 0.3mm Syren line, and secured using 4 alternating overhand loops using tan Uni-thread (barely visible given its so close in color, but is what was also used for the breech rope seizing).  For the 1/8" double block, the strop was twisted through 90 degrees while securing to ensure the appropriate alignment with the block. GS-Hypo was applied and left to dry before trimming off excess Uni-thread Line held in position around the block and then secured with a simple overhand loop Dilute PVA applied to the overhand loop and the stropping around the block.  Was very liberal with this as it is not visible when dry, and anything that provides additional security seems silly to ignore. Trim excess stropping line once PVA has dried
 
Waist Beams:
First off, a correction needed to be made to the interior bulkhead to correct the position of the beam at the front of the main mast.  The position of these had been taken literally from the plans very early in the build and it was clear that they are not in the appropriate position relative to the mainmast.
 
Secondly, needed to finally decide how to deal with the supplied walnut beams.  These have a pretty rough grain and require a lot of cleanup to get nice smooth curves after removing from the sheet.  Following the scheme shown on the contemporary models (painted red with upper natural face of boxwood), thin strips of overwide boxwood strips were liberally glued to the top of the beam,  gradually sanded back and painted when flush.  The lamination is virtually undetectable, and it also helps ensure the walnut grain is minimised.  Filler can be used in any stubborn imperfections.  Although a bit of a cheat, I just couldn't face cutting my own from box, and quite honestly, I doubt I could get satisfactory results with tools at my disposal.
 

 
Sub-Deck alterations:
Increasing the thickness of the beams also has the benefit that the top of the beams are flush with the sub-deck.  Hoping this means that the gang boards can now be planked with the sub-deck providing a solid base, but remaining invisible from normal viewing angles.  Slots were cut into the sub-deck to accommodate the laminated top surface.  Picture hopefully self explanatory.
 
In position, the next required adjustment is revealed.  The waist opening in the sub-deck has perfectly parallel sides.  After studying various deck plans, it appears more appropriate for the gangboards to follow the line of hull (i.e. planks are constant width throughout their length).  The approximate width of the gang boards were estimated from the AOTS plans and transferred to the deck.  The hashed area indicates what will need to be remove.  In actuality, more will be removed to set it back from the actual edge of the planking proper.
 
Back to stropping more blocks....
 

Thanks everyone for continued interest, kind comments.and likes...
 
Block Stropping:
I've started stropping blocks for the hauling tackles.  I'm opting for a double-single block combination, although I've read that doubles were only used on 32lb'ers.  What I think this really means is that the tackle consisted of 2 double blocks.  For a mid-range 18lb'er, a double-single seems appropriate and makes engineering sense.
 
This seems yet another painfully slow repetitive process!  With this progressing in the background, will be intersperse with other sundry items.  Whilst not too difficult once the approach has been proven, clumsiness never quite seems to diminish.  Overall, happy with the way these turned out which is really testament to the fantastic blocks that Syren produces.  The picture below is the result of 3 solid evenings work....sufficient for the waist guns.
Hooks were threaded with 0.3mm Syren line, and secured using 4 alternating overhand loops using tan Uni-thread (barely visible given its so close in color, but is what was also used for the breech rope seizing).  For the 1/8" double block, the strop was twisted through 90 degrees while securing to ensure the appropriate alignment with the block. GS-Hypo was applied and left to dry before trimming off excess Uni-thread Line held in position around the block and then secured with a simple overhand loop Dilute PVA applied to the overhand loop and the stropping around the block.  Was very liberal with this as it is not visible when dry, and anything that provides additional security seems silly to ignore. Trim excess stropping line once PVA has dried
 
Waist Beams:
First off, a correction needed to be made to the interior bulkhead to correct the position of the beam at the front of the main mast.  The position of these had been taken literally from the plans very early in the build and it was clear that they are not in the appropriate position relative to the mainmast.
 
Secondly, needed to finally decide how to deal with the supplied walnut beams.  These have a pretty rough grain and require a lot of cleanup to get nice smooth curves after removing from the sheet.  Following the scheme shown on the contemporary models (painted red with upper natural face of boxwood), thin strips of overwide boxwood strips were liberally glued to the top of the beam,  gradually sanded back and painted when flush.  The lamination is virtually undetectable, and it also helps ensure the walnut grain is minimised.  Filler can be used in any stubborn imperfections.  Although a bit of a cheat, I just couldn't face cutting my own from box, and quite honestly, I doubt I could get satisfactory results with tools at my disposal.
 

 
Sub-Deck alterations:
Increasing the thickness of the beams also has the benefit that the top of the beams are flush with the sub-deck.  Hoping this means that the gang boards can now be planked with the sub-deck providing a solid base, but remaining invisible from normal viewing angles.  Slots were cut into the sub-deck to accommodate the laminated top surface.  Picture hopefully self explanatory.
 
In position, the next required adjustment is revealed.  The waist opening in the sub-deck has perfectly parallel sides.  After studying various deck plans, it appears more appropriate for the gangboards to follow the line of hull (i.e. planks are constant width throughout their length).  The approximate width of the gang boards were estimated from the AOTS plans and transferred to the deck.  The hashed area indicates what will need to be remove.  In actuality, more will be removed to set it back from the actual edge of the planking proper.
 
Back to stropping more blocks....
 

Thanks everyone for continued interest, kind comments.and likes...
 
Block Stropping:
I've started stropping blocks for the hauling tackles.  I'm opting for a double-single block combination, although I've read that doubles were only used on 32lb'ers.  What I think this really means is that the tackle consisted of 2 double blocks.  For a mid-range 18lb'er, a double-single seems appropriate and makes engineering sense.
 
This seems yet another painfully slow repetitive process!  With this progressing in the background, will be intersperse with other sundry items.  Whilst not too difficult once the approach has been proven, clumsiness never quite seems to diminish.  Overall, happy with the way these turned out which is really testament to the fantastic blocks that Syren produces.  The picture below is the result of 3 solid evenings work....sufficient for the waist guns.
Hooks were threaded with 0.3mm Syren line, and secured using 4 alternating overhand loops using tan Uni-thread (barely visible given its so close in color, but is what was also used for the breech rope seizing).  For the 1/8" double block, the strop was twisted through 90 degrees while securing to ensure the appropriate alignment with the block. GS-Hypo was applied and left to dry before trimming off excess Uni-thread Line held in position around the block and then secured with a simple overhand loop Dilute PVA applied to the overhand loop and the stropping around the block.  Was very liberal with this as it is not visible when dry, and anything that provides additional security seems silly to ignore. Trim excess stropping line once PVA has dried
 
Waist Beams:
First off, a correction needed to be made to the interior bulkhead to correct the position of the beam at the front of the main mast.  The position of these had been taken literally from the plans very early in the build and it was clear that they are not in the appropriate position relative to the mainmast.
 
Secondly, needed to finally decide how to deal with the supplied walnut beams.  These have a pretty rough grain and require a lot of cleanup to get nice smooth curves after removing from the sheet.  Following the scheme shown on the contemporary models (painted red with upper natural face of boxwood), thin strips of overwide boxwood strips were liberally glued to the top of the beam,  gradually sanded back and painted when flush.  The lamination is virtually undetectable, and it also helps ensure the walnut grain is minimised.  Filler can be used in any stubborn imperfections.  Although a bit of a cheat, I just couldn't face cutting my own from box, and quite honestly, I doubt I could get satisfactory results with tools at my disposal.
 

 
Sub-Deck alterations:
Increasing the thickness of the beams also has the benefit that the top of the beams are flush with the sub-deck.  Hoping this means that the gang boards can now be planked with the sub-deck providing a solid base, but remaining invisible from normal viewing angles.  Slots were cut into the sub-deck to accommodate the laminated top surface.  Picture hopefully self explanatory.
 
In position, the next required adjustment is revealed.  The waist opening in the sub-deck has perfectly parallel sides.  After studying various deck plans, it appears more appropriate for the gangboards to follow the line of hull (i.e. planks are constant width throughout their length).  The approximate width of the gang boards were estimated from the AOTS plans and transferred to the deck.  The hashed area indicates what will need to be remove.  In actuality, more will be removed to set it back from the actual edge of the planking proper.
 
Back to stropping more blocks....
 

After almost 2 weeks of sanding, filling, primer, sanding, filling, primer ,sanding, filling and primer I think I have to quit sanding otherwise there will be no more wood left to sand.............
There are a few little imperfections but that's for later when I will put hee real paint on it.
I think it's gonna be 3 layers so....
But there are a lot of things to do before I can paint her.
Time enough to do.
And of course the pictures.....
 
Sjors
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Thanks everyone for continued interest, kind comments.and likes...
 
Block Stropping:
I've started stropping blocks for the hauling tackles.  I'm opting for a double-single block combination, although I've read that doubles were only used on 32lb'ers.  What I think this really means is that the tackle consisted of 2 double blocks.  For a mid-range 18lb'er, a double-single seems appropriate and makes engineering sense.
 
This seems yet another painfully slow repetitive process!  With this progressing in the background, will be intersperse with other sundry items.  Whilst not too difficult once the approach has been proven, clumsiness never quite seems to diminish.  Overall, happy with the way these turned out which is really testament to the fantastic blocks that Syren produces.  The picture below is the result of 3 solid evenings work....sufficient for the waist guns.
Hooks were threaded with 0.3mm Syren line, and secured using 4 alternating overhand loops using tan Uni-thread (barely visible given its so close in color, but is what was also used for the breech rope seizing).  For the 1/8" double block, the strop was twisted through 90 degrees while securing to ensure the appropriate alignment with the block. GS-Hypo was applied and left to dry before trimming off excess Uni-thread Line held in position around the block and then secured with a simple overhand loop Dilute PVA applied to the overhand loop and the stropping around the block.  Was very liberal with this as it is not visible when dry, and anything that provides additional security seems silly to ignore. Trim excess stropping line once PVA has dried
 
Waist Beams:
First off, a correction needed to be made to the interior bulkhead to correct the position of the beam at the front of the main mast.  The position of these had been taken literally from the plans very early in the build and it was clear that they are not in the appropriate position relative to the mainmast.
 
Secondly, needed to finally decide how to deal with the supplied walnut beams.  These have a pretty rough grain and require a lot of cleanup to get nice smooth curves after removing from the sheet.  Following the scheme shown on the contemporary models (painted red with upper natural face of boxwood), thin strips of overwide boxwood strips were liberally glued to the top of the beam,  gradually sanded back and painted when flush.  The lamination is virtually undetectable, and it also helps ensure the walnut grain is minimised.  Filler can be used in any stubborn imperfections.  Although a bit of a cheat, I just couldn't face cutting my own from box, and quite honestly, I doubt I could get satisfactory results with tools at my disposal.
 

 
Sub-Deck alterations:
Increasing the thickness of the beams also has the benefit that the top of the beams are flush with the sub-deck.  Hoping this means that the gang boards can now be planked with the sub-deck providing a solid base, but remaining invisible from normal viewing angles.  Slots were cut into the sub-deck to accommodate the laminated top surface.  Picture hopefully self explanatory.
 
In position, the next required adjustment is revealed.  The waist opening in the sub-deck has perfectly parallel sides.  After studying various deck plans, it appears more appropriate for the gangboards to follow the line of hull (i.e. planks are constant width throughout their length).  The approximate width of the gang boards were estimated from the AOTS plans and transferred to the deck.  The hashed area indicates what will need to be remove.  In actuality, more will be removed to set it back from the actual edge of the planking proper.
 
Back to stropping more blocks....
 

Thanks everyone for continued interest, kind comments.and likes...
 
Block Stropping:
I've started stropping blocks for the hauling tackles.  I'm opting for a double-single block combination, although I've read that doubles were only used on 32lb'ers.  What I think this really means is that the tackle consisted of 2 double blocks.  For a mid-range 18lb'er, a double-single seems appropriate and makes engineering sense.
 
This seems yet another painfully slow repetitive process!  With this progressing in the background, will be intersperse with other sundry items.  Whilst not too difficult once the approach has been proven, clumsiness never quite seems to diminish.  Overall, happy with the way these turned out which is really testament to the fantastic blocks that Syren produces.  The picture below is the result of 3 solid evenings work....sufficient for the waist guns.
Hooks were threaded with 0.3mm Syren line, and secured using 4 alternating overhand loops using tan Uni-thread (barely visible given its so close in color, but is what was also used for the breech rope seizing).  For the 1/8" double block, the strop was twisted through 90 degrees while securing to ensure the appropriate alignment with the block. GS-Hypo was applied and left to dry before trimming off excess Uni-thread Line held in position around the block and then secured with a simple overhand loop Dilute PVA applied to the overhand loop and the stropping around the block.  Was very liberal with this as it is not visible when dry, and anything that provides additional security seems silly to ignore. Trim excess stropping line once PVA has dried
 
Waist Beams:
First off, a correction needed to be made to the interior bulkhead to correct the position of the beam at the front of the main mast.  The position of these had been taken literally from the plans very early in the build and it was clear that they are not in the appropriate position relative to the mainmast.
 
Secondly, needed to finally decide how to deal with the supplied walnut beams.  These have a pretty rough grain and require a lot of cleanup to get nice smooth curves after removing from the sheet.  Following the scheme shown on the contemporary models (painted red with upper natural face of boxwood), thin strips of overwide boxwood strips were liberally glued to the top of the beam,  gradually sanded back and painted when flush.  The lamination is virtually undetectable, and it also helps ensure the walnut grain is minimised.  Filler can be used in any stubborn imperfections.  Although a bit of a cheat, I just couldn't face cutting my own from box, and quite honestly, I doubt I could get satisfactory results with tools at my disposal.
 

 
Sub-Deck alterations:
Increasing the thickness of the beams also has the benefit that the top of the beams are flush with the sub-deck.  Hoping this means that the gang boards can now be planked with the sub-deck providing a solid base, but remaining invisible from normal viewing angles.  Slots were cut into the sub-deck to accommodate the laminated top surface.  Picture hopefully self explanatory.
 
In position, the next required adjustment is revealed.  The waist opening in the sub-deck has perfectly parallel sides.  After studying various deck plans, it appears more appropriate for the gangboards to follow the line of hull (i.e. planks are constant width throughout their length).  The approximate width of the gang boards were estimated from the AOTS plans and transferred to the deck.  The hashed area indicates what will need to be remove.  In actuality, more will be removed to set it back from the actual edge of the planking proper.
 
Back to stropping more blocks....