Beef Wellington

Hi Stergios, hopefully I can answer your question.  The problem is that at real world scale, the lines that are secured to the braces would not pull the stays out of their natural position because they are so much more massive.  Without dealing with this at this scale, the braces would pull the stays out of their natural line which is what I wanted to avoid.  The approach used weighted the stays down enough to keep them in their natural position while the braces were given a little tension, then dilute PVA was brushed onto the braces so that when dry, they retain a 'taught' profile, even though there is no longer any real tension.  Seem to recall I just used plastic clips or simply tied other thread around the stay to counteract the force of the braces.  In the situations where the brace goes through 2 blocks on the stay, these were handled sequentially, waiting for the PVA to fully dry before moving on.  Good news, if it doesn't quite work out as you'd like, you can re-wet the line and repeat the process until you're happy.

Ensign...conclusion:
A tiny bit of steam was used to soften the ensign while various "rounded implements" with different radii (dowel, metal file shafts etc.) were used to try and introduce various folds.  I'd love to be able to describe a reproduceable scientific process, but thats not what happened.  It was really just a continual serious of tweaks, leaving to dry and most importantly trying not to introduce creases.  Steam worked fine to initially soften and allow the structural folds to be introduced, but isn't really a good ongoing solution as it tends to undo any previous work.  Real care is also needed to not 'over wet' the painted flag, not sure I was completely successful here.  Final tweaking was done by wetting very gently any tools used and trying to hold in position while it dried and the fold takes.

...and with that milestone, I'm declaring this build FINISHED!  
 
This was my first wooden ship build, and first model I've built for over 30 years.  Its taken probably 8 years to get this far off an on (probably 7 years more than it should), but I have to say I'm glad I was able to finish her.  I've come to realize that I enjoy the journey more than the destination, and I certainly experienced moments when I could easily have put her aside permanently, mainly due to me recognizing unfixable mistakes or compromises that that could so easily been enhanced had I known more at the time.  Given the length of time taken to complete, this progression in knowledge and execution is very apparent to me, but I hope is less apparent to others.  All in all, this was a most enjoyable project that exposed me to the necessary knowledge and techniques that I hope build on and leverage in the future.  I still need to make up a protective case, and will probably continue to see needed fixes and touchups before she (hopefully) is put in a place of rest.  I would like to thank this entire community for the ongoing help, support and encouragement - without which I would not have reached this point.
 
Few pictures to celebrate, apologies that these aren't exactly studio quality.

 

Sorry to keep returning to the position of the gun ports. After using the drawing as a template and cutting out the gun ports from the drawing. I found that apart from the forward 2 ports 1 & 2 the rest pretty much fits without altering the length of the upper bulwark/template and should be able to fit the ladders without having to cut the length of the upper bulwark. As regards the forward two bulkheads , If I move these a few mm forward I should be able to miss these but will be unable to fit ant gun tackle to these cannon. As these will be under the deck I am not sure this is necessary however I have glued extra pieceds of timber to the bulkhead upright supports so can cut these away at a later stage, so a bit of belt and braces approach.
       I have now received the Bloomfield Cannon barrels from Vandguard ship models and can see fom the position of the cannon on the deck I think i will need to raise the gunports slightly than on the drawing to ensure they are lieing centrally in the gun ports.



As far as I can see the position of the gun ports on the model can not be the same as the drawing on the AOTS Diana as this model is POB and not frame built. as is the AOTS Diana. I asked this question on this forum about chainplates lining up with gunports and I recieved a number of varied solutions. I also think the instructions is what confused me as both gunports being 30 mm Caldercraft instructions or 31.5 mm AOTS dimentions, both do not work out. However the Caldercraft above drawing which I pinned to the model does line up and the bulkheads miss all of the gunports except no 4 & 5 bulkheads and gunports 1 & 2. Thank you to Vane for pointing out that as this is a 3d ship and the drawing is 2 dimentional then infact these  gun ports would miss the .bulheads 4 & 5.  I therefore think that as the chainplates appear to miss the gunports as well as the bulkheads I think  following the Caldercraft drawing is the only satisfactorily solution I can come up with. Hope this makes sense. 

Those carronades are a nice touch, looking good.

I would suggest using think back card or tape as you suggest.  Think you will get a much better result that you ae happy with.

Hi Beez, think your toned down stern is much more in keeping.  You're making great progress.

6) Boomkins and railings: We are almost done and must focus on the boomkins and railings of the bow: 
 

 

 
The railings are made with 0.8 mm brass wire (not included in the kit), soldered in their middle and painted cannon black.
 

 

 

 
Finally, a couple of overall views of the progress: 
 

 

 

 
I hope you have enjoyed that sequence of building. I cannot convey enough the relief and the joy to have this delicate section behind me.
 
Yves

3) It is time to worry about the Knightheads, securing the bowsprit. In the kit, these are placed on top of the gratings, which does not make any sense and is not at all realistic. The knightheads are part of the hull framing and must be strong to fulfill their role. I used a piece of cherry of 3 mm thick and glued it strongly to the bow assembly: 
 

 
This gives me more surface and and a good anchors to glue the knightheads. These are filed to accomodate the diameter and orientation of the bowsprit: 
 

 
I know they are still hanging in the air, but that is  the best I could do with this kit.
 

 

 

 

 

 
Et voila. I am feeling a lot better, now that this delicate assembly is behind me.
 
Yves
 
 

thats Dobbie Pingate Periscope and 8 year old English Cocker Spaniel
 
My two loves 
 

Hi
I have achieved my slightly absurd, self, challenge of planking the VM 26' foot launch without resorting to stealers, infill planks or any fillers. Strangely I get wood striping even though all of the planks came off the same sheet and were always orientating outwards on one side. It doesn't really matter but is odd and I can still elect to paint. The keel has some variant colours too - but that is also okay with me. Of course there are some air gaps and you couldn't float this boat but it isn't a bathtub toy! The shell is eggshell fragile and I have yet to sand inside. A tricky but very cool little kit. I did the last plank in three sections on both sides (it's the third one up from the keel) - it was a killer to fit. Otherwise all planks run full length. When I finish it, I'll get back to the main subject = Fly.
 
 

I 'started' at the rearmost bulkhead and which positioned that gun port.  The rear of that gunport was flush against the full bulkhead with no adjustment.  From there the other positions were determined, 30mm apart which resulted in only the first two bulkheads requiring 'treatment'.  Based on differences on each it and construction, I'm sure this could vary a little which is no big deal.  There is one pair of ports where the steps are located that are further apart as indicated on plans, I made a really silly error by mispositioning this which had to be corrected.  I didn't find a satisfactory solution that avoided having to deal with bulkheads 3&4 keeping a consistent port separation.  Good luck!
 
Interestingly, I found at a later date on NMM plans that there was in fact another port added further forward, this could only be a bridle port with no cannon as it would be located in the manger area.  It would be very difficult to show this port opened, but had I known I may have attempted to show this in a closed position.

Planking has started, this will be a lengthy process....
 
I started at the keel to get going, will move up to the upper section and work down in due course.  Even though I had shaped the bulkheads, I'm trying to fine tune as I go as it isn't until a few planks start going on that emphasize deviations, and the hull lines becomes much clearer to me as the surface grows.   
 

Cheers Eamonn, Jim, BE, Stergios and the 'likes' for the interest and kind words.  I tried to superimpose 'Ballyhoo' on 'Jason' but couldn't figure out how to do it.
 
Sjors - don't worry, there will be guns on this deck (eventually).  But I believe the deck is more commonly referred to as the upper deck on a frigate (even though it has one above it...and also has guns!), although I do seem to recall seeing reference to a gun deck as well somewhere.  Maybe someone else can speak definitively on this.
 
Alistair - it did work out OK.  I split the false deck down the center line first (the grain introduces a little error here), and then taped them back together on the back side.  The 2 innermost planks were glued in place on each half and then separated so that I knew they would marry up properly during final assembly.  An unexpected issue was that the deck did tend to cup a little, probably a combination of humidity changes here as well as the glue under the planks shrinking a little.  It was easily manageable, but you can see a slightly larger gap at the extreme ends where there weren't any bulkheads under the deck to force the camber.  As for treenails, I don't feel any compulsion to do them, but, I will have plenty of time to change my mind.
 
Have managed to install the interior bulwarks this weekend, small 0.5mm slivers of scrap were used to build up some of the worst offending bulkheads to remove major waviness.  These haven't been sanded yet but overall pretty pleased, any remaining small waviness should be pretty easy to sand out.  The bow section seems to have come out OK with extending the planking past bulkhead 5.  Most miraculously, the bulwarks do seem to follow the line of the margin planks, so a big 'phew' there.  Although not entirely symetrical, this will not be seen once the foc'sle is on    Also cut slots for the skid beams as it seems to be a lot easier to do now, these aren't mentioned until page 9 of the instructions.
 
Now the interior bulwarks rare in place, the rest of the bulkheads can be faired as the extensions are much too thin and delicate to be able to shape without additional support.
 

Nice hear from you John
 
Mobbsie - cheers mate, though I think you're being a bit generous with the praise 
 
Well, bit of a milestone, the upper deck is finally completed and glued into position.  Next step will be the interior bulwarks, will require some tweaking as a few test planks indicate that the bulwarks (even after shaping) still will be a bit wavy, I'll probably just add some thin scrap strips to the these to build them up, but more on that when its done.
 
The instructions make no mention of some deck former beams that need to go on before the upper deck, the only reference is on the side plan - I nearly missed them.  When in position there is clearly a problem because the beams will interfere with the open companions, once again the plans clearly show this issue.  Simple to cut out the center section without any real structural implications, the ones remaining will be hidden by gratings.  You can also see in the picture that I glued some thin beech off cuts where the two halves will join to provide some surface to mate the deck surfaces smoothly.  Deck was glued in multiple stages, first half deck glued to center line, section half deck glued to center and mated, and then glued down to the bulkheads to give correct camber.
 

 
Final result....completing the decking off the ship seems to have worked out just fine.
 


 
Size comparison to Snake which is still laid up....Jason will be a big boy!
 

 
 
 
 
 

Decided I really needed to post  few pics to show I'm still here.  With the weather turning, and the end of the soccer/football season approaching (I coach my son and daughters teams) I can finally foresee more time in the shipyard in the evenings.  I had spent a lot of time trying to figure out the deck arrangement, picture are pretty self explanatory and work obviously still in progress.  Margin planks are not glued yet, but I did cut my first scarf joint.  As mentioned previously, estimating the line of the margin plank required the future shape of the interior bulwark once planked to be estimated - I won't know that I've been successful until its too late.
 
Unfortunately, at lot of this will not be seen once the quarter deck and forecastle are in place, but its good practice and building my confidence to tackle the more visible top decks.
 

 

 

 

Small progress, I've at least committed to the approach I'll take on the deck planking.  Nothing too exciting, but I will install a margin plank which I haven't done before,even though this will barely (if at all) be seen.  I've decided to try planking off the ship to make this a little easier.  Worst case, it will be good practice for the quarterdeck and forecastle, but I do hope to leave the option open to leave some of the fo'csle gratings off so a little more can be seen.  I've used the placement of the deck beams per AOTS to determine where the planks terminate.  The margin plank curve was estimated from laying a plank along the interior bulwark and tracing the shape on the false deck. 
 
Still early days, but no major hiccups yet...
 

David - you can rest easy, there is plenty of historical latitude at this specific time period when these ships were designed and built, which was a great period of change to really do what you want.  Built up bulwarks were the fashion, then moved back to open bulwarks, and then finally built up again.  Armament wise, carronades gradually added to, and final replaced the quarterdeck and foc's'l cannon.  Available plans are not consistent for specific ships, probably because of the factors above and depending on when they were drafted and what they represent (as designed, or built, or when in service).

Interesting subject and approach (to finish the hull before glueing the upper bulwark pieces on).  Nice to see some new ship types!

Hello there:
 
Over the last couple of evenings I've managed to complete another couple of small things on Bluenose - the chain box and the rudder. The chain box is not featured on the deck plans, but included in a lower corner of a plan sheet that documents the deck fixtures, dorys and mast/spar construction - it could easily be overlooked.
 
What isn't clear is if there was one such box on either side - the plans say to locate the chain box just aft of the engine box, which is located on the port side. I included two boxes on my 1:100 scale Bluenose, since it made sense to have one on each side for each anchor....but what is the consensus on this?
 
Anyway, this feature was constructed out of 5 pieces of 1/32" thick basswood cut to measure. The front and back of the box were installed on top of the base and then the sides added after - the inside faces of each strip were painted black prior to assembly and then the outside and edges finished white after.
 
The rudder was pretty easy - especially since I had already made them man years ago when I cut out the final versions of the keel pieces and bulkheads - this much have been back in 2016 or 2017!! Sheesh!! I was reading another modeller's log today and he was calling himself "lazy" for not treenailing his deck - but I bet he never waited 7 years to install a rudder!! 
 
Anyway, the rudder and stern post were made from 3/16" ply and needed only some minor adjustments to fit properly. The pintles and gudgeons were made using 1/64" x 3/64" bras strip gently bent first around a 1/16" brass rod and then again around a scrap 3/16" piece of ply to get the rough shape. The short sections of 1/16" brass rod were glued to the pintles and gudgeons with CA and then attached to the rudder first. I installed the stern post onto the model and then the tiller extension was added - made from a 3/16" dowel and shaped accordingly. I masked off the rudder and painted the pintles and gudgeons before installing the rudder on the model - I felt that this would be far less messy than using the blackening agent I have or trying to paint them on the model.
 
Next I'll probably mount the model on a stand I made about a year and a half ago and then finally move onto the windlass and other works at the bow....this, along with the scrollwork and name plates as well as the chainplates & shroud deadeyes will see the hull more or less complete! Then I think I will return to my Bellona build for a while and let Bluenose rest before moving onto the masting....
 
In the meanwhile, enjoy the photos and happy modelling
hamilton

Yesterday I had a go at the catheads, which were one of those elements that I was kind of puzzling over. In the end, I decided that my metal working skills and the resources at my current disposal for achieving good results were pretty limited, so I took another route.
 
I used 3/32" square basswood stock for the the "head" and 3/64" brass rod for the shaft. I marked off the basswood to the length of the out portion of the cathead and filed out a notch in the end, first making a gentle cut along the centre of one end of the strip and then using first a triangular and then a round needle file to widen out the end to simulate the sheave. I then drilled a hole behind that and widened/filed it out with files to complete the sheave. I then drilled small holes to receive eyebolts in the bottom and side.
 
Only after that did I cut off the portion of the basswood stock, drill a hole in the square end of it and attach a length of brass rod for the cathead "shaft". I then whittled and sanded down the end of the wooden "head" portion to blend it in with the brass, painting the whole assembly black. They're definitely out of scale (the head portion anyway) but I'm hoping that they won't look so bad once all the other elements are built up around them.....
 
I did have to make some 1/16" thick cap rail extensions, since I forgot to mark out those when I was making the caprails a while back...this was very straightforward. Here are the photos - enjoy and happy modelling
hamilton
 

A quick update featuring the main mast fife rail. When I was looking at this on the plans, I figured I could get it done in a few hours - another case of being totally wrong! It took about 10 hours total over three sessions to finish. I cut the pinrack from 1/16" basswood sheet and used a couple of wooden stanchions left over from the Artesania Latina San Francisco which turned out to be perfectly to scale and matched the general shape as well. 1/8" square stock was used for the bitts, and I used two edge-glued 1/8 x 1/16" strips, filed out to accommodate the bitts and the boom crutch, with a small hole drilled for a belaying pin on the forward edge. These were glued up around the posts. Once this was done, I noticed that the two posts were a little out of alignment, so I glued them at the bottom to some 1/32 and 1/8" strip wood to bring them even and to correct height.
 
I repurposed a couple of knees from another kit for the fife rail support knees, as well - these were larger than scale, but were pretty easily trimmed down to size for the bluenose. They are not to scale thickness - being 1/16" when they should be 3/32"....but I glued them close to the outboard edges, so only the very keenest and most attentive eyes will see - and of course all of you who I just told about it!! I also made the mast coat out of 1/8" basswood, drilled and filed out to 5/16" for the mast. The belaying pins were blackened (looking a little hairy) to complete the little project.
 
I am starting to get really concerned about all the metal work that's coming up with the masting and forward deck details. I have very limited experience working with metal and given that my blackening technique also produces pretty fuzzy results....I will have to do a bit of practice with the soldering gun and see if I can't wrap my head around it....Definitely going to fudge as much with wood as I can get away with, but at a certain point I feel like it's hard to model without picking up some metal working chops.....
 
Until then, though, it'll be more deck superstructures. Enjoy the photos and happy modelling
hamilton

Thanks for all the likes and comments.
Trincomalee was fully open this time so I was able to visit quarter deck and forecastle. Anchor stocks are tapered as per my general understanding so strange why they don't appear to be in the AotS drawings. Anyway moving on...
I have completed the last of the ship’s boats, the 18ft cutter and I’m quite disappointed with the result.
It all started very well and for the first time, there were no bits breaking off the delicate keel or stern pieces. I was also pleased with the way the second layer of card representing the clinker planking went. However, after the bulkheads were removed the boat has seemed to spread across its width making the transoms too narrow. I also had problems fitting the brass etch gratings especially at the stern which, in contradiction to my previous thought, needed trimming to size.






It’s finished now but I might scrap it, buy another from Chris and have a second go.
The ropes have arrived so it’s back to the rigging.
 
David

Gun port positions
                 Any one who has previously built the Diana can testify this may cause a few issues down the line. The instructions states that the gunports should be 30mm apart but the drawing suggests they are anywhere between 28 and 38 mm and if starting from bulkhead No 16 and carrying on with an equal distance of  30mm then you end up with the gunports lining up with bulkheads 4 and 5. I have made a template and traced the gunports at 31.5mm apart and if I start just 3mm forward of bulkhead  No.16 then this ensures the gun ports are clear of the bulkheads (just) and I also temporarily fitted the masts & channels and found that there will hopefully be no issues with the deadeye chain plates crossing the gunports and should be clear of the gun barrels. There is however the position of the ladders and the vertical protectors of  some concern. These will have to be moved so as to still be between gunport 7 and 8 as per drawing however it will be necessary to alter the upper gun port template  ( bulwark)by reducing the forward edge so is not in line with the ladders at the deck. Hope this makes sense
I believe this is a small price to pay rather than start moving different gun ports and not cutting out sections of bulkheads 4 & 5b but still maintaining  the equal distance required . 
 

 



Update on Bloomfield Cannon Barrels. As I previously decided to change the 18Lb cannon carrages, I have also now decide to use the Bloomfield pattern for the Barrels. Thanks to Allan for his timely intervention. Chris from Vanguard models has kindly supplied me with the 9ft (long) Bloomfield barrels ( 3d Printer  which I have heard have excellent detail) together with the brass fittings only, without the carrages for a very reasonable price. Once I have these and assemble one I will also be able to work out the correct height of the gunports so hopefully the gun barrels will end up centrally in the gunport. Lots to think about but no doubt I will het a few snags.

To throw a curve ball - the Contract for HMCSS Victoria (1855) called for shot garlands.  The ship was armed with a single 32pdr 56cwt pivot gun and six 32pdr 25cwt guns in broadside.  The garlands, for the broadside guns at least, appear to have been fitted as a photo (see crop below) taken between 1858 and 1865 shows the shot garlands, with shot in them, fitted to the bulwarks between the rising timbers.
 

 
cheers
 
Pat

Interesting subject and approach (to finish the hull before glueing the upper bulwark pieces on).  Nice to see some new ship types!