Beef Wellington

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)

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)

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)

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)

Cheesed lines like that are used decoratively. For inspections. They're impractical for daily use though. The first problem is they aren't free to run, they'll kink as they run through a block which is decidedly bad because each turn around the cheese ads a kink to the line. Next problem is that they get wet and the deck rots beneath them. Again, decidedly bad.

Jason. Your build makes me want to burn all mine. LOL. Seriously...awesome job!

Hi J .. Little late to the game here but I've often felt we as builders do tend to slightly 'over scale' items .. but in this case the larger does indeed look like a better fit ..
 
Boat looks superb too Mate ...
 
Eamonn

Beautiful work Jason,
 
I also like your color giving to the hull....
 
Nils

Hi Jason
I wouldn't take much notice of that picture it looks like a display model, the carriage looks like plastic as well, I sent an email to Mauritius archaeology about the carronades on my Sirius for Information and the example they have in the museum is a replica/display model with no provenance
Regards
Paul 

It is still looking perfect Jason!
It’s a pleasure to read an look.
 
Sjors
 

... and I finished step #3 over the weekend! 
 

 
Got the life rings and hose reels on... I decided to go with the KA PE life rings over the Pontos rings (Pontos provides little rubber o-rings that look a bit out of scale to me and aren't as flat as the real thing) 
 
As I had to glue the superstructure to the wood deck which in turn is only stuck to the plastic with wood glue (and the superstructure pieces had to be flexed a bit to sit entirely flat on the deck) I rigged up a quick and  dirty setup with string and thick styrene strips to help hold the superstructure down and guard against future separation problems:
 

 
I also added some stairways and rails on the back end of the superstructure:
 

I also went around to every vent with a tiny needle and tried to poke out any parts of the vent screens that were clogged with paint/glue, most of 'em cleaned out just fine. I then hit the vents with a wash to darken them up a little. 
 
Still debating whether to attempt weathering the whole ship or going with a clean "museum style" build... what do you guys think would be better? 
 

Very interested to see this 'officially' come together, this is a beautiful ship - of course there can be no complaints about the kit 🙂

Finally, sheet 5 is the belaying points, and the cast fittings and resin lifeboats. My prediction is that it will take me about 1 1/2 years to finish.

Hello - and thank you for the likes in the previous posting and thank you Busby for your nice comments and I wish you well with your build.
 
Had a go to slightly improve the dip in the Main Stay.
 
 
The lantern (Caldercraft) and rudder chain.
 

 
Bobstays and Bowsprit Shrouds done and so that is Sheet 11 all done. My heart sank once I studied Sheet 12 as there was so much more rigging and it was already getting hard not to lean on existing lines without a fair chance of some damage.
 
 
Start of Sheet 12 with a Tack Toggle. Not sure if you can see it clearly in picture and not sure what the Tack Toggle does. It looks like a quick release system perhaps.

Lines to the rail have all gone through a deck ring before being tied off to the rail. Have added more eyelets than were originally asked for.
 

 
Thanks for looking.
 
Regards
 
Doug

@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...
 

 

Those breeching rings came out really nicely an look just perfect, I'm sure at 1:48 its worth going that extra step to close these.  I really need to dive in and learn soldering and metal working techniques, been a little wary to try up to now. Love overall photo with the cut out figure, he enhances the look of the model by being a little more well defined than the ubiquitous "Captain Amati"...

The photo below shows the thole pins on the contemporary model.  There is a discrepancy between this model and the other contemporary model.  This one has an extra row or two more pairs of thole pins than the other model.  I opted to go with fewer.  I made my thole pins from boxwood but you guys can easily replace with wire if you wanted.  I took a 3/64" x 3/64" strip and rounded it off in my Dremel.  I dont like the way the wire takes paint and because of this large scale I opted for wood instead, but this means you must also round off your stock in a Dremel as well.  If that is too much of a hassle though then wire can be used in its place....probably 16 gauge or 18 gauge. 
 
I drilled holes along the cap rail with a #55 drill bit and glued them in place.  Then they were painted red.  But you could leave them natural too....if you use the boxwood that comes with the kit.
 




 
THIS COMPLETES THE HULL!!!  Except for the oars but I will do that after I rig it......So let the masting and rigging begin.

Here is a small update to the super structure of the ship  Time consuming even for cardboard.

Finally the superstructure is done! Here's some pics. Sorry it took so long. NOW! Time to start with the main battery guns.

Work time: 1 hour
Total Work time: 26.5 hours
Tools used: Xacto #11, #17, #18, Xacto razor saw, jewelers files
Material used: Isopropyl alcohol, Titebond glue
 
 
Well, I pulled my first screw up. After installing the Great Beam and the Deck Beam yesterday I laid a piece of deck plank on each side of bulkhead H, where these are installed. Looking back, I should have done that yesterday before I glued these pieces in.
 
The Great Beam (aft of bulkhead H) looked just fine.
 

 
But there was a big problem where I had installed the Deck Beam, forward of bulkhead H.
 

 
If I would have looked closer at the kit instructions, I would have seen that the Deck Beam needed to be even with the top of bulkhead H. I had installed it on top of the bulkhead.
 

 
Using some 91% isopropyl alcohol,  I painted the joint and slowly wedged it loose with a wide Xacto chisel blade. Took about 15 minutes or so to work the Deck Beam loose.
 
So I figured I had 2 options. I could cut the Deck Beam into two pieces and install one on each side of the keel or I could notch the keel to fit the Deck Beam in one piece. I decided to notch the keel.
 

 
After letting the Deck Beam dry out and cleaning things up, I glued the Deck Beam into the notch. Laying a piece of deck plank over the new configuration it looked good.
 

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.
 

 

Thanks, Ed and druxey, I am resolved to do a better job on the cannon this time around. Good thing I had to put that project aside while retiring and moving. A little time away made it very clear that I needed to do better. And now I have renewed energy to tackle it again.
 
Thanks, John, for your kind comments. I have come to think of this as a lot of separate parts, each of which needs full time and attention. I have continued to be inspired by Remco's comment "Treat each part as if it is a model on its own, you will finish more models in a day than others do in a lifetime".
 
Here are a few pictures of the wales refined a little more at the stern. I temporarily attached the mouldings at the stern, made many years ago and just waiting for their time again.
 
Reflecting on the wales, now they are almost done, It is pretty remarkable how a series of relatively short planks can be fitted together not only for structural strength longitudinally, but also how they can accommodate to a hull curving gracefully in several directions. The individual parts recede in emphasis, revealing the beauty of the collective whole. Like so many things on these models, the individual parts will likely not show themselves in the final model, but we all know they are there!
 
Mark
 
 

I have attached the stern Facia followed by the stern counter. Facia has been sanded down to match ply gun port strips.
 






The triangular corners have been filled and shaped. Done so first planking can terminate up against the filler and second go over it.

Good progress and happy to say I haven’t totally forgotten everything!
 
I had already created the foremast yard. I just needed to get the metalwork primed and then paint the main coats of black. 
 
Spent the next next few nights rigging up the blocks to the yard. 
 

Next used length of 0.5mm brass rod to fashion four foot rope stirrups. 
 

Finally to create the impression of the stirrups being tie to the yard I tied a loop of thread with a half hitch around the brass rod. Just been soaked with watered down PVA and waiting to be trimmed once dry. 
 

 
 
 

Hanging out the washing!! Some weight to keep gunport ropes taught while glue drys.

 
Prepping the breech ropes
 

 
Laying out the 18lbs on the upper gun deck.  Can anyone see my "fix" for a much earlier mistake?
 

That's right - gunports too low when compared to deck.  Luckily only occurs under top deck.  Had to lower cannon by removing wheels.  Oops.  And no, I'm not going back to redo ports....
 
Very wet weather the other day and my man cave/workshop developed a drip.  Lucky not on anything vital.  Hoping for a dry weekend to fix the roof.

 
Upper deck fitting attached and breeching ropes fixed to carriages but not to hull yet; gun tackle still too be started and finished.  But I'm getting there I think!  Need to be tidier on gratings.