Beef Wellington

Great idea as I'm about to start on the carriages for my build...after all imitation is the greatest form of flattery!

No progress on my build.  The windowless playroom in the basement lost out to the call of the sun outside... but now summer is over, laying about is done, too cold and wet for fishing for these bones, and the grass seems to have stopped growing.  Two bathroom renovations are done and the flooring of two other rooms is done and over.  Time to get back at her.  My goal this season is to get all the frames done and expect to start in the next couple weeks after yet one more diversion project is completed.
 
I had got some progress on my first crack at carving the oversized X3 (too large for the model) figurehead.  I had been working on it while sitting outside on the patio under the shade of the pergola and willow in late August.  Took it to our September club meeting.  Below are some pics. Still a considerable amount of work left to go on this... for later when I get bored.
 
There is a small diversionary project on the go and I expect it will take another week or so before I finally get onto the Billy Ruffian once more.
 

Looking good Rob, I've been giving a of thought to this particular area as well.  Hopefully I'll get a chance to post something later today in my log with my thoughts rather than cluttering up yours... 🙂

Looking good Rob, I've been giving a of thought to this particular area as well.  Hopefully I'll get a chance to post something later today in my log with my thoughts rather than cluttering up yours... 🙂

As always - thanks for the likes and encouragement
 
Hi Jason - I couldn't agree more... if you could look through the stern lights down the gun deck that would be awesome! A lot of work to make that happen,though, and it would need to start way earlier on in the build. I don't think I would have been comfortable I could cut away that much structure and keep the stern the right shape.
 
Progress? Well, I've been kind of feeling my way forward. I wasn't sure quite which details I wanted to focus on... Ray completed the gun deck, putting all the guns in position, and then got the second deck on before channels and head rails etc... Jason is completing the outer hull before mounting the guns... decisions, decisions! Anyway, I thought I'd at least get the deck furniture in place. I think I'll follow Ray's lead on this one, and try and get the deck complete, that way I can be confident about the deck level before i start to install final rails and channels etc... 
 
That meant sorting out the chain pumps and posts to hold the pump handles. It also meant getting the holes for the gun tackle / breeching into the bulkheads. I made a few plasticard templates to help me get this uniform around the hull. I also made up the capstan.
 
So... here's the question. I noticed that one of the ladders is in the middle of the space where the capstan bars would go... presumably the steps (and anything else i nthe way) could be removed as necessary - that'd be a shock if you tried to get down from the quarterdeck to the upper deck in a hurry! You might get there quicker than you expected.
 

I had a first attempt at making up the chain pump housings a while ago, but I wasn't happy with them. So I remade them. The housing was made from a wood left over from another build... not sure what it was, perhaps lime? It didn't matter too much as I painted it. The tops were solid box. I made feet mimicking the boxes where the pump went down into the hull. These were different heights outer and inner to accomodate the boarding around the mast.
 

 

Once complete, I took a look at the brass-etch handles. I wasn't very happy with these, as it strikes me they should be round section, not flat. So I made my own out of .5mm brass rod, with the ends hammered to flatten them. I made a diagram of where the posts should be, and then used that to drill the mounting points for the posts into the deck. The posts were filed to make the insets on all four sides, rather than just the two as they come in the kit. These parts are walnut, and were painted so they fit with the rest of the deck furniture.
 
Posts before:
 

 
Posts after:
 

 
Diagram for deck layout... 
 

Holes drilled in upper deck
 

 
And the parts dry-fitted in place...  Once everything's in, it's pretty tight. In fact, it would be very easy for the chain pump housings to end up in the space the main-mast occupies.
 

 
Finally, as I mentioned, I started work on the capstan.
 

 

I have to say, they'll do, but the walnut ply is so much harder to tidy up and make look neat than box. I think a few more going overs with some wet and dry may help a lot. At least, I hope so.
 
The Bottom capstan is complete (if in need of tidying up), the top capstan all dry fitted, as it will need to fit onto the central column once the deck is on... Something like this... (This is the point where I heaved a huge sigh of relief - it fits!)
 

The next task is to rig the guns on the upper deck (the gun deck, that is... the one that isn't the quarter deck, or the focsle... which also have guns on them... don't blame me, I didn't decide on the terminology!) Once the guns are rigged the deck furniture and the beams overhead can go into place, and we'll really be motoring.
 
I neglected to get a picture of all of the bits in place at the same time on the upper deck... I'll try and get one tomorrow and post it. I love this bit of the build!
 
Happy building
 
Rob
 
 

Thank you Thomas, Martin, and Paul. 🙂
Post 47
Faffing with fittings part 3.
The final deck fitting in this section is the Skylight.
I have Chuck's little mini kit which I assembled .
The version with the coaming around it doesn't appeal to me, something to do with proportion of the coamings in relation to the skylight I think.

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I seem to be in a constant state of indecision whether to paint or varnish the inboard fittings but I eventually decided to varnish the kit Skylight with  the window frames painted using Admiralty Paints Light Ivory.
I comforted myself with the thought that I can always arrange for another little skylight to wing its way across the pond if I don't like it.
 
While waiting for a further timber supply to complete the  margin planks I carried on and made a scratch version from Boxwood sheet.

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The frame completed.

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I decided to paint this one red but leave the lights framing natural.

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There wasn't that much extra effort involved in scratching the Skylight compared to assembling the delicate little kit.

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The deck covering below the Skylight shows sufficiently to make the effort worthwhile.

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To my eye the scratch version has slightly more 'presence' on the deck compared to the kit version, sweet as it is, and no doubt true to scale.
 
B.E.
02/11/2018
 

Working on 18lb gun carriages - all cut out and sanded.  No finger prints left!
 
I'm unsure about what size pulley blocks for running the carriages out, etc to use as the plans only specify the retaining ropes.  I'm thinking of 3mm double blocks (equating to about 7 - 8 inches scaled up).  Any help appreciated.
 

I have now put the windlass together, and a very fiddly job it was.   It is shown with a coat of polyurethane.  I have experimented with walnut stain and Admiralty walnut paint.  The paint gives a slightly better finish, though it is still not all that accurate a colour. At this stage I am undecided, but am inclined to put another coat of poly on it and leave it as is.  Comments are welcome.
 

Applying the frieze is a lot like cutting-in wallpaper; you have to work your way into and around projections, without distorting the repeat of the pattern, and the only way to do that, really, is just to take your time.
 

On the starboard quarter, the frieze is almost fully in place.  There is one last small segment that bridges the two upper bulwark halves, but I will wait to glue this in, until after I have installed the upper bulwarks.  I want this joint to be as seamless as possible.  When you build the kit, as stock, much of the joint is covered over by the main channel.  Now that I have lowered the channels, though, it will be imperative to do a good fill job on the joint.
 
The stern quarter bulwark is scraped clean of any squeeze out, and the X’s have been lightly relieved to give a more three-dimensional effect.  This piece is now ready to be adorned with foliate diamonds, shells and fleur-de-lis.  I can’t write that without thinking of Lucky Charms cereal ☘️
 

This closeup gives a better sense for some of the difficulty of breaking the frieze up into smaller and smaller segments for the cutting in.  Foliate diamonds will cover the joints in the center of the Xs, and will be let between the pointy joints where the upper and lower tiers of the frieze meet.  I shortened the ears of the crowning ornament, above the window.  This will make a more sensible layout for letting-in the foliate diamond, just forward of the window.
 

On the other hand, the forward bulwark pieces were much more straight-forward, and placing them was much easier and faster.
 

The difficulty with the forward bulwarks was fitting the fleurs.  I still had to do a bit of shortening and re-shaping of the central petals to get them to fit within the allowable space.  I still think they’re a little too large, but the effect is pleasing enough that I don’t feel motivated to make new, smaller masters; this is especially so, after seeing the now completed model of the Saint Philippe, with it’s diamond-hatch frieze of significantly smaller fleurs.  Granted, the St. Philippe’s frieze is more dense.  Nevertheless, smaller is better in both cases.
 
Anyhow, this would be one of my hard limits on this particular model.  It is close to what I drew, in the first place, and in scale with the black and white Berain drawing, where the fleurs are quite large.  In wood, though, I would go the extra few miles to get it absolutely right. 

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

Just had a chance to catch up on your very interesting project OC, really nice paint job and ‘weathered’ deck.  Following you over the finish line now!

As I commented earlier, there are more things to be done to complete Mikasa.
Working on midship and stern areas, need to add the derricks for the ship boats mounted midship, midship railings, more secondary gun mounts. Then on the aft end, will add derricks and four more ship's boats, cable reels, then add all the torpedo net booms to the sides of the hull. Will add catwalks to both sides of hull, some scuppers to the deck, then a few more rigging items and the ensign staff. Then the aft railings. I've just about made my mind up to add the fancy boarding ladders. If I go this route, there will be no torpedo nets added, neither deployed or nor stowed. I am concerned to add deployed torpedo nets as it will make future handling or moving of the model very difficult without damaging it.
To be realistic, I probably have another 2 weeks of work to do at the pace I'm currently moving.

Thank you for the kind words, Denis.
All three anchors and chains now installed. Except for the prominent Chrysanthemum emblem and IJN flag, the bow section is nearly completed now. 

Simply beautiful Thomas.  Hats off to you.

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...
 

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...
 

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...
 

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...
 

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

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

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...
 

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

Just had a chance to catch up on your very interesting project OC, really nice paint job and ‘weathered’ deck.  Following you over the finish line now!

Just had a chance to catch up on your very interesting project OC, really nice paint job and ‘weathered’ deck.  Following you over the finish line now!

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...