Beef Wellington

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.
 

 

 

 

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

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

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

Great work.
Well done in being patient. They look superb.
And remember you only have 150 or so tiny blocks to strop and seize for the breaching ropes etc.
#gottalovetheguns
Tim

These are great looking guns! It took me forever to do the 18 guns on my Syren . . . I am in awe of the work load you are facing 😉
 
Thomas

Nice work Jason; a real production line you have going there.  Those canon ook great!
 
cheers
 
Pat

Well that’s the worst part of the build done. The stanchions are white as I gave them a base primer coat from the Tamiya rattle can before putting them on, as another coat would plug up the holes. When I do the touch up phase I will make sure they are all strait and paint them. 
 
The Anchors are resin ones from North Star Models as the kit ones are utter rubbish. There are only two as no reference I can see has her with three after 1940. 

So I tried a new technique today. First, get a mouthful of black coffee. Second sneeze. Third, direct sneeze over the ship. Drench it in coffee. 
 
FFS! 20 minutes with a paintbrush and water to clean it up. The deck does not like it but I think I’m on to something here when it comes to dulling down the wooden decks! Who knew! 
 
Anyways, the back end of the ship’s railing is now done. I added a little bit of unpainted PE for comparison and I like it better the way I’m doing it. I just don’t think I can go back to PE railing again for this type of ship’s rails. 

The 2 ships cranes, horrible instructions and I needed to add on a few extras so the rigging is correct but now they’re attached I’m fairly happy. I just have to hang a plane off one. 

Nearly there! Ammo boxes, deck equipment, new chains to keep @Dubz happy! 34 individual 20mm guns. Plus a ship’s bell. 
 
The ships plane, railings (not looking forward to a week of rigging stanchions, davits; light weathering. 
 
Oh, and the screws. Starting to look like a warship. 

Thanks for your good wishes Rob.
 
I couldn't resist.  I have had a very close look at the Anatomy of a Ship.  The lids are NOT quite flush with the counter. So here is my solution and the process of taking off a layer of planking was rather fraught.  At the moment the lid is dry-fitted and the photos exaggerate the faults.  Obviously it needs to be touched up, but once painted, should look quite acceptable.  All I have to do is a similar job on the other side - but that really will have to wait.
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

This summer I had a perfect plan - send off the family to their parent/grandparents in July, and enjoy the hobby in the evenings. "Ha ha oh come on" said my work life, and I ended up with a series of business trips instead  Some of them were good though, can't complain.
 
I am still making the "Tosti-style" clamps. 
Drilling the holes on a mill:

To prevent the drill bit from slipping to the side of the rod - I flatten it with a file first:

That method is simple and works well enough.
Thread is tapped manually, no problems with that approach:

 
Then slicing this rod with a Knupfer slitting blade. It is really great, cuts brass like butter, I am impressed!

 
Cutting the thread in a thin (3mm) rod is trickier though. Frequently the thread is being cut off-center, resulting in a wobble closer to the center of the rod. Googled a bit, most common reasons are incorrect angle, uneven feed, etc.
 
I found a method that works well in the end. Die is placed on top of the benchdog hole, vaccuum is placed below it, and everything is held in place purely with a vaccuum.

In action:

Being on a flat surface, it is easy to control the angle and is easy to apply a steady pressure. As a bonus, air flow immediately cools both die and rod, and all chips are sucked into the vac.
The end result is a clean and straight rod (on top), versus wobbly alternative (the same die was used for both rods):

 
I am nearly done with metalwork, but now my left-handed die died (no pun intended), it cuts a larger radius and gets a lot of resistance - I broke two rods when trying to cut that thread  Ordered a new die, will cut the clamp jaws in a meanwhile. 

 
P.S.: machining is, actually, quite hard! You can't sand away the excess or cover gaps with sawdust and glue mixture. There is only one chance to do things right.

Gun Carriages:
 
Nothing revolutionary, prototype gun carriage has been completed after putting on some more coats of paint to the carriages.  Learning experience here is to use as little paint on metal items as possible, all ring bolts and ring bolts have been chemically blackened.  Cannon barrels and ring bolts have been finished with Testors clear matt lacquer to eliminate the shine still inherent to the blackened surface.  The carriage bolts are model railway/railroad track pins which have a shallow domed head, these come painted black, so the head was painted with 'dark iron' before attaching.  I had experimented with countersinking these on a spare, but this seemed a little over fussy, and also just using wire cut off wire but felt these looked too dainty.
 
Event though many of these will be obscured by the deck, I will probably build all of these as per the prototype in case glimpses can be seen through various openings.  The guns that are highly visible will likely get a little more detailing but I'll decide to what extent when all of these are done.
 

 
Its a little disconcerting when I sat back a figured out what will be needed, and this is just the upper deck.  Everything is at least now ready for assembly....
ringbolts - 336 blackened (7 per carriage, 4 per bulwark, 1 deck bolt) Domed pins - 168 (6 per carriage) 3mm rings - 112 (2 per carriage for breaching rope, 2 per gunport for breaching rope) 2mm rings - 28 (1 per gunport deckring)
 
So far 3 carriages have been built up, as the best method for construction becomes clearer, these do seem to be going together more quickly, but still not quickly 🙂  
 

There are now 3 coats of paint on the stern counter.  Despite appearances in the photos, it doesn't look too bad in the flesh.  Nothing has yet been touched up.  I will sand it back a little to improve the finish, then put 2 coats of polyurethane on it.  As an experiment I have made a couple of stern vents.  The instructions suggest that to give an appearance of the vents, scribing their outline on the counter which I would prefer not to do.
 
Here is the painted stern counter.

The vents.  They are less than 1mm thick, but I think I can make them fractionally thinner.
 

The vents simply resting on the counter.  The shadows exaggerate their thickness.  I am undecided whether to go ahead - opinions are welcome.
 

 
 
 
 
 

Lovely model Lin and great execution, shame you haven't shared progress up to now!  Will certainly be following you from here on, great subject matter.

Lovely model Lin and great execution, shame you haven't shared progress up to now!  Will certainly be following you from here on, great subject matter.

Post 39
A return to the inboard - Fitting the False Deck
The False Deck has been formed as detailed in Post 37, but before fitting it is useful to mark the deck beam positions which of course don't follow the bulkheads but relate closely to the centre line fittings where in reality carlings' ledges, and framing would be involved.

2517
I have taken the 'beam' positions from the kit deck plan where they are marked.

1972
They follow fairly closely the deck beams as shown on the Admiralty plans for Cheerful.

2518
You will note they do not butt to the edges of the centre line fittings template marks but allow for the coamings etc.

2519
A final bit of tweaking to ensure both halves fitted together without buckling and that the reference lines matched.

2537
But before gluing into place...
One of my little foibles is that I like to have a realistic view below decks where lights or openings are concerned.
I made a small modification below the skylight to give the impression of a lower deck.
 
The bulkhead was cut away to form  false deck beams and create a space.
A false deck was fitted which was then planked over.

2545
I followed this up with a similar modification for the Ladder way; I am thinking of having the lid cover/doors open.

2550
I will probably end up also creating space beneath the gratings, I don't really like sticking them on solid board.
A short break now while I adjourn to enjoy the delights of Dorsetshire. 🙂

2549
William also looks like he's ready for a break from the shipyard.
 
Cheers,
 
B.E.
05/09/2018
 

Hello all
just got back from a fantastic vacation in Ireland. Problem about having a great time on vacation is eventually it must come to an end. I have now since settled back into reality. I did manage to finish turning my 12 pound wooden cannons on my homemade or should I say poor man’s “lathe”. I am pleased with the results. Just need to bore out the ends and put the pin holes in the full ones, paint them black and the assemble. 

 
Tom

The instructions suggest the next steps are to attach the stern fascia and counter. The fascia does not provide a problem: the stern counter certainly does.  The only practical way of working on it requires the model to be turned upside down.  Having installed the cannons for the chase ports - as suggested - this leaves the guns hanging from what has become the ceiling.  I just hope the guns are still where I glued them when the thing is turned the right way.  Lesson: do the stern THEN the fore deck.  The second problem is with the walnut ply supplied as the base for the stern counter.  Having given it the obligatory 30 minute soak in water and 2 days in a jig to bend it, it refused to be bent to shape.  Fitting clamps to glue it to the hull proved impractical.  I therefore scrapped it and simply used timber strip which proved to be relatively easy.  Here are the results.  The first three photos have been rotated.
 
This, and the next photo show the first layer of planks.  The last two show the planking complete.
 

 

 

 

 
 

The planking continues...  This planking method is taking a lot of time.  It gives great results though.  I'm probably not going to continue much past the water line because it will be coppered, I'll just just plank dirty style after that    
 

Gun Carriages:
 
Nothing revolutionary, prototype gun carriage has been completed after putting on some more coats of paint to the carriages.  Learning experience here is to use as little paint on metal items as possible, all ring bolts and ring bolts have been chemically blackened.  Cannon barrels and ring bolts have been finished with Testors clear matt lacquer to eliminate the shine still inherent to the blackened surface.  The carriage bolts are model railway/railroad track pins which have a shallow domed head, these come painted black, so the head was painted with 'dark iron' before attaching.  I had experimented with countersinking these on a spare, but this seemed a little over fussy, and also just using wire cut off wire but felt these looked too dainty.
 
Event though many of these will be obscured by the deck, I will probably build all of these as per the prototype in case glimpses can be seen through various openings.  The guns that are highly visible will likely get a little more detailing but I'll decide to what extent when all of these are done.
 

 
Its a little disconcerting when I sat back a figured out what will be needed, and this is just the upper deck.  Everything is at least now ready for assembly....
ringbolts - 336 blackened (7 per carriage, 4 per bulwark, 1 deck bolt) Domed pins - 168 (6 per carriage) 3mm rings - 112 (2 per carriage for breaching rope, 2 per gunport for breaching rope) 2mm rings - 28 (1 per gunport deckring)
 
So far 3 carriages have been built up, as the best method for construction becomes clearer, these do seem to be going together more quickly, but still not quickly 🙂  
 

Lovely model Lin and great execution, shame you haven't shared progress up to now!  Will certainly be following you from here on, great subject matter.

I've done a bit more to my ship. Working on the Bow trim and whilst things were going off I started on the deck furniture 

Stuck the trim on the other day. Everything is going slowly at the moment things are so fiddly lol

Ahoy there Lin!
 
I'll be following your progress with this build. Like you, I visited the ship last year and I was also surprised at the dimensions since this is "just" a frigate. My wife was just going to 'do' Asda while I was on the ship but she decided to come on board for a 'quick look'. She was very surprised at how much she enjoyed her extended visit and was very pleased she had done so.
Although the Trincomalee isn't the ship I'm building, I was keen to get some photos of the rigging as I was close to starting the rigging on my ship at the time . . . and I'm nowhere near finishing it yet!
(Didn't you make a comment like "everything is going slowly at the moment"!)
Right now I'm at the figurehead stage as well and to enable me to work on it, I left a sizeable 'chunk' on the bottom. I made a 'through slot' in it and also made a dummy beakhead so that I could slip it on there while trying to pretend that I can do some carving!
The picture below should show the extra bit before it is finally trimmed to its proper size >>>

Gun Carriages:
 
Nothing revolutionary, prototype gun carriage has been completed after putting on some more coats of paint to the carriages.  Learning experience here is to use as little paint on metal items as possible, all ring bolts and ring bolts have been chemically blackened.  Cannon barrels and ring bolts have been finished with Testors clear matt lacquer to eliminate the shine still inherent to the blackened surface.  The carriage bolts are model railway/railroad track pins which have a shallow domed head, these come painted black, so the head was painted with 'dark iron' before attaching.  I had experimented with countersinking these on a spare, but this seemed a little over fussy, and also just using wire cut off wire but felt these looked too dainty.
 
Event though many of these will be obscured by the deck, I will probably build all of these as per the prototype in case glimpses can be seen through various openings.  The guns that are highly visible will likely get a little more detailing but I'll decide to what extent when all of these are done.
 

 
Its a little disconcerting when I sat back a figured out what will be needed, and this is just the upper deck.  Everything is at least now ready for assembly....
ringbolts - 336 blackened (7 per carriage, 4 per bulwark, 1 deck bolt) Domed pins - 168 (6 per carriage) 3mm rings - 112 (2 per carriage for breaching rope, 2 per gunport for breaching rope) 2mm rings - 28 (1 per gunport deckring)
 
So far 3 carriages have been built up, as the best method for construction becomes clearer, these do seem to be going together more quickly, but still not quickly 🙂