Beef Wellington

Thanks to everyone... Minor update, work on the futtock stave..

Thanks Kevin.  I wish the rigging for the chaser ports guns had gone as easily.  I made more mistakes doing these than any single job I can remember.  At least I learnt a few things: don't put in the eyelets first - tie the lines to them off the model; adjust the length of the breeching rope off the model; and make sure the distance between the two blocks on each side of the guns provides enough room for the gun tackle fall (ie, the rope between them) to look realistic.  Having not done any of the three the first time meant I had to re-rig at least once, and in one case, twice. While I am obviously a slow learner, my vocabulary has expanded if not improved.
 
The first photo shows a simple way of adjusting the length of the breeching rope - off the model.

The following photos show the rigging of one gun almost complete. The eyebolts and tackle are yet to be done.  The blocks are standard off the shelf jobs and I think for the remaining rigging I will buy some of the Syren blocks.  These two guns will be covered by the fore deck and will be almost impossible to see so I will leave them as is.  I will be going away soon for a month and will wait until I return before ordering them - so no rigging for a while which will be a relief.



 
 
 
 
 

Hi 

Hi Andy, looking forward to some shots of your updates.  BTW....you're not the only one to stall regularly, I needed to step away myself from the shipyard and am just getting the bug to go back and continue.

Hi Mark,
 
If this can help ...
 
Patrick

as promised



(got it from a polish site in 2016, can't find it anymore though)

Shipyard Update:
Lifts, Braces & Reef Tackle to the Upper Yards 
Main and Fore TopGallant & Topsail Yards
Mizzen Topsail & Crossjack
 
So the boys in the shipyard have been busy adding the Lifts & Braces to the above, along with some Reef Tackle pendant & falls(to the Topsail Yards)
Some blocks were already on the mats(e.g. for the Main Topsail braces on the Mizzen)
Many have been added by making single or double sets in 3mm, 4mm or 5mm blocks. The Topgallant in 3mm Topsail in 4mm and the Main Yards will have the 5mm blocks.
Below  are 4mm and 5mm sets

 
Below are various shots of the recent additions:

Fore Topsail Yard with Lifts, Reef Tackle & Braces back to the Main Mast, Main Stay

Main TopGallant braces back to the Mizzen
Main Topsail Yard with Lifts, Reef Tackle & Braces
Mizzen Topsail yard Lifts in the background.
Mizzen Topsail Yard with Lifts & Braces back to the end of the Gaff.
Gaff with Lift. 

Main Mast Cross Trees: 3mm single blocks added for the Fore Topgallant braces which run down the Stay to 2 more blocks(below shot)

2 x 3mm single blocks added to the Main Topmast Stay, where the Fore Topgallant braces run down to cleat - on side of Bell Belfry. 

Fore Topsail Braces back to the Main Mast, Main Stay

Main Mast, Main Stay blocks(in RED) 4mm for the Fore Topsail braces.
Additionally have already added(in Blue) a 5mm for the Fore Yard braces.

Mizzen Mast: over the Crossjack are the pendent for the Main Topsail braces(in RED). Crossjack pendent blocks(in BLUE) for the braces(in GREEN) which run froward to the Main Mast rear Shroud
Mizzen Topmast, 2 x 3mm blocks added to forward shroud for the Main TopGallant braces to run down.
Fore Mast TopGallant Yard braces back to the Main Mast, Stay blocks.
 

Port Main Shroud Cleats:  Braces are tied off to the cleats on the shrouds. Bit messy, a lot of cleanup to do down the track.
I added another set of cleats on the rear(6th) shroud for the Crossjack Yard brace.  
 

Starboard Fore Mast shrouds:  Cleats for braces. I added another set of cleats on the rear(6th) shroud. you  can see the different lashing used. 

Bottom of the Mizzen Mast, cleats filling up.
 
Next will probably add the 2 Main yards.
 

Shipyard Update:
After some time fiddling about, I came up with Anchors, Bumpkin and Fish Davit on the Starboard Bow - below.
All just sitting there, not glued in place yet, as not sure or happy with the layout.
And I'm confident I can postpone the final arrangement, continue rigging and fit this lot later on towards the end.

 

So all coming off and going into storage.
 
Move onto the Main and Fore TopGallant >> Yards.
 

Shipyard Update:
The shipyard has been on a go slow.
   Too many distractions for the owner(me).
 
Managed to get the Top Gallant Shrouds and Backstays on Fore and Main Masts.
Pre-rigged the above onto the Top Gallant mast sections. Then fitted onto the respective Top Masts.
 
Below: 1 set of two(2) Top Gallants for Main and Fore Masts.

Below: Pictures of shrouds tied to Top Mast stays.

 

 
Below: Mast Backstay Tackle
Also have now rigged all 4 of the Top Mast Tackles to the channels.
Each Picture has location on it.




 
Next to finish the Fore Top Gallant Shrouds. So much fun tying these in mid air, keeping the mast vertical and shroud tensions the same.
 

Hello,
 
just that you see that I'm still working, now and then 😉
 I finished the inner planking of the gun deck with deck clamps for the upper gun deck and started to build the gun port lids.
 

 

Hello,
 
today I finished the small dragons, who keep Leo's feet warm 
 

 
I glued them to a piece of scrap wood, with a piece of paper between, so that I could hold them better
 

 

 
At the last pictures they are not already dry, so that I will tomorrow make the rest ready. 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hello and thank you all for your comments and likes,
 
I was not very busy the last week, but I made the hawse hols with the linings and bolsters.
 

 
 
The next things are the trail boards between the cheeks. I have a trail board, all in ocker but only the little dragon in green, in my mind. I saw it somewhere, but I did't find that picture again. If anyone has that picture, or know where I could find it, tell it. 

So finally, after about 3750 hours, I got to the finish.
Thanks to everyone for watching my log and I would like to invite you to watch my next building log - Le Gros Ventre POF.

Just for grins and giggles...
Here are the photo etch and turned brass parts for assembling 2 ea, 3" guns. This is before filing, folding, gluing, and mutilating. And then some paint.

Each one of these storage lockers are made from multiple pieces of photo etch. Made some more lockers and painted, then glued everything to the deck. That's about all that will get done on Mikasa today. More tomorrow.

Thanks Peter and Jason, the safety razor blade does make for a stable  scraper, and I'm pleased with the outcome. A simple profile but one I think that is appropriate for a humble Cutter.
 
I agree Jason, a model is more than the sum of its parts and the eye is drawn to the overall effect. The eye registers that the moulding has a profile detail, which really is sufficient at this size of model at this scale. Once completed we don't spend our time looking at it thro' a macro lens. 🙂
 
Post 35
Moving inboard - lining the bulwarks.
I am planking between the bulkhead extensions with 1.5 x 5mm Lime wood strip, and will then reduce the extensions to be flush.
I don't really trust myself to get going with the Dremel without this sort of guide.
Straightforward but tedious stuff this, measure, chop and fit, from just below deck level to bulwark top.

2013
The addition of this inner layer does firm up the outer  bulwark planking particularly along the top and in the stern area where the top edges may be vulnerable to splitting.

2014
So to start with the Dremel, I drew guide lines across the top of the bulwarks and got to work.

2016
The Dremel can only go so far down to the deck level so there is some chisel work to be done.

2075
Working at low revs  the Dremel soon reduced the excess and I went as close as I dare.

2076

2079
At this stage the bulwarks have been reduced to a tad over 1.5mm (excluding the outer planking).

2083

2084
Some fine adjustments and tidying up now required before I return to fixing the decorative mouldings along the topsides.
 
B.E.
24/08/2018
 
 

Catching up on a lot of progress, some really beautiful results, well done OC!

Catching up a bit, love the treenails and nicely done on the molding strip.  My feeling is that impression of the detail, rather than absolute accuracy, is 90% what the eye sees, and my eye likes what it sees 😊

Catching up a bit, love the treenails and nicely done on the molding strip.  My feeling is that impression of the detail, rather than absolute accuracy, is 90% what the eye sees, and my eye likes what it sees 😊

Although the summer weather has been pretty good lately except for a couple of 100 degree days, I did manage to get some work done.  The 24# cannons are rigged and now I can start to put the upper gundeck into place.  Here are some photos.  Some progress is better than no progress or even worse... reverse progress!

 
Starting to look like a warship.
Tom

Upper planking is finished...

Hi all,
 
A swift update. Mainly a conveyor belt of getting gun carriages finished. I'll try and outline the process I'm using below:
 
I'd already removed all the wheels from the boards, fitted them onto my mini drill and put them over sandpaper to get rid of the char. Then I put the big and small wheels in separate bags so I could find them later.
 
1. Assemble the carriage frames. (Sides, axles and front and back)
 
I used a plasticard jig to do this.
 
2. Whittle the axles to fit the wheels.
 
There's no shortcut. It's just slow and steady with a sharp xacto knife, stopping and checking the fit time and time again.
 
3. Drill the holes for the eyelets and breaching rings
 
I made a template for the sides out of plasticard, and for the back. The side one worked brilliantly by slotting over the axles. When I came to use the one at the back, there wasn't enough purchase to stop it simply getting picked up by the drill and spinning on the drill bit. So I used some masking tape to stick it into place on each carriage. (This is for the eyelet that will be fixed to the rope used to pull the carriage back in to the Frigate.
 

 
The holes were drilled with a 0.65mm drill. The hole with the cross through it on the template is the pre-drilled hole used for the supporting bar between the sides. This template was used for both sides, simply reversed. The notches in the bottom fit over the axles where they narrow) By leaving my wood working vice a little ajar, I could sit the axles into the gap, and that gave the support to be able to drill into it carefully with a proxxon mini-drill. Again, I'm sold on this little drill. All in, for the 28 main guns, it was  196 holes, without the re-opening up after painting for the pre-drilled holes, so the proxxon drill made a massive difference.
 

 
4. Add the bar that goes between the sides.
 
This was .65mm steel bar - not sure where it came from, but it saved me needing to blacken a whole bunch of brass rods, and looked pretty neat.

 
 
5. Add the fore and aft part on top of the bar, and the back axle.
 
(This remained unpainted, because I liked the contrast, and wanted a way to show the carriage was box as per the grating surrounds etc...)
 

(wow, close ups are cruel! or maybe my eyes are being overly generous!)
 
6. Add the eyelets and breaching rings.
 
The breaching rope rings are not included in the kit as far as I could tell, so I wrapped thin black lacquer wire around a 1mm drill bit lots of times, slid it off, and cut it into lots of rings with a pair of scissors. These were gently prised open and pushed shut on one of the blackened copper eyelets to make a ring. Tedious, but looks pretty good. My only slight concern is that these might be slightly tight for the breaching rope. I need to check this sooner rather than later. They fit the scale of the rings on Chuck Passaro's excellent pdf of his gun carriages (see his website), and it's that I've been working to.
 





 
7. Make up the wedge with it's holder, used for setting the elevation of the gun.
 
I used my mini drill to spin the box strip and files to shape it into the handle for the wedge.
 
8. Put the gun barrel in place
 
(not glued yet, because I want to set the height of all the guns individually.)
 
9. (Also not done yet) Add black card strip over the main bar the gun sits on, so it looks like it's held in place by metal bars.
 
I tried those last few steps on one gun as shown above and it looks nice to my eye.
 
Having seen these close-ups I clearly need to go over and have another look at some of these and tidy them up a bit, but it at least gives an idea of the process I've been using.
 
Anyway - 14 guns down, and a bunch still to do, but the weather was nice this afternoon and it seemed like a good opportunity to try and get some photos of the progress so far.
 




 
I can see a whole bunch of things that need tweaking / fixing before it all gets fixed in for good, but it's nice to see that I'm at least heading in the right direction
 
Happy building everyone!
 
Rob
 

Hi all,
 
Thanks again for all the likes.
 
I finished the rudder, added the straps and spectacle plate (yes, they should be brass, but I find the brass / copper colour combination jarring, so someone painted mine) - and hung it. The straps on the hull are still to add. The straps are made out of card as the photo-etch ones are oversized.
 

 
I've continued working on the fittings for the gun deck. I made a little production line, and put together the main parts of all of the 18lb gun carriages. I'm not done with that, but I was going cross-eyed whittling all the trunnions, so I decided to deal with the guns, too.
 

I did an experiment, sanding the char back, but not trying to remove it completely... the carriages will be painted, so I'm happy with this.
 
I also purchased some casey brass black (this comes with a serious health warning!) and I've begun blackening the guns themselves. This was more involved than I expected. The method I used is as follows:
 
1. Use a brass brush in my proxxon mini drill to gently buff the cannon (this removed any surface coating)
2. Wearing gloves, wash thoroughly in fairy liquid (I started with white vinegar, but the fairy liquid seemed to work just as well, and it stinks considerably less!)
3. Transfer to clean water.
4. Remove and air dry - this was done with the gun muzzle sat on top of a brass rod so that no part of the outside of the gun was touching anything.
5. Dip into neat Casey Brass Black and keep a close watch until it looks fairly black... lift out with needle nose pliers and drop into clean water.
6. Once clean, take out, dry off and buff with kitchen towel. Any areas that had not blackened nicely were buffed with the brass brush again, and the process repeated.
 
Sometimes I didn't get a completely even finish the first time, but by the second time, the guns had turned a nice even grey. The finish is far more even than my painting efforts, and it buffs to a nice shine - the kind of finish you can imagine a gun crew being really proud of... (In the photo of the gun on it's carriage, there are a number of steps left unfinished on the carriage.) I'm thrilled with this. I need to finish blacking the guns, (I've noticed that caldercraft sell brass carronades now, so I'll look at getting some of them for the quarterdeck)... and then I need to work out a way of blacking the copper eyelets in reasonable bulk without them turning into a black clump! perhaps sticking them into a balsa block?
 
Here are my results.
 

 
Looking through the previous build logs for the Caldercraft's Diana, I was concerned that the guns provided with the ship may be a slightly odd shape with cascabels that were over-sized and a somewhat heavy muzzle... My fears were unfounded when I opened the fittings. They're things of beauty. Looking at the ones supplied before, it seems that Caldercraft have very much upped their game! Kudos!
 
Here's a pic of one of the ones I received (they're all identical) - it seems to match up very closely with the AOTS diagram.

 
And just 'cos I can, a picture of the gundeck with all it's unfinished carriages. Very pleased so far.
 

 
Happy building
 
Rob
 

Catching up on a lot of progress, some really beautiful results, well done OC!

Transfer day -  I foregot how fiddly this stage was  but I managed to fit them,    so apart from doing a little bit of light touch up,  then mounting it on a base and a final spray of rattle can matt (need to buy one of these)  its near finished.
 
OC.