Beef Wellington

Hi Mike -- thanks for stopping by, and for the nice words.  The head is seriously challenging, and proved too many times that my skills are wanting.  I used to say that being baffled by straight lines showed that I was romantically anti-palladian, but now I know all too well that even the curvaceous line of beauty lies beyond my grasp.
 
And I confess, I do have a fondness for real turkey rather than those domestic ones we're reduced to carving up.  But my fondness for backyard wildlife exceeds my appetite.
 
And thanks to everyone who clicked the Like button!
 
Last night I cut out the two Catfall Blocks.  These have an angled notch, and a decorative tail that is also mortised around the timberhead.  FFM says this mortise should go all the way round the timberhead, but the NMM plans show the tail going only about a third around.  I was surprised I was able to cut these so quickly (there was plenty of time left to take Mrs W to dinner).  I just used the jeweller's saw to cut the notch, then opened the kerf with 180 grit sandpaper.  The decorative tail I sawed then refined a bit with some files.  And Ditto with the rear notch I was able to get away with instead of a mortise.  Here's the starboard version, dry fitted in place:
 

 
I made a fleeting effort at using some wider stock to follow the curve of the planksheer, as FFM says would be the case, but the curve on mine is so slight that I decided the effort wasn't worth it.
 
Cheers,
 
Martin
 
 
 
 

Doing my best to put the Headworks behind me, I've moved on to the Timberheads -- a small task by comparison. 
 
I first marked out the location on the planksheer for both the Fo'c'sle and the Quarterdeck by using the kit's planksheers (which have pre-cut mortises) as a template.  Then I cut some 3 dozen little Timberheads out of 1/16 inch stock, 1/8 inch wide and 1/4 in long.  These I shaped by cutting a notch 5/32 inch from the bottom, and then cutting toward that notch from 1/32 inch down from the top:
 

 

 
After cutting that wedge on all four sides, I just filed a chamfer along the top edge, and there it was.
 
The next task was to cut all the mortises for the timberheads.  Since these needed to be 1/16 inch wide, I was able to use my handy 1/16 inch chisel from Veritas. 
 
 

Of all the chisels in the set, this one is shaped as a mortise chisel -- whether to create rigidity at that tiny size or what, I don't know.  But it works brilliantly at cutting 1/16 inch mortises.  I have to say that after cutting the mortises for the Fo'c'sle on the wood mill, I worried I wouldn't be able to cut them on the quarterdeck, since I'd already installed the planksheer there.  But when it came down to it, that fabulous chisel knocked the 24 mortises out in no time -- possibly even faster and more accurately than the mill did.  Hooray for hand tools! 
 
Here are the results.  First the Fo'c'sle:
 

While I was at it, I went ahead and put in the Timberhead Bollards.  And I should mention that since this picture I have smoothed out that huge and ugly joint between the cathead supporter and the eking rail.
 
And here's the Quarterdeck:
 

You can't see it in this picture, but there is a small departure from the plans.  FFM says there is one timberhead forward of the break in the quarterdeck.  That number is supported by the kit plans.  But the NMM plans clearly show 2 at that location, so that's the number I put in.
 
These little details induce far less stress than big complex matters.  It took me only a few nights to get all the timberheads done, I'm happy, and excited to move on to a few other small details.  Another way of saying that is that I'm putting off even thinking about the stern for a while.
 
And on another front, here's the latest new borns to pass through my yard:
 

Cheers from turkey land,
 
Martin
 
 

First off, thanks everyone for the likes and comments, my apologies for not responding sooner.  I haven't been able to keep up with everyone else's builds as much as I would have liked.
 
Been tinkering with a number of items that I want to get a head start on hopefully avoid pitfalls later.  I'm leaning toward getting as much work on the hull planned out or complete before the cannons get installed and the upper deck can go on - although that will still be a while because I needed a break from gun carriages.
 
Trimming the bow height:
Way back I'd mentioned that I took the approach to build the bows up higher than I would likely need to allow for the unforeseen.  I have now shaped these to be much closer to where I think they will end up, less a little finishing.  The bulwarks at the bow appear to be parallel to the whale, just like the rails, which was used as a guide.  This was an exercise in reconciliation as of course various small (or not so small) errors have crept in along the way.  This proved not too difficult, the only hiccup was found when dry fitting the deck, to ensure that the height of the bulwark is symmetrical on both sides, some shims were added to the top of some of the forward bulkheads.  The error is unlikely to be in the kit cut bulkheads, but more likely a combination of small discrepancies in my positioning of the position of the whales, waterline etc.  You can see in shots below the discrepancy in the height of the foremost gunport, this was a result of positioning the ports to be of equal height off the deck, which was clearly not fitted as well as it should have been.  These add about .5-0.75 of height on the starboard side, but the very small 'twist that this will introduce will not be noticeable.  The sheer rail at the bow has also been added.
 

 
Headworks:
Have been doing a lot of thinking about how to approach the headworks, clearly a rather challenging area.  Frankly, the kit supplied parts are a little disappointing being rather grainy and splintery, with some questionable dimensions.  The main rail seemed to be the place to start, and after a lot of experimentation decided to build this and the false rail together rather than in separate pieces - mainly because it seems sturdier, and less challenging as the false rail is rather lengthy and thin at this scale.  The main rails were cut from 2mm castello, and a profile introduced using a scraper to simulate the various features of the genuine article.  Curved, tapering shapes have to be the hardest to get right, especially with fine details and there were many time consuming rejects which painfully got me up the learning curve until I was happy.  The AOTS side elevations were scanned and manipulated digitally to correct for the angle to get the appropriate shape.  Caution!  I think the placement of the slot for the boomkin is not shown correctly on the AOTS side profile, I adjusted this looking at contemporary models - the revised position matches closely with the kit part which does provide some comfort.
 
The false rail was cut from 0.6mm pear sheet and 2 were laminated together.  The panel section of the false rail was cut out carefully to be shaped later by beveling the edges before replacing back in place.  First photo below shows a little how these were built up, with the first successful but discarded prototype, and a main rail that failed scraping.  Second photo below shows the kit supplied part next to the one of the scratched final articles.  Ignoring the quality of the wood (and to be fair, I made no effort to clean up the supplied parts), the AOTS plans suggest a subtly different profile curve, and a thicker main rail which looks too thin on the kit part.  The head of the main rail was deliberately cut a little longer to allow final shaping once these are finally installed.
 

 
These were then positioned with the head of the main rail vertical in both head on and side elevations.  It was found that these were quite easy to keep in place using mini modeling clothes pins  (scale replicas of the actual clothes pins used in actual ship construction  ).  Posting a lot of photos because I would really appreciate comments and suggestions from those more experienced with this to help me avoid fatal errors!
 

 
Finally, to confirm the layout of the boomkin slot, a copy was copied and scaled from the AOTS diagram.  This shows the tight proximity of the boomkin and seat of ease.  The triangular gap at the rear of the grating behind the false rail screen is where I believe there should be another seat of ease.
 
Again - I'm fumbling my way through this following the excellent TFFM book, so please do not be shy to point out errors and mistakes!
 

 

In preparation for my week off, in Cape Cod, I am trying to prepare fleur-de-lis carving blanks for the frieze.   My current inability to print my GIMP drawing, to scale (or at all, really), has me improvising in ways that are somewhat successful and in other ways not.
 
I’ve been taking measurements off my flat computer screen with my Starrett rule, to determine that my fleur-de-lis for the frieze should be very nearly 3/16” x 3/16”.  Great, I think to myself - I have styrene strip that is 3/16” x 1/16” thick!
 
So, on a piece of vellum, and within these perameters, I begin to attempt drawing my fleur-de-lis.  This takes a few hours to arrive at proportions that are pleasing and approximately close to what I could achieve on the computer.
 
For reference, though, I went back to pics from a recent visit to the Met, which featured an exhibit on the court of Louis XIV.  Among the exquisite items and artifacts, on display, was this relatively small marble study, that depicts Benjamin Franklin and Louis XVI, on March 20, 1778, signing the Treaty of Alliance.  Aside from a relationship that would help (tremendously!) forge our American independence, what I was most drawn to were the perfectly rendered fleur-de-lis that adorn Louis’s cape.  Look, Ben’s going in for the Bro-shake:


This is, in actuality, a very small-scale sculpture of this event in Amero/Franco history, but the carving of the marble is remarkable in its detail and consistency.  Here, it seemed to me, was a perfect example of everything a fleur-de-lis should be.
 
With that settled and the first flower drawn, I next folded the vellum over that first drawing, and made a series of tracings, all in a row - 8 in all.  My objective, ultimately, is to make carving blanks from the five best tracings.
 
Reasonably satisfied, and reasoning as always, that I can correct shaping discrepancies with the tools, I pasted a photocopy of my drawing to a strip of styrene.  I wanted to preserve the original drawing for the several other sizes of fleur-de-lis that I will need elsewhere on the ship.
 
Here is a photo montage of my mixed results and several epiphanies along the way:
 

These look decent.  Workable.  After filing a few to profile, though, I discovered that they did not fit neatly within the sheer strakes at the fo’csle and quarter deck levels, as I had previously drawn.
 

Keeping them, at this size, would necessitate letting them into the sheer strakes at these most narrow points.  While this was an acceptable accomodation to me for the upper arches of the domed port enhancements, along the main deck level, I feel that this will not look passably ok with an ornament that would, naturally, be scaled to fit the available space.
 
The middle fronds of the fleurs are small enough as it is.  So, I decided to chop the points from the top and bottom of the flower until they, at least, fit within the sheer strakes.

Above is a good comparison of the difference in proportion, from where I started to where I need to be.  They should, in fact, be even a little smaller!  But, here are two revised flowers, side by side:

My experience, thus far with this casting process, is that I inevitably end up with ornaments that are larger or smaller, depending upon a number of variables related to the process of removing the ground and defining the perimeter.  There will be plenty of extras to choose from, that will fill these more narrow spaces without seeming too large, relative to the frieze lattice.  Whatever other differences, in size throughout the frieze, should contribute (hopefully, in a good way) to the handmade quality of the model.
 
I can’t wait for vacation!! 🌞🌊🏊🏻‍♂️⚓️
 

Hi folks, another update; not much but some progress.  I am being slowed b research at the moment.
 
The steering platform is now complete and fitted over an inverted 'A' Frame  - the rapson slide (not shown) slides across under the platform between the legs of the frame at the position of the cable drum.  

  
The steering compass cabinet is complete but just dry fitted.  The compass cover (pewter aftermarket part cut from its pedestal) is also only dry fitted.  If we use this it will be painted brass.  We are trying to make this by 'spinning' on a lathe to get the base form.
 
The hammock platform around the funnel has now been completed.  This is only 11mm high to give some idea of size so this is a 'close-up' which shows all the 'detail' not visible to the naked eye   As best as I can determine, there was only an outer rail.  the hammocks are stacked vertically and I assumed some are lashed to the rails for stability?  An inner ring would not work due to space and access issues.   When the original photo is zoomed right in, the stanchions and 4 rails are very clear.  I have used black cotton in-lieu of wire for the rails as, at this scale it was impossible to keep the shape of the 0.4mm wire without deformation as I bent it around and through the stanchion holes.  The stanchions are after-market.
      
The companion has also been fitted in place.
 
I have also made a steam whistle (a little early for a steam horn which did not appear for another decade or so (as best I can determine).  This was made from a tube with a rounded solid upper plug, and a bit of rod rounded and shaped to accept the actuator handle at one end - this was drilled through to accept the whistle and is intended to represent the steam cock valve.  The spigot at the base is a locating pin. The photo of the whistle itself shows the item before cleaning and some polishing - this will be left brass.  The ruler in the photo is in mm.
 

cheers
 
Pat
 

Another small update:
I have progressed the wheel and standard a little further having painted the brass wheel.  The paint to the eye looks smooth but it is very uneven when photographer so close up (noting the rim is only 1mm wide, and the wheel 14mm tip to tip).  The paint is burnt sienna acrylic with a glaze made from varnish and wood stain.  It looks pretty close to the wod used in the standard.
 
One of the photos also shows all the parts ready to be assembled; including some decals I made.  The decals were a dismal failure though as against the brown they just don't show up.  I think I will have to paint the brass plates onto the rim of the wheel after all   With my shaky hands they won't look too flash!  Work in progress so to speak.  I am not sure yet whether to try and further smooth the paint on the wheel; as i said - to the eye it looks OK. 
 
  
 
In the meantime the main companion has been completed; including the ironwork supporting the crutch for the main boom. I have included a close up extract from the quarterdeck photo as a comparison for what we have made.  The legs supporting the crutch look a little oversize but these are less than 1mm diameter so near impossible for my fat hands to get smaller unfortunately - again the close-up photography makes it look rougher than it looks to the eye (the ironwork).
 
  

 
 
cheers
 
Pat

Deck vents, so many deck vents

First off, thanks everyone for the likes and comments, my apologies for not responding sooner.  I haven't been able to keep up with everyone else's builds as much as I would have liked.
 
Been tinkering with a number of items that I want to get a head start on hopefully avoid pitfalls later.  I'm leaning toward getting as much work on the hull planned out or complete before the cannons get installed and the upper deck can go on - although that will still be a while because I needed a break from gun carriages.
 
Trimming the bow height:
Way back I'd mentioned that I took the approach to build the bows up higher than I would likely need to allow for the unforeseen.  I have now shaped these to be much closer to where I think they will end up, less a little finishing.  The bulwarks at the bow appear to be parallel to the whale, just like the rails, which was used as a guide.  This was an exercise in reconciliation as of course various small (or not so small) errors have crept in along the way.  This proved not too difficult, the only hiccup was found when dry fitting the deck, to ensure that the height of the bulwark is symmetrical on both sides, some shims were added to the top of some of the forward bulkheads.  The error is unlikely to be in the kit cut bulkheads, but more likely a combination of small discrepancies in my positioning of the position of the whales, waterline etc.  You can see in shots below the discrepancy in the height of the foremost gunport, this was a result of positioning the ports to be of equal height off the deck, which was clearly not fitted as well as it should have been.  These add about .5-0.75 of height on the starboard side, but the very small 'twist that this will introduce will not be noticeable.  The sheer rail at the bow has also been added.
 

 
Headworks:
Have been doing a lot of thinking about how to approach the headworks, clearly a rather challenging area.  Frankly, the kit supplied parts are a little disappointing being rather grainy and splintery, with some questionable dimensions.  The main rail seemed to be the place to start, and after a lot of experimentation decided to build this and the false rail together rather than in separate pieces - mainly because it seems sturdier, and less challenging as the false rail is rather lengthy and thin at this scale.  The main rails were cut from 2mm castello, and a profile introduced using a scraper to simulate the various features of the genuine article.  Curved, tapering shapes have to be the hardest to get right, especially with fine details and there were many time consuming rejects which painfully got me up the learning curve until I was happy.  The AOTS side elevations were scanned and manipulated digitally to correct for the angle to get the appropriate shape.  Caution!  I think the placement of the slot for the boomkin is not shown correctly on the AOTS side profile, I adjusted this looking at contemporary models - the revised position matches closely with the kit part which does provide some comfort.
 
The false rail was cut from 0.6mm pear sheet and 2 were laminated together.  The panel section of the false rail was cut out carefully to be shaped later by beveling the edges before replacing back in place.  First photo below shows a little how these were built up, with the first successful but discarded prototype, and a main rail that failed scraping.  Second photo below shows the kit supplied part next to the one of the scratched final articles.  Ignoring the quality of the wood (and to be fair, I made no effort to clean up the supplied parts), the AOTS plans suggest a subtly different profile curve, and a thicker main rail which looks too thin on the kit part.  The head of the main rail was deliberately cut a little longer to allow final shaping once these are finally installed.
 

 
These were then positioned with the head of the main rail vertical in both head on and side elevations.  It was found that these were quite easy to keep in place using mini modeling clothes pins  (scale replicas of the actual clothes pins used in actual ship construction  ).  Posting a lot of photos because I would really appreciate comments and suggestions from those more experienced with this to help me avoid fatal errors!
 

 
Finally, to confirm the layout of the boomkin slot, a copy was copied and scaled from the AOTS diagram.  This shows the tight proximity of the boomkin and seat of ease.  The triangular gap at the rear of the grating behind the false rail screen is where I believe there should be another seat of ease.
 
Again - I'm fumbling my way through this following the excellent TFFM book, so please do not be shy to point out errors and mistakes!
 

 

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 😊

hull details, coppering
 
 
After installing some hull decoration strips I marked the waterline and put a1x1mm strip on it. It was then painted  dull black. To give it a more realistic finish I mixed in some white.
 
(In a book, written by a professional model railroad landscape builder he explains about colour scale. By that he means that if you look at a model in scale 1/100 from a distance of 50cm it should look the same as the prototype from a distance of 50m. And from that distance colours look less bright because of the air absorbing some of the intensity. He says that's the reason that models tend to look like toys if you use original colours. He recommends to always mix in a bit of white or grey and to avoid shiny colours. I think it works.)
 
Below the waterline strip I painted a copper strip to cover eventual irregularities at the edge of the coppering.
 
As on previous builds I broke of single copper plates and glued them on individually and overlapping, starting at the stern and the keel.
After putting on the first leaf of copper plates, I had the happy idea to check how many there are. 2400.
 
2400!
 
I just hope the skin on my fingertips will endure that as I have to peel off dried CA glue (and some skin) after each coppering session.
 
To have some variety I do small projects in between, such as adding outer hull details or more shot garlands - seems I can't stop making them, now I know how.
 
 

 
waterline marked and coppering started
 
 

 
waterline
 
 

 
 
coppering details
 
 

 
 
additional shot garlands

This setup right here is paying dividends!  I set them up like this then use a blow dryer... 4 minutes later you have a laterally bent plank.  this needs to be known by all.  This is Chuck's method... Thank you man!

The three last planks I put on were laterally bent.  They went on without the slightest of issue and I hope it continues this way.  The stern needs some work

I took a break in the planking to work on the Carronades to see if they could be turned into something acceptable.  They seem ok but I wont really know until I paint them.  It took 30-40 minutes per gun to get them to this stage so about 10 hours total.  I would have liked to buy the Caldercraft 32-pounders but it would end up being over $200. 
 

Hi Dave and thank you so much for your time to provide us such useful info!!
All the best.
 
Stergios

The lining of the chase ports and cabin lights are now installed.  There is touching up to do, and when that is complete they will scrub up pretty well.  The chase ports were reasonably straightforward.  The cabin lights less so.  The problem is that there is very little material onto which the linings are to be stuck.  My solution was to glue pieces of timber to support the upper and lower linings.  While awkward, it worked fairly well.  Here are results so far.
 
The chase ports:
 

 


The cabin lights and the supports for the linings:
 


 
 
 

The semi-finished articles:

 

 
 
 

The sheer rails are now on.  The 10x1mm timber supplied was very reluctant to bend in two dimensions.  It was glued in two stages: first around the curved bow (taking eight clamps to properly seat them), then once the glue was properly dry, the remainder towards the stern.  The latter required the timber to be bent downwards quite considerably.  If there is a lesson in all of this it is the need for lots of clamps.
 

 


Here is one of the Syren guns. It needs to be touched up and eventually rigged.
 

 

The third coat of paint and two coats of polyurethane have been applied and it has certainly improved the finish.  The eyelets for the guns' rigging have been installed and once the rigging is done, the foredeck  may be made up.  There first photo shows the eyelets and the second, an idea of how the guns will look.
 

 

But wait! There’s more! 
 
The upper per bridge area has a lot of detail and it took a while to get my head around what was required. 
 
I cut cut off all the binoculars and range finder pedestals and replaced them all with North Star  as the Pontos stuff really made no sense and the instructions just gave part numbers. 
 
The high altitude range finders were all replaced with North Star as well, and I added 6 signal lamps. 
 
I just have to add the coat the coat of arms then park it until it’s stuck onto the ship and it will get the final rigging 

She is ooking really smart mate, nice sharp pe work.
 
OC.

The two main superstructures have been glued to the deck. There are 4 secondary gun platforms that required 2 day’s work to add stanchions then rigging the 3 bar railings. 
 
Throw on some ladders and a few more carley floats and done. 

Hey everyone,
Thanks for the positive comments. My current distraction is a little more demanding of my attention (and rightly so). Her name is Freyja, she’s four months old, and she doesn’t really allow me to turn my back for a second. 
 
Andy 

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.

Fore funnel done. The funnel grills are a stressful exercise but they really transform it from a toy to a model. I need to add a few more ladders but not until I know how the masts sit.

Really superb work. Thanks for sharing.
 
Question. How do you get such a neat, smooth finish on your painted areas? Are you using an airbrush?
 
Thanks,
 
Tim

Top drawer

Great work Jason, very very nice.