Beef Wellington

Always admire the finish you have achieved  Jason, and your figure looks spot on.
Love the graceful curve of the rails; that head on shot is particularly impressive.
Very nice work indeed. 🙂
 
B.E.

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.

Yeah, Those gun's... they basically look real.  Prodigious fine work all of it.

Fantastic work as always, Jason...

lovely work, i have found shapeways quite strange in their pricing, but ideal for something that is better than a kit product, i was after their Seaslug launcher, but managed to obtain from a another source here in the UK,
 
PS the build looks fantastic 

A very methodical and practical approach that will serve you well Jason; looks very good.
 
cheers
 
Pat

So  nice  like watching a piece of art develop.
 
OC.

Beautiful work, Jason!

Post 31
That Treenailing business
Can't put this off any longer.
I am following Chuck's method of using drilled holes and filler to replicate the Treenails.
I am using a 0.45mm ø drill, a lightweight wood filler, coloured to a pale beige, a fine awl to clean the holes, and a 9H graphic pencil.
I am also finding that I need tape on my thumb and forefinger to ease the pressure of the repetitive drilling using the pin vise.

1502
I started by creating the treenails for the butt joints on the hull, followed by the intermediate ones above the wale.

1501

1506
The pattern I took from the plans using dividers to mark the spacing.
With the topsides completed I applied a coat of wipe-on- poly.

1509

1492

1499

1494
The wale had received some scuffing, so at this point I have also re-coated it.

1498

1491
Losing the will to live with the prospect of the rest of the hull to do; time for reflection on the effect thus far on the first section.
Are the treenails too prominent/ dark/ over fussy?
I think I can live with them but I need to do a little more sanding on the lower hull and a little time to gear myself up to start this next phase.
 
B.E.
 
12/08/2018
 

Cheers Seventynet and Martin, your encouragement is much appreciated. 🙂
 
Post 32
Mark, drill, awl, mark again, fill, and scrape.
The monotony begins.

1538
To help guide me I used a length of  flexible 7mm  x 0.6mm strip to mark the  presumed frame lines for the treenails down the hull.

1541
Five strakes per day is as much as my patience will tolerate.
This equates to around 450 treenails.

1552
I'm reasonably satisfied that the completed  strakes are sufficiently muted.
Two strakes show the holes drilled and blackened ready for filling.
There are in excess of 1900 holes to drill each side below the wale which means a total of around eight days to complete the job at current rate of progress.
Feels like a lifetime, but until this is done I cannot move forward.🙄
 
Onwards...…..
 
B.E.
14/08/2018
 
 

Post 33
Treenail completion
So after nearly three weeks the hull treenailing is completed, having drilled several thousand holes and got thro' twelve 0.45mm drill bits.

1811
I still think on balance the drill and fill method is the least hard on the fingers and gives a result I am happy with.

1814
It doesn't look too spotty, to my eye at least.

1810
The next suggested stage is to add the  topside mouldings, but I am going to digress and first  move onto the inboard bulwarks.
I intend to plank inboard between the bulkheads and use this a guide to then thin them down to suit.
 
B.E.
19/08/2018
 
 

Post 34
A spot of wiping and a bit of scribing.
I had intended to start  lining the bulwarks today but  CMB have sent me 1.5 x 1.0mm strip rather than 5mm stuff I ordered, so while I wait for the correct stuff to arrive I turn my attention to scribing a pattern into the moulding strips.
Before I start  I gave the hull  the wipe-on-poly treatment to protect the surface.

1829

1830
It surely does enhance the look and I am now starting to feel a little better about the hull finish.
 
So onto the moulding strips.
Looks simple enough to cut a pattern into a bit of thin metal and draw it across the strip to impart the design.
Well maybe...
I am using Boxwood strip 3/64"x 1/16" (1.19 x 1.59mm)
The first problem is the pattern is incredibly small and has to be contained within only 1.59mm width.

1838
I chose to use a  single edged safety razor blade as the medium, and the fine edge of a needle file to cut the simple pattern.
At this size a simple groove along the centre of the strip is about the most I can achieve, and the secret is to use light passes along the strip; press too hard and the groove goes off line.
The lower strip has a continuous run from aft of the first port to the stern and is ideally scribed in a single run.

1845
To avoid flexing during the process I used double sided tape to secure the strip and keep it true.

1844
The system seems to work.

1852

1854
So this is the look with the strip temporarily secured to the hull.
I think I can live with that. 🙂
 
Cheers,
 
B.E. 21/08/2018
 

Thanks all for the nice words, likes and continued interest.  Know its been a while, seems as if I hit some sort of 'modelers wall'.  Before I can really continue with the topsides, I needed to turn my attention to mounting the rudder.  This is something I've been putting off for quite a while, and proved to be a very frustrating experience.  I had initially delayed doing this to allow the copper to oxidize as much as possible just in case of any errant CA glue and prevent shiny spots.
 
The kit provides PE rudder and pintle straps, but for some reason I couldn't get comfortable with them.  On Snake, the staps come with holes and pins were inserted, but this was something that in retrospect look a little too clunky and out of scale.  Looking at pictures of period ships, the bolts/nails are quite a subtle feature similar to treenails in visibility.  I experimented with card and styrene strip  to make these from scratch, but in the end decided to go with the supplied PE parts.  I forgot to take a picture, but instead of premade holes, these have rather large circular indentations in them, I'm guessing to simulate the bolts.  To my eye they looked to far apart, and the holes too big.  I made a slight alteration to increase the number of bolts/nail heads by drilling additional indentations to simulate what was already there.  The rudder straps also needed to be shortened quite considerably to eliminate overhang at the rear of the rudder.  These were painted with "Admiralty copper" paint after experimenting with other similar Tamiya colours.
 
The main challenge I found was to attach these without marring the copper plates, and this proved to be quite the challenge as at first the CA glue wouldn't provide a good bond and needed to be reapplied.  Scratching the hull plates and inside surface of the PE seemed to get things strong enough. The rudder proved quite the challenge to mount as this had been made with a low (for me) level of tolerance following the AOTS plans which is documented earlier in the log.
 
Interestingly, the box artwork shows a spectacle plate, but there is nothing in the kit nor instructions.  This was simulated using painted card and eyebolts, but interestingly there is very little room for this, however this seems consistent with AOTS diagrams.  The ironwork on the lower counter ports used some PE parts from the "Badger" set which I had bought a number of years ago.  These looked a little more in keeping scale wise than what is provide in this kit.  I may add ring bolts and rings to these, but will likely not rig with line as I'm concerned this may be a visual distraction - personal preference of course.  Next up will be to attach the rudder chains which, nicely, are provided in the kit.
 

 

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!
 

 

Really nice Carl, missed the home stretch but awesome result!

Really nice Carl, missed the home stretch but awesome result!

Really nice Carl, missed the home stretch but awesome result!

Really nice Carl, missed the home stretch but awesome result!

Thanks for kind words everyone, welcome back Nigel, and welcome Ian and channel.
 
Mini update on a few things, think pictures are most useful.  I saw reference to a 3D printing service somewhere else on this site (Shapeways.com) and specifically one of the 'shops' on that site Model Monkey, so wanted to give it a try.  They offer a few items in 1:64 directly taken from the AOTS Diana book and offered to 3D print.  You could browse for hours through all the items offered, but here is the most helpful link for 1:64 scale offerings, these can also be made in a variety of scales. (https://www.shapeways.com/shops/model_monkey?section=1%2F64+Scale&s=0)
 
Intrigued I ordered a few items, stove and upper and lower capstans.  Out of the packet, these are translucent and it recommended to soak these, brush gently with soapy water to remove oil residue and then expose to sunlight to chemically harden - I did 2 days.  I ordered the 'Frosted Extreme Detail' which is slightly more expensive but apparently a more true print.  With an initial coat of Tamiya arcrylic grey primer the surface texture is easier to see, and the layered structure is quite visible.  I set to work on the stove and sprayed again with a matt black undercoat before finishing with the Tamiya Dark Iron.  After a number of coats, the surface texture is less apparent and really only then in lighting scenarios from above that are unlikely in the finished model.  I was reluctant to try any sort of 'sanding' as the material seems quite soft.  
 

 
With a little bit of extra work on the stove base (evergreen sheet) I think the result compares favourably to the kit supplied parts.  Overall, the proportions look more accurate (as one would expect), and the front and rear of the stove much better represent the prototype features.  I could easily see that someone could to get a better finish and detail some more but I'm leaving as is, at least for now considering what will be visible in the finished model.  The other benefit is that this barely weighs anything, the white metal stove parts provided are really quite heavy and would need to be well secured.
 
Considering the finish, I'm leaning toward using the printed lower capstan as this will only be partially visible, and provides a reasonably detailed proxy with minimal work.   This will save some time to focus on other much more visible aspects of the build and I'm Ok with 'cheating' on this item.  The upper capstan I'm less sure about, and will likely construct my own as I don't think the finish is up to close scrutiny.
 
The bottom picture highlights this for direct comparison.  The matte black undercoat on the lower capstan shoes direct comparison the "dark iron" and the way that this colour compliments nicely in my view chemically blackened metal (barrel appears overly shiny!).
 


 
Luckily I did not need to rebuild the aft bitts as the stove fit perfectly - lucky that I'd used the estimated AOTS dimensions when these were built.
 

 
In other news...work on the cannons continues slowly: these are all near the point for further detailing and hardware as structural elements are complete.  Each has been allocated its specific location and in some case the bottom of the trucks reduce slightly to ensure good seating on the deck.  Quoins were individually placed to help ensure all barrels form a smooth line when viewed from the exterior.
 

 

Thanks Mike, Al, Dirk, Thomas Pat, Joe and all the likes for kind words and continued interest.   It feels like its been so long since I provided an update that I'm going to do just that, even though I don't think I've really reached a "point of completion" worthy of note, it will serve to document a few things before I forget.
 
Ladders:
How to approach these?  Having known for some time I wouldn't be happy with the kit supplied items I've been pondering how to get a half decent result without the table saw that I aspire to one day!  In the end, a simple jig made up some 2mm thick strip with one face carefully angled using a Proxxon disk sander proved to do the job well enough.  Once the treads were cut to the same length, simply slotting into the jig, placing glue on the ends and placing the stringers proved simple enough.  Removing from the jig after a couple if minutes before the glue cures fully makes for much easier (lower stress) removal.  The central stringer on the wider ladder was simulated with individual 1x2mm pieces.  The sharper eyed among you will notice a notch cut in the back of the wider one, more on that in a moment...
 

 
Everything is just dry fitted, but pretty pleased with how these look in place.  (Side-note:  I did go a little crazy and placed a grating on the false lower deck as shown on the plans.  This proved to actually be quite visible, more so in person than shows up in the photos and adds a little additional depth).
 

 
For the main hatch, I ran into a little dilemma.  In previous posts you can see how I had simulated the cross beam from the plans, this did cause a problem though when it came to figuring out how the ladder fits here.  First attempt below was of a shorter stringer with one less tread, but although this terminates at the height of the beam, it just didn't seem right as it would be a real stretch for Captain Stirling to hoist his leg up reasonably.  I also built a longer version with one additional riser, this seems more appropriate, but requires the aforementioned notch to be cut into the back of the stringer to fit around the beam.  Despite hiding a feature I had quite proudly included, it does look better to my eye and certainly more practical - I can only speculate that this is the solution used on the real ship.
 
Rejected first solution:

 
Dockyard approved solution:

 
Cole Pumps:
Another very dominant feature that will be visible are the Cole chain pumps.  The kit provides 3 pieces to build up into the cistern and the domed cover, but these would require painting.  I wanted to try and improve on these, and possible explore keeping these a natural finish.  After struggling to reconcile the dimensions in the AOTS book, I gave up because none of the scale diagrams agree to each other.  In the end, I used the guidance in TFFM to approximate dimensions and adjusted to account for the wider width of the partners, and ensure that the height of the top of the cistern is a scale 3' 7" off the deck as TFFM specifies - this makes total sense as this would likely land mid chest for most people which would be an optimal height to operate most efficiently.  The covers are still a work in progress as I will cover in castello planking.  These are still in process, but overall, these took quite a while to figure out and proved to be very fiddly, but they are a heck of lot of fun to do!
 
The mainmast partners have also been simulated using a simplified structure as this will be almost completely obscured when all the various pumps and cross pieces are finally in place.
 

 
Paint choice for metal:
Think I've decided on the colour to use for metal items, Tamiya Dark Iron XF-84.  The photos of course don't show the subtlety visible to the eye, being a definite browny black, but this colour is very very similar to blackend brass.  I've been reluctant to paint the beautiful RB barrels and the fact that this colour blends in so well means that I think I can now feel sure to keep these as is but know that non-metal items can be made to trick the eye.  I built the stove provided in the kit up to prove this out and is a pleasant contrast to the Admiralty 'matte metal black ' used on the coamings and other wales.  BTW - despite assembling this, I'm pretty sure I will be trying to scratch build my own stove....just because....
 

Thanks all for the nice words, likes and continued interest.  Know its been a while, seems as if I hit some sort of 'modelers wall'.  Before I can really continue with the topsides, I needed to turn my attention to mounting the rudder.  This is something I've been putting off for quite a while, and proved to be a very frustrating experience.  I had initially delayed doing this to allow the copper to oxidize as much as possible just in case of any errant CA glue and prevent shiny spots.
 
The kit provides PE rudder and pintle straps, but for some reason I couldn't get comfortable with them.  On Snake, the staps come with holes and pins were inserted, but this was something that in retrospect look a little too clunky and out of scale.  Looking at pictures of period ships, the bolts/nails are quite a subtle feature similar to treenails in visibility.  I experimented with card and styrene strip  to make these from scratch, but in the end decided to go with the supplied PE parts.  I forgot to take a picture, but instead of premade holes, these have rather large circular indentations in them, I'm guessing to simulate the bolts.  To my eye they looked to far apart, and the holes too big.  I made a slight alteration to increase the number of bolts/nail heads by drilling additional indentations to simulate what was already there.  The rudder straps also needed to be shortened quite considerably to eliminate overhang at the rear of the rudder.  These were painted with "Admiralty copper" paint after experimenting with other similar Tamiya colours.
 
The main challenge I found was to attach these without marring the copper plates, and this proved to be quite the challenge as at first the CA glue wouldn't provide a good bond and needed to be reapplied.  Scratching the hull plates and inside surface of the PE seemed to get things strong enough. The rudder proved quite the challenge to mount as this had been made with a low (for me) level of tolerance following the AOTS plans which is documented earlier in the log.
 
Interestingly, the box artwork shows a spectacle plate, but there is nothing in the kit nor instructions.  This was simulated using painted card and eyebolts, but interestingly there is very little room for this, however this seems consistent with AOTS diagrams.  The ironwork on the lower counter ports used some PE parts from the "Badger" set which I had bought a number of years ago.  These looked a little more in keeping scale wise than what is provide in this kit.  I may add ring bolts and rings to these, but will likely not rig with line as I'm concerned this may be a visual distraction - personal preference of course.  Next up will be to attach the rudder chains which, nicely, are provided in the kit.
 

 

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!
 

 

Thanks for kind words everyone, welcome back Nigel, and welcome Ian and channel.
 
Mini update on a few things, think pictures are most useful.  I saw reference to a 3D printing service somewhere else on this site (Shapeways.com) and specifically one of the 'shops' on that site Model Monkey, so wanted to give it a try.  They offer a few items in 1:64 directly taken from the AOTS Diana book and offered to 3D print.  You could browse for hours through all the items offered, but here is the most helpful link for 1:64 scale offerings, these can also be made in a variety of scales. (https://www.shapeways.com/shops/model_monkey?section=1%2F64+Scale&s=0)
 
Intrigued I ordered a few items, stove and upper and lower capstans.  Out of the packet, these are translucent and it recommended to soak these, brush gently with soapy water to remove oil residue and then expose to sunlight to chemically harden - I did 2 days.  I ordered the 'Frosted Extreme Detail' which is slightly more expensive but apparently a more true print.  With an initial coat of Tamiya arcrylic grey primer the surface texture is easier to see, and the layered structure is quite visible.  I set to work on the stove and sprayed again with a matt black undercoat before finishing with the Tamiya Dark Iron.  After a number of coats, the surface texture is less apparent and really only then in lighting scenarios from above that are unlikely in the finished model.  I was reluctant to try any sort of 'sanding' as the material seems quite soft.  
 

 
With a little bit of extra work on the stove base (evergreen sheet) I think the result compares favourably to the kit supplied parts.  Overall, the proportions look more accurate (as one would expect), and the front and rear of the stove much better represent the prototype features.  I could easily see that someone could to get a better finish and detail some more but I'm leaving as is, at least for now considering what will be visible in the finished model.  The other benefit is that this barely weighs anything, the white metal stove parts provided are really quite heavy and would need to be well secured.
 
Considering the finish, I'm leaning toward using the printed lower capstan as this will only be partially visible, and provides a reasonably detailed proxy with minimal work.   This will save some time to focus on other much more visible aspects of the build and I'm Ok with 'cheating' on this item.  The upper capstan I'm less sure about, and will likely construct my own as I don't think the finish is up to close scrutiny.
 
The bottom picture highlights this for direct comparison.  The matte black undercoat on the lower capstan shoes direct comparison the "dark iron" and the way that this colour compliments nicely in my view chemically blackened metal (barrel appears overly shiny!).
 


 
Luckily I did not need to rebuild the aft bitts as the stove fit perfectly - lucky that I'd used the estimated AOTS dimensions when these were built.
 

 
In other news...work on the cannons continues slowly: these are all near the point for further detailing and hardware as structural elements are complete.  Each has been allocated its specific location and in some case the bottom of the trucks reduce slightly to ensure good seating on the deck.  Quoins were individually placed to help ensure all barrels form a smooth line when viewed from the exterior.
 

 

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!