Beef Wellington

It’s been a while but as you know, if you’ve been following, we spent a week in Portsmouth which was very exciting, for me anyway. I learnt so much. If you get chance it’s well worth a visit and there is so much to see at the Historic Dockyard there, where we spent 3 days looking at all the attractions. We went on the HMS Victory twice and really got a feel of what it must have been like to sail and work on her back in the day. Elsewhere at the Dockyard, I particularly liked Boathouse 4 where you can have a guided tour and see experienced and student boat builders at work building new boats and restoring old ones. They nearly roped me in as a volunteer, which I was very tempted by as full training would have been given, but I live just 270 miles too far away.
 
For anyone that’s interested in visiting take a look here
http://www.historicdockyard.co.uk/index.php
 
Anyway back to my build… I’ve been concentrating my labours on building one gun and carriage set to determine height and also the method of building the others.
I have been playing around with different ways of doing the gun tackle eyes and rings. I’ve tried with pre-blacked enamel coated copper wire and bare copper wire which was blacked afterwards and to cut a long story short (full story here), here are my findings.
 
The breaching tackle eyes/loops & rings done to scale at 1:64 & (full size) would be
* eye loops - 0.2 wire & 0.6mm hole (1/2” & 1-1/2”)
* breeching ring - 0.35 wire & 1.2mm hole (7/8” & 3”)
* breaching rope - 0.5mm (1-1/4”)
 
Here are my attempts at the Breeching rings in both black Jewellery wire and Bare Copper. The divisions are mm by the way.
Everything is almost to scale but I have made changes as shown below. I rounded the 0.35mm up to 0.4mm because that’s all I have and the 0.2mm up to 0.3mm because I found the 0.2 wire too thin and a pig to work with.

* eye loops - 0.2  0.3 wire & 0.6mm hole (1/2” & 1-1/2”)
* breeching ring - 0.35 0.4 wire & 1.2mm hole (7/8” & 3”)
* breaching rope - 0.5mm (1-1/4”)
 

 
Here is the almost finished gun and carriage set
 
Note the scribed line to simulate the two halves of the side piece (bracket)

 
Note the GR/Crown monogram super glued onto the gun

 

 
Just in case you think it’s a full size canon I’ve photographed (it could be a really MASSIVE pencil though ) 

 
Just to recap what we have here:
* Carriage is from Chuck/Syren
* Gun is 32mm from RB Models
* Eyes/loops are twisted bare copper (blacked) - 0.3 wire & 0.6mm hole
* Breeching rings are silver soldered bare copper (blacked) - 0.4 wire & 1.2mm hole
* Carriage bolts (6 vertical bracket bolts, Bed bolt and Transom bolt) blacked brass - 0.7mm
* GR/Crown monograms are etched brass parts supplied in the Fly Upgrade set (curved to match curve of gun)
 
My Blackening routine was:
1 Clean in hot soapy water with an old toothbrush and rinse in water
2 Soak in White Vinegar for 10 minutes and rinse in water
3 Soak in neat Birchwood Casey Brass Black (BCBB) for about 30 secs and rinse in water
4 Clean any CA residue patches (not blacked) with Acetone
5 Polish with paper towel
6 repeat previous steps from 3 until satisfied (3 or 4 times I found for me)
 
I didn’t get a true black finish but I’m reasonable happy with the dark grey that I got.
 
The gun tackle eyes/loops were inset into the Brackets by creating a horizontal groove across the hole with the help of this screwdriver I modified
 
 
 
 
Work still to do on this one are the Truck keys and the cap squares and bolts and then it’s only another 15 to do 
 

Forgot to say my RB guns arrived a while ago so I can now decide on which carriage and gun combination I’m going for.
 
First I built one of the Syren/Chuck carriages using a simple jig to get the slight taper of the frames correct to the axles.

 
I made some more jigs for drilling the holes for gun tackle loops and rings. I made a left and right hand as I drilled the holes by hand so they might not have been square enough to drill from the inside to outside without errors (I think that makes sense).

 
I was up for a challenge so thought I would make the quoin handles. Instead of turning the supplied matchsticks I opted for using cocktail sticks glued into a 0.7mm hole and very carefully whittled and sanded by hand once the glue was well set.


 
Here are the three sets side by side for comparison

 
Kit supplied seems a bit high

 
Two views of the RB Gun on Syren carriage (without quoin) appears spot on


 
 
I’ve discounted the kit supplied set altogether. From the other 2 sets I prefer the Syren/Chuck carriage to the Fly upgrade ones but I prefer the RB 32mm gun as it is closer to scale than the other two, as you can see here.

 
The only thing I’m not happy about the RB gun is the pivot point which is about 2mm too far back which exaggerates the following problem with the quoin fitted half way.

 
Without the quoin it looks ok

 
Viewed from above the RB gun also looks better than the Syren/Chuck one
 
RB gun on Syren/Chuck carriage

 
Syren/Chuck gun on Syren/Chuck carriage. Gun is too slim, to my eye

 
 
I’ve finally decided on the RB 32mm gun together with the Syren/Chuck carriage but I need to fix the problem of the severe downward angle with quoin fitted, which I will come too shortly.
 
First I thought I would check the assembly drawing and it appears as though Chris Watton has drawn the guns at the correct scale, according to the FFM books, but Amati have just thrown in some generic oversize ones as you can see here. My chosen combination is shown on the right, which looks spot on.

 
 
I think I can fix the problem of the severe downward angle with quoin fitted by reducing the thickness of a few parts as shown by the shading here

 
Not sure yet by how much exactly but my best guess is about 2mm in total .
 
Up next are some attempts at gun tackle eye and ring making, silver soldering and blacking which are all new skills for me to master (or not ) .
 

Tough choice between this and the barge for next build, maybe both of them...

I think a good rule of thumb is: if you have the slightest beginnings of glimmers of doubt concerning SCALE on a ship model kt supplied components?You are likely well justified in your skepticism. The challenges faced by manufacturers of supplying grating material for every scale represented by their range of products is going to make it more likely the material they provide you with was chosen for its price and availability rather than its actual scale. The One Size Fits All mentality will win out.  But I’ve found gratings on actual ships to vary in hole-size anywhere from about 6” down to 1”. Sometimes perfectly joined and other times very crudely cobbled together.

Denis - just so you know, I find myself continually coming back to look at these pictures as they really show a level of detail just not normally seen on even the most perfectly executed models.  So looking forward to being able to access somehow the complete library.
 
Given the state of 3D printing, wouldn't it be nice if one could just hit 'print'....maybe one day 

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....
 

I can’t complain too much or too loudly, since I’m the fool who chose to do this, but the upper bulwarks are finally all clear of the stock ornamental frieze, all sprues and flash have been scraped away, all unnatural depressions have been filled, and all continuations of plank lines have been scribed into the stern extensions:


 
It was incredibly tedious, but the effort will soon pay off.  Next, I decided to thicken the cap rail by a heavy 1/32”, in order to give the rails better scale.  As they are, they only scale up to about 6-7”, without including the rounded exterior moulding.  With my addition, they now scale up to around 10 or 11”, which is more appropriate for a ship this size.  Remember that the model will be 1/2” wider down its entire length, so the extra scale, here, helps:
 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a fair amount of detailing yet to do on the exterior faces of the exposed timberheads, and I still have to complete the rail thicknessing on the aft bulwarks.  Little by little, though, it is getting there.
 

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.
 

 

 

 

Thanks everyone for interest and kind words
 
Frolick - thanks for posting the history of that action, always very interesting to read.
 
Final comments on the stern, brief notes, and pictures thrown in just for spice:
 
The roof of the quarter galleries was really the last major hurdle to getting the 'look' of the stern as I wanted it.  This did pose a conundrum, as options abounded.  Other frigates of the period typically seemed to have the more classical fluted columns between lights and shingled 'roof' to the quarter galleries, and the contemporary models of Diana have a highly decorative roof and columns which Christian (Barbossa) has replicated so beautifully on his Diana.  In the end, just decided to follow the AOTS book and its distinctly Georgian look which I like and use some of the kit supplied mouldings.
 
The roof itself was made from some spare stock and shaped to dimensions less that that suggested by the instructions using the plans.  The kit provides some soft metal decorations, although how they are supposed to be applied is a mystery as the roof has a quite fine, but pronounced convex-concave shape.  I very carefully attacked this with a dremel and removed the thickness of the metal backing to leave the decorative elements which felt a little more in keeping with the scale.  This was less challenging that at first thought, though care is certainly required and fine tuning with a sanding stick.  The only problem was that the these did have a tendency to break, although these can be reassembled without too much difficulty in situ.
 
With the roof in place the stern seems to have acquired its (almost) final form, some decorations between the lights need to be applied still as appear on the stern, and a molding will ultimately the placed on top.  Overall, I am very happy with the way this turned out, and proved to be more challenging than I had initially thought.  I've talked at length at some faults with the dimensions and shapes of the provided PE parts but I think these can be used to provide reasonable results with some planning.  These do look much better to the human eye, the camera seems to highlight the slightest misalignment 
 

 
The sheer rail could now be placed, and fortuitously this landed almost exactly where it should lining up with the top of the quarter gallery roof.  Gaps have been left for the channels which will be positioned later.  Steps, fenders and chesstrees have also been attached after reducing slightly to the expected level of the deck.  Not much else to say so I'll leave with some pictures...
 

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....
 

upper deck

The plywood deck was installed and then planked in place. Only those parts which will remain visible got deck planks cut to length and laid in a appropriate pattern. As the outer edges will hardly be visible as well I didn't install margin planks or waterways. The deck planking continues below the previously installed inner bulwark planking.

Then I started to cut the gun ports, first those without lids where the frames were already installed.





finished deck with some guns provisionally in place


 



the captain checks preparation of the gun installation


 
               upper deck guns

To get some change I also started to rework the gun carriages and to finish the guns. The carriages were filed as flat as possible on the outsides, the front grommet removed and the protruding bolts on top filed flat. Then four holes were drilled for eyebolts, two for the tackles and two for the breech rope. A little paint was added and I think the result is an improvement over those wonderfully detailed but very strangely casted kit carriages.

The barrels got the stamp and lock details provided by the kit. An additional ring for the breech rope, formed of brass wire, was glued above the cascabel for the breech robe. A coat of black metal paint finishes the barrel.


gun out of the kit and reworked carriage




 


paint and eyebolts added - the captain approves the work


 



barrel with glued on additions


 



finished barrel

Finally finished the first planking of the lower hull.  Ended up coming out really nicely I think - I might not have to use any filler at all, except maybe around the stern area with that turn up into the counter.  I still need to clean up a bit around the stern and bow, which I'll need to do by hand, but I used a palm sander outside today to sand the planking down.  Wow, does that make life much easier!  Was so quick to sand the hull, I still remember doing the Badger by hand and it taking forever.  
 
I'm now a big convert to bow and stern filler blocks, they really help!  A big thank you to Pete who suggested using them in his build notes.  One thing I started wondering is whether even if you're doing a POB kit, whether just adding filler blocks through the full area such that you don't even have to bother with a first planking would be quicker and easier than going through the first planking, sanding, filling, etc., and then adding the second (essentially, converting it to a solid hull).  Guess it depends how easy it is for the person to do filler blocks.
 
Some pictures of where I am:



One issue that has been bothering me is the fact that the kit provided different wood for the stem/rudder versus that for the keel.  The stem/rudder I believe is walnut, and the keel might be ramin.  The color difference between the two is too striking for my liking:

 
I was originally thinking of painting the lower hull white which would have made this a non-issue, but given how far I'm pushing on this build, I think I'm going to leave the hull natural.  I don't want to chance using a stain to even the colors out, because then I would have to use stain on the planking itself which leads to more chance of something looking out of place.  So, instead, I think I'm going to buy new wood for the stem, rudder, and lower hull planking.  I dropped the hull while planking it a while back and the stem snapped right off, so I think taking it off again should be ok.  The keel is a bit of a different story because I drilled the pedestal holes into it, and it's secured into the false keel by brass rod.  So, what I'll likely do is laminate the keel with thin walnut, and then maybe try darkening the very bottom a bit to avoid any oddities (people shouldn't really be able to see the bottom of the keel though).  Going this route will also be helpful in that I think I would like to spile the full hull as a challenge to myself (for my Pegasus, I only spiled planks up to the copper plating line.
 
Jason from Crown Timberyard is back up and running and has been very helpful in answering some of my questions. He sells both a dark walnut and mahogany.  I want the upper hull to be lighter in color than the lower hull, and I found a nice lighter cherry veneer that should do nicely.  I'm leaning towards using Jason's walnut over the mahogany as I think the colors will work better together.  Mahogany looks beautiful, but as a chocolate/orange/rich brown, I don't think that using cherry for the upper hull will work well.  Walnut and cherry though seem to complement each other nicely, at least what I've seen in other build logs.  Certainly welcome to any thoughts, ideas or suggestions!
 
Next, I'm thinking of working on the gun deck - planking, hatches, etc.  A nice respite before having to go back to planking the hull.

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....
 

Denis - just so you know, I find myself continually coming back to look at these pictures as they really show a level of detail just not normally seen on even the most perfectly executed models.  So looking forward to being able to access somehow the complete library.
 
Given the state of 3D printing, wouldn't it be nice if one could just hit 'print'....maybe one day 

Hello,
 
thank you Nils and Karl for your friendly words and all others for your likes.
 
Now the rudder is mostly ready. Next task is to plank the lower counter
 

 

 

 
 

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.
 

 

I have to admit you've got a point Martin, Head-works and also Stern galleries are tricky little beasts; fortunately On Cheerful there is neither, but there is the mystery of the Square Tuck which may well  involve a spot of tooth sucking and grinding, we'll see. 
 
B.E.

Hi BE -- Over the past 6 months, I've come to prefer the headaches of planking to the tooth-grinding migraines of the head structure. 

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.
 

 

Denis - just so you know, I find myself continually coming back to look at these pictures as they really show a level of detail just not normally seen on even the most perfectly executed models.  So looking forward to being able to access somehow the complete library.
 
Given the state of 3D printing, wouldn't it be nice if one could just hit 'print'....maybe one day 

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....
 

Tough choice between this and the barge for next build, maybe both of them...

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 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....