Beef Wellington

Hi Rob, really nice progress on the planking, love the tapered sternpost - think your solution is a little more elegant   Hopefully I'll have an update soon as the bug has bitten me again, you look to be really having some fun with this kit.  All the best.

Hi folks, a few more progress pics showing the redone paintwork (hull) - still some touching up needed but it is getting there. 
 
Note the 'vermillion' ports (colour as per contract).  i have portrayed her with bucklers in place on one side, and open on the other.  The bucklers will be secured with a batten across the towing timbers once I have placed them (very soon) using a threaded rod and wing nut system.
 
The next jobs are to add all the detail to the bulwarks which will include, ring bolts for gun tackles and breeching ropes, cleats for securing lines, iron garlands for ready use shoot, lead linesman's platform etc.
 
As usual, all comments, suggestion for improvement etc are most welcomed.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Hi folks some more progress on this build.  I have now done a fair mount of the painting.  The bulwarks and cap rails are finished but the hull still needs its final coat of black - you can see where I have started final sanding etc.  The figurehead requires some touching up of the white to complete it also.
 
The following show progressively how I have been proceeding.  First I built a build cradle which is hinged at the front so that I can angle the deck appropriately under a large mill to drill the mast holes.  This cradle keeps the ship nice and steady - there are two bicycle spoked from the keel (epoxied in) that pass through the assembly and secured with nuts under the board; the door wedges are for leveling the deck laterally.

The next photo shows her masked and the priming coat applied.  the last two photos are of her in her current state.  the larger holes are for the scupper outlets; the final size is much smaller - a 9" scupper at 1:1.  The smaller holes are for the Lang Scuttles mentioned earlier in this log.

 


 
I have also attached a 3D render of what the capstan will look like.
 

cheers 
 
Pat
 
 
 
 

Very good Stergios, just catching up on your work.  I really need to get back and finish my Snake...

Really nice progress Mark, love the work on the cannons, should look really sharp when all finally assembled.  Oh, and Licorne is looking pretty good too.

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...
 

The first planking is finished.  The result is adequate as a basis for the second planking and I hope that process goes a little more smoothly.
 
I found the gun port patterns above and near the gun ports had a tendency to distort.  I used a very wet paint brush to wet the affected area, clamped a fairly stiff piece of wood strip over it and left it overnight - joy!
 

Here is the result - unfortunately I didn't think to take a 'before' shot which would have shown quite a bit of distortion.

I couldn't resist a two for the price of one shot, though unfortunately it is not very clear.
 


 

 

Here are the Syren gun carriages all but finished.  They are quite awkward to put together but the result is far better than the carriages supplied in the kit. There are 10 on the ship and I have 12 of these - the two worst will be left on the dock.  One of the quoins is shown on the left of the photo below.

 

Just a note if you use CA and the nozzles and caps become clogged with hardened glue - I now put them in a small jar of acetone after use.  They are then completely clean for the next use.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 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 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...
 

Really nice progress Mark, love the work on the cannons, should look really sharp when all finally assembled.  Oh, and Licorne is looking pretty good too.

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 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 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...
 

Really nice progress Mark, love the work on the cannons, should look really sharp when all finally assembled.  Oh, and Licorne is looking pretty good too.

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...
 

Really nice progress Mark, love the work on the cannons, should look really sharp when all finally assembled.  Oh, and Licorne is looking pretty good too.

Really nice progress Mark, love the work on the cannons, should look really sharp when all finally assembled.  Oh, and Licorne is looking pretty good too.

Been a busy week in the shipyard.   Figuring out how the heck I'm going to do the cannons and I think I'm on target.   I've looked over the details from Boudriot's The Seventy-fFur Gun Ship  (see picture) and after going "Holy cow!!! How in the h*** am I going to do that?" I took a deep breath and began analyzing things.  I think I can pull this off but there's a few bits I'm going to cheat on... like the hooks on the single block at the rear of the gun.  I'll use Dafi's etched brass hooks for those.. the 2.2mm size.  The singles I have are tiny and in scale to my eye as are the doubles on the front (they're actually maybe a tinge to large.  I've dug out the eyebolts and rings and found I can make the forward hook that's in the bulkhead from an eyebolt.  I went through assorted stock and found some of Chuck's line that will work perfectly.  My apologies, I didn't toss a dime into the parts for size but if you go back up a few posts, you can see the carriages with a dime for size.   Oh... I do have more parts than what's shown in the box as those will get me started.
 
Well, the road to hell is paved with good intentions and I've got a few good intentions.   Hopefully my sanity will stay where it is.   I'll update when I get a few guns done and installed providing my eyes aren't crossed by then.  Time to gather the yard dogs up and set up a production line.
 



 
 

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 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 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 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 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 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...