Beef Wellington

Looking good, Mark. However, is it the angle of the bow photo, or does the wale appear to widen at the bow?

After exploring how to shape with machines the hooked scarphs for the wales, I have determined that the geometry changes for each piece, and that it would be more effective to cut them by hand. I then recalled Gary (garyshipwright) installing wales for his beautiful model of HMS Alfred. (I have tried to attach a link to his site, but it appears to go to the end rather than to the relevant pages. It is somewhere around page 4).
 
Gary temporarily attached a batten above the wale, to which he clamped the upper strakes  for a fair run. Subsequent lower strakes were clamped to the upper strake. It seems like a good idea, and I will try it. I also see that Gary laid up the wales in two layers, practicing on the first layer. I will see how well I can cut and bend 8 ½" thick pieces before deciding if I will do this in two layers as well. Getting in some practice on these complex pieces makes it feel less daunting...
 
Gary, I haven't seen a post from you for a while, hope you see this!
 
I tried string on the port side for fairing and decided that the tape gave me something to draw against. Now that I am determined to cut each piece to fit, I will want to draw the individual parts on the model sides to know where I am going. The tape also helped me visualize whether the two sides are the same.
 
Mark
 
 
 

Soooooo some more progress: port side done!
 

The lids are attached firmly and provide some extra protection for the cannons. The lanyards might be a bit overscale but I'm going to leave it as it is. I'm happy with the results!
 

Love what you've achieved with the masts, cleats and tops, should all look stunning all in place.  The deadeye plates do look convincing, nicely done.

I spent a good deal of time trying to decide what to do for my next project. The choices ranged through scratch builds and modified kits, cross sections and full ships, and even some thought about doing a plastic or resin warship. In the end, I quickly rejected the modern ships because I just don't think that at my age (76) with arthritic hands and diminishing eyesight, I could do justice to anything in those very small scales.
 
A framed scratch build had strong appeal, but ,as I've explained in other logs, after doing the Triton cross section, I concluded that without power tools (I have nothing but a Dremel) a full framed model was just more than I wished to take on. That left the possibility of another cross section. I was drawn to the Admiralty Models Echo project and the Granado cross section project. The Granado held particular appeal, both because of it's unique subject and the wonderful models that had been turned out by Rusty, Grant and Mobbsie. I was almost set to do this when I realized, while doing the Cheerful rigging, just how much I enjoy rigging and would miss doing it on a cross section.
 
All of that led me to look at the build logs and great models of Granado done by Joe V. and Timmo. I was really impressed at what could be done with the kit with some modifications. Thus, the choice was made.
 
I now have the kit and the AOTS Granado book and I'm trying to figure out just what I'm going to do. I've not done a Caldercraft kit before or any kit with the ply gunport strips. Nor have I done any model with double planking in many years. Some things are clear: I will replace the kit wood with boxwood for the second upper hull planking and holly for the deck planking, as I've done on my recent builds. I'm still undecided as to what to do for the second lower hull planking. I'm inclined to use holly as I did on Fair American, rather than painting some other wood white, but this would also involve replacing the kit's stem, keel and sternpost parts with scratch built holly parts at the outset of the build. A quick decision is in order.
 
I'm looking forward to getting started, and hope that you'll follow along with me.
 
Bob

Thank you guys, the answer to the jdbondy question: See the picture in my post dated 4 August. There is an aid tool which I use to make networks. After thread stretching is important thoroughly to overlap the netting with diluted PVA glue. After drying is possible to cut the netting into the required shape.
Work is now slower, thanks to my own stupidity, I often have to make some parts agani and again. Some pictures from lower mast production for today.

To Ilhan: Parts of hammock cranec are made from different messing tubes and profiles. Individual parts are then soldered together with silver soldering paste.
Installation of hammock nettings and swivel guns - the last part of the hull at this moment. Now I am going making the masts, tops, yards etc.

Finally finished the step. 
Small tip in between: If all sides are stabilised with CA, one can cut 0,25 slices with the resin saw from a wooden 4 mm batten :-)

What that for? For the sheaves in the mast :-)
And that brings us back on the track. Foretop and fore topmast done.




And here compared with the "original"


Especially the wrong angle is corrected :-)


And the new detailing. The cheat in the heel is corrected, sheaves and a decent lock are fitted and the cap is made smaller, as it was the same size as the main cap.


XXXDAn
 

Another small update; the funnel and steam waste pipe are coming along. the spider bands for hold-down/support chains and bands to imitate the collapsing section still to be added.  The funnel is being made by the same guy who made the screw - a bit of a wiz at metal!

cheers
 
Pat

Fitting out
With the spars completed the iron work for the Bowsprit is put into place.

4292
A little bit of fiddling to get the position right and give the Bowsprit a slight downward tilt. A shallow notch was cut into the first Thwart to assist a secure fix.

4274

4284

2377

4286

2418

2402

2413

2410

2371
Now back to the exterior to fabricate the deadeye chainplates.
 
B.E.
 

Hi Guys!
 
So it has been a while since I've posted here.
 
I made some progress.
 
I did some weathering, added the transome, refitted the lanyards for hthe gunport lids, added the lids and some more
 
One question, what do you guys think of the lanyard attachment to the lid? Does it look ok? Any tips? 

It's been a while again but I look at it as I have a permanent Dr.'s note!
Progress on the tops. Made the rails. Began tapering/shaping the top masts. This is how I mark pieces that are eight sided like these are in places. Shows me exactly where the edges need to be. I started out scraping them with a razor blade. Just getting this far causes me to have excruciating pain throughout my body especially in my back and shoulders. I intended to keep going a bit longer but our cat Izzy decided she wasn't going to let me. She got right on my lap and would not stay down and out my way so we retired to my chair for the evening.
 
More to come soon,
Jesse
 

hi david,
 
i used a 1mm drill bit. made lots of holes and then used mini files to finish the job.  took time but in the end i felt it was worth it. your deck is great. thank you for sharing the deck jigs.
all the best
mort

Great to see you back Mark and I hope all remains well for you.  Nice adaption to the tool - now that is thinking outside the box.  Like Dan, I tried the flap wheels, but just could not consistently keep that "light touch' he mentions - may have to look at something similar to what you have done
 
cheers
 
Pat

Thanks for the likes and comments...
 
It's been too long since this was updated... so this is a short update about a pesky, self-induced problem.
 
Between doing things around the house and yard, numerous medical visits for both Janet and myself and trying to sort my brain out and what's what, I've been pounding my head over a problem.   If we go way back to cutting out the frames, I put some "tits" on the frames to allow for positive placement of the deck clamps (I think that's right... brain fart).  But.. I've forgot how I was going to deal with them when I did the inner hull planking.   My bad... and my notes are no help.   
 
Here's one frame.. those "tits" are highlighted by the red arrows.

 
After much angst, occasionally thinking of just burning her in the stocks, I started to hand sand them with a thin piece of scrap sanding stick, I punted.   The sanding stick was taking forever and I wasn't pleased with the lack of control and also damage from my fat fingers.   
 
Here's the area I was dealing with... you can see a couple of the offending pieces highlighted in red.

 
What I finally came up with is the below tool..  a felt buffing piece with some sticky-back sandpaper attached. I'm using my mini engraving tool as it's small, lightweight, and the lowest speed is a good 3000 RPM less than a Dremel.   It seems to be doing the job.   Once I've got the sanding done, I'll finish the planking.
 

 
Anyway, I'm still at this and hope to have another update as soon as time permits.    

Thanks, druxey, I might try that on the port side and see which one works for me. I like the idea of tracing against the edge of the tape to put pencil on the hull, although the string might give a fairer line.
Thanks, albert, I hope I can continue to make it interesting.
 
By way of interesting, I spent the day looking carefully again at the joints on the wales of the 1760 first Bellona model, shown in frame. It is unusual, to say the least.
 
As the sketch below shows, the top two strakes labelled with B are standard top-and-butt, each 33 feet long with 22 feet and 11 feet arms.
 
The lower two strakes, however, are all over the place. Starting at the right side (fore), there are a number of anchor stock pieces labeled A. These are 22 feet long, with equal arms. Aft of these are 2 top-and-butts, the same as the ones in the upper two strakes, labeled B.
 
And then there are two top-and-butts labeled (D) and (E) that are not the same size as any other pieces in the wales, nor are the arms a standard ⅓-⅔ proportion. Strangest of all, the aft end of (D) aligns with the butts of the B pieces above. This would not appear to be a good structural idea.
 
And finally, heading aft, the wales finish with more top-and-butt pieces labeled C, which are 22 feet long, the same as the anchor stock pieces labeled A at the fore end.
 
I have looked at the photos of the model very carefully, and I believe this accurately captures what the model builder actually created. Was it an experiment, or an accurate representation of what was really built in the actual ship? The model hull is framed differently on each side, showing some experimental ideas about framing around gunports. Perhaps this was a proposal for radically shifting butts on the wales. Wales are only shown on the port side of the model.
 
Whatever the reason, I am determined to recreate it on my own Bellona. So now I have to think about how many of these can be cut by a standard template, as shown by Longridge's Victory or Ed Tosti's Naiad.
 
 

Thanks, Mike, the beauty of that underwater form keeps me going.
 
I reflected on setting up the wales last night, and it bothered me that I could not see the fairness of the wale past the clamps on the batten.
I re-read appropriate portions Ed Tosti's Naiad book, and saw that he used painter's tape. I tried this, and it works much, much better. I can see both top and bottom. And sighting down the length really highlights the low or high spots. In this case, I saw a low spot at the fifth gunport from the bow, and could fair in another piece of tape to get the edge just right. Thanks, Ed, much better process. Now, thinking about how to cut the hooked scarph joints that are so distinctive in the first Bellona model of 1760.
 
Mark
 

Hi Ed,
 
Thank you, this is very helpful. I think you identified the reason for the curved or straight knee, and it appears to do with assuring that the knee and the spirketting are locked together. In the case of the Bellona, the top surface of the wing transom is aligned exactly with the top surface of the upper strake of the spirketting, and so these would lock in the same horiontal plane. In the case of the frigate, the spirketting is below the wing transom, and so would need the curved knee to connect together. This makes structural sense.
 
Just out of curiosity, which way would the hooked scarph be arranged? If I understand the structural role of the wales and spirketting, it is to help resist the hull's tendency towards "hogging", where the bow and stern tend to drop down due to greater buoyancy midships. So the wales and spirketting are put into tension, not compression along their lengths. This means that the hook in the scarph would be aligned as shown below. Would this make sense? (I am not sure I am going to cut the hook, but I am interested nonetheless).
 
I have seen no reference to a contract for the Bellona, including in Lavery's books which focus on the ship. I had assumed all these years I have been working on this that no contract exists. But I should look into this. Is anyone aware of a contract for the Bellona? I will try contacting the NMM.
 
Best wishes,
 
Mark

Update :
 
yesterday had a little fright, when viewing from bow to stern over the length axis I recognized there was a little warp in the hull, due to the unsymmetrical planking arrangement and the tension of the planks on the framework. Was a bit upset, but that was to be expected.   
Then, after seeking a solution to to compensate the warp, the model was clamped in a vice at the front keel portion, and a thicker plank tied to the upper stern deck, so giving a lever on port side where I could lay a lead weight on over night, in order to twist back the warp. This morning I was pleased to see that it worked fine (happy agin) , hoping it may stay this way    
 
Nils
 

 
 

 
 

Update :
 
about 3/4 of the planking is done, it went quite well so far, only 4 planks had to be tapered a little bit in the bow area, and no stealer planks fitted so far.
On port side the viewing openings can clearly be seen. I hope all stays well and will overstand careful sanding during fairing. The planking is glued on with PVA white Express glue As the plank edges were not put glue on, I added some very thin viscosic white glue (Uhu Holzfest) in to the thin gaps from the outside. It cures fast, is transparent and is quite hard. That glue is normaly used to repair-glue loose wood joints on furniture, chairs, etc., and I have good experience with that.
 
Nils
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

will be appr. 18 planks per side
 

 
 

Three more
HMS Campanula cuts through a convoy to investigate a 'contact'.
Replenishing at sea HMS Saumerez and Wave class RFA Tanker
Corvette  Campanula and  Wave Tanker

Simultaneously with the construction of the hull of the ship, I continue to manufacture parts. Details very much and all different. So far I have been able to withstand the style of "vintage". However, I did not expect a hundred difficulties in my way. Very complex model.

I think it fits vey nicely Christian, nice precise work - now you can truly go places!

I think it fits vey nicely Christian, nice precise work - now you can truly go places!

I think it fits vey nicely Christian, nice precise work - now you can truly go places!