Beef Wellington

Thanks everyone for the very kind words and continued interest...not really much to report with only some ad-hoc shipyard activity, but a cautionary tale whilst its still fresh.  Started to make up the gun carriages, all 28 of them :-(  The axles took quite a bit of time to shape appropriately which I did with a file to rough shape and then turned in the lathe to fine tune.  Cautious going is the name of the game, and of course some turned out not at well as I'd hoped but these should be able to be "hidden at the back".
 
The issue I encountered was that I didn't think to check the thickness of the Syren sheets the parts come from and assumed these would all be consistent.  The prototype I had already built all seemed to go together nicely and to make life a little easier I built a simple jig to make alignment easier.  By chance, I then noticed that there are some reasonably significant differences in dimension.  If you look at the second picture where I stack those that look thicker against those that appear thinner the difference is apparent (both 11 in number).  What this means is that to build the carriages to the same dimensions will need some parts to be custom made from spare stock as the laser cut part is too small.  It appears by chance that the prototype was built using the 'thicker' variety.
 

 

Thanks everyone for the very kind words and continued interest...not really much to report with only some ad-hoc shipyard activity, but a cautionary tale whilst its still fresh.  Started to make up the gun carriages, all 28 of them :-(  The axles took quite a bit of time to shape appropriately which I did with a file to rough shape and then turned in the lathe to fine tune.  Cautious going is the name of the game, and of course some turned out not at well as I'd hoped but these should be able to be "hidden at the back".
 
The issue I encountered was that I didn't think to check the thickness of the Syren sheets the parts come from and assumed these would all be consistent.  The prototype I had already built all seemed to go together nicely and to make life a little easier I built a simple jig to make alignment easier.  By chance, I then noticed that there are some reasonably significant differences in dimension.  If you look at the second picture where I stack those that look thicker against those that appear thinner the difference is apparent (both 11 in number).  What this means is that to build the carriages to the same dimensions will need some parts to be custom made from spare stock as the laser cut part is too small.  It appears by chance that the prototype was built using the 'thicker' variety.
 

 

Thanks everyone for the very kind words and continued interest...not really much to report with only some ad-hoc shipyard activity, but a cautionary tale whilst its still fresh.  Started to make up the gun carriages, all 28 of them :-(  The axles took quite a bit of time to shape appropriately which I did with a file to rough shape and then turned in the lathe to fine tune.  Cautious going is the name of the game, and of course some turned out not at well as I'd hoped but these should be able to be "hidden at the back".
 
The issue I encountered was that I didn't think to check the thickness of the Syren sheets the parts come from and assumed these would all be consistent.  The prototype I had already built all seemed to go together nicely and to make life a little easier I built a simple jig to make alignment easier.  By chance, I then noticed that there are some reasonably significant differences in dimension.  If you look at the second picture where I stack those that look thicker against those that appear thinner the difference is apparent (both 11 in number).  What this means is that to build the carriages to the same dimensions will need some parts to be custom made from spare stock as the laser cut part is too small.  It appears by chance that the prototype was built using the 'thicker' variety.
 

 

Thanks everyone for the very kind words and continued interest...not really much to report with only some ad-hoc shipyard activity, but a cautionary tale whilst its still fresh.  Started to make up the gun carriages, all 28 of them :-(  The axles took quite a bit of time to shape appropriately which I did with a file to rough shape and then turned in the lathe to fine tune.  Cautious going is the name of the game, and of course some turned out not at well as I'd hoped but these should be able to be "hidden at the back".
 
The issue I encountered was that I didn't think to check the thickness of the Syren sheets the parts come from and assumed these would all be consistent.  The prototype I had already built all seemed to go together nicely and to make life a little easier I built a simple jig to make alignment easier.  By chance, I then noticed that there are some reasonably significant differences in dimension.  If you look at the second picture where I stack those that look thicker against those that appear thinner the difference is apparent (both 11 in number).  What this means is that to build the carriages to the same dimensions will need some parts to be custom made from spare stock as the laser cut part is too small.  It appears by chance that the prototype was built using the 'thicker' variety.
 

 

Carl, Rob, Christian, Niles and the likes - thanks for your kind words, encouragement and patience on this slow voyage...
 
Jesse, Dave - Of course you are right, but no matter how many times I tell myself that it doesn't help...I probably have one of those personality disorders along the lines of "well he did it, so why can't I?"   And yes, its gets me into trouble with those fixes around the house that I maybe shouldn't be tackling.. 
 
Anyway a little update as I really can do no more to the bow at this point, which means I need to get back to the stern...then I remembered that that was basically the reason for me taking a break and starting work on the bow...There are a couple of questions at the end.
 
Once the cheeks and the rails were done, I needed to tackle hawse holes and the bolsters.  These had me really thinking, but first step was once again to shape from some thick stock, only this time I had to take it even slower as pretty much the entire interior face needed to fit tightly against the hull because any errors would be really obvious once the holes were cut.  The balsa filler blocks were also removed (Interestingly, you can see the outline of the recess that I had put in a long while ago to try to introduce a void behind the expected hole placement to look a little more authentic...seemed a good idea at the time but they would have been in slightly the wrong place)
 
The holes themselves are ~6mm in diameter, and taking a drill bit of that size was clearly out of the question.  The hole centers were estimated and I drilled with a 2mm bit in a hand drill.  This was large enough to get a round microfile in to gradually enlarge and then use a larger round file.  Once the holes were approx. 4-5mm and still quite rough, some tapered dowel was used with sandpaper around to again gradually enlarge until they were approximately the right size.  All the time doing this, the bolsters were held in place with fingers so everything would align - I didn't want to commit to gluing in place just yet.

Once again, I knew I'd be making my own out of castello, but continuing the trend I think the kit supplied parts are way undersized.

One other item to take care of is the Gamming knee, the kit supplied part was generally oversized, but it was necessary to cut a new piece because the back of the knee was undersized.  Not sure how much of this will be visible, but it fun to make.  The hole is for the mainstay collar, some alteration will likely be needed on the head timbers but that is for another day.  This is not attached yet.
And the final results...these pieces seem to really bring out the face of the ship and to my eye really add some character.

 
Some questions:
The bulwark are considerably thinner than they would be in scale, and although the photo makes it more obvious, this is apparent if you look for it.  Also, I know that the hawse holes were lined in lead, but I'm not seeing this as a feature standing out to me looking at models, in many it seems these were just painted ochre...would welcome other's thoughts and suggestions here.  I'm leaning toward a 'lead like' grey just on the inside of the bulwark but not extending over the bolster. For fellow Diana kit builders.  I placed the waste rail on the starboard bow side only as it seems to me that this could cause problems with the fitment of the bow grating against the hull - anyone have any experiences on this?  
 
 

Wow..Christian, Doug, Pat, Harvey, Carl, Tom, Wayne, VACorsair, Eamonn, and the likes, thanks guys for interest and the overly kind words.  Narrative below will explain more, but think I've irrevocably stepped off the 'being happy with kit parts' ledge...this can only mean even slower progress...but perhaps more fun
 
I know I'm bouncing around a bit so apologies for that, but continuing foundational aspects which seem easier with the ship careened over on a towel.
 
Challenging Cheeks:
 
The kit supplied cheeks are hair rail are not that great.  The cheeks themselves come nowhere near to fitting the hull, and I'm pretty sure the hull form is correct.  The only option was to scratch my own cheeks.  Aside from the fit, they are also seem rather undersized.

The next consideration was the hair rail and lower cheek, and decided to go whole hog and redo these as well.  Given that there needs to be two of everything, I cheated and sparingly glued with PVA glue some 3mm sheet together and then cut to shape.  The pieces were then separated using rubbing alcohol, and voila, 2 matching parts with the work of 1!  These parts are still very slighty oversized to allow them to be fine tuned once other parts are made - necessary given I don't have any true plans to work from and that these pieces form quite a complex shape. 
 
Photos below show hair rail prior to separation.  The difference in dimensions is quite evident to that appearing in AOTS which I used as a guide for the scratch piece.

As a side note, the quality of the walnut parts are just not good, the main/false rail would need a lot a work to get presentable so suspect these will also be remade at some point.

The cheeks themselves took a long time (days) to get right due to the angled concave curve and lack of plans.  Pretty happy with the results, though the parts still need some fine tuning as the rails are a little thick still I think.  I'm hoping to use a scraper to give a profile to the edges, and a quick test shows that this should work OK even for a quick test.  This also commits me to what will probably be my first simple carvings on the scrolls, but that's for another day.
 

Side by side comparison of scratch vs kit supplied pieces..

BE, Pat, Joe, Michael, Nils, Wayne, JPAM  and the likes - thanks so much.
 
Ron - I'm hoping to make it, would love to see your fantastic Diana in person, my challenge is always football/soccer as I coach my sons team and that takes a big bite out of weekends at this time of year.  If I could just arrange a game in New London then I'd be set!
 
Small update, I've been missing making posts but I have a little to share and hope pictures make up for it.  Continuing to work on the more foundational aspects as I can.  Paint has been applied to the upper hull - I used Tamiya matt XF-18 medium blue.  I applied many layers of watered down paint and corrected larger imperfections, but left the slight imperfections from planking visible.  I'm no painter and have limited experience with modern acrylics!  Watering down the paint gives a nice smooth finish, but at the expense of surface uniformity - this should disappear completely once a clear sealer is applied so not concerned.  I found that using a brush the undiluted paint dries so quickly that brush mark are inevitable.  Lots of touchup to do which should be pretty easy, but I want to get a protective coat of poly onto the boxwood to reduce the risk of mishaps.
 
The waist rail has been applied on one side and the side steps added.  I left gaps for the fenders, after having already cut these roughly to shape - using boxwood of course adds the number of pieces that need to be fabricated to keep consistent.  I wont attach these until later.  Steps were made using 2x2mm boxwood strip and a different profile scraper to the side molding and then cut length and shaping the ends.  These hopefully give more of an impression of the fine molding as keeping that to scale was just too much for me.  The upper and lower 2 steps are not glued yet.  I think they pass the scale test with the assistance of Able Seaman Lewis.


I've also made up the anchor lining bolsters, not identified in the kit plans but approximated from AOTS and TFFM.


And the usual 'all over' shot of where things stand..

 
 
 

Great job Jason.
All the best!

Really nice work on the coamings Jason, great look👍
 
B.E.
 

Great choice with the black hatch coamings - I love the contrast with the deck and bulwarks. Beautiful work!
hamilton

Wow, that's great Jason !
Maybe I steal your idea of the black paint 
 
Sjors

Great work Jason. Stunning really.
 
Ian

Jason,
 
That's awful ... awfully good!!! As Barbossa said

Beautiful work Jason - also nice beer in the background shot !

Jason,
the black color gives a wonderful contrast. I just love it !
 

The coamings/grattings really look nice!  

Work on the head is now complete. It was the pain that it always seems to be, but there is also a sense of accomplishment. At he risk of boring you all, I will go through it on a step by step basis, with photos of each successive phase.
 
I began with the cheeks. These were each done as laminations of two pieces cut from thin boxwood sheet, then sanded on their facing edges before being glued together and then final fitted to the hull. Card templates were used to get the initial shape.
 
Once the cheeks were in place, I made up the main rails. These too are made as laminations from thicker boxwood sheet, using card templates. After lamination, each rail was sanded to their tapered shape. The timber head shape was then filed into the upper end. The rails were then final fitted to the hull and glued into place.
 
 At this point, I chose to make and add the upper molding and then the knight heads and timber heads at the bow. These were filed to shape from two sizes of boxwood strip, painted black and then pinned and glued in place.
 
Next were the head timbers, which were made from boxwood strip and fitted,, with what seemed like endless trial and error, until they fit between the main rails and the cheeks.
 
The next, and possibly the most difficult, task was to do the cathead supports and the lower rails .These were done in segments. The first segment was the lower rail, which was made from boxwood strip bent to shape and fitted between the stem and the hull and glued in place to the head timbers. Then came the most difficult piece in the process, the cathead supports. These were first cut from thick boxwood sheet, using card templates, and then filed and sand to shape. This was a task, since they had to fit the hull contours, as well as the angles of the catheads and match up to the position, size and shape of the lower rails. I found it necessary to use very small filler pieces of strip to mate the two segments.
 
I the added the final pieces of the lower hull molding at the bow and between the fore channels and the cathead supports.
 
The last item was to paint the 3D printed resin figurehead from the kit and glue it into place.
 
Bob

Finished. 
Battle of North Cape  from a Destroyer's view point.
Jim
 

Thanks Bill.
 
The starboard gun ports are now complete - now working on the port.  I'm hoping the rope supports to the gun port lids on this side will be a little better as I've learned a few things in the process.  Here's how things look.
 
I see the following photo doesn't show up well. I'll photograph the other side when I finish and hope it comes out a little more clearly than this.
 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 

Rob - personal opinions only.  The contemporary models at the Annapolis Museum consistently have a satin(ish) sheen to them, far from matte.  Its a fine line between too much and too little sheen it seems.  For example, I'd used the Admiralty recommended 'dull black' paint on my Snake build but its just a touch too shiny for the scale (in hindsight) in my view.  For that reason I'm using the 'matt (metal) black' for the wales and black paintwork.  It seems to look good next to the satin finish of the wipe on poly I'm using (oil based).  One option I used on the deck was to use a waterbased 'satin' finish to give a little richness to the colour, and then use a water based matt to finish (think again these are minwax products).  
 
Answering the question of varnish on paint, I've found that to be on a case by case basis.  The admiralty paints in my view don't need it, but the Tamiya flat blue paint I used is much to matt, but looks so much richer with poly on top.  All personal opinion and results from experimentation :-)

Looking really nice Rob, the colour of the boxwood looks really nice even without a finish!

A small update... I've finished planking the starboard side (all except for a tiny stealer, anyway).  The walnut below the waterline will be covered up with copper tiles.
 

 
 

Very nice planking, well done

Cheers Guy's, this next post will answer your question re the Windlass holes Jason.
 
Making a Boxwood Windlass
The kit instructions don't include any photo's detailing the making of a windlass. This is my approach.

1862
Using 4mm square stock the sections are marked off using my prototype as a guide.

1865
The octagonal center section is formed on a jig last used for mast making on Pegasus.
A scalpel is used to carefully shape the section.

1867
Chamfers are formed where the square sections meet the octagonal and end sections.

1871
Beyond the square section the ends are reduced to cylindrical section to form axles which slot into the mounting blocks.
This again done using Scalpel and needle files to finish the job.

1870
The end of a square section needle file is used to 'square up' the holes for the windlass bars. A tap with a light hammer forms the square.

1875
Having a vertical slot in the mounting block allows for easy  positioning the windlass. A small wooden plug will be added later to secure the windlass. 

1876

1880

1883
I can now fix the thwarts and attend to the paintwork and varnishing.
B.E.
 

I use white Gouache straight from the tube. It acts almost the same as real foam, thick, it is white, thinned it takes on the under colour. The main colour for the sea, I use Indigo, with a touch of other colours as I think necessary.
I use the same painting technique whatever the medium. Oil Acrylic or W/C 
Jim
 
this is what I am doing right now although I have stopped for lunch  
North Cape again