Beef Wellington

@Sjors - I had to close the shipyard early to run all the needed errands and finish work to allow me to go on holiday....we leave tomorrow.....early....very early
 
What is a Ketelbinkie?  - Kettle blanket?

So will be off on the family holiday for a few weeks this weekend so needing to step away.  Here's where things stand, not wanting to jump into anything else as I know I'll be rushing, so "down tools" it is.  The quarter gallery berthings are both now glued and the edge with the upper counter tidied up, everything else is dry fitted.  The lower finishing proved to be quite the interesting pieces to make.  The profile is very clear from the stern and side elevation, so combining that with the curve of the quarter gallery berthing and the straddle over the wale edge meant plenty of shaping, and checking to see things looked OK from all angles which was more of a challenge than I would have expected.  Decided to dispense with the kit supplied metal molding for the drop as this didn't seem to match, and anyway seemed easier to take my own approach than fight with that.  Drops still to be made.
 
The provides a PE "X" for each side, which I think is an approximation for some decoration looking at some of the Diana models.   I'm leaning toward painting my own decorations here but will think a bit.
 
Hopefully pictures speak for themselves from the various angles...the macro gods are surely against me as the finish looks more acceptable in person 
 

So here's where I landed with the lettering.  First the letters were painted in a darker brown and then overpainted with yellow ochre and few highlights.  The goal here was not perfection as I new that was not going to remotely close, hopefully "impressionistic" describes it.  Was very happy with the outcome, may touchup a little more but I'm forcing myself to stay away for now.  The placement may look a little odd, but I had to estimate where the decorative rails will be so it should be correctly aligned when those are in place...something to potentially still go awry.  I'm following the guidance that the letters should fill the upper counter leaving a little space between the rails.  The photos are a little unkind and to my eye looks better in person.
 
First picture is the obvious comparison to the kit supplied PE letters, and you can see the perspective narrowing of the font.  I placed the lights in the stern while fine tuning the angle as it seemed that these need be complimentary somehow, although the angle varies from every viewing angle.
 

Thomas, Bob, Eamonn, Pat and Mark (nice to have you back!) - thanks for the comments guys and the likes, I very much appreciate your interest.
 
The upper counter and the proof of the pudding...
 
Finally plucked up the courage to attach the stern fascia, really have done about as much on this as I can before fitting, and any final adjustments should be done in place to get a proper feel for the various lines and angles and how this will fit with the side galleries (esp. out edge and gunports).  Epoxy was used for maximum strength, so it better be right.  It all went pretty painlessly as the placement had already been determined.
 
Then comes the upper counter...this should simply fit between the edge of the upper counter and the stern fascia.  I have been planning to use a single piece of 1mm pear for this (I think the kit instructions indicate for this to be planked) and I didn't relax for the whole weekend while I worked on this part.  Philosophically, it is what   it is at this point as I had done everything I could think of to ensure this fitted well. 
 
After making a template for the upper counter and leaving material to allow for fine tuning, the lower edge of the stern fascia (where the upper counter rail will go), was chamfered back to receive the upper counter and ensure the correct angle to the vertical along its length.
 

The edge of the upper counter was then gradually chamfered to meet this angle.  I found using a razor blade scraper a very effective way to do this as it kept a nice flat profile and allow the angle with the stern fascia to be followed easily.  I had painted the upper counter prior to this process to give a better feel for the shape during this process.  (The lower edge was simply masked so the lower counter rail can be glued more easily as I prefer to use PVA glue).  The profile at the end shows how this fitted together.
 

Only one potential problem remained.  The face with the join needs to be the same width as the upper counter rail (3mm) which required many, small adjustments.  See photo below for how the various rails will be positioned.

This is not glued yet, but the overall I was very happy with the way this turned out, and 2 small pegs are all that's needed to keep it in position.  Before this is attached I need to figure out how to apply the name, at this point I'm leaning toward painting this.  I've been playing with some templates made in Powerpoint to just get a sense for size and alignment.  This is Time New Roman, 50pt font with y-rotation of 340% and 100% perspective adjustment.  I now feel I have proper ship under construction.
 
As always, suggestions welcome!
 

 

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?  
 
 

Hi Chaps, we'll I am back after a little hiatus.   Ron, Mark, Pat, Bob and the likes - thanks for the kind words as always. 
 
Sjors - Its nice to have the option to use the kit part rather than nothing, its insurance 
 
I've landed a new job, which is some relief - even though I had time on my hands I couldn't enjoy building but did what I could when the mood took me.  I'm not sure how the scratch builders feel, but these cheeks and rails had me thinking I'd never get them done and asking myself if I'd bitten off more than I could chew.
 
First off, I had to decide how I wanted to terminate the rails.  This period seems to be a bit of a mix in styles, mixing more elaborate decoration with a hint of future frugality.  I decided to err on the side of ornamentation after studying some NMM models, which basically just meant a larger scroll on the hair bracket and lower cheek I tried to follow guidance in TFFM as much as I could, and I've shown the progress pics below.  This wasn't as hard as I thought and for a first effort I was pretty happy, but I'll leave final judgement to others.  I knew I'd be painting these, so I found myself occasionally putting a think coat of paint on to get a better sense for the contours which is difficult with the pale castello.  
 

Once the scrolls were done, I made a scraper for the contour and tried to add the profile.  I found this very tricky and found myself battling the curve, the changes in width and the slight grain, especially in the thinner sections.  First approach was to shape the cheek piece and the rail and then glue together (I did these off the model painting would be next to impossible once mounted).  This didn't work as well as hoped, the profiles didn't match and the edges had rounded, but some filler and rework did the job.  For the others, I glued the cheek piece and the bracket before profiling which seemed to work fine.  I used a touch of sepia wash to highlight the profile.  Near the scroll, there is barely a profile so paint is needed to give the effect.
 
Overall, I give myself a "C" on the profiling:  hopefully could do better next time but needed to move on or forever be stuck in hairbracket purgatory.  Next time () I think I'd try using pear rather than castello but didn't have any of the right dimension to hand to try.

Lastly, couldn't resist adding a little more detail than the kit offers and wanted to add both a Filling piece and Trailboard.  Looking at contemporary Artois models, the filling piece is quite substantial and adds a distinctive look.  First off, I tried making a 1mm thick version bent to the hull shape - too thin.  I next tried a 2mm think version, but again felt it was too thin.  Tried 3mm, but it was impossible to bend, so went with a 5mm castello sheet and shaped as needed.  This was quite a bit of work as none of the sides are at 90deg, and the hull curvature needs to be accounted for, luckily this doesn't need to be perfect as the interior faces will be hidden by the  cheeks.  The trailboard was relatively simple but again took a while to get the appropriate shape.  Once complete these should go together like a jigsaw puzzle.....

And the finished result.  These will not be glued until I have the port side pieces finalized, but they fit together just fine.  Overall, I found this tricky and time consuming, but educational.  Without detailed plans there was a lot to consider to get the alignment looking right to my eye, for example, the lower cheek scroll terminating at the foot of the figurehead, the hair bracket scroll aligning with the rounded top of the lacing piece.

Finally, recognition for all those failures forever consigned to the wastebasket of progress....

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..

 
 
 

Awesome work Jesse, everything has already been said!

Can you imagine being a kid and having a grandfather like Nils? Visiting his home and seeing his models would be like going to heaven for a child...and for an adult like me. 
Just beautiful and so entertaining to see. It enlightens all the senses.

Final pics, lot 2
 
 

Project completed !
 
The 26 month duration journey has come to an end, and I would like to thank my international fellow builder freinds for following this build, for their suggestions and helpful comments along the way. 
All the appreciative and kind compliments have given me very much drive to get the project complete, in a way that I am myself satisfied with the result.
I´ll choose a representive bunch of pics for exponating into my gallery in a couple of days.
 
Here come the final photos of the ship as built and in a large set of four lots, and without comments as all pics are self explaining.....
I made a few more detail shots for all those that like details. The only thing missing are the rudder blades and the tillers for the the open lifeboats (paint was`nt dry yet), but I`ll get them on before the KWdG goes into her glass case
 
Nils
 
Final pics, lot 1
 
 
 

I love seeing models that really give a feel for what it would be like to be on the real article, really nice progress.  I hadn't really thought about the access to the rear cabin area, will there be a companionway from the upper deck to help access or is access only from the hold?

Looks wonderful Bob, really nice joinery, there must be quite a few complicated angles to deal with.

There are a number of pretty well documented Snake builds on this site so you should have plenty of reference material.  This was my first build (and still not quite finished), but its a great kit and you should have lots of fun.  There are definitely some challenges with the kit and options for improvement.  Good luck.

All ready back from thr holliday's 😁🙃😝?
 
Nice stern btw...
Enjoy the free time.
 
Sjors

So will be off on the family holiday for a few weeks this weekend so needing to step away.  Here's where things stand, not wanting to jump into anything else as I know I'll be rushing, so "down tools" it is.  The quarter gallery berthings are both now glued and the edge with the upper counter tidied up, everything else is dry fitted.  The lower finishing proved to be quite the interesting pieces to make.  The profile is very clear from the stern and side elevation, so combining that with the curve of the quarter gallery berthing and the straddle over the wale edge meant plenty of shaping, and checking to see things looked OK from all angles which was more of a challenge than I would have expected.  Decided to dispense with the kit supplied metal molding for the drop as this didn't seem to match, and anyway seemed easier to take my own approach than fight with that.  Drops still to be made.
 
The provides a PE "X" for each side, which I think is an approximation for some decoration looking at some of the Diana models.   I'm leaning toward painting my own decorations here but will think a bit.
 
Hopefully pictures speak for themselves from the various angles...the macro gods are surely against me as the finish looks more acceptable in person 
 

Great work Jason; your build is coming together very nicely indeed.  Enjoy your holiday.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Great work on the stern Jason. Have a great holiday. I'll be waiting ... upon your return

Awesome work Jesse, everything has already been said!

Awesome work Jesse, everything has already been said!

There are a number of pretty well documented Snake builds on this site so you should have plenty of reference material.  This was my first build (and still not quite finished), but its a great kit and you should have lots of fun.  There are definitely some challenges with the kit and options for improvement.  Good luck.

Awesome work Jesse, everything has already been said!

Harrier has been launched. Despite mid-winter weather I've made it to a couple of local lakes for some testing.
The masts broke down to allow the vessel to fit in the back of the car easier than expected. I don't even have to drop the seats which means I can even take kids.

 
It's been extremes of weather each time with the first outing having not enough wind to give enough control to go about comfortably while the second was a bit too much for the amount of sail up.
Harrier has been tethered each time with a line tied to a stern gunport to allow it to be retrieved when things either got nervous or the I was caught on a lee shore and pushed into the weeds.
Some strong gusts in the second outing put a decent heel on and caused some worry that she might not right, but up she came. She took water through the gunports but the hatches only shipped a small amount of water. I'll work on water tightness. 
There's a bit more ballast testing to be done yet. I've had the ballast pipe keel set about 20cm below the keel and it'll be a matter of trial o see how far up I can raise it while maintaining stability. I've also been experimenting with a temporary centreboard to see what effect it has. The jury is still very much out on all this.
Theres a lot to get to grips with here, but as one lakeside spectator said 'practice makes perfect'.
 
 
 

Work on the aft interior hull planking and framing for that portion of the upper deck is now complete. I also added the main deck clamp, the first main deck beam, and further interior hull planking in the hold.
 
The planking all follows the same methods and materials previously used. The deck framing again uses laser cut beams and also a laser cut partner for the main mast and the pumps. I added the first main deck beam at this point because the forward most beam for the aft portion of the upper decks rests upon it. I also drilled a hole in the keelson for mounting the main mast, after test fitting a dummy main mast through the partner.
 
Work will now shift to the bow before finishing the main deck.
 
Bob