Beef Wellington

The bunt lines and leech lines have finally been done. Installing the rope coils has been one of the most awkward jobs of the build. Access is very difficult, and the thread I used refused to behave.  There was some gnashing of teeth. I would definitely not like to do this again.
 
The photos exaggerate the shortcomings (the diameter of the coils is about 4mm) - in the flesh they are quite acceptable, and since they photos were taken I have made a couple of small adjustments to them.
 

 

 

Some progress has been made on the buntlines and leech lines. Tying them off on the quarterdeck barricade seems to be correct - though it is a very awkward job. Including time for a few silly mistakes, it took most of a day to do. Here are some photos.  Now I have to figure out how to do the rope coils for the lines.
 

 
 

 
 

 

 
 
While on rope coils (not my strongest suite), using the nozzle from a sealant gun works well.  They are nicely tapered and PVA doesn't stick.
 

 
This is how some of them turned out.
 

Igor,
thank you very much for your words,.....
I am momentarily doing the last little bits in fitting out...
now the benches on the upper decks are on and also the radio aerial wires (antenna). The three story staples of collapsible boats have received securing holding down chains, and I`ve started to fit rope coils to the davit fall belaying cleats...
 
Will still have to do all the flags and some rigging (pulleys, blocks and hooks ) to the cargo load beams and to the winches...., but now its all not long any more
 
Nils
 

this pic was taken with a flash, that really shows up the dust again settled on the detail surfaces
 

aditional benches for passengers enjoying the sun and the salty sea air
 

 
 

Acc. to my information the KWdG was the first German civil oceanliner to be equipped with sea surface radio (operated by Marconi operators)
 

 
 

 
 

chains lashing down the boat staples....
 

 
 

the antenna wires lead down to the radiostation booth (oerated by Marconi officers)
 
 
 

Thanks for the comments and likes!
 
Added the frames. Even after soaking the strips when bending them to the sides they still wanted to crease a little. Light sanding took care of it for the most part. Getting the same number and spaced out the same as the instructions took some figuring but I finally got it. The floor boards were fairly simple to do. Began constructing the bow and stern gratings. They still need to be cut to size and trim added.
 
Jesse

Carl,
 
thank you very much for your kind appreciative words. For rounding up the build there will next to the appropriate post update, still be a set of photos to be made and to be placed in my gallery.
 
For my next model I have now made up my mind and chosen a Chebece type vessel. I simply just ca`nt free my mind from the lovely pics of this ship type that Karl, member (Jeronimo), did show in the introduction to his current build. I presume the French Chebec "Le Requin" may be a bit above my skill level, but I have ordered the plans and building intructions only, from Amati in Torino for the beautiful Arabian / north African Amati Sciabecco 1753 Chebec. The scale I am intending to enlarge from 1:60 to 1:48, and to perform it in a modified and customised POB scratch build (somewhat like the hull framing I did with the Pegasus build from Amati Plan some time ago). In the moment I`m still in the research and planning phase, while the KWdG is being completed.
 
When the time for the start shot comes, of course there will be a seperate build log....
The enclosed pic is borrowed from the web...
 
Nils
 

here a sample of the Amati Sciabecco 1753 Chebec in scale 1:60, as per kit
 
 

Long overdue update, but spring is a busy time for me with kids, yard stuff, etc.  I've been making progress over the last couple of weeks, planking the section of the hull between the main rail and planksheer (which is in yellowheart).  It really wasn't all that bad using ebony.  It's not as easy to work as pear or boxwood, but it cuts very cleanly and sands to a beautiful sheen.   I'm cutting strips about 0.7mm in thickness, so they are pretty flexible.

 
 
It's probably hard to tell from the pictures, but the first section of the bow to about the third bulkhead is comprised of 10 rows of planks (approximately 1.2mm in width).  The remainder is six rows.  In looking at pictures of the Morgan, the planks in the six-row section of the hull are beveled at the edge.  
 

With the ebony planks only being 0.7mm in thickness, beveling was out of the question.  So, what I ended up doing is taking a scalpel and slowly working it between the plank rows to add a little more definition between the planks.  Seems to have worked out ok, I'll try to take close-ups soon.
 
After that, I sanded the planksheer back to the edge of the ebony planking.  This will ensure that when I put the holly molding along the planksheer, it will be a uniform thickness along the hull.  I also planked the transom with some thin basswood strips, and added wood filler to the filler block areas since I did a crappy job with the filler blocks in sanding back certain areas too much.
 
Thanks for looking in!

Wow Jason, amazing work!  Did you paint those letters free-hand, or with a stencil or some other way?  They really look perfect.

Hi Jason,
Alignment & Position of quarterdeckgalleries is bit of an issue as most of the Diana builds I "Googled" ( + mine included)  encountered the same problem : 
The lack of space to fix an ornament rail upon the roof of the Q'deckgallery.
As the drawing indicates : the bottom of the window closest to the aftermost gunport should follow more or less the same alignment and this is just impossible to achieve without jeopardising the position of the stern windows.
The pics speak for themselves : you made a fantastic job while tackling this issue, translated in scoccer terms : "Jason 1 - Quarterdeckissue 0" 

Beautiful work, Jason!
 
Thomas

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....

Moving forward on the aft lower deck, I've added the last transverse partition, the inner hull planking in that section, the ladder to the hold from the lower deck and the beginning of the upper deck beams. 
 
The partition and the hull planking were done exactly like the previous ones and need no further description.
 
The ladder was made from boxwood strip and fitted to the curvature of the hold planking. It looks a little strange, but I'm not aware of any alternative.
 
The deck beams are laser cut boxwood pieces that I cut to fit each location. It was certainly a timesaver to have all of the roundup precut and consistent through the beams.
 
I'm also attaching a photo of the doors mounted at the rear cabin, which I had neglected to attach with my previous update.
 
Bob 

Rigging complete, really very simple on this one. I have now replaced the three 12.7mm high altitude guns, these are so much nicer than the Flyhawk ones. I also threw in the 2 quad torpedo tubes. Coming together. 

Long time no see.......
 
And here we go again !
I was not satisfied with the whole build.
I was to lazy to put balsa blocks into the bow section and that was a bad idea!
The planking was not going as it should be so.....start all over again .
Not only the planking giving me problems also the decks.
The deck was coming in 4 pieces and they want me to plank when it was not at the ship.
The result you can see in early pictures.
I have change it and planked when the deck was on the ship!
Much better !!!! ( i have to say )
And now you are thinking that I remove everything but no.
OCcre give us the opportunity to buy packs.
For the ST it will be 6 packs to finish the build.
I just ordered pack one with the false keel, decks and deck planking and the bulwarks.
And the pictures are showing you where I am at the moment.
And yes, there are balsa blocks in the bow this time.
I hope that the planking is going smoothly.
I know that the bulwark's are much better now !
So I have find my mojo again 
 
Sjors
 
 
 
 
 
 

A very nice recovery, Sjors.   If you find any extra mojo, send it my way.  Seems that my "get up and go" has "got up and went".  

Looking great Rob.  As I'm sure the other Diana builders will attest, I'd suggest double checking the stern fascia and window position as well just to make sure of placement.  

Looking great Rob.  As I'm sure the other Diana builders will attest, I'd suggest double checking the stern fascia and window position as well just to make sure of placement.  

Looking great Rob.  As I'm sure the other Diana builders will attest, I'd suggest double checking the stern fascia and window position as well just to make sure of placement.  

Pat - The more I think it through the less I'm thinking of creeping error.  The line and height of the gunports is pretty much set by the sheer of the deck, and it would look odd to move the wale up 3mm as it would be wider at this point because the bottom of the wale can go no higher than the bottom of the lower counter.  The only proactive solution would have been to adjust the height of the lower counter which would then have resulted in other proportional issues...Bottom line, the kit parts do not match the true shape of the plans, but don't think the differences are unreasonable and I don't think impact the look of the model - unless you are really looking.  Similarly, the aft gun port is a little too far forward even in its rearmost possible position, another difference of probably 2-3 mm which again doesn't impact the overall feel.
 
If I've learned one thing, its that this can be a tricky little kit!

Thanks for the comments and likes everyone.
 
I did step away from the paintbrush.  Lot of work and a little progress.  The upper counter has been glued in place and trim added to the bottom of the lower counter.  These were once again pre-shaped and as it was can be a handful.  They highlight a few errors in the hull shape but shouldn't be noticeable to most (I hope).  Now the work on the side galleries can continues in earnest.  The main pieces had already been made up and just required a little fettling for now.  The lights are all in temporarily as I find they do alter the perception of the surfaces.
 

 
Following a similar approach to that laid out in the instructions, the lower counters were made up from laminating some spare 3mm pear, there's nothing wrong with the kit supplied mahogany parts its just that I messed up the first time and there wasn't enough spare, something for others to consider.  None of these items are glued in position yet.
 
The lower gallery piece was made up first, these were given a slight concave curve to avoid them appearing to sag, may need to do a little more here but I'm leaving alone for now.  The drop is proving the most challenging because its so fiddly and needs to follow the lines of the lower counter - this is still work in progress and have a few mistakes already behind me.  The upper finishing was cut from a 5mm pear which matched the ATOS profile dimensions best (the kit calls for 2x3mm laminated pieces) - this piece was a practice to get a sense for the suggested shape and will need more work.
 
Overall, everything seems to be fitting together as planned - although looking at the close up photos the camera is definitely not being my friend.  The bottom of the gallery should be parallel to the wale, also match the angle of the stern fascia...which needs to match the angle of the rearmost false light.

So now things are now being positioned, the first non-fixable alignment issue becomes apparent!  Looking at the AOTS profile, the bottom of the lower gallery should meet the top of the wale.  The bottom of the trim will sit at the top of the lower gallery - so this is out by 3mm.  Not much, it just means that the top of the drop will straddle the wale, and I'm not overly concerned as it seems looking at many other profiles that this positioning can be above or below the wale.  As for the reason for those also building the kit, there are probably many contributing factors - and I'm sure its a cumulative effect from positioning of the stern fascia where I estimated it needed to go, the wale could also be slightly out of position, the kit sheer of the deck could be different and the bottom of the counter way back when framing could also have been out.  Interestingly, had I used the 3mm strip above the wale for the black strake, and had this been painted black, this would have met exactly - but that I suspect would have been a lucky coincidence.
 
Bottom line, could be a lot worse, and I'm happy for now   Onwards!

Thanks for the comments and likes everyone.
 
I did step away from the paintbrush.  Lot of work and a little progress.  The upper counter has been glued in place and trim added to the bottom of the lower counter.  These were once again pre-shaped and as it was can be a handful.  They highlight a few errors in the hull shape but shouldn't be noticeable to most (I hope).  Now the work on the side galleries can continues in earnest.  The main pieces had already been made up and just required a little fettling for now.  The lights are all in temporarily as I find they do alter the perception of the surfaces.
 

 
Following a similar approach to that laid out in the instructions, the lower counters were made up from laminating some spare 3mm pear, there's nothing wrong with the kit supplied mahogany parts its just that I messed up the first time and there wasn't enough spare, something for others to consider.  None of these items are glued in position yet.
 
The lower gallery piece was made up first, these were given a slight concave curve to avoid them appearing to sag, may need to do a little more here but I'm leaving alone for now.  The drop is proving the most challenging because its so fiddly and needs to follow the lines of the lower counter - this is still work in progress and have a few mistakes already behind me.  The upper finishing was cut from a 5mm pear which matched the ATOS profile dimensions best (the kit calls for 2x3mm laminated pieces) - this piece was a practice to get a sense for the suggested shape and will need more work.
 
Overall, everything seems to be fitting together as planned - although looking at the close up photos the camera is definitely not being my friend.  The bottom of the gallery should be parallel to the wale, also match the angle of the stern fascia...which needs to match the angle of the rearmost false light.

So now things are now being positioned, the first non-fixable alignment issue becomes apparent!  Looking at the AOTS profile, the bottom of the lower gallery should meet the top of the wale.  The bottom of the trim will sit at the top of the lower gallery - so this is out by 3mm.  Not much, it just means that the top of the drop will straddle the wale, and I'm not overly concerned as it seems looking at many other profiles that this positioning can be above or below the wale.  As for the reason for those also building the kit, there are probably many contributing factors - and I'm sure its a cumulative effect from positioning of the stern fascia where I estimated it needed to go, the wale could also be slightly out of position, the kit sheer of the deck could be different and the bottom of the counter way back when framing could also have been out.  Interestingly, had I used the 3mm strip above the wale for the black strake, and had this been painted black, this would have met exactly - but that I suspect would have been a lucky coincidence.
 
Bottom line, could be a lot worse, and I'm happy for now   Onwards!

I love that Joe, really nice detail to add - its fun doing a little scratch work isn't it.  It reminds me of the shortened school buses that my kids find so amusing....
 

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.
 

Shipyard Update
Main TopMast Stay:
A Single 7mm block added to the top of the Fore Mast for the Main Top Mast Stay(will be using 0.64mm rope) to run through.
The stay runs down the mast, fixed via a tackle to an eye on the Starboard side(H1-10 AoTS) of the mast step.
 
For the collar I used 0.45mm rope, seized leaving a gap to go around the block, the seized ends to form the end loops. 

The block ready to be fixed to the fore mast top:

And the block lashed in place:

The block/collar may be a bit too high up for the Main and Fore stays to be perfectly in alignment. ?
 
 
Dave R

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.