Beef Wellington

Cheers Eamonn, Jim, BE, Stergios and the 'likes' for the interest and kind words.  I tried to superimpose 'Ballyhoo' on 'Jason' but couldn't figure out how to do it.
 
Sjors - don't worry, there will be guns on this deck (eventually).  But I believe the deck is more commonly referred to as the upper deck on a frigate (even though it has one above it...and also has guns!), although I do seem to recall seeing reference to a gun deck as well somewhere.  Maybe someone else can speak definitively on this.
 
Alistair - it did work out OK.  I split the false deck down the center line first (the grain introduces a little error here), and then taped them back together on the back side.  The 2 innermost planks were glued in place on each half and then separated so that I knew they would marry up properly during final assembly.  An unexpected issue was that the deck did tend to cup a little, probably a combination of humidity changes here as well as the glue under the planks shrinking a little.  It was easily manageable, but you can see a slightly larger gap at the extreme ends where there weren't any bulkheads under the deck to force the camber.  As for treenails, I don't feel any compulsion to do them, but, I will have plenty of time to change my mind.
 
Have managed to install the interior bulwarks this weekend, small 0.5mm slivers of scrap were used to build up some of the worst offending bulkheads to remove major waviness.  These haven't been sanded yet but overall pretty pleased, any remaining small waviness should be pretty easy to sand out.  The bow section seems to have come out OK with extending the planking past bulkhead 5.  Most miraculously, the bulwarks do seem to follow the line of the margin planks, so a big 'phew' there.  Although not entirely symetrical, this will not be seen once the foc'sle is on    Also cut slots for the skid beams as it seems to be a lot easier to do now, these aren't mentioned until page 9 of the instructions.
 
Now the interior bulwarks rare in place, the rest of the bulkheads can be faired as the extensions are much too thin and delicate to be able to shape without additional support.
 

Upper hull is finally completed!      Big milestone passed in completing the upper hull planking.  Took me a while as I was planking according to TFFM, which had a bunch of oddly shaped planks, and even a scarph joint thrown in for good measure.  Because I was using a mixture of woods and dyes, I was also trying to ensure that the planking ended up in such a way that the intersections of the areas would be overlapped by the various rails for a clean look, especially if the stains bled from one area to another or there were other blemishes.
 
For the frieze areas, I used boxwood as I thought it looked best when stained using General Finishes Blue Dye Stain.  I loved working with pear, but wow, boxwood is a really nice wood to work with.  Here are some pictures after finishing the boxwood planking and installing the fixed blocks:
 

 

 

 

 
 
The boxwood looked so nice in its natural state that it was a tough call to proceed with staining the area blue.  But, I went ahead with my original plan and added the blue stain, and then added a row of redheart planks to the very top of the upper hull near the forecastle and quarterdeck:
 

 

 
 
For the forecastle area, I had soaked the redheart for a while as one long piece that went around the full forecastle.  It surprisingly bent very nicely and didn't give any problems.  I thought about keeping that area as one piece, but since I had two planks on the quarterdeck I went with two on the forecastle.
 
I still need to do some touchups, including sanding and otherwise finishing the redheart, as well as ultimately sanding back the planking to the gunport patterns (left a little extra on purpose just in case...), but I couldn't be happier with how this came out.  The colors in my opinion complement each other nicely (they should deepen a bit after I apply a finish to it), and I really like that they show the grain and planking lines.  There are a few areas between the blue and dark brown that aren't perfect, but like I said, these will be covered with the rails.  And while I was very careful to follow the TFFM planking pattern, on both sides of the model, I had a weird extra gap just forward the third gunport.  Since that gap will itself by covered by the rails, I didn't worry about it.
 
So, I'm super happy where things are right now, and am pretty burned out by all the custom planking.  I might remove the bulkhead extensions at the waist and finish my deck planking, but I don't know that I have the desire to start on the bulwark planking.  TFFM has a sample planking pattern that probably won't be too hard to execute, but the thought of fitting more planks right now is not all that appealing.  I might switch back to my Morgan build and think about something other than fitting crazy shaped planks for the next few weeks.
 
Looks like I'm approaching the 2-year anniversary of the start of this build.  At the rate I'm going, especially since I'm looking to add full sails to the model, I probably have at least a good 3 years left on the build, but likely longer.

Wayne, that deck looks fantastic,a s does the rest of the hull now with a little colour to it.  It must be great working at this larger scale and very satisfying, its almost like you're building the real thing with those planks.

Bug - just caught up after you assumed this honourable task.  You seem to have everything under control, so I'll pull up a seat.  Best of luck, know you're up to it.

Bug - just caught up after you assumed this honourable task.  You seem to have everything under control, so I'll pull up a seat.  Best of luck, know you're up to it.

I would LOVE the idea of any 'kit' POF kit with precute frame pieces - a definite buy as a stepping stone to fully scratch build.

Bug - just caught up after you assumed this honourable task.  You seem to have everything under control, so I'll pull up a seat.  Best of luck, know you're up to it.

Bug - just caught up after you assumed this honourable task.  You seem to have everything under control, so I'll pull up a seat.  Best of luck, know you're up to it.

The false deck has been added with 2.5mm ply. This was done in sections and a hollow near the bow filled.
The access hatches had their own ply covering and sit flush with the rest of the deck. The idea is they almost disappear when in place and planked.
 
Planks are cut from a basswood sheet with dark grey card glued to one side. This gives a consistent line for caulking which is more of a scale colour than straight black. The wood is a bit soft but it'll have a solid covering of resin or varnish to protect it.
 

 
The deck has been marked in the four butt shift pattern based on where the hatches and other deck furniture will be and the first planks laid on straight over the hatches. The hatch joints will be cut through once more planks are laid on and also mast holes recut.
 
The central planks are laid full length as deck furniture placement means no plank joins would be visible.
The margin plank was drawn on the deck and traced with the pattern transferred to a basswood sheet for cutting. Care was taken to achieve symmetry on these as at the bow as from plank 9 on either side they will be joggled into the margin plank. This pattern was drawn on the deck to make sure both sides lined up.
 



 
Lots of repetitive planking ahead but it feels rewarding.

Whilst waiting for some new Anchors to arrive, I decided to do a bit of work on the Bower Anchor stocks.
 
I marked out the hole pattern, for where the pins are to go:
Bower Stock: drilled the pin holes.
Stream, left marked as is for now.

 
Slid in the Anchor Stock to see how it will look.

 
Both Bower Anchors: tapered the stock ends, stock end hoops fitted.
Will add 2 middle hoops later.

 
The stock halves are parted with temporary packers.
The stock halves should stay this way. 
According to "Steel's Anchor Making"
It is necessary to leave an opening in the middle of one inch and a half, between the two pieces, that the hoops may be driven nearer the middle, in case the stock should shrink.

 
 
That's all for now.
 
Dave R

Well,I decided to re-do those knees to better match the edge of the deck. Not to difficult - the old ones just popped right off. I think it looks a little better.
 

 
Mark

Late to the game here, looking wonderful Bob.

There should have been an announcement when you started Andy, I nearly missed it!  Looks like you are pretty much caught up to me :-)  Very nice start.

Late to the game here, looking wonderful Bob.

Late to the game here, looking wonderful Bob.

I would LOVE the idea of any 'kit' POF kit with precute frame pieces - a definite buy as a stepping stone to fully scratch build.

Cheers guys (Yes Mort, I can only imagine it getting heavier, especially with all the cannons in place as well!).  Good news, the fix to the boo-boo turned out just fine.  Lesson learned, so will be putting some protection on these delicate areas going forward. Not much to show for time but feel I need to get up to date.  Lots of sanding sessions to get a nice shape, and the weather hasn't really been cooperating.
 
 
Batten at the waterline has been installed.  Tried thinning down some 1x1mm strip to approx. .5mm thickness but found that this was just too delicate a procedure, so thinned as much as possible and it was pretty easy to take more off once installed.  Used PVA to attach which worked just fine as it develops a sufficient tack needed for this thin stuff, even in the curved areas which just required a few minutes of finger pressure.  To help with this, I temporarily attached some scrap walnut strip to act as guides.
 
Once in place, put on a single coat of wipe on poly to protect the surface and then used some walnut stain to colour below the batten.  Although this will be coppered, think its better to have a darker surface in case there are gaps between the plates.
 

 
Also started to put in place the oar and vent ports.  Each needs to be individually shaped as I think it would follow the profile of the other planking.  Getting a uniform (or as best I can) fit takes a bit of fiddling.  Captain Sterling is keeping on top of things in his new nice new uniform....
 

 
And where things stand...
 

I would LOVE the idea of any 'kit' POF kit with precute frame pieces - a definite buy as a stepping stone to fully scratch build.

There should have been an announcement when you started Andy, I nearly missed it!  Looks like you are pretty much caught up to me :-)  Very nice start.

Carried on today with the Bow fittings including a few more hatch covers, two fittings towards the front of the bow that I have no idea what they are for, and the capstan wheel frames and wheels,  one became a victim to the carpet monster so my Warspite will just have to rely on two anchors in action - mind you i doubt all three would be in use anyway?.
 
Here are a couple more pics folks.
 
OC.

I would LOVE the idea of any 'kit' POF kit with precute frame pieces - a definite buy as a stepping stone to fully scratch build.

Hi all - a small update. After scratching my head,checking the plans,& Pete`s info I am slowly proceeding with the stern. The stern fascia is flat & needs to be curved,so I put it in some water for a short time & clamped it to a hard plastic oval shaped waste container. When dry it retained a proper curve. Since it is made of an ugly mahogany plywood I planked it with some leftover hull planks.
 

 
After clamping it to the back of the hull,I could proceed to make the deck it sits on.
 

 

 

 
One other note - while sorting out the upper row of windows they appear to be mis-marked according to what the plans show. If I laid them out according to the plans,they don`t fit the openings.
 

 
After shuffling them around,they then matched the openings.
 

 
Mark
 
 

I would LOVE the idea of any 'kit' POF kit with precute frame pieces - a definite buy as a stepping stone to fully scratch build.

So the guns are finally done. Now I do not want to see a lathe for a long time.

Thank you Greg.
After painting are the carriages ready for attaching of guns.