Beef Wellington

I think the Centurion would be a fantastic subject, the ship deserves a higher profile than she has, and her exploits under Anson are a good read, one of those instances where reality is more outrageous than fiction.
 
Gary

I agree

Post Twenty-one
 
In the previous post James (whitejamest) kindly gave me the heads-up on a set of 28mm rowing figures, which I have on order.
Meanwhile I continue faffing around with the barge as the macros reveal further need for touch-ins and finishing touches.

9752
A laser board strip provides the iron strap that protects the stem and bow, and a mooring ring is added to the bow.

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I am also in the process of making small section Boxwood pillars to replace the kit provided mdf keel supports which look somewhat clumpy against the delicacy of the barge.
 
One of the things that I noticed about the barge kit was the Helmsman’s area behind the Transom. This measures only 5mm between transom and seat back, a scale 12” which presents some difficulties if a scale helmsman figure is to be employed in the display.
A 1:64 scale figure will not fit so I scratched around for an alternative that may fit the bill.

9754(2)
I came up with a 1:72 HAT figure from a British seamen set; chopped about and bent legs added from a Preiser 1:87 scale Adam and Eve set, a spot of modelling paste, and the Frankenstein version of a helmsman is created.

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Only primed at present I will decide on a colour scheme for his clothing once I have the rest of the crew.

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Surprisingly he doesn’t look out of scale, but the acid test will be how he compares with the 28mm ‘rowing’ figures I have on order.
I also have on order an acrylic cover for the model, and I decided crew or not, the oars will be displayed out as shown in previous photos.
 
Just waiting delivery of the crew now.
 
B.E.
17/12/2022

 

Hi everyone,
 
A long, long time since I last posted. I have been working away, but the recent pieces took an exceptionally long time to work out, and there was not a lot to show in the process.
 
I realized some time ago that I would not be able to install the guns on the lower deck until I completed the outboard works, since I would not be able to turn the hull on its side for painting once the gun barrels were projecting from the side.
 
So I was planking up to the top, when I further realized that I would need to install the catheads before completing the planking at the fore end of the forecastle. And those turned out to be way, way more difficult than I had imagined.
 
I first carefully drew true size projections of the catheads in plan and elevation:
 

 
When I cut them from blanks, I assumed I could just cut straight down according to the drawn plan. Wrong! The cat tails inboard are not only shaped athwartship according to the forecastle beam round up, but also beveled fore and aft according to the sheer of the deck. But the catheads outboard are beveled according to the sheer of the hull, which is steeper. This means the cathead twists as it passes through the hull relative to its tail. I went through a number of failures before I figured this out.
 

Before I could cut the hook scarps on the tails and cut the slot into the hull on the sides, I needed to locate the cat beam underneath. Then I realized that I would need to locate the beakhead bulkhead stantions since they score onto this beam and have to align with the vertical edge of the hull in this location. But in order to install the beakhead stantions, I would need to build the substructure  for the beakhead just above the gundeck level, which meant that I had to drill the hawseholes before access is covered up here, and that meant I had to complete the cheeks outboard.
 

 
So, then onto cheeks. These also had a much more complicated geometry than I had first appreciated. They have a round-up athwartships to match the sheer of the main wales at the bow; they fay to the wales with a curve and also a slope back along the face; and they have an upward slant fore and aft to match the hull sheer. As I tried to fay these to the wales, the slightest change in holding them against the wale would change the shape needed. So I made supports at the correct angle and kept the lower edge flat, so I could reliably slide the cheek against the wale for the usual trim, test, trim, to fay it accurately. Then I could shape the lower edge of the fore and aft arm to its final form.
 

And voila, lower cheeks:
 

I don't know why this took me so long to work out these two interesting pieces, the catheads and cheeks. Perhaps because they are so prominent I took my time to get it right....
Now onto the upper cheeks and the hawse holes and bolsters.
 
Mark
 
 
 

A lot of the steps in building a ship make me overly anxious, and I need to stop letting that happen so much.  It slows progress, and isn’t healthy.  For example, gluing these stern decorations was fairly nerve wracking for me for some reason.  I wasn’t sure if I should pin and glue them, or just rely on PVA or CA.  I didn’t want to ask opinions, as I ask a lot of questions already.  I opted for CA, which makes it a one time operation, unless you like to clean up the mess you make of things.  I think I got lucky on this one, and things turned out pretty good.  All in all, I believe I don’t have to undo anything, and that it looks fair enough!
 



All that angst wasn’t needed I guess!!!  I’ll have to get my real camera out sometime soon and take some better photos…
 

HMS Camilla: The Way Of Water
 
Here is what happens when a final coating of High Gloss Acrylic Varnish is applied across the water surface.
I also added gloss varnish below the scuppers to indicate wetness along the hull from water pouring from them. This type of detail will show-up better when I shoot studio photos with a DSLR. I've also applied a liberal amount of the gloss varnish along the model's hull, up and over one wale, as well as splash areas at the stern tuck and even on the lower spritsail. 
 
I've chosen a stain color for the embellished casework: pecan (MinWax). I did a rub-on trial with this color stain and I believe two coats will achieve a warm, complementary appearance that accents the model's warm pear wood hues. I'm holding-off on its application for awhile; I'll post photos later. 







 

Nice update David, sharing the challenges of the plansheer myself so appreciate the struggles.  Your timberheads turned out very nicely indeed with some very crisp detail, ingenious to use 3D printed jigs.  I will undoubtedly be going down the freehand road, but hoping it will be viable to make some less engineered jigs to get the angling correct.  The headshots show shes coming together very nicely indeed, well done.

Nice update David, sharing the challenges of the plansheer myself so appreciate the struggles.  Your timberheads turned out very nicely indeed with some very crisp detail, ingenious to use 3D printed jigs.  I will undoubtedly be going down the freehand road, but hoping it will be viable to make some less engineered jigs to get the angling correct.  The headshots show shes coming together very nicely indeed, well done.

Nice update David, sharing the challenges of the plansheer myself so appreciate the struggles.  Your timberheads turned out very nicely indeed with some very crisp detail, ingenious to use 3D printed jigs.  I will undoubtedly be going down the freehand road, but hoping it will be viable to make some less engineered jigs to get the angling correct.  The headshots show shes coming together very nicely indeed, well done.

It’s been nearly a month since I last posted but work has continued with mast and yard making but the next logical task was to fit the lower mast stays. This meant fitting the bowsprit first.
 
The bowsprit was made from 12mm ramin dowel and sized according to the dimensions in the AotS Diana rather than the Caldercraft plans. The maximum diameter worked out at 11mm. The taper begins at 120mm from the bow reducing the diameter to 6.4mm at the cap Gammoning cleats, saddles, bees etc were all fashioned from scratch using walnut section and sheet as required.

The deadeyes and hearts were fitted off the ship. 5mm deadeyes were used for the forestays, bobstays and shrouds using served strops from 5mm line. The closed hearts provided in the kit were swapped out for some 10mm open hearts from Vanguard Models, again tied with 5mm served rope.
 
The bowsprit was slotted through the bow and into the bowsprit step on the upper deck. The gammoning proved less tricky than I expected. Using 0.75 dyed line, a false splice was made around the bowsprit and passed forward on the bowsprit and aft in the hole, each wrap being kept tightly in place with a clip. 10 wraps filled the hole in the stem nicely and a further 10 frapping turns were taken to tighten up the wraps and finished off by seizing to an adjacent end.

 
The mainstay collar is made from served 0.75mm line. It was very tricky to thread this through the head works and the hole in the stem. It might have been easier in hindsight to do this before the bowsprit was fixed and the gammoning in place. After a bit of fiddling with a large needle and tweezers it was completed. An eye is seized in each end and linked together. A 10mm closed heart is seized into the loop such that there is a short and long leg.
The bobstays were made from 0.75mm served rope. Sufficient length is served to make a complete loop around its deadeye and through the hole in the stem. The unserved ends can then be joined using a false splice and a 5mm deadeye seized in the end. A seizing is added to the opposite end to hold it in the bobstay hole. Finally the bobstay is lashed to the appropriate deadeye on the bowsprit with a 5mm lanyard.

Port and starboard shrouds are added using 0.75mm dyed rope. A 3mm hook is seized into the after end and a 5mm deadeye in the forward. The shroud is hooked into an eyebolt in the bow and the deadeye tied to the bowsprit with a 0.5mm lanyard.
This completes the bowsprit.
 
I bought some dark brown cable-laid ropes from Ropes of Scale for the main and fore stays but used standard Amati rope for the mizzen stay. The stays are all worked similarly at the mast end, being served for about 6 feet (30mm) below the level of the mouse. The stay is measured to the required length and the position of the mouse marked with a thread. Serving proceeds to the marker and then I wrapped some 5mm line around to form the basic mouse shape and fixed it with plenty of dilute pva. The serving line was then continued back and forth over the mouse until covered and the serving completed to the required length. An eye is seized into the upper end to butt against the mouse.

The mizzen stay is made from 1.25mm rope. No cable-laid rope was available at this size so I used some Mantua rope. It is fixed to the main mast with 5mm deadeyes.

The main stay was made from 1.8mm cable and the preventer stay from 1.35 cable. I attempted to worm these ropes but after several unsuccessful attempts, abandoned the idea and had to be satisfied with having a served section only. The preventer stay is fixed to a closed heart about 60mm above the deck on the fore mast using a 5mm lanyard The lanyard is given enough wraps around the two hearts to fill them and then the end tied to an adjacent end with a couple of seizings. The mainstay sits on top of the preventer stay to give the best line between the two. A closed heart is seized in the lower end and this is attached to the heart at the bowsprit with a lanyard of 5mm rope.


The foremast stays are 1.6mm cable laid rope and the preventer stay 1.25mm standard rope. Again 10mm closed hearts are used.


 
With the rigging of the lower masts now completed, I have reached a dilemma. Do I continue with the topmasts or attach the lower yards? I am concerned that fitting slings and jeers with the topmasts in position will be very awkward. The topmasts have been made, as have the lower yards but I’ll cover these at a later date. I think that I’m inclined towards fitting slings and jeers. Also adding another layer of masts will making manoeuvring the model more difficult and I’m anxious to keep things simple for as long as possible.
 
This has been a longer post than I anticipated and I should have taken more pictures of intermediate stages than I did but if you are still with me, thank you for sticking with it.
 
David

I spent the day assembling the building jig. Just a few observations and cautions. In step 12 of the instructions, do NOT glue A and B onto baseboard. It will make it impossible to assemble the jig. It is just to make sure the stem and stern post are oriented correctly. I am not too sure about step 13 as there shouldn't be any ribs/frames assembled yet. After steps 14, 15 and 16 make sure the assembled keel still fits. I didn't and it took me quite a while to sand and adjust the slots to get it to fit. I couldn't figure out how to get the keel into the jig. Parts C13 and C14 have dashed lines laser cut into them. The stem goes underneath C14 to lock it into place. When the ribs/frames are installed the only way to get the hull out of the jig is to cut along the dashed lines. This will allow the entire hull to be lifted out. Assembling steps 17 - 19 may take a bit of fitting. Although the pieces are very close to matching, assembly tolerances will require some fine tuning to get the pieces together. The assembly of the jig stretched my patience, but it is finally together.

I started to work on the forecastle for a change of pace. The forecastle bulwarks were problematic. I had completed the deck planking based on the location of the kit frames but I had to thin these down to achieve the desired width of the plansheer. I was not that keen of replanking the deck so I had to introduce a more aggressive slope to the bulwarks in order to resolve the geometry. It is not the end of the world though and I can live with it as the area will eventually be filled with guns and rigging and so should not be that evident.


The supplied breasthook pin rail is too small and doesn't have enough holes for the number of belaying pins shown in the AOTSD drawings so I had to make a new one out of some 2mm thick maple. Once fitted it required some additional shaping with the dremel to match the upper curve of the bulwark.



I started to look at the plansheer. The supplied piece is too narrow, doesn't quite follow the curve of the bow that I have ended up with and the cutouts for the timber heads do not match up with the positions of my gun carriages. I had to cut a new one and locate the head timbers. To accomplish this I cut out a paper template that followed the curve of the bulwark and then lightly glued it to the top. I then mocked up the position of the lower shrouds so that I could fine tune the position of the guns such that they would not shoot into the rigging. I used the AOTSD gun locations rather than the kit positions but looking at the various NMM drawings it would appear that there are multiple possible configurations for these. Once I had positioned the guns I could then go ahead and cut the bulwark for the carronade ports. I added the external mounting for these guns as per those located in the stern.



After the paper template was marked up with all of the cutout locations I was able to remove it (mostly) and transfer it to a sheet of 1.5mm thick walnut. I could then trace out the profile and cut it out as well as mill out slots for the timber heads.
 


For the end of the plansheer I cut out a lump of 10mm thick lime and drew on the profile of the bulwark. I then carved out a 1.5mm thick rail using the scroll saw and a sanding drum in the dremel. I initially tried to include the scroll at the end but prior bungles left me with an odd juxtaposition of the upper and lower scroll so I decided to omit the upper one rather than having it winking at me every time I looked at the model. I can always pretend that it was shot off during a fierce skirmish.
 



For the timber heads I was hoping to use the kit supplied versions as there are a lot of these and they are fiddly little pieces to make. The kit timbers are unfortunately too thin and come in the dreaded walnut ply so I had to resort to making hand cut ones like the chips in a pretentious restaurant. Using the drawings in the AOTSD I knocked up a simplified version in CAD to get the basic dimensions. I cut out some 2.5mm x 14mm x 4.75mm walnut blanks and 3D printed a simple jig to hold them at a consistent angle to mill the chamfers. It turned out that the angles and dimensions of these are so miniscule that it was not that successful.




I had a second go around where I slightly exaggerated the angles and recesses to overcome the limitations of the scale. I also improved the jig by making it longer so that it was easier set horizontal in the vise. These changes gave me a better end product but still lacking. I didn't want to end up spending months fretting over these so I just went ahead with the second versions. I imagine the approach would be more successful if I was working at 1:48 scale. I guess the process was still better than freehanding them.






I continued in the same vein for the shorter versions but made some improvements to the jig for these by adding some integral shims to prevent it twisting in the vise. I finished these just in time as I snapped my last 0.8mm mill bit as soon as I had completed the last one.
 



The timberheads are just balanced in their slots for now. I am thinking of reworking the bollard timbers. They are almost square in plan as they butt against the stem but I think that the profile could be changed as a nod to the shape of those seen in the contemporary models despite not being shown in the AOTSD or NMM drawings.






 
 

It's a projection drawing, showing what it looks like from the side once it's in place on its correct angle and faired.

It has been already voiced by everybody before me, but I have to add my voice to it, too: this is a marvelous display of a beautiful model! Outstanding work!
 
Thomas
 

Lots of frames to assemble. It's a bit deceptive as to how the frames are placed on the keel. For double thick frames what appears to be front, and back are labeled a and b. For triple thick frames, they are labeled a, b, and c, where a and c are outer surfaces and b is sandwiched between. The outer sides have fairing lines etched in. This provides a sanding line to both fair up the inside of the framework as well as the outside of the framework. Also, when building the frames, some parts have notches in them. Wondering why the notches are beveled a certain way, it turns out that the purpose is to create a larger gluing surface. The bevels in the notches have no functional use. It took a while to understand that. The picture shows frames 8 and 9 with sanding lines to shape the inner as well as outer part of the frame. I intend to finish sand the interior part of the frame and sand the outer part close and wait till the framework is finished before fine sanding. The single cant frame shows the bevel marks before sanding.
 
A lot of work but I am awe of the modelers that scratch build these frames admiralty style. Way above my pay grade. So, lots of frames to do. It takes a bunch of frames forward to aft to align the building jig. 

Progress shots of Camilla's starboard and stern waters now complete.





First stage for fashioning the stern wake.

Completed wake; a good amount of sea foam added to her rudder. This shot shows her prominent list to starboard.

Change of lighting; lots o' drama. Water gets very"inky."

 

A higher angle view of her port side (missed this one on the previous post).
All the principal water features are complete with only a high gloss acrylic left to apply overall. 
Time to choose a good, complementary stain for the case.
 

I too will follow along if I may, off to a nice start.  This kit definitely has my interest piqued for the future.  Are you going to build the split hull option?

I too will follow along if I may, off to a nice start.  This kit definitely has my interest piqued for the future.  Are you going to build the split hull option?

Thank you Jason, Håkan, and Mark, making oars is not too bad provided you have the makings and are prepared to accept the odd breakage close to finish of a piece.
Post twenty
A day’s work completed the oar set bar the fettlin’ which involved inducing a slight curve to the oar blades and adjusting the handle length to a scale 11” (4.36mm)

9718
A further day involved painting the various elements of each oar.

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I decided to paint the oars the traditional red, with natural handles, and copper blade tips which represent the metal strips applied to prevent splitting of the wood.
Tin was often used but I splashed out on copper, it is an admiral’s barge after all.

 A decision is to be made of how to display the oars, I don’t really want to follow the normal arrangement of top and tailing them across the thwarts, as they would effectively cover most of the internal area.

Ideally, I would like to crew the barge with the oars out but creating acceptable 1:64 scale figures is a very difficult ask and there are no period figures commercially available in this pose that I can find.

03399

03411
I was lucky with the Queen Anne barge kit at 1:24 as I was able to convert a couple of Deans Marine figures to represent members of the Royal company of watermen- they started life as sitting US marine figures of the Vietnam era.
 
 I can’t envisage making or modifying 1:64 scale figures, so I will have to pass on that idea.
An alternative is to place the oars in position as they would be with the crew in place.

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9734(2)

9740(2)
This arrangement extends the width of the display area to around six inches, so I’ll ponder on it a while and play around with other options.
 
B.E.
11/12/22

 

Well done indeed with rounding that 1mm square stock, are you going to try and curve the blade?  Big improvement on the kit offering.

I can now see it Chris.

Chris - for some reason I'm not seeing the photo (?).  BTW, I like your confessional, you are now absolved 🙂

Hi Chris, she's looking very nice indeed, I've just managed to get to your log.
 
I 'think' you're the only Fly build here! I know you got the upgrade kit, I'm wondering if you have any idea on how the upgraded Fly kit compares to the Pegasus kit and whether there is a 'kit quality' difference between the two.
 
Looking forward to another update "soon"!

The hull of the test assembly is ready.
Photos without mast and sails
Already 859 details
 

By the way, I did not show what the new kit does on the plastic conductor (;C) of our invention.
We have protected this our invention with a patent.
This allows you to assemble the hull very easily, quickly and very-very accurately!
And you get the most accurate contours of hull.