Beef Wellington

This looks fantastic Chuck, what is your trick for removing laser char so thoroughly?  Everything is so clean.

Finally something other than planking!
 
To start off, as mentioned back in my first post, the stern frames had suffered as a result of unintentional contact with the nose of a curious canine shipyard helper. While I did affect repairs at the time, some tweaking was still necessary. First up was the stern light cills and lintels:
 

 
With the help of the original paper template, and the laser cut windows themselves, and the use of the liquid in the jar with the black label in the above photo (acrylic paint thinner), I managed to get the pieces positioned in their correct locations.
 

 
For the second part, I cut off the stern end of the false deck fret and used it as a template to check the curve of the stern frames and ensure that they made as nice an arc as possible. I had noticed when first I dry fit the transom, the curve was far from smooth... it was rather wavy. I checked with some scrap pieces of wood against the current frame thickness vs the final frame thickness after internal fairing (a few steps ahead in the instructions). It was clear that the easiest way was to simply sand down any high spots, rather than try to shove things around. This soon had things looking much better.
 

 
A final (?) dry fit of the transom, and things look pretty good. I'm not sure why, but I'm still apprehensive about getting the glue on yet. I'll get there, eventually.
 
Andy

I keep a rubber cleaning block meant to clean sanding discs and belts on my bench if using sandpaper on the char as Chuck describes.  The rubber when dragged across the sandpaper will remove the char from the sandpaper.  If you use a disc sander or a belt sander you probably have used one of these cleaning blocks.  Available at most stores selling sanding tool - even Micro-Mark has them.  This will prolong the usefulness of the sandpaper.
 
 

Patience...but no seriously.   
 
If the wood is thick,  say 3/32"and above,   I scrape the char first with a straight razor.  Its quick and painless.   I dont remove it all by any means this way.  Then I switch to sandpaper.   But not just any sandpaper.  The grit is super important.   I mainly use 320 grit.   The motion or technique is important and I just cant describe it.  I may have to film it some day.  But at a minimum I probably use more sandpaper than most.  Yes sandpaper can be expensive.  But the real trick is switching to a clean piece often.  The moment you see the sandpaper get brown and compacted with char you need to switch.  Otherwise you are just rubbing dirty wood with dirty sandpaper and pushing the char into the grain.   Thats the issue with most people.  So after a few passes, I slap the sandpaper on the edge of the table to remove as much dirty char dust as possible.  The moment it stops becoming reasonably clean it gets tossed.
 
The edges clean up pretty quickly this way.  But sometimes with such large pieces like the keel and the frame components it will just take a lot of time no matter how you look at it.  
 
For thinner or more delicate pieces I will use 400 grit...no scraping.    It just all comes off for me.  I dont know why it is a problem for some.  I really do think its in the technique.  I sand with a light touch.  Not a lot of pressure as that just rubs/pushes the char and dirt into the wood.  
 
For small areas like corners a very sharp blade....I just slice it away in the corners.  Very thin almost tissue paper thin slices.
 
Thats pretty much it.   It does suck removing a lot of char from many pieces and it does take time.  But I do spend that amount of time on every piece.   If I dont want to take the time then its impossible to get it all off.  It wont get removed quickly but it will eventually get done.
 
I think the technique of a light touch and clean sandpaper is the trick.   On the end grain however I find it just easier to slice it off if its in an area that will be seen.  Usually after scraping if its a thick board.   Its too easy to push the char into the end grain when using sandpaper.  I am talking razor thin tissue paper thickness of a slice removed.  Once shaved then I just use some clean 320 grit to even it out.  Now I dont build other manufactures  kits any longer...but on all of my laser cut pieces there is enough meat on them so a micro layer of char can be removed or sliced away without causing the part to not fit anymore.  Sadly, other kit makers dont do this and if you actually removed the char from parts they end up too small.   That is a problem I dont know how to solve.   But on my kits its the opposite...you have an issue if you dont remove the char...The parts will be slightly oversized.   So in order for my kits to fit together as intended, people must remove it...no choice but to take the time to do it.
 
 
 
 

Your not kidding....So much rope...LOL.
 
But work continues on other aspects of the project.  None of these are finished yet.   Lots of work still to be done on them...
 

Glad you are 'happier' B.E., well justified in my humble opinion.  Your tweaks have made all the difference.

You can view many models on the NMM site which I would definitely recommend.  Books are an investment, but some I have invested in are the Rogers Collection Volumes 1&2 and 'The Sailing Frigate' by Gardiner, and 'The Ship of the Line' by Lavery.  Both of the latter titles walk you through chronologically the evolution of ships interpreted through existing models.  Absorbing all of the wonderful images of original models is something I will never tire of.  It quickky becomes clear that there are many variations as has been pointed out.  It is also clear that models do not always represent what is probably actual practice on ships - this leads to the first question to think through which is do you want to build a 'model of a model', or a model of the ship as it likely existed - there is bountiful evidence of the former, but not the latter.  There are many examples, some of the most noteworthy being that models often appear highly decorated with friezes on blue backgrounds - likely not practical on a real ship, but very appealing to model makers when it seemed to be in fashion.  The other consideration would be availability of paint colours - during the period in question, many colours existed but would have proved prohibitively expensive to all but the richest captains - so its most likely that red and yellow ochre predominated given its availability and low(er) cost.  This does seem to be reflected on most contemporary models, which do not typically show multi-coloured stern decorations (or gold which seems to be some people's preference).  Moving into early 19th century, white and green paint became more fashionable, and affordable and these started to replace the 'ochres'.
 
These, and many more considerations suggest, as has been pointed out above, that there is not really a 'correct' answer, the best you are likely to achieve is 'directionally correct' 🙂
 
For what its worth, I am shamelessly taking the 'model of a model' approach for 'Jason', it is highly unlikely that any of the Artois class would have been so beautifully decorated.  Indeed the only print I can find of 'Jason' shows her with the ubiquitous black hull with a stripe between gunports.

Professionalism and the Fighting Spirit of the Royal Navy
Rules, Regulations, and Traditions that made the British Royal Navy an Effective Fighting Force during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1793-1815 
by Nicholas James Kaizer
BA thesis, Arcadia University. 2015
Professionalism_and_the_Fighting_Spirit.pdf

You can view many models on the NMM site which I would definitely recommend.  Books are an investment, but some I have invested in are the Rogers Collection Volumes 1&2 and 'The Sailing Frigate' by Gardiner, and 'The Ship of the Line' by Lavery.  Both of the latter titles walk you through chronologically the evolution of ships interpreted through existing models.  Absorbing all of the wonderful images of original models is something I will never tire of.  It quickky becomes clear that there are many variations as has been pointed out.  It is also clear that models do not always represent what is probably actual practice on ships - this leads to the first question to think through which is do you want to build a 'model of a model', or a model of the ship as it likely existed - there is bountiful evidence of the former, but not the latter.  There are many examples, some of the most noteworthy being that models often appear highly decorated with friezes on blue backgrounds - likely not practical on a real ship, but very appealing to model makers when it seemed to be in fashion.  The other consideration would be availability of paint colours - during the period in question, many colours existed but would have proved prohibitively expensive to all but the richest captains - so its most likely that red and yellow ochre predominated given its availability and low(er) cost.  This does seem to be reflected on most contemporary models, which do not typically show multi-coloured stern decorations (or gold which seems to be some people's preference).  Moving into early 19th century, white and green paint became more fashionable, and affordable and these started to replace the 'ochres'.
 
These, and many more considerations suggest, as has been pointed out above, that there is not really a 'correct' answer, the best you are likely to achieve is 'directionally correct' 🙂
 
For what its worth, I am shamelessly taking the 'model of a model' approach for 'Jason', it is highly unlikely that any of the Artois class would have been so beautifully decorated.  Indeed the only print I can find of 'Jason' shows her with the ubiquitous black hull with a stripe between gunports.

Jason, While they do not usually make mention of paint, do you have a copy of the Jason contract?  I have found that if you can find a contract for the ship you are modeling, the scantlings and such are extremely helpful overall.   There is a 14 page contract for a number of Artois class ships, including Jason 1794 at RMG.
https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-459306.   As it is a relatively modern ship, the contract was probably printed with typeset so easy to read compared to the hand written contracts from earlier years.
Allan

You can view many models on the NMM site which I would definitely recommend.  Books are an investment, but some I have invested in are the Rogers Collection Volumes 1&2 and 'The Sailing Frigate' by Gardiner, and 'The Ship of the Line' by Lavery.  Both of the latter titles walk you through chronologically the evolution of ships interpreted through existing models.  Absorbing all of the wonderful images of original models is something I will never tire of.  It quickky becomes clear that there are many variations as has been pointed out.  It is also clear that models do not always represent what is probably actual practice on ships - this leads to the first question to think through which is do you want to build a 'model of a model', or a model of the ship as it likely existed - there is bountiful evidence of the former, but not the latter.  There are many examples, some of the most noteworthy being that models often appear highly decorated with friezes on blue backgrounds - likely not practical on a real ship, but very appealing to model makers when it seemed to be in fashion.  The other consideration would be availability of paint colours - during the period in question, many colours existed but would have proved prohibitively expensive to all but the richest captains - so its most likely that red and yellow ochre predominated given its availability and low(er) cost.  This does seem to be reflected on most contemporary models, which do not typically show multi-coloured stern decorations (or gold which seems to be some people's preference).  Moving into early 19th century, white and green paint became more fashionable, and affordable and these started to replace the 'ochres'.
 
These, and many more considerations suggest, as has been pointed out above, that there is not really a 'correct' answer, the best you are likely to achieve is 'directionally correct' 🙂
 
For what its worth, I am shamelessly taking the 'model of a model' approach for 'Jason', it is highly unlikely that any of the Artois class would have been so beautifully decorated.  Indeed the only print I can find of 'Jason' shows her with the ubiquitous black hull with a stripe between gunports.

You can view many models on the NMM site which I would definitely recommend.  Books are an investment, but some I have invested in are the Rogers Collection Volumes 1&2 and 'The Sailing Frigate' by Gardiner, and 'The Ship of the Line' by Lavery.  Both of the latter titles walk you through chronologically the evolution of ships interpreted through existing models.  Absorbing all of the wonderful images of original models is something I will never tire of.  It quickky becomes clear that there are many variations as has been pointed out.  It is also clear that models do not always represent what is probably actual practice on ships - this leads to the first question to think through which is do you want to build a 'model of a model', or a model of the ship as it likely existed - there is bountiful evidence of the former, but not the latter.  There are many examples, some of the most noteworthy being that models often appear highly decorated with friezes on blue backgrounds - likely not practical on a real ship, but very appealing to model makers when it seemed to be in fashion.  The other consideration would be availability of paint colours - during the period in question, many colours existed but would have proved prohibitively expensive to all but the richest captains - so its most likely that red and yellow ochre predominated given its availability and low(er) cost.  This does seem to be reflected on most contemporary models, which do not typically show multi-coloured stern decorations (or gold which seems to be some people's preference).  Moving into early 19th century, white and green paint became more fashionable, and affordable and these started to replace the 'ochres'.
 
These, and many more considerations suggest, as has been pointed out above, that there is not really a 'correct' answer, the best you are likely to achieve is 'directionally correct' 🙂
 
For what its worth, I am shamelessly taking the 'model of a model' approach for 'Jason', it is highly unlikely that any of the Artois class would have been so beautifully decorated.  Indeed the only print I can find of 'Jason' shows her with the ubiquitous black hull with a stripe between gunports.

Glad you are 'happier' B.E., well justified in my humble opinion.  Your tweaks have made all the difference.

Thank you, Yves, Håkan, and Jim, I'm much happier now. 👍
 
Post fourteen
Lining the hull.
Moving on to fitting out the internal hull, the point of a build that most excites my interest.

9561
Multiple card templates were made and tweaked to match the sheer of the hull and run from the bow to stern-sheets.

9565
Once satisfied the patterns were transferred to 0.6mm Pearwood (spare fret from the Sphinx kit)
I tried to get as good fit as I could but the fallback position is that the linings will be painted so a little filler won’t go amiss should the need arise.
A full day at the work bench sees the lining in place, ready for fining down and hopefully joined seamlessly to the lower lining strips.

9568

9570

9567
At this point sanded and filled the internal hull is ready for a coat of paint.

9578

9577

9576

9575
The somewhat trickier business of the decorative panels is up next.
 
B.E.
25/11/2022
 
 
 

That looks SO MUCH better. Well done!

You can view many models on the NMM site which I would definitely recommend.  Books are an investment, but some I have invested in are the Rogers Collection Volumes 1&2 and 'The Sailing Frigate' by Gardiner, and 'The Ship of the Line' by Lavery.  Both of the latter titles walk you through chronologically the evolution of ships interpreted through existing models.  Absorbing all of the wonderful images of original models is something I will never tire of.  It quickky becomes clear that there are many variations as has been pointed out.  It is also clear that models do not always represent what is probably actual practice on ships - this leads to the first question to think through which is do you want to build a 'model of a model', or a model of the ship as it likely existed - there is bountiful evidence of the former, but not the latter.  There are many examples, some of the most noteworthy being that models often appear highly decorated with friezes on blue backgrounds - likely not practical on a real ship, but very appealing to model makers when it seemed to be in fashion.  The other consideration would be availability of paint colours - during the period in question, many colours existed but would have proved prohibitively expensive to all but the richest captains - so its most likely that red and yellow ochre predominated given its availability and low(er) cost.  This does seem to be reflected on most contemporary models, which do not typically show multi-coloured stern decorations (or gold which seems to be some people's preference).  Moving into early 19th century, white and green paint became more fashionable, and affordable and these started to replace the 'ochres'.
 
These, and many more considerations suggest, as has been pointed out above, that there is not really a 'correct' answer, the best you are likely to achieve is 'directionally correct' 🙂
 
For what its worth, I am shamelessly taking the 'model of a model' approach for 'Jason', it is highly unlikely that any of the Artois class would have been so beautifully decorated.  Indeed the only print I can find of 'Jason' shows her with the ubiquitous black hull with a stripe between gunports.

Beautifully done. The time and care taken are paying off big time!

The Colour Blue in Historic Shipbuilding from Antiquity to Modern Times by Joachim Mullerschon, provides a focused, historical view on the maritime and naval use of that color and a generalized history on ship paint and painting practice.  It covers all this in 172 pages of text.  FYI: This book is an historical overview - not a concentrated study on the Royal Navy's painting practice nor that of any other individual nationality. 
 
From this and other sources, my short answer to your question is, not much definitive information concerning it is available. 
 
Areas of Mullerschon's text describing Royal Navy painting practice are punctuated with qualifications e.g., unfortunately, no further details, if, also, or, "standardization was not achieved", "official paintings...showed red instead of blue, while the strict order was to keep them black.", etc. 
 
Painting practices from other nationalities through the 18th century read the same.  An exception comes from paintings, mosaics, models and ancient texts depicting painting practice of the pre-Egyptian through the Roman period.  My impression is, together these sources (along with recent archeological discoveries) provide more veracity to that era's painting practice than can be said for what came much later. 
 
The book is very well illustrated with photos of contemporary paintings and models from around the world from all eras, along with photos of period, modern models and full-size reproductions.  Most of the photos are unique, having been taken by the author. 
 
In your case, from all the sources available to you (and Mullerschon's would be a good one) - Pick one with acknowledged credibility and go to work!            

Hi Beez, think your toned down stern is much more in keeping.  You're making great progress.

Congratulations Mike, you should be very proud of the excellent result!

And yes, my Snake is FINISHED!.  There are some tings I could fix - though I won't - and I will build a display case, but that is it!  I have created a (large) album of photographs of the finished article, you can find here.  And show just a few below: 

 
I am more than delighted by the finished article - in fact truly amazed.  All it took was patience and a willingness (very reluctantly) to see small advances as proper staging posts.  And if I were to offer anyone as green as I was a piece of advice it would be just that - take time to recognise an achievement, and enjoy it.  Which is a segway to another piece of advice (only one more after this): use Model Ship World!  Use it because it's full of advice, encouragement and experience.  But use it because it's a place that you can mark your (small) achievements.  And the final piece of advice?  Something about skills.  It was going to be about CA glue (use tiny drops), but on reflection the most important skillI acquired and used hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of times was this gem about how to seize or whip a rope.  Finally the best, or perhaps happiest, piece of advice I received was to get hold of a copy of Modelling the brig of war "Irene" by E.W. Petrejus.  It is not only a beautiful book about a very similar vessel, but displays a depth of appreciation for such a vessel that I now find I have myself
 
A few words on the kit.  On the whole it's very good.  I found the materials very good most of the time, and the design convincing with lots of detail.  The plans varied from excellent to fair, and in fact the only real criticism I would have would be about the instructions - they were worse than poor - risible would be a better description.  In scope I think this is essentially a challenging build for a relative new comer, but the absence of instructions makes it much harder.  I'm glad in retrospect that I self-educated myself through the weeks and months of challenges, but for quite a lot of that time I felt distinctly bitter that just a few sentences of guidance would have made life much nicer.  So my words of caution would be: you will need many skills, and quite a bit of knowledge; your'e on your own there.
 
But somehow, the whole thing is more, and better than, the sum of its parts.  I have a profound appreciation of the business-like lines of the hull, the crowded war-like deck, and the absence of ornamentation.  This was a working, fierce small ship.   Yet above that nearly brutal gun platform towers a pyramid of slender spars and  silk-like ropes to create a thing of beauty and a article of mechanical near perfection.   I probably spent about 1000 hours bringing forth this glory - it was worth every one of them.
 
So what next?  I do not know - something small.  Or large?  Something more modern, or not.  Something military or commercial.   But something!
 
With that, thanks for your company.  See you again.
 
 

Good Morning folks...
 
I had previously made a bunch of frames as a test that can now be placed on the keel.  But before I do that, let me show you the plan for two "Tall" full height frames.  I just want to show you guys the differences you will encounter between some of these.  Primarily the fact that some of the frames will have a full floor section across the keel with futtocks on either side.  like the one below...
 

 
Others will will have a FLOOR Chock that sits on the keel with the futtocks following on either side up to the sheer.  This is typical so when you are searching for the parts on the frames you are building, beware of the two variations.   This type of square frame construction will alternate every other frame on the keel.
 

 
With this in mind, it is time to place the very first "TALL" frame on your model.  I strongly urge you to start with frame "Aa".  This frame is shown on the build board template so you will be able to ensure that it is centered and perfectly vertical.  This is so crucial.  This first frame you place on the keel is crucial that you glue it on perfect vertical and centered port and starboard.   The reason is that all subsequent frames will "Lock" into each other across the the jig cross bar.
 
Before you begin...Make sure the three center keel notches line up with those shown on the build board template.  Adjust your keel on the build board before gluing in the first frame.
 
So a few notes:   
 
You will absolutely need many good quality metal squares.  I have about 7 of these in various sizes.  They are heavy steel squares.
 
I used four of them to align this first frame "Aa" on the keel.  Remember to have it facing the right direction.  The arrow on the jig cross piece always faces forward.
 

In the photo above you can see a square placed against the outside of the frame on both sides.   It is basically at the frames widest part or maximum unfaired width.   This should line up with the outside hull line on the build board template.  This marks the Maximum breadth or width of the hull.   Now it may not fall exactly on the line because you havent faired the hull frames yet,  but it will be very close.   I left a lot of meat on those frames for fairing.  The important thing to remember is to make sure that it is equal distance from the "maximum breadth line".
 
In addition you can see one more square on each side of the frame.  These are used to ensure that the frame is perfectly vertical.  They sit against the fore side of the frame.  The metal squares are quite heavy with a flat block on the bottom.  So they stay where you place them.  I applied some yellow glue to the notch and seated it on the keel.  
 
Moving the heavy squares before the glue set,  the frame was adjusted so it was in the correct position.  I left the squares where they were until the glue fully dried.
 
From this point on you can start adding the remaining "Tall" full height frames next to it.  They should fit perfectly needing only minor adjustment as the cross bar jig on each frame act like puzzle pieces.   Concentrate on building and installing several tall full height frames first.  See below.  I have installed 5 of them.
 

They are glued directly to the keel...BUT,  I have yet to glue the cross jig bars together.  I am not really sure you need to do so.  I have simply used a length of tape to secure them to one another.   This will be advantageous when we cut them free after planking.  We will be able to remove one jig cross bar at a time rather than the whole top which would be more cumbersome to do. 
 
See the tops all fit together like a puzzle piece below.  The tape holds them tightly together and it is quite sturdy.   
 
ALSO...note the spaces left between these full height frames.   These spaces are for the "Short" frames I mentioned.  With the spaces fore them now defined, we can start adding those.   The "short" frames fall where there are gunports and sweep ports.  They have a port sill or sweep port designed into the tops of the frames.   We will cover there construction and mounting next.
 

 
Any questions...there is a lot to cover but since this will be a kit and possible group build I want to make sure my descriptions are thorough and understandable.
 
DRAT...notice that one frame where I forgot to sand the laser char from the inside edge....That will leave a dirty mess of dust when I fair the interior.  I will try and clean that up ahead of time.  Its important to try and get the majority of laser char off of the inside and outside edges before you make up each frame.  That dirt char dust will get everywhere and make your frames look dirty later when you fair the hull.
 
If you examine the framing plan you will notice that above the wales...the framing get interesting and unique.   Since this will be covered with planking it does NOT follow actual framing practices.  It was designed with ease of construction in mind.  Here is an early draft of the framing...showing the first few frames I have drafted and built in this post.   It will help put into perspective what I am describing.
 

 
WHAT A TREAT!!!  No big box of scaffolding all around your frames and hull so you cant see what you are building.  Its a very different concept than all of those POF kits folks are buying on EBAY and ALI EXPRESS.
 
 

There will be for lack of better terminology, two styles of frames.   There will be "TALL", full height frames,  and "Short" frames.  The taller frames extend up to the sheer line and beyond, terminating at the top with the cross jig piece.  The cross jig piece is crucial to the entire build concept.  It assures the frame is the correct width and shape when you build it.  There is no need to build these on top of a plan of the frame.  They will all come out the same size when finished, if you don't over sand any scarf joints.   The joints between the frame sections are precision laser cut.  BUT I left them slightly longer.  Most of the frames we will be building are of the tall variety and all need to made first and placed onto the keel.  They need to be on the keel so the "short" frames can be added in the remaining open spots for them.   More on those later.
 
But lets build our first TALL full length square frame.  We will be building them in groups.  The first group of square frames will contain about 12 or 14 frames.   
 
Here is a look at the first full length frame unbuilt.
 

I highly recommend that you remove the laser char from the outside edges and inside edges before assembling each frame.  In this case it is frame "Ba".  But dont tough or remove the chare from any of the scarf joints that connect each section.  They are precision cut and wont be the correct shape if you monkey around with the char on those.   The will almost glue up perfectly as is.   But I show circled in red the two sides on each scarf joint you will need to sand.   These were intentionally left a bit longer.   You need to test fit each segment together first and then sand a bit from one end of the scarf joint.  Test it again.  If needed tweak the circled ends only to close up the scarf joint so it fits tightly.
 
A few NOTES...
 
The floors and futtocks are different thicknesses.  See the books for details.  This creates a stepped edge on the frames.   MAKE SURE...you check the framing plan to see which side of the frame should have that stepped edge.  It could be on the fore or on the aft side.   In some cases where you have three thicknesses you might actually have to steps.  Each frame is different and some frames could even show this stepped joint on both sides of the frames.   So carefully examine the framing plan.
 
On all the square frames the floors and floor chocks are always 5/16" thick.   The square frames will always alternate with one solid floor that spans across the keel in one piece, followed by the next frame which will have the 5/16" thick floor built up with a "floor chock" in the center.   You will see this detail in the Seawatch books clearly and this proper framing structure is followed for the kit.
 
The futtocks and top timbers are 1/4" thick in most cases.   But in order to simplify the building process it was sometimes necessary to use a third thickness for the top timbers that fall next to a gun port or sweep port.   In some cases these were made using 3/16" and 5/32" thick Cedar.   Whenever this happens I have made note of it on the framing plan so you can better find those parts on the appropriate laser cut sheet.
 
Remember that no drawings of each frame are provided as built or as individual parts because we must do our very best to prevent unscrupulous Chinese manufacturers among others from copying the kit illegally.  So check the framing plan for the number of parts for each frame and their thicknesses.  
 
You should only work on one frame at a time and only remove those parts from the sheets for that frame to avoid mixing them up.  They are all labelled.  
 
So working one frame at a time, first check the plans for the number of parts in that frame.   Then look for them on the laser cut sheets.
 
Finished frame assembled...
 

Note the top cross piece which acts as a jig.   Each frame added to the keel extends the jig and keeps the whole hull its proper shape and perfectly aligned.
 
Make sure you have the cross piece facing the correct direction.  There is a laser etched arrow down the center of the cross piece which always points forward.   Double and triple check that your frame and cross piece are facing the right way before you glue this cross piece in position.  The cross piece should always be the very last segment you glue in position.  Dont sand any char from this cross piece at all.  Measurements are precise and very important.   None of it will show anyway and these jig tops will be cut free once we plank the hull.  They are basically going to end up in the trash. so no need to clean up the cross pieces.
 
When sanding the char off the other frame pieces inboard and out you will notice that I left the char above the tiny notches on each frame.  Those notches indicate the sheer of the hull.  Any surface above the notches and sheer line do not have to have any char removed at all.
 
More finished tall frames with the cross jig piece.
 

The Frame Chocks...
 
These are just simulated.  We dont have to mess around with actual tiny chocks.   The joints between frame segments are actually simple scarf joints.  There is a laser etched line to help simulate the full chock on one side of the frame.  You can if you like,  scribe the same on the other side or even just use a pencil.  But truthfully these frames are so close together you wont actually see the lines anyway.  I am not going to simulate the chock lines on the unetched side.
 
BUT...you will notice after you glue up your frame that the chocks look off....
 
The step in the frame should actually be straight across the center of the chock.  I have strategically made the chock full thickness.   This needs to be addressed on all frames.
 
It will initially look like this.  It has a full thickness chock and half of it needs to be thinned down to complete the step.

 Use a sharp #11 blade to place a stop cut down the center of the chock as if it extends across the entire frame.  Then slowly and carefully shave that thicker half of the chock down flush with the next segment (the futtock) of the frame.   See below.
 

Until it looks like this....nice and cleaned up.
 

Then the char can be removed from the inside and outside edges of the frame.  Or better yet clean those before you even glue up all the frame segments.
 
This needs to be done to every joint and really does look like it should with proper chocks.  Nobody will ever know.
 
You might have also noticed that each joint is treenailed at the chocks.  This is optional.  You can follow the framing plan for the placement of those.   This is finicky to say the least.  If they arent all uniform in distance within a group from frame to frame it wont look good at all.  I have seen wooden treenails used here.  I decided to show them but I am not using wooden treenails. If not done properly and all of the same size, again they would look really bad.   Better to leave these off the model than risk that.  So I am just using more black fishing line.  They are always the same size.  I am using 25 pound line for these.   Wooden treenails turn black anyway because of the end grain.  We shall see later after the hull is all framed up if this was a mistake.  You will have to make a decision about this for your model.
 

 
Tomorrow I start gluing frames onto the keel....
 
 
 

The start of my build log...always a very exciting moment for a model builder!!
 
I am assuming most of you are somewhat familiar with the Ketch Rigged English Sloop Speedwell - 1752.   David Antscherl and Greg Herbert have produced a wonderful series of books for model builders on how to build a great model of her.   Not only can you build one as a POF model,  but as a POB and lift model as well.
 
Why would I choose this as my subject.  Those of you that know me,  I have always selected a subject that was unique at the time.  Never been done!!!  The Syren, The Winnie, The Cheerful etc.  I chose this subject for several reasons actually, knowing full well that this would become a commercial laser cut kit like my other Syren projects.
 
First- I never really wanted to build a POF model.  I prefer the look of a fully planked hull myself.  But the craftsman side of me won out as I was looking for a challenge beyond just another POB project.  I can build those and sometimes it feels like I am just going through the formulaic motions with each of them.   This would certainly be a design and engineering challenge as much as a builder challenge.
 


Second-  I am always increasingly frustrated and disappointed to regularly see pirated kits come out almost monthly as of late.  Mostly all the rage are those POF kits from China. 
 
A coincidence??  That almost all of them released are also subjects of Ancre, Seawatch, or Anatomy of the Ship Books.  I think not.
 
You may have noticed the latest pirated kit produced from one of David Antscherl's designs, the Hayling Hoy is now making its rounds.  None of the parts fit as is typical and the instructions render this kit almost unbuildable....again very typical.  Just check out the build logs of pirated Hayling kit from China on other forums.  Its a complete disaster and a waste of money.  Literally unbuildable but they are still selling them to unsuspecting builders.
 
So I reached out to David and Greg and asked them if I could develop the Speedwell before a really bad pirated version is released (and one is actually on the way-surprised?)  They agreed and are as excited as I am about it.  I just dont want to see a crappy unbuildable version of Speedwell being sold to builders.   Hopefully they will wait until this one is released.  Maybe I should do one of Hayling as well. LOL.
 
My goal...to design a kit based on the books where the parts actually do fit.   One that would encourage POF building for folks who want to give it a try.   To also write a set of English instructions that are in depth and easy to understand.  In short, to make a legitimate kit of from a Seawatch book under license and permission from the author with the authors help and guidance.  Will this stop folks from building the knock-off version when it comes out.....probably not.  But at least you will now have a choice.  The pirated version of Speedwell is currently almost ready and being done by the same company who pirated Hayling.   Coincidence again??  I think not.
 
Also and I dont mean to digress....but a pirated version of yet another Seawatch book....Ed Tosti's Naiad Frigate is also set for release very soon as well.   Again a coincidence...I think Not.    Why dont you ever see a subject from these guys that wasnt first a Seawatch Book or Ancre book?   Honest inquiring minds want to know.
 
Anyway
 
There will be differences between my Speedwell of course.  I will be modifying it for simplicity so  you dont have to be a master builder with every expensive tool in shop.   The design concept for this POF model will be unique and allow a novice and intermediate builder to tackle it.   It will also be at 3/8" scale which should also make it much easier to build.  
 
Here is the preliminary framing plan which will show just how different it will be.
 

It will be planked from the wales upward so there is no reason to over complicate the project with bent frames....If you compared this to David's plan it is completely different.  BUT make no mistake.   Yes the folks who pirate these POF projects will claim its different and therefore original. 
 
BUT make no mistake.  This is a 100% copy of Davids work.   All of this is directly lifted from his plans and only modified to make production and building a bit easier.   But it is a copy...literally traced.  But the difference here is I give full credit to David and will be paying for the privilege to use his knowledge and expertise and hard work and years of research on this subject.  
 
I do hope you will swing over a chair and watch this new Speedwell project come to life.  A huge thank you to David and to Greg who will no doubt think I am pain in biscuit by the time this is completed.
 
speedwellsheetone.pdf
 
speedwellsheettwo.pdf
 
speedwellsheetthree.pdf
 
SpeedChapOneMono.pdf

SpeedChapTwoMono.pdf
 
 
 

@Wayne - I miss seeing progress on your Enterprise, hopefully soon (?)  That will be a beauty!
@Mark - I aspire to be able to do what your are achieving on your excellent Le Rochefort build, would love to do a POF one one day and I need to bone up on basic woodworking techniques first.
 
Quarterdeck plansheer (capping rail?):
 
Work can now commence on the quarterdeck plansheer given that the upper hull profile is finalised.  This will be a rather long process given the many breaks in the smooth run of the plansheer.  Starting with the quarterdeck, a 'lego' type approach was taken to build items individually and then combine on the hull.  While more time consuming (what does that matter!), my feeling was that it would give more control over the outcome.  3 pieces will be needed, and will be referred to rather unimaginatively as pieces 1,2 and 3 becuase I have no idea how better to refer to them.  (Given that 2D plans don't seem to translate 3D, I have attempted to study as many pictures of contemporary models, plans and the many high quality builds here - all I could really glean was that there are many ways to approach this, and this approach is probably a compromise.).  This is the area I'm talking about:
Piece #1:  from the gunwale, around the main drift volute to the terminaton of the scroll decoration (yellow) Piece #2: middle section with a scroll type detail on one end (green) Piece #3: section following the profile caused by the break of the quarterdeck drift rail to the main rail (red) Construction of Piece #1:
Without anythig sufficient thick to hand, 4mm pear sheet wood was laminated together and ever increasing holes drilled until 6mm had been achieved (curvature of volute top).  A hand drill had to be used for this as I don't have a drill press.  Care was taken to ensure that the grain was running perpendicular to the hole which I suspect will give the strongest final result.  The hole was then very carefully reduced on the circular sander until just before the hole was opened up.  (I managed to do this on both sides which allowed 2 sections to be made from one hole).  1mm thick strips were then attached on each side, with PVA glue only being used on one side and clamped.  Once thoroughly dry, the piece was roughly shaped toward its final form of a 1mm thick curve.  The part was cut in half, releasing each curved section for final finishing using sanding sticks.  (Note:  the downside of only having a hand drill means it is very difficult to get perpendicular holes, and the top block shows a failure to allow for this).

Construction of Piece #2:
The scroll detail is probably the most complicated item to deal with.  To start, sandpaper wrapped around a section of 6mm dowel and a curved profile introduced into some 4mm cherry sheet.  The section was then temporarily glued to some scrap to allow the excess material to be carefully removed on the circular sander, (a technique that is becoming very familiar!).  The two halves were detatched, and glued to a pre-shaped section of 1.5mm thick pear because the curve of the hull is a factor.  The first photo below shows this starting point from which the final form was shaped.  The second photo shows progress mid way through shaping.  To account for the scroll detail, a circular needle file was used to introduce a profile into which some pre-made 1.5mm pear dowel could be glued. 
Construction of Piece #3:
This was constructed in exactly the same way as piece #1,  only  difference being that 1.5mm was used for the plansheer.
 
Once each step was completed, the pieces can the be individually fine tuned prior to installation, each having deliberately been made a little long.  A profile was introduced in the usual fashion using a profile cut into a safety razor blade (see final pics below):

The curved sections proved not unexpectedly to be the most challenging to fine tune.  The aft end of piece #3 terminates in a gun port which would be relatively easy to finish when the time comes, so this was fitted fitted first.  The most worrying thing here was coping the angle of the curved portion to tie into the aft end of piece #2 to avoid a time intensive redo (65deg was found to be the solution).  Piece #2 was then very carefully shortened until it sat correctly.  Before piece #1 could be finalized, the gunwale was made up to ensure correct positioning and shaping as piece #1 will butt up against both.
 
And the results...
Everything is dryfit only for now.  Pins were used to temporarily hold the various sections in place, these can be easily filled, although efforts were made to place these where the timber heads will cover them.  With the exception of the gunwale, the plansheer sections have not yet been painted but have been coloured with artist pens to help my eye determine final proportions.  The final shot below shows how even the relatively minor curve of the hull at this point needs to be accounted for.  I have a lot of work ahead of me to finish off the other areas so will likely be a while before another update, but must confess to be being very pleased with the way this turned out.