Beef Wellington

Post One hundred and Sixty-eight.
 
A question of Boomkins
 I have been thinking about the finishing requirements for the headworks.
 The most obvious items as yet to be fitted are the Boomkins, pointing outwards and downwards to take the Fore tacks.

The contemporary Amazon model has them in place, but most ‘Navy Board’ style models don’t.
I have concerns that these not particularly attractive spars will detract from the graceful headworks of Sphinx.
The only way to find out is to make up the Boomkins.

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The Boomkins as presented in the kit are straight, but I decided to add a degree of downward curve beyond the headrails.
This was applicable up to around 1780, but my main purpose is purely one of aesthetics, adding a little more grace to these utilitarian spars.
The kit version has a scale length of 9’ 7” (46mm) giving an outboard length of around 5’ 6”
 It looked a little short to my eye.

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The Pandora book plans indicate an overall length of 13’ (61.9mm) with an outboard length of 8’ 9”
Pegasus has Boomkins with an overall length of 11’4”
 
Lees refers to the earliest booms protruding outboard by around six feet but longer by around 1733.
 
The acid test is really whether the Fore tack has fair running once all the other lines running inboard are in place.
This won’t be of relevance on this build, but the subject tasked my mind a fair bit during my Pegasus build.
 
I finally settled on a Boomkin length of 54mm which looked best to my eye.
 
The Boomkins are made using 3mm ø walnut dowel, I selected a colour on the paler spectrum of walnut.
 
The boom tapers to 2mm at the shoulder that retains the strop of the shoulder block that serves the Fore Tack.
The shoulder is 3mm long.

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The angle of the Boomkins is positioned to line up with that of the Foreyard when braced sharply. (Lees)

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To my eye they do detract from the grace of the headworks so skilfully replicated by Chris Watton, and I won’t include them on my display.
 
On a masted and rigged version, they would of course be a necessary requirement.
 
I will next see if the Berthing rails make the cut.
 
 
B.E.
05/10/2022
 

Post One hundred and Sixty-seven.
 
More on Cranes
 Having pondered on the subject of the Quarter cranes for a few days, I have finally decided to fit them.

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 I do like to see iron work on ship models, and they do not obscure or detract from the decorative topsides which was my main concern.

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I have included the micro back plates, but they are the very devil’s invention for handling and filing to fit.

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 Several of them pinged away into the ether never to be seen again, but faux plates are easily replicated using thin black card, and the difference cannot be detected.

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As with the other cranes thin brass wire is threaded thro’ the eyes to help maintain position.

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Even with short nubs the cranes held well using a smear of ca to attach to the hull.

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Looks a little like a forest of cranes in these macro shots, but foreshortening gives something of a false impression.

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A little more enhancement to the Headworks now.
 
 
B.E.
02/10/2022
 
 
 

Awesome progress David...been 'away' and missed so much of your progress, probably overloaded your inbox with 'likes' 🙂

Awesome progress David...been 'away' and missed so much of your progress, probably overloaded your inbox with 'likes' 🙂

Awesome progress David...been 'away' and missed so much of your progress, probably overloaded your inbox with 'likes' 🙂

Thanks everyone for the likes and comments
 
With the masts in place it’s time to start rigging…
 
All the standing rigging will be made from hemp or cotton rope coloured with Jacobean Oak wood stain, except for certain stays and ropes where I have bought dark brown cable-laid rope from ‘Ropes of Scale’.
 
Beginning with the foremast, the first to be added are the tackle pendants. These are fully served with dark brown Gutterman cotton thread. The kit instructions suggest that a pair are fitted to each side of the fore and main mast and singles to the mizzen but Lees says ships below 50 guns had only one each side. I found it easiest to make these tackles in pairs so for the fore and main masts, that is what I have gone with.
 
The shrouds are 1mm rope which is nearest to the calculated 0.96mm. They are laid in pairs starting with the foremost starboard pair. According to Lees, the foremost shroud is fully served and the rest served to 8ft below the centre of the pair equating to 38mm. I used 40mm for simplicity. This is slightly different from the kit instructions, which suggests that the serving comes further down the second and subsequent shrouds to about the level of the futtock stave.
 
The first snag that I found was that despite thinking I had lined up the guns to avoid shooting out the shrouds – they weren’t and needed moving by 4 or 5mm. This meant some reworking along the capping rail and moving the timberheads to get better alignment of the gunports was required.


The second problem was that as when rigging HMS Fly, I found that preventing the deadeye from rotating while keeping the shroud tight and tying the throat seizing took several attempts, particularly on the first shroud which is much stiffer because of the serving. Once the throat seizing is secure then tying the remaining two seizings is made simpler using my ‘quad hands’. The fore top wasn’t as firmly fixed as I’d thought and I managed to knock it off when laying the second pair of shrouds. However it was now much easier to tighten the seizing around the head of the mast and I wish that I’d left them all off until shrouds and stays were fitted.


The lanyards are 0.5mm rope and threaded starting from the right-hand hole in the deadeye. Lees's diagram only shows shrouds and deadeyes from inboard. To help with threading, I made my own drawing looking from outboard and hope that I have them all in the right orientation.

 This last shot gave me a bit of a fright and made me go back and check but it must be the camera angle that makes the chains and deadeyes look out of line because they are ok on the ship 
The lanyards are not finally tied off and looking at the tensions in the shrouds, I think that one or two will need to be reset. I plan to do them all at the same time when shrouds are in place for all three masts.
 
Thanks for looking in
David

Thanks again for all the likes and encouragement.
 
Over the last few weeks in between completing the hull and deck fittings, I have been working on the tops. There is quite a bit of work in them and they have taken some time.
But first I needed to finish the mast heads.
They were completed with ‘iron’ bands made from black cartridge paper and then mast battens added made from 3x1 walnut on the main and 1mm square on the fore and mizzen masts. The battens have recesses cut in to allow for the bands.
 
The tops started with the kit bases and gunwales but I thought that they would benefit from some extra work. I used the drawing on page 81 of the AotS Diana as my pattern and enlarged it to 1:64 scale. For the planking, I used the thinnest strip that I had, some 5mm boxwood and the gunwale was laid over the top.
 
The batten pieces for the main top were laid according to the pattern in the AotS which is slightly different from that in the instructions. The forward pieces radiate from a point on the forward edge of the lower mast and the aftmost from a point on the after edge.  The fore and mizzen tops have a similar arrangement but the mizzen has fewer battens.
PHOTO
This arrangement of timbers leaves little space to place the eyebolts in between.
The swivel socket pieces were added and the whole assembly painted matt black
The Rail and stanchions were made according to the kit instructions using 1.5mm walnut. I cut a shallow rebate in the rail for each stanchion and when all glued together seems quite sturdy.

The kit instructions say to fix the buntline and leechline blocks to the crosstrees with an eyebolt but in reality they were suspended from the floor of the top just aft of the crosstrees with toggles . I thought that it would be easier to add them now rather than when the tops were fixed in place.
The strop was first seized around the toggle - a 1mm square strip and then threaded through the hole in the top.

Using my quad hands, another seizing was formed around the strop and set at a distance to allow the block to hang beneath the crosstree. I used a piece of scrap 1mm square strip as a spacer. Finally the block was fixed in the strop with a dab of GS hypo and the strop tied off in a simple overhand knot.

 
The trestletrees and crosstrees were rounded at each end and the lower edges outside the area of the hole of the top were given a slight chamfer as described by Lees in the section on Tops, Caps and Trucks. The trestletrees should have a slight rebate for the mast head but as it would not be noticed once the standing rigging was in place, I decided not to bother. I used 3x4 section rather than 3x3 for the bolsters to give a slight overhang of the trestletree. Finally the crosstrees were glued in place making sure all was symmetrical.



The completed lower masts

 
 
 

Thanks to all for the likes.
 
I’ve added the deck fittings and checked through the plans for any missing eyebolts around the hull and added them where needed. The fittings have been made up already so this part is mostly a photo update. Tiller ropes were added to the wheel and cleats to the forward legs of the belfry for the fore top gallant braces







 
For the stanchions at the ladders between gun deck and gangways and quarterdeck I used HiS Model brass eyebolts. The threads were filed down and then blackened in the usual way.
 


 
The hammock cranes have been fixed to the midships. The position of each hammock crane was marked on masking tape placed along the gangway.  I used black netting bought from CMB and left over from HMS Fly but I’m not happy with the results. The knots look too big and ugly to my eyes and I think I would prefer to use white or off-white netting. There is no comparison with the netting in my photos of the Victory, which have a less tidy appearance and somehow look more natural. I’m not sure how it is possible to achieve such a look using the monofil nettings that are available, so for the moment they will stay as they are. Maybe the eye will be drawn away from the netting when there is some rigging in place.


It feels good to have reached this stage and have the hull completed after 20 months of work. There is some touching up of paintwork and general tidying up to do but no doubt Diana will suffer more knocks during the masting and rigging to follow so I will leave the finishing touches till towards the end.
 
David

Thanks to everyone for the likes
 
The 2.5mm blocks arrived from HiS Model so I have been able to continue working on rigging the carronades. It proved to be quite frustrating becuase I was getting a lot of failures of knots and thread. I used clove hitches instead of siezings which against 2.5mm block look fine and a simple half hitch to complete the strop. I think that the failures were partly that the 2mm PE hooks are quite sharp on the edge. If I had to do a lot of fiddling to get the hook into the eyelet the hook tended to wear through the strop of the block. Also I was either cutting the excess thread too close to the knots or the knots weren’t holding. I must have re-tied some  tackles 3 or 4 times. In the end I found that the best glue to hold the knots was G-S Hypo Cement, an adhesive meant mainly for gluing jewellery and I left a little more tailing than I would have liked.
The wheels of the 9 pounders were rubbed on sandpaper before glueing with PVA to give a slight flat and provide better contact with the deck. The port tackles and breeching ropes were hooked on to the bulwarks. I am undecided about adding training tackles particularly for the carronades but will leave them off for now.
I tried to get as natural a fall to the ropes as I could by painting them with dilute PVA and using pins to weight them into a natural position. Sometimes this would take a couple of cycles to achieve something that I was happy with.
 


And the competed guns
 
 

 


Most of the fittings for the forecastle and quarterdecks are already made so hopefully it will be a simple job to add them and complete the hull.
 
David

This is my method for staining ropes. As I've said, it's a bit crude but it will work for short lengths. I have so far managed to run 4 metres of rope through at one go without difficulty by laying it onto a rod to dry as I go.
 
It's best to wear gloves and probably an apron because it can be a bit messy if the rope flicks out at any point.
Hopefully the following sequence of photos will explain...

The roller on the right is made from a cut-down rope bobbin on the left (Amati I think) and a bolt CA'd into it. A head from a second bolt is cut off and glued to the other end to balance the weight.
 

The thread for staining is placed underneath the roller and dropped into the jar containing just enough stain to cover the thread

Lightly grip the thread with the tweezers with one hand and pull the thread through with the other. This will remove most of the excess stain which will flow back into the jar.
 
When all the thread has run through, I lightly pull it through some kitchen towel and then hang it from a rod to dry.
 


I'm sure that this process could be made more sophisticated but it doesn't take long to run the thread through and dry it off and is probably good enough for what I will want to do.
I have tried to simply drop the rope into a tray of stain but it is messy to handle, you need a bigger vessel and there is the danger of the thread tangling as it is removed especially with finer threads.
 
Hope this  helps
 
David
 
 
 

Thanks for the likes.
 
The hemp ropes arrived from CMB so I set about testing them to see if they absorbed the stain better than the mixed synthetic ropes that I had tried before. The results were not very promising. I checked the ropes with the standard burning test and they were certainly cellulosic: probably cotton rather than hemp so they should have absorbed the stain better. It made me wonder whether it was the wood stain itself rather than the thread that was the problem. I had a walnut stain from a different manufacturer (Colron) and this produced a much deeper colour on both the cotton and synthetic ropes.
I bought some Colron Jacobean Oak wood stain from my local DIY store and retested the ropes. Lo and behold, both types took up the colour. The Colron stains are water-based and notably thicker than the first stain I tried. These are the results:

 
 
The mixed synthetic rope absorbs the stain to a lesser degree than the cellulosic but the Colron stain was so much better, requiring only a couple of dips to get the even colour that I was looking for.
 
Serves me right for trying to get away with a cheap own-brand wood stain from a discount store.
I have made a simple dipping trough out of one of those individual jam pots and a cut-down thread spool weighted with a bolt. It needs more refinement but works well enough for short lengths.

I have finished the wooldings to the lower masts and bowsprit using stained 1.0mm cotton rope from Mamoli and which are 5mm wide. The bands are 0.6mm wide and still to be added. They will be cut from a manilla file folder.
 

 
David

Thanks for all the likes and Andrew, I think that you will be much happier with Chris's version of the carronade.
 
 
I have ordered a further supply of rigging blocks from HiS Model and persuaded my wife that as it was nearly my birthday, an ideal present would be sufficient blocks to replace all those supplied by Caldercraft to finish Diana.
While waiting for the blocks to arrive, I began making the lower masts and bowsprit. Based on the sizes given in the AotS and Lees Masting and Rigging, the diameters of both the lower main mast and bowsprit were too small. I calculated that the lower mainmast should be 11.2mm at the upper deck partner and the bowsprit the same at the home (which I took to be the point at which it enters the hull). I redrew all the lower masts based on the quarters and proportions given by Lees and used this as the basis for making them.


Most recommendations for mast making are to start with square stock but I couldn’t find any suitable material that was available in the UK so I will be using ramin dowel. I began each mast by planning and sanding the square section mast head then using my Proxxon lathe I shaped the tapers of each mast. The diameter of all except the mizzen mast are too large for the lathe chuck, so the sections below the partners wetre planed and then sanded down in my hand drill. These sections are now undersized compared to the plan but as they will be below decks, they will not be seen.
 
 
I used the cheeks from the kit but made the front fish from 4x2 walnut strip rather than the 3x2 suggested in the instructions which looked undersized to me.
The masts are painted in yellow ochre. Iron bands are made from strips of black cartridge paper but to a slightly different pattern from the Caldercraft plan and more in line with that shown in the AotS.

 
This is as far as I got with the masts because the blocks have now arrived. Great service as they were delivered in just over a week after I ordered them from the Czech Republic. They look very good and so much nicer than the usual square blocks. I am now pressing on with rigging the guns and carronades.

Those 2.5mm blocks on the left are really tiny. I hope I've ordered enough!
 
David

Since my last post, I studied Lees in more detail and concluded that the cleats will remain just cleats. I still don’t understand why the illustrations on page 170 shows cavel cleats with sheaves in 1710 but maybe this practice had gone out of favour by the time Diana was built.
 
The cavel blocks part (115) have reduced in length by 2mm to fit the bulwarks of the open rails on the quarterdeck and I have followed Ray’s lead on his Diana build and added a sliver of 1mm to the back of each cleat to lift it clear of the inner wall.
 

 
The quarterdeck balustrade was made up from kit parts. The instruction to cut 4mm lengths of 4x4 walnut for the lower section doesn’t take into account the camber of the deck and they need to be increased in length for all but the inner two pieces if the balustrade is to sit parallel.
 
I reworked the replacement Caldercraft ship’s wheel by stripping off the dark brown colour and repainted it to a lighter shade which was more appealing to my eye. Prompted by B.E.’s comment in the log of his wonderful model of HMS Sphinx (https://modelshipworld.com/topic/29570-hms-sphinx-1775-by-blue-ensign-vanguard-models-164-scale ), I also include flanges at each end of the barrel.
 
The replacement Carronades from Vanguard Models arrived promptly and have been completed. The small pieces of photo etch were a challenge and in fact I lost four of them during the chemical blacking process and are probably now lodged in the filters of some Severn-Trent water works. Replacements were made from the remaining pieces of brass sheet. I hope that these poor substitutes will not be too noticeable when they are rigged.
 

The two carronades with only one front block are intended for the forecastle which has lower walls.
 
This completes the work on the various elements of the forecastle and quarter deck, apart from rigging the guns and below are a few photos showing everything in place. Nothing is fixed yet as I will need as much space as possible for rigging the guns to mitigate my general clumsiness and tendency to snag any protruding parts.
 
It feels good to have reached this landmark and to see Diana as a ship rather than a collection of parts but now they will all be removed and bagged up for safekeeping.
 







It looks like the forecastle carronades are firing into the sea just off the bow so I will need to add the second block at the front to raise them to a more neutral position.
After that I will not be able to put off gun rigging any longer. I have some 2.5mm blocks from Vanguard but stupidly I didn't buy enough to complete all the guns and as Chris is out of stock, unfortunately if I am to complete the guns, will have to look elsewhere.
 
 
David

Beautiful work that many can only aspire to, would love to follow your progress.

So, 7 months later I'm back - 3 months downunder, a month cycling and then a kitchen to build.  Re-engaged with some anchors and some stays.

Good afternoon to everyone :)

Amazing work Mike, those PE modifications are a great idea and perfectly executed.  Those small enhancements add yet more depth to the model.

Beautiful work, and you work so quickly!

Thanks to everyone for the likes
 
A while ago, I made up three sections of the open rails of the quarterdeck as a trial. It seemed to work well enough and so the same method has been used to complete all the other sections. A cardboard template was used to maintain the line. For the trial pieces, the timberheads were cut from walnut ply but I switched to pearwood strip which is easier to shape gives a much cleaner finish.
 

 
The top rail (the fife rail?) is also made from lime which although a bit soft, is easier to bend from one piece and once painted it hardens up. The strip was first soaked and edge bent to the shape of the quarter deck and then the final downward curve at the forward end of the rail was made with the help of a sample bottle ('The Driver's Dram') of Kilchoman whisky acquired during a recent visit to the Isaly distillery.

As an aside (and I have no connection to the distillery except to enjoy its produce), I think that this is the only Scottish distillery to grow and malt its own barley for some of its whiskys.
 
Despite trying to be as careful as possible with measurements against the template, there were still some supports that were too short and needed replacement to make the rail to run smoothly over its entire length.

Once I was happy that it all lined up, the rail was pinned and glued in place and left overnight.

The taffarel fife rail was next to make up, again using lime strip. I wasn’t sure whether the supports were meant to be round or square. The kit says use 2mm dowel but I opted to make them from 2.5mm square section boxwood. The rail was cut oversized and first edge-bent and then curved to follow the lines of the stern. The four supports are in line with the stern-light frames and were pinned and glued in place and the whole assembly painted black. When test fitting this to the taffarel, I realised that the arrangement of the quarterdeck rail was not going to work. Looking again at the photographs of the ship models of Diana in Gardiner's The Sailing Frigate, the plansheer of the aftmost section of rail should continue to the finish at the level of the stern and meet the taffarel fife rail. The top quarterdeck rail finishes at the final support.
 
The final section of the quarterdeck rails was carefully removed and replaced. I was able re-use the supports so only had to cut a new section of plansheer.
 

When matched up, the fife rail was cut to length and glued and pinned in place.
 

 I’m pleased to have got this section completed, which apart from the headworks, has been the most difficult so far. I think though, that the effort has been worth it and although the rails may not bear the scrutiny of the close-up photo, from normal viewing distances, I am happy with the result. 
 
I'm continuing with the carronades and started to make up the kit version but comparing them with the plans in the AotS, have decided I can't live with them and have ordered a replacement set from Chris Watton as an early birthday present from my wife.
 
David
 

Thanks Andrew and I'm sure you're right that I will eventually succumb. Perhaps I'll find a few other thing to tempt me to make the shipping cost worthwhile.
 
I’ve not done very much work on Diana for the last three weeks as I’ve been away touring the Inner Hebrides. The weather on the west coast of Scotland has been pretty poor but on the bright side has meant that I have had plenty of time to tour a few distilleries and to read Chris Watton’s Vanguard Ship Models’ log from beginning to end. What a fascinating story. I have already bought a few fittings for Diana from Chris but my next ship model is certainly coming from Vanguard.
 
It's always difficult getting back after a long break, trying to remember what I was working on. However I have now completed the gun port lids and fitted them to the hull. A bit fiddly, especially the one tucked right under the mizzen channel.
 
The kit knightheads were used for the forecastle and have been pinned and glued in place. They look quite vulnerable so I will have to be careful when it comes to rigging the guns.
 
The belaying points around the foremast had me puzzled. The kit plans show 6 eyelets should be placed on the deck around the mast but the AotS show only 3 and this seems to be confirmed by Lennarth Petersson’s Rigging Period Ship Models. I have gone for three on the basis that should it be necessary, it shouldn’t be difficult to add the others.
 
Before going away, I realised that the forward bits should have three sheaves in each leg, which I had not allowed for, so I remade them in 2x6mm pear. This has completed the deck fittings for the forecastle which are now pinned into position but nothing is glued yet.
 

The 9-pounders were made up in much the same way as the 18 pounders covered earlier in this log.
Once again, I used the kit pieces for the carriages but swapped the trucks for those that I bought from CMB: 5mm for the front and 4mm for the rear. These are thicker than the walnut ply versions which meant that the axle didn’t protrude from the truck. To add a bit more realism, I cut back the axles on the carriages by half to make room for stub axles made from 2mm dowel which were pushed into the truck  cut to the length and glued onto the axle. The photo below shows carriages with and without the stub axle.
 

 
I would have found it impossible to drill holes into the axle to add lynch pins so I cut small splinters and glued them each side of the axle.
 
 
The gun barrels are from the kit but once again no GR monograms are supplied and the only source seems to be Syren. The actual monograms are reasonably priced but shipping to the UK makes them nearly three times the price. However, as the guns are on open view, I may have to bite the bullet (cannonball?).


Before getting on with the fiddly task of making up the tackles and breeching I decided to finish off the outer hull.
 
The numerous eyelets have been added and the fixed blocks for the main sheet, which I had left off until I was more certain of there position. There are two more eyelets to add shown in the AotS either side of the anchor stock but I will add them when I know the anchor’s final position.
 
The anchor lining supplied in the kit is in 1.5mm walnut ply which would not sit well with the boxwood. Replacements were cut from boxwood sheet using the kit piece as a pattern. 5mm strip was added to the face to match the hull planking. The AotS shows that the anchor linings sit on bolsters which are not supplied. I made them from 3mm square boxwood strip, cut and sanded to shape.They need to fit comfortably around the bow  immediately above the main wale so they were soaked and bent around a large radius pan borrowed from the kitchen.


The gun port lids are a work in progress. I have used the supplied kit parts and added boxwood strip to the face. The PE straps were blackened and fixed with CA. the kit provided copper eyelets were used on the outside but they looked too big for those on the inside of the lid so I made some up from 0.4mm (26gg) black coated wire using a 0.65mm drill bit to form the eye.
The nails need to be added to the straps before fitting to the hull and I'm wondering about making the hinge look a bit more realistic.

David

…And the gratings proved to be every bit as challenging as I expected. It has taken three weeks of work on and off (a week bird watching in Iceland intervened) and a lot of bad words but I think I have now got there.
 
The main framework was made from 2.5mm square boxwood planed down to 2mm. The carlings were pre-curved which made cutting the joints a bit more difficult but I was afraid of the whole thing falling apart if I tried to bend the completed structure afterwards.
I originally tried to follow the jointing pattern in AotS but it was too delicate, the space between carlings was to wide and after two attempts the idea was abandoned. In any case as the whole thing was to be painted black, the joints wouldn't be seen.


So finally I made the carlings in one piece and cut housing joints for the cross pieces.

Having completed the basic frame and checked the fit, leaving 1mm on the main rail for the false rail, the ledges were added using 1mm square boxwood. These were just cut to size and glued between carlings without attempting any fancy joints.


and some of the pile of matchwood left behind

The final stage was to fit the ledges between the after cross piece and the hull. The kit provides two pieces cut from walnut ply but as others have commented, there is too much wood and too little space. However I thought that with some work, they could be made to look something like so I carved away the slots to leave 1mm ledges and thinned down the frame a little.



The false rails were cut from 1mm styrene sheet from a tracing taken from the AotS and glued using G-S Hypo, however before finally gluing them in, I thought it best to drill holes ready to take the boomkins while there was easy access.

The seats of ease are not fixed, waiting for me to fashion the actual seat and looking   a the final photo, I need to sand the base  a little more to make them sit level.
 
While waiting for glue to set, paint to dry and generally not getting on with it, I have started making up the 9 pounders but that’s for another post.
Once again thanks for all the likes and comments.
 
David
 
 

Well that took some time and a lot of reworking but I have finally made some headway on the head…
 
The gammoning knee was remade to a better fit. The base of the head timbers from the kit were chamfered to match the curve of the prow. I didn’t like any of the kit parts for rails and head grating so they will all been made from various sections of boxwood.
 
The bottom rail first looked to be the simplest so I made it first however I found it very difficult to get everything aligned. I was constantly assembling and disassembling. I didn’t glue the head timbers and knee together as I was worried that they would break during all the cutting and filing that was going to be needed. With hindsight it might have been better if I had.
 
Before further work could continue, other things needed considering. Both the main and eking rails need to meet the catheads so these were made first, laminated from 3.5 square section and two pieces of 1mm strip. The rear sheave holes are drilled at angle towards the back to allow the tackle to hang vertically. The kit plan shows the cathead is set at an angle of about 11° but the AotS plans give a steeper angle 30° This looked too much to me and would also have created difficulties fitting them in the focs’l walls and capping rail. 20° looked better and the sheave was drilled to this. They were positioned relative to the hawse holes and bolster, slightly forward of the kit plan and pinned and glued into place.
 
 

The capping rail (plansheer?) was next but the position of the forward pinrail needed to be considered. Again the kit piece is inadequate so a replacement was made from boxwood strip more in line with the shape given in the AotS. I have bought smaller, 6mm belay pins for this rail to give more space between them.
 

 
The capping rail in the kit is too narrow even when measured against Caldercraft’s plans. Strips were glued to each side to give a width of 6mm.
 

Having completed catheads and capping rail I could move on to the main rail. I have cut it from one piece of 3mm boxwood sheet. Cutting the head timbers again required a lot of (not so) fine tuning.
 
I could now glue the gammoning knee and head timbers in place.
 
When downloading photos taken over the last few weeks, I realise that I have not taken shots of many of the intermediate stages. Some photos  therefore combine different steps and not necessarily following the order in which they were made so sorry if this confuses things.
 
I left off the main rail at this stage to give easier access for positioning the eking rails.
 
These posed the biggest problem of all. The cathead support is scale 26.5mm long and curves and merges into the eking rail. I spent a lot of  time wondering how to tackle these two parts. Thankfully Blue Ensign was at a similar stage in his build of HMS Sphinx and I thank him for helping me to think through the problem. I had a few attempts at trying to make it from one piece using laminated strips or cutting it from 3mm sheet and bending the rail. In the end, I opted to make the bracket and rail separately and then chamfered them to fit together as best I could. To allow for the curve and sweep of the rail, it was made from 6x2 boxwood. After many attempts to get the right curve without breaking the wood, I finally achieved a reasonable shape and with a bit of filling at the join they don’t look too bad at normal viewing distances
 


When it came to fixing the main rails, gaps appeared between some head timbers and rail. Maybe I should have fixed them in place before finishing the rails – anyway a bit more work on the head timbers using spacers and a bit of filler and trimming the rails was required to get a proper fit.



Looking at these final pictures, I've noticed that the painting of the inner face of the port cathead doesn't match the starboard and I think that I might have created some difficulties for myself when it comes to the face pieces.
 
The next challenge will be the gratings and getting all the carlings and cross pieces to follow the curve of the head.
 
Thanks for looking in
David

A disappointing visit with the Admiral on a cold and windy March day. to the NMM at Hartlepool. I particularly wanted to look around the quarter deck and foc’sl but it was unfortunately closed off for repair work and nobody seemed to know when it would reopen -although certainly not that day. On the upper deck evidence of rainwater leakage was obvious from the buckets scattered around. Still it was interesting to see the differences in layout of Trincomalee compared to Diana.
 
PHOTO

 
The planking of the focs’l is finished and I’m quite pleased with the result. It all went fairly smoothly although cutting the plank around the  steam grating took a few tries to get right and there was some trimming and recutting of the final two planks on each side to achieve a reasonable symmetry.
 

 

 
 
 

 
Like the quarter deck, there was a lot of scraping and sanding required to get a smooth finish...
 

 
...and after 3 coats of shellac
 
I was hoping to continue with planking the galleries but the wider planks that I ordered looked more like lime than maple so I am waiting for fresh supplies.
In the meantime, I have been working on something that has been bothering me for a while: the quarterdeck bulwarks. I replaced the stern section some time ago but I was never happy with the two 9 pounder ports as they seemed too deep and now wish that I had replaced the whole run at the time when channels and deadeyes were not in the way.
 

 
I made up one of the 9 pounder guns to provide a reference and also a great help was Rob Durant’s CAD drawing of the open rails on his Ethalion, which I downloaded from his log of Jason.
 
Thankfully It wasn’t too difficult to remove the offending sections and replace with fresh lime strip. The new carronade and gun ports have been cut in after rechecking that there was no danger of shooting away the shrouds and I have started to line them out before I add the boxwood planking on both the inner and outer walls.

 
Hopefully it will all come good.
 
Thanks for all the likes and comments
 
David  
 
 

Thanks to all for the likes and for continuing to follow this log.
 
The planking of the quarterdeck is now complete. As expected quite a bit of scraping and sanding was required to get a good finish. It was then sealed with several coats of shellac.
 

 

 
Shellac gives a good finish but viewed in this nice early spring sunshine that we are having, is perhaps a bit too glossy so I may eventually tone it down with matt varnish.
 
Having completed the quarterdeck, I was tempted to do something a bit different but was inspired by Beef Wellington’s treatment of the forecastle so I pressed on.
 
I needed to make the two coamings and gratings. As per the quarterdeck, these were made from 6x2mm boxwood and sanded back to 3mm depth. For the chimney, I strayed from both the kit plans and the AotS and went with my interpretation of the images of ship models in The Sailing Frigate. I made a solid deck fitting from 3mm boxwood sheet and painted it with Tamiya Dark Iron. I thought that this makes a nice continuation between the two gratings and has the added advantage of avoiding having to plank this small area.
 
 

 
I made a completely new jig for the planks with only a slight taper from 3.6 to 3.4mm which I hope will be sufficient. The first four runs of planking are complete and the bowsprit partner installed.
 

 
It maybe a bit late in the history of this model but next week, I am finally making a trip to the NMM in Hartlepool to visit HMS Trincomalee. Although built nearly 20 years later in Mumbai (formally Bombay), I'm still hoping for further inspiration and pointers as to how to continue with HMS Diana.