Beef Wellington

Time to make a start on the planking for the next set of decks. To make my life easier I chopped the false deck into six pieces. I started off on the gangways to warm myself up for the rest of the job. I added a small upstand which runs along the inboard edge of the gangway. This is shown in the AOTSD drawings and it is useful in that it hides the exposed edge of the false deck. The planking was fairly easy with just 4 straight planks and an edge filler piece. I added trenails but, as this is a very visible part of the model, I took the added precaution of measuring their position rather than installing them freehand as I did on the lower deck. I added a trim piece to the top of the quarterdeck breast beam and forecastle breast beam. This will give the deck planking something to butt up against. The junction between the gangway and forecastle has some complexity but close enough to the drawings.
 

 

 

 

 

 
I then located the next piece of deck which is part of the quarterdeck. I checked that the gratings, ladderway and capstan step all matched up with what was happening below. I thought I might change out the companion as the kit version was quite plain. I didn't have much to go on by way of drawings and it seems that there was quite a variation in the design of these structures. The AOTSD drawings indicate that it was glazed on the top and sides so I had a place to start. I formed the coamings out of maple and added the lower windows using 3D printed parts and acetate. I initially started off with five windows on the long side to make them square as possible but I soon reverted to the four shown in the AOTSD Drawings. The cornice was made out of maple as well as the gable ends. The ridge beam was fashioned out of a walnut strip. The rafters and beam fill were 3D printed. Windows were made out of acetate while I used styrene for the rest of the mullion covers and flashing. I added some protective bars which were 0.5mm diameter brass rod. These bars look a tad heavy so I swapped them out for 0.3mm diameter steel wire.  Once finished I was unsure if it was any improvement on the original. The original consisted of 8 pieces while this one has 74 so it was a whole lot of bother for no real gain. I think that I would have to reduce the structure by about 25% to give it the lightness I was looking for.  It looks better from the inside though.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
The ship's wheel that came with the kit was a bit thin. I decided to upgrade to the Caldercraft luxury version. This is a little thick but has a lot more detail than the original. It was quite easy to put together. I used the kit stanchions and lathed the drum out of a beech dowel. I formed the spindle out of 1.5mm brass rod. I added some dark walnut paint and left exposed brass sections to give it a bit of pop.
 

 

 

 
I mocked up the companion, ship's wheel and dummy masts to see how they all went together. I added a step below the ship’s wheel and mast collar. The NMM drawings hint at this being there although it looks like it is flush with the deck while I have made mine sit proud of the deck. The tiller rope is 0.8mm diameter. It looks a bit too chunky to me so I will probably swap it out for some 0.5mm. I am pondering the bitts that sit between the companion and the mast. These are shown in the kit drawings and the contemporary models with a cross piece while the AOTSD and the NMM drawings the cross piece is omitted and there is just a pin. I am leaning towards the cross piece though.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

I decided not to attempt the internal partition work for the gun deck as I had moved some of the gunports to avoid the bulkheads which meant that the partitions would need to be relocated and that would have caused a clash with a deck hatchway. Decision having been made it was now time to get on with covering up the gun deck.
 

 

 
I first had to install all of the beams that carry the quarterdeck and forecastle as well as the skid beams. I started at the quarterdeck and proceeded as per the kit drawings however when I dry fitted the false deck for this area I noticed that the framing ignored anything that was happening above. Beams sailed through openings, clashed with the capstan position and bypassed columns. I then decided to saw off the bulkhead beam stubs and locate the beams where they made most sense. This ended up with quite large distances between the framing so I had to introduce some additional members to ensure that the deck does not have to span too far and run the risk of producing large deflections. With great hindsight I probably should have just located the beams as per the NMM drawings but this would not confer any great advantage other than me being smug in the knowledge that I had an authentic framing layout. Instead I ended up with a slightly odd looking framing layout.
 

 
I introduced carlings to take the coamings around the staircase, gratings and companion having learned my lesson from early on in the build. I constructed the coamings around the ladderway as well as the gratings. I decided to not attempt the slight taper to these gratings as shown in the drawings as I was not confident of achieving a satisfactory result. I built the step that sits under the upper capstan out of walnut to match the rest of the fittings in this area. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I decided to build and install the ladders at this point while I still had reasonable access to the upper deck. I also took this opportunity to install the handrail stanchions and deck eyebolts to take the rope handrails the ends of which were tied off at this stage while access was still possible. When installing the ladders that sit forward of the quarterdeck breast beam I modified the structure from that shown in the AOTSD drawings. I introduced a beam that spans between the quarterdeck breast beam and the skid beam. In the AOTSD drawings this should return at right angles and cantilever from the hull but my solution gave me less of a headache. When installing the ladders to the gangway I noticed that they clashed with the handles of the elm tree pumps so I had to yank these out and shorten the handles.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I added belaying pins on the after skid beams and forward skid beams as shown in the AOTSD drawings. I noted that most people do not install these which probably means that they are not required for the standard rigging but I have not yet studied the rigging diagrams. They are fairly unobtrusive so if I end up not using them it is not a disaster.
 

 

 
The installation of the beams under the forecastle were less problematic with just a slight relocation necessitated by a clash with the stove rotisserie and deck openings. With all of the beams in place I will have to start the deck installation. I will attempt the gangways first as they appear to be quite simple.
 

 
 
 

The guns on the main gun deck are now installed. Looking from the outside they seem to line up OK. Time to finish up the gun deck by fixing all the remaining fittings. Most of these have been built already so it is a fairly easy task to locate and install however there are a few tricky bits that will require some effort.
 

 

 
I positioned the anchor cable. I could have easily left this off but I quite like the look of a hefty rope sitting on the deck. I wasn't keen on the supplied cable which is labelled as 2.5mm diameter but measures 2.85mm. This is too large and the colour is not the best. I sourced some 2.1mm cable from Ropes of Scale. This is slightly undersized as I believe that a ship of this size would have an anchor cable that would scale to 2.34 mm diameter. The cable itself is much improved from the kit supplied item and it looks very similar to cable I have seen in historic photographs but from certain angles the look was a bit jarring. Perhaps it is a bit too articulated in combination with the sheen and colour I chose but it put me in mind of something my Granny might have knitted. I saw on their website that Ropes of Scale has just introduced a new range of cable-laid polyester rope which seem to have a more muted look. They have also introduced a 2.4mm size which is very close to my requirement. I have speculatively ordered some in a different colour and I am currently awaiting delivery. I hope I will not be too disappointed however I will wait to see how it looks before I decide if I will replace the original as it will be quite an onerous task with all of the upper deck beams now in place. I installed the deck stoppers, six per side. These were fashioned out of 0.5mm rope with ringbolts to attach to the deck. They came out a bit scruffier looking than I intended.
 

 

 
I constructed a number of tiny stanchions so I could fasten the ends of the rope handrails. These were made out of a section of 1.0 mm diameter thin walled brass tube with an eyebolt epoxied into the one end. I used a 2mm outside diameter photoetch eyebolt with the leg cut off to form the bottom flange. I tried a detail where the end of the handrail rope is fastened into a ringbolt on the deck. I had seen this detail in a drawing somewhere but once in place I decided I didn't like it and it clashed with the anchor cable so I reverted to just tying off the handrail at the top.
 

 

 

 

 

 
I installed the stove onto the pre-installed base. I later discovered that there was a slight clash between rotisserie attachment and one of the deck beams which required that the beam be relocated forward a couple of millimetres. This beam relocation was necessary anyway as it also impinged on an opening in the forecastle.
 

 

 

 

 
I located all of the columns and then proceeded with the installation of the pumps. This is not such an easy task as the chain pump brakes thread their way through the columns and there are bearings located on each column.
 

 
To form the pump brakes I used 0.8mm diameter brass rod and some brass strip for the joints. I drilled holes and rounded the ends of these. The joints were then soldered to the brass rod. The bearings that are attached to the columns to take the pump brake shafts were carved out of styrene. Getting the correct height and alignment was quite an intricate exercise and one of the sections ended up woefully off line. Funnily enough, by a trick of perspective, it is only apparent when viewing from a certain angle. This detail will not be visible once the quarterdeck has been installed so I decided to just live with it. All of the brasswork was then painted black.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I had a slight dilemma installing the last stanchion. The AOTSD drawings are a bit vague but seem to indicate some sort of bent stanchion. I eventually took inspiration from Beef Wellington's solution shown in his excellent  Jason build. I have also seen similar details in contemporary models so there is some precedent.
 

 

 

 

 
Now that I have struggled through the completion of the gun deck I have to start covering it all up.
 

 

 
 

Time for the cannons. My previous build was a whaling ship so this will be my first cannon experience. I am probably more confident in the harpoon department. I started off building a carriage from the kit. I noticed that the side bracket was thinner than the dimensions shown in the AOTSD drawings so I decided to 3D print the carriages. I was considering going the same route with the barrels but the turned brass versions included in the kit were a good quality and dimensionally accurate. The only thing I did to these was to change the diameter of the trunnion from 1.5mm to 2mm. This necessitated drilling out all of the barrels but it is closer to the size indicated in the AOTSD drawings.

 

 
I mocked up a couple of guns and noticed that the sat a little bit too low in the gunport. I attempted to remedy this by swapping out the front wheels with ones of a slightly larger diameter. I figured that they will not be too visible once all of the rigging is in place.
 

 
I added the myriad of bolts and tackle loops using the heads of nails, nails without heads, eyebolts and brass rod. These were then all painted black which was a tedious activity. I have subsequently sourced some thin blackened annealed steel wire which could have saved me some build time. I had initially thought to use pins to fasten the capsquare which I would then trim and file down to simulate bolts but I eventually broke down and added a capsquare eyebolt out of brass wire and a capsquare joint bolt out of a photoetch eyebolt.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I thought that the kit supplied blocks were quite poor so I started looking around for replacements. I examined 3D printing, cast metal and CNC milled varieties. I think that the CNC milled ones are the winner. Looking at the AOTSD drawings I went for a 3.5mm block which seemed about right. I initially ordered these from Vanguard models but the pesky post office conspired against me and the delivery was held up for a couple of months so I ordered some others from HiS Models. The Vanguard blocks eventually arrived and look quite good so I may use them for the upper deck cannons. I also sourced blackened photoetch hooks from HiS Models. These are 3mm long and much improved from the 5mm hooks included in the kit. The below photo shows a 3mm hook alongside a 2mm block resting on my fingertip. If you drop either of those on the floor there is a good chance you are not getting them back.
 

 

 

 
It was with some trepidation that I prepared the post concerning the cannon rigging as I have noticed that nothing jolts the aggrieved pedant from their fitful slumber than historically contentious cannon rigging. I decided to model my cannon rigging on the photographs of examples on restored ships. I am aware that a lot of this is done to prevent lawsuits served by lumbering tourists tripping over ropes but I like the neat look with the port and starboard tackles frapped and the breech ropes lashed over the top of the barrel but without the relieving tackle to prevent deck clutter. The model is destined for a shelf in the house and not a museum so I can make such wilful decisions.
 

 

 
Seeing as I had to complete the frapping on 56 tackles I decided to build a basic serving machine to help me speed up the task and achieve a more uniform result. I designed and built the device using CAD and the 3D printer. Not the most elegant of solutions but it worked after a fashion although the design of the machine requires a lot of tweaking. It was meant to be adjustable with the upper brass tube able to slide back and forth but I should have made the entire support structure move to reduce the amount of play at the clip end.
 

 

 

 

 

 
I purchased around five different types of rope for the breeching but none of them were satisfactory. I eventually found the Ropes of Scale website from a reference on Dunnock's Diana build log and their ropes are a lot better than any of the others that I procured. I noticed that most of the breech ropes that I have seen in photographs are quite substantial. I experimented with different diameters starting with 1.2mm diameter which was too big. I then tried 1mm diameter which didn't look too bad but I discovered that the 0.8mm diameter rope corresponded to the actual dimension used so that had to be the winner.
 

 

 

 
I rigged the cannon by fixing the breeching rope to the cannon before fixing it to the model. The rings at the end of the breeching are also added at this stage. I just did a simple seizing as I couldn't get a satisfactory knot.  I then drilled and glued a pin in the rear wheel of the carriage which was inserted into a pre-drilled hole on the deck. I thought this would give me a more secure fixing as I imagined I would eventually knock some of the barrels while working on the rest of the ship and it would be very difficult to recover a cannon that had become loose under one of the upper decks. The rigging was then attached to eyebolts that I had previously installed in the bulwarks. It took a while but once I got a rhythm going the installation went fairly quickly so I carried on and ended up rigging all of the cannons and not just the visible ones.
 



 

 

 


 


I still have not mastered the art of getting the ropes to hang naturally but I am hoping that will come with practice. I am also not too happy with the finish on the 3D printed carriages and will be looking to experiment with more of a timber/3D printed hybrid when it comes to the cannons located on the upper deck.
 

 
 
 

Like many things, I believe it depends on the period and the nation in question.  From what I understand, the iron T-plates gradually replaced the wooden knees as metalwork became more prevalent in late 18th century.  Thanasis' post above shows the redundancy that seems to be in place by having both - which probably did occur during the transition, and seems to have been ubiquitous through the history of ships.

Work on the Diana has ground to a halt these past four months as I have been moving apartments. The move has happened so I will now have no excuse for lack of progress other than laziness. I did fret about moving the Diana and began to dream up designs for temporary cradles that would form a sturdy travelling case to avoid damage during the journey. In the end I just bunged the model onto the back seat of the car, tried to avoid the worst of the potholes and slowed down for the speed humps. It arrived with nary a scratch. My new workspace is an improvement on the previous layout. It is larger and has a lot more natural light to aid my feeble eyes.

To get going again I had a go at planking the inner bulwarks which turned out to be a bit of a disaster to be sure. I knew from calculating the size of the frames and thickness of the planking that it would end up too thick but I carried on regardless thinking that if I used enough glue and clamped the planking very hard it would somehow miraculously resolve itself but funnily enough it didn't. Once I had completed half the starboard side I paused to measure the result and the width at the top was 7.5mm compared to the target 4.5mm. With overhangs this would result in the width of the rough tree rail of 9mm rather than the 6mm as indicated in the AOTSD drawings. It would have been too much of an anomaly to live with so all of the work had to be stripped off and I then went at the existing framework with the dremel and a sanding drum. Not always the best course of action to be using handheld power tools next to finished areas. It ended up a bit rough and ready but I was able to reduce the thickness at the top of the bulwark to around 5mm which would give me a 6.5mm rough tree rail which is close enough for my purposes. Now that I have more or less completed these bulwarks I realise that I should have gone about it in a different way. Studying the AOTSD and NMM drawings it is quite evident that it was built with open rails which were closed in at a later date. This is the way I should have built the model but instead I carried the framework up to the rough tree rail and then glued a false plansheer on either side. Lessons learnt I guess. At one point I did consider swapping out the sanding drum for a cut off disc in order to shear the upper bulwarks off to just below the level of the plansheer but I stepped away from the model at that point and went out for a coffee to wait until the madness passed.
 




Once that I completed that exercise I realised that I would have to bite the bullet and increase the height if the bulwarks. This all harks back to the whole debacle relating to the height of the quarter galleries discussed earlier on in this log. I am now paying for my lack of action. I just went up another 2.5mm so that they would stick up above the taffarel. I achieved this by gluing a lump of maple onto the top and sanding it flush with the dremel. I lost most of the planking definition but it was the easiest solution if not the most elegant. In hindsight I should have gone down the open rail route as it would have been easier to fudge the geometry.
 

 


After the bulwark trauma I decided to assemble the carronades as it looked like quite a gentle task. My initial thought was that the kit supplied carronades were well made and would be a piece of cake to throw together but when I mocked one up and then compared it to the drawings in the AOTSD book I realised that they were quite off dimensionally and also lacking in detail. I noticed that some of the other modellers replaced these with the Vanguard versions which look a lot better but I have had no luck with the UK postal service these days so I decided to have a go scratch building them. The supplied barrels, elevating screw and iron plate bracket for the fighting bolt are all accurate and of good quality which meant that I would only have to build the carriage which should hold no terrors. I modelled all of the parts in CAD with a thought to 3D printing them but my current set up does not produce the required resolution for such small elements so I had to resort to more traditional methods. I was however able to salvage the channel for the truck as well as the wheels. I then used some styrene for the iron plate brackets with 0.5mm brass rod for the axle. They look a bit rough in the macro shots and to be fair they are a quite rough to the naked eye as well. Luckily their location on the underside of the carriage along with their small size means that I am able to get away with it.
 







The carriage was constructed out of some nominal 2.2mm thick maple with the gammoning slot milled out. The trusty sanding drum took care of the final shaping. HiS Models PE eyelets were used for the ringbolts as they were to scale. They look a bit tentative however they are dimensionally accurate. One of the perils of working at 1:64 I guess. The gammoning bolt is made out of 2mm diameter styrene rod painted black with 0.8mm diameter rod forming the bolt heads and some styrene strips used to simulate the cover plates for the sockets. I should have probably used card stock for these as the styrene is a bit thick. The support structure for the barrel was tricky and I went back and forth between the 3d printed parts and supplied PE before deciding on the 3d printed versions just because they sat a bit lower. A spot of paint and the carriages were nearly done. The barrels still have to be painted black which is a problem given that the new apartment has no balcony. I will have to construct some sort of mini paint booth which is another thing to add onto my ever growing task list.
 






 


Comparing the homemade version to the kit supplied item it would appear that it is a marginal gain for a lot of effort.
 


I decided to go with the mounting for the carronades based on the outside principal. It will seem controversial to some but after a bit of research I am happy with the decision. I constructed the support to take the fighting bolts from a 3mm thick maple sheet. This detail is not shown in the kit drawings and only alluded to in the AOTSD drawings but I based it on diagrams shown in Lavery's books and photographs of historical examples. It necessitated some hacking out of mouldings that I had spent some time installing so I wish I had had the foresight to look ahead to this detail which may have resulted in a neater finish.
 

 


Next up I think that I will have a go at the 9lbers.

Lots of fiddly bitts to be made. The NMM drawings hint at the location of sheaves in the base of some of these so I ditched the laser cut kit parts and fashioned my own out of some walnut I had lying around. There are quite a lot of steps for such a modest piece. The brace bitts were made out of 3x4mm walnut. The sheaves were milled out using a 0.8mm bit. I probably should have dropped down a size to a 0.6mm diameter bit but I had recently snapped that one and have not yet managed to get a replacement. The sheave bolt was formed out of a 0.8mm diameter brass rod filed down almost flush. The cross member is 2x3mm walnut. Once complete and painted in the admiralty red ochre I thought this assembly looked somewhat delicate. I had dutifully followed the dimensions indicated in the NMM drawings and after checking some contemporary models it would seem that this is more or less correct.




The fore jeer bitts and topsail sheet bitts are a bit chunkier with a simpler top detail. I built these before studying the AOTSD belaying drawings and think that these probably should have had triple sheaves at the base. For my purpose I think that I can get away with a double sheave. I painted these black rather than the red ochre of all the other bitts. The black colour is how they are presented in the contemporary models. I do not know why this is so but it must have some significance as it is consistent across all the models I looked at.

I fashioned the mast collar for the fore and main masts out of 16mm diameter beech dowel. The kit supplied part was probably fine but they only provided five of these while there are six locations where one might install such an item. I guess their thinking behind this is that the upper deck mizzen base is not visible so this has not been supplied but in a fit of madness I used one of the kit parts in this location which meant that I had to fashion a new one for the quarterdeck. This new one did not match the remaining kit parts so I had to remake those as well. In retrospect I should have just used my homemade one on the upper deck and saved myself the bother of replacing the others. Not the end of the world though as I find using the lathe quite soothing so long as I am not messing around with very small brittle pieces.
 



For the bits next to the companionway I ignored the kit drawings and followed the AOTSD and NMM interpretation where there is no cross piece and just a 0.8mm brass rod to facilitate belaying. Looking at the AOTSD rigging plans I suspect that I may struggle to find enough belaying points in this area.
 
I swapped out the 0.8mm diameter rope with some at 0.5mm diameter for the ship’s wheel rigging which I think looks better.
 



Before installing all of this deck furniture I really need to complete the spirketting and berthing for the inner bulwarks. This will allow me clear access to get the pin vise in to drill holes so I can install the gun rigging ringbolts. Just when I thought I was finished with planking....
 



 
 

I guess I should post an update rather than just engage in idle chit-chat. I don't have that much to report though. I had the table saw set up for a 4mm plank width and it seemed to make sense to complete the whole deck with a consistent plank width so I continued on and finished the forecastle. I guess I was just idling along as it took longer than I imagined. I certainly was not paying much attention to my plank selection as I ended up with some dramatic colour variations. I am hoping this will not be too evident once the guns are in place. I pinched the step detail to resolve the junction at the bowsprit from Beef Wellington's build.
 

 

 

 

 

I had a stab at constructing the barricades at the forecastle breast beam. There were subtle differences between the kit version, the AOTSD drawings and the NMM plans so I have built something that is closer to the NMM drawings. I replaced the 1.4mm thick walnut ply horizontals with some 1.0mm thick maple and used 2x2mm walnut for the verticals. This resolves the ugly appearance of the ply edge and looks less clunky. They are just balancing there for the moment as I think they would be vulnerable to damage if I installed them at this point of the build. I may drill in some pins when I do the final fix to give them a fighting chance. The chimney is not fixed in place as it needs some additional detail.
 



 

It has been awhile since my last post. I have been feeling unwell and was diagnosed with depression last month. It took some time for me to realize I was need of professional help, which I get now. My psychologist is encouraging me to take up my modelling hobby although my mojo is not there. So as part of my therapy to recovery I post this picture of Agamemnon as of today.
 

 
 
Best regards 
 
Henrik

If it was up to just me, I would pull the trigger on this right now. But if my wife were to see the bank statement? 😲 😬😬😬💀
 

 

Step 22: Bow Details
 
Step 22 shifts the action to the bow, starting with a couple of bin-shaped stowage nets (I think life preservers were stored in these). Three laser-cut brackets are attached to the superstructure wall, and a bin sits inside these.
 

 
As you can see, the printed part makes a solid structure, which isn't a very convincing stand-in for the real thing. Darius built the prototype bins using some kind of actual mesh, perhaps tulle. That option seemed a bit intimidating, so I hit on a compromise. I made photocopies of the original parts, then cut away an original part's solid top and used one of the copied parts to create a double-sided mesh bin. I think this mid-level of detail is acceptable.
 

 
Cheers!

A few vents, lockers, and other miscellaneous bits bring Step 18 to a close. As you may recall, the instructions recommended doing Step 19 before finishing off Step 18, so the next update will feature Step 20.
 

FINALLY . . . after over three weeks of painstaking work, numerous itty bitty parts lost and remade again, and liberal usage of 'special words', the stack is done. It was a real slog (no offense to Captain Slog), and I'm relieved to be done with it so that I can at last move on to something else -- literally anything else!
 

 

 

I have searched through many books looking for guidance for paint colors on ships. So far I haven't found much. Large expensive ships were tricked out with details and colors. Smaller ships, especially merchant vessels, were often pretty drab.
 
As others have said, the colors seem to have been up to the Captain or ship owner. Cost was a factor, as was availability of paints. Black, white, yellow, brown and red seem to have been common in the mid to late 1700s. Some blue and green started appearing in the 1800s.
 
I wonder if the red paint was actually red lead? This was used on exposed wood to prevent rotting. White lead mixed with tallow was an inexpensive way to protect the underwater parts of hulls. Copper sheeting was much more expensive.
 
Brown may have been just the color of oiled or greased wood, especially on the masts of fore-and-aft vessels with mast bands for the sails.
 
In the first quarter of the 1800s white started replacing the yellow on hull exteriors. By the mid 1800s deck furniture, mast heads and other details were painted white.
 
My opinion (and it is just that) is that the modeller can do whatever seems best if there is no specific period information about the colors used on a particular ship at a particular time.

Post One hundred and Sixty-nine.
 
Berthing Rails
 One feature missing from the kit are the Berthing rails that span the head to act as a safety rail. It is supported by an iron stanchion positioned midway, and hooks into eyebolts either end of the Main rails.
In a working situation netting would be suspended from the Berthing rail.
 
It is a little tricky getting the eyebolts set at the right height to suit the stanchion but is a fairly easy modification to make.
I am using 0.7mm ø brass wire for the rails, a couple of modified kit stanchions, and small kit eyebolts.

8672
The first task is to gauge the run of the rail to determine the height of the stanchion and fix the height of the eyebolts.

8680
With the stanchion height determined the eyebolts are fixed and the rail cut to size to fit.

8676
Cleaning the brass is the next task followed by chemical blackening.

8687

8685

8692

8684
Unlike the Boomkins I quite like the rails in position, perhaps because they are a match for the cranes and other stanchions.
 
B.E.
06/10/2022

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.

8669(2)
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.

8646
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.

8658
The angle of the Boomkins is positioned to line up with that of the Foreyard when braced sharply. (Lees)

8664

8656

8648

8655
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.

8630
 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.

8635

8629
I have included the micro back plates, but they are the very devil’s invention for handling and filing to fit.

8620
 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.

8615
As with the other cranes thin brass wire is threaded thro’ the eyes to help maintain position.

8621
Even with short nubs the cranes held well using a smear of ca to attach to the hull.

8614(2)

8628
Looks a little like a forest of cranes in these macro shots, but foreshortening gives something of a false impression.

8612(2)

8631
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