Beef Wellington

Then came the window panes. PVC film and matt transparent sellotape on the back ...
 

 
... gives exactly the right opacity against inside view while ...
 

 
... the outside reflects well, to be seen on both pictures on the right side window.
 

 
And then the special windows for the four old Trafalgar guns on the middle deck.
 

 

 

 
The guns sit almost on the bottom edge of the port, an indication that the windows sat higher than the former gun ports. The interior view is also funny 🙂
 

 
Then one of the 6 signal guns for saluting.
 

 
But I still have to do some work on both of them, the half ring above the old gun and the middle window bars on the signal guns are too narrow.
 
The "chasing" windows at the stern are also in now, ...
 

 

 
... and even better with paint.
 

 
XXXDAn

Love it Chris.  Don't know how you do it at that tiny scale.

A stern very much after my own tastes in the colour palette BE, very nice indeed.

Like most of the other things I've put together, the quarter rail is patterned after Dan's version of the FFM.  I used Walnut to match the darker shade of the crosstrees etc. I made a conscious early choice to only paint some of the fittings (rather than cover everything in red & black) so that the details of the furniture and other elements would come through.  Black masks so much of that.  I was hesitant about that choice early on, because of course very little painting means very little opportunity to cover flaws.  But, it seems to be panning out pretty well thus far. 
 
       The stanchions for the quarter rail are made from a 1mm brass rod turned and shaved down to create a thin post with a thicker base. The cradle for the top is  a 1mm brass strip cut & soldered on.  
 
 
 
 
 
   The 'curvy' end of the railing is drawn out and cut from a 10mm x 10mm walnut chunk on scroll saw. Lots of shaping and sanding to get the curvature first, then the chunk is cut down the middle with the table saw.  I did it this way so I had a better chance of getting the two railing ends to look identical. 
 
 
 

 
  A little more shaping to do after it's lined up so that the railing and the end match up, then the whole thing is mounted and given a coat of tung oil. 
 
 
 

 
 
 

I've had something pretty specific in mind for the Belfry for quite a while, and of course I've been stalking Dan's Vulture (here's his belfry).  A few years ago I purchased a couple of pens (I have a collection - don't ask. 😛 ) at a charity auction, and they came in this snazzy pen case.  I've been looking for a reason to use the wood on these end pieces, but needed the Byrne saw to get a good cut on this really dense wood.
 

  
  I cut two 5x5mm pieces to serve as the stanchions, and three pieces of Swiss Pear scrap for the roof and shaped/sanded it all.  Really, one of the down sides to having the Byrnes saw is that I'm half tempted to go back and re-accomplish half the stuff I did by hand.  heh
 
 
 

 
   For the bell housing, I used walnut, and created a brass bracket to hold the handle.  The handle is a shaved down piece of brass rod that fits into the bracket and bends over to hold the rope. Finally, I outfitted two boxwood cleats instead of metal - which I thought was an aesthetically pleasing and acceptable substitution.
 
 
 

 
   The whole thing put together and mounted. To me, the Belfry was another opportunity to add a little bit of artistic flair. 
 
 
 
 
 
   

Details: Gammoning & Frapping.
Now that all the masts are completed with topgallants - with their rigging blocks in-place - it's time to take care of business on the bowsprit before commencing other rigging work.
 

 
A detail on gammoning of the bowsprit. I've used .5mm dark brown (tarred) rope for this rigging. There are eleven turns up against the cleats and down through the openings below the head rails to the stem slot. I pulled each rope turn tightly before threading the next turn.
 

 
The gammoning rope turns will fill the stem slot; this looks straightforward to do. It is NOT. Below I've attached a photo from "Lees" rigging book to illustrate that the rope crosses over its previous turn with each successive one which results in a "twisting"arrangement. This entire procedure of rope wrapping also resembles "weaving" - of a sort.
 

 
My completed "gammon lashing" of the bowsprit. These ropes were critical for securing not only the bowsprit (and its spritsails) but also the fore and main mast stay rigging ropes; the thick support ropes (standing rig) exerted tremendous upward strain on the bowsprit. In addition to "looping" each successive rope turn over the previous one and once the vertical threading was complete, the rope was then horizontally threaded tightly between and around the vertical rope turns. This second, contiguous rigging step is referred to as "frapping." The number of frap lacings were equal to the number of rope turns around the bowsprit, in this case: eleven.
 

 
Gammon lashing and its frapping completed. The end of the rope is simply fed through a frapping turn as a hitch and tucked into the frapping and glued with a small drop of CA. I'm pretty confident 18th-C dockyard riggers didn't use CA to finish off this elaborate rigging process.🤪...
 

 
A Lees book detail on gammon lashing. To the right, the cross section illustration shows a simple "eye splice" to START the gammon lashing. However, what the rigging "Bible" doesn't show is the critical step to alternately overlap each successive turn after its fed through the stem opening and back around for a successive turn. The illustration on the left does show the effect of crossing-over each rope turn: the forward-most turn is at the rear of the stem slot. Note that the stem slot is full.
 

 
The next bowsprit rigging step; making-up and mounting the various stay collars and their deadeyes. There are lots of these blocks to make and mount. The cleats to support the collars are already in place from the earlier step to finish the bowsprit's woodworking (these small wooden cleats prevented the collars from slipping along the bowsprit).
 

 
Once all the bowsprit's fore and main stay blocks are rigged (coming up soon), I'll mount some "manropes." This will be a hand-sized rope line from the bowsprit cap back to the fore timbers (both starboard and port). The ropes were for sailors to have a hand hold when they were at work on the bowsprit.
 
Ron

A stern very much after my own tastes in the colour palette BE, very nice indeed.

Tom - your rigging is looking really good, very impressed that you've dived into making your own rope, must feel very satisfying.

A stern very much after my own tastes in the colour palette BE, very nice indeed.

Post Seventy-two
 
The Quarter Galleries.
The first job is to glaze the lights.
More careful gloved handling to reduce as far as possible any smearing of the acetate.
I recall reading somewhere, the reference escapes me, that some of the lights, particularly the aftermost one, were false or only half lights, presumably to give an element of privacy.
I have decided to fully glaze them not least for uniformity and aesthetic effect.

2543
With the frames in place  the sense of depth and light as a result of opening up the Galleries achieves the natural look I was after.
 
A word on the window frames
These are handed left and right and fore to aft, there are I think subtle differences between the angles particularly the aftermost frame and the forward two.
Follow the details on Plan 13.
It then becomes an easy fit over the ‘glazing’.
I again used Vallejo varnish to fix, applying dots on the outer framework using a toothpick. I allowed the varnish to slightly 
thicken before application, to improve grab and avoid any spread onto the glazing.
 
Fitting the decorative columns between the windows gave me some pause for thought. Not as simple as for the stern gallery where there were clearly marked reference points.

2550
I removed the model from the Amati keel clamp where it had  been for the fitting of the stern decoration,  and set it back in its working stand.

2557
This gave me a better approach level for the task. At the correct height I can steady my elbows on the work bench while I apply these little parts.

2556
The trick is getting them all aligned at the right height and without getting any glue spread. The blurb indicates that the columns are placed evenly between the top and bottom of the window frames.
Then there is the question of how to apply them without fat fingers getting the way and without marring the carefully painted surface.
I used a toothpick shaped to fit in the centre recess of the column.
Ideally a one shot attempt is best, I don’t really want to be sliding the part around spreading glue on the blue paintwork.

 
2560
Things will look better once the moulding strips are applied.
 
Mouldings.
These too I found tricky to fit, using ca gel. On the Starboard side the  columns had to be removed as I couldn’t get the moulding to run cleanly to the stern; I think I had applied the aftermost column a fraction low.

2563
The trouble with removing etch is that there is a high risk of it pinging off into the ether, as one did, followed by a fraught ten minutes  wrestling it from the carpet monster.
2566
On reflection I wonder if it is better to fit the mouldings before the columns.
The joints with the stern rails were chamfered to represent mitre joints which give the neatest result at this scale.

2578
I used the discarded stern rails to make the two main gallery rails.
For the decoration between the rails I went with the photo etch.
Take note that the designated parts are  PE 23AL AND 23AR, not as shown in the manual.
 
Next came the shingle for the roof, cleverly designed in photo etch, these are applied one overlapping the other in four rows. They are primed and painted in Vallejo Black/Grey.

2586
The final and possibly the trickiest element is the decoration for the finishing piece.

2571
Two small separate pieces that need to fit in the space below the Berthing rail, and it is at this point whether you shaped the Finishing piece correctly all those weeks ago is revealed.
As I had significantly messed about with the Qtr galleries I had my doubts.

2583(2)

2581(2)
Still some fettlin’ to do on the stern but that’s it for the present, moving on in my opinion, to the most critical part of a build, the Headworks.
 
What joy awaits.
 
B.E.
31/01/22

Love it Chris.  Don't know how you do it at that tiny scale.

Just stunning Chuck....

If you remember, I used the provided laser cut template to mark the height of the stern frames.
 

 
Then I cut them down most of the way with sharp chisels and a #11 blade.  I followed that up with sanding them down to their final height.
 
The first part of the cap added was the laser cut center section.  It is 1/16" thick.  This piece has a gentle curve to it when viewed from above to follow the curve of the transom.  This piece was centered and glued in position.  I also cleaned up both ends to make them neat and tidy to accept the pieces we will glue into position next.
 
You can see the center section glued into place below.  In addition the first outer section is glued on as well.  Note how it is much wider than the center length.  This will allow you to draw and MATCH the curve of the transom when viewed from above.  I am not really stressing the sanding of char here because that will be taken care of once you reduce those outer pieces.   You will be reducing them to the same width while maintaining the same graceful curve.
 

Once you finish both sides, you can sand it all with a fine grit sandpaper to prep for painting.  Then paint the whole thing black.   Sanding made a lot of dust so remember to clean that all away before you start painting.  You want the best quality painted surface as possible.
 
Here are some pictures after the cap was completed and painted.  This really ties everything together well.
 

 


 

 
 
 

Ouch sorry Jason, I hadn't scrolled up to read your approach.  Thanks for passing it along, very clever!

Absolutely beautiful progress.
 
 

A few weeks since my last update, so just a quick one to show that I'm still working away at it. Construction has slowed slightly since winter finally arrived a couple of weeks ago. Lots of fun outdoor activities, like skiing, sledding, snowshoeing, all the fun stuff that can only be done with a decent amount of the white stuff. And then for those who follow my non-maritime adventures, there's also the odd time when my main mode of transportation decides to no longer function as designed. 
 
Anyway, on the days not filled with other activities, work has progressed on the starboard side, and I've now managed to complete the first two planking belts.
 

 

 
It's nice to begin to see the (hull) planking finish line.
 
Andy
 

Tomorrow will usher in China’s traditional festival: the Spring Festival. In a few days, the Beijing Winter Olympics will also be opening. I will stop working and take about a week off to spend this wonderful holiday with my wife. I also wish friends all over the world a happy New Year! I will continue to update until it is complete.

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

A quick update on the BENSWORX Virtual kit, slightly improved. I have been working on the main bridge and this is the result.
 
The main bridge is printed in one large part: 
 

 
Resulting in this solid bridge: 
 

 
There are pros and cons with this way of doing. The Pros are that the part is very sturdy, easy to remove from the main cabin (for RC application) and relatively easy to finish. The Cons are that it does not offer too many details and makes the planking of the bridge, a tedious challenge. The original bridge was surrounded by canvas stretched on a tubular structure. The 3D print renders some of that aspect, at least from the inside. Anal modelers will likely cut everything and build the sides from soldered brass wires, covered by a thin canvas made of fabric. I thought about that .... for about one minute.
 

 
Planking takes a lot of precise and small cuts and is labor of patience. I used two varieties of wood and I am not sure if the central part is planked or not. It probably is.... 
 

 
On the rear wall, the small shelves are used to store all the pennants and flags. This is again highly simplified on this 3D kit.
 
A coat of AGE-IT finishes the wood and gives it a nice blond hue: 
 

 
Then, it is the relatively easy task of gluing all the parts, after painting them. The radar enclosure is unfortunately simplified and would have to be entirely rebuilt, if you wanted to replace the solid PLA by transparent films.
 

 
Overall, the end result is not too bad and blends harmoniously with the rest of the ship.
 

 
The shielding panels are installed, in the front and sides of the bridge. The rear wall of the bridge was apparently not protected, according to the pictures I saw.
 

 

 
The two Oerlikon guns were printed using a resin printer.
 

 

 
I need to find some Canadian sailors to populate that bridge.....
 

 
The radar (above) is carefully painted to simulate the inside of the radar enclosure (dark). That part could be represented with a canvas covering it, if you decide to picture your Corvette in a harbor.
 

 

 
The staircase going to the main deck and the ammos storage bins.
 

 
I have added a small windshield which is not part of the kit.
 

 

 
Overall view of the beast: 
 

 

 

 
I still have to work on the mast and finish the 6th module, comprising the depth charges deck and stern.
 
I hope you are enjoying that big project.
 
Yves
 
 
 
 
 
 

Good Evening All;
 
To add to the correct information in all those previous posts:
 
In the early 17th century, quite a number of the carved parts of ships were covered with genuine gold. This is clear from the specific phrase used in the accounts: 'gilding with fine gold', and was applied to, for example, 'sundry garnishings and embossing on the galleries and head'; as well as more specifically 'the beast' (ie the figurehead) and the king's arms and badges. 
 
Gilding is specified in contracts, for finishing the king's arms in the stern, right up until the early 18th century, and probably continued to be used for prestige first rate ships for some time afterwards. 
 
After this, the cost meant that it was normal practice to paint features with yellow ochre; at least on Navy ships. Royal yachts, however, were definitely gilded. Bills for such works survive from Charles II's reign, with references to gold size as part of the process. The number of books of gold leaf used on the Royal Caroline of 1749 is mentioned in letters from the dockyard; and the cost of gilding is mentioned as a separate item in various accounts for the same vessel, and others; normally a substantial sum, far in excess of what paint would have cost. In addition, references occur to making surfaces ready for gilding, and the difficulties of gilding in inclement weather. 
 
With regard to the Sphinx, it is by far most likely that, as agreed above, yellow ochre paint would have been used. 
 
All the best,
 
Mark P

Love it Chris.  Don't know how you do it at that tiny scale.

Wow, the finished stern looks fantastic!
 
Thomas

Stunning work, and definitely the right call to remake those trim sections above and below the upper counter. As always your work is an inspiration.

Love it Chris.  Don't know how you do it at that tiny scale.

Thank you everyone so much for your supportive comments, I am pleased with the way it has turned out, in no small way thanks to Chuck allowing me to use the ‘Winnie’ artwork and providing me with the bespoke lettering for the name.
 
@ Tom -  Painting the Tafferel decorations  was a challenge I has to use high magnification specs with the optivisor on top. There was a lot of re-touching involved, and probably more to come.
 
Cheers,
 
B.E.

Post Seventy-one
 
Stern work – the final stage
The next stage is to add the Upper counter rail which runs directly below the windows and the bottom edge of the Tafferel.
This sits  neatly below the columns and the bottom end  of the Tafferel. I had no need of the ‘filling’ patterns to raise the Tafferel level.

2466
I did however hit a snag, the length of the kit moulding strips is barely sufficient to reach the edge of the stern facia, leaving no excess to form a neat join with the corresponding rails that run along the Qtr Gallery.
As far as I can see on the prototype build the ends of the Quarter gallery mouldings simply meet the stern rails with a cut grain end.
Not so bad if the rail is to be painted as the joint can be fudged, but leaving it as clean varnished wood presents a problem on this highly visible feature.
I wasn’t confident that I could make a decent job of the moulding joints using the kit parts, so the other option is to make your own.

 

These two photos of Chuck’s Winnie build demonstrate how the moulding joins should be.
I hope to emulate this on Sphinx.

2464(2)
I scribed replacement rails using some lengths of 0.8mm x 3mm Pearwood strip, The lower one in the above photo.
The beauty of scribing your own is that you have endless goes to get it right, at least until your timber or patience runs out.

2533
 The Upper rail in place  extending beyond the counter to allow for meeting the adjoining rail.
 
It is now time to fit the  counter decoration, courtesy of Chuck who designed the name lettering.

Tricky this because it has to be tweaked to fit the specifics of the Sphinx counter whilst ensuring that the lower rail of the counter does not obscure the lettering.
Trial and error produced one of the correct proportions.

2535
With the print glued into place the lower moulding is added.

2537
So Sphinx at last is named.
It is interesting to note that on the Marshall painting (1775) the name is not shown on the Upper counter.
As we know the order for adding the names to the counter came in in 1772, is on the Admiralty Plan, and most importantly I like to see the names  on the sterns of ships of this era.
 
Onto the Quarter Galleries.
 
B.E.
28/01/22