Beef Wellington

Well this is the third time I've posted something to the following effect - I'll soon be getting back to the Bluenose. Except this time, it has actually been happening! 
 
I dedicated some time over the summer to scratch building a small model of a rowing skiff - mostly to get myself back into ship modelling in general but also because it seemed like a nice, small, self--contained project that I could easily complete in a couple of months casual work. The skiff is now very near completion, with only a couple of things to go, and I've turned back once again to the Bluenose. 
 
Since my last actual update on the build, I have done and redone the bulwarks/scuppers three times...I found this very difficult to get right, and even now I am not happy with the results - but I also know that as the model gets built up the more obviously offensive aspects of them will begin to fade into the background so it is definitely time to move on.
 
And (at long last) move on I have. Once the bulwarks were done, I painted them inboard (white) and also finished the waterways (grey), after much sanding and a bit of filling. I also spent a bit of time making a stand and mounting arrangement for the finished model - using 3/4" ply with 3/4" x 1/4" hemlock as trim around the edges. You can see the stand a little bit in one of the photos below. The last thing I've done to this point is install the bulwark stanchions - as yet unfinished - that's the next step.
 
At the moment it is a bit rough looking, but a bit of tidying up will bring it up to a more or less decent standard. I'm very happy to back into the swing of modelling - I've missed it a lot in the years that my practice has languished - I only wish it were still Spring and I had a more regular 40-hour work week to sustain a more regular modelling practice - but...modelling will not put food in my kids' stomachs or pay my mortgage, so.....
 
Enjoy the pics
hamilton
 

Beautiful work, and you work so quickly!

Looking forward to this Mark, I've always had you down as a scratch only builder but am sure this will be a fun project.  

Post Seven
 
Gunport patterns
 
These fitted perfectly in the slots altho’ there was a little spring in the patterns which gave me cause to think about the diluted glue joint brushing approach. I did it, but light clamping was required for several of the slots.
TheY feel very delicate and soft hands are required to fit them, whilst ensuring the rails fully fit into the slots.

03902(2)
To my annoyance the port side extension at the top end of Bulkhead 12 came away. (It’s the one with the yellow tape on it)
Nowt to do wi’ me Gov, I swear it fell off on its own accord; re-glued, but it remains to be seen what subsequent stresses it will be subject to.
With the rails in place the hull is beginning to look the part and with the glue set it is now a rigid structure.
Still need to be careful with those bulkhead extensions in the Quarter deck area.

03903
Finally, I removed the infill from Bulkhead 13. I took this very slowly and ensured that I could slip a scalpel blade between infill and bulkhead before I applied any pressure.
 
Fitting out the Lower Deck
I will be using the provided coaming/grating sets for the lower deck; they will only ever be viewed from above once the upper deck is fitted.
 
I note that there is no round-up to the head ledges, which appears to follow some of the drawings in the AotS book on Pandora.
Some of the general isometric and deck plan drawings in the book also show picture frame corner joints to the coamings, hmmn.
🤔
The cross section drawings do appear to show a round up, so this is an area I will re-visit when I get to the Upper deck fittings.
 
The Pearwood Laser cut coamings are cleanly cut, remember to apply glue to the top half of each set, helps to keep glue off the grating rebate.

0197
The gratings are accurately cut and are a perfect fit to the coamings.
 
At this point I can also add the ladders down to the Platforms.
I had run out of generic ladder sets and considered buying and converting the Pearwood set supplied for Speedy.

0190(2)
Chris was kind enough to knock me a set out from earlier Sphinx plans he had when he considered fitting out the ladderways.
He does not intend to generally include these as separate fittings but will supply them on request. (He tells me)

0194(2)

0201(2)

0205
Fore hatchway

0213(2)
I will leave the Fore lower deck hatch open.
 

0209
There will be a view of the Fore Platform down thro’ the Upper and lower decks and it will enhance the impression of a fully fitted out model.

0206
Aft hatchway.

0210
Here the grating will remain in place as it sits below the Capstan, and there is no open space below it.
Less will be seen of this ladderway as the Upper deck ladderway sits above it.
 
B.E.
31/08/21
 

Beautiful work, and you work so quickly!

I've now roughed out this piece and glued it into place.  It will get its final shape when I fair the outside of the hull.  I'm not entirely happy with it but its my fault for not thinking ahead.  A very small additional triangular piece had to be made for both sides to make the transition from the block to the sternpost smooth.
 
I did have difficulty recessing the inside of the piece because it was difficult to hold due to its shape.  In hindsight what I should have done was put a couple of screws into it where it wouldn't notice and then clamp onto the screws.  They could have then been simply removed before gluing.  I'll save that one for next time!
 
I think my build will slow down for a bit now as my next job is to fair the inside of the hull.  I think that this job is going to take quite a long time to get right but I'm looking forward to it.  Once the hull has been faired inside I'll have a go at making the keelson, stemson and sternson.
 
Cheers Mark 
 

I'm tired of sawing and sanding wood. I'll do some outfitting for a change. Start with the metal boiler. As long as the size of the parts and drawings accurately match, will not be affected by the hull deviation. The drawings are 1:36 and must be converted to 1:60(60% of the drawing size) before being made. In order to beautiful and firm, the main body using block copper milling processing, the basic use of riveting parts. The utility model avoids the unsightedness of the welding and the unsteadiness of the adhesive. The precision of machining is required higher.
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Bonjour,
Les « carlingots » sont deux pièces placées parallèlement et contre la quille afin de la renforcer latéralement.
Les "aiguillettes" sont la pièce supérieure dans la partie supérieure des cavaliers (qui sur ce navire ont une forme particulière).
 
GD

Chris, from what I can read there definitely is a general coincidence of the introduction of the carronade and the built up bulwarks in the 1790s, but I haven't seen anything that suggest that one 'requires' the other.  There seem to quite a few examples of carronades with open bulwarks, definitely interested in learning more if there is anything you have found to point to.
 

During wartime, even well before the French Revolutionary Wars, captains ordered their crew to build up the bulwarks. It seems the Admiralty knew about this, but turned a blind eye. But it does seem that when carronades were introduced and were found to be very effective close range weapons, bulwarks were built up to perhaps help counter the recoil effect of the carronades.
 
In peacetime, ships were ordered to have their bulwarks open (don't know why, perhaps for aesthetic reasons), but in wartime, they were closed. It isn't until the very tail end of the 18th Century do we see Admiralty plans showing built up bulwarks, first just aft, and then forward.

Hi all, thanks to Tony's generosity I was able to complete the spiderband for the Mizen mast.  The dust on the base of the mast is where I was sanding it ready to put on a coat of finish.  I think the series of shots posted earlier, along with these are self explanatory as to how I made these.  Once the set-up had been worked out it simply became a matter of production line activity.  The final photograph is of the masts with their spiderbands and collars (I have yet to simulate the wedge shapes on the collars)
 
cheers
 
Pat




 
 

Hi guys, thanks for the offers; much appreciated.
 
Rob, speaking for myself, but I am sure many others, are well and truely getting tired of the continuous lockdowns - made all the worse by idiots who will not do a few simple things - only interested in their own interests.  Now that our vax levels are getting better we are all hoping to be able to avoid the lockdowns.  Online has been OK during the lockdown but some supplies are getting scarce - I have heard a rumour K&S have stopped making some small shapes which may explain why I can't find much.
 
John, thanks for that; certainly a fall back option.
 
Tony, many thanks - much appreciated.  I think I can easily stretch the 5.5mm ID tube on a mandrel to make it work; but either would work as I can ream out the thicker walled one.  Would greatly appreciate a short length of either.  Please let me know costs and postage etc.  
 
cheers
 
Pat

Yes, railings would have been 'Berthed Up', usually unofficially during wartime, and officially in the late 1790's (from what I have read)
 
It seems that with the introduction of the carronade, the bulwarks became solid, not open.

Looking forward to this Mark, I've always had you down as a scratch only builder but am sure this will be a fun project.  

In his 'Masting and Rigging', Lees talks about the brails running through blocks on either side of the mast and down to the deck, but he isn't specific of exactly where on deck they were secured.
 
John

Looking forward to this Mark, I've always had you down as a scratch only builder but am sure this will be a fun project.  

Looking forward to this Mark, I've always had you down as a scratch only builder but am sure this will be a fun project.  

Part 010


 
Next I removed the resin inserts and trimmed off the heads, then reinstalled the tail pieces.
 

 
 
I installed the  larger of the blocks that tie the tips of the two halves together.





Then I installed the thin piece, that goes below it. This is a laser cut plywood piece, and I had to sand bevels on each end so that they could slide into the groves in the frame.
 

 
At this point I noticed that I had not sanded them enough and they had spread the frames a little (see the above picture). By that point, however, the glue had dried enough to prevent me removing them! I’ll have to break out my Jewelers Saw and cut through the center, which will hopefully remove enough so that the frames close up properly.


 
Meanwhile, I cut the chocks down to match the level of the respective frame members. The photograph shows one chock cut and sanded (right hand side), while I have just started on the second one. For this I used an X-Acto Number 2 blade, small files, and fingernail sanding sticks. After the chocks passed the fingernail test (a fingernail passed across the surface does not catch on any protrusions at the joints of the surfaces), I sanded along the grain to hide the  marks made cutting out the piece.

 
 
After finishing the chocks on this side, I flipped the frame over and did the same to the ones on that side.


 
I then used the saw to split the plywood pieces,  On one side the plywood fell out as I was completing the cut. I glued the two sections back together and reinserted them. In the picture below you can see them right after I got them back in.
 

 
 
I took a pair of flat surface needle nose pliers and used them to hold the two plywood sections into a flat alignment top and bottom (you can see that they are not aligned in the picture above).


 
Once the glue had dried I faired the ends of the plywood pieces and the blocks above them down even with the frame surfaces. I also filed the top and bottoms of the plywood inserts to insure that those surfaces were lined up correctly.
 

 

 
I managed to pop one of the other joints in the frame while doing this, but in the end, I finally finished this frame!


 
Next I started to look around for something to store the frames in, as I finished them. In the end I found a simple, cheap, way to do this. I had a beat up one of the small Post Office Flat Rate Boxes laying around and when I folded it up, it was an ideal size.
 

 
 
The box is designed to be held together, once folded up,  when the tab on the top is glued to the front of the box. As I was going the not glue the top down, I glued the corner tabs in place then folded the side ears down and glued them also. After cutting the ears off the sides of the top, I had a nice frame holder! It is large enough to hold two frames in each layer, if the second frame is set in upside down so that the bottom of the frame spans over one tip of the first. It looks to be deep enough for three layers (6 frames total) of frames per box.
 

 

 
At this point, in time, I have also finished Frame 7, and will detail that in the next part. Before starting on the next two frames (7 & 8), there are corrections to the instructions needed, so stay tuned, (or go to John H’s review of this kit, where he details the corrections)!

Part 009

 

Next I had to clean out the inside corners of the upper piece for the slots for the false keel, keel, and chocks, to remove the rounded corners left by the milling bit.

 

 
After further cleaning up the false keel, I used it and the keel to check my progress on cutting out the corners.
 

 

 
Next I used the false keel as a jig to align the upper and lower frame slots, and glued the upper section in place, then removed the false keel and placed weights on the upper section and along the exposed lower half to keep everything level while the glue dried.
 

 
Next came a step that should have been in the instructions, before the frame assembly. There is a temporary resin fill piece between the upper and lower halves of the frame, that positions the upper tips of the frame pieces, away from each other. After the frame is glued, two small pieces of wood span areas of this gap, and form part of the finished frame. The only reference to this is the graphic of assembling the upper half, were it is shown in place between the frame sections.
 

 
This shows the two pieces that will be installed when the inserts are removed.
 

 
The entire upper tip piece will stand proud, of the lower frame half, held in place only by the chock and the two inserts, once the frame is finished. After I install the two wooden support pieces, I’ll trim the head off the insert, and reinstall the tail piece, to support the gap, until I reach a point where it is no longer needed.


 
The problem, is that both the upper and lower tip pieces have to be fitted to the resin piece, just like the chocks and keel parts. With the lower half assembled this proved awkward.
 

 
One thing to be aware of, is that the groves are angled, not straight across the frame section. Yes, I didn’t notice this on the first two pieces. The resin piece required minor cleanup to remove some small vent nubs along the flat tail piece.
 

 
This is a picture of one side cut to fit the insert, and the other before I started.
 

 
Here is both sides fitted.
 

 

 
Notice that the lower frame half tip (the upper one in this shot) “re-kitted” itself during the process. The same thing happened on the other side.


 
So, after fitting the parts, I reattached the two lower frame pieces, and, after the glue dried, proceeded to glue one of the upper pieces in place. I shortened the tail piece of the resin spacer a little, to make sure that it was not hitting the adjacent frame section. I found that modified clothes pins had just the right spacing to clamp the parts parallel. I reversed the spring so that the handle ends were the side closed by the spring pressure (see the photos).  I used a clamp on either side of the chock, and at the top of the frame to hold the tips in line. I used a file to add weight to hold the tips tight to the insert.


 
This method does not normally work on a single chock holding two frame sections as the pressure tends to push the parts away from each other. For this use though, everything is locked in place by the insert and the previously glued sections, and the clamp ends are spaced by the lower frame surfaces.


 
Yes, the third photograph shows a nice lump of excess glue at the chock, but that end of the chock will be filed down to match the frame section, which is thinner than the mating end of the tip piece. If you look at the joint to the right in that picture, you will see that the same thing will have to be done to one side of that chock, also.
 

 

 

 

 
The forum software only allows a maximum of 16 pictures per post, so I will continue when I get a bit further along is completing this frame.

Part 008, or “How to continue to do it wrong!”

 

During the build, I will continue to show mistakes, why I made them, and (Hopefully) how I fixed them. This is my first POF build, and basically my first wood sailing ship kit, though I have built HO scale wood buildings and wood RC warships. By showing my mistakes, I may help others avoid them. “Good judgement comes from experience, experience comes from bad judgement. "


 
In retrospect, I should have started with one of the inside frames, where mistakes could have been more easily hidden.


 
As I mentioned before, Frame 6 would not fit back between the shims when I tried to put it back into place. After getting everything un-glued, I rebuilt the lower section of the frame first, so far so good. Then, I said to myself, “Self, you know this frame has to fit onto the keel, doesn’t it?”. Self replied, “You’re right, better try that!"

 

 
So I found the two pieces for the keel, the keel, and false keel. The first thing I found was that both pieces had been machined incorrectly!!
 

 
As you can see above, the blank apparently shifted a little when they turned it over to mill the back, and the upper and lower surfaces came out misaligned. Not by much, but after cleanup both the parts were too short by twice the difference in misalignment (had to correct both top and bottom). At least the relative depth of the lands on the false keel are correct. So, I thought, “I can just add a shim between the keel and false keel, to make up the difference.” Looking at the keel. I then discovered that the two rabbets are now also misaligned, height wise, and the keel will sit lower in the assembly jig. Not good!  I’m going to write to CAF, and see if they will replace these two parts. Luckily, these were the only parts in that blank.


 
After some cleanup it looked like this,
 

 
 
Now, to continue the frame 6 story, it turns out that, no, the keel would not fit in the frame slot! ********!! I tried widening the slot with files, etc., but was just marking up the underside of the chock, and cutting the frame piece unsquarely. So, out came the Isopropyl alcohol again!


 
I cleaned up the unsquared area with my disk sander and got everything put back together, with the keel now fitting nicely. Then, for fun, I cutout the bottom piece of the upper half of the frame, and placed it on top of the lower pieces. Double *******! The lower frame curve was too shallow! So once again, do over.
 

 
 
If you look closely you can see that the front assembly, does not have the same curve as the back piece (6A-6A-1). Note however how nicely the edges of the wider sections match. Sigh.
 
 

 
 
I cleaned up the outside surfaces of the upper piece to remove the attachment points.
 
 

 


As can be seen in the above picture, I then applied tape to the mating surface of the part, to prevent it from sticking to the lower pieces.


 
Then I glued the lower pieces in place and clamped the upper piece in place to align them. I had to sand the wedge areas of the chock to lengthen it to fill the longer gap between the two frames. There is enough meat in the part to do this.
 

 
 
After everything was correctly positioned I clamped the upper section to the lower ones, until the glue had grabbed, then removed the upper section, and placed a weight on the lower parts, to keep them flat.
 

 

 
Finally I got the two curves to match, unfortunately, now the keel slot in the bottom half is too wide. Also unfortunately this frame is an end frame, and, naturally, the exposed side. I’ll figure out that problem later.
 
 

 
Here is a picture with the bottom section glued back together, and the upper piece set on top. Now the curves match! And, also now, the slots in the lower half are wider than the ones in the upper section.
 

 
After everything had dried, I glued the rest of the lower Frame 6 parts in place. Finally done with this assembly!


 

Just lovely, If you are planning on wire wool, try to get bronze not steel. Steel will leave tiny particles that will eventually form rust spots.

Hi Everyone
 
I've now faired the inside of the hull which really does take hours.  My hands and fingers are killing me they are so sore 😂  I wouldn't mind but I was using blocks too!!!  I have learnt not to leave any frame chocks protruding too far into the hull; thats another one for next time too!  I didn't have many places where I needed to remove too much material.  It was more about lining the frames up correctly - please remember though I do have scale on my side as these frames are thick.  How you builders do this at 1/48 scale must make the process so much harder and more precise in the first place.
 
I have to say its a lovely job to do especially when you get down to some finer papers such as 320 and 400 grit.  You can just feel that things are starting to be right - it's hard to explain.  I've stopped at 400 grit as I'm sure that the interior is going to get a bit bashed around before it needs a final finish.
 
I'm not sure what you all use for a final finish but I'm thinking wire wool is probably the way to go when I get around to that stage.
 
The next job is to make the keelson and I will make a start on that tricky piece next weekend.
 
Mark - BTW I think I should say thanks for all of the likes too its quite humbling to be honest.