Beef Wellington

Very interested in following along, this subject and kit doesn't seem to pop up too often.

I've been gradually plodding along with the copper plating. This would have been faster, but I got distracted with another small kit, and took a holiday...
 
The copper-plating has two rows that run at the top parallel to the waterline. I've used masking tape to mark the bottom of that band (with 2mm to play with), so that I know where to stop the lower bands. These lower bands will be cut to fit the lower edge of this masking tape, and then the two top rows added to finish the job. So the masking tape finishes 13mm below the waterline. It's worth noting that this isn't 13mm vertically, but 13mm as the plates are laid... a fairly different measurement by the time you get towards the stern.
 

 

 
 

Thinking About colour
 
There are four main colours other than black to be used on the model.
Red, Blue, White, Yellow, and shades thereof.
 
On every build I have done the actual shade has exorcised my mind, particularly for the colour blue.
 
I am interested to see how various tones look against the mainly Pearwood finish.

3538(2)
This is my rough colour comparison chart painted on a Pearwood background. All I am interested in here is how the colour relates to what will be the bright finish between Wale and Waist rail.
 
The colour selection features paints from Vallejo, Admiralty (Jotika/Caldercraft) and Humbrol. The majority are water based but the Admiralty Red Ochre and Humbrol RAF Blue are oil versions as I didn’t have the acrylic versions to hand.
 
I favour the more muted tones as seen on contemporary models, and I hope with this build I can settle on a colour that does not require mixing as that relieves me of working out a formula for re-mixes.
 
 
My initial thoughts are:-
Vallejo Flat Red   - inboard works and some deck fittings.
 
Vallejo Grey/blue - Ground to the Topsides and stern decorations. (Humbrol RAF Blue (96) runs a close second.)
 
Admiralty Yellow Ochre – Frieze decorations, but with other shades of yellow and white for toning and highlights.
 
I don’t intend to use gold on any area of the model.
 
There is a very good section on painting decorative friezes in Volume 11 of the ffm, the techniques of which can be applied to the brass etched versions supplied with the kit to good effect.
 
I am undecided about the lower hull as yet, if it’s good enough I may not paint it at all, but if I do I may need to tone a bright white down a little.
 
This is the last of my musings before that large box hopefully arrives next week and the build begins in earnest.
 
 
B.E.
21/08/21
 

A bit of rust added. Next on to the deck. 

Thank you Kurt.
 
I will get around to making a post in this section for information, updates, and developments.  

I have to remove the dust from the build log......
First palnking done.
Use filler band then sand everything till she is smooth as possible.
Now I have a good layer for the second planking.
Enjoy!
 
Sjors

you will be finished by Christmas this year

Hello all,
 
And yes, another Victory build!
 
Welcome all.
 
My apologies to Amati, but I couldn't wait any longer for their Victory. So I ordered the Caldercraft / Jotika instead as a present to myself on the occasion on my upcoming 40th work anniversary in August.
 
And boy, she is big and heavy. A box filled with 15 kilo's (33 lb) of all kinds of goodies.
 

 
 

 
 

The Constellation storage arrangement does not seem to make sense.  With spars stored as they are, this would severely impact the ability to mount any armament in these areas so just doesn't seem to pass the practicality test.  I'd also be very interested in seeing primary source suggesting how spars could be mounted on the channels, intuitively this seems rather cumbersome approach for anything but the smallest.  I have nothing specific to point to, but would a more practical solution be to store larger yards amidships in the waist area amongst and of the ships boats? 

The Constellation storage arrangement does not seem to make sense.  With spars stored as they are, this would severely impact the ability to mount any armament in these areas so just doesn't seem to pass the practicality test.  I'd also be very interested in seeing primary source suggesting how spars could be mounted on the channels, intuitively this seems rather cumbersome approach for anything but the smallest.  I have nothing specific to point to, but would a more practical solution be to store larger yards amidships in the waist area amongst and of the ships boats? 

So another bit of brown and white mixed paint added in the centre, which I think I prefer, and some buff overspray. Suggestions? 

Here she is this evening.  

I have also cracked all the spars.  Fiddly, fairly straight forward but long winded.  The only area of note was the fitting of the stunsail booms. I struggled to get them level and to fit neatly with the mainspars largely because the end of the boom rested on lines securing the blocks to the spars - I couldn't get a neat fit to apply the glue.  so i made a little notch at the end of the boom to rest on top of the line which allowed the boom to be fixed - they wont be movable!
 
I found the metal fittings for the boom rings and brackets too clunky, so I replaced some with fittings made out of 0.25m styrene which looked more in proportion. 
 
I obtained some jewelry 0.5mm brass eyes which were good quality wire - not very bendy unlike the very soft wire provided in the kit.   The eyes were too large so I cut them down to size, made a new eye and blacked them before fitting. 
 
Here are a few snaps. 

Steelwork glued on and a test fit of the deck 

I'm sure you'll do Chris' kit proud BE...and I also suspect that there will be a number of further enhancements so I'll strap in for the ride.

I'm sure you'll do Chris' kit proud BE...and I also suspect that there will be a number of further enhancements so I'll strap in for the ride.

HMS Sphinx 1775 Sixth Rate 20 guns ship - 1:64 Scale model from Vanguard.
 
This will be my latest project, a project the size and type of which, only a short while ago, I thought I would not be doing again.
I hadn’t counted on Chris Watton’s ability to beguile me in this late stage of my model building career to return to another 18th century square rigged naval ship.
 
However, as Jim’s prototype build developed, I thought what a fine Navy board style model this would make given the detail included in the kit, and importantly proper deck beams, and full run decks unimpeded by hull carcase bulkhead structures.
The inclusion of an engraved proper lower deck with hatches and ladderways down to an orlop deck, is a nice touch and opens further opportunities.
 
I will be building this kit as a Navy board style model without masts or rigging, and that way space considerations will not be a big issue.

 

Joseph Marshall paintings of Sphynx / Sphinx held by the Science Museum. (They are available for purchase as prints.)
 
These two perspective paintings by Joseph Marshall commissioned by George 111 will be my inspiration, as was his painting of the cutter Alert for that build.
 
Altho’ delivery is still a week or so away, I am gathering information, and I have some jottings about possible additions/modifications, but I won’t pre-empt the arrival of the kit.

I have also ordered the Lines and Profile plan from the N.M.M. (Ref j4272)
 
Apart from providing additional information, these make very attractive art works to my eye at least, and the framed print will join those of Pegasus and Cheerful on my walls.
 
I have also realised that my copy of The 24-Gun Frigate Pandora (AotS series – by John McKay and Ron Coleman) has much useful information relevant to Sphinx.
 
So, as I continue finger tapping on my desk, in eager anticipation of that large box arriving, I will entertain myself poring over the pdf of the voluminous build manual.
 
B.E.
11/08/2021
 

And the bridge, apparently she had 50 cal machine guns in early 1943 so I got some in 1/350. 

Thanks everyone for not forgetting me!
 
@BE - Yes, I will glaze the lights.  One of my other vacillations is what with, especially as the stern lights still need to be installed.  There is the kit supplied perspex, crystal clear, and I also have some thin mica sheets which are less than perfect but maybe a little bit more 'period'.  Still pondering that one, luckily don't need to decide now.
@Eammon - need to see you getting back into things now the Ballier is complete!
@Mike - very much enjoying watching your Snake come together
 
Planning for quarterdeck planking:
Planking the forecastle and quarterdeck has had me in a state of indecision for quite some time.  Of course one option would be to simply plank with standard 4mm strip.  While there is next to no chance of a mess-up, I knew that I would be forever kicking myself as this would not be consistent with contemporary practice.  At this time, it seems that deck planking was still done by hand and involved planks being tapered, but without being joggled into the waterway.  I'm going to follow the suggested pattern in the AOTS Diana book which show a consistent taper over the full length (with consistent run fore to aft), rather than the other contemporary practice of having a wider section at the rear of some planks to allow the adjacent plank to butt into it.  This approach will definitely be a big challenge, but I'm hoping that taking this slowly will at least give a chance of success.
 
Firstly, the quarterdeck was marked out with 1cm station markers, the centerline defined and an estimate for the waterway placement.  I'm planning on the waterway being about 5mm wide, so the edge was marked 6mm from the interior bulwark face to allow for an additional layer of planking.  For ease, this exercise was then then repeated on a paper template, and seperate templates were created for both starboard and port sides.

The width of the deck was then measured at each 1cm station.  To aid this exercise, I used a newly acquired digital caliper which I HIGHLY recommend to anyone, I don't know how I got by with without one to this point - no more eyeballing to the nearest 0.5mm!  To minimize error, each measurement was taken 3 times and then averaged on each side.  This highlighted something that is not too surprising, that is that the the hull is not symmetrical, and varies in width from the centerline by up to 1mm, and needs to be accounted for.

All of these measurements were entered into a spreadsheet to estimate the required taper for each plank, and which allowed certain constraints to be resolved (for example, a whole number of planks are needed (!), and that the width of the plank at the aftmost end shouldn't be less than 50% of the widest part of the plank.).  The small discrepancies between the starboard and port side were resolved by simply averaging the two, mainly to avoid the need for different tapering approaches, and hopefully these discrepancies can be resolved without being apparent to a typical observer.  The spreadsheet allowed the overall planking plan to be determined at each station, so that this can continually be checked as planking progresses.  To give everyone a sense for where this landed, the desired plank is 3.85mm at its widest, tapering to 2.16mm at its narrowest over a length of 35cm.

Now the plank widths were known, 2 templates could be made out of some spare pear stock. (These were fine tuned after temporarily glueing together)  I was very happy with how this turned out, and it proved possible to get to a high level of accuracy with time and care.  These templates were then glued onto a board, and jig to hold planks placed in between.  Each plank was rough shaped to remove 75% of the needed material, but then finished with ever finer sandpaper.  The sandpaper was placed in the center of a block that slides on the templates to provide the final shape.  Electrical tape was placed on the templates to help protect them, and also offset the thickness of the sandpaper.  The bottom photo shows the first 10 planks having been finished.  I was very pleased with the level of accuracy that this gave, there being very little difference between the planned and actual.

Next step will be to start getting some of these installed, and continue shaping the remainder that will be needed.
 
 

@ Mike - no not officially an engineer, but my brain does work that way....am a physicist by education, and have played a little with battlefield engineering.  Up to this point, its been possible to get by just by look and feel, and the philosophy of thinking ahead and not sweating the small stuff 🙂.  This task just required more planned precision.  BTW - you can never have enough serving on a model if you have the patience for it.
 
Hopefully this photo makes the jig operation clearer (I left the tape off the outside guide templates for clarity).  The fine sandpaper shown is around 0.2mm thickness which would pretty much be offset by the electrical tape thickness.  (0.2mm plank width variance would add up to a 4mm problem per side, so it adds up quickly)

 

Whilst I await the arrival of my next project I have continued to play around with more Watermen figures to people the barge.
 
After much faffing around I decided on six figures as this seemed to give the best balance on the boat without giving an overcluttered look.
 
The figures as with the original oarsman are all derived from various 1:24 scale figures from Deans Marine.
 
In setting the figures the trickiest part is fixing the oars in the vertical position. I had to resort to smearing ca on the palms of the rowers to secure them.
I didn’t wish to mar the varnished thwarts, so a thin strip of Blu-tac was used to secure the oarsmen in place.

3422

3423

3413

3425

3438(2)

3437(2)

3411(3)

3398

3401(3)
 
I think I can now declare the model finally finished, time to clear the workroom for the arrival of Sphinx.
 
B.E.
 
16/08/2021
 
 

Lucien,
FWIW, according to David Lees in The Masting and Rigging, on page 67 chain pendants were not used until 1850.  As Beagle was already de-masted and set in a marsh by 1845 and later renamed Watch Vessel Number 7  it may be the plans you have are not accurate.  It would be a good idea to look for contemporary information to confirm information given with most any kit.  The Anatomy of a Ship series is great, but  again, it is wise to check contemporary sources or "modern" sources based on contemporary information before cutting wood or metal.   It may be that Beagle was 30 years ahead of her time and had chain pendants when built but I would not think so.  Hopefully if you  do some research it will turn up accurate information. 
 
There are very detailed descriptions of both mast tackles and burton tackles in The Masting and Rigging on pages 42 and 66-67.  Far too much to copy here without violating copyrights.  In short though I believe the two are very similar with the mast tackle on the lower masts and the burton tackle on the topmasts but keep in mind that at least the burton tackle was rigged differently depending on if it was actually in use or not.  Hopefully some member can give you more information. 
 
Allan
 
 

So the metal latticework I painted upside down because the flat bits on top will seat the flight deck, but it means the whole tiny needs a respray. 

So another layer of green oil wash, still really shiny, will really attack it tomorrow. I’ll pulled off the masking tape to attack the boot strap as well. 

 
Oh, it’s too green?

well she made it back into the mancave, but the stagecoach must be completed first, i have promised myself