Beef Wellington

Yves, fascinating project....I've got nothing to add here but would like to watch and learn.  Great results so far.

Yves, fascinating project....I've got nothing to add here but would like to watch and learn.  Great results so far.

So that’s the latticework done up for dryfit. Little bit warped but will glue down ok. 
 
no comparison to the plastic is there! 

This is the third time to rework, the positioning is finally right. It's not a good idea to trust your feelings with the naked eye, wasting a lot of time and energy. . .
 

 
 

 
 
 

Hi Stergios, not sure I can impart much advice given this seems to come down a lot to personal preference.  I can't tell exactly where you are, but I think I put the lifts on the yards first, mainly to get these secured squarely.  The sheets and cluelines came next and then the braces and tacks.  Check my log to see if you can tell from photos there, but in general I seem to recall working top downwards, and then mizzen to foremast.  The primary concern was just leaving the deck open enough to have access to secure lines (the upper yards tend to follow the line of the masts for belaying.  For example, the forsheet clue, sheet and tack lines pretty much limits any access to the deck once in place, so this was done last.  I think I took a different approach to you on the bowsprit as I didn't even install the jib-boom until most, if not all the other rigging was in place...,mainly to try and avoid a disastrous break.  I did find using a little swiveling turntableto be very helpful at times (think its call a 'lazy susan')...but all personal preference I suspect.  Good luck!

Hi again folks.  I have continued to make some slow progress, and even a start on some of the spars as shown in the following.
 
First up was the inclusion of a flag locker.  This is not shown on the sheer drawing or in any photo/lithograph but will have been essential.  The 'pidgeon holes' were made up from interlocking brass PE (from Scale Warships).  I then framed it with thin (.8mm ) wood.  While the top looks high, please note the bulwarks were only 2' 9" high.  I formed the top as a sort of chart table.  I am also considering making up a similar locker on the other side to stow the patent log (Massey style towed harpoon log), navigation equipment, signal lamps etc.  Not sure about that yet.  I also noted (not visible to naked eye but stands out in photo) I need to clean up the bottom edge of the locker.
 

 
I then added the stern davits I had previously made up.
 

 
I have also now put the bowsprit, with its cap and rigging in place.  there are two small cheek blocks used rather than 'bees' in this era.  The chain gammoning is in place and I have used a copper 'scotsman' to protect the boom from the chain.  Although the Specification called for the bowsprit shrouds (guys) to be fitted to 'iron knees in the knee of the head' I have run these as they appear in the photograph.  I have used iron knees hardly discernible against the black hull, and their location above and abaft the hawsehole conforms with the general practice of the time and provides the necessary spread either side to properly 'guy' the bowsprit.  The Martingale is also in place, along with cap horns for the manropes which will be added later.  The rigging screws are scratch built from 1.2mm brass tubes with a small brass eye soldered into each end.
 

 
cheers
 
Pat
 

Okay, so went a bit dark there. I finally have a couple of weeks to give the boat some undivided attention. I was really struggling a bit to motivate myself to the deadeyes again, but I got through it. They are now wooden and appropriately sized.

 
I also finished the new belaying pins with the new pin rails. They are 9 mm brass pins painted a beige colour and I think they look right now. It seems like it is pretty difficult to get correctly scaled wooden belaying pins that won't be extremely fragile, so the painted brass ones will have to do.
 



 
And then onto new and exciting things. So first up is the poop side rails, which are extremely delicate and a bit tricky as the eyebolts provided are a little short and had to be reinforced with a lot of epoxy to make somewhat stable.

 
I also finished the azimuthal compass and the other poop details. I did print out a little compass rose to glue on the compass, but it was too small to print properly. I touched it up with a pen, but it looks okay, I think. I’m not going to add the stowage blocks yet as I’m not really sure how the whaleboats will be placed yet. I think once I’ve made those and get a better sense of the size, I can add them.

 
Anyway, working on the carronade and windlass now, good to be back.

Okay, so here is where the varnish started to go a bit wrong. The thing that really got me to make the change was the appearance of blue-green spots in the varnish seen here.
 

 
The varnish had been gradually turning darker and greener over time and I think it is because to wood varnish did not properly seal the copper. As a result, the copper was able to oxidise and cause colour spots in the varnish. I suppose anyone could have told me that sealing copper with wood varnish was a bad idea, but some mistakes we just end up making anyway.
 
The second major thing was the flaking and bubbling of the varnish. I used a pretty thick coat and because the varnish did not stick to the copper very well, it was easy to form bubbles. These bubbles could break off and leave dips in the finish.

 

From attempt 1 at the rudder, note the damaged spot just above the middle gudgeon and below the top gudgeon. I tried to cover these in more varnish, but that often made things worse and led to more bubbles.
 

 
These factors led me to conclude that the only solution was to strip the varnish from the copper and seal it with a proper copper sealant. I don't know if this exact product is available overseas, but I'm sure there'd be something similar. I really wish I had found this earlier.

 
The stripping process was quite traumatic, and I was very reluctant to take photos. First, some of the patina was lost in the removal of the varnish, which meant some plates had to be replaced. Second, the varnish stripper was quite runny and caused some serious damage to the paint (it’s a paint and varnish stripper). The border between the white paint and the black wale had to be almost totally re-done.

The copper sealant was very glossy, but quick drying, meaning that many coats could be added quickly. I could tell that this was a much better adherent to the copper, and it was very difficult to cause the same flaking seen in the wood varnish. To remove the glossiness, I wiped a very light coat of the matte varnish over the copper. To do this, I just dipped a tissue in the varnish and gently wiped it over, avoiding thick build-ups or streaks. Here is the end result



While there are a few bumps, this is more a result of the copper laying not being perfect and sanding it smooth would involve losing patina. Anyway, I'm pretty happy with this and have learnt a lot for coppering hulls in the future. One technique that I think might be easier that I haven't tried, would be to press the plate lines into a long strip of copper tape without cutting through. These strips could then be used to cover the whole hull without using individual plates. This would be much quicker and might give a better effect. I haven't tried it, but might give it a go if and when I ever get to the Victory (got a few boats I'd like to do before that though).

Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of me slowly losing my sanity, today we will be talking about the rudder. 
 

I ground down the pintles and gudgeons provided to make the scale a little better and also drilled a few extra holes.
 
Then after a very long night I was able to assemble the rudder hinges and attach them to the boat. This is where things go wrong…

First and most obviously, this should not have been after the copper had been varnished. Drilling into the hull caused some of the varnish to flake as it did not cling to the copper properly. Second, while the hinges here do run parallel pretty well, they are not perpendicular to the sternpost as they should be. After some more painful back and forth, I decided that this was unacceptable and re-did it…another long night

While this did correct the angling issue (mostly), the varnish flaking got worse (foreshadowing).
Anyway, then I decided to ignore this little area of the boat and work on the bow.

Okay, so now attempt 2 at the coppering. I bought liver of sulfur in the gel form from a jewellery store online. The gel form is better as it doesn’t lose potency quickly like the solid form does. https://koodak.com.au/products/liver-of-sulphur-for-silver-copper-brass?variant=30180608397. There are some very useful tutorials online on how to use the stuff and what to be careful about, I’ll outline the main points.
I added about 3 mL of the gel to a cup of boiling water from a kettle (not rolling or bubbling just steaming). It's good to let the water cool a bit before adding the gel. If you boil the liver of sulfur, you get toxic sulfur dioxide, so be careful. The hotter the water is, the quicker and deeper the patina will develop. I tried colder water, but it ended up more purple than brown. You have to be quick to get the copper done quickly as the water will cool and the strips dipped later will be a different colour to the ones dipped earlier. 
 
Then I stuck the copper in for a couple of seconds, as soon as there was a colour change (again, you need to be quick, a second too long will make it too dark), I took it out and stuck it in a bicarbonate bath. The bicarb bath is meant to halt the reaction, but it might change colour after it dries a bit. I went through a few trials at different temperatures and leaving the copper in for different times to get the colour I wanted.

I set up a bit of an assembly line, with the copper strips and then a rectangular container with the liver of sulfur solution. Then I stuck in maybe 3 or 4 strips, by the time the last one was in, the first one was ready to take out. Then I had the bicarb bath and stuck them in straight away. It doesn't matter how long they stay in the bicarb bath; they will still change colour when they are taken out. 
 
After the plates were on the ship, I lightly buffed it with some fine steel wool to make it a bit more orange again (careful to not turn up the corners of the plates). One side was a little too dark and the steel wool made it similar to the other side. 

This was my first batch of plates and it did come out a bit too dark and purple, I think I left it in for a little longer than the other side. Anyway, it looked different after some varnish.
 

 
Please note, this is a mistake, do not repeat what I have done. The varnish is not a good sealer for the copper (this photo the varnish is still wet). I'll show in a couple of posts, but there were many problems with using wood varnish to seal the copper. The liver of sulfur does not dull the plates and the patina is still shiny, so it does need some kind of dull coating to look accurate at scale.
 
In terms of actually cutting the plates and placing them, all I can say is; have a sharp blade, be patient and don't be unwilling to take plates off if they are wrong. Anyway, time for photos now...

 

Its the constructo USS Enterprise (1799).  It took 2 months (500+ hours of work)  At least over 100 errors making it! LOL.. it was really hard.. Instructions weren't too helpful  (e.g. like 1 page says plank the entire hull and shows only 2 pictures...  It was really rough to build (for me anyway).. I felt it was like a torture at some(most) times.. but in the end.. very glad I had done it! (yay!)  It was beginner try to build up experience to build the USS Constitution.. but for now going to take a break! Thanks all for all of your help!
v.r
Bill

Hi druxey, for some reason, maybe having to do with the grain or the stiffness of the wood, or poor hand coordination, I could not keep the cutter at a consistent angle to the table top. So the top edge wavered too much. Mounting the cutter in a handle at least keeps the angle constant for me. Still much to learn!
 
At last, I was able to start putting the waist moulding in place. I tried drilling holes for pins to keep things in place, but it was too sloppy to force the gradual curve and keep it there while the glue dried. So I made some battens that ride on the top of the planking edge underneath the moulding, clamping them to the ship side. Then it was a simple matter of clamping the moulding vertically to the batten. It is making a perfect, sweet, curve.
 

 

 

So this is why we use PE, compare the sets! 2/3rds of this lattice piece done. 

Congratulations on completing another amazing build, once again a gold standard in build logs and execution.  I love how you the figures came together, they really add to the aura of the model.  The technique of using fixative on the flags is definitely something to store away in the memory banks.

Thanks Eurus. I am not to sure about museum worthy but being my second model and first scratch build I am pleased. It has taken quite a long time but half of it was spent learning and reading. The MSW family has been invaluable in my education. 
Tom

Made a little more progress this weekend with the mizzenmast staysails, top gallant and top sails. I need to mount the crossjack then finally the mizzen sail. 



 

Currently debating whether I will put up the mizzen staysail or not. I left off the lowest staysails at the main and foremast so as not to cover up the deck detail. The gap from the deck to the bottom mizzen top mast staysail is higher than the other masts so it kind of seems out of balance.  Maybe it will even out when the crossjack is put up. Problem is it will be very difficult to get in there to install all the necessary blocks for the rigging now. 
 
Finally I need to go back and tie up the braces and make what seems like a thousand rope coils for the belaying pins and various odds and ends… all by mid September so it is ready for the Northeast conference 
 
Tom

Hi all,
It has been a while since I posted but I am still picking away it when I can. Still have lines hanging all over the place but making progress. All the main staysails and mast sails are up with most of the lines rigged. Getting ready to move on to the mizzenmast area next. 

 
i need to pick up the pace if I am to get it finished for the Northeast conference at the beginning of October!  Funny thing though, the more things I knock off my “chores around the house” list the longer it gets!😜 That “work for a living” thing seems to be getting in the way a lot too!🤣😜
 
Tom

here's some final shots, that's all folks

The additional ornament on the stern gallery was another story. As the curve was delicate, I splitted it up in 2 halves.
Next pics show my woodcurving skills are limited, less to say equal to zero
 
The decoration strips under the window are an assembly of 2 styrene strips : a half round 1,5 mm and  a 1x2mm strip

Next update : the quarterdeckgalleries. Especially the windows

Because of carelessness, I failed again! Measurements found that the width of the sides was 4 mm smaller. I compressed the goddess's ample breasts. . .
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
That was a cheap mistake!  Prepare for the third rework...
 
 

All that remains is to add the iron bands:

 
reasonably straightforward using a method I saw elsewhere on this site - perhaps @James H -  2mm wide lengths of cartridge paper cut out.  Tacked in place at 25 mm intervals on the after centreline of the mast using CA, wrapped around, trimmed to length, coated lightly with PVA, pressed on and held for 2 min.  Scarcely a worry.  Top tacked with PVA, seemed to sit square and parallel to the waterline (much shaping of the bibbs required at an earlier stage)
 
Foremast swayed up!
 

 
You can tell, I insist, that the mast has been tapered to take the cheeks

 
And herre that the top sits on the bibbs
 

 
You can even get vertigo

 
Back when I have done another one or two.
 

Absolutely marvellous BE. Congratulations, and like others, I'm looking forward to your next build 👍.
 
Cheers

You have made a wonderful model, B.E., and it has been a pleasure to watch your meticulous care and attention to all details, great and small.  While Chuck makes an excellent kit, it still requires great talent and finesse to bring it to its fullest realization.  Congratulations on a job well done!

Another masterpiece BE!  Congratulations on a fantastic build.  Looks incredible, great job!