HMS Ethalion 1797 by robdurant - FINISHED - Caldercraft - 1:64 - Modified from HMS Diana 1794 kit

[robdurant]

A small update today. Starboard gunports are all lined, now. I've put a first coat of red ochre on as well. Pretty pleased with how it's going. On to the port gunports now, but I'm off on holiday first. I wanted something that required far fewer tools while I was away, so I've ordered a Shipyard HMS Mercury (the 1:96 paper version) - having opened the packet, I've realised I've bitten off a massive chunk that's going to be a job to chew. We'll see how it goes... It'll be interesting to work on similar ships in such different materials. I'll make Mercury as an admiralty style model, unrigged. She's much smaller at 60cm, but will still be a fair size rigged, and there's only so much space in the house

 

In the meantime I'm feeling jammy because I've found a wonderful website with some greek figures that I hope will allow me to make up an Ethalion figurehead (half greek warrior, half dolphin)... If it turns out as well as I hope, I'll share the site. Watch this space!

 

Anyway. Here are some photos of progress on Ethalion.

 

 

 

 

These photos show up quite how much work I need to do on the first planking before I start putting on the second.

 

That's it for now.

 

Rob

 

[robdurant]

Okay - so I said I was feeling a bit jammy, because I'd had a cunning plan about figureheads. I know enough about my own abilities to know that I'm not about to carve / sculpt a figurehead out of a block of wood or fimo or (insert your medium here), and choosing to model Ethalion instead of Diana meant that the kit-supplied figurehead wasn't going to work! (Ethalion was a bloke for starters, and then he (was) turned into a dolphin!).... so... back to the internet to pursue a solution. And I think I have one. You can let me know what you think.

 

It's a UK based website called http://www.irregularminiatures.co.uk/. Just to be clear, I don't have any relationship with these guys other than this transaction, but this transaction was as good as I could have asked. It's a simple payment process where you email the address on the site and let them know which figures you'd like (I chose the 54mm figures (red links at the bottom of the home page), Greek Peltast with javelin and Spartan Hoplite - it's the Peltast who'll be gracing the bow of Ethalion... they were £3.75 each, which is a steal! You can get them painted, too if you want. Anyway - I ordered on Wednesday, and they sent a paypal link for payment, and they were waiting on the door mat on Monday when I got home from camping.

 

Here they are literally as they arrived in the post without any further cleaning up at all.

 

 

 

And after I did a little basic surgery... with the boxwood beakhead insert for Ethalion...

 

 

And next to the dolphin I'm intending to use to replace the feet and show the beginning of the transformation that Ethalion underwent... (shouldn't have argued with Bacchus!). I shall move his left leg back a little and cut out his back a little to allow him to sit better on the beakhead, but I think it should be doable.

 

 

For those of us who aren't up to creating our own figureheads (at least, for the model we're building today), perhaps this will be of help

 

Happy building

 

Rob

 

 

 

[robdurant]

I couldn't resist hollowing out the slot for the beakhead and putting some paint on Aethalion today, along with his buddy... let's call him Acoetes, as per the captain of the same ship that was overtaken by Bacchus in Ovid's tale.

 

Here's the result so far...  (with the Caldercraft-supplied Diana figurehead next to it for comparison)

 

 

And his buddy, Acoetes... standing guard.

 

 

Now... back to the gunport lining on the port side. Two down - twelve to go!

 

[Beef Wellington]

Very innovative solution Rob, looks great.  Not sure if you've done it already but it could be worth checking the bowsprit alignment if you can.  I seem to recall that the plans show this presenting a smaller angle than the AOTS, but even with a steeper rake there is precious little room between the bowsprit and the top of the figurehead, even the supplied Diana figurehead.

 

Now get back to those gunports!

[robdurant]

Thanks Jason,

 

Yes, the more I thought about it overnight the more I came to the same conclusion... the figure overall is about 1cm longer than the Diana figurehead, and most of that extra height is above the head (although the legs are longer too). Thankfully Aethelion gives a solution - for the brave! I launched in to remodel the figure to have a dolphin's tale - one fluke on each side of the beakhead... I can't claim credit for the tail - it was part of a plastic dolphin ordered on Amazon.

 

After a LOT of hollowing out using a Proxxon drill/engraver, the figure sat much lower on the beakhead, and was able to lean forwards more. That solved the clearance issue, and then it was "simply" a case of cutting off the legs with a mini-hacksaw, splitting the dolphins tail vertically with a craft knife, and using 1mm wire and CA glue to strengthen the join between the figure and the halves of the tail.

 

There's still a little work to do to make the join invisible, but here's the progress so far (with some shots against the plans to show how the jib boom at AOTS angle should clear the figurehead).

 

Here's the figure with the dolphin tale attached, but no filling / painting. The white is where I've carved the tail back to fit the figure.

 

 

And after some filling / painting:

 

 

A bit of work to do to hide the join, but I think I'll make his clothes come down to the join - that'll hide the join more easily.

 

 

Oh, yes... and I got two more gunports lined... onwards and upwards! Thanks for all the advice, likes, and encouragement.

 

Rob

 

[Beef Wellington]

That looks awesome and looks like it'll work, great solution!  I'm intrigued as to where you'll go with the stern decorations, its a great excuse to get familiar again with Greek mythology (for fun out of school).

 

A final suggestion would be to check out is the alignment with the anticipated lower cheek placement, you'll probably want to ensure that the bottom of the figurehead (or tail!) aligns with this.  You should have some wiggle room, but if there is one thing I've learned is that on this ship it takes a lot of forward planning to avoid getting sucked into problems when its too late, especially with making custom modifications.

Edited August 10, 2017 by Beef Wellington

[robdurant]

Time for an update.

 

As always, thank you for the likes and encouragement. I'm not quite sure where I'll go with the decorations, but thankfully I still have a while to ponder that. Perhaps some fishes... I will take that advice and check out the alignment of the lower cheek. I'm somewhat dreading trying to get everything to line up, but as you say, fore-planning will hopefully take some of the pain out of the process.

 

In the meantime, I had the wonderful opportunity to visit Portsmouth historic dockyard. It was wonderful to be able to go round Victory again, and I was quite taken with the white bulwarks on the gundeck. Not sure if they're a little anachronistic on Ethalion, but I thought I'd have them white instead of red or ochre. We'll just assume that the captain fancied having them that way. I'm hoping it will allow a little more light to see everything once the quarter deck, foredeck and gangways are on. It also created a nice contrast with the walnut waterway(?) I added between the deck and the bulwark. The walnut wasn't in place when I took the photo below.

The gunports are all lined now and remain the red ochre.

 

The second task attempted was to build up the templates for the quarter deck bulwarks. Having decided that I wanted to have the railings on the quarterdeck (as per the NMM plans, rather than the AOTS plans), I thought I needed to modify the ply templates by cutting them down. However, when I checked the templates they were way off. In the photo below, the template sat on top of the ply is the kit provided template. The outline of this template can be seen faintly drawn on the ply below, along with the ports that are defined on the NMM and AOTS plans, which are all approx 5mm further towards the stern of the boat. The heights of the carronade and cannon ports are also different. 

 

When built, Ethalion (as per AOTS) had a quarterdeck armament six 32lb Carronade and six 9lb cannon in the following arrangement.

STERN – Carronade – Cannon – Carronade – Carronade – Cannon – Cannon – WAIST

 

This is reflected in the size of the ports.

I decided not to cut out the ports until the bulwarks were planked, in order to keep them strong, and allow any minor adjustments to be made.

 

Main Wale

 

I wanted to plank in line with the wale, so the wale needed to go on first. That gave me another challenge. To get the wale in the right place, I needed the waterline, and that wasn't marked yet. So. It was a job of propping up the hull (with 6mm clearance off the floor at the bow, and none at the stern), with masking tape to stick it in place, then using a jury rigged contraption to mark out the waterline. Once the waterline was marked, the wale could be carefully measured and marked out. These measurements were taken from the AOTS plans.

 

Once I was satisfied with the sweep of the wale, I put the first of the 3mm strips in place. I built up a layer of 3mm strips, then the black strake was created with 4mm black-stained boxwood strip. Then the wale below was built up with more 3mm walnut and covered with black-stained boxwood. Once sanded and scraped to smooth it, the whole was stained with admiralty ebony stain to bring the walnut into line with the boxwood.

 

 

 

 

[robdurant]

A brief update... I've begun the second planking with 0.7mm boxwood veneer. I've also taken a little time to look at the stern to make sure everything's lined up. This required taking the stern elevation (from AOTS) and stretching it (the plans are square to the stern, whereas the stern itself is angled so the top is further astern than the bottom. The difference seems small, but the picture below demonstrates how  much difference it actually makes. I'm planning to attempt Dirk's method of using veneer to make the stern lights (windows) when the time comes, as the Photo-etch stern lights will not fit.

 

The Admiralty (Caldercraft) ebony stain arrived, and the wales were given a couple (four?) of coats to bring the walnut base into line with the blackened boxwood. I wanted to do this before I began the planking to get a perfect line on the wale.

 

Then it was time to put some planks on. Four planks above the black strake, and one below the wale so far. It's worth noting if you reach  this stage that there are two types of surround for the gun ports. The sternmost three ports and foremost one have lids, and so the second planking stops 1mm short of the port. The remaining ports are planked flush with the edge of the gunport, as they will have no lid. At least, that's my interpretation. I'm looking forward to seeing how the hull looks as all the messy red around the gunports disappears. It's been looking like someone attacked it with lipstick up until now.

Overall I'm impressed with how neat the veneer looks. It's thin enough to be easy to shape and get to stick on to the hull, but not too thin that it disintegrates. It's excellent quality wood (prepared and sold as stringers for instruments and marquetry), and definitely a whole lot cheaper than buying boxwood from the United States, given I'm in the UK. In fact, it's sold by a company about 30 minutes down the road from me that I discovered through google (http://www.originalmarquetry.co.uk/), so really easy to get hold of. I love the rich honey colour of the box. It will really stand out, and look good against the blues, blacks and reds on the hull as I get further along.

 

Happy building

 

Rob

 

 

[robdurant]

A small update... I've finished planking the starboard side (all except for a tiny stealer, anyway).  The walnut below the waterline will be covered up with copper tiles.

 

 

 

[donrobinson]

Very nice planking, well done

[Beef Wellington]

Looking really nice Rob, the colour of the boxwood looks really nice even without a finish!

[robdurant]

Thanks so much for the encouraging comments. I'm really pleased with the colour of the boxwood - it's really lovely stuff!

 

I've been wondering about the finish - I've noticed that Minwax wipe on poly seems to be a favourite with many, but it's hard to get hold of in the UK. Any suggestions of what I might use in its place? And have others used a Satin or Matt finish?... I've noticed there are water-based and solvent based versions, and I think someone had said the solvent version might give a more rich colour? (I guess a test is called for, but I can't run to buying every varnish in the shop just to try them out )

 

In the past, I've tended to go with a Matt finish, but it'd be nice to really show this wood off. Finally, should I only varnish the areas that won't have paint on them, or the whole...?

 

Lots of new questions tell me I'm heading for a new stage of the build!

 

Take care

 

Rob

[albert]

Very nice work.

[Beef Wellington]

Rob - personal opinions only.  The contemporary models at the Annapolis Museum consistently have a satin(ish) sheen to them, far from matte.  Its a fine line between too much and too little sheen it seems.  For example, I'd used the Admiralty recommended 'dull black' paint on my Snake build but its just a touch too shiny for the scale (in hindsight) in my view.  For that reason I'm using the 'matt (metal) black' for the wales and black paintwork.  It seems to look good next to the satin finish of the wipe on poly I'm using (oil based).  One option I used on the deck was to use a waterbased 'satin' finish to give a little richness to the colour, and then use a water based matt to finish (think again these are minwax products).  

 

Answering the question of varnish on paint, I've found that to be on a case by case basis.  The admiralty paints in my view don't need it, but the Tamiya flat blue paint I used is much to matt, but looks so much richer with poly on top.  All personal opinion and results from experimentation :-)

[donrobinson]

For myself I would never use a water based varnish, it just does not have the warm and depth that solvent based finishes have. You might get a satisfactory look on a darker wood but with that beautiful boxwood you have used, in my opinion, a solvent based finish is the only way to go. As for painting over varnish it is best if you can avoid it, but if needed, a light sanding of the finished area is all that is required before painting.

[Tigersteve]

Nice work so far. Nice figurehead innovation. 

Steve

[robdurant]

A small update. There isn't much to report. Just to say that I'm still planking up and down from the wale, and up from the keel on the port side. There's no way to hurry it... it just takes as long as it takes.

I also trimmed back the bow planking to allow the beakhead replacement part to be inserted again.

Ah yes, and a few days ago, I put the second planking on the lower counter, and included the ports.

 

I’ve noticed that in Anatomy of the Ship, Diana, those ports on the lower counter don't seem to be gun ports at all… at least, they aren’t marked as such. They’re ports, yes, but as far as I can tell, the stern-chasers would have been fired from the captain’s quarter’s on the upper deck. The gunports there are extensions of the transom windows. Instead, the ports on the lower deck are far smaller. Perhaps a gun could have been fired through them, but would it have been smaller calibre…? presumably, in anything but a light sea, it would have been far too close to the water to want to fire a gun from there. AOTS shows the lower deck ports as being approx. 8mm square… (including extending the height because the counter is angled on the diagrams)… the Caldercraft plans show these ports as being approx 12.5mm square. I've followed AOTS on this one.

 

You can just about make them out in the picture below...

That's it for now.

 

Happy building.

 

Rob

Edited November 13, 2017 by robdurant
To change "stern transom" to "lower counter" - in an attempt to mix up my nomenclature a little less.

[Old Collingwood]

On 14/07/2017 at 4:22 PM, robdurant said:

Gunports (all 28 of them!)
 
Having finished the first planking (phew!), I got out the AOTS plans, and the Caldercraft plans and measured and double-measured where the gunports needed to be.

 

I wanted the gunports to be where they were on AOTS, which meant that some of the heights were going to be out for where the gundeck is - I'm happy enough with that, as those gunports will be well hidden under the deck. Given that I'm going to be looking at the outside of this model and not the inside, I want those ports to be where they ought to be. That means a lift of anything up to about 5mm towards the bow and stern. In those places, I'll work out something to do with the gun trucks to get the barrels up to height - whether they'll look okay a little raised, or whether I'll need to raise them up somehow, I'll work out. That's the downside. The upside is that the beautiful sweep of ports goes up to line up with where the galley windows are. Hopefully(!). I figure we're talking about little booster-seats for the guns to sit on towards the far-stern end and forward two guns that'll never be seen by anyone. In retrospect - and building this again, I would build up the gundeck to be the correct height! But that's a woulda for the next model.

 

Anyway - Here's the progress along those lines...

 

Closing up the port side first planking:

 

Marking out the gun port positions with stern galley

 

And then taking my heart in my hands and starting drilling (a new drill from Proxxon made all the difference with this - it would have been a very painstaking process otherwise!):

 

 

 

I've also begun to line the ports... (literally just begun!). The ports are drilled out as 16mm wide x 14mm high, then cleaned up and lined with 1mm x 10mm maple to bring them down to 14mm x 12mm. The maple is my own stock left over from the planking. I decided to use this wider stock as it makes lining the sides easier. They can be put in straight up and down as they have the extra width to accommodate this. And that means every cut is 90 degrees. I decided against leaving the sides that join against frames unlined, as I felt this would be less tidy. It's just a little bit more effort in a job that's going to take a _long_ time   To aid trimming the ports I made up a sanding stick that was long enough to go through the opposite port on the other side of the frigate. This helps keep everything lined up between inner and outer skin of the hull. I'm also realising that maple is really hard, and perhaps I slightly over-engineered the inner skin on this one!

Some great detailed work very tidy.

OC.

[robdurant]

Thanks to everyone for the likes, Thanks Old Collingwood for the encouragement. And thanks TigerSteve, donrobinson and Beef Welljngton for the advice on wipe on poly.

 

I think a bit more detail needs to go on the hull (decorative strips etc.. ) before I varnish... but your advice is very helpful.

[robdurant]

Here's a slightly better picture of the second planking of the lower counter underway with the lower deck ports.

[robdurant]

Yay! The planking's complete.

 

I'd be further along, but last week my wife said - why don't you take the day and get down to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard - frankly, I didn't have to be asked twice. Not least because I'd already got the annual ticket.

 

Anyway - the planking's complete, and I've marked up and painted the blue section on both sides.

 

I've also completed the lower counter planking. Interestingly, wandering round Victory I noticed that the port in the lower counter on Victory IS a gunport... but if that were the case on Ethalion, the port would be on the lower deck - an odd place to have cannon...

 

I was struggling to get hold of 2mm boxwood in the UK, until I realised that Guitar Stringing (the stuff they put on the edges round the body) is 6x2mm and you can get it in castello boxwood. I've bought a bunch of it, and I'm planning to use it for the companionways and gratings.  I put a sheet of sandpaper inside a stock pot to sand the curve into the top. It's the perfect radius.

 

Once I was satisfied that was going to work, it was time to get on with the hull again. And following the lead of Jason (Beef Wellington) and Ray, I've decided to copper the hull earlier than the instructions suggest. One day in and I'm about 150 plates in to the task... It just about feels like I've made a dent in the task! Each tile is picked up with a stick with inverted duct tape on the end, and a little CA applied to the back with another stick. Then it's placed on the hull, with just enough time to position it before it sticks. I painted the hull below the the waterline black to seal it a little before I started the coppering - that stops the CA leaching away into the hull... I was getting through a lot of CA on the first few tiles before I realised that was the problem! I'm using the Caldercraft copper... I quite like the effect, even if the rivets are way too pronounced for scale, and once it's gained its patina it becomes less noticeable.

 

 

As it stands, it's looking way too bling for my tastes, but time will fix that

 

I figure I'm going to be coppering for a while, but I shall retreat to working on the quarter galleries if I need a break.

 

Happy building.

 

Rob

 

[Beef Wellington]

Looking really good Rob, you'll be overtaking me soon.  Ah the coppering, best of luck and patience!  I had always thought for some reason that the lower counter ports would have been used as an access point for hawsers if there was a need to run an anchor astern or access to rudder head- these would have opened up into the gunroom (wardroom on a frigate) and the shape of the hull would make mounting a cannon impractical.  I'm not sure how these hawsers would have been secured though.  There are also concealed gun ports in the stern fascia of the great cabin if you look closely which could have been used when cleared for action and the lights removed.

[robdurant]

Hi all,

 

Thanks for the likes and encouragement.

 

Jason: Yes, I had noticed those concealed gun ports... I'm hoping I'll be able to work them into the stern fascia when I get that far. It's amazing the way the space on these ships were used in so many different ways. I'm glad I wasn't the one getting the table ready for the officer's dinner after the ship's company had pulling a wet anchor cable through that space on a stormy day! Another reminder what a different world it was.

 

In the meantime, I'm making progress with the hull coppering. Given how long this task takes, in a confined space, I invested in a proper mask to protect my lungs from the superglue. (If anyone's interested it was a "3M model 4251 Maintenance-Free Organic Vapour/Particulate" mask). The difference is stark. Once it's on, I can't smell the superglue, and after at least 7 hours so far, I haven't noticed any adverse effect. Previously, when I did the coppering on Pickle (much smaller!), I was noticing after a day working on it, I was wheezing. So - I have not stocks in masks, but I'd strongly recommend this as essential not optional if you're doing a boat this size.

 

I use a stick with blue tack on the end to hold the tile, then I use another offcut of first planking material to put superglue onto the back of the tile. The blue-tak holder is then used to position the tile, and hold it in place until dry. The superglue gives just enough time to push it up against the neighbouring tiles before it sets. This method seems to result in very little superglue going in the wrong place. You'll notice that I've put masking tape on the parts of the hull that will be exposed when finished. Early on I had a tile drop, thankfully onto the part of the hull that will be covered up, and it left a dark mark on the planking. I don't want that to happen to all that lovely boxwood!

 

Any tiles that don't quite go in the right place can be gently lifted off with a craft knife.

 

I've left the pot of tiles open in the hope that they'll all start tarnishing at the same time. I shuffle the pot round occasionally to give all the tiles a chance to get some air.

 

Finally, a near escape, and a lesson that I should have already learned!

 

I decided to move the table the boat was on, and thought to myself - "I'm only moving it a few metres - it'll be fine...I'll leave the boat on the table while I move it... " Well, the table leg got caught, and before I knew it the table had stopped but the hull was sliding towards the edge of it... Suffice it to say I had no time to do anything but cry out...

 

Thankfully the hull slid half off the side of the table, and then stopped, and I was able to catch it... !!! To say I was shaken is an understatement. It would have dropped five feet onto a wooden floor... Anyway - by the grace of God, and with no thanks to my own stupidity and laziness - the model lived for another day!

 

An advanced new years resolution! Don't be lazy. Move the boat somewhere safe. THEN move the table. Time will tell whether I've learned my lesson fully enough!

 

Happy building to you all.

 

Rob

[Barbossa]

Hi Rob,

Very nice work and as it appears, you were very close to disaster.

The boxwood definitely adds so much value.

Take care and hold on to your resolution.

 

[Old Collingwood]

12 hours ago, robdurant said:

Hi all,

 

Thanks for the likes and encouragement.

 

Jason: Yes, I had noticed those concealed gun ports... I'm hoping I'll be able to work them into the stern fascia when I get that far. It's amazing the way the space on these ships were used in so many different ways. I'm glad I wasn't the one getting the table ready for the officer's dinner after the ship's company had pulling a wet anchor cable through that space on a stormy day! Another reminder what a different world it was.

 

In the meantime, I'm making progress with the hull coppering. Given how long this task takes, in a confined space, I invested in a proper mask to protect my lungs from the superglue. (If anyone's interested it was a "3M model 4251 Maintenance-Free Organic Vapour/Particulate" mask). The difference is stark. Once it's on, I can't smell the superglue, and after at least 7 hours so far, I haven't noticed any adverse effect. Previously, when I did the coppering on Pickle (much smaller!), I was noticing after a day working on it, I was wheezing. So - I have not stocks in masks, but I'd strongly recommend this as essential not optional if you're doing a boat this size.

 

I use a stick with blue tack on the end to hold the tile, then I use another offcut of first planking material to put superglue onto the back of the tile. The blue-tak holder is then used to position the tile, and hold it in place until dry. The superglue gives just enough time to push it up against the neighbouring tiles before it sets. This method seems to result in very little superglue going in the wrong place. You'll notice that I've put masking tape on the parts of the hull that will be exposed when finished. Early on I had a tile drop, thankfully onto the part of the hull that will be covered up, and it left a dark mark on the planking. I don't want that to happen to all that lovely boxwood!

 

Any tiles that don't quite go in the right place can be gently lifted off with a craft knife.

 

I've left the pot of tiles open in the hope that they'll all start tarnishing at the same time. I shuffle the pot round occasionally to give all the tiles a chance to get some air.

 

Finally, a near escape, and a lesson that I should have already learned!

 

I decided to move the table the boat was on, and thought to myself - "I'm only moving it a few metres - it'll be fine...I'll leave the boat on the table while I move it... " Well, the table leg got caught, and before I knew it the table had stopped but the hull was sliding towards the edge of it... Suffice it to say I had no time to do anything but cry out...

 

Thankfully the hull slid half off the side of the table, and then stopped, and I was able to catch it... !!! To say I was shaken is an understatement. It would have dropped five feet onto a wooden floor... Anyway - by the grace of God, and with no thanks to my own stupidity and laziness - the model lived for another day!

 

An advanced new years resolution! Don't be lazy. Move the boat somewhere safe. THEN move the table. Time will tell whether I've learned my lesson fully enough!

 

Happy building to you all.

 

 

"Phewwwww"    That was a close one.

 

OC.

[robdurant]

I spent some time remarking the waterline (somehow, it was way off!) and then fixing a thin boxwood strip in place to make sure it was neat... the copper runs up to this plate. The waterline was marked by attaching the hull right way up to the table with masking tape (with a 6mm block under the keel at the bow to get the waterline level as per AOTS plans), and then using a sturdy tin with a retractable pencil attached to it to slide around the hull and make the mark. The benefit of a retractable pencil is that when you get to the stern overhang, you can extend the pencil led (carefully) and keep on marking... Otherwise the hull gets in the way. It isn't sophisticated, but it works for me. A whole evening was spent making sure the strips were in just the right place.

 

 

The coppering continues, but as I reached the bow it became necessary to finally fix the boxwood beakhead in place, checking the angle of the bowsprit as I went (using an x-acto knife handle.) I wasn't happy with the coppering lines at the stern, so lifted 20 or so copper tiles and re-laid them.

 

 

And finally... I was walking past Sherborne a couple of days ago, and the morning sun was coming in through the window, and it looked like this... a strong argument for putting sails on your models?

 

 

Have a blessed Christmas!

 

 

 

[robdurant]

Another minor update...

 

Last night I filled the gap between the (castello) boxwood beakhead replacement and the false keel, and this morning I sanded it smooth, narrowing the beakhead a little so it tapers as it goes down towards the keel. I also took the opportunity to smooth the beakhead a little so it's a curved profile at the front. Once that was done, I was able to finish the coppering on the starboard side... (phew!) I'm glad this hull isn't any bigger - all those Agamemnon builders have my respect - their patience is considerable! That said, I find coppering fairly enjoyable once I got into the swing of it.

 

It isn't perfect, and there are far better examples on this site, but I'm really happy with it.

 

 

 

I might start on the quarter galleries before I copper the other side - I fancy doing something different for a bit!

 

Rob

[Beef Wellington]

Looking really nice Rob, waterline looks just right.  I'm not sure there's much in it size wise between Diana and the Agamemnon so she should feel a sense of accomplishment.  The blue colour looks really nice, what colour is it?

[robdurant]

6 hours ago, Beef Wellington said:

Looking really nice Rob, waterline looks just right.  I'm not sure there's much in it size wise between Diana and the Agamemnon so she should feel a sense of accomplishment.  The blue colour looks really nice, what colour is it?

Thanks. I can't take any credit for the choice of blue. It's the same as on yours... the tamiya flat blue xf-18 I think? Though I'm not at my boat building table to check at the moment.

[robdurant]

Time for another update.

 

I've been working on the stern lights, trying to work out how to create these myself so that I could ditch the photo-etch ones, which others have documented are not the same shape as the lights in AOTS... they are smaller, and the curve is not uniform.

 

To that end, I started making some 5mm deep ones, version 2 was 3mm deep, and now I'm trying some that are ~2mm deep. All out of .7mm boxwood veneer.

 

These are built up on a CAD drawn template based on the AOTS stern view (which has been extended vertically to take into account the diagram being directly stern-on, and the actual fascia being tilted - further astern at the top and further towards the bow at the bottom.

 

I've also been working on the stern fascia itself. I've taken "Beef Wellington"'s lead and recreated this myself. The kit parts are all 2mm ply... I've used 3mm walnut, and used the extra depth to shape the covings. They're also based on the vertically extended AOTS pattern, which was cut out and stuck onto the walnut to provide the template to cut out. The new cutouts for the lights are to proper scale, and should fit the new windows nicely (it looks pretty close at the moment, but time will tell.) As it stands I'm feeling much more confident about this part of the model. The stern will be considerably narrower than the kit, but the lights should look more to scale. It will mean that the quarter galleries will need to be shallower.  If I were starting again, I would have narrowed the last few frames to bring this in... but this would have been far from simple, and it'll have to stand now.

 

Planning: (this is all a bit Ted Heath, but I'll have another crack at it now I've got a bit further with the stern fascia.)

 

 

Stern light trials... They are very uneven here, but the uneven face will face into the stern, and the even face (face down on the board) will be the side that you see...

 

And the stern fascia...

 

 

Using some maths (that was a bit of a shock to the system), I worked out that for 140mm of width, and 8mm of depth for the horizontal curvature (creating a radius of just over 310mm), the additional length for the stern fascia would only be 1.1mm.... basically, I need to leave a tiny bit on instead of sanding down to the line!

 

Much happier with this than with the kit-supplied parts. Nothing wrong with those parts... they'd be fine... but I'm enjoying the kit-bashing aspect of this even more (and it has the added benefit of making the whole process last a bit longer, and giving me an excuse to use lovely wood.)

 

Happy building and a very happy new year to you all!

 

Rob