HMS DIANA by Peterhudson - Caldercraft - 1:64 Scale

[Peterhudson]

Hello.  I am comparatively new to modelling.  I have made a few kits in the past: HMS SUPPLY by Caldercraft being the most adventurous, however I felt it was time to stretch myself a little and thus I have scaled up to the DIANA model: bigger, more complex (thus new skills required) yet also one that should give lots of fun. I have joined the site and been encouraged to start a build log so that if...when...I become stuck, I can seek advice from members much more experienced than me.  This is the aspect I am most grateful for as I will inevitably drive myself up a modelling cul de sac and need help to get out! I have read all of Ray's log which gave an excellent blow by blow account of when he built a DIANA model a few years ago, what an impressive end result and this has spurred me on although sadly some of the photos wont display so I'll have to use my own nouse. I know can't replicate that quality but I am up for the journey; wish me luck as I head out on what will probably take me 18months or so; I have a busy job so have to fit in an hour or two here and there.   

 

I have already started so this log skips the first two months of work.  'Here's one I prepared earlier' as they say; I have kept some photos so I will add these int o give some of the back history and then some observations of my approach highlighting the bits that didn't go so well.

 

OK - the first major step was to set the frames and chamfer the edges - first snag was the quality of the cutting which was a bit hit and miss.  The team at Caldercraft kindly replaced them all. 

 

 

[Peterhudson]

Once the bits were replaced and I had sanded, I did the gun deck planking (with nothing like the finesse of Ray!) and then started the inner gun deck bulkheads.  The top planks needed a little planning to get it to fit under the deck supports but nothing too challenging. 

 

[Peterhudson]

Once all that was complete I balsa filled the bow and stern areas to make the correct hull shape before I started planking the hull.  I hadn't done this before; there is clearly an art to this as I over packed the basla which made it awkward to file/sand into shape, I had to frequently lay planks around the bow to the check the lines and shape; I am not sure I got it right...look it up if doing it for the first time! I also repaired the centreline crack which appeared on the gundeck - I had cut the plysheet in half to fit it into the hull shell, then glued it, then planked it however, the glue had clearly not been strong enough!  All is well now.  I also applied a matt varnish to protect - doesn't look as bad as it does in the photo - story of my life!   

 

Peter

[Peterhudson]

With the balsa in place and the sanding done I placed the maindeck on the and aligned against it when I started the planking process.  The instructions make reference to 5x1mm limewood strips but the kit actually comes with 6x1mm.  Not too great an issue except when checking the position of the gunports which use the bottom of the second plank from the top as a reference point: 10mm or 12mm from the top?  I measured against the plans which show 10mm so I bought a few 5mm strips and fitted those before using the 6mm for the rest of the hull - we will see how the gunports line up.  The team at Caldercraft were non-plussed! I haven't done much planking so this took time and I found the stern area tough especially twisting and fixing damp wood, during which it was clear I hadn't sanded my frames enough and I could discern a few creases in the planking as they bent over the frames.   I tried to correct the flaw but I'm not sure it is as intended!  Really sand and double check the frame lines before committing the planks; I had done the sides/bow but not enough the stern and for which I should have used some soaked planks to double check - the crucial area.  Hey ho.

 

Peter   

[ccoyle]

I thought your description of the cutting as "a bit hit and miss" was very charitable. I find it difficult to believe that whoever packed that kit could have missed such an obvious flaw in a billet. But -- at least they quickly replaced it, so all is well.

 

Good luck on your build! This kit has the potential to be a real show-stopper.

[Peterhudson]

I then sanded, filled in the gaps with wood fill, shaped the bow and the stern areas and then re-sanded!  It took some time however it was worth it.  I then attached the quarter deck bulkheads and the final planks around the bow.  Then I looked and looked and looked at how to do the gunports. I followed Ray's advice and marked them out using the kit's template to check alignment with the frames and, just as it did with Ray, the forward gunports straddled the frames which is unhelpful.  I redrew them using the two stern most gunports as reference points and reduced the gap to 30mm from 32mm which cleared the frames.  Be very careful about the positioning.

 

I cut them out using a1.5mm drill which perforated the inside the gunports, cleaned them up with the surgical knife and then a flat file.  They were lined and then painted; I will put lids on the first three and the last one on each side so they have not yet been lined.  I need to touch up around some ports on the inside with filler to make sure the bulk heads are smooth.

 

OK - that's me upto date.  I will now ponder how to start the second planking and try and work out what a main wale is and how to position it and why! that's next weekend's job! 

 

Peter  

    

[robdurant]

Hi Peter

 

Lovely to see another Diana on the way. Looks like you've made a great start! 

 

Rob

[Peterhudson]

Busy week at work so a much less productive week on the model - I managed a few hours over the weekend.  I was at the stage where I needed to place the gunwale in the correct position - easier said than done - and start second planking.  The instructions directed that, from the plan, one should measure down from the various gunports then mark up the line and affix the gunwale: easy peasy.  Well no actually, the gunports are a mixture of lined and unlined ports and the plan/instructions make no reference to where the measurement should be from - 1mm here and 2mm there is bound to result in a badly positioned piece of wood.  I fiddled around and ended up with a variety of wavy lines which looked odd; I even stuck one down which had to come off - not right!  So I reverted to good old plagiarism and looked at both Ray's and Rob Durant's (HMS ETHALION) after which I used the instrument so vital to all Georgian master shipwrights: the Mark 1 eyeball and 'ur-int' - the feeling in ones' water!  I have now fitted it to on both sides and ….doesn't look too bad but still a tadge low for my liking.

 

Whilst looking for clues I did come across Rob's log on his build of HMS ETHALION - extraordinarily good.  I take my hat off to him for his attention to detail, precision and logical build sequence, all succinctly explained and photographically recorded: something for me to aspire to in the decades ahead; brilliant...read his not mine!!  As I read through his account, I began to appreciate the emphasis he had placed on the beauty of boxwood for the parts of  ships' sides visible above the waterline - it does look very rich and crisp.  So I have ordered a pile of 1x4mm boxwood thus will await delivery before commencing the next stage.  The various blogs are very helpful so will peruse them whilst I await the postie...oh and I will go to work!  Everyone seems to worry about the stern arrangements so I might have a look at that although not sure what I can do if it is out: we'll see. 

 

A few photos.  Speak next week. 

 

Peter then 

 

 

[robdurant]

Kind words Peter. Thank you. If you want to see someone doing a really beautiful job with boxwood you could check out Beef Wellington's HMS Jason... it's also based on the Diana kit but his skills surpass any I have by many degrees. Along with Ray's excellent build, that's where I've been going for inspiration

 

 

 

The wales look good from here. I know that the bottom of the wale ended up almost touching the waterline so this may be a good moment to roughly check the waterline towards the centre  and make sure the wale won't clash with it when the time comes.

 

Rob

 

[Peterhudson]

Rob et al: thank you for the helpful advice.  I have just looked at Beef Wellington's JASON and agree that it is stunningly impressive...one day, my son, one day! I have received my boxwood strips and enclose a photo.  I haven't used this type of wood before so am not familiar but to me it seems a little yellow raher than the smooth pale in your photos and those of Beef Wellington or is that my ignorance?  I ordered them from EuroModels who describe them as boxwood1x4mm strips? Am I being unnecessarily cautious?  In the interim, I will finish the Wales.  Hmmm - not sure about this wood.

 

Peter    

[robdurant]

Oh dear. I'm no expert on wood but I ordered some "boxwood" from Euromodels as well... here's a comparison of the colour against the castello and european boxwood I have. I chose notnto use the euromodels wood in the end. It was not only a different colour but very soft compared to the other boxwood I have. It seemed to me much more like the limewood / basswood in hardness.

 

I got my boxwood from: (I have no connection with them)

http://www.originalmarquetry.co.uk/category_Lines_and_Stringing_1.htm

 

Edited May 18, 2019 by robdurant

[Peterhudson]

Rob - most grateful, I'll ring them tomorrow to order some.  The Euromodels wood looks a little like artificially coloured smoked haddock, as seen in many supermarkets - when smoked naturally, it doesn't come out yellow! I presume these where the 0.7mm thick strips that you refer to in your blog.  What width did you settle for in the end? 

 

Peter 

[robdurant]

Hi Peter,

 

Sorry - just catching up with modelshipworld, so this information may be too late. I ordered the following:

 

Boxwood Flat Lines Approx. 0.7mm Thick 1 Metre Long
4x option 1: 4.5mm Boxwood Flat Lines x 10 (40 in total)
1x option 1: 3.4mm Boxwood Flat Lines x 10 (10 in total)

Black Flat Lines Approx. 0.7mm Thick 1 Metre Long
1x option 1: 4.5mm Black Flat Lines x 10  (10 in total)

I also ordered a strip of 6mm square, which has proved helpful for carving small shapes for the rails round the top.

 

In retrospect, I wish I'd ordered slightly more. I used the black flat lines to second plank the wales (in theory to avoid having to paint the wales, although I ended up staining these as well (walnut from the layer beneath was showing through.

 

Anyway - hope that helps.

 

Rob

[Peterhudson]

Rob. Thanks - I haven’t been active over the last week or two due to work however, I have ordered the alternative boxwood as you suggested and will get back on point once it arrives. Most grateful for your advice. Peter 

[Beef Wellington]

Peter - really nice start, as Rob says nice to see another build.  Been out of the shipyard for a bit but look forward to following along!

Edited August 23, 2019 by Beef Wellington

[Peterhudson]

On 6/8/2019 at 12:51 PM, Beef Wellington said:

Peter - really nice start, as Ron says nice to see another build.  Been out of the shipyard for a bit but look forward to following along!

Jason - thanks, I've been tracking your excellent work - so I think the flow of expertise is in one direction! 

[Peterhudson]

I have been away for a few weeks; odd how work seems to get in the way of modelling but I suppose the joy of this hobby is that you can dip in and out, catch an hour here and an hour there which allows some momentum to be maintained. When I was last in the forum, I was mulling over whether to use Boxwood or Walnut to second plank the upper works of the ship - after much cogitation, I decided to go boxwood.  Thanks to really helpful advice from Rob, I managed to secure some decent, none too yellowy, strips in two thicknesses (why is it so expensive?) which I have been slowly fixing to the hull.  First I had to finish the Gun wales which were then painted.  I agree with another contributor that the Admiralty paint leaves an excessive shine so will go over them very lightly with gunmetal black to town them down.   I am not entirely content with the line - I tried to measure from the plans, I tried to align by eye, I mapped it to the waterline etc etc but it still seems a little low on the hull and seems to be a it distorted around the stern. 

 

I will have to make do with this and when I get to the transom, think carefully at how I bind all this together - if I was doing it again, I would lift it about 5mm up and ignore the plans. I guess a little filler is going to be used. The stern areas sits, glaring at me; almost giggling 'wait until you get to my area!!' - so I will concentrate on the hull then look carefully at the rear section. 

 

I have then been slowly sticking on second planks, needs to be done carefully but is very time consuming. I am learning the good and bad aspects of cyno glue....be quick to clear and sand off any excess.  I am still not clear on lined and non lined gunports: once the second planking is complete I will return to the 4 unlined ports on each side and see what happens there!!

 

The box wood does looks good and once sanded, relevant parts painted and the rest sealed should be pleasing to look at.   I now have to work out how to marry the differing wood thicknesses on the lower hull: boxwood 4.7 x 0.7mm; walnut 5 x1.0mm - I don't want  a bulge when it comes to the copper plates; I guess sanding is the order of the day! I have begun tapering the planks around the rudder head and then down to the eventual waterline - this is another area where I suspect there will be joyless moments ahead!

 

Anyway here she is.  I am reasonably pleased: taking my time and thinking very carefully before I commit anything to glue.  

 

Peter

  

[Peterhudson]

These are the snaps of the boxwood work. Easy to stick and very receptive to a scalpel!  Sanding to come to achieve the smoothness (although not too smooth, the ships weren't made of glass). 

 

P

[Peterhudson]

I have the luxury of living close to Portsmouth dockyard, so I went to have a look at VICTORY's transom to see how the masters delivered the various fusions of wood.  She is undergoing restoration at the moment so scaffolding was present, but you can make out clearly where the gunnales and planking aligned.  One to mullover when I get to the back...

 

Plus a couple of ships I made (helped) earlier.  HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH and HMS PRINCE OF WALES.

 

Back to gluing planks and thinking!!

 

Peter 

[Beef Wellington]

1 hour ago, Peterhudson said:

These are the snaps of the boxwood work. Easy to stick and very receptive to a scalpel!  Sanding to come to achieve the smoothness (although not too smooth, the ships weren't made of glass). 

 

P

 

 

 

 

Hi Peter - planking is looking good, you handled that tricky area at the stern under the wale very nicely! Always hard to tell in the photos, but did you leave a lip for those few ports that will receive a lid at the bow and stern?

[Peterhudson]

Thanks Jason.  'The Lip?'  okay, I have, I think followed the instructions which state @ the gun ports with lids, can now be framed using the same method and material as the others, but stepped in from edge by 1mm'.  So, having looked at Ray's snaps, I interpreted that as lining post second planning which would leave the 1mm of the lining visible around the interior of the gunport and not masked by the second planking as in the other ports.  maybe I got that wrong! 

 

Peter 

[Peterhudson]

Update.  Not much to add really.  I have had a free morning so finished the majority of the upper section of the second planking in boxwood on both sides.  I will do the quarterdeck and the trimming around the transom area later.  I then cracked on with some walnut planning on the hull that will be below the waterline and will eventually be covered by copper tiles. My planking is not great so I am using this to get practice and improve even though my labours will be masked in due course.  I think this phase might take some time!     

[BenD]

She's looking good! That walnut look's like the stuff I got with my HMS Snake. Well milled very dense wood, It's hart to work with but it will make a stiff hull. The Diana is on my someday list so Don't mind if I follow along.

[DmitriyMarkov]

Peterhudson, your build looks really good. I will definitely follow as I've got Diana in my stash as well. I especially like your choise of boxwood - a very noble-looking material.  Do you consider doing tree-nailing on hull and hull planks butt-staggering ? 

Edited July 1, 2019 by DmitriyMarkov

[Peterhudson]

Dmitry thanks for your kind words - the boxwood is very smart. This model is a big step up in scale and complexity for me. I haven’t made many in the past: SUPPLY and THERMOPYLAE were both smaller kits but I got the bug. I have been a bit slavish to the instructions, deviating slightly where people have suggested better solutions or effects and have yet to build the confidence to branch out and try differing techniques. Once I complete DIANA I think my next model might be a bit more adventurous and I will look at planking (deck and sides) in a more systematic manner and stagger as well as butt nailing.  As they say - one thing at a time.  

 

Good to to have you along - do shout if you think of any other good ideas; I’m keen to learn as every day is, after all, a school day! 

 

Peter 

[robdurant]

She's looking great Peter keep up the good work. I've been surprised how this step up in model complexity means I have to draw on my perseverance more. It's all worth it though.

[Peterhudson]

Okay: the upside of the british summer is that you can play cricket, go biking, fishing, sailing, on holiday and hold BBQs; the downside is that time spent on the model gets eroded.  The result is that progress has slowed...but not stopped.  I have been slogging on with the second planking of the ship.  My ambition was to be precise and use the process as a learning experience - improve my planking skills.  in reality I accepted that all this will be hidden under copper plates therefore whilst absolutely important to ensure the shape and flow of the hull is correct, the actual planking is of secondary consideration.   I have finished the portside and am halfway down the stbd side.  I have lined some of the lidded gun-ports and finished planking around the upper bulwarks.  I have noted one error which will irritate me for many weeks to come.  The upper gunports, those around the quarterdeck, have, I believe, been fitted correctly, they are level with each other and in the correct position but the edges of the ports are not vertically parallel with those cut into the ships side for the lower gundeck.   I'm not sure how it came about but suspect the cutting of my lower gunports is to blame especially on the port side where I should have been more disciplined in setting the vertical references.  I'm not sure there is much I can do about this.  A model always has a 'best side' and I think I've just discovered that mine will be a starboard girl!

 

I have to tiddly up some of the woodwork around the lower ports and just file/square the upper ones - the photo is slightly worse than the actual model is!  My plan is to complete the planking, finish the gunport linings, sand and then take stock on how she looks.  First stumble - hey ho. All learning process.

[Peterhudson]

I appreciate it has been a while since I updated you all on the progress of my DIANA build; as I mentioned before, the summer has too many attractions and sitting in my study whittling with a bit of wood seems to drop down the priority list when the sun is out!  That said it has been wet in the UK for a few weeks so in between work and responding to 'management' direction to do stuff in the garden (in a coat), I have been able to grab a few hours here and there to maintain progress. As you can see below, I have finished all the hull double planking, it has been sanded and I've shaped the transom area around the rudder entry port (shaped by a 1p piece); the rudder fits well.   I have completed the gunport lining and have painted all the areas in the appropriate red. To my irritation and despite Jason's prompt in early June, I failed to leave the 1mm lip for those gunports which have lids - arrgghh!  I looked at cutting back but concluded that it would look a mess so have left them as is - I will examine the overall aspect when I come to affix the lids...they may end up without them, however whilst I am aggrieved, I am not sure that when she is on display on my upstairs landing, many people will pick up on the error.   

 

I have bought some 1x1mm walnut and will affix this on the waterline as a template for the copper plates which I will fix in the near future. 

 

Before then I have to sort out the transom/stern gallery.  I have begun to prepare the stern counter area by applying a second layer of planks, this time 0.7x4mm boxwood stained black.  this allows me to make the junctions between hull planking and stern galleries neat and to finish properly the joints between the gunwale and stern.  Once all is complete, I will apply a coat of admiralty black to eradicate the boxwood sheen.

 

I offered up the stern galley fascia and was reasonably surprised when it appears to fit.  Not perfect but close enough for me to work around it; the portside does protrudes into the last window so I may need to judiciously place a curtain to shield the slight misalignment. The various pieces that make up the side galleries are somewhat daunting, I am mulling over whether to do the coppering first before I assault the back....not decided: pehaps I could do both to break the tedium of sticking plates on the hull.    

 

So in the next few weeks: finish the counter stern, check rudder alignment, finish the upper areas of the f'csle, affix waterline beading, start plating and commence assembling the stern area (dry run first) and finally repaint the black.  Enough to keep me busy...unless it stops raining! 

 

Peter 

[Peterhudson]

I did say this was a voyage of discovery.  I have finished the last bits of upper planking, carved the 10mm hole into which the bowsprit will seat and completed he second layer onto the stern counter area.  The next task was to mark the waterline.  In doing so I realised two things: the gunwale - which looks good - isn't entirely parallel and thus when I drew the waterline using a mounted pencil, it looked odd but I can tweak to get the visual aesthetics right.  The major snag was that the walnut planking around the stern area, i.e. below the boxwood and the area to be covered by cooper tiles, was too high and would show above the waterline! I had to do a few adjustments to remove some walnut and replank in boxwood.  I think this will suffice.  I did mark a waterline before second planking but obviously didn't connect thus...another error.  

 

The only upside is that I will have to make another one to prove to myself that these mistakes are one offs.

 

Peter

  

[robdurant]

That looks like a good fix you've done there. Great progress!  It's going to look even better once the walnut's covered up.

 

Are you planning.to copper it? I may have mentioned before but I would highly recommend the vapour mask (not the same as a dust mask) I pointed to on my log if you're using superglue.... it takes a lot of the stuff over an extended time and it saved it messing with my lungs.

 

I've just got back to Ethalion after a big break over the summer so it's encouraging to me to see your Diana coming along so well.

 

Rob

Edited August 23, 2019 by robdurant
Fixing my grammatical oopsies