HMS Diana by Vane - Caldercraft - Scale 1:64

[Vane]

HMS Diana – 4th build

In spite of reason, I decided to order my dream kit mainly because I know that Brexit is around the corner and perhaps after it will be more difficult/expensive to deal with my supplier in UK. Hopefully I wont start building it for a while, since I really need to finish my other kits. But at least, I have it and decided to make the start of a buildlog.    

I have always thought this is one of the most beautiful ships from the Nelson era and I really like my other Caldercraft kits, especially in 1:64. Its really huge so it will take years to complete.  

 

 

History

According to Wikipedia, HMS Diana was a 38-gun Artois-class fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1794 and had 8 sister ships (Artois, Jason, etc).  

Diana participated in an attack on a French frigate squadron anchored at Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue at the Action of 15 November 1810, which ultimately led to the destruction of the Elisa. Boats from Diana went in and set fire to the beached Eliza despite heavy fire from shore batteries and three nearby armed brigs; the British suffered no casualties.

 

On 7 March 1815 Diana was sold to the Dutch navy for £36,796. On 27 August 1816 she was one of six Dutch frigates that participated in the bombardment of Algiers.

Diana was destroyed in a fire on 16 January 1839 while in dry-dock at Willemsoord, Den Helder.

 

 

The kit

The first impression of the box is just that it is huge. The box is just way bigger than all of the other kits i have bought. As I understand, this was the first kit Caldercraft made in the Nelson Navy series so some of its design my be outdated and plans are not at all as good as their newer kits.

It takes alot of time just to go through the parts and they seemed to be very high quality of basically everything. There has been some critic of the walnut provided in these kits but maybe Caldercraft have listen because its perfect in this box.

 

A huge box!

 

  Everything in it....


The frames


This small boat kits will probably take some time to do...


Walnut details… here I discovered that even though it is stated that it is a 38-gun frigate… it also got an additional 8 carronades!

All these parts came in the white small box.

The manuals are not that detailed…


And I think I have more plans for my Granado… even though its less than half the size.

Wish me luck, I am going to need it!

 

Edited September 2, 2019 by Vane

[Vane]

There is plenty of Wood in this kit. As you can see, Walnut, Lime and the dovels are in excellent condition. Its only the Tanganyika for the deck that are a bit of a disappointment. But I will probably replace that with  maple anyway.  

[Vane]

The size…. well judge for yourself. It will be a huge commitment :-)

[mort stoll]

it is a beautiful build. well worth all the time and effort. enjoy yourself. 

mort

 

[Vane]

Another way to compare the size of these kits...

[Ronald-V]

Beautiful ship and something that i want to build in the future! The walnut looks really good indeed. The wood supplied in the kit of the Pickle was of a much less quality. Tanganyika looks the same 😉

Horrible 😁

[Beef Wellington]

Wow, you really have your work cut out for you with your Caldercraft selection.  As you point out, this is probably one of the older 'modern' kits out there so there are plenty of opportunities to improve one the kit out of the box as you see fit.  The Artois class really are one of the best looking ship types available in a model (IMHO!).  Look forward to seeing you start, there is quite the 'Diana' club right now on MSW so plenty of other builds to get pointers from.

 

Cheers

[Vane]

Thanks. Well I am quite happy you are some steps ahead of me on both the Snake and Diana so i can just sit back and relax and let you guide me through it... but i very much doubt I will come near your quality!

 

[Vane]

And of course... cant do this without the book!

[Vane]

And there she is!!! Just dry-fitted all of the ply. She will be a Beauty... :-) 

Edited August 11, 2019 by Vane

[Vane]

I probably have to wait until I start working on her for real and do more on my other kits. Here you can see her in comparison with my Granado and Snake.  

[Vane]

I am very thankfull for this forum and especially the buildlogs that are invaluable help. When it comes to my Diana build I will carefully study the following logs which I think are excellent: 

1) Finished build of HSM Diana by Ray
2) Ongoing build of sistership HMS Jason by Beef Wellington - This one possibly one of the most impressive builds on this forum

3) Ongoing build of sistership HMS Ethalion by RobDurant   

4) Finished build of HSM Diana by Barbossa - Unfortunately started in the middle of the build
5) Ongoing build of HMS Diana by PeterHudson - Still in the early stages of the project 

[robdurant]

Just found this log. great to see you making a start Vane. looks like you have a few projects on the go there. They're going to make a great shipyard when done.

 

Rob

[Vane]

Thanks. I have some great kits on the way but it is likely that I will take some time before i seriously start building this kit. Need to work on the others first and also improve my skills along the way. Diana is kind of my Dream build but I need to learn more before i will be ready for it! 

[Vane]

And I couldnt resist her any longer, even though I should focus on my other builds...

Big pile of bulkheads numbered to ensure i place them in the right pockets...

[Vane]

Skeleton done….  the middle plank locking everything into position required som tweeking to get in place. Had to fill down some angles to make it easier so slid into all of the bulkheads.   

[Vane]

Lower deck finished... this will basically not be seen when the model is completed but Good to see how the supplied mtrl looks like. I have bought my own maple for the next deck.

[Vane]

Decided to cut this board in two pieces to make it easier to handle. My new Proxxon table saw made it very easy. However, while one of the sides fitted perfectly, the other one didnt line up... should i be worried about the hull not being straight? 

[robdurant]

I'd be surprised if it were to far out given that you have the lower deck in place... if you have a metre ruler and a set square you could check the keel for straightness and the frames that they're at 90 degrees to the keel, and then go along and mark the lines across the deck from each of the notches  to the centre of the deck (at 90degrees to the centreline where you've made your cut) and see if they match up (that is to say it may be the deck that is mis-shaped) ... only a pencil, ruler, set square will give you the definitive answer. Once you know you can work out a plan of action.

 

Definitely.worth working it out before.you go too much further though.

 

Hope it proves to be a simple fix

 

Rob

[ASAT]

Try flipping the deck pieces over - may fit better, may be the same..... if the bulkheads are glued to the lower deck then I would open the slots in the deck till it fits and reshape center openings- after you plank it the effects of 1-2 mm should be minimal, you would probably incur greater consequences trying to fix it.....

[Vane]

Thanks I will test that. Once i completed my 2nd planking on my Granado i will start  Working on the Diana again 🙂

[Vane]

Decided to take a short break from all the tiny details on my Speedy and do some more heavy work on my Diana. I start to be abit tired of looking at its skeleton on the shelf and with some planks will make it look better at least.

 

Soon the first deck is ready. I did use extra ordered maple but the quality was rough so lots of sanding on edges.

 

Decided to keep it simple and not to do any fancy pattern as some other builds here. 

[Wahka_est]

Looking forward for this build! I hve Diana on my dream list, maybe after 10-15 on the table  

[Vane]

The deck is finally scrapted and finished. Most of it wont be that visable so i am kind of satisfied with the result.

[Vane]

Innerwalls done! 

 

 

 

Now prepering for 1st planking. Old kit so not a perfect fit, added some mtrl at a couple of places.

[ASAT]

That’s looking great Vane, I can tell that you have learned a lot from your other builds as this one is showing how your skill has progressed, very nice planking! Older kit for sure, I was so hoping that Vanguard was going to do a multi decker soon as all the current batch are pretty dated. But hey - it’s still a Chris Watton design!

[Vane]

Thanks alot. This is the 5th hull that I am building so hopefully I have learnt a one or two things…. 

If I understand right this was one of the first designs Chris made. Its a really beautiful fregatte and well designed…. buuuuut, its done the old classical way where the builder had to do alot himself. And also, new methods when it comes to making precut parts has come up (such as lasercutting) but this kit relies on old technology so everything dont have that precise fit as i am now used to with my Speedy.

Yes agree, it will be really interesting to see once Vanguards start producing some larger kits. My heart cant wait to see that… but my brain hopes it will take looong time so I dont start another build before finalizing what I have already taken on.       

[Vane]

First plank done. I decided to deviate abit from the instructions and didnt start from the top. Instead i laid it exactly inline with the deck and hopefully this will make the gunports more easy to set out. I will probably also focus on the upper hull before planking the lower parts simply to benefit from my rig. Now everything is really steady compare to using the building cradle.

 

In the background you can slightly see my other builds. Diana is very large compare to the Speedy. They are all in 1/64 scale.

 

[Wahka_est]

Seems you hve same problem with taking on too much as me. I have 3 ongoing plus Essex and Constitution false keels glued together....

[Vane]

Time to mark out the gunports and start drilling.  I am deviating from the instructions abit and didnt finish the planking yet. I think its easier to do the upper work on the hull with the ship in its steady rig rather than moving it to the cradle. This kit is very oldschool and you need to do alot of thinking and measuring before cutting away the wrong things. The plans are not exact, more of a guidance on where to place things.