HMS Diana by dunnock - FINISHED - Caldercraft - 1:64

[DaveBaxt]

Starting to look like an awsome model and appreciate the work gone into such a huge model. Well done so far and I look forward to your progress. I am currently building the Endeavour by Caldercraft and after purchacing the book AOTS Diana I have been considering this for my next model but as yet have not attempted a ship with copper tiles or so many gun ports. Good luck with your future progress. Best Regards Dave

[dunnock]

Many thanks Dave for your comments, they are much appreciated. I'm sure that if you do decide to build Diana, you will find it a glorious combination of frustration, challenge and satisfaction. There are many Diana builders with logs on this site that will provide support and inspiration if you decide to go ahead. David

[DaveBaxt]

2 hours ago, dunnock said:

Many thanks Dave for your comments, they are much appreciated. I'm sure that if you do decide to build Diana, you will find it a glorious combination of frustration, challenge and satisfaction. There are many Diana builders with logs on this site that will provide support and inspiration if you decide to go ahead. David

Thank you David and I appreciate the reply. Good luck with build and I look forward to your progress

[dunnock]

Copper plating the rudder was challenging because of the changing angles and cut-outs but any small gaps I have covered with Tamiya copper paint.

 

 The pintles and gudgeons are made from 3x3 boxwood planed down to 2x2. The pintles proved relatively straight forward with holes for the pins drilled before cutting the strip down to size. I made the spectacle plate from leftover stanchions from HMS Fly cut down and twisted into the right shape. The position and sizing of the gudgeons needed more care, each being placed separately and alignment with the rudder checked. The top three gudgeons I pinned in place but the lower four are just ca’d.

 

The first two gudgeons fitted

 Completed and rudder mounted

 

The photo-etched straps were too thick to allow free movement of the rudder and anyway were not sized correctly for my boxwood version so I used black card cut into 2mm strips following the pattern given in AotS.

 

 

 

I will add the cloak (not sure of the proper term) that seals off the rudder from the sea and the chains at a later date.

 

I think the next stage will be to work on the lower/gun deck. The stern was complicated enough and judging from other logs, the head looks more so, therefore I’m putting off work on this area to another time in the hope of tackling something simpler.

 

David

[Beef Wellington]

Very nice looking stern Dunnock!  Its amazing how much work needs to go into this area but the results speak for themselves.  BTW, I think you are referring to the "rudder coat".

[DaveBaxt]

Beautiful looking stern. May I ask did the name come with the kit or did you have to make the letters yourself ?

[dunnock]

Thanks Beef Wellington and DaveBaxt for your kind comments on the stern. Dave, I thought the kit letters in PE brass were too chunky so I made my own letters in Perpetua Titling, painted them, cut them out and stuck them onto the counter.

[dunnock]

A few weeks since I posted but I will update progress on making some of the gun deck fittings. I’ve also been in Iceland for a week on a holiday that was postponed three times due to Covid restrictions. What an amazing country. We plan to go back in the spring when there should be good numbers of breeding waders and other birds around.

 

I started with the ship’s stove which I made from 1mm and 0.5mm styrene card using patterns from AotS Diana. I used the condenser provided in the kit because when painted with Tamiya copper, I thought it looked the part but I made the chimney using 8 and 6mm dowel shaped and drilled out. The body of the stove is painted in Tamiya iron. I was quite pleased with the result…

 

 

… until I realised that the chimney was over the boiler instead of the fire! Luckily I was able to remove the chimney and top plate and glue it back the correct way around

 

 

The hearth is made from 1mm maple sheet and the tiles from boxwood strip and all edged in some 2mm walnut strip.

 

The forward riding bits in the kit didn’t look right so I made these from pieces of 6x2mm boxwood stringing in the manner of RobDurant. There are no riding bits at the foremast provided in the kit but I wanted to make them for the sake of completeness. Again they were made from 6x2 boxwood and sized according to AotS. Neither are glued, just pinned together.

 

 

I wasn’t very keen on the parts provided for the ladders and there is no provision for the double ladderway or at the rear hatch. Since these ladders will not easily be seen, I decided to use the kit parts but I will work out something that will hopefully look better for the q’deck and f’csle.

 

 

I have started making the partitions that form the captain’s quarters. Once again I am indebted to RobDurant for providing a downloadable pattern making the task much simpler. I glued the paper pattern onto 1mm maple sheet and cut out the doors. With hindsight I should have left them until I had completed framing of the lights because they were prone to breaking up but I have managed to make them presentable. The panels are carved out using a #6 blade then finished of with a file and 600 wet & dry. And the edging strips are in boxwood strip.

 

 

 

 

I also wanted to make the partition for the Great Cabin. Again I used Rob’s pattern. Cutting out the centre section made it the correct width. I again used 1mm maple sheet and will carve out the panels. This time though, I will leave the doors in place until the lights are completed. Since it will be difficult to see, I may not cut the doors out but just score the outline.

 

 

I will also make the partition dividing the coach and the bed place but plan to leave it fairly plain. I’m surprised that there is no door between the two shown in the plans. I also wonder whether to paint the internal walls of the partitions white.

 

Finally two shots of the deck. Nothing glued in place yet

 

 

 

The mast partners are cut from 1mm maple sheet and simply scored to imitate the planking.

 

 

[dunnock]

Thanks for all the likes and for continuing to follow my progress.

 

I have finished all the partitions for the captain’s cabin. I had to remake one of the doors on the front bulkhead because too many breaks around the door light made it excessively weak. For the remake, I cut out the opening for the light and fitted the boxwood frames before cutting out the door.

 

 

It would have been nice to have been able to cut back some of the bulkheads to open up the great cabin but I think it would have been a step too far and created difficulties with the stern structure.

 

The capstan supplied in the kit is a bit of a horror show. The walnut ply is very poor quality and the proportions very different from that shown in the AotS. It might seem inconsistent to go to the trouble of making cabin bulkheads, mast partners etc and not try to improve on the capstan, nevertheless, I decided that for the lower capstan, I would use the kit version and attempt to make the upper one from scratch. This is it in position on its step.

 

 

Nothing is glued yet and for the moment I have completed the parts that run down the centre line of the upper deck that I wanted to make. The rest: pumps, columns and also a bowsprit partner and manger boards, I will leave until the guns are in place.

 

On to the guns...

[Blue Ensign]

Nice work dunnock, she's looking very impressive.

I'm a big fan of the OM boxwood  I first used it on my Pegasus build and it sits very well on Diana.

I also left the copper to age naturally and now after around 8 years is developing a subtle brown patina.

 

Regards,

 

B.E.

[dunnock]

Thanks very much B.E.. Your Pegasus build was a big influence on the way that I went about building HMS Fly, so your comments are much appreciated.

 

I was wondering how long it would take for the patina to develop on the copper because there is very little sign of it at the moment.

 

David

[Blue Ensign]

Thank you, David,

 

I completed the coppering in August 2011, and the model was cased in 2017 on completion.  It is a slow process, I tried to get a photo through the glass but couldn't get a decent representation, with reflections etc.

 

B.E.

[dunnock]

18 Pounder Guns

 

The walnut gun carriages in the kit are not great but I am using them for the upper deck. The dimensions seem to be about right but they take some work to clean up. I may replace the carronades and 9 pounders in the kit for the f’csle and quarterdecks.

I glued up the sides and axles using a simple jig to keep things in line. The bed bolt was made up from the 1mm brass wire blackened with Birchwood Casey Black and glued in place. I drilled the holes for the eyebolts using another jig made from plastic card.

Cutting out the trucks and trying to clean them up was probably not going to be worth the effort so I bought some replacements from CMB. It required a bit more sanding of the axles to get a snug fit but they were worth the effort. The downside is that the new trucks are thicker and don’t leave enough room on the axle to fit the pins as I would have wanted to do.

 

 

I wanted to represent the bracket bolts, at least on the ten carriages that were likely to be visible amidships. Elsewhere on this forum, I had read (and I’m sorry but I can’t remember who) that someone had used black poppy seeds. I made one carriage up as a test and thought that it looked quite good. It was also quite simple: just a small hole made with a needle then a dab of glue and a poppy seed carefully placed on top.

 

 

These close-ups are unforgiving of the coarse walnut grain…

 

The walnut pieces for the bed were very delicate. The groove cut for the bed bolt was very deep on all the pieces and I broke three as I was sanding and painting them.

This is the stage I am at with all the carriages made up.

 

 

I started to cut out the quoins but they are not great, too small according to the AotS and difficult to sand into a wedge. I have experimented with making quoins, at least for the more visible guns, using 3x3mm boxwood strip and a cocktail stick for the handle. I cut off 8mm from the strip then cut the piece in half diagonally to give two quoins and glued the cocktail stick into a pre-drilled 0.7mm hole. I’m quite pleased with the result but perhaps more work on the handle required. The photo below shows the comparison and second one in progress.

 

 

The quoins are quite fiddly so I want to check the position of all the guns in the gun ports before committing to making 28 of these little quoins. Next up then will be cutting and blackening the trunnions and the barrels. Should the barrels have the 'GR' monogram? There are none provided in the kit.

[robdurant]

Hi Dunnock,

 

Those are looking great! She has teeth now! The walnut(?) carriage parts in my kit of Diana was really flaky, and hard to get a crisp edge with, but you seem to have done an excellent job. The poppy seed is ingenious, too.

 

The monograms for the guns can be bought separately from Chuck's Syren Model Ship Company, here.

 

https://syrenshipmodelcompany.com/laser-cut-ship-model-fittings.php#!/Monograms-English-1750-1820-for-brass-cannon-3-sizes-90-per-pack/p/58972038/category=5764789

 

I can highly recommend Chuck's carriages, too but you will find that the height of the assembled guns ends up being different (a little taller) than the provided carriages, which can make lining them up in the ports a little more interesting. I guess that's not such an issue on the quarter deck / fore deck. I would recommend working out the heights one by one as you fit them, then fixing the quoins in position, having sighted along the row of barrels to ensure you get a really nice sweep. Definitely one of the show-pieces of these models!

 

Rob

 

[dunnock]

Rob, Thanks for your kind comments on the gun carriages and your suggestion for the monograms. I'll take a look at Chuck's site. The postage and possible import duties have put me off before but I have noticed that quite a few UK based builders do buy from him.

I'm afraid I can't claim any credit for the poppy seed idea, just picked up on someone else's ingenuity!

Still working on the quoins but will certainly go with your recommendation on alignment of the guns.

 

David

[allanyed]

Lovely build!!!    Thanks for sharing your progress.

 

One question, hope you do not mind.    Did the kit call for a name on her stern? I realize  Diana MAY have been and exception to the rules of the Admiralty, but just as an FYI, it is extremely unlikely that Diana would have a name on her stern as the RN only called for names on the stern about 1772 then banned them about 1782 presumably to keep unnecessary information out of the hands of the enemy.   As Diana was launched in 1794 she normally would not have her name on the stern.  White shows the name on the stern in the Anatomy of a Ship book on Diana so maybe she was an exception. 

 

 Way too many mysteries in this hobby of ours.

Allan

 

[AJohnson]

19 minutes ago, allanyed said:

Lovely build!!!    Thanks for sharing your progress.

 

One question, hope you do not mind.    Did the kit call for a name on her stern? I realize  Diana MAY have been and exception to the rules of the Admiralty, but just as an FYI, it is extremely unlikely that Diana would have a name on her stern as the RN only called for names on the stern about 1772 then banned them about 1782 presumably to keep unnecessary information out of the hands of the enemy.   As Diana was launched in 1794 she normally would not have her name on the stern.  White shows the name on the stern in the Anatomy of a Ship book on Diana so maybe she was an exception. 

 

 Way too many mysteries in this hobby of ours.

Allan

 

Well I didn't know about that!  Every day is a school day, when did that practice of not applying names to the sterns of RN. ships end, does anyone know.

 

Thanks for the insights.

[allanyed]

Andrew,  Names were not normally painted on the stern of RN ships prior to the 1771order of the Admiralty.  They were allowed until the Admiralty rescinded this in 1782 so it is only a ten or eleven year window where the names were commonly found.  Were there exceptions, probably.  This order from the Admiralty obviously changed again many years later, but I am not sure if was in  the late 19th or 20th century.   Common sense comes into play here.  Flying false colours and such was supposedly  used on occasion when coming on the enemy.  Having  your ship's name on the stern would pretty much negate the idea of flying a false flag.    I've looked at many dozens of contemporary models in person and in photos in the Kreigstein, RMG, Thomson and Preble Hall collections as well as many photos in Franklin's book, Navy Board Ship Models and others.  I found only three contemporary ship models built prior to the 1771 orders that had their names painted on the stern.  No others that I have seen had the name prior to 1771 nor after about 1782.  I have not looked beyond the first decade of the 19th century so cannot tell you when the practice of painting the name of the stern started again.   

Allan

[dunnock]

Thanks Allenyed, I don't mind at all. Always happy to learn something new.

 

The kit provides PE brass letters which I thought were too heavy looking so I made my own but perhaps I needn't have worried but now that I have, I may leave well alone

 

As you say, the drawing on the back cover of the AotS shows the name on the stern but it doesn't appear on the photo of the NMM model on page 16.

[allanyed]

Hi Dunnock

For future use, when the names were on the stern,  they were always painted, not made with any plates or other materials.   

Allan

[DaveBaxt]

Some terrific work on the Cannons. Iam just about to start the Cannons on my Caldercraft Endeavour which is also 1 : 64 and have got some great tips from you in this regard. I too am not impressed with the carrages and I am toying of making my own. If they don,t turn out too well I can always purchase some from Chuck. Fortunately I have only got six to make. Haha

[dunnock]

Thanks Allanyed - I don't think that I would have a steady enough hand to paint freehand but I could try to stencil the lettering in future.

 

Dave, thanks for your comments on the cannons. I thought about replacement but to buy 28 from Chuck would be quite expensive. For the carronades and 9 pounders that are more visible, I will look to Chuck or to Chris Watton for replacements. The problem I have now is finding suitably sized hooks for the tackles.

[DaveBaxt]

40 minutes ago, dunnock said:

Thanks Allanyed - I don't think that I would have a steady enough hand to paint freehand but I could try to stencil the lettering in future.

 

Dave, thanks for your comments on the cannons. I thought about replacement but to buy 28 from Chuck would be quite expensive. For the carronades and 9 pounders that are more visible, I will look to Chuck or to Chris Watton for replacements. The problem I have now is finding suitably sized hooks for the tackles.

Here is a link to a blog whom built his own carrages and hooks. I don,t know if his idea is something you could use. Hope it is of help 

Take a look further down where he makes his own hooks. I am sure you have already thought of this but here it is anyway.

 

[allanyed]

Dunnock,  there is a string on 3D printed cannons here at MSW that is active right now.   I just received forty cannon barrels (twenty 6 pounders and twenty 12 pounders) and 100 port lid hinges for $20, including postage.    I ordered smaller ones for my previous project and there are photos of them on the string.  I believe Diana had Blomefield design guns so if you want to go the 3D printing route you would need STL format drawings of this design to get these made.   (Mine were for the 17th century so not appropriate for Diana.)  It really is worth the effort!   Check out the string    ------->  https://modelshipworld.com/topic/29148-3d-printed-cannon-barrels/

 

Allan

[dunnock]

Dave,

Thanks for the link to Shipaholic's log. I did make some of my own hooks for my build of HMS Fly but nothing like as good as Shipaholic. I've just received some 3mm hooks from HiS models in the Czech Republic which look very nice. I've also bought some 2 and 2.5mm blocks from Vanguard Models but they are sooo small. I will be trying to make up the port tackles with these items over the next few days.

 

David

[dunnock]

Allan,

 

Thanks for the info and link on 3D printed barrels.

 

I can see that this will become the way to go in the future to replace many of the white metal, brass and PE components. 

 

I'm well into my 18 pounder gun carriages and just about to start rigging the tackles now but I will be looking around for options when it comes to the guns for the quarter deck and forecastle.

 

 

[dunnock]

A short update as I continue with the upper deck guns.

 

The barrels are completed and when placed on the carriages with the quoins, I am pleased with the way they look along the ship.

 

 

 

I have used the cap squares provided in the cut, preforming them over a piece of 1.5m brass before they were blackened and then glued into position with CA. To finish off the carriage I added the eyebolt and hinge to those midship guns that are partially visible but only the eyebolt to the others.

The copper eyebolts in the kit, I thought were a bit big for this purpose so I made my own from 28gg black ‘artistic wire’ twisted around a 0.8mm drill.

The hinges are cut down kit eyebolts. This was a bit fiddly but once I’d got a method worked out, it went quite smoothly.

 

 

 

The breeching ropes are 3 times the bore length of the barrel so 120mm for the 18 pounders. I made up the breeching ropes for all 28 guns using the 0.75mm thread provided in the kit, seizing one end to a ringbolt. It is then a bit of an awkward job to thread the rope through the eyebolts on the carriage and wrap it around the cascobel with a false splice before seizing the final eyebolt.

 

 

 

 

 

[dunnock]

Breeching ropes and port tackles are completed.

 

Port tackles are made up from 2.5 mm blocks from Vanguard models and 2mm hooks that I bought from HiS Models in Czech Republic. I stropped the blocks with some 0.3mm thread that was left over from and earlier build and the tackle rope is 0.25mm thread from the kit. I believe the tackle is a scale 260mm long.

 

I have frapped the fall around the tackle and will cut off the excess length to make a loose coil on the deck. The quad hands that I bought a couple of months ago made rigging much easier than it might have been with such tiny blocks and hooks but even so, I found that I could only do a few at a time. I have only made port tackles for the 10 midships’ guns and I am debating whether to make the training tackles or leave them off. Maybe I will feel more inclined after a break from it. 

 

 

Between rigging the tackles, I have continued with more of the fittings down the centre line of the upper deck. But that is for another post.

 

I am also thinking to put the guns to one side for the moment and carry on with more of the outer hull before finally fitting them. I have drilled the carriages to take a 1.5 mm brass pin and will fix with epoxy into corresponding holes drilled at each gun port but even so, I am concerned that the barrels will be vulnerable to my clumsiness when fitting rails, channels etc.

 

Guns rigged with breeching ropes are kept in order to ensure that they line up with the holes in the deck for the posts and with the gun ports

[DaveBaxt]

Great looking Cannon and nice looking tackle for them too. Thanks for the link to the HiS web sight for what look like great looking hooks for the tackle. I think I might do the same when I build my Diana . I would be really grateful if you could let me know which hooks you picked on the HiS shop as there are lots of different ones to choose from. keep us posted on your progress as it is a really interesting blog. So thanks and beat regards Dave

[dunnock]

Dave, thanks for your kind comments.

 

I bought the '3mm patinated in black' hooks. They are very nice and the black doesn't rub off when you are fiddling around. Although delivery costs are quite high, they came very quickly via post with no issues over importation from the EU.

David