HMS Jason by Beef Wellington - Caldercraft - 1:64 - Artois-class frigate modified from HMS Diana 1794

[Beef Wellington]

Cheers Guys for the comments and likes, its nice to share a journey with friends.

 

Sjors/Mobbsie - its not an exact replica of me, I had to scale down the pecs to fit 

 

Well, a major milestone arrived slowly. Finally the first planking is complete.  This time the bow presented me a few problems to solve, all self inflicted because I've deviated from the kit.  Because I had decided to customize the bow so I could fit the bowsprit through rather than sitting in a notch on the stem, it essentially took away any anchor points for the fo'c'sle bulwark.  The solution I used was to shape some balsa blocks to the appropriate shape and temporarily mount on top of the bow filler blocks, this allowed the planks to be given the appropriate curvature (after soaking) and then securely glued edge on the plank above and below (Hoepfully this will also provide some protection during upcoming phases).  To ensure that the top of the bulwark has the right shape for the plansheer, I needed to shape the uppermost strips lower edge to key onto the plank below.  Because this strip would be the most susceptible to damage, I used one pre-shaped strip curved completely around the bow.  The bow on this ship looks deceptively simple but has some tricky curves, but even in this rough state the lines seem to be showing through very pleasingly.  Note that the two shaper blocks are very slightly different height which gives the illusion that the top strip is not level, but it is....I must have checked it a million times.

 

 

A scaled copy from the AOTS Diana book to get the correct shape of the bow and many diagrams cross referenced

 

 

Finally a technique I found very helpful, but unfortunately not until I was nearly done.  To keep planks edge on during planking I built these little 'U' shaped pegs out of some extra lime strip (the length of the slot is slightly deeper than the width of a strip) which can be used in many places to help keep strips edge on in some the tricky curving areas at the bow.  The uppermost strip is only approximately shaped at this point, I want to wait until the deck is on the determine final dimensions.  In the waist, I once again deviated from the instructions and carried the planking 2mm above the top of the  bulkheads rather than stopping at the top as indicated in the instructions to allow for the thickness of the 1mm false deck and 1mm deck planking.  Any excess should be easy to remove if necessary.

 

Edited March 10, 2015 by Beef Wellington

[Timmo]

Nice solution there Jason on both the pegs and the bow shaping block. Looking good

[egkb]

Jason mate.. that is beautiful, seriously beautiful !

 

Eamonn

[cog]

It's getting better and better Jason. Marvelous progress

[Landlubber Mike]

Beautiful planking all around Jason, wow!  That first planking can stand on its own.  Can't wait to see what you do with the second planking.

[Beef Wellington]

Thanks for kind words Wayne, Eamonn, Carl, Mike and the 'likes'...

 

I do have a couple of question that may be very basic but I'm struggling to answer:

1. Should the external dimension of open gunports (i.e. without lids) and those with lids be the same (which would mean that the actual dimensions of the port aperture would be slightly smaller for those with lids because of the lip)?  Or, should the aperture dimensions be the same, which means the ports with lids are slightly bigger
2. Should the lower edge of the port be parallel to the deck or the keel and should the sides of the port be perpendicular to the keel?. (The former resulting in a slightly trapezoidal shape toward stern and bow).  

Hope this makes sense, any help would be much appreciated.

[mtaylor]

The ports should all be the same width and height, Jason.   The planking is cut back from the port slightly to allow for the lip.   The upper and lower edge of the ports generally follow the gundeck sheer while the sides are vertical (perpendicular) to the keel. 

 

Do you have a copy of the AOTS Diana?   Excellent resource for this class of frigates.

[Beef Wellington]

Mark, I was about to give you a dollar for every time I referenced the AOTS book, but guess I can't now :-)  Yes, I have it and am referencing it extensively. The side profile on pages 68 and 69 show the gunport lids (cut cut back planking) and the un-lidded ports exactly the same size which I didn't think was correct as you point out above, of course printing at this scale makes a hard analysis difficult.  Thanks for helping with my question!

[Sjors]

When i say WOW I think that's not enough so.....WOW WOW WOW !!!!!!!

 

Excellent planking Jason !!!!!!!

 

Sjors

[jim_smits]

Stunning work so far Jason.

 

Well done mate!

[Beef Wellington]

Thanks Jim and Sjors, appreciate the kind words, it was a long time coming and still needs some more sanding to get it where I want it to be.  I'm going to wait for some warm weather as I find it quite relaxing sitting outside with a suitable beverage sanding, and theres no push to rush it.

 

Gunports

 

Cracking on with the gunports.  This seems to be yet another problematic area with this kit, and here was my approach to hopefully assist other builders of this kit (My thanks to Ray who first trod this path and whose shoulders I'm standing on).  The instructions are no help here, and the plans inaccurate.  I used the AOTS extensively to estimate as best I can the dimensions, and this required plenty of tinkering.  The supplied template is a waste of time as it forces the ports to be square, rather than the bottom cill following the sheer of the deck.

 

Bulkheads 10, 11 & 12 are key to laying out the ports as these bulkheads dictate the positions of gunports 7, 8 & 9.  Not mention in the instructions/plans is that gunports 8 & 9 are spaced farther apart than all the others, which are equidistant.

 

The arrows indicate the edge of bulkheads indicating the potential extremities of the ports, 7 & 8 are 30mm apart, 8 & 9 37mm.  The remaining ports were then marked to be 30mm apart (which does actually match the supplied template).  The edge of the plank was used to determine the appropriate height.

 

 

This resulted in two problems, the first was expected, the second not.  I had suspected that the gunport 1 would interfere with bulkead 4, and had build up additional material so this could be cut away without (hopefully) critically weakend the structure.  

 

The unexpected problem came with gunport 2 and bulkhead 5 as these coincide.

 

 

I was determined  to have equally spaced ports, so resorted to some emergency surgery, basically cut some spare 5mm ply cut approximately to shape and inserted between the bulwarks and against bulkhead 5 - the same approach taken before planking for bulkhead 4.  Plenty of glue was used to secure this as strongly as possible.

 

 

Once dry, the ports were cut and fully and trimmed to approximate shape.  First picture is gunport 1 (showing how much of the bulkhead is compromised), followed by ports 1 & 2 showing the same

 

 

Finally the overall shot showing how alignment looks, still work to do here but starting to look like a ship rather than a bathtub!  All ports are 30mm apart, except for the aforementioned 8&9.  I'm a happy camper.

 

 

 

Edited March 14, 2015 by Beef Wellington

[Sjors]

Very nice solution Jason !!!!

Well done my friend !

 

Sjors

[Timmo]

Very neat work Jason. She's starting to look like a frigate.

[cog]

Jason,

 

To me that is about the only possible solution. Since you have an inner and outer planking neither the rigidity, nor the strength of the hull will suffer. You could have inserted additional frame pieces on both sides of the port. Well done

[Ray]

Jason

          Another Diana problem sorted I was lucky as I mentioned, in my log,  that I saw the problem as well, and as in my log remarked the port positions before I cut them and hope they are in about the right place, you have described problem and the solution better than I did, as in the end I went slightly towards what looks right. Just wait until you get to the rigging plans !!! I am spending a lot of time looking at Pegasus and the Pegasus rigging plans.

[drtrap]

Superb progress Jason!

All the best....

[Beef Wellington]

Have started the gunport linings, this will be slow.  Fine tuning the ports so they align appropriately is the order of the day.  The technique I'm using is to first install the lower cills, and to ensure that the cills are horizontal athwart-ship am using a strip of wood to ensure it sits flat on both sides.  Lots of double checking to ensure that position is correct.  Once lower cill is fixed, the upper is glued using an appropriately sized spacer to keep upper and lower cills parallel.  Side linings added last.  

 

 

And finally, happy Spring everyone!  I keep mentioning waiting for warmer weather to get some good sanding done on the hull.....well, this is the scene this morning, looks like I'm still waiting....

 

Edited April 20, 2015 by Beef Wellington

[cog]

Nice work on the gunport linings Jason.

 

When summer comes you'll be wishing for this spring time ...

[mort stoll]

Hi Jason,

 

In pix #132 it looks like gun port #9 is against bulkhead #9. Is that true?

 

Thanks,

Mort

[mort stoll]

Sorry Jason, I meant bulkhead #11.

 

Mort

[Beef Wellington]

Mort - yes, the aft edge of port 9 is against bulkhead #11, and the forward edge of port 8 sits next to bulkhead 10.  I used these as the anchor points to determine the placement of all the ports forward and aft of these with a 30mm spacing.

[mort stoll]

Thanks Jason. Forgot to ask, what does the pencil line in the photos indicate?

 

Thanks again,

Mort

[Beef Wellington]

Mort - I simply marked the top of a plank with a sharpy and ran it along the sheer of the deck so I would have a reference point when it came to marking the gun ports.  Photo of the 'before' state is here which I think illustrates it best...

 

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/7219-hms-diana-built-as-hms-jason-1794-by-beef-wellington-caldercraft-164/page-7#entry270602

[mort stoll]

That's what I thought.

 

Thanks again. 

[ASAT]

Seriously nice work Jason - every time I look in on your log I start thinking...... keep up the high standard!

[Beef Wellington]

Lou & Brian, thanks for stopping by, appreciate the kind words.

[JesseLee]

Excellent work Jason. I love following your work!

[Beef Wellington]

Lou, Jessie, Brian - thanks for kind words, great to have such great modelers as you here for support!

 

This post is a little atonement, its amazing what errors suddenly becomes obvious just as you think a step is behind you...in the interests of full disclosure....

 

I had cut port #1 with the sides of the gunport running directly athwartships, this does not appear to be correct and I needed to rmove the lining and recut and line so they are more perpendicular to the hull lines.  It required a some filling on the interior lining, but result was pleasantly not obvious - at least to my eye.

 

 

You can see from photos below that I'm hoping to install the sweep ports as these would be visible from the inside.  These were made from some 5mm strip, assembled into a tube.

 

Next problem was much more painful to recognize.  Somehow, I managed to fit gunport #8 in the wrong position and also position a sweep port in wrong place.  This needs to be fixed to allow room for the side steps in the correct position.

 

 

Surgery has begun....

 

Edited August 16, 2015 by Beef Wellington

[egkb]

Hey There Jason... Your fix seems to be coming along nicely.. be back on track in no time.. 

 

Looking Crisp by the way !

 

All The Best Bud

 

Eamonn

[cog]

Just the one or will you be moving multiple ... Good to see you back, though not at the job at hand ... Although not the nicest thing to find out, it's better to find out now, than later when it would be much more difficult to 'repair' if at all ...