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

[Blue Ensign]

I think you've got a result there Jason, well worth your effort.

 

As clean a rudder hanging as I've seen.  

 

B.E.

[Beef Wellington]

Thanks all for continued interest.

 

Pat - jury has still to render a verdict but hope I'm on the right track, thanks for your support.

 

Druxey - welcome to my log and your kind comment

 

BE - Rudder is far from perfect, I'll post a picture next update that I meant to post here, but I'm happy to move on...

 

Christian - you have already been down this road with such great results, I hope that I can get far as you.  At times I feel very overwhelmed that there is so much yet to do but I'm hoping the foundations are there.  Your beautiful model is one of the inspirations for me along with Ray and others who've built this already.

[Landlubber Mike]

Looks great Jason.  Love the rudder, and I think you're right to spend the extra time on the stern.  I feel like the stern is one of those areas that makes or breaks models.  You've given me a few ideas to think about how to approach the stern on my models, so thank you for the timely tips!

[rafine]

Beautiful work on the rudder Jason.

 

Bob

[Beef Wellington]

Not an update as such, but the answer to a previous question.  Had lots of dicussions on the stern lights, and one consideration was the use of PE lights from the Agamemnon kit.  Sjors very kindly (thank you Sjors!) sent a spare set he had.  Unfortunately, these don't look like they are an option. They are certainly more nicely crafted than the Diana ones, with the mullions being much thinner.  Photo below shows the comparison (my PE frames are showing the signs of colour experimentation)

1. There are 7 lights on the Artois frigates, 8 on the Agamemnon
2. The sizes and proportions are not really close enough, being larger on the Aggy

[md1400cs]

Jason,

 

I've been following mostly "silently" hmmm.  Superb build indeed. Your rudder and lower hull plating is so Perfect !! along with the rest of your build to date.

 

Cheers,

[Sjors]

To bad that you can not use them Jason.

 

For the rest I will wait for the solution....

 

Sjors

[Beef Wellington]

Here's an update just for you Sjors...

 

Since finding out the Aggy lights are not an option been trying to figure out where I want to go with these.  I realized that the thickness of the mullions of the supplied PE parts was a major reason why the lights just did sit well to my eye.  Plucked up the courage to thin these down with the smallest file I had.  The photo below shows the filed down ones at center and on the right, original on the left.  I stopped here for now at the risk of taking too much off and ruining these pieces reserving the right to possibly thin a little more after I've looked at them for a bit.  I deliberately left the top 'mullion' thicker to simulate the single sash.  Definitely would appreciate others opinions and suggestions here....

 

I shaped some 1x1mm box for the cove moldings, the trickiest to get right were the outside coves as the curve is so tight.  Left the strip to soak for a day and then steamed with an iron over a cardboard tube left over from some rigging line which was about the right shape.  I'll try to shape this a little with a scraper at a later date.

 

I placed the various cast ornaments for now to get a sense for alignment even though I would like to try and carve some replacements and was pleased with the way these sat together, my eye being very sensitive to proportions for some reason.  I'm happy so far.

 

 

Something else just hit me as I was reconciling various dimensions and it also explains discrepancies in the kit plans and supplied parts.  I'm estimating that the width of the bulwarks at the stern is approx. 10mm larger (5mm each side) in the kit than is identified in the AOTS and possibly explains why the supplied stern fascia is so wide - for comparison below you can see the kit supplied PE versus my version..  I wanted the proportions shown in the AOTS and you can see the rough misalignment  I don't think that this will be that noticeable so I'm not proposing to do anything else here.  The angles look rather off in this view but to the eye it is much less jarring.

 

 

Lastly, a slightly more forgiving angle showing the expected  results of all the compromises, overall, I think this may just work.  Obviously lots to do yet and a few more tricky problems to solve...including some carving.

 

Edited January 17, 2017 by Beef Wellington

[BANYAN]

Your a brave man Jason; taking a file to such small detail details  requires good nerves and steady hands - but, the result is excellent and looks a lot better - well done mate.  That stern will look so much nicer with all you attention to detail.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Beef Wellington]

A quandry with the Quarter Galleries

 

Thanks all for the continued interest.  Slow progress continues, the usually slow pace has also been impacted by me losing my job late last year which theoretically meant I have a lot more time on my hands, but has unfortunately in practice sapped my enjoyment to some degree.  This was coupled with some continuing challenges with the copper finish.  I've forced myself to stand back and leave alone to later date so have moved on...

 

The quarter galleries seem to once again present quite the challenge I think to look right.  The kit instructions are very simple, attach the quarter gallery panel to an upper and lower former, then attach the lights - but do not identify which is which.  Analysis of the provided PE lights show similar problems to the stern lights; they are slightly too short, and their geometry is not quite right but think these can be accommodated.  Each light is a slight different height, but think CC went the wrong way the one that is tallest should be shortest and vice versa.

 

 

Sure this could have worked, but wanted a little more control over the outcome to fine tune as I go.  I decided to frame up the actually gallery to be more robust so built up the front and back with some spare ply.  Shaping was done before attaching my own cut fascia piece cut from some extra 1.5mm ply - I did this so I could represent the fore and aft lights as false lights (as per AOTS) similar to the stern fascia as I've decided to stray away from the modelling ideal and represent as close as possible to actual practice. 

 

The geometry of this arrangement seemed to boil down to two key elements.  The fore and aft planes of the gallery should be parallel when viewed side on, and the lie of the gallery should be parallel to the wale.  Allowing for the slight tumblehome and compromising the above objectives together with the actual shape of the lights brought everything together by trial and error.  The build up on the fascia was done in exactly the same way as on the stern fascia.  I pre-bent the horizontal strips vertically first to ease attachment.  These still require a little fine tuning.

 

One note, I decided to used 4mm strip for the columns rather than 3mm which is probably closer to the plans and AOTS.  The reason for this is that the PE decorations are approx. 3mm wide and I think would look awkward - don't think this minor change affects the overall look too much.

 

 

As a diversion, I started to experiment with making a scraper to develop what will hopefully one day be moldings.  The razor blade was simply cut with a dremel and the narrowest cutting blade I could find (AND PROTECTIVE EYEWEAR AND LOTS OF CARE).  The result is far from perfect (lots of tries to find one that works) but its amazing how imperfections can be dealt with by simply taking your time and focusing on the end result - I was pleasantly surprised at my first attempt.  I much prefer the look to the supplied white metal supplied for the stern, and the provided cut walnut for the sides.

 

 

Putting everything in place allowed me to check alignment, and I was happy with the way things turned out.  Aligning with the still dry fitted stern fascia and placing the side molding approximately where it should be showed that this appears to cut the quarter gallery mid way through the top pane - pretty much where it appears in the AOTS diagrams.  To my eye, the compromises seem to disappear except upon close inspection and are less noticeable in person.  Now the prototype is done, need to do the port side...

 

Edited February 16, 2017 by Beef Wellington

[Blue Ensign]

I think that looks very good Jason, you have got a nice curve on the Quarter Gallery which is easy on the eye, so many of these items end up looking wedge shaped.

Love your moulding, light years ahead of the other options.  

 

B.E.

[BANYAN]

Nice bit of kit bashing Jason, those galleries have come up very nicely and will look even better with the decorations.  I found the other trick with the scraper mouldings is the choice of wood.

 

cheers

 

Pat

Edited February 17, 2017 by BANYAN

[jwvolz]

Very nice work there Jason. 

[md1400cs]

Very nice update - well done indeed.

[Mirabell61]

Very nice work at the stern windows Jason,

 

Nils

[Timmo]

That's a superb interpretation of the stern there Jason. It's great to see the steps you've taken to bring it closer to AOTS and it sure makes a difference.

Can't wait to see those carved figures - you know you want to...

[JPAM]

fantastic, very ship shape. 

[hollowneck]

Jason,

 

Excellent work, clean.

 

I'm bringing my bashed Diana (2013) to the upcoming Northeast Ship Modeler's Conference and Show in New London this April 29th. The Diana was my third ship model and is still one of my favorites. Fully-rigged now, but I'm contemplating adding furled sails - job I think I can accomplish by the end of April.

 

See you there?

 

Ron

[Beef Wellington]

BE, Pat, Joe, Michael, Nils, Wayne, JPAM  and the likes - thanks so much.

 

Ron - I'm hoping to make it, would love to see your fantastic Diana in person, my challenge is always football/soccer as I coach my sons team and that takes a big bite out of weekends at this time of year.  If I could just arrange a game in New London then I'd be set!

 

Small update, I've been missing making posts but I have a little to share and hope pictures make up for it.  Continuing to work on the more foundational aspects as I can.  Paint has been applied to the upper hull - I used Tamiya matt XF-18 medium blue.  I applied many layers of watered down paint and corrected larger imperfections, but left the slight imperfections from planking visible.  I'm no painter and have limited experience with modern acrylics!  Watering down the paint gives a nice smooth finish, but at the expense of surface uniformity - this should disappear completely once a clear sealer is applied so not concerned.  I found that using a brush the undiluted paint dries so quickly that brush mark are inevitable.  Lots of touchup to do which should be pretty easy, but I want to get a protective coat of poly onto the boxwood to reduce the risk of mishaps.

 

The waist rail has been applied on one side and the side steps added.  I left gaps for the fenders, after having already cut these roughly to shape - using boxwood of course adds the number of pieces that need to be fabricated to keep consistent.  I wont attach these until later.  Steps were made using 2x2mm boxwood strip and a different profile scraper to the side molding and then cut length and shaping the ends.  These hopefully give more of an impression of the fine molding as keeping that to scale was just too much for me.  The upper and lower 2 steps are not glued yet.  I think they pass the scale test with the assistance of Able Seaman Lewis.

I've also made up the anchor lining bolsters, not identified in the kit plans but approximated from AOTS and TFFM.

And the usual 'all over' shot of where things stand..

 

 

 

[Barbossa]

This is just wonderful. 

You  cannot compare these stairs with those supplied in the box.

Also love the blue color.

You certainly put tremendous effort improving this kit. The result is so rewarding : the pics speak for themselves

[Dfell]

 

Unbelievable work !! Lovely pictures - a joy to see.

Although may have to stop looking at your build - getting depressed when I look at my desperate attempt....😕

[BANYAN]

Stunning work Jason, your finishes even stand up to close/macro camera views.  That is a very nice shade of blue and complements your choices of wood very nicely - she will be one sweet model when completed.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[capnharv2]

Beautiful! I like how crisp and clean everything is!

 

Harvey

[cog]

Jason,

 

If your work turns out like this each time you feel you haven't done much in the previous period ... take your time for next time, well for every next time to come! The details are so crisp, so sharp. Beautiful!

 

Cheers

[toms10]

Okay, I think I will stop modelling and just look at the pics.  Jason, THIS IS CRAZY GOOD.  The fit and finish and overall appeal is just overwhelming.

Tom

[Timmo]

Great colour with that blue Jason. I hear what you say about tamiya acrylic and for that reason I've only ever sprayed it but I can't see any brush marks on yours.

Those steps and rails look great. Love the full hull shot. She's a ship of great beauty. 

[VACorsair]

Wow!!    

[egkb]

Jason .. I actually went 'Oh My God' when I scrolled through the photos  !!  Love It Mate, Simple As That !

 

Eamonn

[Beef Wellington]

Wow..Christian, Doug, Pat, Harvey, Carl, Tom, Wayne, VACorsair, Eamonn, and the likes, thanks guys for interest and the overly kind words.  Narrative below will explain more, but think I've irrevocably stepped off the 'being happy with kit parts' ledge...this can only mean even slower progress...but perhaps more fun

 

I know I'm bouncing around a bit so apologies for that, but continuing foundational aspects which seem easier with the ship careened over on a towel.

 

Challenging Cheeks:

 

The kit supplied cheeks are hair rail are not that great.  The cheeks themselves come nowhere near to fitting the hull, and I'm pretty sure the hull form is correct.  The only option was to scratch my own cheeks.  Aside from the fit, they are also seem rather undersized.

The next consideration was the hair rail and lower cheek, and decided to go whole hog and redo these as well.  Given that there needs to be two of everything, I cheated and sparingly glued with PVA glue some 3mm sheet together and then cut to shape.  The pieces were then separated using rubbing alcohol, and voila, 2 matching parts with the work of 1!  These parts are still very slighty oversized to allow them to be fine tuned once other parts are made - necessary given I don't have any true plans to work from and that these pieces form quite a complex shape. 

 

Photos below show hair rail prior to separation.  The difference in dimensions is quite evident to that appearing in AOTS which I used as a guide for the scratch piece.

As a side note, the quality of the walnut parts are just not good, the main/false rail would need a lot a work to get presentable so suspect these will also be remade at some point.

The cheeks themselves took a long time (days) to get right due to the angled concave curve and lack of plans.  Pretty happy with the results, though the parts still need some fine tuning as the rails are a little thick still I think.  I'm hoping to use a scraper to give a profile to the edges, and a quick test shows that this should work OK even for a quick test.  This also commits me to what will probably be my first simple carvings on the scrolls, but that's for another day.

 

Side by side comparison of scratch vs kit supplied pieces..

[rafine]

Great choice to replace the kit parts Jason and a great start on the replacement parts.

 

Bob