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

[cog]

Jason,

 

Considering the shape of the font of e.g. HMS Victory, I would sooner go for Baskerville, if you need the font, let me know

[mcpwilk]

Beautifully done.

 

Mike

[Beef Wellington]

Thanks everyone for the encouraging comments.

 

@Carl - I looked at Baskerville, before you posted this I decided to follow Perpetua Titling as a guide as it is probably the closest to whats seen on Victory that I could find, Baskerville looks good as well.  There is one problem with all these fonts, and that is the "J", in nearly all of these older fonts the J drops below the level of the other letters (it is invariably the only one to do that) which I don't think is how it would be done.  I've decided to us the 'Castella' font as a guide for the J, as the other letters are similar stylistically but a little thicker.

 

However, there is a big caveat here, given that I'm choosing to paint the letters so despite lofty ideas I still need to execute that somehow, and I doubt my skills are up to this level of accuracy or refinement and I'm keeping my expectations at an appropriate level.  I think it would be a good game afterwards to play 'guess' the font because I know it will not be as pure as the printed examples.  

[cog]

You could try to print a template. Cut out the letters, and paint over it. The only problematic letters are those like 'O', and 'A', but it will make life easier

 

Another option: Glypha Light standard. It has the J you want, and is is a serif font. Got the font file if you need it

[Beef Wellington]

So here's where I landed with the lettering.  First the letters were painted in a darker brown and then overpainted with yellow ochre and few highlights.  The goal here was not perfection as I new that was not going to remotely close, hopefully "impressionistic" describes it.  Was very happy with the outcome, may touchup a little more but I'm forcing myself to stay away for now.  The placement may look a little odd, but I had to estimate where the decorative rails will be so it should be correctly aligned when those are in place...something to potentially still go awry.  I'm following the guidance that the letters should fill the upper counter leaving a little space between the rails.  The photos are a little unkind and to my eye looks better in person.

 

First picture is the obvious comparison to the kit supplied PE letters, and you can see the perspective narrowing of the font.  I placed the lights in the stern while fine tuning the angle as it seemed that these need be complimentary somehow, although the angle varies from every viewing angle.

 

[BANYAN]

That looks really good Jason, I think you have nailed it.  I would stay away from further tinkering with the paint brush.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Sailor1234567890]

Now we're talkin'. Looks awesome.

[Blue Ensign]

Nicely done Jason, I agree with Pat, it looks good to my eye, leave well alone now. 

 

B.E.

[egkb]

Nice one Mate .. and as soon as I saw it I thought pretty much as Pat above did  .. 'Perfect, now walk away from it   '

 

All the Best

 

Eamonn

[cog]

Although they miss a bit of the body the DIANA letters have, it looks rather fitting

 

Cheers

[mtaylor]

Put the paint brush away and step away from the paint bottle.  I''m in agreement with everyone else.  Looks good, Jason.  

[Beef Wellington]

Thanks for the comments and likes everyone.

 

I did step away from the paintbrush.  Lot of work and a little progress.  The upper counter has been glued in place and trim added to the bottom of the lower counter.  These were once again pre-shaped and as it was can be a handful.  They highlight a few errors in the hull shape but shouldn't be noticeable to most (I hope).  Now the work on the side galleries can continues in earnest.  The main pieces had already been made up and just required a little fettling for now.  The lights are all in temporarily as I find they do alter the perception of the surfaces.

 

 

Following a similar approach to that laid out in the instructions, the lower counters were made up from laminating some spare 3mm pear, there's nothing wrong with the kit supplied mahogany parts its just that I messed up the first time and there wasn't enough spare, something for others to consider.  None of these items are glued in position yet.

 

The lower gallery piece was made up first, these were given a slight concave curve to avoid them appearing to sag, may need to do a little more here but I'm leaving alone for now.  The drop is proving the most challenging because its so fiddly and needs to follow the lines of the lower counter - this is still work in progress and have a few mistakes already behind me.  The upper finishing was cut from a 5mm pear which matched the ATOS profile dimensions best (the kit calls for 2x3mm laminated pieces) - this piece was a practice to get a sense for the suggested shape and will need more work.

 

Overall, everything seems to be fitting together as planned - although looking at the close up photos the camera is definitely not being my friend.  The bottom of the gallery should be parallel to the wale, also match the angle of the stern fascia...which needs to match the angle of the rearmost false light.

So now things are now being positioned, the first non-fixable alignment issue becomes apparent!  Looking at the AOTS profile, the bottom of the lower gallery should meet the top of the wale.  The bottom of the trim will sit at the top of the lower gallery - so this is out by 3mm.  Not much, it just means that the top of the drop will straddle the wale, and I'm not overly concerned as it seems looking at many other profiles that this positioning can be above or below the wale.  As for the reason for those also building the kit, there are probably many contributing factors - and I'm sure its a cumulative effect from positioning of the stern fascia where I estimated it needed to go, the wale could also be slightly out of position, the kit sheer of the deck could be different and the bottom of the counter way back when framing could also have been out.  Interestingly, had I used the 3mm strip above the wale for the black strake, and had this been painted black, this would have met exactly - but that I suspect would have been a lucky coincidence.

 

Bottom line, could be a lot worse, and I'm happy for now   Onwards!

[Mirabell61]

Jason,

beautiful work on the head rails (your post #376) and the ornamentation astern  ...

 

Nils

[BANYAN]

Nice progress Jason, she is looking good; some nice detail on the stern.  That cumulative factor can bite eventually, but I think what you have achieved is very good and as you point out, should not be a great problem for the gallery moulding.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Beef Wellington]

1 hour ago, BANYAN said:

Nice progress Jason, she is looking good; some nice detail on the stern.  That cumulative factor can bite eventually, but I think what you have achieved is very good and as you point out, should not be a great problem for the gallery moulding.

 

cheers

 

Pat

Pat - The more I think it through the less I'm thinking of creeping error.  The line and height of the gunports is pretty much set by the sheer of the deck, and it would look odd to move the wale up 3mm as it would be wider at this point because the bottom of the wale can go no higher than the bottom of the lower counter.  The only proactive solution would have been to adjust the height of the lower counter which would then have resulted in other proportional issues...Bottom line, the kit parts do not match the true shape of the plans, but don't think the differences are unreasonable and I don't think impact the look of the model - unless you are really looking.  Similarly, the aft gun port is a little too far forward even in its rearmost possible position, another difference of probably 2-3 mm which again doesn't impact the overall feel.

 

If I've learned one thing, its that this can be a tricky little kit!

[Barbossa]

Hi Jason,

Alignment & Position of quarterdeckgalleries is bit of an issue as most of the Diana builds I "Googled" ( + mine included)  encountered the same problem : 

The lack of space to fix an ornament rail upon the roof of the Q'deckgallery.

As the drawing indicates : the bottom of the window closest to the aftermost gunport should follow more or less the same alignment and this is just impossible to achieve without jeopardising the position of the stern windows.

The pics speak for themselves : you made a fantastic job while tackling this issue, translated in scoccer terms : "Jason 1 - Quarterdeckissue 0" 

[Gahm]

Beautiful work, Jason!

 

Thomas

[Landlubber Mike]

Wow Jason, amazing work!  Did you paint those letters free-hand, or with a stencil or some other way?  They really look perfect.

[Beef Wellington]

Cheers guys.

 

@Christian - I think the stern and side galleries are the right of passage on this build.  Hopefully have an update soon.

 

@Mike - It wasn't very scientific.  I created a template from one of the prints I thought had the best fit, and made pin pricks at the extremities of the letters to get a rough layout using a dry brush  and brown paint.  I couldn't get chalk to work consistently.  After a coat of wipe on poly on the blue to protect it, the letters were gradually outlined with diluted paint and the smallest brush I had.  Starting off with a darker brown, then yellow ochre and finally ivory highlights in very small amounts.  The ochre had many dilute layers.  It's pretty easy to cut in with blue if mistakes, resizing or realignments are necessary.  I tried not to over think it and it just let it appear.

[Beef Wellington]

So will be off on the family holiday for a few weeks this weekend so needing to step away.  Here's where things stand, not wanting to jump into anything else as I know I'll be rushing, so "down tools" it is.  The quarter gallery berthings are both now glued and the edge with the upper counter tidied up, everything else is dry fitted.  The lower finishing proved to be quite the interesting pieces to make.  The profile is very clear from the stern and side elevation, so combining that with the curve of the quarter gallery berthing and the straddle over the wale edge meant plenty of shaping, and checking to see things looked OK from all angles which was more of a challenge than I would have expected.  Decided to dispense with the kit supplied metal molding for the drop as this didn't seem to match, and anyway seemed easier to take my own approach than fight with that.  Drops still to be made.

 

The provides a PE "X" for each side, which I think is an approximation for some decoration looking at some of the Diana models.   I'm leaning toward painting my own decorations here but will think a bit.

 

Hopefully pictures speak for themselves from the various angles...the macro gods are surely against me as the finish looks more acceptable in person 

 

[cog]

Great work on the stern Jason. Have a great holiday. I'll be waiting ... upon your return

[BANYAN]

Great work Jason; your build is coming together very nicely indeed.  Enjoy your holiday.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Sjors]

All ready back from thr holliday's 😁🙃😝?

 

Nice stern btw...

Enjoy the free time.

 

Sjors

[Beef Wellington]

@Sjors - I had to close the shipyard early to run all the needed errands and finish work to allow me to go on holiday....we leave tomorrow.....early....very early

 

What is a Ketelbinkie?  - Kettle blanket?

[Kevin]

Lovely work, just caught up on your log

 

Hope you are having a great holiday

[cog]

Jason,

 

A "ketelbinkie" is a ship's boy, used for all kind of odd jobs, aged between 12 and 17 (probably younger too). It seems Sjors has miraculously found the fountain of youth ...

 

Cheers mate, enjoy the trip to your holiday's destination, and have fun, and relax

[Beef Wellington]

Hi all, trying to get the shipyard going again.  Decided to put some additional paint friezes on the lower finishing pieces which are all now glued in place and touched up.  Tried to make these a bit subdued, and mirrored a design appearing in one of the moldings at the stem.

 

Also made up what I think is technically the 'drop' proper, or alternatively the "round thing" which I'd been pondering for a while after committing to not to use the kit white metal parts.  The technique devised proved to be pretty easy to execute by simply gluing some 2mm think spare stock onto the end of some 4mm dowel. Using that as a guide to shape to be round and domed - these were then soaked in rubbing alcohol to separate again.  I'm waiting to glue these on as I suspect they will be too easy to knock off with the other work remaining to do at the stern.

 

Next up, I think I'm in a position to start getting some trim on and find out if there are any issues with the placement of the painted letters...

 

Edited August 21, 2017 by Beef Wellington

[BANYAN]

Geez I would like to see that model in real life, it looks great by camera so to the eye it would be stunning.  

 

Nicely done Jason

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Dfell]

Agree with BANYAN - stunning work. So clean and tidy - beautiful to look at.

 

Doug

 

[cog]

Not just a model builder, but a painter too. Very nicely done Jason. I would have to agree with Bayan's post. It will most certainly be worthwhile to see it in the "flesh"

 

Cheers