Issue 141 - Contains wooden strips, grating strips, cannon balls, laser-cut beams, port linings and knees, die-cast pump parts & dowel., and has instructions for fitting the middle deck support beams, fitting the support columns and roller fairleads, making & fitting the shot garlands, and making & fitting the middel deck gratings.

Fitting the middle deck support beams - The deck suuport beams for the middle deck were provided in Issue 139.

I started by sealing the lower half of the model with masking tape to prevent the ingress of dust.

Try the deck support beams in place between the supporting brackets on the ribs. They should just drop in place without being forced. If necessary, shorten them to fit as explained in detail in Issue 135, page 11, Step 1. (Ensure that you shorten both ends by the same amount).

Remove the laser ash from the beams then paint the sides and bottoms of all the beams white.

Glue the beams between the supports on ribs 2, 3, 7 and 8.

Glue the two fore-and-aft beams to the notches in the beams. Take care to get them the right way round, so that the notches for the two short centre beams align with the deck supports on the ribs.

Glue the two short centre beams in place between the ribs and the fore-and-aft beams. You will need to trim the end joints if you shortened the main beams.

Fitting the support columns and roller fairleads - You will need the 4x5mm wood strip and both laser-cut fairleads from Issue 140.

Cut two 35mm lengths from the 4x5mm wood. Slide each one in turn down the corners between beam 3 and the fore-and-aft beam in the positions shown. Mark and cut notches in the ends so that the columns fit over the corner of the grating and the corner of the raised deck on which the pump heads are mounted. Ensure that the beams are vertical.

Mark the tops of the columns flush with the tops of the support beams. Cut them to length with a razor saw. Then stain the columns walnut and glue the columns in place.

Repeat the steps to make two more columns and fit them to the rear of the model, positioning them against the beams as shown.

Take both laser-cut roller fairleads and trim the tops until they fit snugly under the deck beam, against the sides of the columns at the rear of the model.

Stain the fairleads walnut, then glue them in place against the support columns.

Making the shot garlands - Make shot garlands from the 1.5x3mm wood strip and steel balls provided with Issue 136.

Take the 1.5x3mm wood and cut a length to fit between the support column and the edge of the deck of the aft cut-out.
Drill 1.5mm or 1.6mm holes, 3mm apart, spacing them evenly from each end of the strip, then stain the shot garland dark oak.

Glue the garland in place and repeat for the other side. Then glue steel balls in each of the holes using a transparent glue. Model aircraft canopy glue is ideal.

Repeat to make slightly longer shot garlands to fit each side of the forward grating, this time with 6 holes.

Making and fitting the middle deck gratings - You will need the grating strips and the 2x3mm wood strips provided with Issue 140 and this issue.
Make two gratings, one using 9x5 strips and the other 9x3 strips. Sand them to a size of 31x17mm and 31x11mm respectively. (Refer to Issue 132 for more details.)

Construct frames around each of the gratings using 2x3mm wood strips. Stain the frames dark oak, leaving the gratings natural.

Mark pencil lines on the front and rear deck beams, positioning the marks centrally, 31mm apart (they should be 5mm from the fore-and-aft beams).
Carefully cut away the centre section of each beam with a razor saw, taking care not to nick any adjacent areas. Then touch up all the bare ends of the beams with a little white paint.

Glue the larger frame to the front of the model and glue the smaller frame to the rear of the model.

That's it for this stage, carefully store the remaining parts.

Issue 142 - Contains assorted wooden strips, brass rod & wire, thread and cotton fabric., and has instructuions for making hammocks, lining the entry ports, making the gunners' tools & tool brackets, and finishing the mast.
You have the option of fitting either the hammocks or the gunners’ tools, depending on whether you are building a ‘day’ or ‘night’ version of model.

Issue 143 - Contains wooden strips, grating strips, canonballs, buckets & barrels., and has instructions for planking the bulwarks, lining the entry ports, finishing the bulwark, fitting the knees and adding the buckets & barrels.

Issue 143 - Contains wooden strips, grating strips, canonballs, buckets & barrels., and has instructions for planking the bulwarks, lining the entry ports, finishing the bulwark, fitting the knees and adding the buckets & barrels.

Note: The magazine steps feature only one side of the model, repeat the instructions for the other side.

Planking the bulwarks - Planking was provided in Issue 140.

Check that the tops of the joints between the deck support beams and the frames are smooth. Shave them if necessary.

Using the 1.5 x 5mm strip, cut a length slightly longer than the model and glue it to the frames, with the bottom resting on the deck support beams.
Continue planking the bulwarks leaving the entry port clear, with a small overlap that will be sanded later.

You will need to trim the last plank to fit under the deck beam supports. (You may find it easier to use left-over 1.5 x 4mm planks from an earlier issue, depending on the size of the gap). Allow the glue to dry completely before continuing.
Use a sharp blade to trim the ends of the planks back until they are € ush with the sides of the frames. Trim the bottom plank until it is €flush with the tops of frames 5 and 6. Finish o„ff with a sanding stick or emery board.
Sand the bulwarks smooth or if you prefer, you can leave a slight unevenness for a more rustic appearance.

Lining the entry ports - Parts to finish the entry ports were supplied with Issue 141. You may also want to refer to the port template with Issue 133. Repeat for the other entry port.

Make the port linins as described, then glue the lining's into place.

Sand the edges of the linings € flush with the planking on both the inside and outside of the hull.

Sand the ends of the bulwark planking € flush with the frames.

Repeat for the other entry port.

Finshing the bulwark - To  fit the uppermost bulwark plank, use the method that you used before. Cut a piece of 1 x 6mm plank slightly over length, then cut 4 x 4mm slots for frames 2, 3, 5, 7 and 8. Glue this in place so it fits around the deck supports. Sand the ends € flush with the planking when the glue is dry.
Protect the lower gun deck by placing a couple of strips of masking tape over the support beams. Then paint the bulwarks white.

Stain the entry port linings with a walnut wood stain.

Fitting the knees - The laser-cut parts you need were provided with Issue 141. You will need to mirror the instructions on the other side of the model.

Cut 1 x 6mm notches in the corners of the longer knees, and 1 x 2mm notches in the shorter knees. You may need to adjust these dimensions slightly so that the knees fit neatly over the notched plank fitted earlier.
Then paint the knees white, Then glue one of the longer knees just forward of the entry port, adjacent to frame 5. Make sure that the top is €flush with the tops of the deck supports.

Glue the shorter knees under frames 2, 3 and 7. Frame 8 does not have a knee fitted.

Adding the buckets and barrels - These parts, provided with this issue, and are dispersed around the gun deck – one bucket and two barrels for each gun. The steps show them on the ‘day’ side, but you can place them where you wish.

Finish the buckets as shown in Issue 137 page 11. The barrels are finished in the same way, but without handles.

Glue a bucket and two barrels to the deck near each gun or you chosen position.

That's it for this stage, carefully store the remaining parts.

Issue 144 - Contains dowel, two 12-pounder gun kits, mast collars, chainwales and threads., and has instructions for fitting the hammocks, hanging the mess tables, fitting the second elm tree pump, fitting the mast and collars, fitting the gunners' tools and planking the middle gun deck.

Issue 145 - Contains two 12-pounder gun kits, thread, eyebolts, blocks and upper gun port inner reinforcement lings., and has instructions for planking the bulwarks, fitting the mast collars, fitting the mess tables, fitting the deck beams & knee irons, fitting the support pillars, bitts and gratings.

Planking the bulwarks - The instructions describe only one side, so mirror them on the other side of the model. The laser-cut linings are supplied in this issue, and the planks were supplied with Issue 142, you will also need the port templates provided in 133.

Take one of the lining sections and glue it beside the port, about 1mm to the rear of frame 4 (ensure that the lining is correctly oriented so that its curvature follows the curvature of the hull side). As before, make sure it is the right way up, remove any excess glue from the back of the hull planks and make sure that the lining is flush with the other frames.
Fit another lining piece 13.5mm from the front of frame 2. Then fit a third lining section 26mm from the rear of the model, and fit the last lining piece 13mm from the rear of the model.

Mirror on the opposite side of the hull.

Use the gun port template to mark out the upper gun ports as shown in the instructions in Issue 133. Then trim and sand the gun port opening to size.

Plank the inside of the bulwark with 1.5x5mm planks. Start by fitting two full-width planks, chamfering the first one to fit above the deck support beams.

Fit another two rows of planks, leaving gaps at the gun ports, with a little excess wood for final trimming.

Fit two full-width planks to complete the bulwark. The top one will need trimming to fit under the quarterdeck supports. Cut five 4 x 4mm slots in a 1 x 6mm strip of wood so it will fit around frames 2, 4, 6, 7 and 8. Glue this strip in position and allow the glue to dry overnight before continuing.

Trim the inner port planking to size then sand the ends of the planks flush with the frames. Then line the gun ports with 1x10mm planks using the technique described in Issue 135.

Fitting the mast collars - Trim the opening in the middle gun deck by fitting collars around the mast as you did on the lower deck.
Use the six sections of mast collar supplied in Issue 143, marked ‘middle deck’. Stain them walnut. Fit them around the mast using a similar technique to that described in Issue 144, page 12, Steps 4-6.

Fitting the mess tables - If you are showing the mess tables rigged, you will need to fit supports to the middle deck bulwarks.
Drilling the holes is simpler than on the deck below (see Issue 139, page 10) as there are no guns to rig.

Take some spare 1x10mm strip, or a strip of card 10mm wide. Make two marks, 6mm apart, and use the strip on edge to mark holes for the eyebolts. One should be in the centre of the knee, and the other should be closer to the entry port.
Use a compass point or similar sharp implement to make a pilot hole, then drill the holes with a 0.7mm drill bit.
Take eight eyebolts from Issue 139. Paint them black and glue them into the holes with the eyes horizontal and in line.
Make two tables and four benches for each side of the model, as explained in Issue 140, but make them 45mm long. Use the 1x3mm and 1x5mm strips supplied in Issues 142 and 143, and the 2x3mm strips from Issues 140 and 141.

Fit the tables over the eyes fitted in Step 4 but don’t glue them yet. Glue benches on both sides of the tables, using superglue to secure them. You may then prefer to remove the mess tables to prevent them falling out or being damaged.

Fitting the beams and knee irons - Laser-cut beams for the upper deck were supplied with Issue 141.

Try the deck beams in place. Trim if necessary so that they drop in place without having to apply any pressure. (Issue 135 gives more details.)

Then paint the sides and bottoms of the beams white.

Glue the four full beams to the brackets on frames 2, 4, 7 and 8. Take one of the fore-and-aft beams and cut a 4.5mm wide vertical slot to clear the elm tree pump, using Step 5 to check the right position. As the slot is about 3.5mm deep, the beam will be held together by only one layer of the ply. Don’t worry if it breaks – just glue the two halves individually in Step 5. The break will be hidden by the upper deck planking.

Glue both fore-and-aft beams in place. Ensure that the slot for the elm tree pump is over the lower section of the pump.
Glue the last two half beams in place.

Take two of the obtuse-angled knee irons (supplied with Issues 133 and 137 and painted in 137) and fold the end tabs up at 90 degrees. (There are left- and right-handed irons for the front and back of the beams. Do not mix them up).
Glue the irons to frames 3 and 7.

Take another knee iron, fold the tab up, then trim the long upper arm back to just beyond the diagonal brace as shown. Glue this iron to the taller knee fitted beside the entry port.

Take three of the opposite-handed irons, fold the tabs up and glue them to frames 2, 4 and 7. Then repeat Steps 7-11 on the other side of the model. (Knee irons will be fitted to the exposed face of frame 2 later on in the build sequence.)

Fitting the support pillars - The middle deck has four centre pillars, the forward two of which have a cross rail to form a set of bitts.

Take the 4x5mm strip from Issue 141. Hold it against the middle deck and draw a line level with the bottom of the upper deck support beam.
Cut the strip and repeat this to make four support pillars (two for the front of the model and two for the aft end), noting that they may be slightly different lengths. Stain them walnut, (mark the ends with an F or an A so you don’t get them mixed up).

Glue two pillars flush with the end of the raised centre section of the deck. Make sure they are vertical.
Repeat this with the other two pillars at the rear of the model.

Creating the bitts - Cut a 2x3mm strip (provided with Issue 140 or 141) 50mm long. Place the strip against the forward support pillars and mark the positions of the pillars in pencil.
Cut notches 1.5mm deep, trying the strip in place to make sure that it fits easily around the columns.
Stain the strip walnut and let it dry. Then glue it in place with the notches fitting across the rear face of the forward columns, 8mm above the raised centre section of the deck.

Cut a 35mm strip of 4x5mm wood, then glue it behind the second forward beam, with the 5mm face on top. Its top must be flush with the beams, as it will support the deck later on.

Gratings - Construct two gratings as in Issue 141, page 13, Steps 1 to 3.

Place the larger grating on the front deck beam, and mark the beam 2mm in from the edges of the grating.

Cut away the centre of the beam using a razor saw. Repeat Steps 11-12 for the smaller grating on the rear beam.
Touch in the ends of the beams with white paint. Also paint the rear and underside of the 4x5mm strip added to the inside of the 2nd forward beam.

Glue both gratings to the beams, in positions matching the deck below.

That's it for this stage, carefully store the remaining parts.

Future Issues:

Issue 146 - Contains laser-cut beams, knees, mast collar, elm tree pump extension & wooden strips, and has instructions for fitting the shot garlands & mess table supports, extending the elm tree pump, planking the upper gun deck, fitting the knees and making the 12-pounder guns.