After a quiet summer the second rail is finished, a scratch-built oak capstan stands on the upper deck, and the Diana finally has a decent walnut display stand.
The oak capstan was a botched job; two new versions in walnut after Anatomy of the Ship, of which the third (seven layers, square capstan bar sockets) wins unanimously.
The narrow vertical parts make way for thicker uprights (cleats or chocks, according to Piet), with horizontal wedges 1 mm thick between them.
Grating and ladderway now form a single unit with the capstan, the first six capstan bars have been cut, and on 28 September everything is glued down on the deck.
Two evenings making stanchions: satay skewers turned out to be rubbish wood, thicker round sticks thinned down did work; they stand loose for the model builders' day in Hillegom.
The first stanchions came loose halfway through the day in Hillegom; attempt two is walnut, with the small brass rings from the Caldercraft hooks.
The stanchions are now turned exactly to size, fixed into the deck with pins at the bottom, and after a tip from Hans Groenenberg the rope sags realistically thanks to water and a small weight.
The ring from the kit trimmed into wedges and covered with black cloth as tarred canvas, painted brown on a tip from Koos; Herby63 supplies Victory photos for a second version.
A second mast coat of dyed lining fabric with pleats, replicated from a Victory photo by Herby63; the forum votes 4-1 for the brown version with visible notches.
Despite the forum vote a third version: brown, pleated after the weathered masts of the Victory, with the wedges just visible; the black coat moves to the gun deck.
The smallest mast coat on the quarterdeck is finished, and the first bitts are in primer: built from the leftover material in the kit, after the shape of the bitts on the Victory.
Both sets of bitts stand red on the deck, made from nothing but the leftover material in the kit; the next job is a home-made ship's wheel with ten spokes, for which mahogany has been ordered.
