Head, cathead and rudder

Everything comes together at the bow: the head grating, the seats, the catheads that have to carry the anchor, and the mouldings that run around them. The rudder looks simple but has to run down to the keel line, and the pintles have to be let into the copper so it still turns.

The bowsprit is already in as well, filed to size and fitted before the head went on for good, because I did not want to drill between the mouldings any more. One warning belongs with it: sheet 1 of the kit draws the bowsprit twice, and the lower drawing gives too shallow an angle. Follow that one and the spar will run into the figurehead. The upper drawing and White’s book (F1/8) give the correct, steeper angle. dunnock ran into it on Model Ship World in January 2021, after a remark by Beef Wellington, and DaveBaxt (2023) and Kimosubby (Ships of Scale, 2025) after him. My figurehead is not on yet, so this applies to me too: dry-fit the figure with the bowsprit in place before anything is glued.

Two things that are not on the drawing but are in the log below: the grating needs two slots for the gammoning of the bowsprit (Piet spotted that in time), and the bumkins belong in front of the seats of ease, not across them.

How-tos (4)

5 steps Making one-piece walnut catheads and fixing them firmly
Saw two catheads from 5 mm walnut, fit them through the mouldings and secure them with nails, CA glue and PVA, because glue alone does not hold. 5 steps Making the seats of ease for the head grating
Saw the seats of ease (toilet bowls) for the head grating yourself from 5 mm walnut, because the 4 mm dowel in the manual drops through the hole in the grating, and watch their position relative to the bumkins. 6 steps Cutting a head grating by hand
Mark out all the grating openings first and then cut only with a No. 11 hobby knife blade, because drilling and tidying up gives a ragged grating. 5 steps Extending the rudder to the keel line and setting the pintles into the copper
Glue on a small triangle so the bottom of the rudder runs level with the keel and a whole copper plate fits on it, and glue the pintles to the wood through holes cut in the copper.

Problems you run into here (8)

Problem	Fix
Catheads The five pieces for the catheads mentioned in the manual cannot be found anywhere in the box.	Made them from 5 mm walnut. in the register
Catheads Catheads fixed with glue only did not sit well.	Took them off, drove in three nails, a drop of CA on the nails and fixed with PVA. in the register
Head The kit specifies 4 mm dowel for the seats of ease, but the hole in the grating is well over 5 mm.	Sawed discs of just over 5 mm from 5 mm walnut, drilled a 2.8 mm hole. in the register
Head According to the plan the bumkins run over the seats of ease.	Made a third grating with the holes moved towards the centre. in the register
Head There is a gap between the bow and the head grating.	We did not like it and made a new grating anyway that runs through to the bow (two attempts). For looks, then, not to correct a fault. in the register
Head The bowsprit gammoning has to be able to pass through the grating.	Made two elongated holes in the grating. Pietsan only discovered it on his own build when fitting the bowsprit and then cut a strip out of the grating, with two tiny strips beside it for strength (modelbouwforum, 20 August 2015, https://www.modelbouwforum.nl/threads/hms-diana-engels-fregat-uit-1794.211803/page-32#js-post-3614567); hence his advice to make the holes straight away. in the register
Rudder According to the kit plan the bottom of the rudder slopes upward, so a whole copper plate will not fit on it.	Extended the rudder with a small triangle of the same thickness. in the register
Rudder The pintle pins do not stick to the copper and leave too little room.	Cut holes in the copper the size of the pins. in the register

In the build log

20 October 2019The gap between the bow and the grating
The head is dry fitted, with a gap between the bow and the grating that according to Piet is on the drawing too; he points out the two holes needed for the gammoning of the bowsprit. 9 November 2019Bowsprit and catheads
The bowsprit filed to size and fitted before the head is fixed, and the catheads made from 5 mm walnut because the five planks from the manual are nowhere to be found. 10 November 2019Catheads secured, toilet bowls and the bumkins
The catheads refitted with pins, toilet bowls made from 5 mm walnut, and the problem that according to the drawing the bumkins run across the seats of ease; Herby63 advises a new grating. 17 November 2019Twelve hobby knife blades later
The third head grating, with the seats of ease moved towards the centre, cut out with a No. 11 hobby knife blade after a hopeless attempt with drilled holes; then the question of whether to varnish. 23 November 2019The rudder coppered and extended
While waiting for the head parts I coppered the rudder, set the pintles in their holes and extended the rudder with a small triangle so the bottom edge runs level with the keel.