HMS Bellerophon 1786 by AON – scale 1:64 – 74 gun 3rd Rate Man of War, Arrogant Class

[WackoWolf]

I will also have my fingers cross for you. I am just starting to get around more since my knee surgery. so I understand how it is to be very limit as to the things we like to do, but as time goes on hopefully get better for all of us. thank you for sharing your work with us. Keep the post and pictures coming no matter how small of an update, a little at a time will get you there at some point in time.

[BANYAN]

Great to see an update Alan, especially noting your ongoing problems with your eyes - best wishes for a full and speedy recovery to full eyesight.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[AON]

I've been away for a few months busy with work around the house, spring yard work, dethatching the lawn (what a delightful time that was).

 

My needles are done and my eyesight seems normal, no need for a magnifying glass to read print anymore.

 

I had been down to the playroom during my absence from the forum but that was for unrelated items except for my reclaiming the rolling base of a broken office chair to make a mobile side table for modelling that you'll see in a photo below.

 

I am back to fitting chocks between frames and those located on the underbelly are easier inserted from above and inside.  To do this comfortably I lowered my modelling lift table and tilted the table top.  This work wonderfully.  I am so delighted I built my modelling table with these options.

 

I have two frames on the go in assembly and they both get thicker in their sided dimension at the gunport.  I've decided to build these as normal and add the thickness to the area needed after... but before glued to the deadwood.  Hope to post this in the next week or two.

[Mirabell61]

Hi Alan,

 

thats a very nice lift and tilting workbench (modeling table)  you have...

 

Nils

[Landrotten Highlander]

neat idea about the tilting top of your worktable - might commendeer that one for myself

[druxey]

Well, good to see you back, up and running, Alan!

[BANYAN]

Great to see you back Alan.  That tilting and lifting workstation/baseboard solution looks like it will be very useful; it was a joy watching your build log for that.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Don9of11]

So how much is she listing? Glad to hear you're doing better, Alan. 

[AON]

good morning Don

that is a mere 20°

it will go to 60°

[cog]

Good to see you back here AON. You are getting real mobile with your "outfit" Looks grand

[AON]

I installed all the chocks, checked my gunport height markings and then cut the gunports out as one side was exposed and I could get a saw blade in there.

I did make a wooden gunport opening template that the outline was traced from.

 

I will have to rethink the way this is done as the assembly is not the strong and wobbles as the saw teeth grab in.

I can see some advantages to building upside down  with the head of the timbers glued to the building board.

 

I buggered my next frame that would be installed and will have to remake it to move forward.

[druxey]

It's a conundrum: either you cut the port openings as you go on a somewhat unstable framework or complete framing first, install longitudinals and then have a solid hull to cut into. Of corse, it's with tighter elbow room! A third alternative is assemble all the frames temporarily, mark the line of ports, then disassemble to do the cutting before permanently re-assembling.

[dvm27]

There is no ideal way to do this Allan. It's easier to cut the sill mortises off the model but then re-raising the frame creates problems. In the end I find that the sill mortises are so shallow that, after fairing, they're virtually invisible. Any small gaps disappear by adding some glue into the space and sanding.

 

Love the height transferring device. Is it self-made?

[AON]

I will try cutting the next one off the model.

 

The transfer device was purchased in 2011 from Elite Tools (about $20).  It is a flat lying trammel set that attaches to any rule or square.

My drawing is on the wall so I tacked an old wooden yard stick at zero elevation and set it on that.

[AON]

Some bad news yesterday at my eye checkup.

Apparently my eye problem is "re-occurring"... yes it is back.

I will possibly need regular injects forever.  On average the time frame is 5 years.  Some "seal up" permanently quicker than average.

Only time will tell.

Next injection is on the 20th of this month.

[cog]

No like for the last post, sorry to hear about the recent setback. Hope it will not deteriorate faster.

[druxey]

Well, that's a drag. Sorry to hear about that, Alan. Hopefully it will not derail your life (or model-making!) too much.

[AON]

The summer sun might be more of a distraction but there will definitely be periods where I cannot venture into the bowels of my dwelling to spend time in the play room as I will need to avoid dusty environments.

 

Getting old is a bummer.

[cog]

Allan,

It's not so much "Getting old is a bummer." , getting older is worse enough. Take care, mabe a shop vacuum wil lbe a nice addition to the shop ...?

[AON]

Summer is over and time to get back to my build.  I had added a few more frames but I had a number of issues...

 

1. My top deadwood piece was forgotten and when I put it on I hadn't made it to the chiselled out thickness so I've been notching my frames to fit... I compromised.

2. My stem/stern posts were not held snuggly and as I added frames the assembly shifted.  I added felt pads to snug things up last week and noticed my frames were outboard of proper alignment by as much as 3/16 inches = 12" to scale... both sides!

3. I've been assembling my frames on a pane of glass with my template below and last week someone mentioned distortion though the glass.

 

I've torn all frames out back to the transom and I've removed two braces below the transom pieces.

I've chiselled the top deadwood to proper thickness.

The posts are held snuggly.

I've installed all braces and will be starting over making new frames.

I've retired the glass pane and will try slipping my template into one of those transparent plastic page protectors and build on top of that.

 

I'll post again when I get back to where I was.

Hope everyone this side of the line had a wonderful summer and got outside.

Edited September 25, 2017 by AON

[cog]

Good to see you at your build again Allan.

" I compromised" doesn't sound like you ... but sometimes it's the best alternative ... take care

[druxey]

Oh, my! However, I think you've made the right decision, Alan: you would always regret it if you'd left things as they were. I ripped out three sets of cant frames on my first framed build before I was happy with them. No regrets at all!

[AON]

it was easier (mentally) than I thought it was going to be.

[druxey]

BTW: I always assemble my frames directly over the paper patterns. The copies are disposable, and there is no parallax problem through the thickness of glass or other transparent medium. Try it to see if you like it.

[AON]

You are obviously much less messy with your glue application than I.  I am trying to reduce the number of prints I need as I remake pieces over and over and over...

I am getting quite proficient at do overs.

[druxey]

Do you apply glue with a small brush? The frame will stick to the paper sometimes, but it's not a big deal. Any paper remnants sand off easily.

[AON]

I use a small pointed applicator... the left over after the brush on a micro-brush is wasted.  it gives it a new life. (reuse, recycle)

You've seen the E+ sheet size (larger than 24" x 36") hanging in the corner of my room.  I cut the pattern out of it. I do not print a small A or B size sheet (letter or ledger).  It could get expensive if my templates are ruined. At present I have two full sets and have only been using/reusing the one.  The other is untouched.

[druxey]

Can you print out an extra sacrificial sheet?

[AON]

My (large sheet) prints were made commercially.

I could set every individual frame up on an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet.

I will have issues with my printer printing to scale... it seems to have a mind of it's own.

If I add a dimension and put a ruler to it after printed it is rarely what I asked for.

I'd have to play with it.

 

When I had the large sheets printed commercially I added X and Y dimensions on the print of one frame on each so I could double check them and they were all perfect.

[druxey]

Print the frames on another large sheet and cut them up? Avoid the scaling issue of your own printer that way. (Did you check that the printer was set to 100% as opposed to 'size to fit sheet'?)