DCooper

I finished gluing up all 5 pair of half frames. There are spacers between each one, and because of all the end grain butt joints, I elected to use 5 minute epoxy to glue the frame assembly together. I used 6 small machinist's squares to keep the glue up straight and perpendicular. There will be minimal fairing, because most of the spacers fit inside the profile of the frames. I will have to fit the keelson and that will require a little trimming of the notches, but nothing major. The outboard surface will need almost no fairing, since the frames are identical.

Bellona was built in 1760 but didn't get her bottom coppered until 1780. I think I'll use a stylized color scheme: Swiss pear below the wales, rosewood for the wales and rails, boxwood for the outboard planking above the wales (usually painted ochre) and bloodwood for the inner bulwark planking. Deck framing will be European beech wood and the decks, holly/

Thanks Eric and Dan for the replies and kind words.
 
Not much progress to show tonight but what I did do was a nice change. My first attempt at stropping and rigging wooden blocks was a challenge and I hope I succeeded to some degree.
 
First I had to finish my wooden cleat to replace the cast metal one that came with the kit.
 

The one on the right is the metal one supplied in the kit. The one on the left is a plastic one that I had left over from my Daysailer build. The center one is the one I made from walnut.
 
I did not try to take any step by step pictures of the stropping ind rigging work. I was too wrapped up in the process being my first attempt but below are a couple of shots of the finished gun port rigging.
 

That's it for tonight I am off to bed.
 

Thank you for sharing a most wonderful build.  I really like how this kit allows you to have a taste of each kind of construction and still provides a pleasing model.  Your gun carriage is marvellous and justifiably the star of the show.  I wish you sweet sailing to the completion of you build.  
 
Dan

Thank you for sharing a most wonderful build.  I really like how this kit allows you to have a taste of each kind of construction and still provides a pleasing model.  Your gun carriage is marvellous and justifiably the star of the show.  I wish you sweet sailing to the completion of you build.  
 
Dan

MSW might not have been working last night but I was hard at it. Had my first experience using Brass black and it went pretty well I think. First I needed a few small washers for the cross bolts.
 

I am sure I could have bought these somewhere but where is the fun in that. I also needed a couple of smaller eye bolts that were not included in the kit so I made them from small brass nails as you can see below and I spent quite a bit of time cutting 75 or so of the same nails to the correct length prior to blackening. I took this picture after I started installing some of the hardware there was quite a bit more.
 

This is only about half of the hardware done in the first batch. I must say I was quite impressed, that Brass Black work great and very fast. Still not happy with the BB cannon balls I think I will try the gun bluing next.
 
And here is the carriage semi outfitted. Just the capsquares yet to be made and blackened along withe the barrel and that should complete the gun and carriage.
Still debating on the bucket I am thinking I will have to try to make one.
 
That is it for now I hope to find a couple of hours tomorrow to work on it some more.
 
Thanks for all the likes. Hope everyones shopping is all done unlike mine.
 

Did not have as much time over the holiday weekend to work on anything model related as I had hoped. But since this week is nortoriously slow at work I took some tools and wire to the office and made some rigging hooks. I took the pictures after I got home.
 

 
Shown with the block they will be used with. I made 12 and only need 6 so I should be able to find enough decent ones in there.
 

 
And here they are after 30-45 seconds in full strength Birchwood Casey Perma Blue.
 

 
Same thing for the BB Cannonballs.
 
Then I finally got to attaching some hardware to my bulwarks.
 

First up were the tool hooks. After reading some of the build logs for these kits this part scared me the most. It seems like a lot of people had trouble with it. Here is how I did it just in case it helps anyone planning on doing this. First I found some wood scraps that elevated the bracket to the correct height. Then I measured down from the cap rail to the position I thought looked good and made a small tic mark on the frame. Next I applied a small drop of medium CA to the bracket between the nail holes and set it on the wood block and aligned with the tic mark and held it in place for 30 seconds. After removing the wood blocks I carefully drilled the bottom hole Using a #73 bit and inserted a nail that I already had cut to about 1/4" with a drop of CA and pressed it into the hole. Lather, rinse, repeat for the top hole. Be sure to angle the drill slightly downward.
 

 

 
And the nail also when pressing it in. Even taking as much care as I could I had 2 nails that somehow got away from me and raised a pimple on the frame but after removing them and trying again they went where they were supposed to with no harm done.
 

 
Then I glued on some of my newly blackened Cannonballs. And got to work on the Gun Port Lid.
 

 
This was pretty straight forward. I attached the brackets on the lid using a small drop of CA then once that was dry applying the nails and rings just like I did for the tool brackets one at a time. Then I glued the pin into the upper bracket. Once it was dry I inserted it into the hole in the lower bracket. Holding the door in position I folded the upper bracket down and applied a drop of CA to the back side then flipped it up into position and held it until dry, about 30 seconds or so. Installing the nails the same way again.
 
I am only using the short length of chain on the door itself I will be using rigging line to complete the rigging from this point.
 
Getting close to the end now. I did manage to make the cap squares over the weekend but they still need some finishing. Maybe tomorrow that's it for tonight.
 
Thanks again for all the likes.
 

I can't believe it has been 3 months since I was able to update a post. I finished the manger and hawse  build today. I painted a little mud in the manger but I don't know if it shows up on the pics. I am going to glue the transom and aft section of the spar deck next and insure it is light sealed so the lanterns will not bleed through. It's not much but any progress is better than none.
 
Dave

Completed planking. Several rounds of sanding concluded with 400 grit sandpaper and Wipe on Poly. I do like the look of the maple when finished. 
 
I am disappointed with the outcome of the repairs and this planking result. I think there were several mistakes leading to this such as impatience, oversanding, and not properly fairing the hull at the bow, 
 
The Pinnace is much more difficult to plank than the Longboat. I think the length and shape of the hull make it difficult to plank. There are several twists and turns as a result. 
 
So the question we must ask is this: do we redo? If I was building this as one of the boats for my Confederacy, I would redo. However, after three months of planking this, I will move forward. To get the planking to the level I want would force me to start the entire planking over. 
 
I'm looking forward to the more fun parts of this project. 
Steve

Took a long time to decide on a first build, finally picked the 18th Century Longboat from Model Shipway. Spent the first day sanding the burnt sections off the pieces, assembling the Keel and creating the bevel from the bearding line. I also followed BobF's direction to mount my ship with brass rods. 
 

 

Love to see any progress on this! 
Tim

Greetings!  Well, after a year of fretting over the planking, I guess it is time to bring the ECB back to the table, grit my teeth, and plunge into finishing the hull.
 
Here, then, are some images of the current status.  Wish me luck!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A small diversion to play with the boat equipment.
The Grapnel
The grapnel as provided by the kit seems to have been rigged without the benefit of a ring, the line secured directly thro' the eye in the shank where the ring should be.

A grapnel as illustrated by Steel shows a ring fitted thro' the eye.
Steel gives a grapnel rope circ for ships boats as 3" - 3½" which equates to around 1mm diameter line at scale.

0946
This alone would not be possible without a ring, particularly as the classic hitch for small anchors is a Fisherman's Bend where the line passes twice thro' the ring.
 He also gives 35 fathoms as the length of the grapnel rope. which scales to 2667mm. This is 8.75ft at scale, where would all that fit in the boat!

0967(2)
I satisfied myself with a rope length of around 30' - 300mm which I figured would be long enough for what is essentially a harbour boat.
Boat Hook
This is shown on the plan but the makings are not included with the kit.
 

0950
Not too difficult an item to reproduce, I use a soft white metal strip (the arm from one of Mrs W's hair clips, cut and shaped with files, and inserted into a length of thin Walnut dowel.

0948

0964

0956
The Thole pins and chocks are also shown on these shots. Nothing much to say about the tholes except they are fiddly little things to make, parts very small, fingers too big.
I changed the style slightly from the plans, and left them unpainted as a contrast to the predominantly red  scheme.

0961
Just the Splashguards left to do now.
 
B.E.

Splashguards
I toyed with the idea of making replacements out of Boxwood, but on reflection  I think the kit provided items are just fine, particularly as they are painted.
I did some preparatory painting before gluing the two elements together, the panel faces, and inner moulding edges. The guards were then sanded down to around 0.9mm in thickness.
Before fitting, the seat back needed some very careful paring back using a scalpel and light sanding. I also needed to shape down the backrest top to fall just below the splashguard top edges.
This all needs to be done with soft hands and by fine degrees, any slips at this point could prove problematic in restoration.
The guards require the water /heat treatment to impart some curve to follow the line of the rail. This is another exercise that requires some care.
It was good to have a spare unit in the kit as I did break one.
I was a little concerned that the water would weaken the pva, but immersion was only for a few seconds before  pegging around a jar top to apply the heat.
On my Pinnace at least, two curves were required, a short one where the guard passed around the seat back, and a more gentle curve forward.

0968
Forming the aft curve.

0970
and the forward curve.
Getting the curve right is necessary for the guard to sit on the rail without tension, otherwise gluing it will be a difficult task.
 

0974
Once I was happy with the fit I painted the exterior face of the guard.

0975
To get a good grip it was necessary to scrape a paint free line along the top of the rail. This was carefully done with a scalpel point.

0981
The actual fitting of the guards was problem free with quick grab using full strength pva. The inside faces of the guards were painted once in place.

0982

0983

0984
So the Pinnace is effectively finished, some fettlin' to do, and a base to make which I don't think will take too long.
 
B.E.
 
 
 
 

It's not plywood. It's an MDF board. I'm glad I'm not planning to make this swimable - The ship is ridiculously heavy already at this point.
 
Scharnhorst Issue 10


Photo etch is added to the second 28cm gun turret and the barrels are test fitted

Both 28cm guns done so far side by side

Being mesmerized by your 1:200 Scharnhorst part works kit (which I cannot buy in the USA), I am looking closely at buying the 1:200 Scharnhorst card model along with all the extras. It's probably way over my head as a card model, but I am bitten by the desire for one.

I wholeheartedly encourage taking on projects one thinks of as way over one's head. It's what I've been doing for years now and it's worked out pretty well so far.

 

Back to your regularly scheduled Scharnhorst update, with issue 8 I have now extended the build to the full length of the hull. Now do be careful, if this thing eventually goes on sale internationally (at least in Europe) and you decide to build one yourself, do yourself the favor of waiting for issue 9 and fit the side beams at the same time.
 

As you can see in the picture above "officially" the entire stern segment is only kept in line through two little tabs on the middle frame. No side beams are present. This a the perfect recipe to make a banana. Wait for issue 9, then fit everything together at the same time. You'll be much happier. I've just left them off in the picture for demonstration purposes.

Issue 9
 
 

 
The last side beams arrive and are added to the hull structure (As mentioned I already did that together with issue 8 to be sure everything sits ok)
 
I also get to build the base of the second 28mm turret "Bruno". This one differs a bit from "Caesar" which was built in issues 1-3 in that there are 2 small parts added to the upper back (we suspect these are storage containers for tarps). One of the parts came with this issue, the other one is the one you needed to retain from issue 1. 

Progress;
 
Aft riding bit
 

 
Insitu,
 

 
Not much progress for a days work but then I build slowly.  I'm working on the fore bit now and it should go quicker now I know what I'm doing.
 
I've started to paint the copper plating on the hull.  Looks way shiny now but I'll add some washes to tone it down.
 
Thanks for looking in.
 
Dan

Progress;
 

 
Decided to play about with some blocks.  I tried out the 3/32 ones I purchased overseas but they were too small for my fumble fingers and didn't work with the kit line.  Had some time this morning so trekked out to beautiful hobby shop and bought some proper line, some 5mm blocks and brass pins.  The 5mm blocks turned out to be a bit too big but the bigger size allowed me to get a start.  I have chopped approx 1mm off the length of these blocks ( should have bought some 4mm and 3mm blocks to play with...).  The finish here is rough and very naive but I can get in some much needed practice before I have to work in more exposed areas.  Equal parts fun and frustration, but I'm beginning to get some idea of what not to do.  The new better line is a joy to work with but I think I will need to experiment with waxing it as it is a bit fuzzy.  I both line in sizes from 0.1 to 1.5 mm and boy what a difference having the different sizes to work with makes.  I can see that I'll be replacing all of the line from the kit.
 
I'm learning that it is much faster to do batches of parts one step at a time rather than hand finish each part one at a time.
 
The pins may be a touch too big as well but look much better than the moulded ones from the kit.  Learning fast that what I think looks scale isn't necessarily so.
 
texxn5-- Thank you for your encouraging comments.  I'm learning more and more from this forum everyday.  Scary how little knowledge I have of sailing ships.  I very much like to paint and hopefully I won't tart the ship up too much.  Great to see completed kits to get a sense of just how beautiful they can be.
 
Marcus.K--I'm heartened you like my little efforts.  I hope to keep this going in the right direction.  I have had so much help from the folks on this forum already.
 
Thanks to all for dropping in for a look.

I am sure that I am not the only one to be very glad you are well and that you have taken up the Constitution again.  
 
I will take a moment to thank you for all you have done so far with your build.  Your build log has been most educational and informative.  I can tell you that I look forward with much anticipation and interest in just what you come up with next.
 
Thank you for taking the time to share your build with us.
 
Dan

Thanks Dave I took you advise and had a go tonight at replacing the windows with some 2.5mm thick clear plastic.
 

 
I had to do each window a few times to get them to fit as well as they do.  I think I could have done this better if I had tackled it before joining the hull halves as it is hard to get to the back side of the windows now.
 
The bars are just painted on but look okay in this scale.  I'll have to see how well they hold up to handling but worst case I just repaint them at the end.
 
Think they look better now and I'm not going to keep beating myself up about them.  Model building is supposed to be fun, not drudgery
 
Thanks for looking in.
 
DAn 

Progress; (Sort of...)
 
 

 
You know when you keep trying to get a certain look to something and it just doesn't work out no matter what you try?  Well that's what's happening with me and these darn rear windows.  I've tried a bunch of different ideas and in desperation I thought I would just paint the inside of my frosty Micro Crystal Clear hatchet job and be done with it.
 
It looks like kack.  I am contemplating my next move which is to rip this all out and use some clear plastic from a CD case and some tiny Evergreen styrene strips to make clear replacement windows.  Sigh, such is modelling.
 
On a happier note I have been going around the hull and painting bits with some success.
 

 
Some work done on some more cannon and bits and bobs but nothing too much as the windows are giving me fits right now.
 
Dave, Daniel and Texxn-- Thanks for the support and encouragement. There are times I want to just smack the hull with a large hammer.
 
Evan-- Thanks for the research and photos you have been providing.  They have been invaluable in getting a handle on what I would like to build.  I'm trying to make something pleasing to the eye and accurate to 1812.  I'm pleased you think my work is a long the right path.
 
Thanks for stopping by for a look.
 
Dan 

Progress;
 

 
Not having the funds for overseas shipping of the Bluejacket photo etch sheet I thought I'd break out the styrene and have a bash.  Not all that accurate but once painted very dark grey and shaded it will at least give a presence of the stove being there.  The flue has been left long so that I can cut it down to fit the upper deck.
 
I have the Marquardt book of plans so I'm thinking of putting in the riding bits as I think you could see them through the gun ports.  I'll slap on some paint tonight and see if I have any hefty sized styrene for the bits.
 
Thanks for looking in.
 
Dan
 
Added some paint.
 

Progress;
 

 
Painting the hull goes on apace but I've started to mess about with the cannon.  Feeling my way through and learning as I go.  If I ever get this ship finished the next will be way easier.  I'm pretty sure none of this will be seen on the finished model but at least if I stuff up now it won't show too badly.  
I've cobbled together a little work station to seize the ends of the breaching line.  
 

 
I have elected to go with two pieces so I can thread it through the loops on the side of the carriages.  I think the next ones I do will join below the end of the canon to better hide the joint.  All the eyelets are cut down fish hooks which are nice and bronze coloured so blend in better.
 
Maso-- Glad you like the cradle but I did it that way because I had those bits to hand.  I use something similar with my large scale planes.  I wish I could figure out some way of clamping the hull to the cradle at times.  At least the kit isn't just sitting on the bench top.
 
lambsbk-- I hear you.  My 'best friend' a big tomcat named Smudge is banded because he likes to 'help' too much and is no respecter of the no cats ON the workbench policy.
 
Thanks for looking in.
 
Dan

I started this kit last year to rekindle the fun I had as a young teen building this kit in the mid 70's.  I usually build 1/32 scale aircraft and 1/6th figures and I apologise ahead of time for any howling mistakes I make with history or nautical practice.  I have been inspired by the many great builds on this forum.  Much of what I have done I have shamelessly borrowed from others here and for that I thank you all.
 
The build so far, State of play;
 

 
 
Not much to look at but a bit done to get this far.
 
I wanted to thicken the hull sides so used what I had read in Force9's log to add styrene to the inner hull.  While I'm at it I have added some styrene rod bolts  as well.  There should be many more but I had to trade off accuracy for sanity.
 

 
 
The gun deck was joined and re-scribed as per Force9 and I reworked the gratings as on my kit they where a mess.
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
First gunport on the bow was filled and made good.
 

 
 
A start has been made on the main armament.  I'm trying my hand at resin casting the barrels so I don't have to clean all those seams.
 

 
 
( I notice that I have some more details to add to these as I need to add some more eyebolts and a other bits.)
 
This last photo is where I'm working now.  I want to finish the bolts and internal structure on the gun deck so I can install same and get the rest of the hull together.
 
Thanks for stopping in for a look and as always constructive criticism is always appreciated.
 
Dan