Chief Williams

Hello again Hamilton, I'm so sorry I've been quiet for a long time, but I went into hospital for a routine procedure, and finished up 6 (?) months later just returning home, and nearly missing a leg.  I could have done my Long John Silver impression really well, but I still have both, although the left one's not working too well.  I'm so impressed with your progress and your craftsmanship I'm afraid to dust off my Bellona in case I make a mess of it.   I'll keep watching your progress with awe.

I've finished roughing out the fillers for the bow as you can see from the attached photo, and I'll finish them when I do the fairing for the rest of the frames.  I've decided against a bearding line, as I don't think the plywood of the keel would take kindly to it.  One disadvantage of Corel's supplying ready cut items is that there aren't any scrap bits to experiment on, or perish the thought, if I broke a part, there's nothing to make a replacement from.
 

 
The festive season's here, and I don't think I'm going to be allowed a lot of time in my workshop until after it's all over, so have a very happy Christmas, and let's hope that the new year is a lot better than the old one.
 
 

I've got the main deck on, and I'm going to put most of the deck furniture and planking on this before I go any further, as it would be too fiddley, if not impossible, to try and do that with all the other decks in place.  I've stuck in a few pictures of my first attempts at hatches.
   
 
the hatches aren't stuck down yet, or even properly sanded for deck camber and finish.  I'm not going to paint the model apart from a few small details, as i think it would be a shame to hide the wood.  Maybe a thin coat of tung oil?
 
The Proxxon's not arrived yet, and my Dremel is playing up, so everything's slowed down at the moment.  It's funny that you don't know how much you rely on a tool until it's not available.

So much for a free week and making more progress.  Who was it said that 'Work expands to fill the time allowed'?  What  with all the things that Mrs Chiefy found for me to do, and the fact that it's 36 C in my workshop by 11:00 I've not got much done.  I live in the southern hemisphere, and the summer is being a beaut.
 
I did manage to get the after frames done though, all glued and trued 
 
 
 
The first shot shows the broken bit of frame 12 quite well.  I've saved it to try and stick on later.  Hopefully there'll be more to follow at weekend.
 
I've just invested in a Proxxon 28481 IBS/E rotary tool.  I've been coveting one for a long time, and my wife had her back turned for a minute, so I bought one.  It's on it's way from Australia, so I might get it by August.  I'd be interested to hear anyone's thoughts on this bit of kit.  I've been using my Dremel 8220 constantly and I'm very pleased with it, but I always thought there could be something better.  I'll let you know how I get on when I get it setup and working, just don't hold your breath.
 
 

Back to Bellona after a break for the holidays.  I've been looking at the chinese puzzle that's the frames/deck assembly and trying to work out the best way of assembling the frames so that I can get the decks in as well, taking into account the lugs that fit the main deck into frame 6, and also the lugs that fit the foc'sle to frame 3.  I think I start with frame 12 and work forward, up to frame 6, but frame 6 has to be fitted with the main deck lugs in place.  After that's all fitted and pinned/glued/elasticed down for the deck camber, then I fit frames 5 and 4, then frame 3, with the foc'sle lugs and deck in place.  pin/glue/elastic the foc'sle down, and bob's your auntie.  For now, though, that's a week or so in the future.  I'm not even thinking about the stern galleries yet.
 
I've been reinforcing the frames using bits of basswood to give me a better purchase when I start planking, and also to give more strength to the deck camber from when I try to pin it down.  Past experience has shown me that 4mm bass ply isn't enough to hold the camber in place. (I think it's bass plywood).
 
 
 

 
I've not started fairing in yet, I'm saving that joy for later.
 
Here's the assemble with the decks fitted.  I borrowed a brilliant idea from Hamilton, and painted the areas under the gratings black to give a bit of depth when the gratings are fitted.  Thank you, sir.
 
 
 

 
I've got a fairly free week, so I hope to be making a lot more progress with this.  As always, and hints tips or criticisms will be gratefully accepted.

Here I am, back after a bout with the bug.  It had all the symptoms of COVID, but the tests kept coming back negative.  I'm about over it now, thank goodness.  I would like this entry to be titled 'What Not To Do When You Aren't Feeling 100%' and the first line of that would be: Don't undertake any planking.
I thought I would be able to get on with the first planking run at least, but as you can see from the attached pictures, I've made a right mess of it.  


 

 
I hold my hands up, if I could start again I would.  My major mistake was that I didn't complete the fairing of the bulkheads before I started to plank.  in a better state of mind, I would have checked the run of the planks before I fitted any of them, and adjusted the fairing to suit,  but in my befuddled state, I just jumped in and started planking with the results as shown.  I'm going to carry on with it and hope I can make it all better when I come to put the second planks on.  Fingers crossed and watch this space.......

Totally agree Hamilton.  It's just as well, because in my usual ham-fisted manner I've just broken the tip of another frame off. I won't publish a photo of it as I feel embarrassed.  My stern framing's coming along apace, I'm glad I took your suggestion and did it before the quarterdeck.
 

 
Here's the balcony deck (?) in its raw form and after planking.  As you can see, I haven't put the brass on the bulkhead yet, I've made a right pig's ear of painting it, I can't seem to get a streak free finish, so it's going to go on as it is, and hope no-one looks too hard at it. 
 
I've tested the fit of the brass, and that's good, so I went ahead and put the stern gallery cheeks in.
 

 
Here's the upper cheeks
 

 
And the lower cheeks before I form them for the planking run.  I'll save that until tomorrow though, to make sure the glue is dry. That last phot shows up how the ply split when I tried to put a nail in to hold the deck down.  I wish I'd pre-drilled it....

Hiya Hamilton, I've just come to that same conclusion, I started the stern framing today, and I'll get on to the first planking after that, and I'll leave the quarterdeck and poop for when the hull is a lot more stable.
 
I've fixed the broken bulkhead with a peg but it's difficult to get the alignment right.  I'll keep trying.
 
Look after yourself in the snowy north.

Here's my progress so far.  I got the frames for the foc'sle on and planked it the same way as the main gundeck.  I'd got a pack of Chinese walnut on eBay, and She Who Must Be Obeyed said it might be nice if I outlined the gratings in it.  Historical accuracy went out of the window, and I did as I was told.  I think it looks quite nice though. Chinese walnut seems to be a lot darker than the European, so it gives a better contrast against the Tanganyika. 
 

 
 
When all the deck furniture is fitted, and the masts and rigging are up I think that will blend in nicely.  You can see the broken frame I've mentioned before, frame 12, I'll have to try and make a dummy bit to form the planks on to.  It won't be visible from the inside, as the quarter deck will cover it up, but I'll know it's there.
 
Next job is the quarter deck, but I'm debating whether to put some upper hull planking on first, so I can cut gunports and fit the four cannon that go under the quarter deck first.   Any suggestions gratefully accepted.
 
 

Thanks, Hamilton, for the tip about the sandpaper, it's so logical that I never thought of it.   The QHM released me from domestic duties and cleaning stations, so I've been able to get some work done on the planking.  I've got a thing about scale planks even though it makes it look scruffier. At a scale of 1/100 and an admiralty plank spec. of 22 to 24 feet, I decided to even things out and make my deck planks 70mm, which would equate to a plank size of 23 feet, and it also fitted in quite nicely with the dimensions of the main deck.  How it fits with the other decks I'll wait to find out.  Here's a picture of the fwd planking of the main deck.
 

 
The sanding and finishing isn't quite complete, I intend to finish with some 1000 grit glass paper, and then a very thin coat of tung oil.  I've set the hatches into the planking which meant I didn't need to sand too much of a camber into them.
 
 
 

 
This shows the fettling around the coamings of the hatches. I used some scrap 4 x 0.8mm Tanganyika I had from a previous kit, which successfully covered up the fact that I didn't sand the camber properly into the hatches.  Anything for a quiet life... 
 
One thing I have found though is that the quality of the deck planking in 3 x 0.6mm Tanganyika is not the best.  One edge of each plank is usually straight while the opposite one varies from nearly straight to very wavy  I had to choose the planks carefully to finish the main deck, and it looks like I may not have enough material to do the other three.  I'll have to go online and try and source some, which is not easy, living at the back end of the world like I do.
 

 
I've 'suggested' the caulking of the deck by using a 2B pencil along the edges of the planks.  Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.  I'm hoping that the tung  oil will bring out the seams better.
 
Now my next task is the photo-etched brass furniture fwd and aft of the main deck.  I'm going to give it a coat of yellow ochre to take away the shine of the brass, but up to now, I can't get an even coat.   I'll keep experimenting until I get it right.
 
As an aside, it's high summer down here and we're going through a patch of very wet, humid weather which has affected all the stock in the kit, making it very damp and bendy.  Just wait until I come to plank the hull, it will be mad hot and bone dry, and my planks will turn into splinters.  That's what the hobby is all about though isn't it!
 
My Proxxon rotary tool arrived and I am over the moon with it.  I've been told three times by the QHM to shut up about it, as she is getting fed up with being told how good it is.   

I've got the main deck on, and I'm going to put most of the deck furniture and planking on this before I go any further, as it would be too fiddley, if not impossible, to try and do that with all the other decks in place.  I've stuck in a few pictures of my first attempts at hatches.
   
 
the hatches aren't stuck down yet, or even properly sanded for deck camber and finish.  I'm not going to paint the model apart from a few small details, as i think it would be a shame to hide the wood.  Maybe a thin coat of tung oil?
 
The Proxxon's not arrived yet, and my Dremel is playing up, so everything's slowed down at the moment.  It's funny that you don't know how much you rely on a tool until it's not available.

So much for a free week and making more progress.  Who was it said that 'Work expands to fill the time allowed'?  What  with all the things that Mrs Chiefy found for me to do, and the fact that it's 36 C in my workshop by 11:00 I've not got much done.  I live in the southern hemisphere, and the summer is being a beaut.
 
I did manage to get the after frames done though, all glued and trued 
 
 
 
The first shot shows the broken bit of frame 12 quite well.  I've saved it to try and stick on later.  Hopefully there'll be more to follow at weekend.
 
I've just invested in a Proxxon 28481 IBS/E rotary tool.  I've been coveting one for a long time, and my wife had her back turned for a minute, so I bought one.  It's on it's way from Australia, so I might get it by August.  I'd be interested to hear anyone's thoughts on this bit of kit.  I've been using my Dremel 8220 constantly and I'm very pleased with it, but I always thought there could be something better.  I'll let you know how I get on when I get it setup and working, just don't hold your breath.
 
 

Back to Bellona after a break for the holidays.  I've been looking at the chinese puzzle that's the frames/deck assembly and trying to work out the best way of assembling the frames so that I can get the decks in as well, taking into account the lugs that fit the main deck into frame 6, and also the lugs that fit the foc'sle to frame 3.  I think I start with frame 12 and work forward, up to frame 6, but frame 6 has to be fitted with the main deck lugs in place.  After that's all fitted and pinned/glued/elasticed down for the deck camber, then I fit frames 5 and 4, then frame 3, with the foc'sle lugs and deck in place.  pin/glue/elastic the foc'sle down, and bob's your auntie.  For now, though, that's a week or so in the future.  I'm not even thinking about the stern galleries yet.
 
I've been reinforcing the frames using bits of basswood to give me a better purchase when I start planking, and also to give more strength to the deck camber from when I try to pin it down.  Past experience has shown me that 4mm bass ply isn't enough to hold the camber in place. (I think it's bass plywood).
 
 
 

 
I've not started fairing in yet, I'm saving that joy for later.
 
Here's the assemble with the decks fitted.  I borrowed a brilliant idea from Hamilton, and painted the areas under the gratings black to give a bit of depth when the gratings are fitted.  Thank you, sir.
 
 
 

 
I've got a fairly free week, so I hope to be making a lot more progress with this.  As always, and hints tips or criticisms will be gratefully accepted.

Hiya Hamilton, I started to cut the rabbet, and found like you said that the material is cheap and won't take a straight cut.  I decided to carry on and make as good a job as I could of it, and apart from three place where the veneer just fell off, it didn't turn out too bad, if you don't look too closely.  I've fitted all the frames and the decks but I won't be gluing anything for a long time yet.  I have had a stab at the roundhouses and the planking of the beak deck, but that was just because I got bored.
 

 
The glass on my workbench is water, honest.  This will be the most complicated model I've ever made, so I'll be immensely grateful for all the help offered.  
 
Just as an aside, it's 32 C (90 F) in the shade here.

I took a break from the festivities and started to cut a bearding line, when I noticed that the internal wood of the keel was almost white, which would make it stand out against the walnut planking, so I decided to run a length of 0.6mm Tanganyika along the keel to hide it.
 
I used bamboo toothpicks and PVA to hold the runner, and I'm hoping that when the planking is done it won't be too noticeable, or make the keel look out of scale.
 
.
 
also, while I was cutting the rabbet, I noticed the top layer of the plywood keel was not completely attached to the inner bit, making the accurate cutting of the bearding line impossible.  The planks should cover that up though.

I've already broken (and repaired) one of the bulkhead stanchions on one of the frames, I was a bit too heavy handed trying to sand the socket to fit the keel.  I just don't know my own strength.......

I dropped Bellona and snapped the bow off.....
 
At what stage of the build should I plan on dropping it to break the bow off, before or after I've started planking? 😁

I've had another good look at the drawings, and I didn't like the sharp curve that the planks would have to make as the approached the bow, so I decided to put a bass wood filler between the first frame (3), and the bow cheek (2)
 
  
 
Here's the port filler roughed out ready for sanding to shape.
 

 
And here's the port filler nearly finished.  Here's my first question.  Do you think it's worth cutting a bearding line into the keel to hide the jointing of the planks to the keel?  The plywood the keel is made from isn't high quality, and I don't know if a bearding line would cause more problems than it solved.  I think another filler between the second and third frames might come in handy as well.  There isn't a gunport there so it should help.
 
Another thing I've noticed now I've got the frames on, is that the keel has a definite warp to it.  As I haven't glued anything, I'm going to take it all apart and sandwich the keel between a few heavy books to see if I can't straighten it. Any advice on how to cure a bent plywood keel would be gratefully accepted.

I've just started this kit, I wasn't going to do a build log, as I'm not in the habit of doing it, but with Bellona I will need to scream for help from more experienced model shipwrights, and it would help if you knew what stage I'm at.  I've spent a month going through the drawings, and instruction booklet, as well as checking all the parts in the box against the parts list in the booklet. 
 
I hit a problem as the parts list didn't call up the plate that the parts were shown in, and as there are a set of 14 very detailed drawings, I decided to transfer the lot to a spreadsheet that would allow me to reference each part to the material it’s made from, and also the plate(s) that it appeared on.  From this, I could also build a Bill of Materials of what should be in the box, a thing that Corel flatly refused to supply.  This allowed me to check everything that was in the box against the BOM, to reassure myself that I wasn’t going to be waiting for Corel to supply me with anything that was missing.
 
Up to now, and I’ve only just started fitting the frames, it’s been a great help.  If anyone is thinking of starting this kit, I’d be extremely happy to give them a copy of my spreadsheet with the attached BOM. I’m not sure how to do a private message in this forum, but if you do, get in touch and I’ll email it to you.
 

 

 
End of the first day's work, all the frames fitted and assembled.  No glue yet, I've got the decks and a few other odds and sods to do before I open my glue bottle.  

I took a break from the festivities and started to cut a bearding line, when I noticed that the internal wood of the keel was almost white, which would make it stand out against the walnut planking, so I decided to run a length of 0.6mm Tanganyika along the keel to hide it.
 
I used bamboo toothpicks and PVA to hold the runner, and I'm hoping that when the planking is done it won't be too noticeable, or make the keel look out of scale.
 
.
 
also, while I was cutting the rabbet, I noticed the top layer of the plywood keel was not completely attached to the inner bit, making the accurate cutting of the bearding line impossible.  The planks should cover that up though.

I've already broken (and repaired) one of the bulkhead stanchions on one of the frames, I was a bit too heavy handed trying to sand the socket to fit the keel.  I just don't know my own strength.......

Here I am, back after a bout with the bug.  It had all the symptoms of COVID, but the tests kept coming back negative.  I'm about over it now, thank goodness.  I would like this entry to be titled 'What Not To Do When You Aren't Feeling 100%' and the first line of that would be: Don't undertake any planking.
I thought I would be able to get on with the first planking run at least, but as you can see from the attached pictures, I've made a right mess of it.  


 

 
I hold my hands up, if I could start again I would.  My major mistake was that I didn't complete the fairing of the bulkheads before I started to plank.  in a better state of mind, I would have checked the run of the planks before I fitted any of them, and adjusted the fairing to suit,  but in my befuddled state, I just jumped in and started planking with the results as shown.  I'm going to carry on with it and hope I can make it all better when I come to put the second planks on.  Fingers crossed and watch this space.......

Hello all
 
Time for what will probably be the second to last update before this log catches up to my build progress. We had some flooding in our house last spring and after quite a lot of dithering and delaying (on our part, the insurance company's part and the contractors' parts) are now about to begin the restoration work - new floors and some repairs to baseboards, electrical door frames, etc.). We will have to move out for a couple of months - looks like in April and May. This means we have to start packing up all of our belongings through the rest of this month - this, in combination with my job will leave no time for modelling, unfortunately, and likely not until June, so once this log catches up to the actual progress, I'll have to go on hiatus here for a bit....which is annoying because I'm really starting to enjoy this build.....
 
In any case, this post documents the hatches on the main deck. As mentioned above, I originally thought I'd nest the hatches into the decking. Some of the photos below were taken at a time when I still thought that way, which is why you sometimes see the hatches on the bare false deck and other times atop the planking. 
 
The hatch was assembled from 2mm x 4mm beechwood strips, lap jointed together. The first photo below shows a rather hairy looking joint, as I was working it in. I made templates from the plans out of card paper and used these to both measure out the individual pieces and assemble the hatches. The process was relatively straightforward though it required a bit of trial and error with the joints.
 
I decided to finish the coamings black. I don't know if this is historically accurate, but I've seen it other builds here and I like the look....The hatch gratings were more or less easy to assemble, but I feel like there must be a better process than mine for making them look neat and tidy....I assumed that because I had assembled the hatch coamings to the same dimensions given on the plans that the hatch gratings could be assembled as depicted there and then they would just slide in perfectly!! Ha! 
 
The material provided for the hatch gratings is not great - the strips are both unrefined and very soft and fragile. It doesn't take much to assemble them, but I feel like they just don't look very good once I sand down their edges to get them to fit into the coamings - I imagine it would be better (or at least look nicer) to assemble the coamings around the hatches - is this what most people do?
 
Anyways, the other components here are some 1mm x 3mm strips that act as supports for the mast partners and capstan platforms, and the the partners and platforms themselves, which are made from 2mm x 10mm beech. I chamfered off the inside edges of these for appearance, but am realising that this would make no sense as a structural feature of the vessel....unfortunately, these are installed permanently now, and re-doing them does not appeal to me - once again, this part of the model is going to be largely buried, so I'm happy to try to concentrate my mistakes or mis-steps here.
 
In the last photo, you can also see the pantry off to the left, which at this point is assembled and finished, but not installed.
 
That's pretty much it. Enjoy the photos and happy modelling!
hamilton
 

Hello there
 
I have not managed to carve out as much time for Bellona this past week as I had hoped, but this log is still catching up on past progress, so....this post documents the main deck planking.
 
I originally thought of nesting the hatch coamings into the deck planking, but two things changed my mind on this. First, most of the main deck will be covered by the quarterdeck and gangways, plus the ships boats in the waist, so the subtle effect provided by nesting the coamings would be entirely lost. Second, I did not plan ahead and build the hatches to the actual width of the planking strips that run in line with the coamings, so it would have involved a lot of tricky cutting out of plank sections to accommodate the hatches.
 
In addition, the deck camber is so slight that I figured I could achieve the effect (for what visibility there will ultimately be down to that level) just by laying a strip of sand paper down the centre of the deck that was slightly wider than the hatches and lightly sand the camber into the hatches so it didn't look like they're popping up from the deck to port and starboard. But this is for later.
 
In any case, the black painted sections marking the hatches were initially done to provide depth through the hatch gratings. But once I decided to lay the hatches over the planking, they served the purpose of allowing me to locate the hatches with small tick marks on the planking. I also decided to lay the strips the entire length of the deck rather than cut out individual planks (as I will for the planking on the exposed decking). To get the centre-line "king" planking, I had already marked out its width on the subdeck, so I clamped a straight edge to the deck to act as a jig for positioning the plank and glued the plank in place. Like many, I use CA for gluing deck planking, though I've learned my lesson about using pen or ink to simulate caulking, since the capillary action of the CA tends to carry the ink to places you don't want it to go! I ran a 4H pencil along the outboard edges of the king plank and then continued this on the outboard edges of the planks port and starboard.
 
After the king plank was laid the rest was pretty straightforward, with some small section laid at the extreme edges of the deck to work around the bulkhead extensions. The last photo shows the deck completed, sanded and with a few coats of wipe-on poly.
 
The next post will document hatch construction, which will pretty much bring this log up to date with the actual progress on the model. I'll have to move onto finishing the stern framing, installing the forward cabin bulkhead and then the poop deck and f'csl - then on to hull planking!!
 
Enjoy and happy modelling
hamilton

Thanks for stopping by Harlequin - and for the words of encouragement.
 
I'm starting to feel a bit of confusion setting in - not around specific processes, but around the sequencing of the build overall. I was thinking it would be easier to install the q-deck prior to the poop, but this would require me to install main deck features first (aft capstan, main jeer and sheet bits, canons), since these would be beneath the q--deck. But installing these prior to planking seems foolish as I imagine that with the manipulation of the model through the planking process, these other features will easily become dislodged/damaged....so I may stick with what appears to be Corel's suggests regarding the sequencing and move onto planking once I've finished the stern framing......
 
Anyway, I have to study the plans a give some more thought to this.....
hamilton