JerseyCity Frankie

Artist acrylic, because that's what I had on hand.  Naples Yellow from Liquitex was the closest match I could find for the yellow color of the hull.

When I glued the bolt rope to my sails on my Sharpie Schooner I used white pva (elmer’s) glue. 

Hi all.
 
After having finally finished the San Francisco (first version) I tackle my next project: H.M.S. Bellona.
I believe I have made every mistake in the book with my previous builds (a generic clipper, a botter, the Gretel, SF1) and I now feel emboldened enough to start something big.
Why the Bellona? Well, I wanted to build a ship that comes with a real history, I like the size -not too big-, I want to use paint and I believe there's quite some stuff that can be added and/or changed. E.g. the kit comes without boats and without spare yards or masts. I also want to try some sculpting but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.
 
About the kit.
Everything comes neatly packed, instructions seem clear, there are accompanied by 14 70x50cm detailed drawings. Apart from these I will probably be using Lavery's book on Bellona a lot. This kit looks like a different version of Bellona that Harlequin is building because it doesn't have the metal gun ports, I'm curious what more has been changed.  Nope, it's the same version. Harlequin added the metal gun ports.
 
All the pieces come detached, that makes life a little easier. Nothing seems to be warped. Even the gun carriages are precut but I haven't looked at them in detail. Wood quality seems very good, there's some rigging material in brownish colors, no black included. Blocks are of the same quality that I know from other builds, they look ok, correction: the smallest blocks are crap, I'll have to order replacements.
Not sure what I am going to do with the bling ... the photo edged sheet looks nice though.
I plan to paint the upper part of the hull, I already bought the required admiralty colors. I won't copper the lower part because I am not going to cover up what will probably be achieved with blood, toil, tears and sweat over the many months to come. 
Well, like the Dutch say: my fingers are itching, this is going to be an exciting journey ;o)
 
 
 
   
 
 
 

Coppering
 
I decided to cover the hull with copper plates instead of painting with copper paint. It adds a nice feature to the model but proved to be quite a challenge. First a photo of the real ship showing the original copper plating.
 

 
I bought some copper sheets and intended to cut out the plates from this sheet. I used a rolling knife but it still resulted in warped strips even when cutting on a hard surface.
 

 
Thus, attachment to the hull was quite difficult. I first tried gluing on the individual plates but it didn't work well as I managed to glue the plates to my fingers instead. So I cut out the strips and marked the individual plates on the strips. It worked better.
I started with the keel then did the band of plates at the water line and then filled the gap between working my way from the keel and upwards. Here's the first side completed.
 

 
Also, the rudder was coppered.
 

 
The next photo shows the rudder attached to the hull.
 

 
You may noticed that I've painted the hinges black. This was a mistake as pointed out by John (Jim Lad) and the hinges were painted with copper paint instead. It actually looked better too, I think.
 
/Lars Peter
 
 

Cheers Guys,
These are the completion photo's, before Pegasus  is enclosed in her case, which is still wip.
firstly the detail shots:













 
The Rigging shots

 





 
With the Longboat, which will be placed within the case, but not on the temporary stand as shown below.



 
Overall shots





 
B.E.
 

Rigging the Main/Preventer Stays - cont'd
I note that in ffm the Main stay passes through the eye on the Port side both for stays, but I recall from my Victory building that Longridge shows the eye for the Mainstay on the Starboard side and that for the Preventer on the Port side.
I don't know how significant this is, and I have seen examples of both arrangements, but I intend to have the mouse on the Port side for the Main Stay, and Starboard side for the Preventer Stay.

The completed Mouse unpainted.

A close-up of the Mouse in place on the stay.
At 1:64 scale I am quite pleased with the effect, this is many times the actual size of the Mouse.
The other end of the Stay
A 15" heart (5.95mm)is attached to the lower end of the stay seizing 1½" (0.19mm)

Commencing the throat seizing on the heart.

Seizings completed.

It helps to have a third hand for this sort of stuff.

Lanyard attached.
The lanyard is of 3½"circ line (0.44mm ø at scale) This is from Steel;
The ffm indicates 2" which seems a little fine or is maybe a misprint.

 

The lanyard will not be tied off until later in the build.
I now need to step the Foremast before the Main Preventer Stay is fitted.
B.E.

The Main Shrouds
These are of 7"* circ line scaling to 0.88mmø
* Note: there is a typo error in my copy of ffm Vol 1V  (p50) which indicates 10" line for the Fore and Main Shrouds.
The kit Mainmast shroud configuration differs a little from the ffm Vol 1V layout.
The book version shows a single foremost shroud cut spliced around the masthead, followed by four pairs of shrouds. (nine in total each side)
Aft of these are a single Topmast Backstay and a single T'gallant Backstay.
The kit version shows four pairs of shrouds, (which obviates the need to splice around the masthead) three standing Topmast backstays, a T'gallant Backstay,and a Flagstaff stay.
I have followed the kit arrangement .
Steel indicates three topmast backstays.
For the first pair of shrouds serving is required for the full length on the foremost shroud, and for a scale eight feet on the second and subsequent shrouds.
This serving business.

On the model this is the longest section of serving required. I have used 0.1mm Morope and it took around 5mtrs of line to complete the job. Unfortunately the supplied lengths of Morope 0.1mm just fall short of the required length for a continuous  run.

The line will be dyed after completion.

Trial fitting the served shroud. One of the downsides of serving the full length of a shroud is that it tends to stiffen and kink the line.
I find that the line needs a little tensioning before fitting to straighten it out.

Tensioned and dyed the line is now ready for fitting.
To recap I am using Amati 3.5mm deadeyes which actually measure around 3.8 -3.9mm. near enough to the 4mm scale required for a 10" deadeye. (The kit supplied deadeyes are over-scale at 5mm+)
With the shroud served it is formed around the false masthead and seized.

I have used 0.1mm morope for the seizing.
Turning in the deadeye.
I like to set the first one up with a distance that suits my eye and then match the others to it.
For the first (served) shroud I have slightly deepened  the deadeye groove.

At this scale I don't bother too much with the throat seizing which will be hidden anyway by the lanyard excess. Having set the deadeye at the required distance I use some thin line to secure the 'throat' with a simple overhand knot, but which allow for minor adjustment in the position.

The lanyard is of 3½" circ line which scales to 0.44mm ø line. I am using Morope 0.4mm.

It did not prove to be a problem  securing the served line with its additional bulk around the deadeye.

Final tensioning will be done once the set have been fitted.
B.E.
 

Picking up on the yards.
I last looked at the yards back in December 2013 and as I've now run out of options to distract me having completed the boats, I need to gee myself up to start again.
To recap I had reached the point of fitting out the Main Yard and one more Yard tackle pendants is required and a couple of other fittings before I move onto the other yards.
My intention is to complete all the yard fittings before I step the masts so that Pegasus can remain snug in her temporary case.
I'm not particularly looking forward to this part of the build as I find fitting out the yards repetitive, fiddly, and quite dull work.
To recap
The pendant is of 4½” served line (0.5mm dia) and the falls of 2½” line scaling to 0.3mm dia.
The length of the pendant including the stropping and eye splicing is 62mm.

I found served true scale line too heavy for the block so I reduced it to 0.25mm line served with 0.1mm line which better suits my eye.
To make the pendant the line was served the required length with a good amount of unserved line either end.
The ‘false’ splice method was used to strop the block, and similarly to make the eye to fit around the yardarm.

Here the excess serving line is being used to create a 'false' splice to form the strop of the LT block.
The needle pulls the serving line thro' the strop line and pulls the two together.

The serving line end is then taken back thro' the strop, a few turns around the strop, secured with a spot of glue, and trimmed.

A similar procedure is used to form the pendant eye that fits over the yard arm.

A matched pair.

Outside of the Yard tackle pendants comes the Topsail sheet block with its associated lift block, and finally the brace block pendants.
These are the stats
Topsail sheet block 12" (5mm) with 4½" served line. 0.5mm Ø
Lift block 9" (3.5mm)
Brace block 8" (3mm) 3½" (0.45mm Ø) served line 14-18ft (67 - 86mm) long pendants.

The Topsail sheet blocks are interesting as they are shoulder blocks.
Won't find any of these commercially available as far as I know, so the first job is to cobble one together.
I am using 5mm Pearwood blocks.

To modify the 5mm block to give it a shoulder one end is filed flat onto which a small extension piece is glued.

and then filed to shape

This is the result.

Stropping the combined blocks.

Fitting for the eye.

So Gromit d'ye think there's too much seizing between the blocks, hmmn I'm not too sure either.
I'll make up the other one with slightly less and review the arrangement.
B.E.
 

Fitting the Bowsprit Collars.
The first heart on is for the Inner Bobstay, followed by the Starboard and Portside Bowsprit shroud hearts. Two cleats on the Bowsprit prevent it sliding down.
Then comes the Forestay Collar and Open Heart.
Forward of this by around 9mm at scale is the Outer Bobstay Heart. This requires four cleats to be fixed to the Bowsprit.
Finally butting up against the outer Bobstay is the Fore Preventer Stay Collar and open Heart, which sits just behind the Jibboom chock.

Using a needle to thread the lashing line between the two eyes of the heart strop. For this I am using 0.1mm Morope.

 

 

What you see here is a deviation from the kit plans which show 6mm closed hearts for both Forestays, and 5mm deadeyes for the Bobstay and Bowsprit shrouds.
In accordance with Steel I have used closed hearts for the Bobstay and Bowsprit shrouds, but he also mentions the use of deadeyes. Lees suggests that deadeyes were used up to around 1840, so I reckon either is acceptable.

 

Before fixing the stop cleats I think it advisable to just check how the lines will sit so the stays etc are mocked up to get an idea.
I made the cleats from some 1mm square boxwood strip.

First time out of its case for Pegasus in a while.

 

This post brings my log up to date and marks the three year point in the build still a long way to go.

B.E.

One of the things I found with the Gunport strip was that it had tiny irregularities along the length where it was pinned to the bulkheads. These needed a small amount of filler, but very little filler has been required overall.

 

 

One thing to note is that the hull is handled a lot during the sanding process, and I don’t think I would have liked to fit the deck fixtures and deck beams prior to this stage as suggested by the instructions.

The dust marks on the Upper deck, would mar nicely finished gratings and fittings, and there is a real risk of damage to the beams.
I think I've had enough of sanding now, I'm going to do the blind feel test, and in the absence of anything significant - I'm moving on.

The next job up will be the marking of the Main Wale, and fixing of the lower counter.
 
B.E.

Post 55
Finishing off the mast.
 
There are sheaves to be cut, cleats to be added, and the mast surface to be finished.
Below the cheeks are the rigging stops; these are what the shrouds and other tackle sit on.
 
The kit provides (4) etched cleats to perform this function, they are the same type as used on yard arms and look a little light weight to my eye. My concern is are they enough to stop slippage of the shrouds down the mast.
 
The Alert Book shows what is called a rigging stop (iron hoop) to perform this function.
It is very difficult to determine what was used from models as all the mast head tackle hides this support from view.
 

0115(2)
I opted for a hoop style rigging stop and fitted this 44mm below the trestletrees which is some 5mm lower than the kit plan.
I need to make sure that there is enough space to fit all the rigging between the stop and the cheeks. There are a dozen or more large diameter served lines seized around the masthead at this point.
 
At the base of the mast 7’ above deck (kit dimensions) is the saddle to support the jaws of the boom.
 

0105
I remade this out of Boxwood to add a profile.
I note that the Alert book drawings at 1:64 show the saddle only 5’4” above the deck (25mm) which barely clears the winch bitts.
 
At deck level the kit provides an octagonal ‘mast base’
 
 

0104
I built this up and covered it with microporous tape to represent the mast coat.
 

0113
 
The kit also provides an etched spider band placed below the saddle about 4’ above the deck.
 

0118
I’m not sure about this and I used cleats around the mast in preference. 5mm Boxwood cleats from Syren are spot on for the job.
 
Main Boom
 
I have already modified the jaws of the boom, but I preferred a stop cleat atop the boom for the sheet tackle.

0116(2)
Lees suggests that up to 1818 a ferrule and eye were fitted to the end of the boom and a sheave cut in about six inches from the end.

0130(2)
I adopted this arrangement rather than the kit set up.
 
Gaff
 
 

0124
As with the boom, the jaws have been modified and in the case of the Gaff the inner face is angled somewhat to suit the angle of the Gaff in normal use.
 
T’Gallant Mast
 
 

0121(2)
Two small detail additions are made to this mast; eyebolts beneath the mast cap, and the top rope sheave at the mast heel.
 

0109
Apart from the black painted masthead area, wipe-on poly is used to seal and enrich the colour of the birch dowel mast.
 
So, the full masting set is now complete, and the second build part can begin.
 
Once the mast is in place keeping the model dust free becomes more of a problem, so at this point I have ordered the case.
 
For a relatively small hull size the model case dimensions are quite large; Internally 750mm long x 555mm high x 280mm wide.
This is not very much smaller than the case for Pegasus but is explained by the lofty rig and long Bowsprit of Alert.
 
B.E.
17/01/2020
 

I’m inexperienced at the all the stages! These are my first cloth sails. I cheated and used a white gel pen and a ruler. If you look closely you can also see some pencil lines as well. I’ll post which one I used when I’m next in the workshop. The lines were simply drawn with a ruler. You might enjoy taking a peak at 
 That’s where in picked up the white gel pen idea. JerseyCity Frankie has a number of interesting ideas. Thanks for asking. Your skiff is looking a very neat and clean. 

The beginning of the end! It was a real delight to see the lines holding sail in play!

I tried pin with mixed results, but fabric coated with polyurethane or acrylic paste both pin and iron well. I tried pattern paper and tissue paper with mixed results.

I also attempted: to sew a set of sail, I tried paper, cloth, spray stiffener, etc. I found I couldn't use the iron "at scale" to fold over the edges of a sail.  Both sewing and paper are worth more work but are slightly out of reach due to skill and resource constraints.  
I tried using an acrylic paste over plastic wrap over a mold.
 
When drying the whole arrangement, I (re)discovered the principle behind shrink-wrap, which led to wrinkles in the sail. There is potential for the paste but I need to play around a bit more for it to be presentable.
 
I tried using a foam tile as a possible mold:


That worked well seemingly so until I saw the back:

 
At the moment, just paint the sail with polyurethane has proved best so far. That allows me to skip trying to iron over the seams without have too many loose ends.
 
Little by little...
 
 

As per ccoyle’s and GrandpaPhil’s suggestions, I created a bit of non-metal frippery to act as the metal work for the tiller. I used an index card painted black (with a little brown mixed in), cut into thin ribbons. These were cut length and glued on.  I then used an awl to indent slight marks where I wished to show bolts and added a drop of paint to create the suggestion of a bolt.

I too have been vexed by trying to map out these extra eyebolts. Many of them  are for running rigging and are for fixing the lower blocks and standing parts in tackle arrangements. You can see the blocks fixed to the edge of the deck in many photos of the real ship. Annoyingly, some of these blocks are hidden behind coils from the pinrails.

4

The following production process is commissioned by Mr. Hong Bin. In his production process, he changed the material of some parts for testing effect. Not a standard version of KIT

I cleaned up the carving with some 400 grit wet-dry sandpaper and removed the carving from the blank by soaking in isopropanol for an hour.  As you can see, I lost the tip of the bottom of the "R".
 

 
Next, I gold leafed it and applied a satin sealer.  I'll try the other carving in a few weeks.  
 

 
 

Working on the bouy, it's rigging and the anchor rigging and tackle. I snipped pieces off a broken jewlers saw blade to simulate the iron strop. on the block. The instructions say this rigging is made to look more weathered from being in and out of the water so much. I tried several colors of paint wash but what worked the best was just acrylic black very watered down. Wet the line with this and run it through my pinched finger and thumb.  I had a hard time doing the bouy harness but got through it.  Rigged up the anchor.  Did the tackle and rope coils. The rigging of the bouy was not clearly shown in the instruction book pictures so I looked up what I could in what books I have and kind of guessed on how the rope coils were toed to the shrouds.  This is just on the Starboard side. Still have to do this on the Port.
 
Jesse

Welcome aboard!
 
Tip #1 is to write thread titles that more accurately indicate the information you're looking for. I took care of this one for you. As for the requested tip, I can't help with that one, but we have some pretty knowledgeable members who can. Hopefully one can hook you up soon with the information you need. A 1/10 scale reproduction is very ambitious as well as intriguing -- I hope that you'll share some progress photos.
 
Cheers!

I’ve ‘completed’ the fairing of the hull.  And I added battens to determine the location of the wales.  The wales will be between the two battens. I discovered that I wasn’t as careful with the placement of the bulkheads, so I have to do more sanding to fix everything.  I’m in the process of determining the location of the gun ports. It’s a slow process. Eventually, everything will have to line up perfectly.
 

 

Other last pics...

BELAYING PINS AT BOW
 
Following my visit to Chatham, which I described at
 
http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/10370-18th-and-early-19th-century-cutter-models/
 
I decided to change the belaying pin rack at the bow. Gregor, Dirk, Kester and myself have had different approaches to this, but two of the models I saw had their racks positioned fore-aft beside the bowsprit and linking to the pawl post. I therefore decided that this was a really neat solution, dismantled the belaying racks I had made and replaced them as follows:
 

 
You’ll see pictures of the contemporary models with this arrangement at the posting I have given above.
 
Next up: the main mast
 
Tony