hamilton

Bob was someone whose work I was always excited to follow and admire - and he helped me a lot with my Blandford some years ago, and I'll always be grateful for that - I know his logs here will continue to be a source of inspiration and instruction for many here. Rest in Peace, Bob hamilton

Hellooooo! From my last post, I see it's been over a year since I've updated this log. In the meantime, I've commenced on a kit-build of HMS Bellona (Corel) (which I've also had to take a break from given demands of work these past months), but the Bluenose has not been too far from my mind, and as Christmas approaches and the end of my semester looms, I'm looking forward to getting some work done on BN. Before the lengthy hiatus from this build, I had started on the quarterdeck planking - laying only the first two strakes along the centreline. The planking pattern of the quarterdeck follow the narrowing of the ship's beam aft, and since I'm a little "spatially challenged" as my kids might say I'll need to do some studying to work out how to approach this properly. I'll be returning to the workbench tomorrow to start this. More to follow shortly hamilton

Wow - so nice! You're making me want to build this model again! Love the look of the natural wood tones hamilton

She's looking really nice Paul! Love the deck configuration hamilton

Whoa - just finding this one as well - I think this kit came out at the same time as the Corel Greyhound - how does this one compare - I remember the instructions and plans of Greyhound being very sketchy.... hamilton

Looking really good, Yves! hamilton

All the best to you Bob - I wish you a safe procedure and a speedy recovery! hamilton

Haha - I'm always happy to coattail ride, Nearshore!! Takes the heat off! I'm only a little ways ahead of you in the build (about 1/2 way done the first layer of planking) and since planking is, let's say, not my favourite modelling task, it takes more to pull me back to the workbench! hamilton

Wow - she's really shaping up! Nice work so far! I've been stalled on my Bellona build - the rhythms of my life make Sept-April pretty insanely busy between work, family, friends and extramurals - so it's nice to follow someone else's progress!! hamilton

Wow - she's looking really great - nice modifications to the kit superstructures and such nice clean work on the planking! Beautiful to behold hamilton

Thanks for the explanation Chris! It is a moving target up here too - though the 10% rule is treated as doctrine (or at least as a practical reference point) for use of copyright materials where I work.....but like everything in the legal domain, this "rule" is subject to testing!! hamilton

Copyright is designed to protect the economic interest of the rights holder, so I don't see how giving the plans away is an issue. Aftermarket sales of print material happens all the time - check out Amazon, if not your local second hand book store. It is only when a party attempts to exclude rights holders and profiteer from protected materials that copyright applies.... A question for moderators - I'm assuming that MSW runs on US servers, meaning that the site runs in the jurisdiction of the US. I am familiar with fair dealing (fair use) laws in Canada (I'm an academic so I have to be), but not so much in the US. In Canada, limited distribution of copyrighted material (a single chapter or up to 10% of a published work, e.g.) is allowed "for educational/instructional purposes". Would MSW have some copyright exemptions in its function as a knowledge-sharing service? If I were to use, for example, a modified image of section of a body plan of a ship drawn from kit-supplied plans in order to illustrate something to another user - on a log or through a PM - could this be covered under US fair use doctrine? I only ask to clarify, not because I have any intention of doing this myself - I'm usually the one asking for help!! hamilton

This may not be entirely adequate, but you might be able to correct for this in the installation process. I'll try to describe what I'm thinking of as clearly as I can. 1. On the centre keel piece, trace vertical lines from each bulkhead slot on the face running down to the bottom edge - this will show you where a straight vertical run of the bulkhead should be 2. Dry-fit the bulkheads as they are and see where they drift off the vertical you've marked on the keel 3. Add bracing pieces - 3/16" or 1/4" square stock can work - between the bulkheads - cut them so that they push the bulkheads roughly into position - or exactly if you can be very precise. 4. Brush PVA into the seams between the bulkheads and centre keel to fix them in place and glue on the braces Here's a picture from my build of HMS Bellona that shows a small (1/8" square) batten installed to square off two bulkheads that did not sit evenly on the framework - I hope this is a decent illustration of the idea. When everything sets, the warp should be corrected. Admittedly, I've never seen a warp quite like this on a bulkhead piece before, but I have used the above strategies to correct for asymmetries in frameworks before. More experienced modellers might not agree with the above approach - and I would follow their advice first. But I think the above method should work ok. hamilton

Nice work! hamilton

The planking looks great - now the real fun can begin! hamilton

Any restrictions on shipping destination? hamilton

Hello Harlequin: I don't know how I've missed this log, but it just came up on my feed this morning and I'm glad to have found it - I'm just heading to work so can't go through it but will this evening - in the meantime - she's looking great! hamilton

Great work on the Glad Tidings! hamilton

Yes - this kit was one of my favourites - had a lot of fun making it back in the day hamilton

Your planking looks very nice - I like that this kit provides a planking expansion with the plans - a real rarity, but I recall it being so helpful, even though the expansion was not always exactly correct for the model as built. hamilton

Beautiful work! A nice family project! hamilton

Ahh - sorry Alan....I thought I had deleted that post (will do so now) - it was a bit pre-emptive, as the "snag" I identified was not the result of kit deficiencies, but my own stupidity - I had spent some time studying the Victory Models HMS Fly kit that I have on the shelf, and mistakenly returned the Fly cannons (with cast metal carriages.....ugh) into my Bellona box - then tried fitting the 1:64 Fly canons to the 1:100 Bellona.....this is the kind of thing that happens when I try to squeeze in some future planning alongside a current build..... Anyways, progress continues on the hull planking - I've completed band "A" (first 6 strakes below the level of the main deck) and commenced on band "B" - 6 strakes below that. Then I'll turn to the garboard and band "D" - 4 strakes up from garboard and finish from there. I won't be posting progress on this until I'm done the first planking - might be a while given limited modelling time....but until then.... hamilton

That's good to hear, Nearshore - and thanks for the compliment - not sure about "outstanding", considering some of the present company, but I'll be happy to provide help where I can! Since I'm a slow modeller now, I may end up reaching out to you here and there too!! hamilton

Good start to the build! The instructions are no substitute for a study of the plans - they will be much more useful for getting a feel for the build and its requirements. I've been working on this model over the last several months but spent the year prior studying the plans, making tables and plotting out the build. This is a complex model! I've already discovered that, despite my best intentions, I have to make major adjustments to the gunports - even though from outboard they run in a nice line, they do not present even heights fore the guns to protrude through them. I worry that any adjustments I make will result in a really wonky-looking arrangement....but we'll see....a lot can be corrected in the second planking! One worry I have about your build is that you've put that transom frame on prior to adding the quartergallery fillers, completing the frame fairing and first planking layer. This might make those jobs a bit more tricky for you - especially in sanding down the q-gallery fillers (which require a lot of finessing to get the proper run of planks aft). These parts need to be sanded down to nearly nothing along their top edge - I used a sanding drum in my dremmel for this. Getting into the tight corner between the transom frame and the filler will be tricky - though perhaps not impossible. Anyways, the instructions don't state this, which is, of course, annoying - but the order of the framework construction is laid out on the plans and shows the addition of the transom frame after the completion of first planking. Not sure how difficult (or dangerous) it would be to remove that frame now - it's a thin part, so removing it could result in breakage - careful sanding of the quartergallery fillers should produce a good result - it just might take a little longer a be a little more finicky.... hamilton

Beautiful work as always, Ron! Love to see this beauty moving along! hamilton