hamilton

Don't cut the keel!!!! Shim the bulkheads instead - it is easier to take wood off that you've added than to add back wood you've removed, so it is much safer to correct the structural issue you're facing by shimming up the bulkhead edges.

When I look at your photos, here's what I see:

1. the mid-ships bulkheads look good - they seem to finish touching the top of the bearding line and they look reasonably even.

2. Bulkheads 9/10, which you've already modified, now also look good to me - they imply a nice gentle curve for the run aft of the planking

3. The last bulkhead forward of the transom looks like it needs trimming up - you'll see that the bottom intersects the bearding line, which it should not do - imagine a curve along the bottom of the bulkheads up to the aft edge of the slot for the transom bulkhead - you need to adjust your bulkheads to fit along that line.

4. The 4th bulkhead from the forwardmost one seems to rise too soon - and the 3rd one back is too high for sure and will need to be shimmed like B/H 9/10. There is also a gentle curving of the bearding line up the stem - b/h 1 & 2 in your photo look good, but 3 is way too high to allow for that nice curve you should see at the bows. 

Finally - a word of encouragement. This is by far the most difficult and frustrating part of this build. It took me a long time to get through it and this was my 12th wooden ship kit, so I had some experience. Do not give up no matter how frustrating it may get. And do not hold yourself to results that the kit itself may make it really difficult to achieve. 

hamilton

PS - in your last pic B/H 10 looks way better!! 

hamilton

Nice work on the turnbuckles!

hamilton

Sorry if I'm chiming in late - the bottoms of the bulkhead edges should all line up with the rough bearding line I can see running along the length of the centre keel close to the bottom. This line should start gently curving up at around bulkhead 10 and then make a sharper curve upwards towards the back edge of that last slot on the centre keel where the transom bulkhead goes - this is called the "bearding line" - I'm not sure and can't remember if it's shown anywhere on the Corel plans, but take a look at see....identifying and transferring that line to the centre keel on both sides will help with the shimming up of those faulty bulkheads.

Nice to see the progress on this build!!

hamilton

I found a lot of help and support for my Greyhound/Blandford build and I am forever grateful to the MSW pros who lent their time and expertise there - couldn't have done it otherwise - I know you'll find the same as you go through - just don't be shy to ask!!

hamilton

Happy to act as a support for this build - as we've chatted about already, it's a tricky one, but it can make a very nice model with a bit of extra effort - and lot of extra patience! Post pics of any issues you encounter - my build was greatly assisted by @harlequin who also has a nice build of this kit, and @oldcollingwood, who has built this one as well. 

Try not to judge Corel too badly based on this kit! I've built a few Corel models and with the exception of this one they have all been of very good quality. And with this one, once you're past the framework things go smoothly - at least til it comes to the masting and rigging, which are woefully undersupported by the plans and instructions provided with the kit.....

hamilton

Planking looks excellent!

hamilton

Historical accuracy in this case might also be a creature of the restoration of the St Roch for display in the VMM - don't know much about the history of the restoration or how much photo documentation of the original vessel exists that might highlight this feature. From an architectural perspective, I can't see the overlap of the rubbing strakes and portholes making a lot of sense....at the same time, I've worked with enough contractors to know that sense often gets sacrificed for convenience in the real world as in the world of modelling - though usually with much greater consequences.

In a situation like this I would always choose aesthetic effects over accuracy of representation - it bugs me to look at the photos of St Roch and see this feature - I imagine some poor person trying to rout out the back sides of the rubbing strakes to fit snugly around the portholes and cursing whoever put them in that position in the first place. And then I imagine someone working at scale trying to do the same thing...sheesh! It's one thing to cut wales or bulwarks planking around gunports, and quite another to try to achieve this kind of effect.  But that's just me! 

hamilton

This looks like a really nicely detailed kit! Been watching a few of the Titanic logs and getting tempted....I'll follow here with interest.

I notice from your user ID that you're in SASK, but the background of your photos suggest some BC roots! My mother-in-law lives in Regina and if she saw your BC Lions memorabilia she would probably be on your lawn wearing a watermelon on her head and waving a pitchfork. How do Lions fans fare in the middle of all that Rider pride?

hamilton

Looking good!

hamilton

I think it looks good so far - curious how you'll approach the stern framing - from my son's collection, I know there are pieces that feature compound arches that might work for this purpose - interesting build to be sure!

hamilton

Really beautifully done, Adam! 

hamilton

My 10-year old loves this! As do I - seems to me that there is a serious challenge in knocking a lego period ship together - will you supply build instructions for those of us who might want to follow in your footsteps? I know that's a tall order so please don't take me seriously (though I am a little bit serious)....Lego released a Titanic recently that apart from being as costly as a high end wooden ship kit also looks very cool - would love to see someone document a build of that....

hamilton

It will take some finessing, for sure - but if you use a scalpul blade to shave off any ridges between planking strakes and then sand the planks manually (and carefully following the wood grain) along the bulwarks you should be ok - looks good so far to me

hamilton

Ahh - that makes sense to me! Thanks for clarifying Chuck!

hamilton

Hi there:

A question for the moderators. I just packaged a bunch of photos that I took of the St. Roch here in the Vancouver Maritime Museum to send off to someone working on the Billings model and wondered if there was a thread or gallery where these could be broadly shared...I often see pictures of real ships on build logs and elsewhere for reference, but a single landing place for these would, I think, be useful for the community - perhaps it already exists and I didn't work hard enough to find it! If not, though, could a new area of the forum be created? 

hamilton

nice work on the bowsprit rigging! She's looking really nice.

hamilton

I always use medium thickness CA for hull planking - and I also get glue on my fingertips. It's a pain! But if you invest in some isopropyl alcohol (nail polish remover) you can remove it once it's dried and crusty - it peels off like a scab once softened by the alcohol - as my skin gets thinner I worry it might take some skin with it when it does, but I prefer to use CA for this purpose as it allows speedier progress on a process I don't always get much enjoyment out of.....I have read of others who use PVA (wood glue), but my impression is that because of the slow setting and curing time it makes for very slow work....I'm willing to sacrifice my fingers for a little bit to get through it!

hamilton

I see it's been quite a while since I've updated here.....not that I'm on a schedule or anything!

In any case, I didn't get as much done on Bellona over the holidays as I hoped. But since the new year, I've managed to get a start on the second planking - starting with the outboard bulwarks. The first element laid here was a strip of molding that runs flush with the top of bulwarks mid-ships and follows the sheer to the beakhead forward and quartergalleries aft. This was a more or less straightforward operation, though it was eased by adding this strip in 3 sections and then blending these with acrylic modelling paste. The first section ran in line with the ship's waist, the second ran forward to the beakhead and the third aft to the quartergalleries. I finished this in Golden acrylic yellow ochre.

I've now also completed the first strakes of outboard bulwark planking in 1mm x 3mm walnut - 2 strakes laid below the first molding strip and cut around the main deck gun ports. This posed few difficulties. All of these elements will be finished in yellow ochre eventually, so the contrast between the limewood gunport lids and the walnut planking will be masked.

One thing I noticed on installation of these first planking strakes is that the gunport lids already installed on the model will in some cases stand a little proud of the hull planking. Once these strakes were installed, I had to commit quite a bit of elbow grease to sanding the lids down to be more or less flush with the surface of the planking. Here are a couple of photos - not great or very interesting ones, but....you get the impression.

Bye for now and happy modelling

hamilton

Beautiful work!

hamilton

Looks good so far - I'm not sure where you're located, but I'm in Vancouver and have visited the St. Roch many times. I have a tonne of photos of the reconstructed vessel as she sits in the Vancouver Maritime Museum and I'd be happy to share these with you if you like - not sure how detailed you want to get, but they might be helpful.....PM me if it's something you're interested in.

hamilton

Nice detailing on the rudder! 

hamilton

Great start on the rigging John! And Happy New Year to you!

hamilton

That person is me!!! Planking drives me crazy!!! But I love building deck structures and absolutely love rigging.....The hard part is - who gets the finished product!! It's easier to ship a hull than a fully rigged model, after all......but I've always wanted to visit Tennessee!! 

hamilton

Nice work on the repair Cisco!

hamilton