hamilton

So it has been a very long time since I've made progress with this build...I am hoping that with the coming of spring this year, I will find time to return to this build and to my Syren, which has also been languishing. I mentioned somewhere else that I injured my finger pretty badly while working on Syren several years ago, and since then my modelling progress has diminished - a product also of having a growing family, a demanding work schedule, and many other demands on my attention. In an attempt to bootstrap myself back into modelling I started yet another project, which I won't announce yet here until it picks up more steam. But I've reached a stage on that project where it has good legs, and now I feel like it would be wrong to continue with it until I've picked up with Bluenose and Syren. I'm hoping that, even though this log has been languishing, that the good moderators of MSW will not weed it out..... hamilton

This looks like a really nice kit - looking forward to seeing how it builds up in your hands hamilton

Man, that is some beautiful, precise and clean work! A joy to behold! hamilton

Great to see your progress on this build - always one of my MSW favourites! hamilton

Looks great so far - I like Mamoli's redesigned box, too! You seem to be dealing with some of the same issues I confronted with this kit, but though I found it occasionally frustrating, it's probably no more so than some other kits, and overall I thought this was a very fun kit to build - it's coming out nicely for you in any case. hamilton

A tip for threading blocks and deadeyes: swab a small amount of CA glue on the running end of the line. This will stiffen the line and allow it to be threaded more easily through the small holes in these parts. Then just clip off the hardened end of the line. hamilton

Great work on this one - I built the Glad Tidings several years back and it was definitely one of my favourite models to build - keep it up! hamilton

Does this book contain scale line drawings of various ships boats? hamilton

I went to buy some plywood the other day at a local wood supplier here in Vancouver and noticed that they have some nice Holly billets in the shop. It may be that such things can be found for those who have the ability to mill the billets to model scales....but I sense that times are getting tough for us in relation to the availability of wood species hamilton

Even though I have no ability to mill it at the moment, I took an opportunity to purchase one of the remaining boxwood billets from Crown Timberyard - this was in August, and I see now that there is nothing any longer listed on their website, so I suppose that's it. Does the a wood supplier for Model Shipwrights still operate? Their website is still operational and they do sell milled strips and sheets, as I understand. I've only dealt with them to purchase their Hannah kit, so can't speak to other aspects of the business, but my limited experience with them was good hamilton

That ebony looks beautiful - was this milled on a thickness sander/table saw or what was your process? I'd be interested to know. hamilton

Just catching up on your work on Blandford, Dave - as others have said it is spectacular! Very precise and clean. hamilton

Wow - she looks really smart! Even those metal parts, which I could never make look that good, are looking nice - I like the treatment you've given them and the cabin details fit perfectly. I seem to remember diluting some burnt umber acrylic and kind of dipping the metal parts in it, letting it dry and then burnishing them. Not the most effective weathering but it didn't turn out too badly - but to be honest I think the parts look good as you have them. hamilton

It does indeed! Thanks Druxey! Any further comment on this thread would be welcome hamilton

Thanks Druxey: Is it also a question of the appearance of the grain (depending on wood species) relative to the scale of the model? As well as for the workability of the wood? Not knowing much about wood, does edge grain or face grain bend better for hull planking, e.g.? Or in the case of Boxwood, would edge grain or face grain look better as planking on a 1:48 scale model? Sorry if these questions are either obtuse or simplistic! hamilton

Hi all: Are there specific parts of a model ship for which edge or face grain work/look better? hamilton

HA - the funny thing is that I picked up Historic Model Ships at a book fair on Hornby Island where we spend our summer cabin days out here in the Pacific Northwest...it was a steal at $2.00 CDN. I have been reading through but am only around page 110!! hamilton

Thanks Mark: I guess this ambiguity gives some room for interpretation - where exact historical accuracy is not achievable, probably best to fall back on what looks good or "feels" right... Thanks all for the informative responses to this thread! hamilton

Lees makes no mention of the introduction of shroud cleats - though as Mark (SJSoane) points out, he does mention some lines being belayed (on the shrouds)....Some of his belaying notes are quite vague ("the line runs down to the deck", for example). And it would take some detailed going through to see if he specifies shroud cleats or pins on racks on the shrouds. I had been assuming that lines belayed, for example, at the fore or main or mizzen tops would be tied off on shroud cleats - otherwise, where would they go? The images posted earlier show racks on the lower shrouds, but what of the topmast shrouds? I guess I'm throwing more questions out there rather than settling anything, but....another area of conjecture hamilton

Thanks Mark for the interesting history and the lovely repros and David for the link - this has definitely made up my mind with respect to this problem. Jersey City Frankie - I agree - it's hard to imagine anyone doing anything in a way that pre-dates something we later define as useful or necessary. No cave man ever longed for the distractions provided by television, but I guess they must have had other ways of keeping the stress and bother of life at bay that they thought were both delightful and amazing (at least I like to think of cave men that way, otherwise their lives seem way too depressing)....and today how often is it that younger generations think of a way of doing something or a new technique or technology that makes what their elders did seem absurd! As a teacher, I'm exposed to this kind of thing all the time - best profession if you really want to feel the ageing process..... hamilton

Thanks Mark! So during this period would pin racks have been on the shrouds - as opposed to shroud cleats? The drawings Lees provides of belaying plans indicate pin racks on the mizzen shrouds only, while in the text he mentions that they were seen on racks on the shrouds in small ships and large ships by the end of the 18th century....nowhere have I seen images of vessels in this period with belaying pins on the crosspieces of the bitts, though this is how Corel depicts them - perhaps as a convenience or perhaps (since the kit is a kind of combination of features from different periods of Bellona's career) to reflect a later practice.... hamilton

Thanks David! Much appreciated! hamilton

Hello there: I'm curious whether belaying pins would have been used on British Royal Navy ships in 1780. James Lees, in The Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War, dates their introduction to 1745, where they were used "on racks on the shrouds of small ships but not seen on large ships until the end of the eighteenth century" (p. 139) - but "seen" where? On similar racks on the shrouds, or elsewhere as well? My subject is HMS Bellona - specifically the Corel kit, which shows belaying pins on the crosspieces of the sheet and jeer bitts of the fore and main mast, as well as on the sheet bitt of the mizzen mast. For comparison, Brian Lavery's Anatomy of the Ship HMS Bellona does not show pins on the crosspieces, though in studying his book I've noticed (as with Corel's plans) that features are given that correspond to the pre-1780 Bellona, the 1780 refit, and also features of the rig that Lees suggests did not arise until the first decade of the 19th century (towards the end of Bellona's career).... As a follow up (bonus?) question, can anyone say whether shroud cleats (on lower and topmast shrouds) would have been used at this time....? Lees doesn't give a date for these, and I have no other sources that could confirm or deny their use in 1780 on British Royal Navy ships.... Any clarity on the belaying pin and shroud cleat questions (and apologies if this has been addressed elsewhere....) would be very much appreciated. hamilton

She's looking great Ferit! Amazing work as usual hamilton

Amazing work Dave - love the addition of the access door on the well and the faux pillar through the shot locker - weird design, indeed! hamilton