hamilton

Hi Harlequin: Sound like fun! Glad to hear she's making you keep up! As for the deadeye strops, yes they are very soft! I broke only 2, though, and got through them pretty quickly. I pressed lightly down on them to make them more round in shape and then inserted the deadeye first at the bottom (where the strop was most likely to break) and then "folded" the top over if you see what I mean...Had to do some touching up. The strops are not ideal and if I had more energy I might have replaced them with my own brass wire versions. However....they will suffice. It's nice to be done (more or less) the hull - though honestly I thought my problems with the kit would end there (since I've already worked out a new rigging plan based on Lees and Goodwin's Anatomy of the Ship. However, as my post regarding the mast and spar lengths indicates, things continue to be confusing! Bye for now hamilton

Thanks Alistair & BE!! BE - I wonder if we're working from different editions of the Lees book - my p. 196 is the last page of the index (and of the book!) Nevertheless, the measurement 68' 6" is all I need to go on, since the mast & spar dimensions are taken from this root. I can get the length of the mast below the partners from the longitudinal section drawing in Goodwin - I imagine the difference between 1:96 (Goodwin) and 1:100 (Corel) are so small as to be negligible.... In my version of Lees there are no tables outlining the mast & spar dimensions of the various establishments. There are rigging tables for different classes of ships that correspond to pre-1719, 1719, 1745, etc., and also an appendix which gives prose descriptions of the proportions of masts, spars & rigging lines....Numerical tables would be much more useful as a tool for consultation! Anyway, thanks again I'll draw up my own tables again and have a crack at the bowsprit this evening.... hamilton

Well I had hoped to begin the masting this evening by cutting and shaping the bowsprit. But somehow I found myself resealing our bathtub and painting the bathroom ceiling instead! How annoying.... In any case, with the little time left to me tonight, I did a bit of a masting comparison - Corel, versus Lees, versus Goodwin. I found wide variation between all three of these sources as to the lengths of the masts and spars....Here is the general rundown... Corel, by and large, provides for taller masts and longer spars - in some cases by as much as 40 or 50mm!!! (as with the main & fore topgallant yards). Using the proportions found in Lees' Masting & Rigging of English Ships of War, we find much more conservative numbers. In many cases (especially for the lower and topsail yards, these more or less exactly mesh with Goodwin, but in other cases there are significant differences - as with the topgallant yards, where at scale there is a 10mm difference in each case. Goodwin lands in about the middle in most cases except where, as noted, he agrees with Lees....though in one important instance (the main mast) he overshoots Corel by a good 10mm (at scale, obviously) - though we're calculating the mast length from the step on the keelson, rather than from the lower deck, as in the case of Corel.... Here are some highlights (all measurements are at 1:100) Main Mast Corel - 199mm (from lower deck) Lees - 189mm (uncertain, but I presume this is a measurement from the step in the hold of the ship) Goodwin - 208mm (taken from the step in the hold) Main topmast Corel - 140mm Lees - 113mm Goodwin - 121mm Bowsprit Corel - 101mm (outboard section only) Lees - 111mm (again, one assumes a length inboard, but hard to say how much....) Goodwin - 88mm outboard Fore Lower Yard Corel - 169mm Lees - 161.5mm Goodwin - 161.5mm Main Topgallant Yard Corel - 86mm Lees - 66.5mm Goodwin - 78.5mm Anyway, you can get a sense of my conundrum....The commitment to historical accuracy on the part of the kit manufacturer can possibly be ruled out. However, the disagreement between more trustworthy sources leaves doubt. Also - since it is difficult to determine the length of the masts at scale from Lees and Goodwin, since they are including in their calculation a section of the mast on the real vessel that will not be included on the model, it's hard to know exactly how to use them - at least for the lower masts and bowsprit.....Goodwin is easier here, since there is a 1:96 drawing of the longitudinal section of the Blandford that shows the masts stepped. All I need to do is calculate the 1:100 dimensions of the full masts and substract from this total the length of the mast below the lower deck (after converting from 1:96 to 1:100 - though how miniscule will this difference be? So there it is....what to do? what to do? I'll have to spend a bit of time with my chart and make some decisions, but in the meantime, any and all advice is welcome! hamilton

Thanks a lot John! I'm liking your CW Morgan, too - a very complex and interesting build! hamilton

Harlequin! I was wondering where you had gone! Hope the season went well for your daughter. My son and I watched some kids playing rugby at one of the beaches at our vacation spot on Hornby Island. I can't pretend to understand the game myself, but he seemed to get into it. Looking forward to seeing some progress on Bellona hamilton

Thanks Augie! I'm finding it very difficult already to keep up with your Confed! Your log is less a log and more a microcosm! I will try my hardest! hamilton

Hi Mark: Yes....ratlines!! I can hardly wait!! The hardest part about the ratlines (for me) is thinking about having to tie them....once I start and get into the rhythm of things it's not so bad as long as there is some good meditative music or an interesting podcast to listen to.... I should note that the smaller 3mm deadeyes did come in adequate supply in this kit - Corel supplies them only for the topmast shrouds. I had to hustle for some extras so the backstays would look proper.... hamilton

Just catching up here Jason - she looks great - the time (and money!) you spent on the carronades was well worth it - I'll echo BE's comment about the deck shots - they look amazing. hamilton

Seems like a lot of progress to me!! She's looking great hamilton

The shrouds look great - nice symmetry with the deadeyes hamilton

It seems I have to split this into two posts....here are the rest of the photos.... hamilton

As promised - here's a quick update with photos. I've now pretty much finished the hull - saving the sweep port lids, the figurehead, and the beak gratings, which I'll install after the bowsprit is on. Tonight, I installed the moldings on the channels, the backstay deadeyes and the ballast ports. I have to say I'm pretty happy to be moving on to the masting and rigging - it'll be nice to start building up! Enjoy the photos. hamilton

Thanks BE, Wayne, Ferit, Mark, Alistair & Michael! The scale is very tricky....much of my scratch work ends up being more or less overly large for 1:100 (the belfry knees and kevel bitts are cases in point), but I'm happy overall with the results.... Through this build I have developed great admiration for this class of vessel - more than I have for others I have built. Building it as the Blandford out of the Corel kit has at once led me to appreciate the lovely lines and composition of the Blandford, but also to feel a lot of frustration that I have not been able to realise it as neatly as I feel I could at a larger scale - due to limitations both in my skill and in the kit itself, which is not altogether suited to this kind of modification, as I think I've said before....More recent victims of these limitations have been the anchor linings and the aft gunport lids.....I don't think the build is much the worse without them, but they would have added another little bit of interest for the eye. A 1:48 scale build of the Blandford would be a really fun project. There is (or was) one on the go that I found on another forum while I was researching this build - this was a really beautiful scratch PoB build, but hasn't been updated since 2012, and I'm not sure if it's still on the go or what....In any case such a project will have to wait for my retirement - 25 years or so from now!! Between now and then, there will be other larger scale projects. In other news, I've now pretty much finished the hull - since last update I made and installed the channels and backstay stools; put on the lower shroud deadeyes; installed scuppers and added a few more ringbolts for the ship's boat lashing, etc. Tonight I'll finish things up by adding the smaller (3mm) deadeyes on the stools for the backstays, putting on the molding pieces to hold in the deadeyes/chainplates & make the ballast port doors. The last hull elements will be the 36 sweep port lids I have to make, but to avoid breaking them off during rigging, I'm going to save this till the end.... I'll post again with photos either later this evening or tomorrow.... hamilton

The first of September must have seemed an eternity away! It seems I'm not the only one who can't wait between builds!! Off to a great start Augie hamilton

Here are a couple of shots of the completed belfry....you'll notice the knees installed in the second shot.... And finally, here's a shot of the stanchions for the rail around the aft companionway hatch on the main deck - self-explanatory.... Thanks for coming by! hamilton

So another update - quicker than I thought.....Tonight I made the forecastle rail with belfry and installed some stanchions for rope railings around the companionway hatches - quite a bit of work. Here is the drawing of the foc'sl rail and belfry from Goodwin And here is the part supplied by Corel. The Corel part is designed to serve as the forward support for the spare spars that are used for propping up the ship's boat. Since I built a set of forward gallows to perform this function, I could easily dispense with the Corel design and go with Goodwin's drawing. I used lime throughout - 2mm x 2mm for the timberheads, 1.5mm x 3mm for the belfry posts, 3mm x .5mm for the rail and the base, and 4mm x 4mm piece shaped to make the belfry roof. Here are some of the belfry parts - very straightforward. I used the Corel belfry roof as a template for my own, laying it down on the 4mm x 4mm stock and tracing around it... I then just cut it to shape. Here is a comparison of the Corel foc'sl rail and my own, in process... It seems I'm unable to upload any more photos with this post, so I'll continue in a new one hamilton

Thanks for the kind words, Andy! I definitely appreciate this coming from you! hamilton

Hi Jim: I'm happy you're continuing your SF - it is shaping up to be a beautiful model. As for the nail heads - right now they might really stand out and you might be tempted to "hide" them. But as the build proceeds they will probably become less obvious and more "ambient". I'd leave them as is - they look great and will add something to the build for sure. hamilton

Hi Max: Whoa! I do recall shedding blood on the Phantom (in fact on all my builds so far - except the latest one....) but nowhere near stitches!! Funny you mention using CA to patch yourself up, since I believe that CA was first developed for just such a purpose for field medics....but maybe you knew this already! Hope you're healing up well - and congratulations on lasting till now with no stitches - my first were at age 4 - right along my hairline on my forehead. The family joke is that it's my lobotomy scar..... hamilton

Hi Andy: Great shot! Your rails look perfect - I wish my build was as clean as yours....The real issue for me is maintaining the overall colour scheme and not adding anything new in one section of the build that isn't reflected elsewhere....I had thought about staining the rails with Golden Oak, and using black (or blue) on the vertical timbers, but this went out the window once I decided to use the Corel flexible beech instead of cutting the rails from a thicker sheet of lime.... This is certainly a tricky part of any build and I look forward to an opportunity to do better! hamilton

Thanks Augie - after following your Syren I'm pretty positive you could do the head rails! In fact - won't you have to do them for the Confederacy? I'm sure you'll nail them hamilton

So I've spent the last few days on the head of the ship - a scary part of the build for me, seeing as I have only ever built one set of head rails in my time and that was on my second build, the Sultana, about 3 years ago..... Seeing as I had scratch built all of the cast parts to this point, I could not possibly use the metal cast head rails....at the same time, getting the right curves and overall shape into the rails was a bit difficult to conceive and to plan out. In the end, I used lime for the head cheeks and cheek knees, which ended up coming out fine. For the rails themselves I used some 4mm x 1.5mm beech left over from the Corel Toulonnaise build. This stuff is a special "bendable" beech that Corel included in that kit for the cap rails (and that I think is also included in the Bellona). I had to trim it down to 2mm x 1.5mm and taper and bend it to an appropriate shape, but I think they came out ok. For the head timbers I used 1/32" thick brass strip, blackened and then painted. At this scale I think the result is ok - and less crazy-making then trying to custom fit little pieces of wood! Cutting corners again! It was difficult to think of how to finish the rails. Painting them a yellow ochre would have looked out of place (since there is no other yellow ochre on the build). I had thought black with a recessed molding painted yellow ochre, but in the end decided on just a straight black - if anyone has suggestions for adding colour details on the rails I would love to hear them - I don't think it's too late to take a stab at it.... Strangely, the element that ended up being most thorny in this part of the build were the hawse timbers. From Goodwin, there seemed to be a backing piece ( a simple rectangle) fronted by another smaller piece with half-round sections filed out for the hawse ports. As you'll see from the photos below, when I first installed them they looked really clunky and bad. I trimmed them down a bit and restained them and widened the holes and now they look better, though still far from perfect. Unfortunately, I do not have photos of the construction process for the head rails - my phone was inaccessible while I was working and it's my only camera. In any case, here are the photos I do have....enjoy! hamilton 1. I traced the inside line of the stem post on a piece of lime and carved it out. Then I traced the line with a compass set to 2mm 2. The head cheeks and cheek knees were then painted black - here you can see how rough the hawse timbers turned out at first.... 3. Head timbers installed and unfinished 4. head rails finished 5. head timbers installed

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Hi Andy - I know it seems weird to go back and build something again...but when I consider the beauty of the vessel and the deficiencies of the Corel kit, and the existence of the Goodwin book....it is a tempting idea....anyway, such a project would be impossible for me at the moment....I have a few kits left to build and a lot of tools to buy (not to mention a bigger house with a proper workshop)..... hamilton

Thanks BE, Ferit, Augie & Andy for the comments! Much appreciated - yes this is a very small scale to work in....at some point in the far far future I'd like to scratch build this from the Goodwin book at 1:48 scale - it would be a bit of a monster, but would be a lot of fun! hamilton