hamilton

Yes, Håkan, more practice!!
 
I had cut out the trestle trees, and glued the crosstrees down to a piece of paper, to "hold' them while I filed the tapered undersides.   But a nagging feeling that they were too big wouldn't go away.  After holding the topmast close to them, I was pretty sure of it.   I looked at some photos of other models and then got out Lee's "Masting and Rigging", and calculated the length of the crosstrees according to that source.   Sure enough, it appeared that I had made them about 50% too long.   While I love Petrejus' book, this is the second time I've gotten burned using his illustrations without checking the scale accuracy.   Although the caption for the crosstree illustration read "full size" (meaning full scale size), it was actually quite a bit larger.
 
Here are the new crosstrees, roughly shaped, compared to the previous ones--

 
I glued them down and tapered the undersides--

 
I cut out new trestle trees, and here they are along with the crosstrees, and a wrong sized trestle tree and crosstree--

 
The crosstrees need some more work, generally narrowing the depth and breadth a bit, and cutting notches for the trestle trees.  The trestle trees need deeper notches, and some further shaping, then I'll try assembling them and see how they look on the topmasts.
 
Ron  
 
 

Happy New Year!  Thanks CiscoH and jereramy, and those liking and looking in.
 
To replace my toothpick topmast fids, I filed a pair from brass--

 

 
Next these were blackened, along with some eyebolts, ringbolts, and four hooks that I need to finish the carronade tackle blocks--

 
Next task is the topmast crosstrees, following the illustration in Petrejus' book "Irene"--

 
I glued six blanks together so I could do the rough shaping for all of them at once--





 
When I was satisfied that the rough shape was close, the block was given an isopropyl alcohol soak to separate the pieces--

 
I notice some irregularities, mostly the right side end is a little "bulbous", and they look just a bit chunky to me, but there is still a lot of work to do on these: drilling holes in the ends, notching for the trestle pieces, tapering the underside, and refining the overall thickness and curves--

 
All for now,
Ron

Beautiful work!
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
 

Hello all
 
This is becoming a terrible habit, but I've decided to take another break from Bluenose and venture onto another build - one that has been sitting on the shelf for a very long time and that I've been thinking about since I got this kit (I think back in 2012) - Corel's Bellona. I have to give fellow MSW members Chief Williams and Harlequin acknowledgement as inspirations and for providing impulse to begin this build - and this log! I've always thought it strange that there weren't more builds of this kit on MSW, and I hope that this log can serve some purpose for the community. 
 
The history of Bellona is well known, and I'm not going to rehash it here. But my plan for the build is to represent the model (as per the kit) at her 1780 refit. As reference I'm using Brian Lavery's Anatomy of the Ship HMS Bellona - though his drawings cover both the pre- and post-refit and are sometimes confusing in terms of what is being depicted. This is most obvious with the rigging, which I've used James Lees' Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War to determine. A few years ago I started plotting out the build by making a detailed (some might say insane) parts list and rigging and belaying tables to supplement the information supplied on the Corel plans and to plan out approaches to the various elements. This is my usual way of working through a complex build and allows me to think through the construction of each element and to engage in intensive study of the plans and source material. Hope it pays off!
 
In any case, in terms of build progress at the moment, I've nearly finished putting the framework together. But because I have a young family and a demanding day job (at least one that's very demanding for ten months of the year), I am only able to work on the model for a few hours each week, which makes for slow progress. So I'll be posting weekly updates here to cover stages of the build up to where I am now. In the meantime - here's the box and the centre keel. Build updates will start next week.
 
In the meantime - enjoy your modelling!
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

Finished up the ratlines on the main mast.  

Didn't get much else done on the Bluenose over the holidays other that a few detail touch ups, as I was waiting on more rope to come in from Ropes Of Scale.  The stays and bowsprit rigging line sizes were not close to what is supplied in the kit and I did not want to use the same size line for everything.  Once the line came in I got to working on the bowsprit rigging.
 
I created turnbuckles using 1/32 brass tubbing and 1/64 brass wire.  The brass wire fit perfectly into the tubbing and I used solder to secure the wire.  After the wire was secured, I bent and shaped the hooks on either end.  These seem to be pretty close to scale.

I blackened the turnbuckles and attached them to the bowsprit.

I threaded and seized the lines to the turnbuckles and then ran the lines to the bobstay plates and guy plates and seized them in place.  Still have the add the back rope and foot rope and stirrups to finish up.
 
Tim

 
 
 

Interesting - you may need to use some push pins or straight pins to set the waterway strip in place, since there are no bulkhead extensions. If you start mid-ships and work fore and aft this should be relatively straightforward. It will also give you a chance to test the fairness of the outside edges of the bulkheads - if you tack the waterway strip in place along the tops of the bulkhead edges and get it running in a nice smooth curve, you will see where the bulkhead edges either stick out from or are set back from the outboard edge of the waterway - this will tell you where you need to shave some of the wood off the bulkhead edges or build them up with thin wood strips to get a smooth run of hull planking.
 
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 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
 

Nice detailing on the rudder! 
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
 

A bit more work on Bellona today - finishing up the counter planking, stern chaser gunports & the filler blocks at the bottom of the quarter galleries. The lower counter planking was initially a little confusing - the kit calls for 2 layers of planking here but the total thickness (2.5mm) seemed a bit much, so I installed only 1 layer of 1mm x 4mm strips here. I added some extra framing around the gunports so I could plank up to them and painted this framing red, which will be slightly visible once the gunport lids are installed. The last plank to be laid was the one up against the upper counter planking - I made a template for this from card paper and transferred the curve to a wood strip - it took quite a bit of trimming and shaving and sanding and carving until it fit reasonably well - a little bit of filler, sanding and painting later and the results look pretty good, I think. 
 
The next step will be the make gunport lids for the closed gunports in preparation for the second layer of planking. I decided against using the dumby gun barrels provided with the kit and to keep any ports that featured these closed. The plan is to install the gunports (minus any hardware) prior to second planking, so I can plank around the ports - hoping this can lead to clean results. In the meantime - enjoy the photos and happy modelling
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
 

Nice detailing on the rudder! 
hamilton

Nice detailing on the rudder! 
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

Another milestone behind me, the body of the boat finished, sanded and cut from the hoof with a razor saw..🔥💥


Again I used the option of dispersion glue. The sunken place on the bow after removal is wetted and pushed from the inside into the correct place..



A preview of the boat on the ship's deck..😍





Now clean the ribs and arrange.🔥

Making some slow progress on the bulwarks.

Good afternoon all.  Its 40 degrees, overcast, and finally not raining.  A good day to stay inside.
 
The last week has been spent practicing placing the pintles and gudgeons.  And researching soldering, a daunting subject with almost too much information and opinions.  When I build Chuck's 18th century longboat the soldering went poorly, to say the least.  By the end I was melting the brass, and the few intact pieces I didn't melt stubbornly refused to stay stuck together.   Epoxy saved saved my bacon then, but now it is time to revisit and maybe conquer my fear of soldering.
 
The practicum has you do all the pintles and gudgeons much further along; after the deck planking and furniture is finished.  I don't think I can roll the hull around like I want to at that point, so I decided to do it now instead.  I will replace the stock walnut rudder with a multi-plank holly rudder.  But in the meantime the walnut rudder makes a great practice piece.  I read somewhere that the pintles and gudgeons are supposed to be recessed flush into the hull.  I felt they would be more secure regardless.
 
I used my small square to draw a 90 degree line across the rudder, then used the brass strip that came with the kit to mark the width.  I cut the lines with my scalpel freehand.

Then I used a combination of my Veritas and Micromark minichisels to clean out the waste.  Worked very well.  It was easy to go too deep; I wanted the brass strip to be flush, not below the surface level.

That wasn't too bad.  Next up was drilling the bolt holes in the pintle.  I don't have a mill (yet) so I did it by hand  First I dimpled the holes with an awl, then used my dremel set for slow speed and a carbide drill bit to make the holes.  (In the past I found it impossible to drill brass with normal hardware store bits; these are from Drill Bit City and work amazingly.)  The brass strip has to be securely clamped otherwise it likes to move.  I needed both hands to control the dremel (both elbows on the workbench for stability and a light touch).
I was practicing here, but I plan to put a bolt hole in the center of each of the planks that make up the rudder.

And then I was out of excuses and it was time to confront soldering.  I read a lot on MSW.  And re-read the pertinent sections of David Antscherl's FFM.  I boiled my plan down to the following-
 
1) brass.  No silver or copper.
2) silver solder.  many people seemed to feel "regular" soldering is plenty strong enough so I might revisit this.  But the few successful solderings I had in the past pulled apart pretty easily and I don't know if it was poor technique or simple limitations of low temperature solder.
3) so I was set on silver soldering (even more confusing because many low temp solders have silver in them.  I meant the higher temp silver solder).  A post by Greg Herbert from a while ago here on MSW extolled the virtues of Eurotools silver solder paste with flux mixed in, so i ordered some.  I got soft and medium.
4) a lot of what I read said technique and preparation were critical.  I sanded my brass with 320 sandpaper, and after sanding washed all parts in isopropyl alcohol.  From here forward I only handled the pieces with stainless steel, no fingers. 
5) also from what I read silver solder doesn't fill gaps so whatever you're soldering has to touch.  The force of my torch blew some of my previous attempts off the bench, never to be found again.  So the pieces have to be both touching and securely held in place.
6) And finally, I did it outside in the garage.  It made an unholy stink last time.
 
In my previous attempts I used a pen-type torch.  Watching Utube videos made me think a upright torch would be easier to work with so I got one.  It was much easier.
 
My first attempt was to make the gudgeon.  The kit comes with some brass wire but no tubing, so I bough some brass tube 1/16 x 0.014.  After cutting off a tiny piece of the tubing I quickly realized it was a major pain to hold the pieces still.  The only way I could get the tubing to stay in place was by threading the brass wire through the tube and wrapping the brass gudgeon strip around the tube.  I deliberately didn't sand or wash the wire with isopropanol so it wouldn't stick.
 
My ceramic tile for soldering is still in the mail so I used some bricks instead.  Awkward but they worked.
 
Then a dab of solder paste.  It comes with short needle-like screw on cap which look like you can squirt small amounts of the solder but its way too thick.  I ended up using the needle cap as a spoon to deposit the solder.   Below is my setup.

Its hard to see the actual gudgeon its so small.
 
Try #1:  I made sure everything was secure and heated in small circles AROUND the part, not directly on it like I did last time.  After a bit the brass shifted and I was hopeful.
 
But no, the force of the torch had moved it.  Nothing was stuck together and the silver solder paste was still present.  I went and got my granny glasses to see better. 
 
Try #2: I re-washed the parts in isopropanol and re positioned them.  New silver solder paste on top, just a dab.  Heated it in little circles around the piece.  It did nothing for a bit, then suddenly the solder paste liquified and the pieces seemed to pull together.  This seemed more promising.

Success!  sort of.  Even though I didn't sand or wash the brass wire it still was soldered solid to everything else.  In the future I may try soldering the brass strips to the whole brass tubing, then cut the tubing flush.  My previous soldering I am sure the tubing would have broken free but this joint seems very solid.
 
But still, not too bad.  My fear of soldering has lessened.  I need to figure out methods of holding the tiny pieces in position but thats doable.
 
Up next is blackening.  In my previous attempts the blacking came off with the slightest touch so I ended up painting the brass. 
 
But thats enough for this week.  Thanks for reading
 
Cisco
 

Nothing made by ZHL is considered legit.

I am confused by this thread.  A pirated kit is a pirated kit regardless if it's sold direct by the pirating entity or thru another seller is it not??

Could be a generational thing, Chuck. The more younger members join - which is to be encouraged to keep the craft going for future generations - it's probably to be expected that some of the broader elements of digital culture are going to creep in.....MSW - like most web forums - is old school internet, where it takes human beings to set up and enforce community standards. This is how the whole thing was when I first went online as a teen in the mid-1980s, when the NSF was still running the show. But most folks (young and old) have gotten used to a world where "moderation" has largely been automated through SEO algorithms and algorithmic news feeds, so I don't think there is as clear an understanding of the human labour that goes into managing a site like this and keeping its quality as high as it is. But it doesn't help if users treat the forum as if it were Facebook or "Twitter", where these kinds of posts have literally 0 impact on the management of the platform itself. If I had more time between my young family and my work I'd love to chip in to help with moderation here - I'll reach out once I can afford to retire - in 2043!!!! Waaahhhh!!!
hamilton

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