hamilton

Looking really good, Yves!
hamilton

Finally, the building of the bulkhead separating the main cabins: 
 

 

 
Overall, it is pretty much the same way of building that partition. It is finally glued in place: 
 

 

 
Not much to see, once the poop deck will be in place: 
 

 

 
Time to install the diamond floor: 
 

 

 

 
That's it, for the quarterdeck. I still have the doors leading to the "Johns/Galleries" to build and a few details and we will be able to close the lid on all this :-(
 
Yves
 
 

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

Hi Hamilton,
 
Yeah I haven't seen to many updates from you. I will forge forward and show you what not to do. Lol sometimes it seems that it's not done right until it's done twice. I'll post another update on the re-do in a few days. Thanks for the encouragement!!
 
Nearshore 

Well I have a little update on the Bellona. I made a rookie mistake, but that's ok, I'm a rookie. After installing the last of the false gun ports, I noticed that the planking on the stern did not quite line up. The port and starboard planks on the stern were offset by a little over 2mm. I must have lost focus and did not pay attention to the stern planks and how they were lining up. I used 2 planks to get the vertical spacing for the false gun ports. Plans call for a 10mm opening at each port, the planks are 5mm, so it works out.  Where I messed up was on plank 30b. I tried to bend it around the transom and by doing so it through off the alignment on the port and starboard. I unfortunately didn't notice this until almost all the gun ports were installed. I was pretty discouraged at this point and didn't get any pictures before I started ripping it apart. It almost made it to the fire pit, but after a couple beers and walking away from it for a few days, I reasoned with myself that this is all part of the sport. I am installing and dry fitting all the waler planks before gluing this time, making sure that they all line up at the stern. I also am not trying to bend plank 30b onto the transom and just let it dead end like the rest of the planks. Everything lines up good from bulkhead 11 forward, so at least I didn't need to remove all the planks and start over. The silver lining, I guess. Well, that's it for now, I'm sure there will be some more setbacks along the way, I just hope that I can pay better attention and not mess this build up to bad.
 

Here is an update on the Bellona build. I finished the forward bulkhead doors and started installing the top deck. I started the planking and layout of the gun ports. I decided to install the bulkhead fixtures on the main deck before I install the top deck to make for an easier install. I took it even further and installed the upper bulkhead doors. It looked like it would have been a problem to install if I installed the decks beforehand. I allowed for a gap under the fittings so the deck boards will fit nice a snug. I kept with the same technic of using brass black and then used a 3000-grit sandpaper to polish the raised portions. I used spray clear acrylic to seal everything up. I installed the first row of the gun ports and faired the upper bulk heads for the remaining planks. I should hopefully be able to finish the first layer of planking before the new year. I will try and post another update in a couple weeks.
 
Cheers

Hello all,
 
A little update on the HMS Bellona. I have dry fitted the all the bulkheads and glued the main and upper decks. I traced out the layout of the cannon openings on tracing paper and laid it up against that hull to see how things will line up. I started the planking on the main deck. I figured it will be easier to do it at this stage then to wait until the hull planking is done. I dry fitted the brass doors and really didn't like the way it looked. I toyed with the idea of painting the panels to dull it down a bit. Instead of painting, I decided to blacken the brass and then polished off the black on the framing. I think it came out pretty nice. I will use the same method on the remaining brass doors when the time comes. I have started the dry fitting of the first planks and have faired the hull down and started the bearding line. So far everything seems to be lining up ok. The first layer of planking will take me some time. I want to practice the technic of lining off the hull on the first layer, so if or when I mess it up, I will have a second chance to get it right on the finial layer.  Well, that's it for now, I will try and put another update out in the next couple weeks.  Need to prep for the Hurricane that's headed our way. 

I am bringing this up to date to where I am on the assembly. I have been spending the last couple of weeks dry fitting the framing. The keel has a terrible bow in it. I tried to straighten it out with water and heat from an iron. It did get most of the warp out of it, but there still is a slight bow. I am using some 1 inch aluminum angle on my vise to keep things straight. Hopefully when the frames are glued and the upper planks are in place that that will keep things straight. 
 
I decided that I was going to bevel the decks prior to them being installed. They sit in place rather nicely without having to pin them in place. I installed .5mm and 1mm shims on the frames to also keep them in alignment. So far everything seems to be lining up ok. I haven't glued anything yet, i still need to mark the keel for the babet and bearding lines.  Well that's it for now. 
 
Nearshore

Hello,
 
I have seen a couple of build logs for the HMS Bellona on MSW and I am going to attempt to build this amazing ship. I hope that I can be half as good as the others that are building this ship. I ordered the kit back in May and received it at the end of June. I was surprised that it shipped from Australia as I got a notice that it was stuck in customs. Well, I was not going to start on this until I completed my 1850 Whaling Launch by Panart, which I did. I posted the finished build on the finished build area of MSW. Anyway, this is my humbled opinion on the kit so far.
 
My first opinion when opening up the box and inspecting the contents was "Oh Boy!!! It's so small" The Whaling Launch was 1:16 scale so going to a 1:100 scale was a bit of a shock. I didn't want to build a large model because I am limited on space. Being in line with the other previews of this kit, I inspected the contents and reviewed the drawings and instructions. They weren't kidding when they say that Corel isn't much on their instructions. I think there is a whole 6 pages in English on how to construct this kit. There are about 10 sheets of drawings, most of them being to scale. There is no parts inventory with this kit, but I knew that going into it from previous reviews that I read. I sorted all the strips of wood and labeled them as to their size so I wouldn't have to hunt for them when needed. I'm not a very experienced modeler, so this will be a very challenging kit for me to build. I am glad that there are a couple of other build logs here that I can follow and help get through some of the difficult challenges that lay ahead.    

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

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

Hi Everyone, thank you for dropping by and for the Likes. They are very appreciated. Before starting the deck and furnishings I decided to make a new rudder out of AYCedar using the kit supplied rudder as a template. The pieces of 1/8” x 1/8” strip have holes drilled in them for the pintle pins so that the pintles are integrated into the rudder. The pintle straps will be applied later. The gudgeon straps are made from left over laser board.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
The iron bar pinned to the stem is blackened 3/32” brass strip.
 

 
Now it’s time to make the hatches. The frames are made from 3/16” x 1/16” cherry. I’m roughly using examples found in Chapelle’s book American Fishing Schooners. A piece of 1/16” basswood sheet is used to support the covers and it is supported by 1/8” x 1/8” strips. The covers are glued together, squared, and a line is scored down the center to suggest that there are two halves.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
The strap that holds down the covers is supposed to have a hinged hasp at one end. Both ends fit over a staple. The bar should be slotted where it fits over the staple but I just drilled two holes so that the staple would hold the bar in place. No glue is used to hold down the bar. The iron bars that run down both sides of the frame are made from Cedar strip sanded down to .5mm . They look thicker but that’s as thin as I could get it. Did not want to try and glue brass strip along there.
 

 



 

 

 

 
Then a bit more planking was applied to the deck and sanded around the cockpit.
 
 
 

 

 

 

 
The cabin and more deck planking will be next. See you next time 
 

Hi Everyone, thank you very much for your wonderful comments and likes. At the end of the last post I had just started making new planksheers out of cherry. The kit supplied planksheer was cut into three pieces and used as a template. A piece of cherry was added to the top of the stem to bring it up to the correct height.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 


 
Pieces of scrap 1/16” x 1/4” strips were glued to the planhsheer between the bulkheads to support  the 1/32” basswood sub deck. I had enough basswood sheet to do part of the sub deck so I installed a bit at both ends.
 

 

 

 

 

 
While waiting for more basswood the floor and the walls of the cockpit where made. Glued strips of wood together for the floor and used a template to get the proper dimensions. I was looking at shipphotographer’s  excellent Glad Tidings build log and Bob Cleek noted that normally these vessels would have two drains in the cockpit as opposed to one so that’s what I went with.
 

 

 
The strips of wood on the port and starboard walls were installed individually because of the angle. The other walls were made the same way as the floor.
 

 

 

 
Got some more 1/32” sheet and continued with the sub deck. And of course had to install some planking just to break things up.
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Next come the hatches. Hope to see you next time.
 

Yes, this is covered under fair use. Be mindful that there is no standard definition of how much use of a work is considered fair and how much goes beyond the limit; fair use is considered on a case-by-case basis in the event a copyright holder wishes to mount a legal challenge.

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

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

Almost 5 years to the day....she is finally finished.   Always a bit anti climactic.   Thank you all for following along all these many years.  For those of you building her,  I hope you are having as much fun with it as I did.
 
Well here goes the final pics.  The top picture is of course of the Winnie contemporary model which inspired me as well as the Amazon.   I hope I did them justice.   Everyone should build a Georgian style model of an English frigate at least once in their lifetime.
 


 












 
 

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

Thanks for all of the good suggestions.  I’ll be putting a couple of these ideas to use.
 
Don

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

I created patterns for the sails from the plans and used sail cloth left over from a previous kit that I did not use. The Glad Tidings kit did not include sail cloth. I increased the dimensions of the sails to allow for the edge hems and cut out the sails using the patterns, some spray adhesive and my wife's sewing rotary cutter and mat.  I used fabric glue to hem the sails and for attaching the bolt ropes. I began to attach blocks needed for the sails starting with the jib club and blocks on the fore mast and fore gaff.
 

 
 

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

Greetings to all.
 
This will be a "sort of build" log of my scratch-built model of the Victory starting in 1991 to present. In the pre-digital photography era the few photos I have were shot with a Nikon 35mm camera. I'm not the most disciplined when it comes to shooting progress pictures. I get so excited about the build that I think there's just a few more things to do before shooting the next pictures. So here's some shots and explanations of my process from the early '90's.

Part 1
 
After the usual research and gathering of plans and photos I decided to build in 1:64 scale, or 3/16th"=1'. A good average house scale. My base plans were taken from John McKay's book "The 100-gun Ship, Victory", and C. Nepean Longridge's "Anatomy of Nelson's Ships". McKay's plans are based on how she would've looked after her 1800-1803 large rebuild prior the Trafalgar. Longridge has more detailed  drawings along with structural details of general construction of the period. My original intention was to build this version. After prolonged study the drawings I noticed the original sheer line and rails, still visible today, before the build-up of the bulwarks along the quarterdeck. So back to research for drawings of how Victory looked from 1765-1799 with stern galleries and elaborate carvings. Meanwhile the build still went on for the hull structure.
 
The first step was to enlarge the drawings to 1:64 scale. I enlarged the outboard, inboard, framing, profiles and plan views of the ship then all the frame sections. The keel, stem and stern post drawings as well.

Framing and Shaping the Hull

I used what is probably a unconventional approach to construction of the hull. Since the "Man of War" has more frames than a merchant vessel, and they almost touch each other, I figured that 1/4' thick frames would be very close for an Admiralty style builders model. All the frame sections were laid out on 1/4" thick birch marine ply and cut on a band saw. I cut 1/4" spacer sections for between the actual frames. These were carefully aligned and screwed together in stacked sections until I had the complete hull. (No photos exist of this phase). I used a 1" Makita belt sander to knock down the stair step frame sides close enough to start block sanding by hand. I forgot to mention you must make sure your frame drawings, before cutting, start amidships facing towards the bow and aft towards the stern post. That way when the shaping starts you are sanding to the line of the drawings for the proper shape. It's like making a pattern or wood buck for a mold.

After the hull is shaped and sanded to a finer grit, the next step is to unscrew all the frames and take out the 1/4" spacers. Back to the band saw and cutout all the insides of the frames and notch for the keel indexing.

The Keel, Stem and Stern Post

Next was cutting out and assembly of the keel, etc. From here it conventional construction with the keel laid upright and plumb on the building board, and frames set in position. I cut frame shaped sections out of the spacers and placed these between the frames at the middle and lower gun deck levels for strength and rigidity. Once everything is glued in position with stringers holding the outside into place, I sanded and shaped the inside of the frames.


The Planking

All the planking is Basswood used for its very fine grain. For the bow and stern areas I used my wife's tea kettle to steam the planks for the tighter radius bends.
 
Below is the completed planked hull, the cutting down of the bulwarks, The addition of the wales and moldings, upper rails. I made tooling jigs for shaping the moldings. Lower deck 32 pounders are sitting in place. Cannon construction is another project in itself. And of course one must take the motivational paint break to see how things will look.