allanyed

Hi Bill
What year and nation are the first rate ships you are referencing?  This is important as, for example, the Spanish were using swivel guns in the 17th century but the RN did not begin production until about 1721 with 1/2 pounders so early British first rates would have none.  Caruana in The History of English Sea Ordnance, Volume II goes into some detail on swivel guns but does not specify the number of them on any given rating. 
 
This is just nomenclature, but just as an FYI, there were classes and groups of ships but this generally referred to a specific or general design such as the Artois (38) class.  Rates referred to the number of guns and this varied a little over the years as well as from country to country.  
 
Allan

What lengths.

What ship?
 
Once iron stoves came into general use around 1757, the hearth was made of iron.

This is very helpful, Allan. Thank you very much!

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ship_plans_of_the_Royal_Museums_Greenwich takes you directly to the list of plans they have.  About 2200 are low res but over 800 are high res.  The drawing size is shown under each plan so you can see quickly which are high resolution and those that are low resolution.  The plans are listed alphabetically but is split for some reason.  Goes from A to Z for several pages then starts over for many pages.  Those in the first group are not repeated in the second group.  I downloaded all the high res plans and put them into a file (44gb) by category (100 gun, 90 gun, and so on and so on, plus separate folders for boats, masts etc. )  I added contracts where I could find them and a few low res plans if a particular plan was missing in a set of high res for a given vessel. I would send them to you or post them but at 44gb there is no way to do it unless the mods have some idea.  
 
All of this, plus scantlings from the Establishments, The Shipbuilder's Repository, and Steel's Elements and Practices of Naval Architecture will provide you with a wealth of contemporary information.  For boats in particular there are sets of scantlings in W.E. May's book The Boats of Men-of-War that are quite useful.  All of these scantlings are available in one book from SeaWatch Books for $45. 
 
Hope this helps for now and especially for future builds, be they kit or scratch.

Allan

Welcome to MSW Christopher!  Regarding your choice of first models,    
 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ship_plans_of_the_Royal_Museums_Greenwich takes you directly to the list of plans they have.  About 2200 are low res but over 800 are high res.  The drawing size is shown under each plan so you can see quickly which are high resolution and those that are low resolution.  The plans are listed alphabetically but is split for some reason.  Goes from A to Z for several pages then starts over for many pages.  Those in the first group are not repeated in the second group.  I downloaded all the high res plans and put them into a file (44gb) by category (100 gun, 90 gun, and so on and so on, plus separate folders for boats, masts etc. )  I added contracts where I could find them and a few low res plans if a particular plan was missing in a set of high res for a given vessel. I would send them to you or post them but at 44gb there is no way to do it unless the mods have some idea.  
 
All of this, plus scantlings from the Establishments, The Shipbuilder's Repository, and Steel's Elements and Practices of Naval Architecture will provide you with a wealth of contemporary information.  For boats in particular there are sets of scantlings in W.E. May's book The Boats of Men-of-War that are quite useful.  All of these scantlings are available in one book from SeaWatch Books for $45. 
 
Hope this helps for now and especially for future builds, be they kit or scratch.

Allan

Most, if not all of us, feel your pain Hamilton, I know I sure do.   
Allan

Checked out the wikicommons images and the round tuck transom is pretty obvious from the draft of "Dragon" and the paintings, though the profile drawing of Bellona is hard for me to read - I assume that the arrangement of the transoms below the wing supported a round tuck, though my familiarity with draughts is pretty limited.....I am leaning towards continuing with the build as-is, disappointing as that is, since I definitely do not want to risk the kind of major surgery that a re-build of the stern of the model would involve at this stage.....and I don't have the patience to see how far I can sand the stern down to the degree that would be needed - I'm not even sure that's possible......sigh......
hamilton

Thanks Allan:
 
Sanding feels like the only option for bringing into line with Bellona's design - but I feel like the risks to the model of attempting this are pretty great...I'll take a look at these drawings and see if I can work something out...I'm honestly confused as to how I got to this point - there is no indication on the plans and Lavery's stern drawings in the AOS are highly equivocal on this part of the ship. Indeed, on at least one of the Corel plans (a profile drawing) it certainly look like the lower hull planking ends at a square tuck transom....but I haven't seen any other builder of this model make the same error, so obviously I missed something really crucial....
hamilton

If you study the high res drawings of Bellona 1760 and Dragon 1760 on the Wiki Commons site  you can see the wing, deck, and filler transoms so it MIGHT help you decide.   It looks like you would have to sand away a lot of material that is already installed but it will be covered in the end.  Maybe not worth the effort, but something to consider.
Allan
 

This may in fact be the case, but these models are hundreds of years old and many have been repaired, refinished, re-rigged, etc.   There could have been damage to the catheads from an incident or vermin and taken off the model.  The below photo from James Lees' Masting and Rigging English Ships of War is just one example of such damage.  The stem has been eaten away as was at least one of the catheads.  Both contemporary models and plans are fantastic sources but I would trust contemporary based as-built plans and even design plans before the models.   
Allan

 
 

As this is only your second kit, the suggestions above about getting a high quality kit are spot on.   Maybe try a kit or two that will teach proper build techniques including planking. The 3 model beginner series from Model Shipways or the Syren Medway longboat kit along with spending time studying the tutorials here at MSW in the articles database will make your journey a pleasant one.
Allan

If you study the high res drawings of Bellona 1760 and Dragon 1760 on the Wiki Commons site  you can see the wing, deck, and filler transoms so it MIGHT help you decide.   It looks like you would have to sand away a lot of material that is already installed but it will be covered in the end.  Maybe not worth the effort, but something to consider.
Allan
 

Welcome to MSW Christopher!  Regarding your choice of first models,    
 

VERY HAPPY to have you aboard.  Welcome to MSW
 
Allan

Building kits requires the same thing as scratch building IF accuracy is of any interest, that being, research.  There are books based on contemporary data and thousands of contemporary plans, contracts, paintings, and models that can be found on various websites including over 800 high resolution plans at no cost on the Wiki Commons site.  Plus, there are a LOT of members here that love the research as much as the build and are a wealth of information if research on your own comes up short.   Everyday is a chance to learn something new no matter how much experience we have.
Allan

G'day Seb, it seems they've finally dropped the claim that this was 'the famous boat...'. As to what it is, it's probably a generic 20'9" longboat, it doesn't really matter just enjoy the build.
 
How were ships boats painted? It probably depended on how much paint of what colour they had on board.
For the Bounty all we have is "Hauled the Launch up and breemed her and payed the Bottom with half pitch half Tar." and "Paid the small Cutter with Turpentine having not sufficient white to do it."
Payed or Paid meant Painted. So my guess is Bligh's boats were painted white but I have no idea how much of them was white. If you want to read more about Bounty's boats, see my sig.

Hi Eberhard,
 
It was introduced to artists paints in the 1960s, Unbleached Titanium (pigment index number PW6 or PW6:1) is a shade of yellow-grey that can be described as being like parchment, suede, or sand. As its name and pigment index number suggests, it is closely related to Titanium White. However, its characteristics are very different and the possibilities it offers in color mixing are unlike any other pigment.
 
Allan

Tim, it really is close to what I am shooting for and Vallejo gets much better reviews than the cheap bottled craft acrylics.  I still hesitate to use any bottled paints after spending so much time on the model.  I have never had problems with high qual artist tubed acrylics so may stay with that and mix my own.  I am wide open to trying new things but this one scares me a little.  Any feedback on using this particular paint brand would be welcome.
 
Chuck, very good point.  I have not used unbleached t.w. for a while and totally forgot about it.  Worth buying a tube and comparing colors.  
 
Thanks guys, much appreciated!!!

As this is only your second kit, the suggestions above about getting a high quality kit are spot on.   Maybe try a kit or two that will teach proper build techniques including planking. The 3 model beginner series from Model Shipways or the Syren Medway longboat kit along with spending time studying the tutorials here at MSW in the articles database will make your journey a pleasant one.
Allan

This may in fact be the case, but these models are hundreds of years old and many have been repaired, refinished, re-rigged, etc.   There could have been damage to the catheads from an incident or vermin and taken off the model.  The below photo from James Lees' Masting and Rigging English Ships of War is just one example of such damage.  The stem has been eaten away as was at least one of the catheads.  Both contemporary models and plans are fantastic sources but I would trust contemporary based as-built plans and even design plans before the models.   
Allan

 
 

This may in fact be the case, but these models are hundreds of years old and many have been repaired, refinished, re-rigged, etc.   There could have been damage to the catheads from an incident or vermin and taken off the model.  The below photo from James Lees' Masting and Rigging English Ships of War is just one example of such damage.  The stem has been eaten away as was at least one of the catheads.  Both contemporary models and plans are fantastic sources but I would trust contemporary based as-built plans and even design plans before the models.   
Allan

 
 

Welcome to MSW Christopher!  Regarding your choice of first models,    
 

Nice start to your build.
You may benefit from looking at the models and plans of launches (the Bounty's jolly boat was rotted through) at RMG that replicate the boat used by Bligh.  For example it had two masts that were lug rigged thus there would not be a bow sprit.  
 
Allan