Nearshore

Hi Javelin, Thank you for the compliment. Nearshore

Thank you. Nearshore

Thank you Chris. Your compliment means a lot. I hope to be able to build one of your quality kits in the future. Nearshore

Hello All, I have a small update on Bellona. I know that I am a long way off before Bellona is ready to be placed on her display stand, but I couldn’t resist putting together the stand that I plan to use when the Bellona is completed. The stand that was supplied with the kit is somewhat boring and after all this time and effort I am putting into this model, I wanted something that was going to be subtle but also stand out. I was able to locate a plank of Black Walnut with a live edge for the base. I purchased 4 figures of Hercules that I will use to support the ship. I sanded and applied a finish to the Black Walnut plank and blackened the figurines using rub-n-buff black wax. The grains of the plank and the antiquing of the figurines flow nicely with the walnut hull of the ship. She is a long way off before she is placed in the stand for the last time, but for now, it will be a nice berth for her to be placed on in between sessions of assembly. Well, that’s all I have for now. Enjoy the pictures and as always, your comments and guidance are always welcome. Cheers Nearshore

Hello All, I have another small update on Bellona progress. The upper canon ports have been looking pretty rough up to this point. The 3 layers of planking have different color contrasts, and they really have not flowed with the rest of the ports. I decided that I would go ahead and paint them red to match the port post on the false gun ports. This was a fairly easy task to complete, and the results are very satisfying and pleasing to the eye. There are a few of the ports that are going to require some filler to smooth them out. The camera has a way of enhancing the flaws that otherwise look ok in person. I will circle back on this later. Well, I think it’s time to start working on some of the armament. I am planning on preparing the 18 pound shot canons that will be on the upper gun deck. The rigging supply that came with the kit is not of the highest quality in my humble opinion. I have researched quite a bit on making scaled rope over the past couple years and decided that I was going to give it a go and try and make my own rope for the Bellona. I purchased an infinite rope walk a year or so ago and have been practicing for a bit now. I do not have much room in my workshop, so this tool seemed to make sense to me if I were to make my own rope. I am starting with making the breeching and gun tackle for the canons. I have included some pictures of the kit supplied rope and the rope that I made with the rope walk. I think the rope walk did a pretty good job, but it did take quite a bit of trial and error, mostly error, before I started getting good results. I have included some pictures, and a short video of the rope walk in action in case anyone has an interest. Well, I don’t have anything else to add for this post and will provide another update when I make some progress on the armament. As always, your comments and guidance are always welcome. Cheers Nearshore 20250201_071511.mp4

Hello All, I have a few updates on Bellona which I will put in a few posts for clarity. Well, I shaped the bulwark stanchions from the kit supplied beechwood. This is part # 97a if you are building this model. I first started with sanding the bottom of the stanchion so that the angle from the deck and bulwark was 63 degrees. After I was satisfied with how the stanchions matched up with the bulwarks, I filed the notches on them to clear the waterway plank and bulwark planks. I still have a bit of polishing to do on them before I set them in place. I am going to also stain them with walnut stain to match the other stanchions that will be below the quarter deck. After I completed shaping the stanchions, I drilled the holes for the ring bolts for the canon breeching and gun tackle. I was concerned that I was not going to be able to be consistent in their placement, so I made a jig out of some extra boxwood that I had. I drilled the 2 holes that I needed in the boxwood and glued a guide that would butt up against the gun ports. I fabricated a makeshift drill by using a piece of 4mm dowel and drilling the center to fit the drill bit and glueing the drill bit I would be using in the hole that I drilled. I used the jig to mark the locations and then very carefully drilled each hole trying not to drill through the hull. The dowel was long enough to allow me to drill the holes from the opposite gun port. I only messed up once, but I got lucky as the hole I drilled will be covered up by the sea ladder. I used the same jig to drill both the forward and aft side of the gun ports only having to flip the jig around to mark each hole. Well, that’s all I have for now and as always, your comments and guidance are always welcome. Cheers Nearshore

Good luck on your journey. Look forward watching your progress. Nearshore

A master piece in the making!! Very inspirational Yves. Nearshore

Thank you for the response to this topic. I am considering putting the garlands between the gun ports. I now just have to figure out the scaling of the shots which I will research. Nearshore

Thank you Yves for the better explanation. Nearshore

Hello, I am currenty building the HMS Bellona at a 100 scale from Corel. I can not find any referance of how the cannon balls were stored on deck. The plans do not show any provisions for there storage and none of the books I have explain where or how they were stored. I am hoping that the experts here can explain how they stored the cannon balls on deck or direct me to a resource that can show me how they stored the cannon balls and there positioning on deck. It seems strange to me that they would not of had any storage for the cannon balls on deck. I have seen other builds that have included storage for them on deck, but i don't want to include this on my build if in fact there were no provisions. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Nearshore

Hi Robert, Thank you for the compliment. WOP stands for "wipe on polyurethane " Nearshore

Hello All, Happy New Year. I have a small update on Bellona. I was able to get a little bit of shipyard time in over the holidays. I decided to go after some of the low hanging fruit and assemble the partner and grating coaming. First, I assembled the grating and after assembly I stained them with walnut stain. After I stained the grating, I mixed some PVA glue and water to soak the grating and glue the pieces together. I cut the grating for each section and used the width of the grating to determine the width and length of the coaming frames. Instead of butting the coaming sections together, I notched the ends of each board and glued them together. I think that this would give a bit more strength to the joints. After assembly of the frames and grating, I placed a piece of 220 grit sandpaper on the deck and sanded the bottom of each of the frames and grating to match the contour of the deck. After that was done, I placed a couple of 1mm boxwood planks together with a space in between and sanded the top of the coaming to get a contour on the top. Once this was completed, I cut the 1 x 10mm partners for the capstan and mast. The partners were not wide enough by 1mm. I installed a piece of 1x2mm beechwood to fill void. The problem was that the width of the grating was not equal to the width of the 10mm beechwood. After that was completed, I carved the hole for the mast. I did the final sanding of the coaming and grating and then stained the grating and applied a couple coat of WOP to the coaming boards. I have not yet glued the coamings to the deck yet, I still have to paint the deck black where the grating will be to give the appearance of some depth. I continued with constructing the capstans. The wood for the whelps that came with the kit was not to my liking. I made new whelps out of 1x4 beechwood as this gave the capstan a better contrasting color. The process was fairly easy to make them. I started by first filing a notch and then used a #11 razor to finish it off. After all the whelps were fabricated, I cut off the excess that protruded from the capstan. The capstan on the left is before trimming and the capstan on the right is the final result. I still have a bit of polishing and then apply a few coats of WOP. Well, that’s all I have for now, I will provide another update as I make some more progress. Thanks for reading and as always, your comments and guidance are always welcome. Cheers Nearshore

I am sure your build will be just as good if not better. Look forward to seeing your progress. Cheers Nearshore

Hi Daiga, First, I would like to say that you are doing a fine job on your model, especially it being your first build. I agree with you that mistakes only improves your skills for future builds. Don't take it the wrong way on the critics that comment on this forum. They are only trying to give you resources to improve your skills. I have had many critics on the model I am building and welcome the guidance they provide. To answer you question on the part in post 16, I believe that part is a cleat. I am not sure what lines were used to secure to that cleat, but I am pretty sure thats what that part is. I 'm sure that someone will have more information on this part and its purpose. I hope that you continue to post your progress on your build so that others may learn from your mistakes as well as your successes. Keep up the good work you are doing and enjoy the satisfaction and achievements that building one of these ships offers once completed. I hope you continue to post your progress, you are building a fine model and I think that it looks amazing so far!! Cheers Nearshore

Hello All, Well, I have a small update on Bellona. I completed the bow grating and seats of ease. I installed the first 2 seats and began installing the grating starting in the middle and working my way outboard. It was not a very complicated task, just took some time with the small boards and getting the proper angles. I didn’t like the way the head rails terminated at the stem, so I installed a small piece of beechwood to cover the gap that was there. I think it came out ok and looks better than it did. Once the first set of seats were installed, I installed the last 2 seats and remaining grating boards. I like the way it turned out and it looks more in line with the AOS illustration. The discharge of the seats just misses the rails, but my wife made a comment that there must have been a bit of a mess on the bow of the ship. I told her that one of the punishments for telling a fib was to clean off the head rails of any left over……well you know. I could imagine that if the cook made a sour meal causing an excessive use of these seats that he also would be punished by having to clean up the mess 😊. I cut off a small piece of 8mm dowel for the bow sprit to help prevent me from damaging the head rails if I accidentally grab that area while repositioning the ship. I didn’t like the way the bow sprit looked as it exited from the forecastle. I did not do a very good job carving the opening for it. So, I took some 1 x 1 mm beechwood and installed it around the opening to trim it out. It flows nicely with the rest of the trim in my humbled opinion. Well, that’s all I have for now. I think that I am ready to start working on the interior of the ship. I have a few things to clean up on the stern that I am not satisfied with, but that won’t take too much time. As always, your comments and guidance are always welcome. Enjoy the pics. Cheers Nearshore

Hi Andy, I am building the same ship. I am about 2 1/2 years into the build. The instructions are not the best and if followed verbatim they will get you into trouble. If I can be of any assistance, I will be more than happy to share my experiences. If you need some perspective pictures of a particular area, I will be more than happy to share what I have with you. I have taken more than 2000 pictures along the way which have helped me in identifying issues and solutions. Good luck on your journey, this is a nice model, and I'm shore you will enjoy the challenges that it has to offer. Cheers Nearshore

Hello All, Small update on the Bellona. I started installing the head grates using the grating that was supplied with the kit. I made a template out from some cardboard and shaped it to fit in the first section of the head. I then used the template to cut and shape the grating and dry fitted it to the head. I didn’t really like the look of the grating, and I felt that it was not an accurate interpretation of the period and conflicted with the AOS illustration for this section. I decided that I would attempt building the grating as shown in the AOS book. I found that the brass for the inner seats of ease that was supplied with the kit did not fit properly either. I built new ones from 4 x 4 beechwood and 1 x 4 walnut for the seat and glued them in place. I then shaped the knee from walnut and attached them to the head beam. I took some 1 x 4 walnut and reduced it down to 1 x 2 for the grating. Then I painfully started cutting and shaping the grating strips and gluing them in place. This took some time and patience as the pieces were very small and each end of the boards had a different angle where they attached to the hull and head beam. After I completed this I shaped and installed the remaining cross beams. Well, that’s all I have for now. I will continue with the remaining grating and seats of ease installation and provide another update when I make some more progress. Cheers Nearshore

I think you made the right decision. I like the matural tones of the wood.

Hi Yves, I forgot to ask if the weights you used are buss bars? Im an electrician and they look oddly familiar.

Hi Yves, Looks like this is going to be an incredible build. You are quite the master modeler and i will be following you on this journey. I imagine this will take a couple years to complete. I am looking forward watching and learning as you progress with this complexities of this project. I understand that its not realistic to put a timeline on building a ship of this magnitude, but do you have an idea on how long it will take to complete? Cheers Nearshore

Hi Yves, Thanks for the compliment. It means a lot to me. I've studied your build log, although different scales, there are still a lot of similarities. Nearshore

Thanks for the complement.

Hello All, I have a small update on my progress of the Bellona. I have been working on the headrails and so far, this has been one of the more challenging parts of the build. I fabricated the catheads and drilled the holes for the cat tackle line. I used a jig to drill the holes and then inserted a piece of thread in the holes and used it to saw the lines between the holes. I did not get any pictures of this process but thought it was worth mentioning because the lines are so close together and getting a clean cut between the holes was easier this way than trying to cut them with a razor knife. After the catheads and knees were installed, I completed the installation of the 2nd and 3rd head rails. Once they were in place I was able to complete the installation of the ekeing rail. The ekeing rail was a bit tricky as it curves around the shape of the hull and also changes in direction upwards connecting to the cathead knees. Once these pieces were in place I was able to complete the last head timber that fits between the ekeing rail and head rail. After all the rails were in place I installed the outer head timber coving. I used my molding shaper and a black pigment marker to highlight the grooves I made in the timber covering. I then applied a couple coats of WOP to everything. I will begin the installation of the cross members, grating and seats of ease and will provide an update once I make some progress. Well, I hope you enjoy the pics and as always, your comments and guidance are always welcome. Cheers Nearshore

Look forward to following you progress. I have been toying with possably building the same ship once I've completed the Bellona which i have been working on for the past 2 years. I am pretty far away from completing her so i still have plenty of time before i make that decision. Good luck and have fun building this amazing ship. Cheers Nearshore