yvesvidal

I am exploring some colors for the upper part of the hull and the channels: On the left side, we have Wipe-On-Poly on basswood and maple strips. The WOP may get darker with multiple applications. On the right side, Minwax Mustard water based color. The mustard will get duller with time. Overall view to get a better feel: Let me know your preferences and some other tricks to color the maple and basswood. The original model is shown below: And a painting of HMS Bellona by Geoff Hunt: Yves

Breaking away from the CAF instructions (which are recommending planking the lower hull first) I went ahead and worked on the Wales. After carefully measuring and getting the right positioning of these from pictures and the blueprint, I went ahead and started gluing the thick and stiff strips of cherry wood, provided in the kit. These are 8.5 mm wide by 3 mm thick and quite a challenge to bend. Some warm water allowed me to follow the natural curve of the hull: The wales are glued with slow curing two components resin epoxy. I have to wait about 6 to 8 hours for each strip and there are nine strips total. Maybe I need to be less generous on the amount of glue.... Wales are glued staggered, in order to define a nice and regular curve, along the hull. Three strips are about 25 mm wide, which is one mm short of what the blueprint is indicating. However, following the Anatomy of the Ship book, I will be approaching the wales on a more gradual basis, instead of the way it is done in the kit. In the kit, we have 3 mm thick (wales) and we then plank the upper hull with 0.4 mm maple strips. That creates a brutal transition which is contradictory to what the reference book is showing. Instead, I will use 3 mm for the wales, 1.5 mm transition strip (not provided in the kit) and the 0.4 mm upper hull planking. Still plenty of sanding to be done.... Another aspect of the upper hull that needs to be addressed, is the upper deck gun ports: These present a large opening which is not right and will create a void, when the external planking is installed. Using 1.5 x 1.5 mm strip (not provided in the kit), I am filling up the gap created between the outer shells and the futtocks. The lower gun deck, does not need that treatment since the gun port lids are supposed to be inserted there. When dry, everything is sanded smoothly and the upper hull planking could be technically started at that point. We will not do that quite yet.... An overall view of the starboard side with the wale installed. To accommodate the sharp curve at the bow, I took my 8.5 x 3 mm cherry strips and split them in two, on the length of the bow curve. After a soaking in alcohol, the smaller strips created by the cut are easier to bend and less likely to break. At the bow, you can actually see 6 small strips. About four coats of Model Shipways acrylic black paint to get a sense of the wale: Still plenty of sanding to be done and another four coats to make it look nice. Another point to not forget, is the painting of the gun ports and some wood putty in places where they may be small imperfections in the smoothness of the hull. I am trying to finish one side before moving to the port side of the hull. I hate repetitive tasks.... when building a 74 guns ship, what can you expect? Yves

Impressive and beautiful. You pulled it out very nicely. Yves

These wagons were truly luxurious. Yves

Kevin The Bellona copper tiles were 4 feet by 15 inches according to the Anatomy of the Ship. At 1/48th scale, that translates to: 2.5 cm x 0.8 cm. The sample tiles that Tom sent me are about half the required size. I suspect they must have 1/64th scale tiles and that does not work too well, on that huge hull. Yves

The planking on the poop is not perfect but everything will be painted and I will use some wood putty to fill the imperfections. Now, I need the opinions of experts: CAF recommends starting to plank the bottom of the hull, without any comments, of course. I have been looking at various Build Logs and some people start with the wales. I am thinking about starting with the wales to really define the hull and make it as symmetric as possible and also start planking the bottom of the hull, near the keel. Once the wales are in place and correctly sanded, I was thinking about planking from the wales down to the keel. There is no second planking on that large model and all the planks are 8 mm wide by 3 mm thick lime wood. Tough stuff to handle and very stiff. The hull is supposed to be coppered but I have not made up my mind yet and the CAF tiles are way too small for this model. I would have to procure them from another source. Suggestions, recommendation, hints, advices are the most welcome. Yves

This is coming along very nicely. Beautiful construction. Yves

Moving along with the stern. I have glued the famous #25 part with 2 components epoxy glue, after carefully checking alignment and dimensions. I do not have Session #4 yet, which includes the balcony and floor that will be resting on that part, but I suspect it will work fine. The central futtock #1, is not glued since it will be discarded: After positioning carefully the windows, I am gluing the first plank on the stern. This one and the following will be curved after soaking them in luke warm water. Not easy as these planks are made of 3 mm thick lime wood (I suspect it is lime). Moving on with the planking of the poop: Yves

Very clever way of doing these. Something to remember.... Yves

Beautiful bilge pumps and cranks. Man, you are brave to attempt another one of these builds.... This one is actually very nice. Yves

What an impressive ship and model. I will be following with a lot of interest as I am building a much simpler model (kit), the Bellona from CAF, also in 1/48th scale. Yves

Nice progress Alan. I like that juxtaposition of raw and harsh PLA and soft and smooth wood. It makes for a nice contrast. On a side note, I need to resume my build if I want to have a chance to finish it before you.... Busy with the HMS Bellona right now.... Yves

That is a massive tiller. Yves

My favorite glue as well. I grew up in France and build my first planes with UHU Hart. By far the best glue for light woods. Unfortunately, impossible to find in the USA. Testors Cement for wood is a pale substitute for UHU Hart. Yves

Very nice. Yves

I like that Tinkerbell and your kit of course.... Yves

SESSION #1 is OVER !!!!!!!! So, Session #1 is officially over and Session #2 has been started as indicated by the following excerpts of the IKEA style instructions: A few views to show you the overall beast! Impressive and massive: As a conclusion for Session #1, I would say the following: CAF should provide the parts that allow you to verify the correct spacing between the top of the futtocks. These parts are only available with Session 3 and 4 and this is way too late in the hull construction process. Other manufacturers like ZHL or Model Shipways provides bulkeads or futtocks with a removable middle sections. Once assembled and glued, you cut the top and voila.... On such a kit, this lack of help is not acceptable (even the spacing between futtocks is not indicated on the plan, in a clear way). When building a Framed model (POF), a full jig is provided allowing you to assemble the hull without major mistakes. Here, it feels at times like flying a plane in the dark without IFR instrumentation. The Stern should not be assembled until you have Session #2 in your possession. I suppose this is a trick to force you into purchasing the additional sessions. Wood is of very good quality and a pleasure to work with. The cuts are very precise, well done and parts are very easy to detach from the sheets. I wish the stand (to hold the hull) would be offered in Session #1 and not in Session #4..... Instructions need a lot of improvements...... a lot!!!! Overall I am very pleased with this kit and would recommend it even to beginners (like me). It does not require any special tools besides sandpaper, files and X-Acto tools. So, let's move on with Session #2..... the planking and the Gun deck !!! Yves

I finished the installation of the shell panels at the bow. This was done after re-positioning the futtocks for bulkheads 4 and 3. Dimensions (spacing between the top of the futtocks) are now as indicated on the 3D drawings provided by Tom (see previous posts). I still have to glue the futtocks related to the first Bulkhead and place the last panels (A): Above, just remove the two small triangular shaped parts at the very front of the bow. They serve no purpose and are a hindrance when shaping the front bow shells. Gluing Panels A, B and C required soaking the wood in warm water, to make it more compliant. The curves are intense and creating them with flat two-dimensional pieces is not exactly ideal. I probably will have to use some wood putty to "fair" the angles. The front parts still have to be built: a sandwich of 12 layers of 5 mm plywood, glued and filed to shape: For the starboard side, I tried to follow the instructions and grind the inside, which is a waste of time and energy. On top of that, it make the parts more fragile. Instead, I removed the tiny triangular pieces at the very front of the bow, and installed directly the assembly. Much easier and more solid. Each round shape for the bow, is glued with Epoxy two components glue. Yves

John, you are a sail master. What a beautiful work. Yves

Looking really good Herb. I see that you got the end bulkheads from Otto. Great stuff that adds a lot of realism (and logic) to the kit. Yves

That is a very good ratio. You are definitely an expert, with those microscopic bits. Yves

So what is the ratio: 1 drill every three holes? Yves

A few issues have been solved with CAF Bellona. One of them (and not the least) is the Stern. At the end of Session #1, the following is proposed: There is not enough material and information to really make it a success. My approach has been the following: Using Picture 22, I only glued D1 to D4 on each side. That was done after fairing the hull, to avoid breaking the delicate parts. The sandwich suggested in Picture 24 is not really necessary and as we will see only the two D-5-c parts are necessary. But this is left aside for now as D5 has not been glued to the transom. With only the Session #1 kit, you cannot and should not go any further. I was so much in the dark that I asked for help to Tom. He provided me with these two CAD drawings that shed so much light on my problem: With Session #2, an interesting piece of information is revealed: Part #25 is key and will help you build the correct alignment for the left and right D5 parts as well as provide that crucial 152 mm width, which is essential when building all the magnificence of the stern. In the picture below, you can see how Part 25 is coming to save us: A little verification of the distance: Yes, it is very close. At that stage, I glued the two shells "Q" on each side. D5 parts are still floating and have not been secured to the transom. Once Q is properly glued and aligned with the rest of the hull, the parts D5 and D-5-C will be shaped to fit. Above you can see D-5-A and D-5-B on the right and the two D-5-c parts glued together on the left. I did not need the parts on the right. D-5-C assembly is filed down to almost nothing to fill in the gap between the D5 futtock and the shell Q: as you can see below, there is still plenty to remove.... Finally, when the sandwich D-5-C have been reduced to a sliver, it can be glued to D5, which can be in turn glued to the transom, using the shell Q as a guide for proper alignment. The gluing is done with part 25 in place, to make sure that everything is perfectly lined up. Finally, we come to that: Above, D1 (the center futtock) will be removed as I intend to make the rudder movable. D1 is in the way, and its only purpose is to make sure that you have a central reference. Once part 25 is glued, it will not be really necessary. Yes, the Sacro-saint dimension of 152 mm is there: We finally come to a point where we are starting to have a decent stern: I hope these explanations will be useful to some readers. This is definitely not a Vanguard Model with a documentation done by James H. We are trailblazing here.... Next, the stem.... Yves

This sequence of assembly is incredible. I wish most kit manufacturers would come close to what you are describing, in their instructions....or lack of. It is amazing to see the ship being born, one level at a time and it feels like you could create kits at different scales very easily out of your 3D study. Keep up this fantastic work. Yves

Superb work. Each phase is getting exciting and building the interior will be the highlight of that model. Then, you will have to find some motive powers to go with it.... Yves