Frecap

Greetings, Ronald-V! Yes, I want to keep the natural wood. I'll just paint the barkhouts black and the upper part of the sides blue with decor. Like the Charles Middleton model, but without the copper plating

I finished the hull cladding with the second layer. I also lathed the keel, stem and the stern. I've done the pre-sanding. That's what it looks like.

Hello, cnemo! Now the work is going fast and a some later I will post new photos where the bow of the ship will be clearly visible.

Thanks! It's an interesting activity! I am pleased to see how the building is being transformed!

Thanks! That's until the enthusiasm runs out!

Hi, everyone! I continue to trim the model with a dark walnut rail. I use PVA glue and an iron. I glued the pads to the narrowed keel and achtersteven. Then I'll give them the right shape and hide them with a finishing trim.

Before starting the next stage of assembly, I thought for a long time about what to do first – to mount the aft gallery, or finish the hull cladding with a second layer. After carefully examining the models of various ships, including the Bellona model by Charles Middleton from the Greenwich Museum, I came to the conclusion that, after all, the gallery structures are located on top of the hull. That's why I'm starting the second layer. Before that, I painted with black acrylic paint inside the gun ports of the forecastle, quarterdeck and gundeck. And I started the top layer with moldings No. 56, 58 and two slats between them. Unfortunately, at the very beginning I took the wrong slats for the cladding. Beech, instead of the dark walnut intended in the trim kit. Well, that's fine. Anyway, this belt will be colored blue. Next, I will use the right rail.

Hi! Nearshore! Thank you for your assessment!

Well, I've finished the first layer of cladding. Treated with sandpaper. The hull takes on the shape of a ship) For some reason it looks rather rough in the photos, although tactile - everything is smooth. Well, as it turned out, so it turned out... I'll try to fix the flaws with a second layer.

Hi, Nearshore, thanks! When I started the plating, at first I didn't understand how the rail would fit in the stern. I've looked at a lot of photos, and you've shown the entire assembly process in particular. And at this stage, you can see how the slats should be positioned.

On many ships in general, and on Bellona in particular, the stem and afterstay are narrowed from top to bottom. This is seen, for example, in Brian Lavery's Anatomy of the Ship. In the whale from Corel, this is not in the drawings. I decided to make this narrowing, but I obviously overdid it) I'll have to make overlays later.

I continue the cladding of the first layer. Things are moving, there's not much left. With all my efforts, it looks a little clumsy, but I think that subsequent processing will fix the situation.

Thanks! I have studied the process of building your Bellona very carefully. It helps a lot in my work!

Hello Harlequin! I've seen your wonderful work. Photos of various stages help me in my work!

Good day to all! When I started assembling the Bellona model, I studied a lot of material on the history of this ship, as well as the history of the models that are stored in the NMM. In addition, I looked at several options for assembling the Bellona model from different craftsmen, both amateurs and recognized luminaries in this field. Accordingly, I decided on the concept of assembly for myself. I want the model to be aesthetically beautiful. At the same time, somewhere it is possible to sacrifice historical authenticity. To justify this fact, I can put forward the following argument: this ship has had a very long century, during which it has undergone many repairs and its appearance has changed significantly over time. Corel's kit can't provide all the nuances, so I'm going to manufacture many of the parts myself. First of all, this concerns the magnificent bow and stern decors, the painting on the sides and many other details. The photo etching sheet and the poor casting from Corel will not ensure that the beauty of this wonderful ship is properly conveyed. The final result is still very far away, but for now I'm continuing with the first layer of hull cladding. I glued an imitation of the gun ports of the gundeck and the upper decks, layer by layer I glue the lime slats, after soaking them in hot water and bending them with an iron. Some slats have to be bent in three planes to get the right shape. The case is progressing slowly. I glue 1-2 slats on each side per day.

Thanks! I will try my best!

The person from whom I got the model started gluing the first layer of the cladding incorrectly, so I tore off all the slats. I decided not to disassemble the frame, just glued all the joints, removed the small ones where necessary, and started the first layer of cladding again.

Hello everyone I bought a Bellona set from Corel for the occasion. The previous owner started assembling the ship, but apparently quickly came to the conclusion that it was not just necessary to assemble ready-made parts to make a beautiful model. The enthusiasm ended at the stage of assembling the frame with several slats of the first skin belt glued to it. I am also not an expert in ship modeling. But I have some skills, and I hope that I will build this model anyway. Why Bellona? As I said, on occasion. Specifically, the price turned out to be too attractive compared to the price of the set from the store. Besides, I looked at a lot of options, the sailboats are all beautiful, but for some reason it was the Bellona that caught my eye with its appearance. Having already started to assemble the model, I began to search for information about similar projects on the Internet in various forums. As it turned out, there are quite a lot of them, as well as various information about this ship. Of course, I will use all this information in my work. So, I'm getting started.