SJSoane

Thanks, Greg, I have been dreading it. Of course, I haven't yet tackled actually carving wood, which I am sure is a very different level of skill altogether in relation to shaping clay. I tried to keep track of the number of times I had to add clay to the form--lots of times--which of course I won't be able to do once I start cutting wood. It will be cut, cut, cut and it is still too short!

Thanks so much, Jason. This is my very first effort at sculpting the human form. The artist guides to human proportions helped enormously, then looking at examples of details like folds in clothing from other eighteenth century carvings. Yves, the Bellona has 28 guns on the gundeck, 28 on the upper deck, 14 on the quarterdeck, and 4 on the forecastle. At the time the Bellona was first launched in 1760, which is what I am trying to reproduce, there were no carronades. The four on the forecastle were long range nine pounders. They peek through short interruptions in the forecastle railing. I have labeled them below.

I just finished a clay maquette of the Bellona figurehead, at double scale, or 3/8" =1'-0". Here is a filler showing location and fit with the cheeks: Then taking the advice of David Antscherl's Fully Framed Models tutorial on carving, I used an artist's guide to dimensions of the female figure to get the right proportions of things, and initially modeled Bellona with no clothes yet: It is a good thing I did this, because I discovered that the original figurehead on the first Bellona model had lower legs way too short for the torso, minuscule feet, and a head pushed too far forward from the neck. To me, she also looks too cherubic to be the goddess of war: Since I had to add arms anyway, I looked at other artistic renderings of Bellona for a fiercer, more war-like look. I found a haunting image by Bertrand MacKennal of a sculpture in the Australian War Memorial https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:Mackennal_-_War.jpg. Mine is not as haunting, but as good as I can do, first go around: Next, reducing this by one half, and doing another maquette. I might try to do it in Sculpey so I can take measurements from it for the wood carving version after it is hardened. Does anyone know if Sculpey shrinks when baked in an oven? Mark

Thanks so much, Gaetan! Alan, would you be willing to tell my wife how important this is?🤪

Thank, JD, Grant and Gaetan, I have looked into microscopes (pun intended), after your suggestions to kit up. It is a world entirely unknown to me (somehow, I managed to get through all my school including college with never taking a life science class, only physics; so I have never even looked through a microscope). I need a little more information about what I am actually looking for. Reading some back issues of the Nautical Research Journal, I came across several articles by William Sproul who discussed his microscope, an old Bausch and Lomb Stereozoom 3 or 4 with a 10X eyepiece. If I have this right--and please correct me if I don't--you need a stereo microscope to enable your depth perception. Not all microscopes are stereo? And you need one with enough working depth under the microscope to allow the workpiece and the tools. He says he works at 7X to 10X most of the time. My Optivisor #5 is 2X, so that would make a big difference. Is the 7X to 10X range for the eyepiece what determines how much working depth there is under the microscope? Since my vise is sitting out in front of my bench, I imagine I need a boom stand. Or are you all using another way to fasten the work down underneath the microscope? I thank you all in advance for help on looking for a microscope! Gaetan, my dentist once showed me her dental loupe, which must have been a chirurgical magnifying glass. It sits in front of her glasses. Do you have suggestions about which ones would work for model making, and is the main requirement that it has a working distance of 10-20 inches? The ones I see online only seem to go up to 3.5X. Best wishes, Mark

Hi JD, I am using an Optivisor with a 5 lenses. It is definitely pushing my limits. As I get closer to what I think is finished, I take macro photos with my iPhone to see more detail than I can see with my eyes alone. then I clean up some more. I probably should start looking into a microscope as I start ramping up the carving part of this project. What do you use? Best wishes, Mark

I finally made my first foray into miniature carving. I started with the lion heads on the outboard ends of the cat beams. 7.85 mm or 5/8 inch square, so tiny enough to keep me focused! I used my Russian chisels for the first time. They are as wonderful as everyone says. Super sharp, well balanced, controllable cuts. I glued 3000 grit paper to a hardwood block for sharpening. I have been able to sharpen freehand with success, using the fore and middle fingers to hold the chisel at the right angle to the block, and the fore finger to press slightly down on the cutting edge. It brings back the super sharp edge in only a few strokes. And it does have to be touched up regularly, like every 8-10 cuts. I haven't had to do the gouges yet. That looks more challenging, especially the .5 mm one. At first, I took chisels out and put them on my desk when switching to another chisel. I quickly found out that this does not work. First, they were all to easily starting to roll towards the front edge of my bench when I wasn't looking. Second, the cutting edges are so tiny that I would have to pick up each on on my bench to look very carefully to find the right one. I decided it was a better idea to keep them in their box whenever not in use. To facilitate finding them, I made a small chart and double sided taped it to the back of the box. Now it is very easy to find a chisel right away, and put it back safely between uses. I held these in my GRS vise. Its ability to pivot really helps get at the wood from the right direction. Since this vise mounts on the edge of the bench, I pulled out my sliding platform beneath the bench (that usually holds my cutting board), and built a small platform to sit on top the platform and around the wood block to be cut. This gives me something to rest my hands on as I try to control these very fine cuts. Gosh, a three dimensional figurehead doesn't look so scary after this!😏

A small update on the traiboard question. In posting 2286 above, I showed the two different trailboards for the two different Bellona models. I wanted to follow the first model because it is closer to the original design (since it predates the second model by 20 years or so), but the only photo I have is frustratingly out of focus. I also looks like it lost parts in the center, and I could not imagine how to recreate the original design. Then I saw the trailboard for a contemporary ship, HMS Hercules or Thunderer, launched just one year before the Bellona, in 1759. This shows a floral scroll: So I traced what I could see of the remaining Bellona pieces, and speculated on how it might have been filled in in the spirit of the Hercules design. Too far down the road of speculation? At least it would be easier to make than the second Bellona model design, with its super thin spears, the George III cypher, etc.

Hi Noel, Others more experience than I may have a better answer, but so far, I have used this trick for temporarily holding other parts together (for example, to shape a port and starboard piece at the same time for perfect symmetry), and I have had no problems with distorting or discoloring the wood. Using 99% isopropyl means it is mostly alcohol, and it dries quickly when the piece is removed from the bath. My biggest mistake was using too much glue. Only a tiny drop or two will temporarily hold parts together, and this is much faster to release than a full coating of glue. Indeed, I have given up trying to separate pieces that were glued too thoroughly together. Best wishes, Mark

Hi Alan, I like the idea of letting it release without having to pry two things apart. I'll try the PVA and alcohol idea. Mark

I have now drilled the hawse holes, and fitted a bolster waiting for final assembly for final trimming: I now have to turn my attention to the trailboard. I am getting closer to painting the blue around this area, and I want to know where the trailboards need gluing. I want to build the Bellona as first designed, and shown in the first model. But the trailboard detail is frustratingly difficult to see or to reconstruct, from the photo I took: Unless someone has a better photo, I may have to build the trailboard on the second Bellona model: If I do the latter, do you have any advice for how to glue this down to a backing board for piercing and carving, and then how to get it unglued from the backing board with those tiny, fragile pieces holding it together? Mark

Beautiful work, Siggi. Your craftsmanship is spectacular, and your carving and painting set the very highest standard for everyone else. I wish you could offer lessons in your techniques! Mark

Marc, I really appreciate how you are as interested in the history and rationale for various reconstruction decisions as you are in the exquisite model construction itself. The best of both worlds! Mark

Hi Alan, You might have a look at some conversations about this problem at my Bellona website. In posting #173 (about page 6) and onward, is a discussion about the stern roundups. I found out years later in Steel's Naval Architecture that the roundups of the beams at the stern of the upper deck and quarterdeck are indeed intentionally higher than the standard beams further forward on each of these decks, for the aesthetic reason druxey described. These are faired in smoothly so the deck does not have a bump in it at any place; but it means that every beam from the stern to the point of fairing into the standard beams is a slightly different roundup. Sneaky! I kind of faked mine, making beams a little larger and then smoothing down the upper deck surface. I didn't understand why at the time, but got there in the end. I think.... In posting #198 and onward, I show a jig I made to manage all of the roundups and arrangements of the vertical stern timbers, to keep everything in place and symmetrical. A lot of work to make the jig, but then everything fell into place very quickly. Hope this helps! Mark

Thanks so much for the kind comments, Yancovitch and Steve. Slow but steady! In my last post, I express doubts about the way I had managed the hair bracket, sitting tenuously on top of the knee at the stem. After pondering it a while, I decided there was nothing for it but to cut down the top of the knee that I had shaped in 1998 when I started construction (see image below). It was too short for the hair bracket, the gammoning slot and the hole for the mainmast stay collar were in the wrong locations. To this day, I don't quite know how I got that so wrong. I might have copied something out of Lavery's book on the Bellona, which I have subsequently discovered is not accurate enough to build a model from. And I started construction years before I finally started drawing more accurate drawings--always a mistake! So, I made a complete new piece, combining the hair bracket and a carved ornamental piece that stands directly behind the figurehead. It seemed more solid the two together, and they are the same thickness relative to the figure head: And after a lot of faying and tapering, the new core for the hair brackets now holds everything firmly together. I made up a dummy of Bellona (don't tell her I said that, she is supposed to be a very scary warrior...), just to see how things are starting to fit together. The first image below shows the new core piece still covered in the paper pattern, showing the bas-relief carving to come on the piece behind the figurehead (she is pulled away from it a little in this photo). It also shows the captain standing on the cheeks. Gives a good idea of the size of the figurehead. And here are parts starting to fall into place: I have been reading David Antscherl's excellent explanation of how to carve a figure head in Volume II of the Fully Framed Model. I might start with the maquette, and see how it goes... I have pondered what wood to use, to carve the figures on the ship. My boxwood is not buxus semperivens, the stuff the old modeler's used, and that David recommended when he first wrote his book. But I can find no supplier anywhere in the world of buxus semperivens anymore. I know my boxwood is from South America, but I don't know its actual species. It seems to be stiffer in relation to what others have written about working true boxwood. I think it will have to do. And I can always blame a bad outcome on bad tools or bad wood, not lack of skill!🙂 Best wishes, Mark edited with higher resolution image here:

Marc, Thanks so much for finding that video. Astonishing. One of the most striking items for me is the frame construction system. It does not use sistered frames and a frame and space arrangement as in the 18th century English ships. The single frames abut each other, alternating floors with futtocks and eventually top timbers. It is framed just like the English Admiralty dockyard models of the 17th and early 18th century. Franklin's Navy Board Ship Models book discusses this full size practice as the likely source for this modeling technique, and now I see it firsthand. So the framing of my model of the Bellona replicates this actual practice; I hadn't quite realized that before. And you can only imagine what it was like to construct this before chain saws and cranes.... Mark

Looking really nice, Chuck. I missed it somewhere; how did you make the master for the figurehead. Is that clay or wax? Best wishes, Mark

Thanks, Gaetan, someday when I get further along, I would be interested in studying French ships of the period. Always fun to see what is universal, and what is culturally different! Further progress today. I finally got in the second layer of the hawse lining, ready for drilling the hawse holes: And now on to that pesky support for the hair bracket. I tried letting a liner down into a rebate I cut today on top of the knee, but I may sleep on this. It seems flimsy, kind of cobbled together. I may consider making the entire core in one piece. A decision for tomorrow!

Hi druxey and Alan, The last image was a little misleading; the bowsprit shroud coming across the drawing make it look like the bowsprit was lower. The drawing below without the shroud shows the actual clearance I am working to, which is from the original Admiralty drawing. While referring to the previous drawing, you can see my drawing of the bumpkin or boomkin has no stays or other supports. Lees' Masting and Rigging pages 130-131 says that no rigging was fitted in the first years of the bumpkin, although he doesn't say when it first came into use. The few models I have seen of ships contemporary to the Bellona ca 1760--like the Thunderer-- do not show any rigging other than the shoulder block for the fore tack. Does anyone have any further model examples or further evidence of what may or may not have been used as additional stays for the bumpkin around 1760?

Waiting for the glue to dry on the port upper cheek assembly, I looked more carefully at the area around the figurehead, double checking on the heights for clearance for the bowsprit, and also where the rigging will begin to fasten. Better to catch problems now, as parts are beginning to fall into place. I redrew the Bellona figurehead, with more detail that might begin to lead into the carving--at the very least, a blank to make sure everything fits. And, I did discover a mistake from 25 years ago. I marked and cut the slot for the gammoning in the keel when I first started construction. Now I see that I thought was the fore end was actually the aft end of the slot. So it is exactly its own distance back from where it ought to be! It will take some fine work to fill the slot and cut a new one. Don't tell anyone! Here is an updated drawings with the new Bellona figurehead, and the beginnings of rigging at the bow:

Greg's and druxey's gluing ideas worked well. Tiny drops of carpenter's glue between the piece and a sheet of plywood held everything firmly enough to sand fair on three sides. Isopropyl removed it from the ply, and as the British say, "Bob's your uncle!" Good trick for refining small delicate parts. Glued together on the hull, still not fully faired to each other: then glued down on plywood: Faired, and pinned back on the hull: This piece reminds me of the great quote on Remco's HMS Kingfisher site: "Treat each part as if it is a model on its own, you will finish more models in a day than others do in a lifetime." Mark

Hi Håkan, Thank you so much for your kind thoughts. I started a log on June 5, 1998, when I first started the actual construction (as opposed to the drawing for several years previously), noting issues I was working on, how I solved it, and how long it took. But the log quickly fell by the wayside. I still worked out details in it, but no longer kept track of time. And there are many months-and even a few years--not even accounted for. Like you, I realized it is the journey that counts. The Bellona is like a good friend, someone to spend time with, and who continues to reveal secrets the more I study and work. I am not sure what I would do with my time if ever I finished. I am too old to start another multi-decade project. So I think I will just drag this out, hoping I finish right before I can no longer see, or I have to deal with shaky hands. And great to hear from another left hander! Best wishes, Mark

Thanks so much, Greg, just what I needed to know!

Hi Alan, Looking great! Something that helped me put in the deck clamps was a small jig that could reference against the gunport cills, and then draw a mark at the correct distance down for the clamp location. Assuming the gunports are well faired, the deck at the sides will always be parallel to the ports. At least it was in the Bellona. Mark

The work on the cheeks and hair brackets continues. Getting a grip on these irregular shaped objects is a challenge. My GRS vise has saved the day, using small strips of leather to pad against the pin jaws. The biggest challenge by far--and still continuing-- has been fairing the upper cheek into the hair bracket. The photo below shows a paper template taped to the knee, which gave me a rough idea of the cheek's upper curve, but it was only approximate. I found greater success once I made the hair bracket and the core behind it, and temporarily pinned and tacked these to the knee. then I could sight the curve of the cheek and adjust accordingly. Getting closer: But it still needs a final fairing between the cheek and the hair bracket, which I think needs to be done off the hull. My thought is to tack the two together at their joint, then temporarily glue them down onto a flat surface so I can smooth the two pieces together. Can I get some technical advice? I have read about modelers gluing delicate pieces to a base with paper between, to be worked on. is this carpenter's glue, full strength or diluted? And then how do you then get the delicate piece off the base, and get the glued paper off the back of the piece? I don't want to soak these in water. Is isopropanol used? Having invested so many hours into these pieces, I don't want to mess up at this last stage! Mark