SJSoane

I have found it helpful to sand in one direction for 10 strokes, the reverse the piece and sand again for 10 strokes. No matter how hard I try to keep things level, inevitably I do favor one hand or side more than another. Switching periodically helps even things out. And also check with digital calipers periodically at each and on each side, to ensure that you are doing everything evenly. You can press a little harder on one end or side to even things up as you go along. Checking often means you only have to adjust a little at a time, rather than dealing with a big taper at the end. Mark

Thanks, Michael, I originally built it upside down Hahn-style, and so saw it this way for many years. It always looked like a good inspiration for a furniture design of some kind. or maybe a sculpture. Well, I spent the entire day starting planking the lower counter, and got two parts not yet installed. But I learned a lot. Those of you who have done this before, did you pin these before gluing? I don't see how to clamp these for gluing, and wonder if pre-pinning will help keep everything in place. Also, I abandoned Goodwin's note that these are 8" width. I tried ruling that out and it looked like way too many small pieces. I went from 12 to 9 strakes, and it looks more convincing. I am closer now to 10 inches at the broadest widths. Mark

Thanks, everyone. I just read the David Antsherl primer on planking, which has inspired me to jump into my first real planking project, on the lower counter. I could only find one source for the width of the planks here, in Goodwin's Construction and Fitting of the English Man of War, p. 54. He says the planks for the counters are 2 ½ to 3 ½ inches thick, and 8 inches wide. My drawings from NMM scale at about 2 ½" (thick lines in the drawing allow several interpretations). And unless anyone else has a better source, I'll go with the 8". Oh, fun ahead! Mark

Hi everyone, I haven't seen the Bellona upside down for several years; kind of scary unbolting it from the building board! In all the years of studying, drawing and visualizing the stern, I confess I did not fully appreciate how much the lower counter forms a horizontal shelf. I wonder how many ships boys found a nice place for a nap in the little cubby between the lower counter and the upper deck. I am fairing the lower counter, and hoping to start planking it tomorrow. I'll re-read the great tutorials on planking on the website first... Mark

Very nice, Ed. Fascinating to see the differences in technology from the mid-late eighteenth to the mid nineteenth century... And a very nice veneer saw; I couldn't quite read the brand. Mark

Thanks, Ed, I just saw your posting in the books section. Very clever, very helpful! Mark

Hi Ed, Very ingenious! Thanks for showing this. I made some chocks a number of years ago (see photo), but I got nervous about leaving them for a long time because the finish might not "weather" as much behind the chocks as the rest of the hull, and I wasn't sure how I would fix it. You have given me an idea of putting some smaller "buttons" on the chocks so they touch less of the hull, and then using your great idea of using the side T-sections to clamp them in place. The other problem with mine is that the hull has to be removed to bolt the chocks in place. Your idea solves that problem. Thanks! Mark

Hi Remco, Beautiful work! I am about to start on the iron strapping for the Bellona, and I will use your photo as an inspiration for what to aim for. Mark

Thank you, everyone, for your encouraging thoughts. Who would ever guess in advance that would take so long, and be so fiddly? Imagine doing that with 2 story tall full size oak timbers... Mark

Hi Ed, This is a really dumb question, but I was looking at volume 2 of your book set, and I did not see how you were holding the hull upright on the building table after the rudder was installed. Your distance photos don't show supports at the fore and aft ends, nor supporting chocks underneath. Or did I miss seeing a photo? And since you were regularly turning in upside down, did you have a foolproof way of putting it upright and guaranteeing it was level athwartships, or did you need to re-level every time you flipped it? You continue to be my guide.... Best wishes, Mark

Hi everyone, Big event today. I started on the stern before Christmas, and today I finally glued everything except the upper and lower counter moldings and the two vertical counter timbers above the gun port cills. The moldings need profiles shaped before gluing, and the remaining counter timbers need a little more fitting. It is all looking shipshape! Very, very slow progress on this. Good thing I am not doing this for money.... Best wishes, Mark

Hi everyone, So I finally figured out--I think--the intersection of the helm port transom and the stern post. After reviewing the photos of the original Bellona model very carefully, the helm port transom clearly intersects the stern post a little aft of center, with a bit of stern post both fore and aft of the helm port transom. So what kind of joint would suit this? I considered a bridle joint intersecting the stern post. But I abandoned this idea, because this would weaken the post at the top by splitting it in two for the helm port transom to pass through. And I began to think that the continuity of the transom all the way across the stern for structural integrity was not necessary anyway. If the transom is split to save the integrity of the post, the two pieces of the transom still bridge on either side between two strong and stable anchoring points, the outer counter timber and the stern post. Furthermore, the upper deck transom (not shown yet in model or drawing) is only a little way above and aft of the helm port transom, and it bridges entirely across the stern giving all the transverse structural integrity needed here. So accepting a split helm port transom, the joint to the stern post is either a dovetail or a mortise and tenon. Maybe I decided on the latter because I did not see how easily I would cut a dovetail in the top or the stern post at this late date. But I prefer to think I decided on the mortise and tenon because it would leave the stern post most structurally integral, and would provide no joint on top of the post for admitting water. This is my story and I am sticking with it.... The drawing shows the intersection without the lower chock for clarity, while the model shows the chocks in place, hiding the lower piece of the helm port transom on either side of the stern post. Best wishes, Mark

Gaetan, Stunning, beautiful! Mrk

Very nice, Karl! Mark

Thank you, Michael, Sailor, Druxey, Ed and Grant. Each week, I keep thinking I will finally be able to show the stern assembled and glued; but entire days go by with file and fit, file and fit. It really helps keep me going in these more tedious moments with your words of encouragement! I just have to remind myself that a model maker did exactly this same thing 250 years ago, on the original Bellona model. And probably by candlelight as deadlines approached... Best wishes, Mark

Hi everyone, I continue to work on the stern, which proves to be the most complex thing I have ever built. Each piece interacts with several others, like a basket-weave. Nothing can be finally fixed, until others are fixed, which in turn depend on the first piece, etc. I discovered that even pinning things together doesn't entirely work, because the pieces move enough that fine fitting of another part is always off a bit. So I decided to firm up the middle, with the rudder port chocks glued to the two adjacent vertical timbers, holding the center timber. With this as a foundation, the other parts can be fitted to something solid. That center piece was a bit tricky to shape, and I am showing a Sherline vise held by my bench vise, which allowed it to be held without breaking the open end. I am also showing the helm port transom on the fore side of the timbers. Eventually, it will be cut in the middle, to come down to the top of the stern post. But I decided to keep it whole while fitting everything, to keep everything in alignment. I keep thinking I am only a short time away from gluing it all up, but each little fitting of parts takes forever. Maybe next week.... Best wishes, Mark

Nice, Remco! I am glad the jig idea worked for you. I would be lost without it. I am sure we will both be happy when we construct and install the window frames, knowing everything is already accurately spaced and hopefully symmetrical. Did you cut that very clean rabbet in the fore edge of the transom with a hand chisel? Best wishes, Mark

Michael, it is time to consider running a workshop on metal work. You are the master! Mark

Thanks, Ed, that is a very thoughtful answer to the question of how the clippers could be pared down to minimal structure necessary. It is always a design aspiration, to get the most done with the least material.... Mark

Hi Ed, Very interesting, to see the inboard works of the clipper compared to your Naiad. So there are no riding timbers or other transverse structural members in the lower hull? Or is that still to come? Mark

Gaetan, Those head rails are visual poetry. Those shipwrights were geniuses of function and art. Mark

Doris, It is so rare to see so many crew on these models. It really brings the ship to life, and gives it a great scale. A masterpiece. Mark

I would add to the previous comments that a book on this topic by you would be a best seller! Mark

Hi Michael, I am not getting much time away from work to check on the website lately, but I did stop in to see your progress. Looking great! Mark

I would add that cutting the thin piece on the fence side means that you cannot easily use a push stick. I use one that hooks over the fence, and has some sandpaper on the bottom surface to grip the stock. It keeps the stock flat on the table, and tight against the fence. this helps avoid any vibration in the cut. But this needs enough stock between the blade and the fence to give clearance for the push stick. Much easier and safer to cut the thin piece off the blade side, and then index the fence over with the stop for the next cut. Mark