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Build log HMS Bellerophon Introduction A model of a ship of the line from the Napoleonic wars was something I wanted to build for a long time. From the range of kits available I ended up with 2 favourites. The selection of those two was because of kit quality (should be good), scale and size of the finished model. As my last 4 projects were all in 1/64 I tended towards the same scale. Finally I had to choose between Caldercrafts Agamemnon (64) and Victory models Vanguard (74). The decision for Vanguard was made because of the following points: - the 74 is the classical ship of the line -I can build the Bellerophon variant which I like for her direct connection with Napoleon (Here, in Switzerland, he had a much bigger influence (not all negative) than Nelson). - copper plates are of better quality - the scale is with 1/72 close enough to my favoured one and... - the overall size is 10% less. As additional information source I will use Brian Laverys book 'The 74-gun ship Bellona' from the Anatomy of the Ship series. After checking the available build logs and comparing them with the Bellona plans as well as with the Bellerophon plan in 'The Ships of Trafalgar' I think that I will check and perhaps alter a few points: - The bulwark of the quarter deck must probably be lower in its forward part to be similar to Bellerophon plans in the internet or to Bellona's profile. I will have to find out if the heightened bulwark was an later alteration and if it was in place in 1805. However in the book 'The ships of Trafalgar' is a plan for the Bellerophon which shows the lower bulwark variant. plan from the kit... ...and from the one available from NMM (on my wish list) The rail on top of the foremost gun ports is here interrupted. On other plans it is running through in one piece. As Bellerophone's skipper I will install a continuous rail (looks smarter). - The kit's gun carriages are very nicely cast and show a lot of details - but look different from all the examples available in books or the internet. I have no idea where they found a prototype like that. Replacing them would be a lot of work and money. I will try to rework them a bit. - The dummy guns on the lower deck are not quite satisfactory. Possible solutions would be replacements by full guns (again expensive and requiring a lot of work for an mediocre improvement) or the installation of 'dummy carriages' similar to those used by Michael (md1400cs) on his fantastic Vasa. - The stern should gain a bit more transparency. I could make lighter side galleries and leave a door to them open. I guess to change the whole stern construction to enlarge the visible part of cabin and wardroom would be too much work for a small and hardly visible gain. However the taffrail overhanging the skippers balcony seems to low - overshadowing the cabin windows. The Bellona model looks a bit different. I will try to cut back that overhang a bit. - The question if any, how and what sails will be bent on will be decided when starting on the masts. - I haven't decided yet if the colour scheme will be pre- or post-1800. The Nelson scheme has a dark elegance but hides the wood...

My build log... back dated to what I consider my actual date of commencement up to today events. 31 Dec 2013 Found information on HMS Bellerophon on the internet which rekindled a spark. My interest in the Billy Ruffian stems from my joining #141 Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps Bellerophon of Welland Ontario Canada in 1967 at 12 and a wee bit years of age. I have not been involved in the cadet movement for over a quarter century now but those great memories haven't died away. 04 Jan 2014 Stumbled onto modelshipworld.com and after skulking about for an hour decided to join the group; intend to actually scratch build the first Bellerophon Looking at various Arrogant class build logs (Vanguard & Bellerophon kits) Looking at Victory and Bellona build logs Looking at tools, build methods and little tricks used Overwhelmed with the work done by others and information available; realize how little I know; determined to do my homework. My last (and only) scratch build was a 27 ft whaler. I was quite familiar with them (and the 30 ft. cutters) as I worked at the boat shed at HMCS Quadra for two summers. Found literature on rigging details on another site; looking for info on mast size details. Got info for plans from forum to order from NMM. Found four plans: HMS Arrogant (too early; they made changes to the design later) HMS Edgar (ordered well before but launched after Bellerophon) HMS Goliath (ordered after Edgar, launched before Bellerophon; should record the changes made from Edgar on) HMS Elephant (built same time as Bellerophon so may be the best plan). £60 each = $107 CDN ... pretty steep. E-mailed NMM to see if there was a “buy in bulk” price discount. These plans are about 3 ft x 7 feet each. Not sure where I can lay them out to use and NMM insists they cannot be copied (to make a working set and keep these clean). This presents a problem. I decided not to look at HMS Vanguard as it was the last of the ships built... well after the Bellerophon... and so might possibly have other changes. 11 Jan 2014 Realize if I download build photos and reference documents into folders from the FORUM and other sites and build my own reference library I will retain more of what I see in my memory (works for me as I am “hands on” type of learner). This has kept me busy! 15 Jan 2014 My ex CPO (a modeller by night and Mechanical Engineer in the Pulp and Paper industry by day) recommended “The Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War 1625-1860 by James Lee; Found on Amazon and Abesbooks.com, pretty pricey at $100+ Found on inter-library loan (Gateneau, Quebec, Government Library, 3 week duration, 3 renewals, no charge); this will allow me to decide (for free) if I should buy the book. Found Rigging Model Ships – A Practicum by Robert E. Hunt 2013 on forum www.lauckstreetshipyard.com at $119 … once again quite steep 16 Jan 2014 Discovered there are two different figureheads for the Bellerophon; Downloaded photographs to my reference library. The first has only the neck and head remaining but is said to have been a full body. The second was torso and head. I intend to recreate the first using the second for inspiration! 30 Jan 2014 Received a collection of modelling reference books purchased from a member of this site. Most turn out to be exactly what this sorrowful example of a modeler needs. Talk about an idiot`s luck! 08 Feb 2014 After some confusion (mostly on my part) I finally ordered and downloaded the TIFF ships plans from NMM. Decided on the TIFF image as it is the clearest possible and I do not have the room to layout 7 foot long plans. HMS Goliath, one image - lines HMS Elephant, two images - lines and deck plans It cost me £150 for the set of three (3) images. They gave me the three JPEG images (quoted at £50 a set) for free. There is a considerable difference in detail between the two types of files. I am not disappointed. TIFF images are 729Mb, 722Mb and 905Mb JPEG images are quite small (1Kb or less) at 300 DPI My PDF program (from which I can measure) will not open the TIFF images because they are too large for it and the JPEG images are too grainy. Converted the TIFFs to PDFs at 1200 x 1200 (Largest the program would allow) and they are very clear! Now I intend to get my measurements off the electronic images and redraw in Solidworks to be able to create templates. I will start my posting of images from here. Might be a while as I have to figure out quite a bit and the first step is always the hardest. Once I have the plans partially redrawn I can make a final decision regarding the scale of the scratch build and degree of finish or completeness as I will also have to decide where the final display resting place might be. I have stepped through to the dark side … no going back now, eh? Following photos are clips taken from my PDF program showing how I intend to get my measurements. I will use the scale provided on the drawings to convert my small measurements to full size. It is difficult to get a perfectly vertical or horizontal measurement so I will need to use some old fashion trig calcs to make corrections like the straw man said in the wizard of oz; record all data in excel and then transfer the info to Solidworks.

Hi ladies and guys, After old contents of MSW were lost, I haven’t much time to restore my building log. Perhaps the reason why I couldn’t have been managed any spare time is my habit of laziness. But some sense of diligence in my heart finally won against laziness and it’s time to restore and restart my log. My restoration of log is based on “cut and paste” workings from old contents salvaged from google cache or from my computer. So some remains of “patch work” would be unavoidable. It would be appreciated that readers allow some inconvenience in my log. The kit English 74 gun ships are one of my favourite types of ships. It is often said that 74 gun ships are good compromise of power and manoeuvrability. I think this can be equally said to their appearance. To my eyes they have both of majesty of ships of the line and swiftness of frigates. Anyhow they are beautiful ships. Before the release of Amati/Victory Models Vanguard kit, the only commercially available kit of English 74 was HMS Bellona from Corel as far as I know. This is popular kit but I often heard modellers had to take many efforts to build more correct model from that kit. Also modellers may feel frustration to build precise replica in relatively small 1/100 scale, although it doesn’t take much space for building and display. So I determined to buy Vanguard kit soon after I found it on the internet. Coincidentally my purchase place is online-hobbies.com. I didn’t know this shop is operated by kit designer Chris Watton and his wife till I received order confirmation mail from them. As can be seen on many modellers’ building log, Vanguard is very popular kit. While this is the kit of 3rd rate ship, its quality is definitively 1st rate. Of course modellers may find something to be improved, but it would be easier than improving Corel Bellona. Amongst three sister ship options provided in the kit, I choose Bellerophon because of her distinguished service career. Maybe she is one of most famous 74 and many forum members would have experience to read “The Billy Ruffian” written by David Cordigly. In the next posting I will start log from construction of dummy frames.

1/72 HMS Vanguard 1787 Victory Models/Amati Catalogue # 1300/04 HMS Vanguard was a 74-gun, third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 6 March 1787 at Deptford. She was the sixth vessel to bear the name. Vanguard was built as an Arrogant Class vessel. Arrogant-class ships of the line were a class of twelve 74-gun third rate ships designed by Sir Thomas Slade for the Royal Navy and were designed as a development of Slade's previous Bellona class, sharing the same basic dimensions. During this period, the original armament was the same across all the ships of the common class, of which the Arrogant-class ships were members. The first of the twelve ships of this class were HMS Arrogant and HMS Cornwall, both completed in April and September of 1761, respectively. The kit I apologise if we seem a little late to the show with this release, with the kit originally being release around 2007, give or take a year or three.. However, unlike the world of plastic modelling that I usually frequent, these sorts of kits are pretty timeless and stand the test of time far, far better. It’s also a pretty premium product and it really does make sense to be able to see a full review of it before you shell out not an insignificant amount of money on it. There are numerous builds of this online, with a good number here on Model Ship World, but there are no actual reviews that I can see anywhere, so I thought I’d try to redress that here. If you order this kit, you really need to make sure that you have bench space for it. Sounds obvious, but this is a very large box and weighs in the region of 14-15kg (30lbs+). Thankfully, the box is also of a pretty rigid construction to hold all the weight contained therein. Amati/Victory Models’ presentation is flawless with a port side profile of the completed ship on the lid, adjacent to a bow and stern image of the same model. Text says that the model can be finished as either Vanguard, Bellerophon, or Elephant. More colour images adorn the sides, plus some small captures of some of the plans. Lifting the lid off shows that this is merely a decorative lid and the actual corrugated box has a built-in lid that’s locked into place with three large tabs. At least if you sit another kit or two on this one whilst in stash, it shouldn’t crumple under the weight. Inside the box we have all of the strip and dowel timber that is bundled together and bound with small lengths of elastic string, three large boxes of components, one smaller box of components, several packs of various flat timbers with laser-cut parts, king-size instruction manual, and a whopping 20-plan pack with a heavy gauge photo-etch fret of embellishments for the stern quarters etc. The first and smallest of the boxes I come to contains some thick rope for the anchors, a bag of grating pieces, a sheet of what appears to be thick tin foil, and a large bag of cast metal gun carriages that have an antique finish to them. I find the inclusion of the latter quite a puzzle as kits of this standard would normally have these parts given in timer, which would be my preference. Detail on the carriages is actually quite nice, but they also have staggered sides, and I’m not 100% sure how accurate these would be. I think I’ll replace these when my build begins. Onto the next box. I know it’s not the done thing, as we say, to add sails to this sort of model, although many do and make a superb job. If you do wish to go down that avenue, then a large piece of sail cloth is included for you, as are two sheets of plans which pertain to adding these. We have two laser-cut pieces of timber in this box, notably with parts for the masts and bitts. I’m sure all will become clearer when it comes time to build this. Of course, there are no parts numbers on any wooden components, and you will need to refer to the five sheets of plans that identify what these elements are numbered as so you may locate them to the construction sequence. ELEVEN sheets of brass photo-etch parts are included too, with everything apart from the stern decoration and quarter details. Notice that the launch oars are provided as photo-etch too, but you may want to replace the oar bodies with something less flat in appearance, such as dowel. Two sheets have the ships name included, as well as other décor, and the ships stove that will be mostly hidden below deck. These sheets also include the stern and quarter windows, lanterns etc. Many hundreds of parts are included here, such as the cannon port hinges, hammock frames, channel brackets, chain plates, boom irons et al. If that’s not enough metal for you in this box, then add to that the two packets of copper hull plates that are presented as sheets. These can easily be gently scored and snapped off before fitting. These contain the nail fastening details too. I believe there are around 2500 plates which are needed, and you should, in theory, have some to spare too. Two patterns are included, for port and starboard sides. You’ll need to consult with the plans to determine which is which. A sheet of black paper is also included. At the moment, I’m unsure as to what this is, but I’m thinking it could be something to do with the interior of the rear officer’s quarters. A sheet of acetate is included for the stern windows too. Our second large box of fittings contains two trays of components. One tray contains some wooden components, deadeyes and rigging blocks, plus some small anchors and carronades. I believe the latter may be for use if you choose to build HMS Elephant as some weaponry was slightly different to Vanguard and Bellerophon. The next tray is given over exclusively to the many rigging cord spools you’ll need, in various sizes and in two colours. Some rope is also supplied. Onto the last box of components. The first tray of parts are all cast white metal, including the figureheads for all three versions of this model, plus some trim, main anchors and the stern decoration for Vanguard, cast in three pieces. Now, whilst Bellerophon is in white metal, Vanguard and Elephant are cast in grey resin and they look spectacular! I believe that initial kits had all of these in white metal but coaxing the parts to fit the curvature of the stern proved tricky, so resin was substituted. Strange that this wasn’t included for all three options though. My original intent was to build Bellerophon, but I think this will now be Elephant because firstly, I haven’t seen one yet done, and secondly, because I can use a resin stern décor and add some amazing colouration to it. Two stern fascias are supplied in this kit, with Vanguard being shallower than that of Elephant and Bellerophon, so as to accommodate the carvings. The last tray contains PE parts, more rigging cord, brass nails, brass wire, cannon and gun carriages, cannon shot, and a number of other metal castings. All metal castings here are antique in finish. Being a large kit means you need plenty of strip wood stock, especially as this is a double-planked model. First planking timber is lest numerous that second because of the upper bulwarks being supplied as plywood parts. Timber quality is excellent with no stringy or split wood. Bundles are kept together with elastic string. I used a little extra tape on some of the thinner stock, to stop them bulging out in the middle. Various diameters of down are included and of different hues. As these will generally be painted, I think the colour is inconsequential. Again, quality is superb, with no splitting or roughness. All of the various packages of flat sheet components are stored in thick plastic sleeves, and the first here contains three sheets. One of these is for the various keel parts, plus the rudder. Another of the same material is included with various rigging bitts and anchor stock parts etc. A ply sheet is also included with the strips to mount the false cannon on the lower deck and parts for the stern quarters. Moving onto the next packet, we are presented with a laser-cut sheet of MDF for the ship’s launches. Here we have the keels and bulkheads for these vessels, all cleanly cut and with minimal effort needed to remove. I’m a little surprised to see this material for this purpose, but the homogenous nature of it is perhaps better suited than plywood and should provide an excellent basis for these miniature builds. More sheets of thin ply provide the main deck components, stern fascias (two options), bow gratings, upper bulwarks with cannon openings, and formers for the quarter galleries. Moving onto heavy material, several sheets of MDF provide all of the ship’s bulkheads, false keel (broken down into two parts) etc. Another sheet of timber contains laser-cut channels, carved mouldings etc. Some of these would benefit from a little carving in themselves to profile them a little better. Flags? You definitely need them for a ship like this. A set of silk-screen printed flags is included and these appear to have a self-adhesive backing. Lastly, for parts, we have a relatively thick-gauge photo-etch sheet what holds all the parts for the stern and quarter decorations, including railings, arches and other ornamentation. Under a coat of primer and paint, these look very good in place, as seen on numerous building logs on Model Ship World. When it comes to paperwork, this kit won’t leave you wanting. Inside the box, as well as a large assembly manual, is that pack of 20 plans. Most of these are A1 in size with one plan being a whopping A0, so make sure you have some wall space to mount it to for reference. Out of these plans, 5 provide parts maps and identification for the materials supplied, 2 plans deal with the optional sails, at least three deal with rigging Vanguard, 3 concern masting, and the rest for the hull and details etc. Two building instruction books are supplied. The first one deals with the main areas of construction using line drawings and text. This is quite a large book and has 32 pages. Accompanying this is a smaller A4 book of 20 pages which is generally text-driven and deals with construction in more detail, plus finishing etc. Some very nice history of Vanguard, Bellerophon and Elephant is included. Conclusion It must be 10 to 12 years since this kit first hit the shelves, and here we are a decade or more on, and I finally get to take a glimpse at Chris Watton’s masterpiece. I remember him designing this at the time and saw a few online photos, and I have to say that the contents of this kit are pretty much what I expected, save for the inclusion of the cast gun carriages. I really like the inclusion of MDF for the main structure (bulkheads, horizontal former and false keel) as this has almost zero tendency to warp. Indeed, mine are die-straight and will form the basis of an accurate and trouble-free build. All timber stock is first rate (for this third-rate ship!), and fixtures and fittings are high quality. Having the upper bulwarks as pre-cut parts with their jigsaw fit and pre-cut cannon port is also a time saver and a big help in ensuring that all guns will mount in their correct place and the correct height/elevation. A comprehensive plan pack ensures that every constructional angle is covered, and with 20 plans, Amati haven’t cut any corners. This isn’t a beginner’s model, and I’m sure you’ve heard that phrase many times before, but in this case, you really must have a number of builds under your belt and be able to exercise a degree of project management and prerequisite modelling skills to cater to and overcome the challenges that a complex model like this will demand. In all, a super kit of a formidable class of ship and with all the bells and whistles to build any of three vessels. You can’t do better than that! My sincere thanks to Amati for sending this kit for reviewing on Model Ship World. To purchase directly, check out your local Amati model stockist or online Amati retailer.

So I am starting my build log and I don't know whether it will help or hinder the building of this model. Maybe others have some experience of the effect. Started selection of the next model last year and ran into the history of Napoleon surrendering on board HMS Bellerophon 200 years ago. I have wanted to do an admiralty board model for some time and was inspired by Phillip Reed's book "Building a Miniature Navy Board Model" but I don't want to go to 1:196 yet! So this will be a semi miniature scale. This is my first Build Log so I am getting oriented with the process. TonyM

I AM REPOSTING MY LOG FROM MSW 1.0. I HAD SAVED THIS LOG IN PDF AND WILL TRY TO SUPPLY ALL THE UPDATES AND PICS I HAVE EXTRACTED FROM THIS FILE. THE LAST COUPLE UPDATES FROM THE LOG WENT DOWN WITH THE SHIP, BUT I WILL TRY TO RECONSTRUCT THEM ALONG WITH THE LATEST UPDATES AND BUILD’S CURRENT STATUS. This is the start of my build log for the partial scratch build of the Bellerophon option of the Amati Victory Models Vanguard kit scale 1:72. I wanted to see, if it was cost effective to build this kit by first ordering the plans from Online Hobbies. After reviewing the plans and going through the parts list, I found it to be cost effective. My estimate is between 50-60% savings. Doing this way will mean much more labor though. I used an evaluation copy on Corel Draw’s site to see if I could use it for my needs of importing and making drawings acceptable for making laser cut sheets. The program could do everything I required, so I purchased it on Ebay for a very reasonable price (<$70). Below is a list of suppliers for this build so far. Online Hobbies – cast and etched parts sets plus additional material. They are presently working on filling that order. National Balsa – Basswood sheets for bulkheads and other cutouts. Purchased two laser cut sheets of walnut for gun carriages plus other items that I thought wouldbe difficult to scratch build. Working with Eric at National Balsa was very easy. After a couple of emails, sending my two drawings, I received material in about five days. The laser charge was about $40 that included the price of the walnut material ($12-15 per sheet for cutting). Thanks to Chuck for giving the idea for this. JBModel - for 18 9lb barrels. These are the best I have seen. Very representative for ships of this time period. I looked in the book Arming and Fitting Of English Ships of War and these are exactly what is shown there. From order to receiving was a week. Very satisfied and highly recommend. Cornwall Models - ordered 2mm sheets plus a couple of other things. The ship boats are made from this size and didn’t want to mess with using 3/32” (2.4mm) instead. I will say, if living in the US, my order took just about a month to receive. They do specify this on their site just beware that it could take this long when ordering. No problem here, but you do wonder if something happened to your order. Hobby Mill - ordered maple strips for the decking plus a couple of other items. What can be said, but his product is the best and what a gentleman. He is super to work with. Now for the build. I'm not building this one in the normal order. I have started with the 9 and 18 lb gun carriages. Size dimensions were taken from Ship Modeler's Shop Notes book. Attached is a pic of the partially built carriages. I'm presently making the eyelets and rings for these using #32 and #28 gauge black annealed wire. There are ten eyelets and five rings per carriage and deck mounting, so there's several hundred needed. I've almost completed all. Next I will be building the five ships boats before I start the ships hull. That's it for now. Happy modeling, P1000358.jpg Description: Gun carriages and some examples of laser cut parts