HMS Blandford by hamilton - FINISHED - from Corel HMS Greyhound - 1:100

[hamilton]

Well everyone, I'm on the home stretch. The rigging is complete and I installed the anchors over the last couple of nights. Now it's just making sweeps for the next week or so until I have 36. I made a prototype which needs detailing and finishing, but I think I've worked out a good process for carving them to a standard out of single 90mm strips of 2mm x 4mm walnut. The wood is hard enough to tolerate the work at a small scale and the darker tone of the walnut provides a good contrast. I will follow an early suggestion and finished the ends of the blades in white. The photo Ian posted above shows red sweeps - I was tempted to go this route, but in the end I think I like the natural wood tone better.....

 

Photos to come soon. Bye for now

hamilton

[hamilton]

Well my optimism has been defeated again....I've still not completed Blandford, though I'm so tantalisingly close that it's becoming painful. As of this evening, I've finished my courses for the semester, which means my schedule will be much more flexible - long hours of work still, but more reasonably paced than during the regular academic year....

 

However, before the modelling can continue, we're off to Maui (while we get our kitchen redone....I tried sneaking in some plans for a modelling nook to our contractors but the admiral wouldn't have it....) for some brief vacation time. When I get back my first priority (after washing my hair) is finishing this damnable model!!

 

Hope you're all well....final stages to come and then it's on to OcCre's Dos Amigos/Fair Rosamund....a different kind of build....looking forward to something more or less straightforward...

hamilton

[aliluke]

Hi Hamilton

I'm jealous - a new kitchen being made while you have a holiday in Maui!!! We should all be so blessed .

 

Your finishing work on Blandford can surely wait for these dual pleasures  - I'm happy to wait to see it finished any old time and I am looking  forward to your next build(s) as well.

[augie]

Have a great trip!

[Landlubber Mike]

Really amazing work Hamilton.  I'm in the early stages of modifying the Corel Unicorn, and your log details of your trials and tribulations have really helped open my eyes to some of the pitfalls I should expect

 

Your approach to the stern galleries worked out very nicely.  I think I'm going to do something very similar.  Can I ask you to repost the pictures on how you scratched the transom?  That's the one area that I've been struggling with, and it would be of great help to see your pictures if you still have them.  I think the post is on page 13 or 14 of your log.

 

Thank so much!

[hamilton]

Thanks Mike:

 

I'll try to re-post this evening - the transom was a bit experimental - the approach I took might work for you on the structural level, though the aesthetic might either be a bit off for your Unicorn specifically or for its period - what year was the Unicorn? BE pointed out earlier that the diamond-shaped windows that I used for my transom are not accurate for the period - I was using the (later) Belonna transom as a guide here, though she was half a century later on....

 

I will see if I can't re-post the photos later this evening (Pacific Standard Time). Thanks again for dropping by.

hamilton

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks very much Hamilton, no worries if it is too much trouble.  I'm mostly interested in how you handled the structural issues.  

 

The Unicorn was around 1748-1771, so if I remember correctly the details about the Blandford, the Blandford preceded the Unicorn.  I have the AOTS books on the Blandford and the Pandora (which came after the Unicorn), which have been helpful to me in thinking about some of the modifications).  Since the Unicorn fell in between both ships period wise, I figure I should be ok

[hamilton]

Hi Mike:

 

I've just re-loaded the photos to the log - page 12. Check it out

hamilton

[hamilton]

Well she's done (mostly). I'll leave it to the keen-eyed among you to spot the one still-missing element, which I plan to add tomorrow after a bit of touching up.....just think of it as a little easter egg for you all to discover.

 

General impressions of the kit - pretty bloody poor in many ways, though in others perfectly fine. I would NEVER recommend this kit as a first build or even a second or third....it was my twelfth and a lot of sweat and frustration (though not as much blood as you'd think) went into the 14 months spent building it. The plans and instructions were probably the worst I've seen. However, with good resource material (Goodwin and Lees) and the fine advice and encouragement of folks on this forum, it can be done even by the hopelessly butter-fingered!

 

Despite the shortcomings of the kit, the challenge it provided was what made it compelling - not that I recommend to manufacturers that they make their kits worse just to provide some interest! But overall, though I wouldn't build it again, I would recommend it to anyone looking for a nice little kit to heavily bash.

 

Of the three builds of this kit I've seen here - Harlequin's, Collingwood's and my own - I'm surprised to see how many unique interpretations of the kit there can be. All of our builds are very different - and though I haven't seen an update from Collingwood lately, I sincerely hope he'll start posting again because his bash of the kit was shaping up to be really great.

 

Anyway, here are a couple of photos (others are in the completed build gallery) - thanks for all your help along the way, people - I hope you'll tune into the next one, which may wait a bit to start, depending on a variety of different things. In the meantime, I will finally get back to sitting around watching all of you work a bit! 

hamilton

 

 

[realworkingsailor]

Very nice, and congratulations!

 

Andy

[Blue Ensign]

Love that first pic hamilton, the sweeps look excellent for scale, and overall you have produced a model with great visual appeal. I think it bears restating that this is a 1:100 scale model of a small ship into which you have packed so much detail.

 

I've enjoyed your log and look forward to the next.

 

B.E.

[rafine]

Congratulations Hamilton on a really beautiful build. I echo B.E.'s sentiments on how impressive it is at such a small scale.I look forward to your next, whenever it may be.

 

Bob

[Ferit]

Congratulations Hamilton, very very nice handiwork...

[Landlubber Mike]

Hi Hamilton,

 

I logged onto MSW this morning to see the thumbnails on the home page of what was a gorgeous model recently added to the completed gallery.  I was really happy to see that it was your Blandford.    Really amazing work, especially at that scale.  I think I've gone permanently cross-eyed from working at 1:64 - I can't imagine what you went through at 1:100     The sweep ports in particular are a really nice touch to your model.  Gardiner's new Frigate book has a picture on the cover of a model with the sweep ports and oars, and yours looks every bit as good as the one on the book's cover.

 

Thanks very much for adding back the pictures to your log.  Your approach gives me a lot to work with when it comes to scratching the stern on my Unicorn.

 

What's next for you?  I see you have the Hannah SIB kit - have you started it?  I've been working on mine in fits and starts over the last year or so, and finished the hull a few months ago.  I am complicating things for myself by trying to add the "sea" to the bottle, which is very hard to do given the tiny opening of the bottle. 

 

Congratulations again, and thanks very much for sharing your journey!   

[The Sailor]

Congratulations Hamilton. She looks fantastic.

[hamilton]

Thank you Andy, BE, Bob, Ferit, Mike, Richard and Crackers! All comments much appreciated! It seemed to take forever at the end! But ultimately I'm very happy with the results, though as usual it does not completely match the picture in my head....

 

Mike - the Hannah will have to wait until next summer, I think - a quick little summer project. In the meantime, I'm moving on the OcCre Dos Amigos/Fair Rosamund and then Mamoli's Yacht America - both are gifts - the first for a friend's 8-year old who's been at me for a while for one of these and the second for an old friend of my wife's who's also been on my case.....As long as these people keep asking me to build model ships for them, I can always rationalise one more purchase to the Admiral.....

 

I almost bought (but chickened out) the LSS Hannah that Floyd Kershner was advertising on this site last week....I'm now sincerely regretting that I didn't buy it.....these kits aren't being produced anymore it seems, and are apparently of very high quality....

 

Anyway, thanks again to all - expect a new build log for the Fair Rosamund to appear in the next week or so....hope to see you all there

hamilton

[russ]

Congratulations on a very fine model. It is really impressive. Well done.

 

Russ

[hamilton]

Thank you Russ

hamilton

[mtaylor]

Congratulations and a very well done, Hamilton. 

 

I don't have a clue on the missing part what I see is great!!!!!

[hamilton]

Thanks Mark - it's the figurehead!! I'm going to stick a lump of metal on there sometime over the weekend and call it a day!

hamilton

[harlequin]

A bellated  well done from me Hamilton.......not been building much as of late but will start again soon on Bellona.

[hamilton]

Thanks Harlequin - whenever you're ready! Looking forward to seeing more of the Bellona

hamilton

[ollyweb]

Hi there:

 

It seems I've had to divide this post in two - I was having trouble uploading some of the photos in the last post - not sure why....let's try again

hamilton

 

7-grating & aft thwarts.jpg

 

8-profile.jpg

 

9-thwarts.jpg

 

10-cap rails.jpg

 

11-finished.jpg

 

12-finished.jpg

 

13-finished.jpg

 

 

nice work....bellissima, bravo

Gianni

[hamilton]

Grazie Gianni!

hamilton

[texxn5]

;Nicely done, congrats....sorry I missed some of it...