Jump to content

HMS Bounty by reganJohnson - Amati - Scale1:60th - First wooden ship ever


Recommended Posts

Hi There, a bit of an introduction, and blatant ripoff of my first post in the new members' area:

 

About a year ago, I read a post on facebook, from a person who wanted to give away a half built wooden sailing ship kit.

 

I replied right away, and quickly became the proud owner of a half built Amati HMS Bounty in 1/60scale.  I've never built a wooden kit, but always wanted to.  I have spent most of my hobby time with model trains, tabletop miniatures, and plastic models.  I believe that the kit is complete, and all of the instructions are included, but time will tell.

 

post-22404-0-10633700-1448331766_thumb.jpg

This is the ship as I received it

 

post-22404-0-66262900-1448331501_thumb.jpg
Opening the box and looking at the contents, and the (so far) pretty complete hull is very exciting. 


post-22404-0-82515700-1448331651_thumb.jpg

There are some spots of blue paint on the varnished hull

post-22404-0-08854400-1448331795_thumb.jpg
and some of the deck fixtures are coming loose. 

 

post-22404-0-08527500-1448331983_thumb.jpg

The next step is to take thes magnificently made hinges, and make a mortise for the coaming (I'm learning, and trying to use the language appropriately).
My next step is to try to understand how to make (cut?) a mortise, how to fasten copper hinges to wood, and how much painting I'm planning to doing.

 

post-22404-0-57417700-1448332100_thumb.jpg
The hinges will eventually fasten the 'doorway'/entrance/something appropriate to the railing, under the coaming.

Wish me luck!

and, any suggestions about carving wood, what tools are needed, good reference material are always welcome!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So today, I built two belaying pin racks, put them into the rails, and started working on the 'steps', 'stairs' up the side of the ship:

post-22404-0-54509300-1449428895_thumb.jpg

 

I first tried drilling the holes by hand with a pin vise, but I broke one piece of wood, and was not happy with my other attempts.  I then remembered (again) that I have a dremel tool in a drill press!

The drill press made fast and easy work of the drilling.  The holes don't line up exactly, but they're much better than what I was doing by hand!
post-22404-0-96987100-1449428893_thumb.jpg

I've been wondering, what glues people use, and how they attach 'stuff'.

I have some questions about the 'combing' at the back of the ship.  This is supposed to be 1mm x 3mm walnut that goes on top of an existing railing.  How do you get it to curve sho sharply?  I would think that bending the wood would snap it in two, or the glue would never hold.

 

Next, I'm wondering about how things like posts for railings are held onto the deck.  I've taken a trick from tabletop wargaming, pinned the pieces together, and used carpenter's glue to hold everything together.  Looking at the ship, it doesn't look like carpenter's glue was used to hold it together.  If not carpenter's glue, what should I be using to keep it together?

It doesn't look like there's a good way to fasten the steps to the side of the hull. Should I be pinning them into the hull?  Will carpenter's glue just hold the wood together without much clamping?  Is there a better way?  Enquiring minds want to know!

 

 

 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Regan:

 

This looks like a fun challenge you've taken on! I hope you stick with it!

 

As for getting the curve into wood - there are a couple of techniques. I usually soak the wood strips in hot water to loosen the fibres - about 25-40 minutes, though some might say this is too much others not enough. I then bend the wood around a jig built to the shape I want things bent to...the jig could be something simple like a tracing of the moulding as drawn on the plans taped or rubber cemented to a piece of scrap wood. You could then insert stainless steel nails following the line of the moulding's curve and then slowly and gently clamp the wet piece of wood to the nails. Let it dry and then remove it from the jig. If you have equipment to cut a scrap wood piece to the shape of the moulding that would be even better. When you remove the dried piece from the jig it will spring back a little bit, but it will be much easier to install in the form you want.

 

Another technique is to steam bend the pieces - this can be done by holding the wood over a pot of boiling water - the steam has the same effect on the wood as soaking and probably has a more congenial effect on the wood (though I really don't know if there are any considerable differences in the techniques - others could fill you in here). 

 

As for the railing stanchions, as they're called (on a real ship they would be the top timbers of the hull frames), I usually drill a small hole in the bottom, enough to fit a small piece of brass wire to act as a support. I drill a corresponding hole on the surface to which the stanchion is attached and then use a very tiny amount of CA (super glue) to hold it in. Many ship modellers use CA sparingly - I'm trying to be more like them. An alternative in this instance would be 5-minute epoxy. PVA is not going to work to bind metal to wood from what I understand....

 

I hope this helps. Other forum members may have different and/or better advice than mine!

hamilton

current builds: Corel HMS Bellona (1780)
 
previous builds: MS Phantom (scuttled, 2017); MS Sultana (1767); Corel Brittany Sloop (scuttled, 2022); MS Kate Cory; MS Armed Virginia Sloop (in need of a refit); Corel Flattie; Mamoli Gretel; Amati Bluenose (1921) (scuttled, 2023); AL San Francisco (destroyed by land krakens [i.e., cats]); Corel Toulonnaise (1823); 
MS Glad Tidings (1937) (in need of a refit)HMS Blandford (1719) from Corel HMS GreyhoundFair Rosamund (1832) from OcCre Dos Amigos (missing in action); Amati Hannah (ship in a bottle); Mamoli America (1851)Bluenose fishing schooner (1921) (scratch)
 
under the bench: Admiralty Echo cross-section; MS Emma C Barry; MS USS Constitution; MS Flying Fish; Corel Berlin; a wood supplier Colonial Schooner Hannah; Victory Models H.M.S. Fly; CAF Models HMS Granado; MS USS Confederacy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • The title was changed to HMS Bounty by reganJohnson - Amati - Scale1:60th - First wooden ship ever

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...