Bounty by Matrim - FINISHED - Caldercraft - 1:64

[Matrim]

So my 'filler' model will by Caldercraft's Bounty. Whilst I redo the plans for my Bounty I wanted a less mentally challenging kit to keep my modelling going. I expect to replace largish sections so will use different outer planks, deck planks and I may also replace the hatches/ladders/guns with my own. I also am unlikely to use the kit thread preferring to use third party choices though this time I might purchase a Rope maker myself and see what I can do on my own.

 

Anyway obligatory box shot....

 

 

All contents

 

 

And bulkheads for the first section well marked with their frame number in ink

 

 

Hopefully this will be better updated than most of my stuff but you never know...

[Matrim]

No time like the present (as they say). So I have forged on gallantly noting that it has taken a day to go way past what I managed with my scratch build in 6 months..

 

First up I glued the stem, keel and stern post. These fitted nicely though the plans slowed a slightly different set up.

 

 

The only issue was that the stern post stuck out slightly so I adjusted this to match the keel.

 

 

Once done the next job was to fit the bulkheads. I used my little drill thingy for most of the laborious beveling along with a strip of wood to test the angles were correct. I only noticed three issues with the kit wood. Two of the bulkheads had been cut too deeply on one side.

 

 

So I added strips of wood to allow the hull shape to match.

 

 

The final issue was one of the bulkheads was sitting a little low so I used a filler piece to get the height to match that of the others. 

 

 

 

 

Next up getting the deck template fitted and allowing the bulkheads plenty of time to dry..

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Matrim]

Continuing rapidly along. Next up came the deck which was pinned inexpertedly with a hammer - at least until I remembered I had a pin pusher - which was far more efficient..

 

 

 

The first plank went on using the handy rabbett like slot at the bow

 

 

 

For planking, along with an assortment of tiny clamps, I tend to use the following a lot

 

 

So we have a vase (to soak planks, a steel ruler, lots of pins, a file for bevelling, a very sharp scalpel for cutting and those tweezer things I always forget the name of for removing pins, a pin pusher, glue and a pencil..

 

I tend to use a combination of clamps and pins to try and avoid vast overlap

 

 

Not that it matter so much with double plank construction as the first layer is just to make a 'skin' for the actual visible planks to sit on so errors can be corrected. The worst crime is to have a plank that sticks out a full plank width from the next and this can occur whilst it is drying (so you look the following day and think 'oh dear') and most commonly at the bow when the taper is correct. As I am soaking the planks they can also lose shape when drying especially if under an extreme bend.  I have already noticed a couple of tiny places where I will probably need to reinforce to avoid sanding a plank out of existence but not so much as some of my previous kits. 

 

I also noticed the wood 'moving' on drying so as long as the plank is pinned nicely started using those lovely small clamps to ensure the unsupported plank sections stayed close enough to their neighbor to allow the glue to take effect. I tend to only remove pins after the third plank has arrived - this is just to support the first. When 'adding' a second pressure can be placed on the plank above and I think the pins help prevent the plank detaching. Once another is down below then the pins serve no further useful purpose.

 

 

Anyway first planking will continue. 

[cobra1951]

Nicely done with that first plank, great start

[Matrim]

One of the inumerable ship boks I purchased when I first started modelling stated 'everyone should plank at least one ship, as it teaches humility' (then again it could have been a sig on msw).

 

I always remember that because I really suck at planking. This time I did a better job than usual and the flatter bits look quite nice. Since I am soaking the wood and letting them dry on model the bendy bits sometimes have a tendency to perform extreme shape movements overnight resulted in less decent planking. Fortunately this is the first layer so it will all get sanded to death without to many woes.

 

So prior to sanding we have

 

 

looks nice, but look at the front

 

 

blurrrk. I shall calm myself with a close up of the side

 

 

and then shoot myself by repeating this at the front

 

 

They say a picture never lies, these pictures are not only not lying they are holding up insulting placards and laughing.

 

Anyway a not so hard sand on the sides

 

 

and a harder sand at anything with a curve (that sticky out plank is actually slightly unglued and moves in and out when pressed so I gave up attempting to sand something that happily moved out of the way whenever I applied pressure)

 

 

Means I am almost ready to mark the wale on. I shall probably carry on sanding the front and rear as I am not quite happy with those..

[Matrim]

Onto the outer layer of planking, which is doing its normal magnificent job of showing just how much vast improvement I still need.

 

I started with the wale which (contrary to the instructions) I planked straight onto the first layer using ebony. I have fairly restrictive practices with regards to this wood. These are never to saw in an enclosed area (I took my table saw outside and cut strips there whilst masked) and don't sand if I can get away with cutting. This is mainly to reduce risk from what is a nasty wood healthwise.

 

Anyway its not only nasty health wise its also not easy to work. Therefore I did reduce myself to soaking planks for 12 hours before bending. Still I did manage to get through it.

 

For the standard planking I endeavoured to improve my technique. I attempted to tick mark out the required planks if only to allow me to place string battens to get an eye for the run. Once this was done I mainly ignored them and instead switched to using those fancy compass things. On these you set the amount of planks in a section (5 for my first 3) then measure the gap between the batten line and the upper line with one end and the other end gives you the correct size of plank. This is only needed for the front planks at this early stage but is repeated for each hopefully avoiding incremental errors in the tick marking or anything else.

 

A shaped plank

 

Once I have my plank cut to the correct angle I now try and bend the side angle with some clamps and a hairdryer and then start using an amati planking strip bender (my new favourite planking tool!) which can cope with curves in two angles. The upper corner is removed with an abrasive and the bottom side covered wwith black pencil. I then glue in. I am still a creature of habit though and use wood glue and superglue. I usually smear the wood glue in three sections on the plank and then along the top. Super glue then gets touched at both ends and the middle. I then position the plank using pins pushed through the under plank layer (not the outer plank layer). Which do a nice job of holding the plank tight against the parent whilst it dries.

 

The pins in operation

 

Each evening I usually manage to get through one full planking strip before finishing.

 

Now I am a lot happier with the results but am still falling far short of what I would like it to be. I feel that my shaping at the ends introduced slight crescents (as a plank in a gentle V meeting another  plank also V  ing can cause a slight gap. But nothing that is not repairable in the sanding stage (where I tend to fill any gaps with glue and sand over them). It is also noticeable how the side I started first is not quite as good as the second side.

 

Anyway its nice and relaxing and when I get around to my full scratch I will be a lot happier at planking now. Finally I am using a rather ugly two split end planking system. I would be highly unsurprised if it should be a three or more split but this is a  step up from my last kits no split end system so hurrah for me..

 

Status so far - this is the first group of 5 planks and you can see the thread for the next batten at the bottom of the picture. You'll also notice that my tick marks are also slightly out something I put down ot the removing of the corner shrinking each plank slightly as at this point the planks were all left full width..

 

 

 

[Matrim]

Initial set of hull planking is now done. Not 'brilliant' but much better than my usual attempts. Improvements are that I am getting better pre-shaping and (for once) actually managed to get continuous lines of planks without sticking a random central filler because I misjudged the shape (hoorah for pre-planning the strips).

 

Here's a bottom view.

 

 

And since the camera is a vicious critic here is a softer version that might match what it looks like for someone not staring at a 1mm gap like an abyss

 

 

Next steps are to plank the rear facia. The plans don't call for it but I am doing so (with very thin planks of ebony) anyway.

 

 

[Matrim]

Put on the bulkheads and then looked at the waterline. I have had lots of difficulties in the past but finally have a method I am comfortable with.

 

Firstly I mark onto the hull 2-3 locations taken from the plans and then use a coving laser to indicate a line between these points making sure the ship is as level as I can make it

 

I then check the indicated line by using calipers against the plan

 

 

which can then be placed directly agains the model to check the line

 

 

Finally I use masking tape to indicate the line itself as it is easier to adjust around to the shape

 

 

After that I used copper tape as an experiment. I have used it before on my Triton cross section and there had used the tape itself on one side and the tape plus paper backing on the other. Now of the two the version with the paper backing looked better but after three or so years started to come off whereas the tape on own lasted. I must admit to still not being entirely happy with the tape on own but think I can correct this later with smaller sections. My process here was to make a little jig to mark the plate size and to cut a strip of copper. I then used the jig to score the copper with the back of a scalpel. Once done I then used a ponce wheel to mark down the left and bottom sides of the plate. When attaching I eventually worked out it was better to keep continuous pressure and push down with the other hand. Any looseness causes slight wrinkles.

 

My photos of that were not good so I will try and generate some better ones later. After this I have just started on the planking and here is a 'moody' (read unfocsed) shot of the deck with some king planks I had just cut. You will notice the lines across the deck, these approximate to the expected locations of the beams.

 

 

I will do another post soon on the deck planking plan. Cheers for reading

 

[Matrim]

Well disaster struck yesterday. I was working on the deck and was following an approach I had liked (a lot) with my Triton. The deck was to be 4 shifted with gaps between each plank then treenailed (two at ends and single at intermediate). This all went well. Then it came to the caulking. This used the following steps

 

apply a varnish to the deck (prevents the next step from 'seeping' through)

get some dark wood filler and mix with black ink to darken further and then apply to the gaps between the planks

use cabinet scrapers/other to scrape the deck clear ending up with a nice clean deck with filled dark caulking.

 

All had seemed to be going well but it was far more difficult than I expected to scrape a deck on a kit with bulkheads (should have seen that one coming) and then I noticed that I was having to go extremely thin on the planks to get them even remotely scraped. After a few choice words I actually followed the historical Bounty and ripped the entire deck up. Next try (I need to order some more holly) I will use the pencil/ink edged approach.

 

I may still return to the caulk though if ever in the same situation I would be tempted to put masking tape/other over the planks along with the varnish so simplifying scrping duties. I would also thicken the plan depth more than I did here.

 

There were some advantages to this problem in that I was not entirely happy with the treenails. They were correctly positioned but looked too 'busy' on a 1:64 model. On the 1:48 Triton it looked good... So in the re-deck I may either simulate the treenails using a pusher to create an indentation (or perhaps a sharp pencil) but may also only do the butts. I might even not indicate the treenails at all as I am not now certain the scale is suitable.

 

Back to the ship yards..

[Matrim]

I can check at home but they are very commonly available at do it yourself shops usually sold to builders/home improvers to put lines across ceilings to keep decorations/skirting boards etc even.

 

Using amazon for some example (use 'cross line laser' to search) - a DIY shop may be cheaper with an own brand model as well

 

cross line laser link

 

 

[Matrim]

The re-planked deck is finally up. It is much better than the caulk attempt but I may use a thick liner sometimes as I found that easier to control on my Diana

 

Here is a rougn shot of the deck

 

I then added the rudder and used an innovative (to me) technique to make glueing easier

 

 

So am now moving onto deck furniture. Here are my rough gratings sized on the plan

 

 

and here they are gluing upside down

 

 

They dont look pretty yet. Once dry I will sand the ends close on my disc sander before introducing a slight bevel. I'll then decide whether to re-make or not.

[kier]

  you stated earlier that your planking sucks, (not now that's for sure).

  my very first build was also the 'bounty by billing boats', my planking was so bad that it ended up in the bin. What with that mess of things I ended up building the 'bluenose 11 also by billing boats, I found the hull a lot easier.

      great build by the way

                                     kier

[Matrim]

Thanks though I still think it leaves a lot to be desired. I am a great believer in incremental improvement. Though a lot of people here are true craftsman who have the talent to produce something amazing I also think you need the time to repeatedly replace errant objects and much like Software Development completing a project is as much a positive feature as anything else in the hobby. As an example take those gratings. I shall hold my breath and show a photo of my first full models gratings (the Diana also from Caldercraft)

 

as can be seen it uses the clever slotting pieces in the kit but the finish and the cutting of the surrounding wood is not good, to put it mildly. Now since I look to improve (a little bit at least) the gratings in this model should be better than that (as they are at the same scale). So here are a couple of shots of the completed

 

 

I am happy to say I think I have improved but again can see more room for improvement next time.

 

I was also curious at the difference the scale made. Previous to this model I made the Triton cross section and the due to the increased size the gratings there were both easier and smarter

 

 

the planking in this last shot also used the caulk method that failed to work with this model.

[Matrim]

Currently moving through the little extras for the hull. As close up photography is good at doing it shows up a lot of errors you don't always notice with the eye So for example on one side one of the steps is off (though once I noticed it with the camera I can easily see with the eye) I may have to remove the bottom one and replace

 

The rudder was added along with the steering post

 

 

I was also going to put up a picture of the bow rails but noticed an annoying gap so have instead just stipped it off, sanded the contact point and re-set with clamps. 

[Matrim]

Time for a process post. I actually found a small method of working which helped ( you probably all know this anyway but what the hell).

 

I was having some difficulty accurately filing/sanding down the ends of tiny posts to fit in tiny holes.

 

Here is a tiny hole

 

 

Here is the tiny post prior to tidying

 

 

my tools were

 

 

So I worked out that rather than trying to hold the post in my fingers (or making a jig) I could place the flat end of the square file over the post and hold the far end down with my finger

 

 

allowing me to then use the triangular  file to file the end with the square file both holding the post and controlling the line of approach of the triangular file (which being triangular did not 'argue' too much in its contact with the square file)

 

note the above is missing the key controlling finger on the square file.

 

I was much happier with the end result

 

 

Anyway this is more because I will probably forget this by the time my next model roles around so its more an aide memoir!

[austristan]

Hi Matrim, I'm considering this as my next build (or the Armed Virginia Sloop) so would like to follow along as you put together a model of a ship that I heard a lot about growing up in Australia.

 

As I'm working through my first model, I've already become a student of your repeated concept of continued improvement - that's the fun part of this hobby!

[Matrim]

Another fast update. I have spent the last few weeks on the channels and have just moved to some of the paintwork. My main up coming decision is whether to make my own rope for this (requiring a purchase) or buy off a 3rd party.

 

Here is a couple of shots so far

 

 

 

 

[Matrim]

Still generating hull decoration, gratings etc. Just started on the Catheads

 

Here I did some extra work. The actual piece had two vertical slots in it to assist in dealing with the boats and two holes for rigging?. None of this is indicated on the plan so I assume it is not used. Instead I drilled the slots and the holes. Flattened the base and then cut a small ramp for it to sit on the rail (otherwise it would stick out to high).

 

Here is the worked pieces

 

Along with one of the pin rails pinned at the bottom ready to be placed.

 

Here is the slot cut into the rail

 

 

[Matrim]

Time for a tiny update initially to show progression with pretty, arty, shots. Then to show how bad I actually am I am going to show some very, very detailed shots of one item and as we all know we should never take extreme close ups of something. Especially when I am a fully paid up member of the 'LG5FA' club (looks good 5 feet away)

 

Anyway progression arty shots, cue relaxing music

 

 

and from the top

 

Arty is my middle name. Or soft focus. One or the other.

 

Anyway now for the true unvarnished horror. I had a few issues with the kit canons. Not the canons themselves but the carriages as I found them as ugly as anything. This 'might' be utter lack of modelling skills (which certainly plays a part) or alternately mis-understanding of the instructions.

 

Anyway here is one

 

 

Mmmmm lovely. Doesn't the camera bring up all the horrific detail. Let's make it worse and add a cannon

 

Allowing the cannon needs trimming at the sides that still looks pretty crud.

 

I was so 'not happy' with the general boxiness of the carriage that I purchased some 3rd party carriages that I also then proceeded to mangle in a horrific fashion but they still look better (3rd party is Syren model ship company)

 

 

As before not quite complete as needs touching up and I dont know why the handle at the end looks like a cleaver (yes I do! because I made it..)

 

Let's add a cannon

 

 

Looks better. Compare the two side by side?

 

 

Perhaps 'in situ' shots will help

 

 

 

Actually it does not look quite so horrific in place though does appear to be suffering from bulging out.

 

I checked over the plans to ensure I had not made them incorrectly and they certainly look boxy on the plans

 

 

 

I dont think the cannon in the picture above fits that snuggly, especially when compared to the overhead shot above.

 

As a final comparison I looked at the cannons on my Diana (also Caldercraft) and noticed the surprising fact (to me at least) that the carriages are the same width even though the cannons on the Diana were much bigger. They were though much shorter. It did make me wonder if they were re-using some of the cutting instructions across all their carriages.

 

To be honest it is probably me mucking up the building that caused the issue and I am happy with the Syren carriages (and Caldercraft cannon). I just felt I needed to offset the arty shots first shown with the much less arty shots down below.

[BANYAN]

Hi Matrim, just found your log.  Great progress and don't be too disheartened with the extreme close-ups as not too many modellers pass examination at that range

 

WRT the carriages, don't be so hard on yourself as kit manufacturers are well known for using the same parts across several models (even at different scales) as a cost saving measure.  

 

cheers

 

Pat

[ChadB]

Hello old friend! Just came across your log- nice work so far! You mentioned in your first post this is the filler model before working on another Bounty?

 

Take Care,

Chad

[Matrim]

Yo Chad, nice to see you around. This is a filler project. I had started the Amphion but noticed a plan problem so decided to do a 2 year filler while I adjusted that issue. It should also help get me back in the mental space of taking my time and not rushing.

 

Are you starting/on anything yourself as your Cross section was just magnificent.

[ChadB]

Awesome The Amphion is such a beautiful ship! I'll have to keep a lookout for your eventual build log!

I'm about 90% done framing out a model of the US Brig Eagle from the War of 1812. In typical me fashion it's been about 5 years since I started drawing the plans and it's been a slooow, researched to death process since then. I figure I'll start a build log once I'm doing something beside building a few frames every couple months.

[Matrim]

That would be good to see.

 

Back to the comedy of errors that is the build log. I started on the ships boats and have now decided the ships boats will be 'on duty' moving backwards and forwards out of sight because the hulls were to warped for my liking. Meh

 

Nothing to see here (literally) so moving on next I have the bowsprit. I first did some planning and worked out the angle of bowsprit to deck ( in a 'proper' model the bowsprit would disappear under the deck but in the kit it will 'pretend' to whilst attaching to the upper deck )

 

and it seemed a nice 15 degrees.

 

I then turned a slightly outsized version on my Sherline

 

 

I left it outsized as the bowsprit was actually flat (flatish?) on the top so would use a disc sander then files to level it off slightly thus reducing the overall size.

 

I then removed the  15 degrees for the deck contact before test fitting against its resting place

 

 

and the intermediate point

 

 

In this last shot you can more clearly see the flattened top ( the sides apparently were also done though I have not here)

 

I then looked at the cap and that was a bit 'meh' to. Here it is in all its glory

 

 

One thing is obvious. Those holes are vertical. Also the (larger) lower hole is much larger than the diameter of the little reduced section at the end of the bowsprit but almost as large as the diameter of the main section next to it. I suspect this is so that the rake of the cap can be added as otherwise it would not fit. But but but the jiboom would very nearly almost fit and if it does would stick out at a very strange angle. This could all be worked around with filing but it struck me that it would be quite a weak joint so I have decided to have a go at making my own. This will be the next task.

 

I have also got to think about some other little question marks. Do I put in a bowsprit wolding just after the cap and before the saddle? If I do then do I want to leave the cap and surroundings unpainted - I may just paint the dolphin striker, cap and bees black and leave the bowsprit and jiboom stained (the natural dowel colour is a bit too light for my liking).

 

Anyway  thanks for reading...

 

[Matrim]

Did a bit of work on a new bowsprit cap (this post will be in some detail)

 

I made a slightly larger blank

 

 

Next I prepared the disc sander to generate an angle on a piece of scrap wood

 

Here is the scrap piece post sand

 

 

But then had to cut it down to size on the table saw as it was a little large

 

This then went into thew vice to be the 'base' to the cap and to add the correct angle when drilling. Drilling was slow as the drill would be against the grain so would need to be treated gently to avoid the drill bit wandering.

 

After some maths to ensure I had the circle centers at the correct location I started with a counter punch type thingy

 

Then went up to 2mm drill then a 3mm drill then a 4mm drill.

 

 

So shown below we have the relevant pieces required step by step.

 

 

When this was done I generally tested the fit against the bowsprit

 

this is the point where (accidents notwithstanding) I decide whether to restart with a different base plate angle. As it stands I was pleased with the angle so carried on to the jiboom. With this I repeated the drill to 4 but eventually decided to go to 5 as it was a little wider (and I could fill the hole with card if needed)

 

Then another sizing test

 

 

Rather irritatingly post this photo I managed to lose the saddle piece (probably accidentally hoovered it) so will have to scratch build one of those as well.

 

Next steps were to sand down to size. Depth first then width and finally height. I left it slightly larger (depth) on the right side to take the jack post (should I add it)

 

Here is the 2 end pieces side by side

 

 

Mine to the right.

 

 

 

 

Another fitting session on the bowsprit

 

 

Finally as a comparison what this looks like end on as compared to the kit part

 

SO there is the little mini-project. I will start on the parts to add to the bowsprit next..

 

 

 

[Matrim]

So I redid the bowspit. I had 'stained' the mast (as I have done with previous kits) and was not entirely delighted with the results. When stained it was a little too dark (and grubby) whereas when unstained the standard dowels where too white. After asking for some advice here I ordered some Castello boxwood (lemonwood) and  resolved to size it myself. This will be a long winded post as I intend to go into exhaustive detail into something that doesn't need it.

 

First up I cut my 1*1 sticks down to something that could be more easily sized. Here is the blank next to one of my earlier test bowsprits

 

Next I secured it on my lathe Using a 4 adjustable jaw chuck, which isn't ideal but unavoidable with a rectangular shape.

 

The next thing to have ready is the correct tool for the job. When I first sized the kit dowels I had tried to use my favourite sizing tool but it was actually a little too unweildy for the job. This time I searched for a more useful tool. At the bottom is the incorrect and the top the correct.

 

So first up is to roughly make it a cylinder larger than the thickest size using the default sizing tool (shown at the bottom of the photo)

 

 

I then thinned the end to 6mm before marking the correct locations using a pencil whilst the lathe spun slowly

 

Next up I sized the section from the end to the thickest section in the middle

 

 

Before using a fine sandpaper to improve the finish

 

 

Here is the 'finished' end

 

 

Next up I flipped the bowsprit around (the lathe is not long enough to do the entire thing in one 'sweep'

 

Though this did allow me to use the more accurate simultaneous contracting 3 jawed holder

 

Once sized down with the rough paring tool I switched to a thinner tool that allows exact lines to be created

 

 

And showing the result as the cap section is reduced

 

So here is almost the completed bowsprit

 

For the little extra bits I found using a particular tweezer style useful

 

I could then hold my finger under the wood and run a file over the end to 'angle' those bits that needed angling

 

Some did not and just needed to be rectangular for these I followed the wise rule of start large and then reduce to fit. I tended to cut with a scalpel then tidy with a file.

 

 

Next up I tried the wolding. For this kit I am using black thread for the standing rigging though I might well switch to dark brown for my next model. Anyway I am also trying to avoid my heavy use of superglue and very simple half hitches. So I will be trying to use knots in preference to glue. This may or may not work and I think the jury is out currently though I will get a better impression when some of the blocks are added

 

I started by masking taping one end of my thread to a spare area then winding the thread around

 

 

I then masking taped a section close to the off cut bit (but not near the actual end as I would need to use that)

 

 

I then took the spare end and threaded it under the existing loops and around the top loose piece before moving back again

 

And rope bit done

 

 

 

 

Shuffling around made this tidier but the extra thickness of two ropes in one section did generate a bulge. I have placed this under the jib boom so it wont be that obvious but if I repeat this process on the masts then I may cut a small groove to contain the under thread to avoid this (and help keep things tight).

 

I then gathered the relevant parts (including painted card) for the bands

 

These were cut into strips and wrapped around. The close up makes things look worse than they actually look (and next time I will paint the sides of the strips before attaching. For this I have to paint the sides carefully post install which is harder and is the next job from here)

 

 

Anyway even I am tired now. Next up I have to tidy the wolding before starting on blocks for the jib boom and bowsprit.

 

IMG_3829.CR2

[BANYAN]

That's a very comprehensive coverage of the process and nice results on the bowsprit Joss.  What's the brand and type of tweezers (locking) that you used, it looks very useful for rigging also?

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Matrim]

Thanks Pat,

 

I will check if it has any markings when I get home from work. It was purchased quite a few years ago now..

[Matrim]

Could not see any markings...

 

Quick visual update only as the bowsprit is now on. I think I made a minor mistake in making the footropes out of string. At that diameter wire is better as it needs tension to keep shape. Otherwise I am pleased with it. The spirtsail is at a strange angle because I am going to try and use the rigging to set its position and not pinning it. We will see if it works when the rigging goes in.

 

 

 

[BANYAN]

Thanks for looking Joss.  WRT footropes, I soaked mine in diluted PVA and shaped them as they dried; might be worth a try?

 

cheers

 

Pat