HMS Bounty by leginseel - Constructo - Scale 1:50 - First wooden kit build

[leginseel]

Hi Everyone, here I go on my first build and I hope I can do it justice.

[leginseel]

I'm progressing pretty well and I am now faced with the sanding/shaping job at the bow, keel and bulkheads.  I'm looking ahead to the deck planking and I am trying to find what the planking configuration was on the original ship.  The kit comes with lengths of planking long enough to do the job but I think this is a bit of a cop out.  I've read the Deck Planking tutorial and I'm looking to do 120mm planks with an 'every 5' configuration as I think it would look good.  However, does anyone know what the original configuration was or was there a common practice for ships of that era?  Here are some photos of where I'm at.

Edited January 28, 2017 by Nigel Lees

[leginseel]

Apologies to you kind people who are following this log as I'm having fun up loading the photos, so please bear with me.  The photos in the post above should have been in here.  I hope I get the hang of it before I finish the build!!  You will see that the photos have been placed in the wrong order but I'm sure you'd guess that.

Cheers

N

[leginseel]

Please can someone help me as I am getting more and more frustrated because as you can see I have previously posted photos but for some reason I am now trying desperately to post with photos and I am having no luck at all.  I have read through all the help and the other relevant topics and can find nothing I am doing wrong.  I have changed my browser to use Mozilla Firefox and could get the images into my post but this error keeps coming up - 'You are not allowed to use that image extension on this community'.  I don't know what to do next so please can someone point me in the right direction

[Steve 12345]

Hi would like to see your progress any luck with the photos yet

 

is it perhaps there larger than 2mb and you need to shrink them first before it will let you upload them if this is the case try downloading a program called faststone you can view a tutorial on utube to see how to download and use it

 

steve

[leginseel]

Hi Steve, thanks for your help as I'd pretty much given up.  What frustrates me is that I have already posted photos without any problems!!  Thank you for your kind interest I've done loads to the ship and the deck gear and have shed loads of photos. I will have another go and if it doesn't work conventionally I'll take your advice and try Faststone.  Thank you once again for your encouragement.

Cheers

Nigel 

[leginseel]

Hi Guys following Steves encouragement here are some photo's of my past months work.  The coin is a Turkish 10 Kurus the size of a UK penny

[Steve 12345]

How's your bounty coming along sir ? 

[leginseel]

Hi Steve, thanks for your query.  Here are a few photos of where I'm currently at -

As you can see its coming on slowly.  I took the decision to drop those three planks in because I was having great difficulty twisting the bow planks to flow with the curve of the bulkhead (if you see what I mean).  I've pretty much mastered the bend around the bow and stern but I could see myself 'going off line' as I came to the bulkhead curve.  I think I've done something fundamentally wrong at some point and I hope you or your more experienced colleagues can put me on the right track. 

I've also been busying myself with cannons and other deck furniture.

Thank you once again for your interest.

Cheers

Nigel

[Steve 12345]

Hi Nigel I think you are doing a great job on the planking its certainly beginning to close up ,I think constructo is sending you a different route to the planking process than the path I chose on my bounty however there is no right or wrong way in my opinion the system you same to be using seems similar to how decktape is planking his Spanish galleon at the moment you may want to search for his log he also has some very good videos on utube of the same ship

 

thanks

steve

[leginseel]

Hull planking almost complete.  Made a hash of the Bow on one side - didn't correct a mistake quick enough but I think it's retrievable.

Thanks to all the folks who check out my postings but I'm off to Blighty tonight so this will be the last post for a month but I will miss the old gal and look forward to sorting her out when I get back.

[Steve 12345]

Looking good nigel looking forward to seeing her progress 

[leginseel]

I've just picked up a copy of John McKays books on the Bounty and the Victory and the detail is amazing. They are second hand with no colour photos but they will be invaluable. I can immediately see that the cannon I've made need a re think as the plans from Construto bear no resemblance to the book. Never mind it will teach me to do better research . 

Cheers

Nigel

[Eddie]

Hey howya goin Nigel mate, shes looking good for your first build.  

[Eddie]

Hey howya goin agian Nigel mate, can I direct you to here http://modelshipworldforum.com/ship-model-framing-and-planking-articles.php it will help you with planking on your next build and increase your experience level.  

[Eddie]

One more thing mate Watch these 2 vids 

 

[leginseel]

Thanks for your advice Eddie it's much appreciated. I'm having a well earned break in the UK at the moment but I'm missing her already!!

[leginseel]

Hi All, back in Antalya and back on the Bounty!!  Gradually fitting the wedge style planks (not sure if there is a correct term for these) in the stern.  See photos but I've filled the bow where I was off line and it looks obvious.  I'm pretty sure that no matter which filler I used it would have a similar effect.  The Constructo kit does not suggest paint but I'm seriously considering it, but I suspect it will be all or nothing and the more I look at Steves build the more I am leaning towards it.  This has also been my first 'fill', I will do another finer one once the first sand of both sides is complete. 

[leginseel]

I've now had a chance to compare the Contructo Drawings and John McKays book - they might as well be looking at two different ships!!  The binnacle I've made to their kit bears no resemblance to what it should be both in design and scale.  The top of the binnacle in McKays book comes up to the wheel boss in height (proportionately) yet the kit binnacle is above the height of the wheel!!  Also the cannons are not even close to the original 4pounders.  I'm now beginning to appreciate a lot of what is being said in the forum about using the kits as a basis for the build.  I think I can salvage the Binnacle but I've had to unfortunately dismantle the cannons, never mind it's a good learning curve.

I've done some investigation into the paint on the hull and it appeared to be a combination of Lime, Sulphur and Tallow, which to my understanding would give a cream yellow colour.  Does anyone have a view on this?

Currently continuing with the sanding and planking the stern.

[Steve 12345]

Looking good Nigel you have a full hull to work with now the next options are limetless you could begin deck furniture ,masts ,painting what ever tickles your fancy regards paint if you want to paint her ,as you already know I think white for below the waterline it prob should be more of a cream colour but hey unless your going for a full whethered effect which is beyond my advice I would opt for white .

just to help the paints I use are Vallejo airbrush paints not always nesaceraly sprayed on a lot of the time just painted on once again looking good I enjoy following your build

 

thanks

steve

[Tallshiptragic]

When I worked on both he Endeavour replica and Duyfken replica we used a Stockholm tar and tallow mix which results in a dark tea coloured varnish basically when initially applied. So when newly applied it gives a sort of satin sheen varnish look to the hull. Within weeks of this application, naturally weathering with sea air and salt turns the mix a milky appearance which is described as a slight yellowish hue to it. Keep in mind though ship maintenance was and is an ongoing battle and at sea ships wouldn't necessarily wait till they were in dry dock. I have been over the side of both replicas in the Atlantic scraping the old and painting the new so when we arrived in port we looked cleanish haha. Hope this helps.

[leginseel]

Thank you both for the kind advice. One thing is clear that when making these models from inaccurate kits it gives great scope to amend and hopefully improve. 

I can't get the Vallejo paint here in Turkey so I'm going to use artists acrylic which I can get hold of. I'm on what I hope will be a final fill and sand so I need to do some tests on some scap. I'll post my findings later. 

Thank you both for your interest

cheers

Nigel

[mtbediz]

Good work Nigel. She is looking very good

 

Mustafa

[leginseel]

I've made a little more progress this week.  Firstly I was unhappy with the design of Binnicle in the kit (left) so I made another one (right)

I've also been through the lengthy process of filling and sanding the hull and I've fitted the keel, bow stem and stern post.  I now need to pause to construct a secure building rig to keep her stable.  I've decided to paint her and having seen the excellent results Steve12345 has got on his Bounty I'm looking for a small air compressor for the paint job.

I'm really enjoying the build and so grateful for all the advice I'm getting.  Thanks to all.

Cheers from sunny Antalya

Nigel

[mtbediz]

I wish i was in Antalya and was drinking a bottle of beer at the seaside right now

 

Have a good day Nigel !!

Mustafa

[leginseel]

Made a little more progress.  Gave the deck a coat of well thinned sanding sealer after marking the treenails with a pin.  I had a bit of a nightmare with the gallant rail as the kit requires 3 x 2mm x 2mm section lengths of Sapele to be bent to form the curve in the gallant rail.  After 4 attempts I gave up as the wood is too brittle to bend well even after a good soaking.  I did manage to bend one but it had such a horrendous twist in it I gave up and put my thinking cap on.  So I've used 2mm x 6mm Sapele and jointed it to form the curve on the Bow.  I've sanded the outside edge and I'm now constructing a little jig to protect the deck while I sand the inside curve.  I think it will look ok.  As for the painting I wanted to use an airbrush but I can't find a small model here in Turkey so I've reverted to the brush.  The results are reasonable (see the red) which close up looks good as you can see the wood grain and the planking.  Also the Sapele has taken the edge off the bright red colour and made it more 'lived in', which I like.  Next job is to test colours for the hull.

Cheers

Nigel

[Steve 12345]

Looking superb Nigel ,I'm curious as to what stage constructo advises fitting the bulwarks?

and if it is of any help I chose royal blue and yellow ocre

its nice to see your moving along nicely with the ship

happy building

 

steve

[leginseel]

2 minutes ago, Steve 12345 said:

Looking superb Nigel ,I'm curious as to what stage constructo advises fitting the bulwarks?

and if it is of any help I chose royal blue and yellow ocre

its nice to see your moving along nicely with the ship

happy building

 

steve

Thanks Steve, really feel like I'm moving along with it now.  It's funny you should mention about the Bulwarks as it is saying they should be done after the aft deck side planking.  I've cut the planking ready but I really feel that I should fit the Bulwarks and paint the hull to get all the lower stuff (sorry about my terminology) done first.

Re paint I've an Ultramarine blue which has come out a little darker than I wanted, but I think that it is due to the colour of the wood (sapele).  My yellow is mid yellow and I've painted the edge of the Gallant Rail and it's not showing up much. Very happy with the Red though.   Pretty sure the wood is absorbing the yellow and wonder whether I should give them a coat of sanding sealer first - what do you think?

Thanks so much for your interest and advice

Cheers

Nigel 

[Steve 12345]

I found with my aclilic paints it some times especially on the yellow takes up to 6 coats sometimes I cheat and use enamel paint especially if I need a fine edge line painted 

[leginseel]

Thanks Steve that makes sense. I'll try a few experiments on some scrap. 

Cheers

Nigel