HMS Bellona 1760 by SJSoane - Scale 1:64 - English 74-gun - as designed

[Vane]

My Victory is 25yr old and still unfinished so not an unusual situation. Yes agree, its meditation and I have this personal thing that I usually turn off my phone, put on some favourite music and I often smoke a cigarr at the same time as I am building! 

 

Then we all have different strategies on what we build and to what quality and this one is so much more about quality than finilizing quickly. Much of the astonishing parts of your work wont even be visable in the end. But of Course, u will know that its there on the inside.

 

 

[SJSoane]

Thanks, druxey, Marc and Vane. I think this is probably more common that I would have thought, to live for the process more than the finished product! And also, projects that last decades...

 

In between numerous summer visitors, I have slowly been working on the black strake above the main wale.

 

A few points of possible interest in the photo below:

 

1. I finally settled on the black artist tape for locating the run of planking. I kept dislodging the string when messing with measuring the plank widths, and fitting the pieces. The tape allowed me to draw a firm and continuous pencil line on the hull, which enables me to move the tape back to the right position when it dislodges. On my solid hull, the tape pulls smoothly for developing a fair line and gives me an accurate line at any point on the hull; for plank on bulkheads, or an accurately framed model with spaces between the frames, I imagine the string will work equally effectively in marking at intervals on the frame. Each to his or her own, I imagine.

 

2. See the little wedge of planking under the first porthole. In principle, the wale below should have raised up to the edge of the port to avoid this skinny wedge. But after looking at numerous Admiralty framed models, I have seen not a single example of the wales--main or channel-- raised up or down to portholes to avoid this problem. I can only imagine that the wale did raise up or down, but it was thinned down to the adjacent planking at these points so as not to interrupt the flow of the wales. The end result visually is a thin wedge above or below ports. That is my story and I am sticking to it!

 

3. The offset of just 1 ½" in thickness between the main wale and the black strake means that there is a very fine reveal between the two. The slightest variation in thickness for either, or an inadequately clamped glue job, will show as a wavy, varying width in the reveal. To help ensure absolutely even clamping, I turned to some planking clamps I bought from Micro-Mark many years ago. They screw into the hull, and closely spaced they really pull the black strake evenly to the hull. The hole will obviously be covered up by later planking higher up. I did have to modify them, with a card pad on the clamping side, and a thicknesser above the screw to ensure that clamp grabbed evenly all the way across the plank.

 

4. I may have to make up a special sanding block to sand both the main wale and the black strake at the same time, ensuring a constant reveal between the two. We will see how close it is before I resort to this.

 

Best wishes,

 

Mark

[druxey]

The rule seems to have been that if the plank above or below a port was cut into by more than half its width, the plank adjacent was widened to form the port edge. Of course, the run of the wale's edge would be preserved by differential thinning as required.

[SJSoane]

Hi druxey, Thanks, this confirms my thought that the widening of a wale up or down would be thinned to the adjacent planking, to maintain the smooth run of the wale edge.

 

This becomes especially interesting in the Bellona, because both wales are significantly cut into by ports, given the greater sheer in the wales relative to the sheer of the decks. The wales and ports are interacting quite a bit.

 

Nice view of your project, by the way!

 

Mark

[SJSoane]

A few more hours in the shop sneaked in. Installing the black strake is going better than I expected. Careful preparation with a sanding thicknesser on the wales has so far ensured that the highlight of light at the top of the wale is pretty even along the face of the black strake. That was my biggest concern, a wavy edge between the two. So far, so good....

 

Mark

[druxey]

Nice progress, Mark. One can always 'cheat' a little by scribing the diagonal seam rather than dubbing down the thicker strake flush to the thinner one.

[SJSoane]

Snow just fell for the first time, one of the earliest times on record. News reports are predicting an "historic storm" in Northwest Montana. Which means, more time in the shop!

 

I just completed the black strake on the starboard side. Because the sheer line rises faster than the gundeck and therefore the ports, the black strake eventually crossed right through gunports, leaving only short pieces between ports.

 

My gunport stop jigs worked well here. Wedged into adjacent ports, this gave me the angle to sand on the Byrnes disk sander at both ends, and then I just sanded lightly at one end until the plank slid exactly into place.

 

The aftmost plank had a bit of a twist, so needed bedding down with a larger clamp across the stern.

The difference in thicknesses between the main wale and the black strake has left a gratifyingly consistent sliver of light, showing that they are parallel and not wavy relative to each other. Hopefully, the 4" plank on top of the black strake will form an equally even sliver of light.

 

 

Now if only I don't have to snowplow for too long tomorrow morning, I will start on the port side.

 

By the way, I received an important insight into animal behavior today. The ship's cat sleeps all day, except for the exact moments when I apply glue to something and need to work quickly without interruption to apply clamps. These are the exact moments when the cat wakes up and demands food. How do they know?🙂

 

Best wishes,

 

Mark

 

 

 

[druxey]

Oh, they know all right! Nice progress, Mark. Provided that your planks are consistent in thickness, there is no reason for that sliver to be uneven.

[michael mott]

On 9/15/2019 at 8:54 AM, SJSoane said:

I enjoy the learning and puzzle-solving as much as the construction, and working away in the shop is almost like a meditation period--a focus on a familiar yet always challenging project.

Mark I could not agree with you more. And for those of us who have enough of a challenge building a simple single masted model watching your progress and diligence in solving those puzzles is most rewarding.

 

Michael

[SJSoane]

Thanks so much, druxey and Michael. I return the compliment to both of you, because you have both been inspirations to me over the years, with your good advice and your own examples of the highest levels of craftsmanship to which I still aspire!

 

Mark

[SJSoane]

I forgot to attach the photo showing the starboard side black strake complete, except for trimming to the stern. The final piece tucked around nicely.

On to the port side.

Mark

[SJSoane]

While waiting for glue to dry on the black strake on the port side,

I thought a little more about working more efficiently as I embark on a lot of planking at this point.

 

I have found the curved sanding blocks to be essential for obtaining smoothly faired edges for planks. And the radius reduces as I go higher on the ship's side, so I need multiple radius blocks. I finally filled out a few missing radiuses and then organized the group so I can find a desired radius easily. The little crescent on the side indicates concave or convex, not so clear at the larger radius sizes. I have accidentally started sanding with the wrong one on occasion, so now these are clearly indicated. These are made, by the way, by drawing the desired curve on the wood with an old, almost antique, set of drafting curves (although the curve can also be drawn by other usual drafting methods). I then bandsaw down the curve, and put sandpaper on one side. This is used to level the other side, and then the sandpaper is switched to the finished block and used to level down the mating block. Sliding well along relative to each other ensures a perfectly radiused arc.

I was also taking a long time to rough in the planks with files, and I realized that I was often using too fine a file even though I have coarser files in my collection. It was too hard to sort through the files drawer to find the next one in the sequence. So I organized them in a little box at the desk from coarse to fine. Now I can move very quickly along, not searching for the next finest file.

 

 

I also rediscovered one of the first tools I ever bought many years ago, a hand clamp with leather pads, and a wedge to tighten (see previous photo in background). My fingertips were being sanded down by holding the planks in my fingers against the curved sanding blocks. This hand clamp will firmly hold even the narrowest plank, and it sure saves on the fingers. It is also easier to see the angle at which I am sanding, when I need to bevel.

 

All for now. The glue is dry.

 

Mark

 

 

 

Edited October 4, 2019 by SJSoane

[Chuck]

Nicely done Mark!!  Planking is going really well.    Having a nice stash like that would be really nice.   

[Mike Y]

Interesting idea with these curved blocks! Need to invest some time into making those as well... I guess they should give a better result then just eyeballing it and using flexible sanding pads to achieve a smooth curve.

Have you considered making them from something softer, like a cork block? I made a few shapes with cork when fairing the hull, it is just the right softness level for fairing and it would not scratch the rest of the model if you bump it accidentally.

[SJSoane]

Hi Mike,

 

The wood blocks are great for working on the edges, because they don't allow any rounding over of the edge. But sanding the surfaces where there are multiple planks to level would probably benefit from cork. I have some old flat sanding blocks I might be able to re-purpose and see how this works. Thanks for the idea!

 

Mark

[Mike Y]

Oh, right, thanks for clarification! Very well thought through, as the rest of the project. Always reading it with interest, it is a very fine balance between an obsessive overthinking and a careful planning and precision  Please keep it coming, we are in it for a long journey, as you said!

[SJSoane]

A quick update this morning. 

 

I realized that I was making life too complicated, using those screw-on planking clamps. They are fiddly, getting the right spacer behind them to create even clamping pressure on the face of the black strake. And they are soft metal, and began bending when I tightened things up.

 

So I turned instead to some small brass clamps I bought years ago and never used. They go right through the ports and give nice, even clamping pressure. I don't remember where I got those, should probably get some more if I can remember.

 

I may be able to use these for much of the planking, since everything is within reach of a port, one way or another.

 

Mark

[mtaylor]

I think Micromark carries those.  I have about 10 or 12 and they are a blessing. 

[SJSoane]

On 9/16/2019 at 4:27 PM, druxey said:

The rule seems to have been that if the plank above or below a port was cut into by more than half its width, the plank adjacent was widened to form the port edge. Of course, the run of the wale's edge would be preserved by differential thinning as required.

Hi druxey,

As I look forward to finally planking the 4" strakes around the gun ports, I am looking at your adjustments at the port heads and cills. Was there a rule about the angle at which the easing up or down came into the port corner? It looks more like a function of length than angle...

 

And thanks, Mark, I'll look into the Micromark catalog. I have had those brass clamps for years, and this is the first time I ever used them. They are very well made, a joy to use! I did file off the flairs at the ends, which are meant to keep the sliding jaw from sliding off altogether. But sliding them off allows me to insert the bare bar from outboard, and then sliding up the jaw from inboard. Otherwise, can't make them fit through the ports! 

 

Mark

[noel_colledge]

Hi Mark

 

They are called Japanese bar clamps. Very useful for loads of operations.

 

Love this build, Thanks for your insight.

 

Regards

 

Noel

[druxey]

No rule that I know about, Mark. I eyeballed what looked reasonable compared with planking expansions that I've seen. An example of this is at:

 

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/81960.html

 

 

[SJSoane]

Thanks, Noel, I am glad you enjoy watching this. It is a long, winding road!

And thanks, druxey, that drawing is very helpful. They are shallower than I somehow guessed they would be. But it makes sense to keeps angled cuts as shallow as possible for less stress on the wood.

 

Mark

[michael mott]

Mark thinking about these clamps they would be easy enough to make with a round bar the 1/4 inch stuff that Home depot sells is nice brass easy to machine. my thought would be to mill or file a flat along the bottom for the screw to tighten against and use a couple of allen head machine screws, the jaws could be brass or aluminum. I will have to see about making myself a couple tomorrow.

 

Michael 

[michael mott]

Ok I couldn't resist, I went out to the shop and with a couple of 4x40 allen head cap screws and a 6x32 threaded end on a bit of 3/16th brass rod filed a flat along the bottom side after locking it into the head end, and some 1/4 inch square brass bar sliders

 

 

 

Very easy to make.

 

Cheers Michael

 

 

Edited October 8, 2019 by michael mott
spelling an grammar

[druxey]

Easy, eh, Michael? Please make a dozen more for Mark, and then another dozen for me. Just joking. 

[SJSoane]

MIchael,

 

Nice clamps! You are a genius, as usual, in thinking about and making tools. I still use the fence setting gauge I made based on your ideas.

 

What is the dimple in the top of the fixed jaw for? Was it part of the machining process?

 

druxy may have put you onto a business opportunity. I just saw that they sell for  $24.95 for 2 on MicroMark...

 

Mark

[michael mott]

Hi Mark, The dimple was in the end of the brass bar I just cut the piece off the end not worrying about the aesthetics just whipped it up from stuff at hand. it took me about 40 minutes to make it the filing of the flat took the longest. I thought that round was more flexible for tight spots and the flat only so that the tightening screw did not cause the inevitable markings to cause the stop from sliding. With small clamps for the sorts of tasks that you illustrated with your planking and setting them through the portholes I should think that they would only need to be 3-4 inches in length max. [does the world really need another clamp design] I guess the principle of the bar clamp is really what it is, just a miniature version.  It is interesting that as you had mentioned you had the clamps for a long time but this was the first time you had used them. I have seen those types of small brass clamps in a variety of different catalogues and always thought that I would like some but never actually got round to purchasing any. I should think that $24 for a pair of the brass bar clamps is in good competition with the miniature Irwin quick clamps which in my neck of the woods are around $24 each.

I'll just sell the modified design for a cup of coffee☕ 

 

Michael

[SJSoane]

Hi Michael,

 

Yes, mine are about 3" long, perfect size for this; any longer and they would not clear inboard.

I will pay you that cup of coffee when I am in your neck of the woods!

 

Best wishes,

 

Mark

 

[paulsutcliffe]

I think they are about £14 for a pair at Axminster but could be wrong, sold as Japanese bar clamps, I have also had some in my stash for some time and not used

[SJSoane]

Hi Paul,

 

Isn't it interesting, how we pick up tools on the idea that we might use them someday, even though we don't actually have a need for them now! I am afraid there are more that I never do use, and fewer that I eventually see a need for. You would think I would learn....

 

Mark