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

[druxey]

A curved deck beam ahead of the rudderhead is seen on a number of deck plans, so was a fairly standard way of framing this. I suspect there were carlings on each side of the opening rather than a sem-lunar piece involving cross-grain and much waste. A smaller piece would have framed in the curved aft part of the opening. 

[SJSoane]

Hi druxey,

 

Aha, of course, a couple of carlings and some chocks in the round corners would be much better. Thanks!

 

Mark

[druxey]

Examples of the curved beam:

 

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/81208.html

 

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/81282.html

 

and, more interestingly:

 

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/81164.html

[SJSoane]

Thanks so much, druxey. I can't make the last one, the Dorsetshire, quite line up with my rudder head/transom relationship. But the first two, with a full curved beam, could work. These perhaps makes more sense than the one I show, which would be a funny piece of wood to find out in the woods....🙂

 

It is interesting to think what keeps that curved beam from rolling over on its axis, except all the  horizontal carlings and decking resisting the lateral movement it would need to roll. Not an ideal structure, but it obviously worked for them back then.

 

Mark

[Hubac's Historian]

I’m just in awe of what you are doing here, Mark!

[SJSoane]

Marc, I will trade that compliment right back to you. I think you are working on far more complex forms and details than I am!

 

Mark

[Hubac's Historian]

The stakes are higher for you, though; wood is a commitment.  Plastic is plastic.

[SJSoane]

Marc, I recently built a plastic kit of an LCVP landing craft for my father, his assignment in WWII. Not so much easier than wood--easier to cut, harder to finish! I admire your work in this medium.

 

druxey, here is another idea for the chock around the rudder head at the upper deck. I am thinking it might be like a mast or capstan partners, with a lip set down onto a rabbet in the carlings, and a large lapping joint between the two halves of the chock. I think the lower surface of this chock would also have to fay down onto the upper surface of the lower counter below, to keep water out through the entire height of the hole through the hull for the rudder.

 

Mark

 

 

[druxey]

Exactly, Mark! Except I'd make the carlings much wider.

[SJSoane]

Something a little more like this. This is about as wide as the mast partners. And a little wider seat on the rabbet.

 

 

[druxey]

Looks good, Mark.

[SJSoane]

Waiting for more glue to dry on planking, I started thinking again about the gundeck planking. I don't seem to find any guidance on how to lay out deck planking that tapers to bow and stern (as seen in Falconer's gundeck below). I can only think to draw a rectangular box around the deck, width equal to the width of the deck at its widest point, and then reduce the width of the ends by some ratio like 7/10 of the full width. Next, divide center and ends by the number of planks, and connect the dots with arcs of circles.

Can anyone direct me to a discussion of how to do this?

 

Mark

[SJSoane]

I have not been showing planking recently, because it is now just one plank after another until I finish the last strake of 4" planking below the channel wales.

 

However, I thought it might be of interest to show some things I have learned while planking.

 

First, I had a challenge scribing the upper edge of a spiled plank, particularly on a curved planks as at the bow. I tried using a manila filing folder template, but it was too irregular. I tried using a flexible curve, but it would not bend in two directions. So then I hit on the idea that works well for me. I plot the points through which the curve must flow, and then I use artist's tape to fit a smooth line to the points. This is the same as I did on the hull itself.

 

Then it is an easy thing to draw a sharp pencil line along the tape.

The uppermost 4" plank at the curve of the bow was the most difficult to fit so far. It curves around the bow, it curves up for the sheer, and it twists from vertical at the bow to sloping inward further aft because of the tumblehome. This piece took me almost four hours to fit.

Here is a dry fit to test the fairness of the mating edges:

Here is the piece clamped up:

And here is the result before final sanding:

 

 

You will see that I have a double band of black artist tape at the lower edge of the channel wales. When I first put it on, I put the upper edge of the tape against the plotted points on the hull. And when I finally got to the upper plank, I realized that the tape was now in the way of the plank! So I put another line of tape above, and I am peeling off the lower one as I fit the planks. Next time I put on tape for lines on the hull, the tape will go above the line!

 

Mark

 

 

 

 

 

 

[druxey]

Interesting use of tape for drawing smooth curves on a curved surface! Had you considered thread and dilute white glue instead of tape to line out on the model?

 

As for gun deck planking, you are master shipwright. As long as you plank in the spirit of the Falconer engraving, no-one will be able to fault you.

[SJSoane]

Hi druxey,

 

I tried the thread and dilute glue, but I kept disturbing it as I was clamping, fitting, etc. around it. I found that the tape was more durable, particularly over the many months it takes me to get anything done. Also, I wanted to scribe a line on the hull for future reference, but the thread moved between glue locations. I did use a technique from the thread and glue, in that I fine-tuned the location of the tape once it was on the hull by gently pushing sections of it up or down. I used an old graphic artist burnishing tool for this purpose.

 

OK, I'll try some ways of laying out the deck planks, and see what happens. If I get anything useful, I'll post it!

 

Best wishes,

 

Mark

[Mark P]

Good Evening Mark;

 

For tapering deck planks, take a look at my suggested method below. This will set them out nicely for you. Best drawn on a plan of the deck. Very simple, just an equally divided bar scale, rotated a little more each time as you approach the bow or stern. Then draw a gentle curve through all the left hand points, or bend the plank slightly to fit, if it will do so without buckling.

 

All the best,

 

Mark

 

Edited March 10, 2020 by Mark P

[SJSoane]

Thanks, Mark, I will see how I can translate this to my CAD drawing, using arcs of circles. Since the sheer lines are arcs, I assume the decking would be as well. We will see!

 

Mark

[SJSoane]

Hi everyone,

 

Here is an update, mainly to say that I am still around. I am proceeding aft with the uppermost strake of 4" plank below the channel wales.

 

After some recent family health scares, it is probably a good idea to spend some more time in the shop and think about positive things!

 

Mark

[Hubac's Historian]

Keep your head up, Mark.  I’m sorry if you are having a tough time.

 

All the best,

M

[SJSoane]

Thanks so much, Marc. We had a scare with the virus with a relative in Denver, where the entire city is now locked down. Relative OK, now quarantined. But you have it way worse in New York City, Marc; stay safe!

 

Slowly moving along with the top strake of 4" plank. Just for fun, and for a break while waiting for glue to dry, I temporarily clamped a cheek on at the bow, and sat upon it a rough blank for the hawse liner. Still to be shaped, but it begins to show the lines relative to the planking. It is interesting to see how the cut down of the hull at the forecastle is not parallel to the outboard planking. It slopes down rather more towards the bow. I double checked the drawing, and this appears to be so the little deck at the bow is aligned more with the sheer of the upper deck, which it sits just above. This visual anomaly will pretty much be obscured by all of the head work later.

 

Mark

 

 

 

 

[SJSoane]

At last, I finished the planking between the wales. Now there is a bunch of clean up to do.

First, I needed to fair the upper edge of the 4" plank. I cut the width of the top strake a little full to allow this. I replotted the line on the hull from my drawing, and used artist tape to lay down a fair line:

I then used a fine riffler, a smooth flexible file, and curved sanding blocks to clean this up.

 

Next, I needed to fill in below the ports in the 4th and 5th ports from the bow, with 6, 7 and 8 still to go. Strictly speaking, these would have extensions from the black strake, then thinned down to 4" to keep the line of the planking. But I decided it was easier to fill in than to cut the black strake full, then thin down. The difference is not noticeable, and I hope I have not disappointed anyone that I took this little shortcut...

Finally, tomorrow, I will turn the hull upside down and sand the planking over the tops of the ports flat to match the headers in the hull framing. This should clean up the line of the tops of the ports very nicely. And, I can finally clean up the ends of the planks at the stern to match the edges of the lower and upper counters.

 

Mark

 

 

Edited March 31, 2020 by SJSoane

[paulsutcliffe]

Shortcut you I don't believe it!!! Really though its looking awesome, nice work

Regards

Paul 

[gjdale]

Your secret is safe with me Mark - well, with me and the other 130 people following your log...........😉

[SJSoane]

Thanks, Paul, my wife is starting to get nervous about how long it is taking me to finish this project. She doesn't know what to do with it if I pass on before it is done, and I think she is looking forward to putting my ashes on it and floating it out into the lake on fire. She hasn't noticed that it has no planking below the waterline...So I thought I better pick up the pace a little with some shortcuts.

 

And thanks, Grant, I was afraid the secret would get out...☺️

 

We had a snowstorm last night, plus nowhere else to go while sheltering in place, so I got more done today.

 

I was finally able to trim the planking back to the lower and upper counters, turning the hull upside down so I could see what I was doing. This was pretty tricky doing, trying to clean up the edge flush with the counters, while avoiding sanding anymore into the counter surface itself. I wrapped sandpaper around half the length of a large dowel, with manila file folder stock wrapped around the other half. This was to ensure that the manila folder stock would ride on the counter surface as a stop, preventing the sandpaper from sanding any more when it got to the final surface.

Then turned upright again, I was able to attach the moulding at the top of the upper counter, just to see how the lines are looking. I still need to do some trimming on the planking at the lower edge of the upper counter, as you can see. You can also see in this photo how much the planking following the outboard sheer climbs quite high relative to the the line of the decks and therefore the ports. Although it is kind of visually awkward how the one just cuts across the other, it is also this exaggerated sheer that I think makes this generation of ships so beautiful.

 

 

 

 

[druxey]

Beautiful, Mark. Are the stepped edges of planks bevelled off or not? Hard to tell on the photos.

[dvm27]

It's work like this that makes sheltering in place easier, Mark! Keep posting.

[SJSoane]

Thanks, druxey and Greg. I was having a hard time getting going again when the pandemic hit, but now we seem to be settled in for a long haul I am getting focused again. Better than watching golf tournaments from a year ago on TV...

 

druxey, I have been debating back and forth with myself whether I should bevel the edges of the proud planks. On the one hand, I love the high degree of authenticity as seen in the Fully Framed Model series, and this has inspired me to make more detailed fittings than I otherwise would have considered doing.

 

On the other hand, I am using the original Bellona models as my guide when making artistic decisions about the overall look of the project. And these models did not always follow the actual construction in the full size ships, I have discovered. In the photo below, for example, the planking does not drop down to the heads of the gun ports where the planking gets thin (see the plank just above the lower left gun port). And the edges of the planks do not seem to be beveled. The top of the black strake looks beveled at first glance, but compare it to the horizontal line of the gun port sill and it appears to be parallel to it and therefore horizontal to the ground. Relative to the tumblehome  it looks beveled.

 

I did drop my planks to the heads where necessary, for greater authenticity; but the beveled edges are still a quandary for me. At 3/16" scale in my model, the edges to be beveled are not very wide, and my early experiments on how to do this resulted in uneven bevels. Right now, I get a very crisp line of light along the proud edges, and I am nervous that it will lose some of this crispness with an uneven bevel.

 

I thought I would move along a little more and ponder this as I see what the model looks like as I continue to add the different plank thicknesses.

 

Do you have any tips on how to cut an accurate bevel here?

 

Mark

 

 

 

 

 

[SJSoane]

A quick update. I discovered this morning that the tops of the gun ports were not exactly faired. My best efforts at cutting each one as I planked nonetheless left a few slightly askew. So I put in a line of artist tape at the tops of the ports, faired it, and then trimmed a few ports here and there to line up. They were not off by much, but a little judicious filing straightened everything out. Having learned this, I will leave the planks over the upper deck ports a little full, to leave for trimming with a file later on.

 

I knew I had leveled the plank with the sill behind when the file began to show a little red, which was the stain I put on the underside of the sills before I started planking. I will have to touch these up when I stain the edges of the planking red at the ports; but it was a handy way to know where I was with filing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[druxey]

I don't cut those small bevels: I run a  small sanding stick along at an angle to knock off the sharp edges evenly.

[SJSoane]

Thanks, druxey, I'll try a few experiments....

So planking got really boring, I need a break. I will play around a little with the stem cheeks and hawser liners, as well as the stern structure.

Looking at the stern, first of all, I cleaned up the planking to match the curve of the upper counter, and could pin in place the two moulding defining the upper counter. This was best done upside down, and I held a small strip of sandpaper between the moulding blank and the surface to be sanded.

Turned right side up, I am starting to ponder how that lower moulding turns around the corner of the quarter galleries. To make a mitre between the stern piece and the side piece, the moulding cannot tilt as it turns the corner, so the side of the quarter gallery corresponding to the upper counter has to be the same slope as that of the upper counter.

 

 

So, I might try mocking up the quarter galleries, at least the lower half,  in cardboard to see how this all works before I try moulding the edges of these pieces. Unknown territory here...

 

Mark