HMS Bounty by Samuel I - Constructo - Scale 1:110 - First build

[Samuel I]

Hello, my name is Samuel and this is my build log. 

 

This is my very first build, and I am super excited about it.

 

Like I said in my introduction post, I was gifted a wooden kit of the HMS Bounty 1:110 (Constructo) a few years back and never got around to building it because I was scared of messing it all up.  Now as I am a little older I started it as an "end of summer project" and I think I am about 3 weeks in and the ship looks good so far.  There is still a lot of work to do, and I know I will not be able to complete it before I head back to school in the fall. 

 

I plan to post photos of the ship after every addition that I add, and will probably ask a few questions about how to do a particular step(s) and look forward to the day that I can show my friends the work that I put in on this ship. 

 

Attached you will see some photos of the ship once i decided to start documenting my work, and you should be able to see a very slight progression as time passed. I will also be posting a photo of the box and ideal finished product. Let me know if you would like any more photos and I will do my best to post them and answer and questions that you all may have for me. 

 

Here is the link to my "new member post" 

 

Edited August 11, 2019 by Samuel I

[Samuel I]

Not sure If I should edit my original post, or add a comment every time I do something.  Anyways, this morning I sanded, drilled, and glued on the Foremast, Mainmast, and Mizzenmast channels.  The plans said to use a 1mm drill bit, but I only had a 1/16 inch (1.5mm) drill bit available. I don't think its that much of a difference as the deadeyes will not be able to slip through the holes either way.  The instructions now tell me to sand the whole assembly, apply two coats of varnish, and paint the bottom of the hull white, and the upper half black.  I also  plan to paint the cast iron windows and the cabin windows in the back at the same time.  

 

If anyone could give me advice on what type of varnish to use, how to apply it, and what kind of paint is best for this project that would be greatly appreciated.  Another question I have is do I also apply varnish to the masts and the deck hatches when i finally add them to the ship? Do I do that before or after I have glued them in place and built up the masts with the connectors. (im not sure of the nautical term) The instructions are not very clear on these "details".  Any and all help is appreciated, Thank you.

 

Here are the photos of my attached channels. A close up, and a birds eye view. 

[ccoyle]

8 minutes ago, Samuel I said:

Not sure If I should edit my original post, or add a comment every time I do something. 

Add posts as you go.

 

9 minutes ago, Samuel I said:

what kind of paint is best

Whatever kind you prefer. I prefer acrylics because they can be cleaned with water.

 

9 minutes ago, Samuel I said:

Another question I have is do I also apply varnish to the masts and the deck hatches when i finally add them to the ship? Do I do that before or after I have glued them in place and built up the masts with the connectors. (im not sure of the nautical term) The instructions are not very clear on these "details".

Definitely do as much as possible off the model, then touch up afterwards. Trying to do this on the model will be messy.

 

Cheers!

[Henke]

1 hour ago, Samuel I said:

If anyone could give me advice on what type of varnish to use, how to apply it,

Samuel, I use matt polyurethane varnish. And Samuel, remember that you can use your build log to ask for advice as you just did. MSW is a very friendly forum.

 

Regards

 

Henrik

[Samuel I]

1 hour ago, ccoyle said:

Definitely do as much as possible off the model, then touch up afterwards. Trying to do this on the model will be messy.

4 minutes ago, Henke said:

Samuel, I use matt polyurethane varnish.

Thank you ccole and Henke for the advice.  I will head to my local hobby shop and look for acrylic paint and polyurethane varnish.  Will update when I have some results. 

[Samuel I]

Hello quick update to anyone out there, 

 

I went ahead and built my deck hatches, the mizzenmast pin racks, as well as the windlass uprights and sides. They look pretty good, in my opinion, but I do feel some finishing touches need to be done on the hatches. Im not sure. 

 

I was also able to go to the hobby store and buy some polyurethane varnish and some acrylic paint for my ship.  After looking at some various paint schemes I think I like ones where I can still see most of the wood on the ship.  Linked below is a build that I really like for its style and the details. 

 

I think I would like to do something similar, however, my ship does not have a darker wood beneath the lower wales.  Is it possible for me to stain that wood and then put the polyurethane on it? If that is not possible, I asked my girlfriend to make some Photoshop mock ups of what my ship would look like should I choose to paint the hull white. 

 

Here are the photos. 

Black ^

Blue ^

 

I think I like the look of the blue more, but i have read that black may be more historically accurate. I do realize that at this scale accuracy is going to be very hard to do correctly, but I want my ship to still look the part, even if it is my first go at this thing. 

 

Any advice as far as varnishing, painting, drying, and style would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all, I will update you as more of the ship is complete. 

 

Edited August 16, 2019 by Samuel I
Remove duplicate image

[mtdoramike]

Your planking job, looks great so far. When I plank solid hulls, I usually used contact cement. I measure out my planks, smear on the contact cement on both the plank and the hull and then lay on the plank. But I also color or stain the solid wood hull a dark color so if there is any minute gaps between the planks, it will not stick out like a sore thumb. I use a low shine varnish and usually rub the finish with steel wool to give it a waxed appearance.  

[Samuel I]

Greetings fellow earthlings, 

 

After a long fall semester and a slightly shorter (for reasons that I am sure we are all aware) spring semester, I am back with an update on my progress on the HMS Bounty.  Taking the ship out of its storage and setting up the "dry dock" took a while.  As did re-reading my posts and notes I left myself so that I could continue the work where I left off.  I am very happy to say that I am still enjoying the experience and still consider it to be almost therapeutic.  Below you will find photos from the progress I made this weekend.  

Above is the rudder housing as well as the tiller that will be eventually placed at the stern of the ship.  I already coated it in varnish and I believe it is the last of the parts that will be glued to the deck.  Next I decided it was time to tackle the dead eyes and their metal twistydoos... (I do not know the proper term)  

These were a pain and started to hurt my fingers once I was nearing the last of the 26 needed for the ship. (I do not know why this image is so much smaller than my other photos, the file size is also much smaller than the others)

Next was the rigging blocks, these were like the dead eyes very small and very tedious but the wire was thinner so my fingers did not hurt as much. 

Here is a photo of them all lined up along the side of the ship.  My next step is drilling small holes above the wales and gluing the dangly metal bits to the hull of the ship.  I also need to finally decide what I want my paint scheme to be so If anyone reading this has any more advice or perhaps a link to a build that I could look at that would be greatly appreciated.  

 

I will continue to update here with the progress of my build as time goes on. I suspect I will have plenty of time to work on this in the weeks and months to come. (Also, if my images are too large please let me know I can scale them down)

[Samuel I]

Behold.

Yesterday I went ahead and decided it was time I put all the deck hatches, and other deck details on the boat.  I wasn't sure if I was supposed to drill the holes for the brass eye hooks that will eventually hold down the "ropes" before or after this step, but the instructions said to do this first so that's what happened.

 

I am very happy with how things are coming along and I seem to be nearing the rigging stage of the build.  (Scary) But excited to start it. If anyone has any advice on this or links to either other forum posts or videos that can help it would be greatly appreciated.  I have already done a fair bit of research but any additional advice is always welcome.  

 

In the meantime, here are some more photos I took of the ship in its current state.  Some even have a little tilt-shift look to them.  Enjoy. 

Lastly, I glued on the bilge pumps this morning after doing some touch up paint last night. 

As always, I will continue to update here and any words of wisdom about the next stage of the build are always welcome. 

 

Your beholding can subside for now. 

 

Edited March 25, 2020 by Samuel I
Remove extra image

[Fitch]

On 3/25/2020 at 3:36 PM, Samuel I said:

Behold.

Yesterday I went ahead and decided it was time I put all the deck hatches, and other deck details on the boat.  I wasn't sure if I was supposed to drill the holes for the brass eye hooks that will eventually hold down the "ropes" before or after this step, but the instructions said to do this first so that's what happened.

 

I am very happy with how things are coming along and I seem to be nearing the rigging stage of the build.  (Scary) But excited to start it. If anyone has any advice on this or links to either other forum posts or videos that can help it would be greatly appreciated.  I have already done a fair bit of research but any additional advice is always welcome.  

 

In the meantime, here are some more photos I took of the ship in its current state.  Some even have a little tilt-shift look to them.  Enjoy. 

Lastly, I glued on the bilge pumps this morning after doing some touch up paint last night. 

As always, I will continue to update here and any words of wisdom about the next stage of the build are always welcome. 

 

Your beholding can subside for now. 

 

Hello samuel 

 

I'm doing the same build as we speak and same as you it's my first project, some of the replys are great coz all the paint provided in the kit has expired. 

 

What paint did you use for the canons etc? 

 

[Samuel I]

On 4/11/2020 at 1:16 PM, Fitch said:

Hello samuel 

 

I'm doing the same build as we speak and same as you it's my first project, some of the replys are great coz all the paint provided in the kit has expired. 

 

What paint did you use for the canons etc? 

 

Howdy Fitch, 

 

I am so sorry that I didn't respond to you sooner.  Due to online learning at the second half of this semester I have had to put my project up for a bit, and so my time browsing this site has diminished.  I am happy to see someone else working on the same kit that I am and when you start your build log I will be watching for sure.  

 

As far as paint for the cannons is concerned I ended up going with acrylic paint from my local hobby shop.  I am also planning to use acrylic paint on the windows and on the hull of the ship.  The brand is "Tamiya Color".   I also have used some water based polyurethane varnish to help seal the deck and other wooden parts around the ship.  I hope this helps, just like you this is my first go at anything like this. 

 

Good luck!

[Nirvana]

Samuel,

Your Bounty is coming together very nicely.
Constructos' kits like yours are easy to work and have a steady progress with.
When it comes to the rigging, this is the area many are dreading, try to be patience, look at the diagrams because normally the instructions doesn't help.

Reach out to us if you are in need of help. 

[Sailor-Bill]

Hello  folks,

 

Samuel, Your build looks awesome. I found this kit at a yard sale and it appears complete except for the building instructions. Any chance you would share yours (or anyone following this that would). This will be my first wooden boat build.

 

 

Thanks,

Bill

[Samuel I]

1,570 days later, the build continues.

 

A lot has happened since my last update on the Constructo 1:110 HMS Bounty build. I graduated with my undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin and have been working full-time in a communications role for over a year now. A few weeks ago, I decided that the tide was coming in and it was time for me to continue my work on the HMS Bounty kit I started in 2019. My, how time flies.

 

@Sailor-Bill, I know this is very late - but I've attached both a photo of the English instructions as well as a scale photo of the construction documents below. (I don't know where they will appear in this post, but they are there).

 

Since opening the dry dock again, I've made decent progress (or what I believe to be decent progress). I've painted the other half of the gunwales blue, the hull has been painted white, and I have drilled and placed the deck eye-bolts with HobbyTown Insta-flex+. I have also glued the rigging screws into the channels and wales along the side of the hull.

 

During construction, a few pieces experienced a rapid displacement of their position (broke off), but that has been resolved. You might be able to see some of the scars from the surgery in the attached photos. (I have tried adding these photos but I've run into an error about four times in a row, so I'll try again another time).

 

Over the next few weeks, the instructions say that I will be working on the bowsprit, spars, masts, and other rigging-related parts of the ship. @Nirvana has told me that this is often the hardest part of the build, so I will be taking it slowly and giving it my best shot. Over the next few weeks, I'll make sure to update everyone here when I make more progress on the HMS Bounty. I'm super thrilled to continue this journey, and am always open to advice, suggestions, and questions about my build!