HMAV Bounty by AJohnson - Caldercraft - 1:64

[AJohnson]

Hi All,

 

This is a relaunch of a build log after a “minor” pause of about 10 years!  In 2010 flushed with the experience of building  Calderscraft’s H.M.Cutter Sherbourne, I felt back then I could tackle something bigger and came across this kit on eBay, started by someone else and abandoned – and no I didn’t pause to think why!

So Here we are in 2021 and I have dusted the old kit off and restarted it, making I think reasonable progress, but also relearning the problems and issues I had with the kit that caused me to lose heart in 2011.  I have built one other model since, Caldercraft's H.M.S. Orestes (Mars) so I have learnt something along the way, but happily rediscovered MSW to help me this time!

As there has been so many years in between I will just post a selection of the old photos I took back then, to give you a flavour of where I got to, then I will update with where I am now.

 

So here is what I bought back in 2010 full of excitement! 

Edited May 19, 2021 by AJohnson

[AJohnson]

After examining what had been built I spotted the false keel was curved and the boats were not that well done, so I decided to take everything apart and basically start over.  Re-seated the bulkheads, cut in a rabbet line, added filler blocks of hard balsa and sanded and filled in preparation of first planking.

[AJohnson]

Planking was started following the “Simple Hull Planking Techniques for Beginners” published on MSW.  I really enjoyed this part of the build and I recall 1^st planking not taking that long, with guidance of the notes and MSW 1.0 members.

[AJohnson]

Following on second planking was done; marking out some of the main bulkheads so I could cut the second planking to lengths which helped.  Below the waterline; which was to be coppered I cut all the planks roughly to thirds which eased the planking for a newbie somewhat.

Edited March 15, 2021 by AJohnson

[AJohnson]

The final few pictures show the addition of the waterline mark and adding a really thin margin strip for the copper plates to butt up to.  I experimented with timbers, but they kept splitting along the grain, so in the end I used plasticard cut into strips, these were then to be painted black.

[AJohnson]

So what went wrong was I started doing the Copper plates and didn't pay attention to the fact the "brick" pattern was slowly going wrong and the alternate rows were not lining up.  By the time I did notice I had done about a third of one side.  😖  The only course of action was to take them off, which is where the situation got worse and the plates started taking strips of second planking with them (must have been good C-A!)  I removed all the plates and put the kit in the garage and forgot all about it for a decade; well to be fair life had also got in the way that year, moving house, job changes and so on and I became very good at making excuses for not going back to the Bounty.

 

But here we are, starting again and attached is where I have got to so far.  Next steps are the deck planking, so busy searching MSW for hints and tips, have also done a few deck fittings and started the ships boat's, will post more on that next time.  

 

Thanks for looking.

 

 

[Trond]

Hi AJohnson,

 

You have done a nice job. It was interesting to read your background story with putting it aside for 10 years. For me it was 25 years.

I will follow your build, since you are also in front in the building process of the Bounty. My set is from Billingboat with very few instructions and drawing.

I have order the same book on Bounty as you have (Armed transporter), so I hope it is a good reference book for building the Bounty. 

I'm new to building wooden ship so I hope you don't mind if there pop up a question or two during your build.

[AJohnson]

Thanks, I will follow your build as well, I think we both probably fell into the same trap and took on something a bit too ambitious back then. 😄

Edited March 18, 2021 by AJohnson

[AJohnson]

Bit of progress on the stern, added the Lanterns, the instructions say to only use a single 1mm length of wire to support, but from looking at other builds and Anatomy of the Ship book, then the lantern supports were a bit more detailed, so I added some 0.7mm wire for the side supports.  Also added a chain connecting the rudder to the hull. 

Also spent a good while re-drilling the dead eyes, in preparation for using them, as I can remember what a pain it is to try and do that when mounted on a model and you can't getting some rigging to go through them!  Will do the blocks later when nearing the time for rigging.

I'm waiting for some marker pens to arrive to try simulating caulking before I start the deck planking, so also made a start on the anchors.

All for tonight, thanks for looking 

[DaveBaxt]

Great looking job. I especially like the look of the copper bottom and wonder if they came with the kit? I am thinking of trying caldercraft for my next model. Are you happy with the instructions and materials. Best regards Dave

[AJohnson]

1 hour ago, DaveBaxt said:

Great looking job. I especially like the look of the copper bottom and wonder if they came with the kit? I am thinking of trying caldercraft for my next model. Are you happy with the instructions and materials. Best regards Dave

Hi Dave, the copper plates do come with the kit, you can buy them separately if you haven't got any in your kit.  The CC copper plates do have prominent "bumps" on them to simulate the copper nail heads.  From reading other posts on MSW, the reception of them is mixed, I think there are other ones available that are more visually pleasing, but seems they are more expensive of course!

 

As for the CC instructions, they are very brief, but the plans are good and almost full size.  I have a few CC kits, built their "Sherbourne" & "Mars" (really Orestes), I am on with this Bounty and have CC's "Snake" and "Endeavour" saved in stock, I can say the written instructions are almost identical in them all!  (okay slight exaggeration, but there does seem to be a fair bit of cut and paste going on.)  The materials seem okay to me, but I have no experience of other manufacturers.

[DaveBaxt]

1 hour ago, AJohnson said:

Hi Dave, the copper plates do come with the kit, you can buy them separately if you haven't got any in your kit.  The CC copper plates do have prominent "bumps" on them to simulate the copper nail heads.  From reading other posts on MSW, the reception of them is mixed, I think there are other ones available that are more visually pleasing, but seems they are more expensive of course!

 

As for the CC instructions, they are very brief, but the plans are good and almost full size.  I have a few CC kits, built their "Sherbourne" & "Mars" (really Orestes), I am on with this Bounty and have CC's "Snake" and "Endeavour" saved in stock, I can say the written instructions are almost identical in them all!  (okay slight exaggeration, but there does seem to be a fair bit of cut and paste going on.)  The materials seem okay to me, but I have no experience of other manufacturers.

I have been considering the Endeavour for some time as I have some interest in Captain Cook who lived not too far from me, However I also like the look of the Snake. Good luck with your Bounty I am sure with your experience she will look great. I think the main problem I had with building the hull with the Amati kit was the supply of 6mm x 1.5 mm Walnut for the first layer of planking which needed a lot of soaking and heating to get the planks to go around the bow and all had to be tapered too. I understand the Endeavors first layer of planking is lime,which I think is easier to bend into shape but I have not used it.

[AJohnson]

25 minutes ago, DaveBaxt said:

I have been considering the Endeavour for some time as I have some interest in Captain Cook who lived not too far from me, However I also like the look of the Snake.

I too got the Endeavour because of my interest in Cook, living in North Yorkshire, I get to visit Whitby, Staithes, Marske & Great Ayton regularly ( well before COVID I did!) looking at both kits in my stash I think I will be doing the Snake next, the Endeavour looks like the Bounty on Steroids!  The lime first planking is forgiving, but the bluff bow of the Bounty and Endeavour present the same challenges to someone of my skill level.

[DaveBaxt]

13 hours ago, AJohnson said:

I too got the Endeavour because of my interest in Cook, living in North Yorkshire, I get to visit Whitby, Staithes, Marske & Great Ayton regularly ( well before COVID I did!) looking at both kits in my stash I think I will be doing the Snake next, the Endeavour looks like the Bounty on Steroids!  The lime first planking is forgiving, but the bluff bow of the Bounty and Endeavour present the same challenges to someone of my skill level.

Wow, you are even nearer to Cook than my self. I live in the <North East and have visited those areas you have just mentioned many times. Regards the Endeavour and Bounty being similar .I think you are correct, however I am using the Bounty as a learning curve and have made lots of mistakes, some I have managed to do again, others I have had to leave. Hopefully I will have better luck with the Endeavour. Regarding the Bounty. Please follow Tim Moores Blog , Although a different manufacturer again , it is a fantastic model and he is very helpfull as is very many people on this forum.

[AJohnson]

Update on recent progress, completed the two anchors.  Used black card as per. the instruction to form the bands, but also added a little detail by using wire to simulate the stock bolts.  Puddening around the ring was done in 1mm black thread.  The Stocks were coloured with dilute black enamel paint to looking like preservative, I was undecided on whether to leave the stocks natural wood or paint black as I have seen on other MSW builds.  Advice from the "Ships fittings" section of the forum suggested a compromise would be a dark colour @mgdawson Thanks Mark! 

Also made a start on the decking....

 

 

[AJohnson]

A few goodies arrived in the post today to hopefully improve a few areas of the kit.  Have bought replacement 4 pounder guns, binnacle and capstan from Vanguard and a replacement brass wheel and white metal chimney from Caldercraft. These replace items that are a bit below par in the kit, I have built up the originals before I made these purchases and will do a comparison at a later date.

Also got half a dozen Amati 25mm crew figures, I know these little chaps verge on being a bit whimsical, but I quite like them and did populate my previous build, HMS Orestes with a few, I have no pretence to be taken too seriously and want to have fun with my models. 😁

[AJohnson]

Progressed on the deck planking today.  Think if I was doing this again I would do the deck planking before the bulwarks and capping rails and not after as laid out in the instructions, think the access would be easier.  That will teach me for slavishly following instructions! 😆

I've given it rub down and first seal, next I will be faintly marking out the deck beams so I can do the Treenails.

I'll be using the "drill & fill" technique with wood filler, as that seemed to work when I did it on the Orestes build.  I know from experience I will get bored of all that drilling & filling, so can take breaks from it and build and paint my new cannons/binnacle/capstan/wheel & crew members that arrived today. 😁

[Trond]

It looks nice. What is the width of the plank?

I'm building 1:50 and my planks are 4mm which look very narrow.

[AJohnson]

1 hour ago, Trond said:

It looks nice. What is the width of the plank?

I'm building 1:50 and my planks are 4mm which look very narrow.

Hi,

 

Thank you, the strip is the kit supplied 4.0mm wide Tanganyika.  So a scale 10 inches wide, which compared to the drawing in McKay's Anatomy of the Ship book, are too wide, but on 1/50th scale may be more accurate, so you might be okay with yours, ask for more learned opinions on your build log.  To be honest the Tanganyika was of mixed quality, thickness and width!  Many of them were rough, so I had to sand them before I marked the edges with black marker pen, but overall I am pleased with the deck, it looks like it has severe woodworm now as I am in the middle of drilling hundreds of holes to simulate the treenails; these will be filled with wood filler.

[Trond]

Looking forward to see the result.

[AJohnson]

On 3/26/2021 at 12:43 PM, Trond said:

Looking forward to see the result.

Here is the deck as it looks now.  I wish I had done it before the bulwarks and capping rails, I won't make the mistake of following the instructions in order again!

[AJohnson]

Having a change this evening and assembled one of the replacement items I've bought to hopefully improve upon some kit parts, tried out the Binnacle from Vanguard model (on the left) which I think an improvement.

Also having a trial go at a new yoke and handle for the swivel guns made out of eyelet pins, instead of the square PE kit parts which I don't like, I did use them on my Sherborne and Orestes and wish I hadn't - a bit chunky looking.

[Trond]

On 3/28/2021 at 2:57 PM, AJohnson said:

Here is the deck as it looks now.  I wish I had done it before the bulwarks and capping rails, I won't make the mistake of following the instructions in order again!

 

Nice planking and I see you have sent a lot of time drilling those holes, but a very good result.

 

Which method did you use for getting the planks black on the side?

I've tried pensile and black marker, but so far it's been no good.

[AJohnson]

12 minutes ago, Trond said:

 

Nice planking and I see you have sent a lot of time drilling those holes, but a very good result.

 

Which method did you use for getting the planks black on the side?

I've tried pensile and black marker, but so far it's been no good.

Thanks, I used a SAKURA Pigma Professional Brush Pen, found it did not "bleed"into the wood grain too much and the brush type head seems to give a little more centrol than a traditional 'hard' marker pen head. I experimented and found I liked the effect if I marked both edges of the plank rather than just one.  The only obstacle I came across was that many of the Tanganyika strips had a rough edge, so needed sanding before marking with the pen to give a smooth edge.

[AJohnson]

Replaced the kit chimney (which looks like a 20th century chimney - the one on the right of the pictures showing the two) with another white metal Caldercraft part, though this needed cutting so the opening was not at right angles to the chimney stack and a rim around the opening need filing off.  I have also looked into which direction the opening faced, many builds and McKay's AOTS book show the chimney opening facing forward,  but the original plans show it facing to the rear, so I have gone with that. 

[AJohnson]

Bit more progress, added the capstan; I replaced the kit part with a new one from Vanguard Models, which went together really well (the kit part is the one on the left on the side by side picture.) Also finished and added the two pumps.

[Ian_Grant]

On 4/2/2021 at 1:43 PM, AJohnson said:

Replaced the kit chimney (which looks like a 20th century chimney - the one on the right of the pictures showing the two) with another white metal Caldercraft part, though this needed cutting so the opening was not at right angles to the chimney stack and a rim around the opening need filing off.  I have also looked into which direction the opening faced, many builds and McKay's AOTS book show the chimney opening facing forward,  but the original plans show it facing to the rear, so I have gone with that.

Hello,

 

I believe the galley chimneys could be rotated by the crew to point them downwind. That's why you see many models on MSW with handles on the chimney, like "ears". Keep up the great work!

[AJohnson]

48 minutes ago, Ian_Grant said:

Hello,

 

I believe the galley chimneys could be rotated by the crew to point them downwind. That's why you see many models on MSW with handles on the chimney, like "ears". Keep up the great work!

I didn't know that, every day is a school day, so it could be facing any direction, one less thing I need to worry I could stuff up! Thank you 🙂

[AJohnson]

Finished assembling the replacement Cannons and carriages from Vanguard models, these are fine little models in their own right and went together quite easily.  To be fair I don't think the original CC ones are bad, but just looked a bit "clunky"  For comparison the row of cannons at the back and on the right are the originals.  Think the new carriages look very close to the McKay AOTS drawings.  Now looking through MSW for tips, to see about rigging them, as there are only four of them going to try more than the breech rope - hopefully!

Edited April 6, 2021 by AJohnson

[AJohnson]

Another quick update, added the Catheads, adding card strip to simulate the band at the end of the Cathead from MyKay's AOTS book.  Also channelled out between the holes drilled for the catfall, so they don't sit proud of the cathead; didn't go as far as sheaves!