HMS Bellona by yvesvidal - CAF Model - 1:48

[Kusawa2000]

5 hours ago, yvesvidal said:

 

Mike, yes the decals are water transfer, like regular decals. They are simply a lot thicker than what you find in plastic model kits. By the same token, they are also more robust. 

 

To apply: I use Future Floor Pledge as a base coat, to make the paint and the wood more receptive to the flat surface of the decal underside, I place the decal, let it dry and coat is with another light application of Future Floor pledge, by brush.

 

Yves

Yves: Thanks for the response. I have looked at the decals and wondered if they were water transfer or some other process. Never thought to use Future floor policy as a sealer. 

 

Mike Draper

[Kusawa2000]

On 5/26/2022 at 9:17 AM, yvesvidal said:

 

Mike, yes the decals are water transfer, like regular decals. They are simply a lot thicker than what you find in plastic model kits. By the same token, they are also more robust. 

 

To apply: I use Future Floor Pledge as a base coat, to make the paint and the wood more receptive to the flat surface of the decal underside, I place the decal, let it dry and coat is with another light application of Future Floor pledge, by brush.

 

Yves

Yves: Thanks! 

 

Mike Draper

[yvesvidal]

Some more progress, on the bow. Having the front of the ship open, was disturbing me. The front bulkhead only comes in Session #4 and in my humble opinion, it is too late as I will show in the coming description. 

 

 

They assume that the main/upper deck must be installed before setting the front bulkhead. I like to disagree and will propose a solution moving away from what CAF is recommending. The picture above shows the beginning of Session #4 instructions.

 

The main deck and bow deck are not exactly at the same level (in the model). Using the 1a/1b beams, I glued them in place to match the level of the main deck: 

 

 

I then glued on top of beam "1a" only, a 2 mm strip of wood to put on the same level the front of the bow with beam 1a: 

 

 

This will create the front deck.  I now have to cut from the main deck parts A, the sections which are used to plank the front of the ship: 

 

 

These two parts are then glued and a central piece is inserted to finish the deck.

 

The remaining section of deck A, do fit perfectly, although 2 mm below. That is no problem at all.

 

 

Using some 0.4 mm shims, I then position the front bulkhead (coming in Session #4): 

 

 

 

So far, so good. I like the fact that two sides are now joined by a very stiff piece of plywood.

 

The decorative rails are not working very well and some "deconstruction" is necessary: 

 

 

 

I would strongly recommend to not install any of the front rails, until after building the front bulkhead and adjusting the round houses. The moldings on the round houses have to match these rails and that is not obvious to do.

 

The front deck (crapper) is planked: 

 

 

 

The vertical surface of the bulkhead is covered with the 0.4 mm planking as well.

 

 

 

Everything is finely sanded, the deck receives Wipe on Poly (multiple coats). I now apply the first two coats of Ultramarine blue: 

 

 

 

 

There is still a ton of work to be done in this area, but at least I am feeling better about the solidity of the model. 

 

Yves

 

Edited June 1, 2022 by yvesvidal

[yvesvidal]

More work on the Head of the ship, with the installation of the hawse holes and cheeks.

 

At the beginning of Session #3, there are some recommendations regarding the drilling of the hawse holes. Being cautious, I went to my Session #5 box and pulled out the Hawse plates, set them in place on the bow and marked the holes with a pencil. Then I went back to the Session #3 instructions and compared the dimensions. I am glad I proceeded the way I did, as the indications given in Session #3, are not at all right. Again, we have reached a stage in this kit, where owning all Sessions (3 to 5) is essential to avoid major mistakes.

 

 

 

Then comes the assembly of the upper and lower cheeks. These are made of four parts: two are cut by laser and the other twos have to be carved, bent and refined for a decent fit. You can see below on pictures 35 and 36 how it is done.

 

 

This has been a tedious task, requiring a lot of precision, sanding, filing, painting and gluing. I am glad it is behind me and even though it is far from being perfect, this is the best I can do at this moment: 

 

 

 

 

Upper cheeks are now in place: 

 

 

 

 

I think I will go back to work on the stern, for a change of pace.....

 

Yves

[Kevin]

wow , Don't that look good

[yvesvidal]

4 minutes ago, Kevin said:

wow , Don't that look good

Thank you Kevin.

[John Ruy]

1 hour ago, yvesvidal said:

even though it is far from being perfect, this is the best I can do at this moment:

Excellent work Yves… Perfection is very elusive to those closest to their work. 🤪

 

You have the right goals and your work is excellent my friend. 👍

[allanyed]

Hi Yves

The drawing from AOTS that you posted shows the rudder taper which was pretty normal.   Does the kit and/or the book show the taper of the knee of the head from the stem moving forward which reduced by about half?  

Thanks

Allan

[yvesvidal]

1 hour ago, allanyed said:

Hi Yves

The drawing from AOTS that you posted shows the rudder taper which was pretty normal.   Does the kit and/or the book show the taper of the knee of the head from the stem moving forward which reduced by about half?  

Thanks

Allan

 

Allan, yes the kit (lack of) instructions, makes a brief mention of tapering. I decided to not reduce the thickness of the knee of the head. Instead, I filed the figure to make sure she fits on the head. Artistic license.... I suppose.

 

Yves

[allanyed]

I thought that might be the case.  Nothing wrong with taking things into your own hands, so to speak.  Your build log continues to be a joy to follow.

Allan

[yvesvidal]

I am trying to finish the outside of the hull and add a few details which are not included in the kit. This is done in a much easier way, without any of the guns installed.

 

First the holes used to lift the gun-port lids. Even though the kit provides for all lids and associated hinges, no rope is provided to build that feature.

 

 

 

The holes are about 1 mm in diameter, which may be a tad too large for the real ship. The Anatomy of the Ship book is not very generous with details.

 

The next holes will be the scuppers, used to evacuate the bilge and deck waters. COREL shows their approximate location on the plan of the Bellona kit, but CAF has no mention whatsoever. I will be using COREL instructions to install the six pipes on each side.

 

Yves

Edited June 15, 2022 by yvesvidal

[yvesvidal]

After working on the Bow of the ship, I feel that the Stern is requesting some attention. Nothing can be built yet, as I have to lay the floor of the main deck and also study a solution to control the rudder from the wheel (wishful thinking....). At this stage I can start building the main deck on the rear section only. But before that, I have to assemble at least four large guns, to go underneath the "E" section of the main deck.

 

Technically I have to build 28 large guns.....but I hate repetitive tasks. So, I am going to build what I need to move through one section at a time. That will offer a pleasant diversion from the repetitive assembly of 28 large guns at once.

 

 

The guns are made of a mixture of wood, brass barrel and PE parts. To build 28 guns represents a lot of parts: 

 

 

 

The guns are glued with CA glue. The barrels are cleaned in a mixture of vinegar and baking soda and left soaking for 10-15 minutes. They are then rinsed in warm water and soaked for a couple of minute into the Black-Brass chemical. They are rinsed again and left to dry, before receiving a light coat of wax. Touch-ups are done with Black Barrel acrylic paint from Model Shipways.

 

 

Holes are pre-drilled where the black nails are located. I am not using the insanely small and fragile PE parts from CAF. Black nails are much more solid and safer for the heavy barrel.

 

 

Finally, we have our four guns, that will be placed in the stern section: 

 

 

Just 24 more large guns to go....  At this stage the barrel azimuth can be adjusted. Most likely, I will glue them to their chariot before long.

 

Yves

 

[yvesvidal]

The delicate task of installing the four guns has been done: 

 

 

They are attached to the gun deck, by using a large drop of CA glue under each wheel.I am hoping that will be enough to hold these heavy pounders.

 

 

 

With these four guns in place, I can now start putting together the Main Deck Section "E" and continue building on top with the Quarter deck. This should allow me to have a better picture on how to install the galleries and all the ornaments on the stern. 

 

 

A few goofy pictures: 

 

 

 

I hope you are enjoying that complete departure from the CAF instructions.

 

Yves

[yvesvidal]

"Alea Jacta Est" as the Romans used to say: The stern section of the ship has been covered with the main gun, and no access to the large guns is possible in this area: 

 

 

 

 

You can see how the Main deck section "E" had to be altered to fit the hull: 

 

 

Now, I will be working on the Quarterdeck positioning and hopefully get a clearer picture of the stern ornaments and galleries.

 

Yves

 

 

Edited June 19, 2022 by yvesvidal

[yvesvidal]

Time for another update. I have been working on the galleries and the decoration of the stern.

 

 

It is very delicate work despite the use of 1/48th scale, due to multiple factors: 

1. The instructions are less than adequate and bring no precision to what has to be built.
2. The parts are not exact in shape and dimensions.

Because of these factors, a lot of research, creativity and building have to take place. Let's take a quick look at the instructions: 

 

 

 

 

 

I started with the installation of the balcony. This is essential in placing correctly both galleries (I am no longer following the CAF instructions overall).

 

 

The balcony is delicately cut from the quarterdeck floor, and put in place separately. I have verified that the flooring of the quarterdeck will align and match perfectly with the balcony floor. 

 

 

 

This phase is essential to position correctly the rear wardroom lights and the upcoming pilasters. Below, you can see the quarterdeck floor in place: 

 

 

The wardroom lights framing is then glued in place: 

 

 

At this point, the galleries construction can be started. 

 

 

A lot of adjustments have to be done and quite a few parts were created, as I decided to not use the kit supplied parts, that are not fitting.

 

 

 

 

After a lot of precise adjustment and work. Above, you can see how I increased the size of the 3D-8 parts, by adding four strips of 3x2 mm all around it.. Finally, we end up with something that looks like the stern of a Bellona: 

 

 

 

 

At that stage, we can start gluing the counter rails: 

 

 

And place a few decals. It is now coming to life: 

 

 

The wardroom lights will be installed later on as they are extremely delicate (carved in wood) and I still need to adjust the top fascia of the stern. For the time being let's enjoy some pictures of that delicate stage of the construction: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have added the "dot" after the name of the ship, as it was missing from the decal. The "drops" are made from resin (3D printed) and do require some filing to fit decently.

 

Yves

Edited July 6, 2022 by yvesvidal

[yvesvidal]

Tom of CAF Models was kind enough to send me some additional pictures to help the stern construction. They came a little bit late, as I had already started. I wish these pictures could have been included into the original instructions booklets: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And of course, the famous National Gallery model, source of inspiration for the CAF Model kit: 

 

 

I used that picture a lot for the decals placement and the overall shaping of the stern. There are some mis-labelling for the decals, in the CAF instructions (Session #5). Beware.....

 

Yves

[BobG]

She's looking gorgeous, Yves!

[CDW]

She's beautiful, Yves!

[hamilton]

Incredible work on the friezes, Yves! 

hamilton

[Kevin]

@yvesvidal that is looking brilliant

[James H]

Outstanding!

[mtaylor]

Beautiful work, Yves. 

[Hubac's Historian]

Really nice decal work - do you seal your decals under clear varnish of some kind?  They look great!

[yvesvidal]

On 7/6/2022 at 5:16 PM, Hubac's Historian said:

Really nice decal work - do you seal your decals under clear varnish of some kind?  They look great!

 Yes, I do. I am using Future Floor (Pledge) before (2 coats) and after (2-3 coats). It is a tiny bit shiny at first, but the luster goes away after a few days and after gliding my fingers on the decals. You can see the Pledge bottle on some of the pictures. Decals are installed using Microscale-SET and SOL concoctions.

 

Yves

[yvesvidal]

Time to go back to the Main and Gun decks: 

 

 

I have prepared six 32 pounders guns to install in the gun deck: 

 

 

The process is identical: Drilling the holes for the micro-nails, blackening of the barrels, tedious hand painting of the chassis and final assembly.

The guns are resting on their four casters and a drop of CA glue is placed between the casters and the floor.

 

 

The capstan is fully deployed and will be connected to the main deck Capstan, actually rotating both at the same time.

 

 

 

From the outside, it is looking very ominous....

 

 

 

Now, I can resume the work on the main deck, at least towards the poop.

 

Yves

Edited July 8, 2022 by yvesvidal

[Blue Ensign]

Building that stern is an exacting business Yves, and you’re doing a fine job.

She looks splendid with the ‘painted’  stern, well done👍

 

B.E.

[clearway]

billings Victory at 1/75 scale is a massive beast, This beauty must be hugeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!! 😁

 

Keith

[yvesvidal]

A quick update on the Bellona: I am back working on the rear section of the main deck. This is a mix of Session #3 (Planking of the deck) and Session #4 (building of the ward rooms and officers rooms).

 

The Section "D" is added to the front of Section "E", placing a lid on the six 32 pounders guns recently installed: 

 

 

 

You can see the axle of the rear capstan, protruding out of the deck. Planking is then continued: I am using strip of about 20 cm long (10 meters in real life) and I hope it is not too long for such period ships. I am also trying to replicate the four planks staggered arrangement, traditional of these vessels.

 

 

The Captain's Pantry and Wardroom Pantry is glued to the deck: 

 

 

 

The deck (at least the rear section) is treated with three coats of Wipe-on-Poly to darken the planks and make them more resilient. You can see the difference of colors on the pictures.

 

We are now moving to Session #4 (I am no longer following the order of the CAF instructions). This part is the assembly of the Officers' cabins, also called canvas cabins, as they were divided by removable pieces of canvas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The walls are strengthened by some strips of wood. The glass panes are made with tracing paper.

 

 

 

 

 

Yves

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 12, 2022 by yvesvidal

[Kevin]

Lovely work

[yvesvidal]

A very short update. Still on the stern section, preparing for the quarterdeck: 

 

 

I put together six smaller guns (two have already been installed):

 

 

 

 

 

Next, I will be installing the long beams that will be used to hold the rear quarterdeck.

 

Yves