HMS Bellona by yvesvidal - FINISHED - CAF Model - 1:48

[John Ruy]

Excellent Yves… I particularly like your use of Future Floor Gloss. Is this the same product I remember as Future Mop and Glow? Takes me back to the 70’s. Looks Great 👍 

 

John

[Kevin]

Yves, that looks fantastic, 

[mtaylor]

Beautiful work, Yves.   I see why you like the larger scales as one can do so much detail.

[hamilton]

Wow, Yves! It's been a while since I came by here and you have not been idle! Somewhere above you mentioned that you weren't doing treenails on deck because you're lazy - no offence, but given the results here I have to doubt that self-assessment!! 

hamilton

[Nearshore]

Hi Yves,

WOW!!! What an increadible job. I read your log from the begining to current and what a journey you have taken us on. The Bellona I am building is 1:100 scale and doesn't have half the detail of your increadable build. You are truely an insperation!!

 

Nearshore

[yvesvidal]

I have a question for the experts: 

 

The stove is usually crowned by an angled chimney stack, protruding on the forecastle. I am wondering about the orientation of that stack.

I am assuming that since these large ships were traveling rear wind most of the times, it would make sense to point the egress side of the stack towards the bow. This way, the smoke would fly away and not stink up the ship.

 

Is my reasoning correct?

 

Yves

[AON]

My understanding is the stack did have an elbow type redirection to it and it was rotated to the downwind direction for exactly the reason you stated. I've even seen one with a sort of fin on it to possibly allow it to auto rotate. Not sure how well that would have worked in a harsh sea environment.

 

Square rigged ships were more efficient with wind from the stern (running) or stern quarters and the yards would be swivelled as much as possible to catch wind from the quarter.

 

[robdurant]

Here is the stack on Victory...

 

 

[yvesvidal]

A few more progress on the bow. I have to say that this was probably one of the most delicate and difficult tasks of the entire kit. I am so happy that it is behind me.... And of course, the instructions are not really there to help you. I know CAF Model rates this kit as MASTER.... I am not a MASTER and thus I suffer a lot.

 

Here is how I I did it: 

1) first the assembly of the roundhouses. The kit calls for two pieces of plywood to be used for the curved walls. Nonsense ! Maybe in China they bend plywood in warm water, but on this side of the lake, it does not work. Instead I used the 0.5 mm x 8 mm planks and cut them in two or three pieces.

 

 

 

They are then painted and glued to the front bulkhead: 

 

 

Yes, the holes are there....hard to see, but the excrement can be evacuated to the sea. 

 

 

After that, it is time to install all the ornamentation and trims: 

 

 

 

And some decals....

 

 

Below, I made a big mistake (I was trying to follow the CAF Model instructions and pictures): the lion and horse are installed way too low: 

 

 

These two decals should be pushed as much as possible to the top. They will be partially covered by the rails, later on.... Argh !!! One of many mistakes...

 

Yves

 

[yvesvidal]

2) Second part of the bow assembly: the rails !!!

 

I really suffered to come up with something decent. I think I partially succeeded in the following way: 

 

 

Above are the main rails, which are a continuation of the Main rail heads. These are carved by CAF Model and I have to say they did a very good job.

 

First, we need to install the Heads after making sure that the entire head + rail fits correctly, all the way to the scroll. The section where the Head will be installed is shown below: 

 

 

 

The Head is then glued. For most of this delicate tasks, CA glues of various viscosity are your best friends.

 

 

Then the main rail is glued only on the side of the Head (lower portion): 

 

 

This gives a tiny bit of flexibility to install the lower and middle rails as well as the head and cross beams. That is the really delicate part of the assembly.

 

 

 

We do the same on the other side, which is a lot easier once we have a technique. The main rail is still "floating" near the scroll.

 

Yves

Edited May 3, 2023 by yvesvidal

[yvesvidal]

3) It is time to worry about the Knightheads, securing the bowsprit. In the kit, these are placed on top of the gratings, which does not make any sense and is not at all realistic. The knightheads are part of the hull framing and must be strong to fulfill their role. I used a piece of cherry of 3 mm thick and glued it strongly to the bow assembly: 

 

 

This gives me more surface and and a good anchors to glue the knightheads. These are filed to accomodate the diameter and orientation of the bowsprit: 

 

 

I know they are still hanging in the air, but that is  the best I could do with this kit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Et voila. I am feeling a lot better, now that this delicate assembly is behind me.

 

Yves

 

 

[CDW]

A stunningly beautiful model, Yves. All your hard work is really impressive.

[yvesvidal]

4) At this stage and since the Main Rail Heads are in place, we can finish the Forecastle with all its intricacies: 

 

 

 

 

 

You will notice that I fabricated a "scroll" with a piece of boxwood, connected that scroll to the tip of the main bracket and to the two main rails. The assembly is now very sturdy, decent and provides the "headrest" shape for the Figurehead, that we see on the original model.

 

Yves

Edited May 3, 2023 by yvesvidal

[yvesvidal]

5) Now it is time to install the gratings and "seats of ease".  I love that term as really there is no ease with these holes located on top of the sea. I have to admit that once in my life (and only once), I would not mind sitting on one of these and watch the sea flow by under me. That must be quite a sight and incredible feelings. When there are waves and the ship is sailing close to the wind (I know they cannot do that), it must be interesting to seat there....

 

 

All the gratings is done with cherry wood. The instructions are absolutely useless, the kit parts are not symmetrical for both sides and a lot of  personal solutions have to be deployed if you want to be successful. Cutting all these pieces of wood, filing them in shape is not funny: 

 

 

Above, you can verify that the holes of the Seats of Ease are actually going directly to the water, without hitting anything else on their majestic falls.

 

 

 

That took a lot of patience and the parts were fitting more or less. The rest is pure improvisation .....

 

 

 

You can get all the latest marine gossips, when nature calls....

 

 

Yves

 

 

Edited May 3, 2023 by yvesvidal

[yvesvidal]

6) Boomkins and railings: We are almost done and must focus on the boomkins and railings of the bow: 

 

 

 

The railings are made with 0.8 mm brass wire (not included in the kit), soldered in their middle and painted cannon black.

 

 

 

 

Finally, a couple of overall views of the progress: 

 

 

 

 

I hope you have enjoyed that sequence of building. I cannot convey enough the relief and the joy to have this delicate section behind me.

 

Yves

[John Ruy]

Yves, Absolutely incredible, what a stunning build. Masterful work…
John

[CDW]

Seats of ease: being located at the bow, a sailor might need a seat belt in foul weather or else go flying off that seat like a slingshot. 😄

[Kevin]

its been lovely to go through your log again, i love this build

[yvesvidal]

Thank you Kevin. Things are not moving very well.... I am struggling to build a very simple stand to display the ship. 

I need to do that before finalizing all the hull details.

 

Yves

[yvesvidal]

As indicated before in my response to Kevin, I have been working on multiple fronts: 

• Making a bowsprit and its associated rigging. This is not part of the CAF model kit, but I wanted to present a little bit more than the traditional Admiralty Model approach and wanted to play with some lines and ropes. I have quickly came to the conclusion that I suck at rigging and my utter admiration goes to these magnificent models depicted with their full rigging.
• The second front has been building a stand to display this large (and very heavy...) model. I needed to do that before finishing all the details of the hull and in particular the gun port lids, which are very fragile when manipulating a massive hull of more than 22 pounds heavy. In addition, the bowsprit was necessary to calculate the dimensions of the stand.

For the stand, I decided to copy somewhat, the display presenting the 1/32th - 1/36th scale model from the Royal Museum in Greenwich, UK. The display of the original model is composed of a drawer that can be pulled from the rear and which extends the ramps, and allows the sliding of the massive model for inspection. Exactly the way it should be done to convince a set of tight-fist admirals and finance comptrollers in ancient British times. My stand will not be so sophisticated but I wanted to replicate the shipyard ramps used to assemble and build these magnificent vessels.

 

After measuring the "beast", I ended up with some inside dimensions of 60" by 16". A friend helped me cut the wooden parts (poplar and plywood for the most part) and I started assembling and painting the display stand: 

 

 

 

Priming that large box required a few cans of Primer and a lot of sanding. Each corner will see some modern handles (this stand has no pretensions to mimic the old cabinet or museum stands) installed to help with the handling of that large display.

 

 

The bottom of the box is covered with a piece of dark blue velvet fabric. An edge has been created to support an acrylic cover if I ever get a chance to buy one custom made.

 

 

Yves

Edited June 22, 2023 by yvesvidal

[yvesvidal]

The next step of the stand was realizing the ramps and structures that will support (safely and reliably) this massive model. The crucial part was handling the hull and positioning it in such a way that I could measure and build the six vertical supports that are preventing the model from tilting and rolling on its sides.

 

 

The ramps are slightly inclined but not enough for the model to slide back. I also wanted to create something that would allow the full display of the copper clad hull, in all its beauty. Below, you can see how the model is stabilized using 1/4 inch poplar dowels with some felt to protect the copper.

 

 

Moving, installing, removing ...... the massive hull was a challenge and a good workout at the same time. Most of the weight of the model rests on the central ramp which is very solid and stable.

 

 

The rear part of the ramp is equipped with a small piece of wood to prevent any desire of sliding the model may have, and is cut so that the rudder can be manipulated fully by curious hands: 

 

 

Once inserted, the standing structure fits perfectly into the box. Here are the steps: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am sure you may be impatient to see how the model fits on this display stand. I know I was....

 

 

 

 

 

Et voila. Lots remains to be done and now that I have some confidence in the display, I can go back to the hull and finish all the missing details.

 

Thank you for your interest.

Yves

Edited June 22, 2023 by yvesvidal

[mtaylor]

Nice work.  I really wasn't able to visual how large this model is until now. 

 

Note to self... scratch this one off the "maybe" list due to room.

[yvesvidal]

I have completed the railing of the poop deck. Overall, it is quite delicate due to the length of the stands, and the long ones must be pinned if you intend to have something that holds correctly. The pins are made with electronic components pins of about 0.8 mm diameter. 

 

 

 

 

 

Moving to the other side: 

 

 

The parts provided in the kit require some adjustment in length and angles.

 

 

Overall view of the poop deck: 

 

 

 

 

I am now going to work on finishing the taffrail and the stern flag pole. I may even attempt the assembly of the lantern....

 

Yves

Edited July 2, 2023 by yvesvidal

[hamilton]

Wow! She's looking really great!

hamilton

[Blue Ensign]

Looking very impressive Yves, love the bow shot of her on her building cradle. 
 

B.E.

[Kevin]

lovely work

[yvesvidal]

I just finished the Taffrail. The kit implementation is somewhat different from the English reference model but it will do for the time being: 

 

 

 

Yves

 

[yvesvidal]

In an effort to enhance the appearance of the "stumps" provided in the kit, I placed some fine threads around the masts, respecting the number of turns and distances between the coils as described in the Anatomy of the Ship book: 

 

 

It does indeed improve the appearance of those short stubs, without departing from the Admiralty presentation: 

 

 

 

 

 

Yves

[John Ruy]

Absolutely stunning. 🤩

[CDW]

So neat and tidy...beautiful craftsmanship Yves.