HMS Leopard 1790 by Bluto - FINISHED - 1:80 - 50 gun ship - PoB

[Mirabell61]

Beautiful build Jim,

 

Nils

[Bluto 1790]

.

December has come and gone and another year has begun, and the last month has been very frustrating in the shipyard.

I ended my last posting with the words:- "but I'm not sure the head timbers will be straightforward" ~ well, I'm now sure that the head timbers aren't straightforward !!!

Over the last few weeks I've spent considerable time making and fitting head timbers --- and removing, and re-making and re-fitting and removing them several times and right now at this time I still don't have an acceptable result. It's getting closer to being something acceptable, but it's not there yet . . . So there won't be any photos of the ship's bow in this posting.

 

Just to get away from the frustration of the headworks I've spent some time adding some fittings to the quarterdeck. A kevel, a staghorn and a shot garland were added to each side of the deck, and almost immediately I was a little less than happy with the colour of the kevels and staghorns. They were just not right -- they were a bit too white in contrast to the surrounding timbers of the ship. I thought about removing and replacing them but was reluctant to do any more butchering after all the butchering I had been doing at the beakhead. Here's a pic of the offending "white parts" >>>

Using wood stain to colour the parts seemed like an option but I was a bit concerned that I might stain the deck planking, since I don't have the steadiest hands! Anyhow, I decided to mask the surrounding areas and delicately applied the stain and saved myself the operation of removing and replacing them.

Here's how they looked after staining >>>

​That photo above also shows the main bitts with the rail and pins, as well as a pinrail and pins fitted to each side of the deck . . .  and they were a further source of annoyance to me!

 ​As I had previously had considerable failure in my attempts to turn some spindles down to just over 1mm diameter I decided I would buy 'over-the-counter belaying pins. I bought 8mm pins as that length was just about right for the scale I'm working at. However the diameter of over 2mm was just far too 'fat' for scale. I was reluctant to try to thin them down because of my previous experience so I fitted them as they came . . . but each time I looked at them on the ship I just hated them. Out came the pinrails and I was surprised that I was able to push the pins cleanly out of the rails, despite them having been glued in.  I was able to turn them down to around 1.2 - 1.3mm -- any thinner than that and they were breaking. At that size they are still over scale but they look better than their original thickness and I'm just going to have to live with them. They would have to be around 0.5mm diameter to be properly in scale and I'm just not capable of that.

Here are the belaying pins after refitting >>>

 

 

​OK ~ I'm heading back to that beakhead now . . . 

[mtaylor]

Jim,

You are making excellent progress in spite of the problems.  The staining in place worked out very well. 

[Bluto 1790]

I feel I've reached a milestone in the build --- not that this should be a milestone, but it certainly is for me as I've been wrestling with this for about a month.

After several attempts I've finally got headrails and timbers that are more or less "acceptable". I'm having to accept that this is about as good as I'm going to be able to achieve.

Part of the problem was the way that I had constructed and fitted the heads platforms. In the plans and drawings there was only one illustration of these platforms . . . and I had made them just as I saw them in the plan.

Here is the plan >>>

These platforms looked OK when I fitted them but after I tried to create reasonable rails around them I found it just wasn't working for me. The top rail wasn't much of a problem but I just couldn't get the middle and lower rails to fit and look anything like they were supposed to look. Despite having made the platforms according to the plan, they were preventing correct (or even near correct) fitting of the middle and lower rails. I 'chopped' the front part off the platforms and made a further attempt and the pretty awful result can be seen in the following photo. (Yes - this is quite awful, but you should have seen the earlier attempts!) >>>

I wasn't happy with this but out of frustration I painted the rails, timbers and cheeks an off-white colour ~ perhaps thinking that a coat of paint would somehow make them right --- it didn't work! . . . they were still awful!

The photo shows that the lower curves of the middle and lower rails were actually below the upper cheek when they should have been above, and it was the platforms that were causing this problem, so more butchery was the only answer. Out came the hacking knife and a chunk of the platforms went in the bucket. The following photo shows how much had to be removed >>>

Only after that demolition job was I able to get the rails looking nearer to acceptance >>>

​

Not having the steadiest of hands isn’t the best for doing fine paintwork and the paintwork on the headworks needs to be sorted properly and that’s something I’ll address later. Right now I’m just pleased that I’ve eventually got the structure of the headworks as correct as I’m going to get it. I’m not convinced that I like that yellowish colour that I have used. I haven’t really given any thought to colours that should be used so please suggest what colour would look best on these headworks. Blue? – Gold? --- I don’t know ???

View from the side >>>

. . . and with a boomkin in position >>>

That boomkin was just being “road tested” to see how it would look, and along with its neighbour will be going back ‘in the box’ for now as they’re very vulnerable poking out there at the front of the ship.

 

​Due to having no experience I wasn't looking forward to this part of the build before I arrived at it, and I have to say that, for the most part, I didn't enjoy all the frustration (and feelings of wanting to throw the model out the window!) associated with it . . . but it's done now and the exercise has hopefully added to my experience.

 

[JerseyCity Frankie]

Concerning the store bought Belaying Pins, I regard them as one of the great shames of the hobby. Manufacturers turn out decent metal pins but the wood ones they offer are a scandal and they do more to ruin good models than nearly any other off-the-shelf fixture, in my opinion. The engineering involved in turning out thousands of consistent wooden pins is too difficult to do economically I suppose- getting your industrial lathe to work at that level of tolerance in the wooden medium must be impossible so the best they can do is turn out these cartoonish wooden bulbs and call them Pins. Then the problems cascade from there as model builders try to reconcile these fat pins with their accurate plans, plans which show pin rails of accurate length and an accurate number of holes for pins. Now when these fat pins are jammed in there their holes have to be bored out larger to fit them and the spacing between the holes has to be tighter too in order to get them to fit on the rail, leaving not enough room between them to allow for the lines to be properly belayed and ruining the realism of the model. I have always made pins out of piano wire or stretched plastic sprue. This is not an option for the purist who can only envision the use of wood overall on their models. But I always rig my models and my accurately scaled pins vanish under the three crossing turns of the belayed lines leaving only their heads visible.

[Bluto 1790]

When I started this build (over 5 years ago) it was my intention to finish up with a fully rigged ship. Right now at this time I’m not sure if I’ll ‘progress’ that far, but at least I want to have a completed hull model.

There are still so many small parts to be made and fitted to the hull and next task I chose were the boarding steps. I don’t know how all you proper model ship builders make these steps and before I recently got a milling machine I had imagined that I would have glued a narrow piece of timber to the underside of the step to achieve that ‘two-tiered’ appearance, but instead here’s how I’ve done them ---

In a 2mm thick piece I milled a reveal at about 0.75mm below the top edge of what will be the step . . . probably better seen in the pic below >>>

(each length had to be milled in 2 stages as the 'working travel' of the work table is only 134mm. In the pic the first half has been milled and the workpiece has been moved along the table ready for the 2nd half to be milled. The first half wasn't milled in 'mid-air' ! )

I used 2 pieces of about 190mm in length in order to obtain enough steps for one side of the ship from each piece then drilled 3mm holes at 11mm centres below the top of the ‘step’ along the entire length. These holes ensured a constant length of 11mm for each step and also provided an arc shaped cut-out on the underside at each end of every step after they were finally cut out >>>

Here’s one of the 190mm lengths after being milled to width (in 2 pieces after it collided with a ship builder’s hand) >>>

 . . . and cut into individual steps >>>

 . . . then, on the ship >>>

All the steps shown in the pics above were milled to final width and they are all more or less identical.

However, without thinking it through, I didn't use the milling machine at first to cut the other strip of steps to width. Instead, I started to cut them by hand and after about 5 or 6 I realised that it was going to be difficult to get them all a uniform width so I finished off the strip in the machine . . . but now I don't have a 'collection' of identical steps for the other side of the ship . . .

​ . . . so, it's back to the milling machine with a new 190mm length to start over again . . . 

Edited January 16, 2016 by Bluto 1790

[JerseyCity Frankie]

Has it really been five years? Congratulations! This is one of my favorite build logs to follow. You appear to think you are not as good a builder as some people? While there will always be someone somewhere that can do things better than any of us individually, I still have to point out that the modelers who work in a large scale and actually build an honest Plank on Frame Ship of the Line are few and far between. I never have.

[mtaylor]

Jim,

Looking good.   

 

There's a topic here that might help:  http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/11214-how-to-make-best-use-of-your-milling-machine-tips-and-techniques/   Posts 35 & 44   These will let you do what you're doing to any length of wood.

 

Before mills....  oh my... custom scrapers to do that.  A PITA, but it works.

[Bluto 1790]

Thanks to those who clicked the 'like' button and to Frankie and Mark for your comments.

Mark ~ thanks for the link you posted. I've only had the milling machine for about 3 months and I wish I had had one much earlier in the build.

 

Frankie ~ first, thanks for liking my build! You said that I "appear to think that I'm not as good a builder as some people." Well, you're right, and it's not for no reason that I feel that way. There are so many incredible build logs on the forum by so many fabulous builders (none of whom will I mention as I wouldn't want to miss any). I'm just blown away when I look at some of these build logs and see the perfect detail that goes into these ships.

But --- you're also right about the scale at which most of these models are built and I would have been happier to have started a project at 1:48 or at least 1:64.

When I started this build it was my intention to finally have a model that will at least have a passable resemblance to the real thing, and as it stands at the moment I'm quite pleased with its general appearance - it looks fairly acceptable at about 2 metres distance!

It's the detailed parts of the ship that sometimes cause me to be disappointed with my results . . . but I'm old enough and ugly enough to realise that I can live with the limits of my own skills. 

Edited September 30, 2019 by Bluto 1790

[mtaylor]

Jim,

 

We are our own worst critics.   I know I'm the most critical of my own work, but I'm trying to back off the self-critical part... maybe just a bit. 

[Bluto 1790]

Progress report: --- or rather, lack-of-progress report.

 

The forecastle has been close to being more or less finished for a time. I still had the 'tops' of the timberheads to fit all round plus a few eyebolts and kevels.

These tops are only about 3mm (1/8") in height and are ideal 'fodder' for the milling machine. So, since the fo'c'sle aft rail required 6 'tops' they were the first to be done as they are slightly different from the 'tops' on the other 3 rails.

They worked out OK and with the thinned down belaying pins for the forebitts here they are >>>

 

The timberhead tops for the other 3 sides are slightly different and there are 26 of them. So, back at the milling machine and these tops were about 75% complete when my milling machine suddenly died. Well, I think it was murdered as there was an almighty BANG like a gunshot which tripped out the entire domestic ring main of my house and workshed. After I re-set the mains the machine remained dead and right now is back with the supplier . . . and my timberhead tops patiently wait to be finished.

I will leave them for the machine as I just couldn't reproduce the accuracy and consistency that the machine can deliver. I can use the machine to cut them all to exactly the same height instead of doing the job by hand and only achieving "26 timberheads that are only approximately the same dimensions."

 

Only a few other small jobs have been done and of these, only one gun with its carriage and the starboard quarterdeck/gang board ladder and handrails have been fitted >>>

 

[Bluto 1790]

Time for some more work in the waist:

 

The port side ladder at the aft end of the gangboard was fitted.

 

Preparation of the 10 gun carriages worked out at something like 1 carriage & rigging = 2 night's work, so about 20 night's work for them alone.

Here are a couple >>>

I previously said I didn't want to be hampered by the skid beams while attempting to get the guns in place then fiddling with the rigging so I fitted 1 gun/carriage & rigging to each side then fitted a skid beam and worked along the waist like that.

So, for several months there had been one skid beam there all on its own ...

 

Then there were . . . >>>

 

[JerseyCity Frankie]

Wow this model is looking great! Have you read the Patric O'Brien novels that feature the Leopard? In the novel Desolation Island She fights a battle down int he roaring forties with a vindictive Dutch ship and the author presents the whole episode very dramatically.

[Bluto 1790]

Hi Frankie,

 

Thanks for your comment.  I'm not big on reading novels . . . but I have read Desolation Island, and all the way to the end!

[Bluto 1790]

Before that almighty challenge  ~ "The Rigging" arrives, there are still plenty of miscellaneous tasks to be done around the various decks.  Of the six 'exposed' ladders there have only been two of them fitted for such a long time ~ the two from the waist up to the quarterdeck at the aft end of the gangboards. These two had been done by hand before the arrival of my milling machine but the final four were done on the machine.

​The two forecastle ladders >>>

​Before the poop deck ladders, the poop rail came along >>>  

Then with both ladders fitted >>>

 

. . . and now I have the 'interesting' challenge of how to create something that will pass for hammock cranes ~ or, rather, more than 50 'somethings' that will pass for hammock cranes . . . and just to make it even more interesting -- there are so many different sizes of them as well! 

[mtaylor]

Looking great, Jim.   

[toms10]

JIm,

Thanks for taking the time to put together the detailed build log and great pics. I will be following this build log with great interest.   I am in the beginning phases of my next build which is also the Leopard.  It will be my first scratch build and I can't tell you how helpful your pictures are.  Right now I am reviewing plans and deciding on what I want for a final look then I will start a build log.  Keep up the good work.  Your model is something to be proud of.

Tom

[Bluto 1790]

Thanks for your comments, Mark and Tom.

 

Tom ~ it's good to see another 'Leopard Man' on board!  I'll also be watching your build log with great interest and I'm looking forward to your log getting under way. Have you decided at what scale you'll be building your Leopard?  If you've read the earlier part of my log you'll have noticed that I've said I would have liked to have built at a larger scale than the 1:80 at which I'm doing this one.

 

O.K. while I'm here I'll post an update.

 

Long, long ago, when I was slogging away at the hull planking I did a few diversions to escape from the tedium and one of these was having a go at making the fore starboard channel. It must be around three years since it has been hibernating in 'the box' and it looked like this >

 

It came out of the box recently and got a coat of black paint >

 

Then >

 

 . . . with chainplate guard (I expect it had a 'proper name' but I'll just have to call it "chainplate guard") >  

 

Before I fitted that channel I eventually got all the timberheads finished on the forecastle >  

 

The other 5 channels are calling me, as are the hammock cranes and netting but there are still a few other things around the various decks to get sorted out first.

 

 

[toms10]

Tom ~ it's good to see another 'Leopard Man' on board!  I'll also be watching your build log with great interest and I'm looking forward to your log getting under way. Have you decided at what scale you'll be building your Leopard?  If you've read the earlier part of my log you'll have noticed that I've said I would have liked to have built at a larger scale than the 1:80 at which I'm doing this one.

 

JIm,

I will be doing a 1:85 scale.  I started out thinking 1:72 but it was just too big to display for me.  I wanted to show some detail and thought that 1:96 was just to small for what I would like to do.  I am just sketching frames right now so I am very early in the build.  I will definitely start a build log very soon once I have something substantial to post.  I am definitely going to use yours as a guide as this is my first attempt at a scratch build.  It is going to be a long journey but that is fine because the journey is where all the fun is.

Tom

[Bluto 1790]

Tom ~ I see you're proposing to build at 1:85 . . . that's just a tad smaller than mine!

I'll definitely be watching your build log. Only thing is -- you should have built and logged your Leopard before I started mine so that I could have learned from you!

I've been looking at your Constellation build log ~ very nice!

 . . . AND - you're building a P.O.F. model.  I haven't seen a frame-built Leopard.

​Now, don't let me hold you back here --- you need to get building and logging here!

[toms10]

Jim,

The Constellation was fun.  To be honest, the Leopard I am contemplating is going to be part POF and part POB.  I am working out a plan to cutaway the center 2/3 of the hull on one side to expose the lower and orlop decks and possibly some of the upper deck.  In this area it will have to be POF.  Once past the line of sight through the opening I can do POB.  The walls from the inner cabins will cover up the bulkheads if I do it right.  I am thinking pretty much replacing the canted frames with some bulkheads.  This will make for a very complicated build because I now need to plank the inside of the opposite hull in the areas that can be seen.  I will naturally also be taking advantage of the deck layout plans by Mckay.  I figured I would up the stakes for my second build.

 

The one part of the build that scares me is all the carvings on the stern and the figure head on the stem.  I have never done any carving before.  I am currently roughing out frames using a CAD (SolidWorks) program.  Once I get my final concept sketch done I will start and post it on a build log... hopefully next week.

 

Your model is progressing quite nicely.  Oh yeah, thanks for starting yours first, your detailed pics make a great "cheat sheet" for me. Keep them coming.

 

Tom

[RedDawg]

Hi Tom, this is RedDawg with a question. The McKay plans that you mention what are they and is it possible to acquire them for my own build when I start it? I have the book The 50 Gun Ship with the Leopard plans in the back. But I've still got to learn how to turn these into frames and other pieces. I'm doing the Sovereign right now with the Triton cross section on the side as a learning curve.

Edited May 19, 2016 by RedDawg

[toms10]

RedDawg,

Don't want to pirate Bluto's build but those are the plans I am talking about.  You pretty much need to get them to whatever scale you are going to build to and then do lots of reading to figure out the sizes.  that is kind of where I am right now.  This is my first scratch build and I am starting to understand why the kits are so expensive.  There is a lot of research that goes into them if they are done right.

Tom

[Bluto 1790]

Tom, don't worry about posting on this topic . . . the more the merrier!

 

RedDawg ~ I don't know if this will be any help, but I did a short video of how I drew my bulkheads before cutting. Even if you propose to do a framed model I would think that you would be able to use the same (or similar) procedure with a bit of modification, for drawing the outline of frames instead of bulkheads.

If my memory serves me, there were about 25 bulkheads and on a framed model there would be more than twice that amount of frames. While the frames aren't detailed, I expect that you would be able to calculate from the plans how to create the frames.

Here's the video >

 

[Bluto 1790]

RedDawg,

 

Maybe I should have explained how the body plan relates to real bulkheads.

In the plans you will already have a copy of the body plan as shown below. 

 

I've drawn a red vertical centre line on the plan, and this line is critical when drawing your bulkheads/frames.

The plan only shows "hal​f-bulkheads". The ones on the left side of the centreline are the bulkheads aft of mid-ships to stern, and those on the right are for the ones forward of mid-ships to the bow.

As the plan only shows "half-bulkheads" I had to cut out a half for each bulkhead and from there transpose onto the wood that I was using --- as shown on the video in the earlier post.

(This meant that I had to have a photocopy for every one of the 25 or so bulkheads ~ and a nice pair of sharp scissors to cut them out!) 

[RedDawg]

When I was looking at the frames on the leopard plans and something I read somewhere else,I figured that a bunch of copies are going to be needed. I already have tracing paper, but I thought that I might go to Office Depot and see what multiple copies would run to. I figure that if I'm going to stay in this hobby that worrying over initial costs are kind of wasted worry. Yet watching what I see y'all do, I'm in for the long haul. And your help is what encourages me. Thanks Bluto.

[Bluto 1790]

I'm thinking of re-naming my ship as H.M.S. 'Nemesis'. 

 

A few months ago I had something of a Nemesis when I was attempting to get an acceptable result with the head timbers . . . but for more than 3 years there has been a historic Nemesis awaiting further attention.

 

For over 3 years the stern quarters have been languishing there, looking rather desolate. This is what lurked there >>>

 

At upper deck level there was just that gaping hole that stretched from one side to the other. At quarter deck level I had attempted to create lights/windows using clear polythene masquerading as glass, and thin mahogany strips as frames/mullions.  These windows didn't look good back then, and when I recently re-visited the area, they looked even worse. They had to go.

Before demolition I had a try at making something to cover that gap on upper deck level >>>

 

I abandoned the polythene windows in favour of light coloured wood with thin mahogany strips again for frames/mullions. >>>

The pic above showing the upper deck windows fitted, and the partial demolition of the 5 inner Q/deck windows. The 2 outer Q/deck windows remain and will need some attention to get them to some kind of acceptable appearance . . . what that 'attention' will be, I'm not sure yet ???  The photo also showed the horrible Q/deck polythene which still had to be removed at that stage.

 

The stern quarters at the present time >>>

 

Since I began this build until now I haven't been very clear as to a 'colour scheme' for the stern, and until just a couple of weeks ago the following illustration was all I had >>>

 

That was just far too garish for my taste . . . I'm hoping for a far more neutral look for the ship, and while I know there is an amount of decoration at the sharp end as well as at the stern, I want to keep it a bit low key compared to the illustration above.

 

A couple of weeks ago I found the look that I would ideally like for my stern >>>

 

Unfortunately, I have already gone the opposite route in that I went for light coloured windows and dark frames, but this photo has given me a degree of direction for where I go from here.

 

. . . then, of course, there is the adventure of doing all those carvings! . . . I have no experience of doing any carving of any kind, so you may like to check back here in another 3 years or so to see what's going on then! 

 

*** For the final photo above of the Leopard's Stern, credit goes to Larisa Rumantseva, Ukraine. ***

[Bluto 1790]

Right now the stern area looks like this while I try to prepare myself to have a go at those carvings >>>

 

Meanwhile, other smaller (and easier) stuff has been getting added around the ship.

 

That square hole in the poop deck needed to be capped >>>

 

Two snatch blocks and a collection of deck cleats for the poop deck >>>

 

 . . . and fitted >>>

 

Eventually, the poop deck ladders got both handrails >>>

 

As did the foredeck ladders >>>

 

The foredeck eventually got its' kevels, snatch blocks, deck rings etc. >>>

[Bluto 1790]

Other 'stuff' done recently.

This fore channel was made about 3 years ago and has been living in 'the box' since then. >>>

 

It was time for it to meet the ship >>>

 

 . . . and fitted with the board that protects the hull and the forward chainplates from the anchor flukes.  The best information I have is that is called the 'billboard'  ~ but maybe someone knows differently??? >>>

[toms10]

Looking good Jim.  It is starting to come together.

Tom