HMS Bellona by Nearshore - Corel - 1:100

[Nearshore]

 

Hello All,

Small update on the Bellona. I finished off the hull from the wale planks to the keel with three coats of WOP, sanding between coats with a 400-grit paper. I managed to tidy up the false keel from the dents and dings she received during the planking task. I have begun installing the remaining planks and trim up to the sheer planks. I managed to shape and dry fit the shear planks and dry fitted the dicast metal ornaments to find the radius of the bulwark and shear planks. I used a series of dowls and my small iron to shape the curve of the plank. I started with a 6mm dowl and reduced to a 4mm dowl to achieve the final shape. Installing the remaining planking, I discovered that the bulwarks were too low and needed to be raised. I installed about 2mm of planking material to bring it up to the proper elevation and angle. I also cut out the remaining cannon port that I was saving till this point so I wouldn’t break the small stub off. I would have thought at this point that the remaining planks would be a breeze, but I am quite wrong about that. There is still quite a bit of tapering that needs to be done for a proper fit. I am at a point where I am going to hold off on installing the remaining planks above the gallery. I am pretty sure I have a problem with the way the angle of the galleries are set. I am going to begin working on installing the bits and pieces that make up the stern galleries to try and figure out how far off I am. Not installing the remaining planks above the gallery may give me an opportunity to fix and hide my mistake. Well, that’s I all got for now, and as always, your comments and guidance are always welcome.

Cheers

Nearshore

Edited February 27 by Nearshore

[hamilton]

Planking looks excellent!

hamilton

[Nearshore]

18 hours ago, hamilton said:

Planking looks excellent!

hamilton

Thank you!!

Nearshore

[Nearshore]

Hello All,

It’s been a month or so since I updated my build log on Bellona. I have completed both port and starboard planking to equal levels of assembly just below the top portion of the galleries. As stated in my last post, I think that I may have an issue with the way the angle of the planking is running on top of the galleries. Both port and starboard are equal in the way the angles lay, so if it is a problem, at least I was consistent. 😊 I installed the chain plates, for lack of a better term, on both the port and starboard and install the additional plank just above the wale on the port side. I began to start laying out the photo etched brass pieces that are to make up the galleries on the stern and port side. The parts look very similar, especially the pilasters, and they all have the same part numbers. So, once I remove them from the brass sheet, it is very easy to mix them up and lose track of their positions. As a temporary means of attaching them to the ship, I used two-sided tape and tracing paper. I put the tracing paper on the plans and secured it in place so it would not shift on the plan drawing. I then applied the two-sided tape to the tracing paper and stuck the brass parts lining them up carefully according to the drawing. Once that was completed, I cut off the excess tracing paper and applied the two-sided tape to the areas I was dry fitting. This worked out well and I didn’t have to worry about the individual pieces shifting or falling off from the areas I was working on. During the dry fitting of the first row of windows on the port side, I found that the wooden piece below the window was not thick enough to fit the two wood trims properly. I had to add a small shim to extend it down to be able to fit both wooden trim pieces. The kit came with bass wood for pieces 240 and 241. I decided that I would use walnut instead of the material that was supplied with the kit as these two pieces will be visible from all points of view. I installed the remaining stern planking and trim. The trim took me some time to miter as it was a compound miter and I wanted it to look somewhat presentable. I painted the transom black as well as the side galleries to help blend in the blackened brass pieces once installed. I blackened the brass that makes up the first row of windows and completed installation of the planking and trim up to where the brass will be installed. I will be shifting my efforts to the starboard side so that both port and starboard are at equal stages of assembly before I glue the first row of brass windows. Well, that’s all I have for now, and as always, your comments and guidance are always welcome. Enjoy the pics.

Cheers

Nearshore

 

[Nearshore]

Hello all,

Well, it’s been a month or so since my last update on the Bellona. I have managed to make a little bit of progress on the stern galleries. I installed the lower windows on the port and starboard sides and the top moldings above the windows. I installed the transom windows starting at the outer corners and working my way to the center, alternating between port and starboard so that both sides met in the middle at the same time. I began to install the transom planking starting with the 1x1 molding board and “L” molding. I did not use the “L” molding that came with the kit and decided to use the 1x2 beach wood and add the 1x1 molding to it to make the “L” so that the color would be consistent. The plans called for installing the molding in this manner for the transom decking and applying the “L” molding supplied with the kit for the remaining trim. The kit molding is I believe boxwood and the color contrast just was not pleasing to me seeing that I am not going to be painting the model but keeping the natural color of the wood. Once I completed that molding, I installed the remaining transom planks and trimmed them to the proper shape. Once I completed that task, I discovered that I had a problem with the next level, primarily the corner where the transom transitions on the port and starboard above the lower windows. I put a blue circle on the attached picture for clarity.  The plans don’t really give any detail on this area, and I assumed that a plank sheer would be covering this area, so it wasn’t too much of a concern. Well, I was wrong. I had to remove the molding and carve out an area on the transom so that the molding would mate in the corners. After this was completed, I continued installing the remaining PE parts on the starboard side up to the last of the windows at the 3^rd level. The windows are only dry fitted at this point as I still have to apply the backing to the pilasters before finial installation. It is at this point that I will finally be able to finish the planking up to the poop deck.  It doesn’t seem that a lot of progress is being made, but the time it takes to get to this point takes far more time than scrolling through the pictures.  Lol  It is true, that a picture is worth a 1000 words.  Well, that’s all I have so far and as always, your comments and guidance are always welcome.

 

Cheers

Nearshore

[Nearshore]

Hello All,

Well, a small update on my progress on the Bellona. I have been busy the last month preparing for what the forecasters are calling an active hurricane season. Hopefully the shipyard will come out of this season unscathed. I completed the port and starboard Galleries PE parts and trim. I discarded the kit part 240 and used walnut wood in its place. I shaped this piece to match the contour of the transom. It took a few attempts, but I am pleased with the outcome. Once I completed shaping the galleries cap, this allowed me to complete the planking up to the poop deck. I then was able to trim the first layer of planking to the proper shape and level to match the second layer of planking. I completed carving the remaining cannon ports on both the starboard and larboard sides of the ship and prepared them to receive the port post. I then taped off the false cannon ports and applied the final coat of flat black to them. I painted the cannon port post red instead of the black that I originally was going to do. I feel that this added a better contrast to the ports. At this point, I have only installed the starboard side, but the larboard side is prepped and ready. Well, that’s all I have for now, but as always, your comments and guidance are always welcome.

 

Cheers

Nearshore

[Nearshore]

Hello All,

Well, I am doing my monthly update. Seems like I have put myself into a routine timeline and only update every month or so. I haven’t really made significant progress, but I am making some progress slowly but surely. I completed the installation of the larboard side canon port post and moved on to working on the transom. I dry fitted the dicast ornaments to see how things will line up. It looks like I am going to have a bit of a challenge installing the larboard and starboard statues which are not shown in this post but are in a previous one. At this point it appears that there may not be enough room for them once the sheer planking is in place. We will just have to wait and see how things turn out and hope for the best. I completed installing the transom railings. This was a challenging task and took me quite some time before I felt satisfied with how they looked. I started with shaping the handrail and then shaped and installed the first part of the fencing, starting with the outboard fencing first and working my way to the middle. I installed the small decretive PE brass pieces to the station post first before installing them to the deck. When I put the lower deck trim on, I left a small ledge, about .5mm to accept and add support to the railing post and fencing. It worked out pretty good and glad I did it. After all the post and fencing were installed, I glued the top railing in place and clamped it to dry. I was worried that the whole thing would collapse under the pressure of the clamp, but it turned out that it was much more durable than I thought. Before I glued the top railing in place, I installed the 1 x 1 trim on the 2 x 2 railing. After the railing was completed, I installed the remaining PE parts onto the transom. I also installed the 1 x 1 trim around the upper windows and balcony opening. I am not really thrilled with how this came out and will circle back later and redo it until I feel satisfied with the result.  This is as far as I am going to go on the stern for now as I want to move onto the bow and start working on the forecastle. I have begun this part of the build but will provide an update on that later once I have gotten far enough along. Well, I appreciate you reading and taking the time to look at the pics. Hope you enjoy them and as always, your input comments and guidance are always welcome.

 

Cheers

Nearshore

[Nearshore]

Hello All,

Well, this is my monthly update on HMS Bellona. This post marks the 2^nd year anniversary of my journey building this ship. My learning curve has certainly had its highs and lows, but for the most part, it’s been a very challenging and rewarding adventure. I never really thought that it would take this long to assemble, and I now understand that putting a timeline on building one of these ships is sometimes unrealistic. Well with that said, let’s get to where I left off.

 

I started working on the forecastle bulkhead, first cutting in half an 8mm dowel and planking it. I cut the dowel to the rough size for the round houses and shaped false cat tail piece 109 so that there was a 1mm overhang on the forecastle bulkhead. I shaped the 1mm molding that wraps around the round house by placing an 8mm dowel in my vise and applying heat to slowly acquire the shape. I found that applying thin CA glue to the 1mm molding and allowing it to soak in and dry gave the wood a bit more strength and helped it from flatting out from the pressure and heat during the shaping process.

 

After installing the upper molding to both round houses I cut, shaped and dry fitted the false cat tail covering piece 110 leaving another 1mm overhang on piece 109. I let piece 110 overhang on the outer edges for the future headrail that will be intersecting at this location. I installed the lower molding to the round houses and bow deck and then installed the doors and hinges for the round houses. At this point the round houses are only dry fitted because there is still one more piece of 1mm molding that has to be applied and doing this is much easier than trying to do it if they were glued in place.

Once the doors were in place, this allowed me to know the location of the last round house and forecastle bulkhead molding. I did not like the way the hinges looked on the doors. They appeared to be way out of scale, and it just didn’t seem right. I fabricated new hinges using some brass stock and a very small punch to simulate the bolts for the hinges. I think they came out ok and don’t stand out so much. Once the doors were completed, I installed the last of the 1mm molding on the round houses and forecastle bulkhead.

 

After the forecastle bulkhead was completed, I moved onto the head cheeks. I first shaped the 2mm molding with my molding shaper to give it a .5mm groove in the center of the board. I used the figurehead as a guide for the shaping of the head cheeks. In order to find the final length of the head cheeks I had to install the scroll that sits on top of the stem. The detail of the die cast scroll that came with the kit was awful. To fix this I used a .5mm brass wire and coiled it to hopefully improve the appearance of the scroll. I then blackened the figurehead components and scroll to match the rest of the blackened brass fittings that are on the ship.

 

I installed the hawse hole planking using a combination of beechwood and tanganika planks. After the beechwood hawse hole planking was installed, I completed the head cheek molding. I painted the groove in the cheek molding black to give it an accent and to standout a bit more. For the hawse hole bolster, I used 1mm walnut for this detail. Before assembling the hawse hole planking, I painted the 3mm holes for the anchor lines red.  

Well, that’s all I have for this post. I appreciate you taking the time to read and look at the pictures. I included some anniversary pictures at the end for your viewing pleasure LOL, and as always, your input and guidance are always welcome.

 

Cheers

Nearshore

 

[Nearshore]

Hello All,

Small update on the Bellona. Before continuing on with installing the headrails, I decided that it would be a good time to install the rudder. Figured it would be fairly easy to do, it’s just a rudder right. Well, I did not like the plywood rudder that came with the kit, so I decided to make my own from some walnut stock I had. I used the rudder from the kit as a guide to make the new one. The walnut stock that I had was a bit thicker, so I had to trim it to the proper thickness and taper. Once that was completed, I shaped the hinges that would be going onto the rudder. Once they were shaped, I soldered the 1mm pins to them. The plans called for a 4mm ring to be attached to the rudder for the emergency steering chain. The chain was too small to use the 4mm ring, so I made my own rings to attach the chain to. I also shaped the bracket that they would be attaching to. I blackened the brass and the brass pins that attach the hinges to the rudder and hull. I dry fitted them and then shaped the hinges that would be going onto the ship. I predrilled the holes for the pins on the rudder and the ship's hull. I dry fitted all the hinges and the pins onto the hull making sure that they were even on both sides. Before installing the rudder, I installed the false tiller. After all the holes were predrilled, I cut the pins to their proper length and glued them in place. The rudder came out looking pretty good and I’m happy with the results. Hope you enjoy the pics and as always, your comments and guidance are always welcome.

Cheers

Nearshore