HMS Bellona by Nearshore - Corel - 1:100

[SaltyScot]

1 hour ago, Nearshore said:

I went with the collet chuck model. The runout was better and I found that using the 3.175mm shank on the micro bits run straighter than the standard drill bits of the same size. If I need to drill anything bigger than the capacities of the drill I have another tool for that. I did purchase a longer stem to give me more space between the drill bit and the top of the vise. I am very pleased with the performance and the quality of construction is second to none.

 

Nearshore

 

Decision made then. Thank you for taking the time on this.

[Nearshore]

 

Hello All,

 

Well, it has been a few months since I updated my build log. When I last left off I was having a dilemma on the sequence of assembly. I have been working on some of the other items such as the mast and mast tops as well as the deadeyes that will be needed later on in the build. I have not included any pictures of these items as I will save them for another time and include them when I get to that stage. What I have been spending a lot of time on are the cannons that will be on the upper gun deck. I have been working on these for some time now as I did not know how I wanted to present them on my model. I started with using the pieces that were supplied with the kit. The carriages seemed to be fine as well as the trucks that were supplied. The plans called for cutting the 1mm brass wire and using them as the axels for the trucks. I did not like the look, and it seemed to be very plain. I thought that making marks on the trucks to simulate the pins that would have been used to hold them together would add a bit of character. I started with simulating 4 pins but did not like the way they turned out. I then tried with 6 pins and that seemed to look a little better. I thought that maybe 8 pins would look even better, but I was wrong and liked the look of the 6 pins. I substituted the brass axel using a toothpick which had a better fit on the trucks. I painted them black to see how they looked. I still was not very satisfied with how they were turning out, so I changed gears and started to work on the cannons.

I painted all the cannons an antique brass and then used some black rub & buff to blacken them. They came out pretty good in my opinion and gave them the look of being old and imperfect that I was looking for. Before I started mass producing the components that will make up the cannons, I decided that I would complete a prototype first. I drilled the 6 holes in the trucks using a .5mm drill bit and then inserted .5mm brass wire in them.  I made a jig that I could insert the trucks into to hold them steady while I filed the cut ends flat. I knew that I was going to do this with all the trucks, so I spent a few days drilling and filing until I had completed 80 pieces. After I completed that awesome task…just kidding, I made the quoin blocks that for supporting the cannons to the proper level. I used a 6mm belaying pin as the handle for the quoin block but was not satisfied with the look as it seemed to be out of scale. While I thought about what I was going to do about the scaling issue I went ahead and drilled the holes in the axels and inserted brass pins to secure the trucks to the axels. I placed the cannon on the deck to see how things were looking.

To tackle the issue I had with the quoin block handle, I decided that I would use a 1mm dowel. That took care of the scaling issue, and I feel it looks much better than the belaying pin I had used. After I completed the quoin blocks I moved on to installing the axels. I mentioned that I used a toothpick for the axels on my mockup. Well, I could not see myself using toothpicks for anything on this ship as I have come so far that I am not going to compromise using something like that. So, I purchased some 2mm walnut dowels and turned them down to the 1.7mm that I needed to fit the hole in the trucks. I installed the trucks and drilled the holes in the axels for the pins. I drilled the holes for the breeching eyebolts and inserted the .8mm rope that I had made some time ago. I made the eyebolts and rings using .5mm brass wire, the kit supplied eyebolts were out of scale.

Once that was completed, I made the brass straps that will secure the cannon to the carriage. I also drilled and inserted pins on the steps of the carriage to give it a bit more character. After the pins were installed, I applied a small amount of brass blacken to tone them down a bit. After I completed the prototype, I made the second cannon fine tuning my technics that I learned building the first cannon. I apologize for the long-winded update, but it took many months of trying different things before I came up with something I was satisfied with. My prototype will be installed far under the quarter deck to hide the imperfections. Well, that’s all I have for now, and as always, your comments and guidance are always welcome.

 

Cheers

Nearshore  

 

[Ronald-V]

Well done! That will look great when they all sit on deck  

[SaltyScot]

That is some fine work. It makes me truly want to scrap those 3D printed gun carriages I made and remake them out of "real" wood. It just looks so much better!!

[Frecap]

Nearshore, hello! I'm impressed with your work on the cannons! It's been a long and meticulous process that has led to a remarkable outcome! The cannons look stunning! I believe the time spent installing the rivets on the wheels was well worth it. These small details add a touch of elegance to the overall appearance. And six rivets are just the right amount! Similarly, the use of wooden axles instead of brass wire is of great interest to me, as I have yet to explore these options. I want to take these decisions into account, if you don't mind, of course) Also, as I see it, you haven't installed the quarterdeck deck yet. Obviously, in order to be able to mount the guns under this deck. I have not yet determined the assembly sequence for myself, so I am not installing this deck yet either. But I still have a lot of work to do before making this decision, and I hope it will become obvious in due course. And good luck and inspiration to you in this difficult but interesting job!

[Nearshore]

Hi Frecap,

 

Thank you for the compliment. You are correct in that I have not installed the Quarter deck. I have also not installed the poop deck. I will not install the poop deck until I have installed and completed the quarter deck. You are correct in that Corel does not give very good direction on sequence of assembly. My approach is to complete the outer hull and move onto the main deck and build up from there installing the Quarter deck after I have completed the main deck. The poop deck will be the last deck that I will install. You are doing an amazing job on your Bellona and I quite enjoy following your build. Your technics are very well thought out.

Nearshore