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