HMS Portland 1770 by scrubbyj427 - 1:48 - 4th rate 50-gun ship

[scrubbyj427]

5 minutes ago, westwood said:

Good news, JJ!
I look forward to updates on your build.

Thank you Dusan, at this point I’m trying to stay ahead of You and Ben lol.

[Trussben]

Im really looking forward to seeing her all faired out.

[scrubbyj427]

3 hours ago, Trussben said:

Im really looking forward to seeing her all faired out.

You and me both. 

[RichardGo]

What a thoroughly impressive project.  Very exciting to see the design process.

[Linus Spjutsberg]

On 9/13/2024 at 4:38 AM, scrubbyj427 said:

Quick update. 
received the prototype print for the stbd drop. The fit is nice without any adjustment to the QG or the drop, both are straight off the printer as designed. Will make a few slight adjustments and proceed with boxwood CNC carved ones for the model.

It looks fantastic so far!

[scrubbyj427]

13 hours ago, RichardGo said:

What a thoroughly impressive project.  Very exciting to see the design process.

Thank you Richard. Should have some more updates soon.

 

12 hours ago, Linus Spjutsberg said:

It looks fantastic so far!

Thank you Linus.

[scrubbyj427]

I’ve started fairing the hull, still a long way to go and Pear sands like cement but slow and steady wins the race. Hoping to have it completed within a week or so.

[scrubbyj427]

Getting closer on the stbd side. The oscillating dremal is a life saver! Should have the stbd side finished tomorrow and be well into the port side.

[Beckmann]

That looks superb, lovely framework.

Matthias

[Trussben]

Sweet!

[scrubbyj427]

Port side mostly complete  now. Some minor block sanding to do now and then permanently attach the frieze panels and prep for planking. 

[westwood]

It looks great, JJ

[scrubbyj427]

On 7/9/2025 at 10:56 PM, Beckmann said:

That looks superb, lovely framework.

Matthias

 

On 7/10/2025 at 5:10 AM, Trussben said:

Sweet!

 

2 hours ago, westwood said:

It looks great, JJ

Thanks guys. It’s slowly starting to look like something resembling a Portland class ship.

[ChrisLBren]

Looks fantastic !!!

[scrubbyj427]

21 hours ago, ChrisLBren said:

Looks fantastic !!!

Thank you Chris.

[scrubbyj427]

Moving into chapter 2 I’ve attached the frieze panels and added the forward false sub deck for fairing reference.  Now it’s time to primer and prepare the gunports for paint and line off the upper hull for planking. Finally it will begin to look like Portland!

 

[Trussben]

Liking the progress, what material will you be planking with? AYC like the other prototype?

[scrubbyj427]

23 hours ago, Trussben said:

Liking the progress, what material will you be planking with? AYC like the other prototype?

Yes I’ll be using AYC for the planking. Probably do the wales the same as the POB model. 

[scrubbyj427]

Today I got back to work on Portland, I faired up the lower counter and added some high build primer on all the gunport frames.

I used a solvent based high build primer to seal up the MDF, it soaked it up like a sponge. I’ve always been a little concerned about swelling when adding water based products to MDF, the primer also makes sanding and finishing the ports nice, it fills small gaps or joints in the port framing.

 

Ive also been working on planking guides that will attach to each bulkhead and assist with spilling, more on that soon.

[scrubbyj427]

Officially underway on chapter 2 now, I have all the Gunports primed, block sanded and painted. Tomorrow I will start milling wood and begin planking from the main wale up.

[westwood]

Looks very good JJ,
looking forward to the second chapter when you make the wales and planking the gunports.

The planking guides will be a great help

[Trussben]

What red did you use? The paintings seem to show more of a brighter orangie red?

 

Do you plan on straight main wales or in anchor stock style? Any type of templates for keeping the port surrounds at the correct width?

Edited Saturday at 02:13 PM by Trussben

[scrubbyj427]

2 hours ago, westwood said:

Looks very good JJ,
looking forward to the second chapter when you make the wales and planking the gunports.

The planking guides will be a great help

Thank you Dusan, im looking forward to it as well, I should have an update on those today. 

 

1 hour ago, Trussben said:

What red did you use? The paintings seem to show more of a brighter orangie red?

 

Do you plan on straight main wales or in anchor stock style? Any type of templates for keeping the port surrounds at the correct width?

Hi Ben, I used the Caldercraft red ochre just like I used on Winnie, I’m not a fan of bright reds and prefer an older look. In fact I’m even considering adding a little age To Portland as seen on some of the contemporary models. Will see.

 

As for the wales, i will be doing them straight just like the Bristol model and the POB Portland.

 

Ive been thinking about templates for the port surrounds since I started designing the model and I still am. Like the Winnie I just eyeballed them on the POB Portland and they turned out nice. But I’m still thinking about how I could make a template to do this. Stay tuned.

[scrubbyj427]

Been working on Portland all day. I started by gluing on the planking strips that I took off the 3D model, these were derived off of the 2D planking being projected onto the 3D hull and then flattening the surfaces and turning them into a printable 2D document. So far they are working as planned.

I stated planking the first belt from the frieze panel down, this consists of two planks and took most of the day. 

I decided to run the planks right over the gunports as they won’t have doors over them, I can just sand the planks flush right to the frame. This really makes it easy to get a smooth running strake.

I can simply carve out the port rough and file them down carefully.

Once all the ports were opened up I block sanded the whole side down with 150/220 and then taped off that belt and sealed it with WOP to protect it, this will also allow me to paint the ports again with ease as any paint on the planks won’t soak in and will just wipe off with some alcohol leaving a perfect sharp paint edge around the port.

I couldn’t resist any longer so I glued the friezes on, the fit was pretty good and I only have to make a few adjustments to the document. Overall I’m satisfied with how they turned out. I should have molding scrapers coming soon that are specifically designed to match Portlands molding profiles taken from the drawings and painting, it will be nice to tie up the blank spaces with some nice boxwood molding.

[Chuck]

That looks very good JJ.  She is shaping up!!

[scrubbyj427]

3 hours ago, Chuck said:

That looks very good JJ.  She is shaping up!!

Thank you Chuck! 

[woodartist]

15 hours ago, scrubbyj427 said:

I started by gluing on the planking strips that I took off the 3D model, these were derived off of the 2D planking being projected onto the 3D hull and then flattening the surfaces and turning them into a printable 2D document.

What do the color changes on the strips signify? Why do the lines on the strips run in different directions?

[woodartist]

15 hours ago, scrubbyj427 said:

Once all the ports were opened up I block sanded the whole side down with 150/220 and then taped off that belt and sealed it with WOP to protect it, this will also allow me to paint the ports again with ease as any paint on the planks won’t soak in and will just wipe off with some alcohol leaving a perfect sharp paint edge around the port.

I can not tell from the picture if there is a rabbit on the bow and stern where the planks meet the keel.

[scrubbyj427]

15 minutes ago, woodartist said:

What do the color changes on the strips signify? Why do the lines on the strips run in different directions?

Those colors represent their respective planking belt. I will do a midship section diagram for the instructions. basically blue is regular planking .050” and red are the wales at .120-.140” with green representing the black strake. The lines are just hatching from CAD so I didn’t have to fill the whole thing with color.

[scrubbyj427]

7 minutes ago, woodartist said:

I can not tell from the picture if there is a rabbit on the bow and stern where the planks meet the keel.

There is, it’s pearwood/cherry