HMS Bellona by Andy Thurston - Corel - 1/100

[Andy Thurston]

I'm going to post a build log of this, my second kit, Corel's 1/100th scale HMS Bellona.  I've only built one kit before, which was Constructo's HMAV Bounty (photo attached), so The Bellona will be a real challenge for me.  I'll post my progress: if anyone has suggestions for me based on what you see me post here I'd be very pleased to hear from you if you add comments to the log.
The kit was a gift from my wife Ali, as was The Bounty.  We live in the UK.  I love ships, but our joint hobby is music: Ali is a singer and I play bass guitar, guitar and drums... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVcIj4R5pPI
Best regards to all,
Andy Thurston

 

Edited December 4, 2024 by ccoyle
corrected log title

[Andy Thurston]

The kit has 976 different identified parts, most of which appear at least twice (port and starboard) and some very many times (e.g. decking timbers).  The plans amount to 14 sheets, one of which is A1 and the remainder of which are A2.  Each of the 976 parts is labelled multiple times in the different plans.
So, how to easily find all the references to a part in all those plans?  My approach… create a spreadsheet.
I inserted an image of each of the 14 plans onto separate worksheets, and made them slightly transparent so I can see the cells behind them.  Then where each part number appears on the plan I write that part number (in red) in a unique cell near to the reference on the plan.
Then, going forward, if I want to find a particular part in the plans I just use the Excel Search feature to locate them.  Much quicker than manually searching each and every time 🙂

[Andy Thurston]

The wooden strips arrived in a box, about 30 different types in all, but they were largely muddled up together without labels or descriptions.  Having sorted the wood into the 30 or so different types, I've created a filing system in the original box to keep them in.  The compartments were made by folding birthday wrapping paper into a corrugated pattern to create long, thin sections and adding cardboard labels for each compartment.  Helps me to get organised before proceeding with the build and to get familiar with the parts provided.

[Nearshore]

Hi Andy,

I am building the same ship. I am about 2 1/2 years into the build. The instructions are not the best and if followed verbatim they will get you into trouble. If I can be of any assistance, I will be more than happy to share my experiences. If you need some perspective pictures of a particular area, I will be more than happy to share what I have with you. I have taken more than 2000 pictures along the way which have helped me in identifying issues and solutions. Good luck on your journey, this is a nice model, and I'm shore you will enjoy the challenges that it has to offer.

 

Cheers

Nearshore

 

[ccoyle]

Your Bounty looks very nice! Based on that result, I have little doubt that you will do well with Bellona.

[Andy Thurston]

Glueing the Main Deck

After a distinct lack of progress over Xmas I've finally started the assembly by glueing the main deck to the bulkheads. The whole assembly can then be lifted by an inch or so to allow the front bulkhead to be inserted: this seemed easier to me than trying to glue the front bulkhead at the same time as those shown in the photo, since it complicates the assembly somewhat (due to lugs on the deck having to align with slots in the bulkhead) and there was a chance that the glue would start to dry before I got it all put together.

My childhood Meccano set makes a very useful tool for building jigs

[Andy Thurston]

On 12/4/2024 at 12:42 PM, Nearshore said:

Hi Andy,

I am building the same ship. I am about 2 1/2 years into the build. The instructions are not the best and if followed verbatim they will get you into trouble. If I can be of any assistance, I will be more than happy to share my experiences. If you need some perspective pictures of a particular area, I will be more than happy to share what I have with you. I have taken more than 2000 pictures along the way which have helped me in identifying issues and solutions. Good luck on your journey, this is a nice model, and I'm shore you will enjoy the challenges that it has to offer.

 

Cheers

Nearshore

 

Hi Nearshore
That's very kind of you: I'm certain I'll have loads of questions!
I had already found your build log for the Bellona and I have a shortcut to it saved on my computer for reference.  Luckily my kit didn't have the warped keel that yours had, which was a great relief.  I am still a novice builder (just one previous kit) so I'll be referring to your build log quite a bit I think 🙂
Best wishes,
Andy