HMS Ballahoo by jim_smits - FINISHED - Caldercraft

[jim_smits]

Hi all,

Today received my Christmas gift of the HMS Ballahoo kit by Caldercraft. In the Ballahoo class I have only found National Maritime plans for the HMS Haddock, so I will try to base my build around these plans.

Still at my folks so will not start the build until tomorrow. In the meantime I will post the kit pictures.

Edited January 18, 2015 by jim_smits

[jim_smits]

Made it back from my folks today and got to checking through the Ballahoo contents. Unfortunately the 2mm walnut sprue is missing from the box. Tried to call Caldercraft today but haven't got any answer. I will try again on Monday and see if I can get an answer.

 

As for the contents, the quality is reasonable but not amazing, but then the kit is only £60 so I won't complain. Lime first planking and walnut second planking. The contents list shows 0.5mm Lime for the decking but the manual states that it is 0.5mm maple. The two sets of wood look very similar (other than being 0.5mm and 1mm) and I am no expert on differences between Lime and Maple. Are they of similar appearance?

 

First steps so far have been to cut the keel, frames and cradle from the 5mm ply sheet. All pieces have been sanded and a basic check of the fit has been made. Over the weekend I will make a start on bevelling the frames.

[Ganymede]

Greetings Jim,

Lucky you. I'm still waiting for my kit to arrive. I thought I would be the first away with the build log on this new MSW 2.0 site. I will be watching your log with keen interest. I note the discrepancy in the wood type and the missing walnut sprue. Will check kit most carefully.

Good luck.

Patrick M

[egkb]

Thanks for the 'link' Jim, am looking forward to this !!

 

In fact I may even pick one up in the January sales at Cornwall Model B's ! (that is if there is such a thing as Jan Sales )

 

Build on my friend

 

Eamonn

 

PS don't store the Bowling balls or the Anvil over the Ballier  

 

Well we have Connies & Aggies so why not Balliers.. ?

[Beef Wellington]

Exciting Jim, how are you going to balance her with your Snake?  Also curious on you thoughts on the kit itself, think this is a more recent offering so wondering if the instructions and the supplied parts are better then the Snake.

 

Sure you'll have fun!

[Sam0100]

I also received one of these for Christmas! It will be my first model, so hoping to learn a few things will be checking back recently in this topic !

 

I have put the keel and deck into place- taking my time !

 

Edit: I too noticed that the instructions and parts list both refer to the lime and maple differently.

Edited December 28, 2013 by Sam0100

[jim_smits]

Jason - The Ballahoo/Haddock build will provide a change to the rigging on the snake and keep me fresh, although once my repairs on the Snake are complete, I will not have too many ratlines to complete.

 

The instructions are around the same level as the Snake instructions although obviously more simplistic due to the nature of the ship being built. Couple of minor improvements; the eyelets on the deck have been specifically labelled as such. They were very simple to overlook on the Snake. Also, the mast plans also show the cleats to be attached. These were only shown on the belaying plan for the Snake.

 

Eamonn - The build area has now been fully 'upgraded', there will be no more feline / heavy object relating incidents....!

 

Patrick / Sam - Good to see you both on board. Hope we can all learn from each other.

 

Today's progress has been to make a build board for the keel. The keel is not warped at all and is one less thing to worry about, Waiting for my Dremel to recharge and will make a start on bevelling bulkheads.

[egkb]

Hi again Jim.. Quick question, what type of Base Board is that? (need to get myself one)

 

Eamonn

 

Keep an eye out for  'Cat'astrophes !

[jim_smits]

The baseboard is just a piece of thick plyboard with a couple of pieces of wood screwed into it.

I sandwiched the keel between the two pieces and then screwed them down.

[jim_smits]

Last nights progress:

 

All bulkheads are roughly beveled. I will do any fine tuning once they are glued in place, but I will also be adding some balsa blocks at the bow and stern to aid planking.

 

I have also added my bearding and cut a rabbet up to the top of the stem. Lesson learned from the Snake, this is so much easier before glueing the bulkheads in place.

 

Finally, dry fitted and pinned the stem and keel to the false keel. I will glue these in place today but leave the stern post until after second planking.

 

Nothing really to see yet as it's all prep work mainly. Will update once the bulkheads are in.

[jim_smits]

Bulkheads attached. Glued with a spot of cyano and set to the correct position using the false deck. I have then added PVA and smeared into the joints using cotton buds. I will let these cure while I treat myself to a carvery...!!

[egkb]

Looking great Jim.. I have some more questions (hope you don't mind)

1.  I see paint pots in the build box, aside from the guns, what parts are to be painted? (she looks 'natural' if you follow)

2.  Do the instructions call for the Rabbet/Bearding lines cut, or are you doing it yourself to make things easier later?

 

BTW reason for all the questions is that you've convinced me to pick up this nice wee kit (will probably do a simultaneous build with Ballier, Sherbourne & Convulsion, as they are similar sizes and build structures)

 

Thanks for all the help

 

Eamonn

[jim_smits]

Hi Eamonn,

 

My folks bought the paint set with the kit as it was 'recommended' by the website. I am actually trying to work out if there any areas that should be painted or not. Even to the extent of whether the hull was treated with 'white stuff' or not.

 

Certainly the front of the box shows a largely natural finish.

[jim_smits]

I've done some more digging and I found a very nice model made by Kerry Jang that has been painted in Nelson chequer - Black hull with a yellow ochre band along the gunports and red ochre on the inside of the bulwarks and the deck fittings. IT will compliment the Snake build nicely as well....!

[Beef Wellington]

I've done some more digging and I found a very nice model made by Kerry Jang that has been painted in Nelson chequer - Black hull with a yellow ochre band along the gunports and red ochre on the inside of the bulwarks and the deck fittings. IT will compliment the Snake build nicely as well....!

 

Jim - I think you're safe with the Nelson chequer. Even if it wasn't mandated, I'm sure any captain wanting to emulate 'the big man' would have gone with that scheme.  It must be nice to build up your own little squadron 

[jim_smits]

Bit more progress last night. I have airbrushed black any areas that are likely to be visible through the deck. I need to have another look at the Haddock plans though to confirm as they are different to Caldercrafts Ballahoo layout.

 

Added mast supports from a little scrap wood and used balsa to make fillers at the bow and stern to aid planking.

 

Finally, the stern has been built adding the supports and pieces of the transom.

 

Next step is to soak and shape the bulwarks to shape and add the false deck.

 

Coming together nice and easily so far......

[jim_smits]

Finally got through to JoTiKa today and should hopefully have a new 2mm walnut sprue on it's way over to me tomorrow.

[jim_smits]

Got my replacement parts from JoTiKa today. Great service from them as I only spoke to them on Thursday.

 

 

Next step for the build is to gradually shape the bulwarks. Using a mug and large clips at the moment. Once they are roughly the correct shape I will bend to the bulkheads on the ship.

 

[jim_smits]

Run into a minor issue I think. Having started to shape and test the bulwarks against the frames, it looks like the third bulkhead isn't quite wide enough and will result in a dip in planking on the starboard side. I am hoping that I will be able to solve this with some spare lime planking and then a careful reshape, using a plank to test the line of the hull.

 

Hopefully this shouldn't be to difficult to resolve and I can commence with attaching the bulwarks and planking.

[Ganymede]

Hi Jim,

I'm just about to fit the third B/H. I've checked it with a contour gauge and it is symmetrical with a max width of 81.17mm.How does that compare with yours? I'm fitting the B/Hs., three a day, fit one wait 6 hours for the glue to set. Slow but I'm taking my time. 

Patrick.

 

PS. Can I borrow your cup please?

Edited January 7, 2014 by Ganymede

[jim_smits]

Quick check gives about 80mm for my third bulkhead. I think my second is slightly off as well. I probably won't get time to fix these until Thursday now.

[Ganymede]

Hi Jim,

Just checked my No 2 BH and it too is a bit short. I'll fix it tomorrow. No 3 BH is OK.

Will attempt to post pictures at the weekend.

I take it that you have both bulwarks wrapped round the cup at the same time in the pic?

Got my missing part yesterday, very quick service.

 

Patrick.

[jim_smits]

Hi Patrick

 

Yeah my second bulkhead is short on both sides. Hopefully will be able to sort all these tomorrow evening.

 

And yes, both bulwarks were round the same mug....!

 

Jim

[egkb]

Hi Jim, Ballahoo arrived at last! Hopefully a build log will be up by weeks end..

Quick question, Roughly how deep did you cut the Rabbet and the Bearding line? (I assume it didn't/won't compromise the gluing of the Keel, part no.23, onto the 'Former' Keel, part no. 12)

 

My instruction sheet doesn't mention these (Rabbet/Bearding) but I feel they are a good move to make the planking sit better, especially at the stern. I suspect it doesn't need to be much more than 1mm each side.

Thanks In Advance Jim.

 

Eamonn

[jim_smits]

Hi,

 

I cut the bearding and rabbet down to the middle layer of the Ply. So, approx 1mm on each side leaving 2mm in the middle.

 

Take make the keel more secure I drilled holes to pin the keel before I cut the rabbet line.

 

Hope that helps.....

[egkb]

Thanks Jim, that does indeed help

I'll be following along in your footsteps as best I can.

 

Take Care,

 

Eamonn

[spear]

There was a really nice build on the old site by one of the ladies (can't recall her name but it had something to do with snakes) - I recall that she had problems with the bulwarks around the bow area and made some modifications. Presumably it has all been lost in the great crash.

She also made sails for hers which were a great addition.

[jim_smits]

Big backwards steps. After adding the deck in place, I decided I really wasnt happy with the bulkheads positioning. It looks like a couple of them were off-canter and were really throwing out the lines that would be planked and the decking lay.

 

Took drastic action and attempted to seperate off the bulkheads and try and re-glue. Unfortunately my initial contruction was far too sound and the glued joints refused to budge but a couple of the bulkheads split. Went back to JoTiKa and got a replacement ply sprue with the false keel and bulkheads. Just in the process and put it back together. I think the issue is that the bulkheads were quite loose originally so made lining up in all three dimensions difficult.

 

I have taken the time to drawing some construction lines on the bulkheads to aid getting them lined up perfectly. Shouldnt take too long to catch back up.

[egkb]

Best of luck with it Jim (was thinking you were a wee bit quiet lately  glad it's nuttin serious!)

I've almost fin with first planking so I might be shifting over to a 2nd build soon (I gave myself to first or 2nd planking to shift builds to Sherbourne or Convulsion then get then to a similar position) Mind you the ideas are flowing, so I may go further

 

Take Care Mate

 

Eamonn

[jim_smits]

Good solid bit of work last night. The keel bottom, stem and stern post have all had pinning holes made prior to bearding and rabbet work. Dremelled the bearding line and rabbet onto the false keel. Finally, attached all the bulkheads in place, ensuring square in all dimensions, using a few dabs of cyano before liberally adding gorilla wood glue to fix in place.

 

All looking good so far and the false deck fits nicely. Need to bevel the bulkheads and the stern bulkhead to the deck level.

Edited February 4, 2014 by jim_smits