HMS Bellerophon 1786 by AON – scale 1:64 – 74-gun 3rd Rate Man of War - Arrogant-Class

[druxey]

Um, I hate to mention it, but the third starboard timberhead from the stern seems to be out of line in the lower photo. Maybe check this again? The other frames look really good now, except for the second from forward. It sits much further in than the general run of the framing.

[AON]

Thank you Druxey

I will look at them again in the morning.

 

[AON]

Aft frames adjusted once again.

Spacers continue to be installed.

Work commences at the stem...

Port side Frame W2 installed and Bollard Timbers being prepared.

[AON]

Starboard W2 frame installed.

Port Bollard Timber dry fitted.

'nuff for today!

[BANYAN]

Those knightheads look very crisp.  Nice work.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[AON]

After a busy day today I managed an hour in the shop after supper and got the starboard bollard timber done and both are now dry fitted.

I am quite happy with these.

 

Marked up the hawse pieces to start shaping but thought I'd best leave any material removal until tomorrow when I am fresh.

Edited February 27, 2019 by AON
because I'm an IdOt

[AON]

Spent an hour and a bit this morning working on the rough shaping of the next hawse piece on the port side.  Dry fitted it and it looks darn good to me.

 

I want to glue and pin the bollard frames in place but need to sand a radius seat on the head of the stem post (stem and apron pieces) that the bowsprit will rest on while I have clear access.  I need to determine the diameter of the bowsprit at this location.

 

Looked in Ree's Naval Architecture Plate VIII which is a diagram of masts, yards, and the bowsprit, and it measures 3'-5".

Measured (for comparison) on Ree's Plates I and IV and I get 3 ft and 2'-9".

Checked NMM plan J7795 (ZAZ6781) which is a diagram of the main mast and bowsprit for a 74 gun ship and it measures 2'-9".

 

Measured the space between bollard timbers (which is the thickness of the stem post) at the head and it measures 2'-6".

 

Now I need to make a decision....   I need to check what size dowels I have to make a sanding stick.

[AON]

I've decided to follow REE'S Plate VIII as it provides more detail. 

(I am told REE's and STEEL's plates are identical)

I'll need to turn down some 3/4" dowelling to make a 0.641 inch diameter sanding stick (including the thickness of the sand paper).

This will also necessitate the sanding of a slight radius pocket in the inside of both bollard frames.

 

Meanwhile I shaped and fitted the mating starboard hawse piece.

I feel I may not post again until I have them all nearer to done as posting each step would be repetitive and might be boring.

 

And spacer chocks continue to be installed back aft at the rate of one or two sets a day...

 

 

[albert]

Great beautiful work Alan.

[AON]

Thank you very much.  It was very nice of you to say and think so.

I'm trying my best but it is slow going with many redos.

 

No progress today as I strained my back shovelling snow this morning.  It may be a couple days to recover.

[cog]

I thought you were getting on the way again, but fell for the back trap. I hope it doesn't take to long to recover, I'm in my third week to "get rid" of my lower back problem. So far I can sit, and lay down. standing turns into torture. Take care

[AON]

If only it would be so easy to "get rid" of it.

 

I use to be able to set a clock to it then there was a period I almost forgot about it.

 

Now that I have entered the "best years of my life" it has returned to remind me that I am it's bitch and shall submit to it's will... but I am too darned stubborn to give in.

 

So we dance the dance.

.

 

Edited March 2, 2019 by AON

[cog]

Ah yes: The dance of the crippled Knight (without his shining armour, for it would be to heavy)

[AON]

My back is much better today, just in time for our club meeting tomorrow at Lee Valley Tools in Niagara Falls.

I wonder if I'll find any new toys there this time?

 

After pondering on it a while (and watching Kenny's video again) I decided on a method to sand the 3'-5" diameter bowsprit clearance hole in the stem post head and bollard frames.   I over thought it, trying to be more accurate I realised I over thought it and my method didn't work so well so it was abandoned mid stream... as will be explained.

 

First I had to determine the angle of the bowsprit and so brought out my trusty parallel ruler and a protractor.  I found the angle was 30°.

 

I was going to sand a taper on a dowel from a diameter under the width of the stem post to the finished diameter so I could rotate and feed the sanding plug through the assembly of bollard frames and stem post but in the end I decided to use an undersized dowel and wrap/wood glue a layer of sand paper to it.   Next I layed out a scrap block of wood, drill a hole for the dowel at 30° and clamped this to the table.  I thought I'd slip the dowel into the block which would help me maintain the angle, rotate the dowel/sand paper and sand the profile into the head of the stem post.  The bollard frames were pinned through to each other near their foot so they could rotate.  A clamp located near the top acted as a stopper so they would rest against it in the exact proper location when rotated forward.  I could then open these up and holding/pinching with my fingers while rotating the dowel I'd cut the shape into everything.

 

Well that didn't work.  My finger pinching idea was not adequate... I needed gorilla fingers to hold it.  The rotating of the sanding stick did not work as it gripped the stem post and caused it to twist the whole frame.  I did manage to start a profile in the head of the stem post but it would wander.

 

I abandoned the angle guide block and sanded with an in/out or forward/aft motion and this work well but I could not see if I was centred on the stem post head.  I took an HB pencil and coloured the top of the post with graphite to darken it.  As I sanded away the wood and graphite I could see the pencil mark width remaining and determine I was indeed on centre.

 

I then swung one bollard post up and pinching the one I was able to start a groove in it at the proper angle.  I marked the head of the stem post location onto the bollard frame and sanded it off the model and on the work bench.  I repeated this for the sister frame.

 

I then glued a second layer of sand paper to the stick over top of the first to increase the diameter., then repeated the sanding operation.  Finally I glued a third layer and after the third sanding routine I was done.

 

Following are some photos.  The bollard frames are presently glued, pinned and clamped in place.

 

[druxey]

Well, that was an interesting way to solve the problem. Nice, clean result. Well done.

[BANYAN]

Nice work, and useful technique

 

cheers

 

Pat

[AON]

Thank you... but in retrospect, I should have probably just followed Kenny's video.  Short of the rotating bollards it is what I ended up doing.

[AON]

I failed to report an error I had made... but caught before damage was done.

 

While measuring the bowsprit from the plate in Ree's I failed to notice the section views directly above with dimensions! See post #817 above.

These identified the bowsprit to be 36" diameter not the 3'-5" as I had measured with my dividers against the provided scale.

 

The diameter of my clearance hole is ever so slightly oversized (0.60" versus 0.563").

[dvm27]

Very nice job, Alan. That's exactly how I did it. But I agree that checking Kevins Thorn videos is a good idea as he ofter takes a different approach than I did with great results.

[SJSoane]

Nice problem solving, Alan.

 

Mark

[BANYAN]

Alan, asto the oversized hole, was there a leather puddening/strip in the 'bed'  to protect the timbers?

 

cheers

 

Pat

[AON]

I've no idea.

One more thing to look up.😆

[BANYAN]

sorry mate

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Louie da fly]

Beautiful work Alan. Very painstaking and precise. I'm in awe of people like you who can achieve this kind of precision. I'm a bit too "she'll be right" to achieve that - at least at my current stage of modelmaking.

 

Steven

[druxey]

Yes, a leather piece was nailed on each side across the top of the stem to bed the bowsprit on.

[AON]

Steven

I thought long and hard on how to respond to your especially kind post.

Thank you!    😊

But as Wayne and Garth said to Alice Cooper... I (feel) am not worthy.

 

Druxey and Pat

Regarding the leather puddening strip on the head of the stem post.  If either of you have a reference such as a picture I'd feel better about how I install it.

I confess I haven't looked yet but will be searching myself today... but first I have an appointment at city hall.

Alan

[druxey]

I don't have a picture, but the leather is laid across the concave surface of the stemhead and tacked down on either side. That's if you want to add such a detail!

[AON]

Back from City Hall.

 

The thing that really gets me is I just did a purge a short while ago and threw out small bits of thin leather strips I thought I'd held onto for way too long!

 

Scouring the internet and I've found nothing as yet.  Obviously my search parameters are wrong.

[druxey]

Use paper instead painted with raw sienna (new leather look) or add a little burnt umber into the mix for an aged look.

[AON]

Exactly what the wife and I were discussing at lunch!