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

[michael mott]

Alan when you can shave with the chisel it is sharp enough in my opinion, and yes having the mirrored surfaces on the back and bevels is really a great aid to accuracy.

 

Michael

[allanyed]

Alan,

 

The sharpening jig is a must IMHO.  I would never attempt to sharpen my chisels without using it again.   I did not see a mention of stropping above.  I know many feel stropping is also something to consider, but honestly I am hard pressed to see a difference between going right from my 6000 grit water stone to the wood, versus stropping first after using the stone.  Maybe I am not doing the stropping correctly.  I use the dressing that came with the strop, but don't see much difference, if any.

 

Regarding the tissue, I use it between planks more than any other method, but for the scarf joints on the keel I add a dot of black water base paint to a little puddle of carpenter's glue, mix it thoroughly and it shows the same as the paper on the finished joints.  Plus, the paper can be a weak point, straight blackened glue won't be.  Just another route to get to the same destination.

 

Allan

Edited March 3, 2016 by allanyed

[AON]

I have a jig, never use to, and had used it this past weekend and will be again.

As I wrote earlier: I have a lot of sharpening to do.

 

My glued assembly came apart quite nicely the other evening.

I think I'll give the water base paint and glue a try.

 

Thank you.

Edited March 3, 2016 by AON

[AON]

Completed a number of non-related projects on my "to do" list this weekend, including sharpening some tools, but did manage to try the spot of black water based paint mixed in the yellow wood glue.  I must confess I did not like the results so I did it again with the paper and had better results this time.  Trimmed it with a scalpel before gluing the other section of keel to it.

 

I also worked on one half of the boxing scarph joint at the bow and it turned out pretty good.

 

No photos though as I am not satisfied with this overall attempt and so will be redoing the whole thing.

The material is not scrap, just won't be the keel.

 

I am not disappointed, feeling good about the whole experience.

Found myself wanting to jump ahead, fighting the urge... taking a breath and working on one piece at a time... this part is difficult for me.

To use to multitasking.

Edited March 7, 2016 by AON

[AON]

Couldn't do anything through the week and not much progress today.

 

Made new keel pieces this afternoon.

 

I am very happy with these and will hopefully glue the paper on tomorrow and might get the sections together.

[druxey]

One piece at a time. Take Remco's motto to heart:

 

"Treat each part as if it is a model on its own, you will finish more models in a day than others do in a lifetime."

[AnobiumPunctatum]

druxey is absolut right. Remcos motto is perfect for our hobby.

[AON]

I have just heard back from NMM regarding the stealer top timber "Waldo" and post a small portion of the response from Nick Ball, Assistant Curator of Ship Models.

 

"...I would probably call it a ‘filler top timber’, but not sure if this term is really correct, as a filling frame is actually any single frame spanning the breadth of the hull, as opposed to a double frame, i.e. two frames joined together which span the breadth of the hull."

 

The message continues with multiple examples of this occurring.

 

Now I am torn... stealer or filler... or more affectionately: Waldo?

Edited March 14, 2016 by AON

[druxey]

Certainly it isn't a stealer - that term applies to planking. Could be called a sistered toptimber. However, Waldo is more fun, if terminologically inaccurate!

[AON]

Saturday 19 March 2016

Once again had to wait until the weekend to work on my build.

 

Started off with an unrelated disaster in the bathroom shower plumbing first thing in the morning which delayed progress further... but on the up side (thanks to Google search and videos) I now know how to extract the glued end of an ABS pipe out of a shower drain plumbing socket.

 

Seems the third try was the charm with the 18" square keel.  I assembled the pieces and I am very happy with it this time.

 

 

 

You can see I still utilized my metal straight edged scale as an aid to keep everything as near perfect as I might.

 

On closer inspection I noticed the foam backing on my scale bulged out and nudged the keel sections out of alignment so I trimmed this back a bit.  I did not clamp it to edge of the metal scale this time.  I used finger pressure and held it for a few minutes. 

 

I also made the 7" thick false keel sections and wood glued the "tar and hair" black tissue paper to the top side of the pieces. The false keel is made from my eastern hemlock (fir).

 

 

I found a #10 scalpel blade works best for trimming the excess.

 

At first I thought I might stain it to make it stand out more but when I did a test I saw the hemlock is naturally a shade darker than the boxwood and looks appropriate without stain.

 

 

The boxwood is above and the hemlock is below.  The left side of the hemlock is natural and the right side is lightly stained.

 

I hope to mark off and scrape out the rabbet line in the keel today then bolt the scarph joints of the keel sections.  The next step will be to wood glue the false keel to the keel, and nail and staple it.

 

We shall see how far I get

Edited March 20, 2016 by AON

[wyz]

Alan, I'm happy to see you're under way with the build.... a nice start.   You certainly did all the prep work necessary for the project.  This is a build I will be following for sure.  Best wishes and keep those pictures coming!

 

Tom

[AON]

Completed my first attempt at a keel rabbet V-notch scraper.

 

I used a piece of a left over ceiling tile perimeter L support frame.

Laid out the keel side and top surface lines.

Marked of the 4" thickness of the planks = thickness of the notch (OMG it is tiny)

Punched and drilled a 1/16" diameter hole slightly off centre, more so inboard then outboard.

 

 

I folded over the tabs so a soft edge would contact both the top and side of the keel.

 

 

Rough cut the V cutting edge with some tin snips, filed one side and ground down the other with my dremel.

 

 

It took about 15 or so passes to get a good deep notch and it doesn't look half bad!

 

The notch should be closer to the top of the keel... I guess I was a little too heavy with the dremel.

I might try a spacer to pull the notch closer or make a new scraper.

 

I'll need to sleep on this.

Edited March 20, 2016 by AON

[AON]

So I slept on it.

 

As it took a whole half hour to make my first ever scraper I've decided to make a second scraper.

I will get the notch higher on the keel. nearer the top.

 

I'll first make a larger corner relief hole, possibly 1/8" diameter.

Then I will scribe my reference lines so the hole will be further back.

The flaps will be cut after that and folded over... these worked well at not scraping the surface they dragged against.

 

We'll see if I have the energy when I get home from work tonight.

[druxey]

You might consider using a piece of hacksaw blade that has been heat-softened. And certainly it's normal to make multiple passes to form the contour needed, even on small mouldings. Using too much pressure and impatience will result in a wavy and ugly result!

[AON]

Thank you for the idea Druxey

 

I spent 29 years designing heat treat furnace lines.

We called the process Annealing.... I coined the term "O'Neilling"

 

There is also one file tucked away in a cabinet that was labelled INSTRUCTION MANUAL that after some period of time and frustration I crossed out the IN in red and relabelled it DEINSTRUCTION MANUAL.

 

I'll have to see if I have a well used and due to be retired blade in the shop.

Otherwise it is back to the left over ceiling tile support frame.

Edited March 21, 2016 by AON

[AON]

Sunday 27 March 2016

First opportunity to work on the model since last weekend.
Let me start by saying how extremely happy I've been with last weekends work.

 

I made a new scraper and threw that one out.  Filing the cutting edge was a problem for me.
Devised a new method using my dremel and a cutting wheel.  This worked much better.

 

 

Cut the rabbet on one side of the keel.  As everything has been going too well I kept double checking because I knew this was all going too well.  Was I cutting the wrong side? Nope!  So far so good.

Cut the rabbet on the other side... was I doing this one wrong? Nope! How did I manage that?

 

 

Glued the false keel to the keel... did I glue it to the top instead of the bottom?  Nope?  Did I put it on backwards? Was it the right section?  No and Yes... still going well.

 

 

Marked the bolt hole locations in the keel scarph joints.  Made a paper template and used my scratch awl to dimple the marks through... looked awful.  Filled that in with wood glue and sawdust and tried again with a pin.  Still awful.  Made a metal template and tried again.  Still awful.  I have a centering tool but hadn't used it as the punch is pretty large.  Possibly if tapped lightly it would be okay, it worked.  Insert the magnifying cross hair piece to line it up to the mark, remove that and insert the punch and give it a wee little love tap.... repeat...  they look great.  Alignment is perfect.  Marked all these bolt hole locations.

 

 

I knew all was going to well.

 

The keel that was straight all week is now warped!!!!  Lifted up almost 3/8" (1cm).

 

How did this happen?
Any ideas what I should do now?

I cannot soak it as the false keel will unglue.

I've presently have it set up with weights and am attempting to counter bend it.

 

Any ideas?

Edited March 28, 2016 by AON

[Mike Y]

I can't imagine how a long piece of wood will ever be perfectly straight. 1mm deviation sounds perfectly normal in my opinion. Wait for the humidity change, it will warp much more

 

Are you going to screw it to the building board? If yes - might be reasonable to add another hole or two and attach it to the build board while pressing something straight against it, to ensure alignment.

Edited March 27, 2016 by Mike Y

[druxey]

This is normal. Your woods for the keel and false keel are of different species and absorb/give off moisture at different rates. You need to secure the assembly to your building board. As the build progresses, things will stabilize.

[Decoyman]

3/8" is 1 cm not 1 mm?

[AON]

I've gone down to check and the warpage is gone.

Heart attack averted.

I've set it down onto the table top (build board) and set my weights on it to hold it for now

 

As I haven't worked with items that were not nailed or screwed to something much more substantial I have not experienced this before.

 

My cutter of 16 years ago was quite a bit smaller and all the same wood (balsa) so this never happened.

 

1cm.... 1mm ... and that is why I hated my slide rule (1972) and I love my calculator , it never puts the decimal place in the wrong spot.

I'll make the correction above.

 

Going to layout the false keel bolt holes and staple locations now.

Then I have to read up on blackening copper wire for the staples.

Edited March 27, 2016 by AON

[AON]

Saturday 02 April 2016

 

Drilled the main keel scarph joint bolt holes and the false keel nail holes.

I used 30 lb test black monofilament fishing line (0.0235 inch [0.06 cm] diameter = 1.5 inch diameter - to scale) for both as explained below.

 

The contract calls for 8 bolts at 1-1/4 inch diameter for each keel scarph joint so my holes are paired up, 2 deep by 4 across, reasonably spaced.

It also mentions nails and staples for the false keel but does not give a size.

 

Searching on the interweb I found "An Introductory Outline of the Practise of Ship Building" by John Fincham dated 1821, page 254: the false keel is fastened to the main keel with short bolts or nails about four feet apart, on alternate edges, and staples driven into the side, and let flush, called keel staples, about 2 feet 4 inches apart.

 

So I spaced the nails 4 feet apart and staggered... assuming for scale they are about the same size.

 

I roughed up the line with sand paper so the glue would grip it, applied glue to the line and inserted it through the holes in the main keel.  Cut off the length with scissors then pushed it flush on one side.  After it was allowed some time to dry I trimmed it flush on the other side with a scalpel.... cutting away from myself I might add.

 

I repeated this for the false keel.

 

I am now going to layout the staple pattern.  I have some 0.5mm (0.02 inch) diameter copper wire to be used for this as these are staples and should have 90° bent barbed ends to be driven into the main and false keel.  I cannot bend the fishing line so it cannot be used for this purpose.  The copper staples will need to be blackened and I pre-purchased a bottle of LOS (Liver of Sulphur) rocks for the blackening process.

 

I have never done this before and have read up to prepare.  I was hoping to do this this weekend, outside due to the expected sulphur smell, but the temperature is dropping, snow was falling and we may be getting one last blow through with 15 cm (6 inches) and freezing rain predicted.  I will likely just get everything in readiness until I can do it outdoors and get the full experience before I subject my darling wife to a scent only my brother makes claim to.

 

A few photos of the bolting and nailing process...

Edited April 2, 2016 by AON

[albert]

Very nice work.

[gjdale]

Nice work Alan. Not sure if you know already, but you can buy LoS in a gel form. It makes it very easy to use - one drop in a paint palette and a few drops of water is all it takes - and cleanup is also easy.

[AON]

Thanks guys!

 

I had seen the gel but it seemed most discuss using the rocks so I went with what seemed more popular.

May have been a mistake but I'm committed now.

 

Just realized the last group of my scarph bolt holes went wonky on the far side.

Possibly the tiny #70 bit was bent a bit by then

Not sure how I didn't notice this yesterday

I cannot stand the look of it and will need to fix them somehow... time to devise a plan...

[aviaamator]

With great interest the Theme!

[druxey]

Well, I imagine of the real ship sometimes the bit wandered a little. Unless it's really bad, it will be all but invisible on the finished model. If this really bothers you, I suggest boring the holes from both sides of the keel, rather than through from one side.

[AON]

boring from both sides was the first thought when I noticed it!

 

and that is why hind sight is 20/20

 

I also wished I'd noticed before I'd cut the line as I could have easily grabbed and twisted them out

but I was wearing my magnifiers to get a good look at what I was doing and was focused too closely to see the "forest for the trees"

 

busy making staples... laid out the pattern and found I'll need 240 of them

I am on number 34 now

will post shortly

[AON]

Making staples today.

 

As mentioned earlier the staples are said to be from 6 to 12 inches (15.3 to 30.5 cm) long

I've decided to go with 9" (22.8 cm) as it looks the best to my one good eye.

 

After searching and failing to find something to use as a form I decided to use a scrap piece of wood sanded down to 9" or 0.141" (0.36cm) thick.

The wire is bent over the wood form, with my fingers.

Then clamped and give a gentle tap or two with my 5oz tack hammer to sharpen the 90° bend a bit.

Then they are trimmed and stored.

 

These will need to be cleaned before blackened but as I need 240 and I just finished number 60 I'll be at this for a bit.

 

The wallop of snow didn't happen, woke up to an inch or so of snow and ice everywhere (side walks and road).

I live on a quiet corner lot and it is fun to watch people try to stop at the corner... they start sliding through, twist there wheels and start to spin a bit before catching themselves.  No accidents, just a little excitement in their day.  Short lived fun as the sun came out and melted all the ice and some of the snow.

 

They have been predicting the snowfall today.  Starts and stops.  I hope it just passes over.

[AON]

Sunday 10 April 2016

 

I Just completed 250 staples.  By count mentioned earlier I deduced I require 240, so there are 10 extra.

 

I found an quicker way to make them after the first 20 or so, I eliminated the wood form and just used the clamp as it ended up being the perfect width!

 

Drilled all the holes in the false and main keel today.  Ended up drilling 4 more staple locations due to alignments with nails and bolts and scarph joints.  So that leaves 6 extra.

 

So in the photo below you will see what 250 each x 9" long (0.1406"  = 0.357cm)  copper staples look like and see the keels peppered with holes.

 

 

I partially inserted 3 staples for effect.  They are not yet blackened.  Still too cold for me to do my first ever blackening in the garage and I dare not stink up the house or the love of my life will have something to say about it.

 

I also decided only two of the offending keel scarph joint bolts absolutely needed correcting and so took care of those.  Tried to drill out the one side about 1/8" deep.  That did not work as the monofilament line will not allow the bit to bite (too slippery).  Ended up gouging out with a flat bottomed bit and filing in the hole with glue and fine powder sawdust.  Now I can live with it.  Thank goodness I am striving for realism and not perfection!  (I haven't the talent for perfection)

Edited April 10, 2016 by AON

[druxey]

Hard to see, but the staples should be flat, not round. Are those flat? Glad you sorted out your other bolts. Brass blackening agent (non-odorous) works equally well on copper, should you not wish to use liver of sulphur indoors.

Edited April 10, 2016 by druxey