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

[AON]

Thanks Don

All I need now is some bad weather so I can lock myself downstairs with the ship and not feel like I am missing another beautiful day.

[AON]

17 Aug 2016

Summer has kept me otherwise occupied and I haven't gotten much progress on my build in over a month... however on the plus side it hasn't rained much so the grass didn't grow and so did not require mowing!  (But the flower gardens needed watering and my water bill was enormous).

 

Earlier this month we went to see the live musical thriller Sweeney Todd at the Shaw in Niagara on the Lake ( http://www.shawfest.com/playbill/sweeney-todd/) ... not quite enough blood in the show but we enjoyed it non the less.

 

Regarding my build.

I must say sanding two curved pieces to mate near seamless is a art I've yet to master.  I am much better now than I was a month ago but there still is much room for improvement.  I suppose my frames will make or break me.

 

I managed to get the aft most keelson piece (over the deadwood knee) sanded to match fairly well.

 

 

Then I work, and re-worked and re-re-worked the stem assembly.

In the end I had all pieces dry fitted to what I thought was acceptable.  Then I started gluing to the keel and upwards.... re-re-re-sanding one more time to as imperfect as I could possibly manage.  I don't necessarily want it to be seamless as the actual builds weren't but I do want it to be a little better than where I am.  The problem is that until you've mastered it you end up chasing your tail and eventually screw up totally and find you've just made more scrap.  Knowing when to say enough is enough is another talent I'm working on developing.

 

 Here is my progress to date.

 

Edited August 17, 2016 by AON

[druxey]

Holding a joint up to a light to see where the high spots are has helped me get a better fitting joint. Your latest joint looks nice and tight.

 

I agree about water bills in Niagara this summer! It's been brutal.

[AON]

I used my light table for the dry fitting and had to suffer through holding it over head to the florescent light for the final fit,

 

Some are quite brutal (for me) as I am not skilled enough as yet.  Practise makes perfect... or makes one more frustrated.

 

I have been collecting the sawdust so I hope to fix the worst of it up after shaping the thickness reveals more things that aren't visible presently... or I might be pleasantly surprised.

Edited September 14, 2016 by AON

[AON]

I added the remainder, Lower Apron, etc... and then the Knee of the Head and the Extension.

[Robin Lous]

 

Stuff like this....it scares me...inspiring! 

 

Robin

[jbshan]

Dunno if this would help. . .

Some modelers put a small bevel on the edges of individual pieces to accentuate that they are individual.  It's barely more than knocking the sharp corner off.  The constant bevel on the outside surface may make inconsistencies a little deeper in less obvious. Could try on some of the scrap you've been generating??

Edited August 17, 2016 by jbshan

[AON]

Thank you jbshan for the idea.

As the stem assembly has yet to be sanded to thickness any edge bevelling would be lost.

I wonder if I can scrape something in after the re-shaping is complete?  Will consider it when I get that part done.

 

Robin... It scares me too.  Part of why I jumped into the deep end!  

[AON]

19 AUG 2016

 

Completed the shaping of the stem assembly.

Chiselled in along the lower/middle/upper stem post to get the relief depth then sanded to shape.

Then did the same to the knee of the head and extension as it is narrower yet again.

Did a little damage on the edge of the filler pieces with the last step.

A little cleanup to be done on her... a few passes with finer grade paper and a tack cloth.

 

 

I have yet to add the cutwater strip to the stem assembly and the last pieces of the rising wood on top of the keel.

Then I will start building at the stern, adding the transom pieces.

[albert]

Beautiful work Alan.

[allanyed]

Alan

To show off the lines between pieces, it appears you did what I like to do, use pieces of wood from different parts of the same stock or  a different piece of stock of the same species.  Just having the grain run in different directions will also show the joint line.  The down side is that the joint better be really good as are yours, otherwise any gap or such will "shine" through.

 

Allan

[AON]

AUG 20 2016

 

Sanded down a piece of eastern hemlock.  It is thicker and wider than required.

Soaked it in alcohol for a minute.

Fit into place with some minor trim to the length and then clamped in place with elastic bands.

Letting it set now before I secure it and sand to fit. thickness and width.

 

This was harder than it seems as it took four attempts.

One broke.

One was trimmed too short.

One was clamped with real clamps and they damaged the surface.

[druxey]

You don't make things easy for yourself, do you? What reason was there for adding the protective strip after raising the knee of the head? It's so much easier to do this before tapering the knee and attaching it! Well, you'll know for the next model.... At any rate, you are making good progress, Alan.

[AON]

Thank's Druxey but what's the fun in taking the easy road?    

Think of everything I learnt taking the not so worn path.   

 

(... though had you been at my side I would have learnt as much without so much pain) 

[druxey]

Sorry about the pain, Alan. And the road less travelled....

[cog]

That road choosen ... And that has made all the difference.

 

Very crisp and clean work, Alan.

[Stuntflyer]

It's always good to have Druxey around helping to keep us on the right path.

 

Mike

[BANYAN]

Great work Alan; persistence is paying off and you are achieving some very nice joints.  Gives me inspiration for my next build.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[AON]

Sept 03 2016

 

Installed the last two pieces of the Rising Wood.

 

Dry fitted into place (a tight fit)

 

glued and clamped

 

Done

 

I have to chisel in a few more reliefs in the aft deadwood and likely sand a bit more on the stem assembly before I fit the transom pieces that are already cut out as I won't be able to lay the assembly down on its side to do this work if the transom pieces are installed

[AON]

Sept 05 2016

 

Completed sanding, relief cutting the stem and stern... and dry fitting the wing transom (to figure out how I might do it).

 

I need to add bolts to the stem post assembly and then add the horseshoe at the bow and the L (angle) bracket (knee plate) at the stern.  Attempted to make these from wire (flattening and filing) but this didn't work very well for me.

I've ordered some gauge plate to use instead and expect it to arrive this week.... so the transom pieces should go up permanently next weekend.

Edited September 6, 2016 by AON

[EdT]

Alan,

 

Your progress and travails have been interesting and I congratulate you on your progress and quality of work so far.  One is tempted to make suggestions, but i believe you are getting plenty of quality help, so just a few thoughts:  

 

I too have pencil problems - line width, breakage of sharp points, indiscernible lines on wood.  Ever thought of using a scriber or a knife line?

 

Iron staples:  copper touching iron in the presence of an electrolyte (like seawater) will accelerate corrosion catastrophically, which I believed was learned in very early fixing of copper plates with iron nails.  The use of copper staples at the time of your ship would seem certain.

 

I hope you are not relying too much on that bubble level in one of the photos.  Apart from its precision limitations, it also requires that your shipway is level and if using the same method to level that, there is the possibility of error accumulation.  I believe measuring up from the board is by far the easiest and most accurate method and that may be what your are doing with the two squares.  I have been drawn to this issue lately in thinking about the best method of plumbing and raking Young America's masts - an interesting problem only for those who are overly wacky (and perhaps delusional) about precision.

 

Keep up the good work.  Full framing is a challenge.

 

Ed

[AON]

Thank you for the comments Ed and I welcome all suggestions so don't hold back.

 

My table was levelled breadth ways with the lift mechanism and applying personal weight to one side so the bubble is close but you are correct, the smartest way is via measurement.  I used my vernier depth gauge to setup and watch the bubble to assure it didn't shift.  I originally tried setting up with a measured tick mark on cardboard but the vernier was less forgiving.  As this top most transom piece (wing transom) sets at an angle I cannot put my shims under as I would like to but rather only the tip or edge makes contact.  This is very time consuming and tipsy. I have been looking at David's fixture in TFFM volume 1 page 67 and may end up doing something more like it.... as Greg says in Vol 3 page 14: he has decades of ship modelling experience.

 

I also bought some pins and will be employing them as I've seen done by another skilled fellow here on the forum!  

 

My 30 gauge copper sheets came in today.  So I've quite a to do list to work on.

[AON]

Devised a possible new easier method to set up the transom pieces.

I used a couple pieces of packing Styrofoam saved from some purchases (yes I am a pack rat)

Drilled a 0.3125 hole in for a 0.3665 OD carriage bolt

The snug fit allows me to move the bolt up and down while the Styrofoam holds it snugly.

I use my scaled squares to level it off.

 

 

I also installed some bolts but need to research a bunch more.

 

[albert]

Beautiful work Alan.

[RMC]

Alan: this is just superb work.

 

Bob (rmc)

[BANYAN]

Ditto above comments mate, I am enjoying following this build and associated research

 

cheers

 

Pat

[AON]

Sept 10 2016

 

Drilled and glued fishing line into the aft face of the Outer Stern Post, top face of the Gammon Piece and Extension, and forward face of the Stem Post assembly to simulate bolts.  Snapped two drill bits in the process... one is still in there.  I will cut flush and sand once the glue has time to dry.

 

There are some references to some bolting but seems to always be side views so I used my common sense (and artistic modelling license) to lay them out.  I'm using yellow wood glue and I've roughened the line with sand paper to allow the glue to grip and hold.

 

Next is the horse shoes and knee plates.

Edited September 14, 2016 by AON

[AON]

Got the stem horseshoe brackets and stern knee plates made.

 

I used 30 gauge copper plate (10 mil = 0.010" thick) which is 0.64" or practically exactly the 5/8" thickness required at scale.

I drew the shapes onto translucent graph paper then transfered the sketch to the plate with carbon paper.

 

The knee plate is 4-3/4" wide with horizontal leg at 5'-6" and vertical leg at 3'-6"

4 x 7/8" holes horizontally and 3x7/8" hole vertically.

 

The horseshoe was sketched to suit the space with the graph paper over the scale layout sheet.

I kept the shoe width at 4-3/4" (as best as I could).

 

Cutting with scissors was easy... except the curves on the horseshoe. I had to file these to finish a bit better after cutting.

The plate curls quite readily which makes it difficult to hold onto and the corners were sharp!  I've chamfered them a bit.

 

The drops from the brackets were perfect sized for the horseshoe so they was very little waste.

The holes were drilled very slowly with a pin vise and small #70 drill bit.

These will be installed after I trim the bolts done earlier today.

Edited September 10, 2016 by AON

[druxey]

Yes, horseshoe plates need a little 'persuasion' by hammer on a flat plate after cutting and shaping! Have fun cutting in the recesses for those plates.

[AON]

Cut the recesses for the brackets and horseshoes.

 

The brackets set just above the staples left a sliver of wood at the top.

I pinned these but still had to hold them down with my thumb to scribe along the edge with a scalpel.

I then removed the bracket and followed the cut line with a carving knife to get it deeper.

I used a mini chisel to remove the material and needed to wear my magnifying headpiece to see what I was doing otherwise it would have been much worse.

My eyesight is not what is used to be and is just getting worse.

 

 

 

I couldn't pin the horseshoe as the pins would have been in the way of scribing and holding with my thumb... ended up tracing the outline with a pencil and then scribing with the scalpel and knife just inside the line as best as I could.  I also had to remove the fore most staple as it would have been under the horseshoe.  I will reinstall these after they get shortened a wee bit.

I am happy with the outcome.

 

 

 

I marked the pockets and the back side of each piece with coloured markers so I know which goes where as they are not identical... just like the real build would have been.

I may install these and blacken them in place using a much weaker solution than the first time I tried with the staples.