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

[mtaylor]

I agree with Bruce but will it look out of place with the rest of the model?   Sweet looking boat.

[AON]

Had to get some yard work done. Cut the grass. Install a new 1000 litre tote box/ rain water collector for the garden. Move three yards of mulch.

My shop needs cleaning and the wife's new out door dory wooden flower pot is cut, steamed and bent and sitting on the bench for more than a week now waiting to be assembled so she can paint it.

But the sun was out... raining buckets today.

 

Got my crutches/oar lock pockets cut into the washstrakes using files and mini chisels.

Rudder installed with blackened paper gudgeons and pintles.

Tiller made and installed.

Just the sweeps/oars left to do. I've got all pertinent dimensions and am ready to move... but I better get the dory done first.

The tiller is a black jewellery wire dabbed in Weldbond PVA glue to create the balled end.  When dry this was painted black with acrylic paint.

This was cut to length and glued to the rudder.

 

The rudder is mounted to the boat with blackened paper bands and jewellery wire pins.

The fastener heads on the bands are simulated with dabs of Weldbond PVA glue using a fine point straight pin.

The glue goes on white but dries crystal clear so it seems to be black as the paper under it is black.

 

[Thukydides]

Looks really good, well done. I still don’t have to do yard work as we still have snow on the ground . 

[AON]

Thanks Thuky.

We had hail an hour ago.

I could hear the trees crying.

[AON]

Finished this on May 3rd.  Should have posted earlier but jobs around the house have been keeping me busy and I plum forgot!

My sweeps or oars were made in one piece from Castello boxwood on my wood lathe using files and sand paper to shape the grip and shaft.
At 1:64 they measure about 2-3/8” long.
I found that when I noticed the shaft beginning to flex I was very near the proper diameter of 1/16”.

Shafts have been sanded to 0.059" diameter and grips to 0.03" diameter.

My sources for dimensions are the Specifications for Oars of the US Navy for the year 1900 published in the Nautical Research Journal and provided on the Model Ship World Forum, and also a formula provided by DRUXEY on the Model Ship World Forum with his build of the 28 foot American Cutter.

 

I have gone back to my ship build.

Edited May 8, 2023 by AON

[AON]

Remade my oars and added a boat hook

The original oars were just nasty.

Edited June 4, 2023 by AON

[AON]

The boat hook shaft was made from a bamboo skewer, quartered and sized with a draw plate.

It is 12 ft (2-1/4") long.

The metal head was made with dabs of Weldbond PVA glue.

One end of the shaft was sanded to an elongated cone shape and that was rotated in a puddle of glue to give a thin cone layer shape.

This was hung to dry upside down, stuck in a piece of Styrofoam and hanging off the edge of a shelf so gravity was working with me.

Then I clipped the shaft in a wooden spring clothes pin clamp and applied dabs or dots of Weldbond to one side of the hook base with a straight pin, allowing each dab to dry before adding the next, building out to the hook shape. Again each dab was allowed to dry a bit before adding the next. It was set down horizontally at first and gradually was raised.. with gravity working with me. The hook shape eventually revealed itself.

When done  and dry it was painted with Acrylic metallic black paint.

Edited June 4, 2023 by AON

[AON]

Finally got back to it... working outside.

Cut and installed the cills at the starboard galley door locations and the aft poop deck gun location for the carronade.

Presently working on a larboard or port side and fixing an error. I accidentally cut the timber tops down at the wrong location for the carronade. Removed the centre timber stub and sarphed the outside two.  Added a scarphed block to the forward timber... did likewise aft... and installed the new centre stub. I need to add the chocks, do some sanding and I can move on.

 

[AON]

Finished the repair work and sanding.

Last item before turning my thoughts completely inwards is to install the lowest transom beam, located above the wing transom and the two aft gun ports. Seems to be called the helm port transom beam.

 

I've also been thinking about closing this log as it has grown quite large and opening a Part Two build log that will deal with my tackling the installation of the decks and onwards.... but first that last transom beam.

 

[mtaylor]

Alan, probably best just to keep it all as one log.  Less confusion to readers in the future.

[AON]

The pieces are quite deep (long fore and aft) so once again I did them individually.Next will be sanding and filing.

When this is done I will get my other deck clamps installed and then make my fore and mizzen lower masts... then the mast steps and deck beams.

 

Edited July 27, 2023 by AON

[AON]

Since it was raining quite alot this weekend I decided to go down to my basement shop to make the additional deck clamps.

Discovered about 2 inches of water had flooded the basement coming up from the floor drain.

The wife and I have been purging, cleaning, drying it all out since. Taking our first trip to the city dump tomorrow morning.

 

[TBlack]

12 hours ago, AON said:

Discovered about 2 inches of water had flooded the basement coming up from the floor drain.

The wife and I have been purging, cleaning, drying it all out since. Taking our first trip to the city dump tomorrow morning.

 

Yuk!

[Kevin Kenny]

Oh dear, indoor swimming pool. Last night we had a electrical surge that resulted in fire in 4 homes in my neighborhood including mine when one of the multi plug strips burst into fire. We were luck that we were home that night. 

[Thukydides]

Ouch, I had a flooded basement last year (though that was due to a major failure of a water heater). Hope the damage is not too bad 😬.

[Jeffb]

Sorry to hear that Alan.  We’ve had that happen to us earlier this year too.  We’re still cleaning up.  Puts a real damper on model building.

[druxey]

So sorry to read of your calamity, Alan. I hope that you did not lose many things.

[Jaager]

I had an extra deep basement dug in July during a drought.  It was stopped when limestone shale was hit in one corner.   In the Bluegrass region of KY, the underlying rock is an an ancient sea floor and just as flat.  It is a giant swimming pool.  Turns out that for six months of the year, the water table was well above the floor of my basement.   I became quite experienced with sump pumps, pipe flow volumes.  It seems that constant pumping generates favored flow channels.  The more you pump the more likely is ground water  going to flow towards the pump.  Larger volume pumps, larger diameter discharge pipes - where to place the outlet?  a viscous cycle!   Then there is the problem of electric power interruption during storms that are recharging the ground water.  A generator.   A normal home generator has a gas tank with limited time.  An ice storm that crushed a lot of KY and had long transmission lines in Alabama snapped off like a row of dominoes and drawing off the repair crews from KY is going to require more time than you have gas for.    I feel your nightmare.  I do not miss living it.   A wish for a basement decision do-over is something that I will take to my grave. 

[mtaylor]

Sorry to hear that Alan.   Basement floods are no fun at all.  I hope damage  was minimal and clean up can move quickly.

[AON]

It is almost back to normal now. Should be 100% by tomorrow night. We've lived here over 20 years and this is the second rain storm that the sewer system couldn't handle the run off. After the first we made sure to get everything off the floor but over time the memory fades and we get lazy. Not too much lost but the perimeter drywall got a good soaking. Some boxes ruined, stuff for donation turned to garbage and one extension cord to our cycle gone kaput. Most stuff was in rubbermaid tote boxes so that was fine No tools lost but all my sawdust was caked to the floor of the shop with a trail to the drain. Three stains on the floor to deal with.

I built extra shelves well off the floor yesterday for any new stuff. The fans have done a good job drying things out but the humidity has gone to my paper plans hanging in the corner. At least the model was upstairs on the dining room table so she is fine.

I'll be installing a stand pipe rubber gasket in the floor drain for next time. 

[AON]

All dry, water sensor/alarm installed, and a standing pipe and floor drain gasket on order from New Jersey (they don't sell these in Canada).

 

I made a mess of the nice clean shop floor yesterday, cut and sanded my upper and gun deck clamps. Went to install them and it seems I hadn't quite done a good enough fairing job inboard at the upper deck level. So I'll be at that today.

[garyshipwright]

Sorry to hear about your flood Alan. Seems a lot of us these days are under assault from Mother Nature along with fires started by electrical short's.  The good news at least for me is I will soon have a new house. Alan hope things get better for you and the other good members in the future. Gary

[druxey]

Good to read that the shipyard is  back in business. Check the wet dock gates on the next spring tide!

[mort stoll]

I had French Drains installed in the basement and around the house. worked out very well.

[AON]

Yup...and they either connect to the sewer, run off to the street and collect in the sewer, or a stone pit at the far end of the yard. That works wonderfully until your run off water is overflowing (ground water flood) causing the sewer system to backup because it cannot handle the volume...then you have a flood in the basement.

[AON]

Completed the sanding and installed an extra long length of the port or larboard side Upper Deck clamp yesterday.

The contract reads that they were 4'-6" long scarphs "to be tabled into each other with hook and butt". As the actual connection will not be seen and I've yet to master such a joint I decided to give myself a break and do simple square end butt joints.

The top edge of the deck clamps are about 3/8" below the gunports. I marked the upper location with a pencil to help locate them.

Wood glue was applied, deck clamp put in place and holding clamps installed and left overnight to set and cure.

I decided to run about 2/3rds of the length in one strip as I could just reach most of the length with my bar clamps and only needed to use three of the homemade elastic band wooden clamps through gunports. There is a short length required at the stern quarter and another at the bow.  The bow piece will need to be steamed and clamped to shape.

Moments ago I installed a similar long piece on the starboard side and I'll not touch this again until tomorrow.

I'll work on the short pieces next, and then the Gun Deck clamps will be made in shorter lengths and clamped with the elastic band wooden clamps alone.

I've still not decided if I'll bother with the Orlop deck.

She is stiffening up quite nicely.

[TBlack]

ingenious use of elastics!

[AON]

I used some string to measure the length of upper deck clamp required for the curvature of the bow.

Cut my length, steamed and clamped it in place to dry.

Glued and clamped that on the next day. Below you see it running up to the stem post.

Today I sanded the stern counter beams. A little more work to go on them before I install the upper deck clamps back there.

I wasn't really happy with my work closing up the stern but after today's sanding effort I feel much better about it.

 

[AON]

Stern counter beams done.

Short stern quarter upper deck clamps steamed and clamped in place for shaping.

I should have those on permanently tomorrow.

Then I'll work on the gundeck clamps.

I've not bothered posting photos as it isn't at all that exciting.

[AON]

Installed one length of the upper of three gundeck clamps using my large wooden clamps to hold them in place while the glue sets.

Found the pivoting shoes didn't work so I rushed and removed them.

Clamped without elastics but need a spacer block so I used a shoe.

I'll get the other long piece on the other side tomorrow and work my way through them.

I decided I will install the orlop deck clamps.