HMS Bounty by flipperphil - Billings Boats - scale 1/50

[flipperphil]

Hi St george

 

Nice of you to drop by and thanks for the good words.

 

 

Hi Nirvana

 

Thanks for dropping by and the good words.  The McKay book is definitely a great help when building the Bounty.  It's surprising just how much the kit manufacturers leave out.

 

 

Hi john 46

 

Thanks for looking in and the good words.

 

Regards Phil

[flipperphil]

Hi Popeye

 

Thanks again for the good words.  I hope to be mounting the bowsprit this weekend with any luck.

 

Phil

[Shipyard sid]

Hello again

Yes I had to employ help from my sister in law. I don't know how you keep the sails formed in these days as I am going back to circa 1980. My fathers idea in those days was to use the solid earth wire from electricity cable down the sown seams, keep enjoying. DAVID

[flipperphil]

A bit more work done on the bowsprit and jib boom, a piece of brass has been added to the bowsprit to represent the lead lining.  Also the sprit sail yard sling saddle has been added.  

 

The jib boom has been glued to the bowsprit and the centre part of the two has been painted black, the rest will be varnished.

 

In the A.O.T.S book there is a diagram of a fish davit, can anyone tell me what this is and where it goes?  It is shown on the same page as the bowsprit and jib boom, so I presume it goes in this area somewhere.  Your help in this matter would be much appreciated as I have no idea where this goes.

 

Thanks.

 

Regards Phil 

[mathewp]

G'day Phil. I'm currently on the same Ship, yours is looking very nice by the way. I do have one question for you.What are you going to do with the mast tops?. In my kit they are ply, and I've noticed that the real Ship has grates like cargo grating, so I'm not sure on which way to go yet. Did Your manufacturer supply grating? Will be watching the rest of your build with interest. 

Matt.

[popeye the sailor]

good to see an update Phil....looks really nice,  it'll be a treat to see it on the build      wish I could help you with your question.

[flipperphil]

Well it's been nearly 3 months since I last posted, work had to take precedence unfortunately.  Still I have managed to make some progress, the bowsprit is now fixed into position along with the figurehead.  As some of you may remember I did not like the facial features on this and so modifications were made.  This was done by adding wood filler and re-shaping  the features.  I had to make several attempts at this before getting what I think is acceptable, much better than before anyway.  The gammoning has been done and second anchor has been made, these are now fixed in their positions, wasn't sure what to do with the anchor ropes, so I just coiled them up on the deck.  I also started on the bowsprit rigging, the saddles for the stays were made up and are in position.  The foremast and top have been made, but more on that later.  

 

Regards Phil

 

[flipperphil]

Matt

 

Sorry for the late reply, but as I have already explained work had to come first.  In answer to your question, the tops in my kit were also made of plywood, these have been discarded apart from the frames, which I kept and used to make up the grates by adding strips of wood from one side to the other and then filling in length ways with small pieces of wood to give the grating affect.  Once these were sanded smooth the centre part was removed to accept the mast.  Hope you can understand this, if not then please let me know and I'll try to explain in more detail.

 

Regards Phil

[popeye the sailor]

good to see you've made some progress phil.  I believe the anchor ropes would go through fairleads in the deck,  but don't quote me on it.  the bow is really shaping up!  very nice

[petervisser]

Hi Phil,

 

Glad to see you are still hard at it with your Bounty. Very nice work indeed. I especially like your re-working of the figurehead. She has way more character, and pops out now. In more ways than one...

 

Peter

[flipperphil]

Now that the figurehead is in place, her cloak has been extended onto the stem and blended in, also she has had some shoes added complete with silver buckles, she is now finished at last.  Moving on, the two stays are in place, these have been served which was done by hand, this was very time consuming but worth the effort.  The two shrouds and horses are also in place, I just need to induce a little sag in the ones on the bowsprit, the ones on the jib boom have had this done already.  There's a little tidying up to be done in this area, the close up shots sure do show up all the little imperfections, perhaps I should stop taking close ups.  To finish off the jib boom I made a jib traveller from brass rod.  Small brass thimbles were used for the rollers which were added along with the hook to the ring which was then closed up soldered together, the whole thing was then blackened.  This completes this area for now at least.  Now on to the masts which have been started, but more on that later.

[ZyXuz]

nice riggings on the bowsprit, Phil..

they look neat, really worth the effort

[popeye the sailor]

looking good Phil.......love the colors {nice blend}

[flipperphil]

Hi Zyxuz 

     Sorry for the delay in this reply, but thanks for looking in and the kind words.

Regards Phil

 

 

Hi Popeye

     Likewise, sorry for the late reply and thanks for your continued interest.

Regards Phil

 

 

 

[flipperphil]

Before starting the masts I had a good look at the AoTS book.  It soon became apparent that I was going to have a lot of work to do to get them to resemble the drawings in the book.  So starting with the foremast the first job was to square off the top portion of the dowel supplied.  Once this was done, pieces of wood were glued to each side of the square section to bulk it out ready for shaping into the required tapered profile, picture 1.  Next the kit parts for the bibbs were reshaped, picture 2.  Then a new cap was made, kit part at top, new cap below, picture 3.  This was then test fitted to the top of the mast, picture 4.  Next the bibbs and tressel trees from the kit were glued into place, pictures 5, 6 & 7.  The tressel trees are from the kit and have 3 cut outs for the cross trees, only 2 cross trees are needed so the middle cut outs were filled in, picture 8.  This picture also shows the banding which was added, also shown in picture 9.  Picture 10 shows the making of the cross trees.  Picture 11 shows the rear cross tree fitted and the battens in place.  Picture 12 also shows the battens. Picture 13 shows the front cross tree added and a small block glued in place.  At this point I noticed that the rear cross tree was fitted too close to the mast.  It then became apparent that the tressel trees in fact were fitted too far forward, so these were moved back into their correct position, picture 14.  Two jeer block strop cleats were made, picture 15, these were then fitted into position, picture 16.  This picture also shows small battens added to the top of the cross trees which will help to centralise the top when fitted.  Picture 17 shows the bolsters fitted into position.  All of this work was then painted black and woddings were added to the mast, pictures 18, 19 & 20.  Just a little more to do on the lower part of the mast, more on that later.  Pictures 18, 19 & 20 need to be resized, will show them at a later date.

 

Regards Phils

 

 

[popeye the sailor]

very nice progress so far Phil........yea.....model makers do leave out lots of the added detail.  it's left to the builder as to just how much more to add........your doing a great job of it!

[flipperphil]

Hi Popeye

 

Thanks again for the good words and yea, your sure right about the model makers leaving a lot of the details down to the modeller.  But with this one sometimes I think I've bitten off more than I can chew.  Still perseverance must prevail, I'll get there in the end.

 

Regards Phil

 

 

[flipperphil]

Managed to get around to resizing the pictures from yesterday, also got some together of the lower portion showing the cleats in position.  There's also a couple of overall shots of the finished lower foremast.  It's now ready to be stepped.

 

Regards Phil

 

 

[popeye the sailor]

noooo........I think you have the right build......this will set you up for that REAL build that's in the back of your mind.   push the limit......your handling it quite well.   the woolings look very good.   now there are some that will step the mast after the lower shrouds are complete.  the masts are done in sequence....lower stays,  and such.   makes it easier to do the shroud lines........are you going to go this route,  or complete the entire mast tree....like I did with my Goth?   sometimes I wish I had gone the other route,  but I have just started on the shrouds.........the only problem I've had is that the first shroud line is a bit thicker than all the rest.   your kit is at 1:50.......with mine,  which is 1:100 {I wish it was bigger},   I stained some of the f-72 thread with India Ink for the main standing rigging.   for the rest of the smaller thread,  I went to the craft store {jeweler's dept} and found some black beading thread that will work quite well. 

 

 

the one on the left is a bit thicker,  so I may use that one for the shrouds.....there wasn't a selection when I first saw them......there are three different sizes.  the one thing that I'm not too crazy about with the Billing's thread,  is the fuzz factor.   I have bees wax,  but I have seen what it looks like,  should the need arrise that the rigging needs to be corrected a few times.......it can become a mess.  so I perfer not to use it if I can get away with it.   there are a lot of different threads out there today........many better alternatives. 

 

nice paint Phil.......keep chipping away.......looking great! 

Edited August 9, 2013 by popeye the sailor

[flipperphil]

Popeye

 

I am going to step the lower masts and do the shrouds and stays first, then work my way up each mast, completing the standing rigging as I go, that's the plan anyway.  

 

I know exactly what you mean about the thread supplied by Billings, being really fuzzy and the more you play with it the worse it gets.  I'm actually using black thread by Caldercraft for all the standing rigging on this build. It's better but can still becomes quite fuzzy if not handled with care.  

 

Moving on, the fore topmast needed some attention next, again the bottom portion was squared off and pieces of wood added to each side to pack it out ready for shaping, picture 1.  A sheave was added to the bottom along with a fid, pictures 2&3.  Once this was complete the top of the mast was given the same treatment, first squaring of the top portion, followed by adding pieces of wood to each side to pack it out ready for shaping the hounds.  (I did have some pictures of this but unfortunately I managed to lose them and haven't been able to recover them, so no pictures of this part of the assembly). Moving on, the tressel trees were added next and 3 cross trees were made from walnut strip, these were then glued into position.  Two cheek blocks were made and glued into position on the mast. A new mast cap was also made, pictures 4,5&6.

The fore topgallant got the same treatment with sheaves added to the bottom and near the top, picture 7.  Pictures 8&9 show the fore topmast finished.  Picture 10 shows the masts temporarily assembled, the caps will be painted black after final assembly.  Next up is the tops, but more on that later.

 

Regards Phil

 

[allanj]

I'm new to this site and have just found this thread, very interesting and great work Phil !

 

Started my model in November and my only previous build was the AL Bluenose II also. Yes, instructions on this one are a bit sketchy but surprisingly I'm getting by quite well. I certainly know where to come for any problems.

 

Allan

[Ian B]

Keep up the detailed pictures they are so useful to someone like me, I find them absolutely fascinating, I have already incorporated some of your changes into my build

[Dukekars]

Phil I am jealous, i have this same kit Bounty (Billings 1/50) To say they leave out some details is an under statement. I have done 10 hrs of reading and snagged on step two. Once I get going should get a bit better, Stating to read through this form to see if I can get rolling again. 

 

Duke

[Ian B]

I agree with Duke, whilst my current Billings Bounty build  is not in Phils league it does deserve a lot more detailing than the basic kit. Reading the different  build logs on NRG has significantly helped raise my model up to a more suitable level.--

[Dukekars]

I am in the process of trying to figure out these build logs. I am sure they will have lots good info. Still stuck step 2, but searching for an answer.

 

Duke

[flipperphil]

Hi all

    First I must say thanks to Allan, Ian and Duke for looking in and there kind words, I must get around to dropping in on your builds to see what I've been missing out on. I haven't been around for nearly a year now so have much to catch up on, some late nights coming up for me I think.

 

 As for my build I hope to restart it very soon, It's been far too long since I've worked on it just over a year in fact. I'll dig the tools out and give them a polish this weekend in readiness.

 

  Phil

[flipperphil]

At long last I'm into the rigging.  

 Foremast and mainmast have been set in place and burton pendents added, these have been served complete with thimbles. One pair for each mast.

Next was the shrouds, the foremast first, two pairs and one single each side, ( I believe the single ones are called swifters.)  The leading shroud on each side have been served for their entire length, all the rest are served down to the catharpins, the serving took an age to do it was all wound on by hand.  The lanyards went on with no trouble and once all were in place tighten'd down trying  to keep the upper deadeyes  the same height, the same was done for the mainmast.

The stays came next and are served at the top only, a mouse was added to each stay, (not that easy to make but came out OK I think) Harts were added to the bottoms complete with lanyards. I think the main stays could have been a bit thicker, still they look OK so I will leave them as they are.

 

  Phil

 

[petervisser]

Hi Phil,

 

Great work on your Bounty! You have done a fine job with the rigging. It looks really authentic and detailed what with all the seizings. Where are you getting the rigging info from? Not Billing I'm guessing...

 

Peter

[flipperphil]

Peter thanks for the good words.

I purchased Rigging Period Ship Models by Lennarth Petersson, this has excellent drawings of different parts of the rigging for period ships. The drawings are very detailed and a great help for someone like me that has limited experience of rigging a ship.

The other book I have is The Armed Transport Bounty by John McKay, this is from the Anatomy of the Ship series.

These books I can highly recommend for anyone building the Bounty.

 

Phil

[Michael boyne]

Why plipperphil