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| HMS Leopard; 4th Rate 50 Gun Ship; 1790; P.O.B. 1:80 | ||
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Moderators: Winston, aew
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| Author | Post | ||
| Jim Gorrie |
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  Registered Member #4728 Joined: Wed Jan 27 2016, 11:17pmPosts: 72 | First – as build logs go, this isn’t going to be like a real build log! There are no photos of the very earliest stages of the build. When I first started the build I was very much on my own, meaning that I really had very little idea of how to go about building a model ship. Throughout the build I haven’t taken many photos of the small parts or the methods I employed in order to achieve the small or difficult parts . . . and my main reason for that was that by the time I was finding build logs on forums like MSW I didn’t consider any methods I used to be remarkable when compared to what I was seeing on these build logs, so I didn’t see any value in recording and showing my ‘methods’. Due to my lack of experience and knowledge especially in the early part of the build, there are certain aspects that are far removed from ‘standard practice’ --- I’ll point these out when they arrive in the ‘log’. (Although they won’t be difficult to see!) OK – Now, the ship: 4th Rate; 50 Gunship HMS Leopard; 1790 @ 1:80 I bought “The Fifty Gun Ship” book which also contained basic building plans + a few drawings. The plans were scaled at 1:96 which, for my first build I felt was a bit on the small side. I had the plans expanded to equate to 1:80. At that time I would have liked to have gone to a larger scale but kept it at 1:80 out of consideration for space requirements for a finished model . . . and now that I know better I would definitely prefer a larger working scale ! The plans (& drawings), while certainly adequate for the building of a decent, basic look-a-like model, are lacking a little in respect of certain parts of the construction. I’ll mention these as I get to them. A little history: HMS Leopard 1790 (1776) to 1814. The bracketed date – 1776 – is shown as that was the year in which the keel was laid but the ship was not launched and commissioned until 1790. Leopard had a fairly chequered history and some good information is contained in the following link > http://www.kenthistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=14896.0 A little “extra” – Although indirectly, Leopard has a strong link to HMAV Bounty (of William Bligh and the mutiny fame) The two ships never “met” as Bounty was lost in the year before Leopard was launched. In 1803 Leopard came under the command of Peter Haywood and was used to carry out lengthy surveying work on the east coasts of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and India. In 1788/89 Haywood had been a junior officer on board the Bounty at the time of the mutiny. He was eventually captured, tried and sentenced to hang for mutiny . . . but was later pardoned --- and continued for many years in “distinguished” service in the Royal Navy! (including his time in command of Leopard.) . . . and here come another couple of ‘connections’ I’m claiming on behalf of Leopard: --- HMS Pandora and HMB Endeavour. HMS Pandora because it was on Pandora that after his capture, Haywood was transported from Tahiti until the ship was lost on the Great Barrier Reef. . . . and Endeavour ??? – well, it’s maybe a bit tenuous but Endeavour’s Captain, James Cook had been ably served on his last voyage (on HMS Resolution) by William Bligh – which brings us back to the Bounty! Looks like there’s something of a “family” thing going on in the model ship building fraternity ? – as these 3 ships – Bounty, Endeavour and Pandora seem to be very popular models. Right, here are a few of the earliest photos I have of the build >  After looking at the photo above I realise that there is one glaring example of a major "departure from normal" procedure already showing! If you can just look at the photo and for the present, ignore the stern quarters and I'll speak about that in a future posting. Likewise with the following photo -- I'll speak about some of that "stuff" up towards the bow in another post. >  I'll now have to rake around to find some of the other older photos. | ||
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| Jim Gorrie |
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| Registered Member #4728 Joined: Wed Jan 27 2016, 11:17pmPosts: 72 | When I look at my previous post above it may give the impression that the bare 'skeleton' of the ship just appeared as if by magic. Well, there was no magic involved . . . just quite a lot of slogging away with scissors, craft knife, pencil, band saw and a few other bits and pieces. First though, I had to make a photocopy of the body plan of the ship for every frame/bulkhead, and there were 25 of these. I made over 30 photocopies so that I would have a few extra in case of mishaps. As the body plan wasn't symmetrical around its vertical centre line (as is normal) I had to use half-breadth paper cut-outs. Now, instead of trying to explain in words how I went about obtaining the frames/bulkheads I've done a short video demonstrating what I did. Here it is > | ||
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| Winston |
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winston   Registered Member #1 Joined: Sat Jun 13 2009, 02:08pmPosts: 2530 | Video is a great addition Jim. | ||
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| aew |
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aew Registered Member #1929 Joined: Wed Nov 30 2011, 03:05pmPosts: 2928 | Very impressive Jim. | ||
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| Jim Gorrie |
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| Registered Member #4728 Joined: Wed Jan 27 2016, 11:17pmPosts: 72 | While I expect that most POB builders are building from kits, there may just be someone who is not aware of all that is involved in the early stages of a scratch-built POB model. So, in case anyone is reading this and isn't aware of what needs done I'll call this part 2 of my previous posting. In that post I showed what I did to prepare for each of the bulkheads. It's not possible just to cut one bulkhead and use it as a template for all of the others. In the case of my build of Leopard there are 25 bulkheads and every one is different to all the other 24 . . . but cutting out the basic bulkhead shapes is just half of the story. The cut that follows what I previously showed is the most critical and it really has to be very accurate. The cut I'm referring to is shown in the drawing below >  Because I was mounting the bulkheads on a central spine/keel of 6mm thickness, the "central cut-out" in the drawing had to be exactly 3mm on either side of the vertical centre line on the bulkhead(s) in order to achieve an exact 6mm wide cut-out. (I can tell you that although I needed 25 bulkheads, I ended up having to cut quite a few more than 25 before I ended up with the right amount of accurately cut items ! ) Not only did the cut-out have to be the correct width -- it also had to stop at the correct point shown on the drawing as "B". (So, I had to leave the uncut amount of plywood as shown from "A" to "B".) After these bulkheads had been done it was then the time to create the central spine/keel of the ship. (I'm not sure of the proper term for that central spine ??? ) As stated, this was from the same 6mm plywood and was one piece from stem to sternpost. It had to have 25 slots (of 6mm width) cut into the topside at the correct positions as indicated on the plan. These 25 cut-outs were cut to equate to the same depth of the uncut part(s) of the bulkheads. (shown as the distance between "A" and "B" in the drawing above.) By this point I could have assembled all of these components, but as I really didn't have much of an idea of 'progressive procedures' I first attached the stem, the beakhead timbers, the keel and the sternpost before fitting the bulkheads to the central spine. I've since noticed that many POB builds have all of the hull planking completed before all of these other parts (Stem, keel etc.) are fitted. In the drawing below I have highlighted the curved line between the two red stars. That line corresponds to the upper side of the deck beams on the lower gun deck, and when it came time for planking that deck, the beams were already in place.  Now, my apologies go to everyone who is fully aware of all the stuff I have just written above, but I have done it in case someone isn't aware, and also in case someone may be considering a scratch built POB --- you'll know what you have to do ! [ Edited Sun Feb 07 2016, 08:16pm ] | ||
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| Jim Gorrie |
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| Registered Member #4728 Joined: Wed Jan 27 2016, 11:17pmPosts: 72 | I thought that the 2 photos in my first post above were the earliest I had, but I've found an earlier one . . . and this is it > I'm not sure how far into the build this pic was taken but I'm guessing it was at least a couple of months. It took me several weeks just to cut all the bulkheads and the central spine and I notice from that photo that some filler blocks have been added between some of the frames/bulkheads. Also, most of the lower sills of the frames of the gunports on the lower deck have been fitted as well as 7 lower sills for the same on the upper gun deck on the port side of the ship. Right at the stern, (in the above photo) the lower transom has been fitted with some solid wooden blocks that I attempted to shape to resemble the shape of the transom at each side of the sternpost. At this stage of the build I had no idea of how to construct the stern timbers . . . in fact "stern timbers" is an expression I only learned some time after this point. I made about three attempts to create something that would serve as a basis on which I would later be able to build the stern galleries and lights (windows). The following, very embarrassing photo shows my third "invention" that has stayed on the stern since. >  OK ~ that's one major "departure from normal procedure" that has been mentioned . . . . . . and here's a second one. The next pic is a close-up of the bow area which also has a couple of "unusual" features >  "Cant frames" was something else I hadn't heard of, and the solid wooden blocks either side of the stem were my 'solution' for a basis for somewhere to attach the hull planking when the time came to do the planking. It looked unusual and unconventional --- but it worked! And finally, that chunky block with the big hole that sticks up between the 2nd and 3rd frames. I wanted there to be a secure point into which the bowsprit would eventually fit, and that hole is the same diameter as that of the bowsprit. That entire block will be hidden beneath the forecastle deck, and behind the beakhead bulkhead at a later date in the build. | ||
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| aew |
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| aew Registered Member #1929 Joined: Wed Nov 30 2011, 03:05pmPosts: 2928 | Just because it's different to how a kit manufacturer does it doesn't make it wrong. Their designs are for ease of manufacture, not necessarily the same as ease of construction. (And bears no relationship to the way the original was built!) It looks just fine to me. | ||
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| Jim Gorrie |
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| Registered Member #4728 Joined: Wed Jan 27 2016, 11:17pmPosts: 72 | Thanks for your comments, Arthur. Yes, I know there aren't any 'written-in-stone' methods for model building --- I just felt the "viewing public" might benefit from my explanation of all that stuff going on especially at the stern area! Back to some photos of the build. After the bulkheads had all been secured and became the main frame of the ship, one of the first things I did was to establish the positions of all the gunports, and then to get all their frames fitted. By the time I had got to this point I had been seeing a few build logs in which the entire hull planking had been done before the gunports were cut out. While that may be the best way to go, it seemed to me like it would be a major hassle and I decided that I would frame them first and then plank the hull up to and around the ports. >  Fitting all of these ports probably took 2 - 3 weeks. By this time I was already thinking about the hull planking . . . . but I was also thinking that I wasn't looking forward to that task! Before a single plank was attached to the hull I moved on to some deck planking. . . . and as I'm about to mention planking, now seems like an appropriate time to mention the types of timber I've used on various parts of the build. Apart from the 2 types of timber for the hull planking, I didn't buy any timber specifically for modelling. I used timber from whatever I had lying in my 'stock of off-cuts' left over from various woodworking projects. "Heart of Oak are our Ships . . . " (Who remembers that song from primary school?) While I know that Oak isn't really recommended for model ships I couldn't see myself building a ship and not use some Oak! The keel, gripe, stem, beakhead timbers, the sternpost and the rudder were all made of Oak. All of the deck planking is from Maple cut into strips around 4mm wide by 1.5mm thick. The deck beams are a mixture of Oak and Maple. (Oak in the unseen areas) The darker wood for the coamings around companionways, hatches, gratings etc. are made from Makore. (Why Makore? ~ well because I had some! . . . and it was about the right colour, it is easy to work and is quite stable.) As for the deck planking, I decided that the lower gun deck would only be partially planked as virtually none of that deck would be seen by the time the hull and the upper deck were all planked. I had also decided that all gunports would be closed and in total, only 18 guns would be 'on view' in the open port areas at the completeion of the ship. So, with closed gunports, all of the lower deck would be 'invisible'. Start of decking on lower deck. >  I didn't know for sure, but I felt that fitting the upper deck beams would help strengthen and stabilise the whole model before proceeding with any hull planking. >  In that photo above it's just possible to see that there is a gap on either side of the stem and the wooden blocks in which the hawse holes have been cut. (The gap starboard side can also be seen in the first pic in this post.) That wasn't a miscalculation ~ these gaps were there to accommodate these >  These were the blanks for the knightheads and were just placed in there for the photo. Soon, all the fun of the hull planking would begin . . . . . | ||
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| aew |
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| aew Registered Member #1929 Joined: Wed Nov 30 2011, 03:05pmPosts: 2928 | Before you start planking, decide how you're going to mount it eventually. If you're going to use pedestals, glue some reinforcing blocks either side of the keel where the screws will go. | ||
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| Jim Gorrie |
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| Registered Member #4728 Joined: Wed Jan 27 2016, 11:17pmPosts: 72 | Hi Arthur, at this point in the build all of the hull planking has been done long since. I started the build back in 2010 and since then I've been on and off at the building. As I said in the first post above, this won't be like a regular log, particularly since I don't have all that many photos of the progressive stages of the model. . . . but as mention has been made of the hull here are a few pics of the early planking >  That pic above shows partial hull planking and partial planking on the upper gun deck. It's so long since that photo that I can't be certain, but I think that after some (tedious) time on the hull I diverted away for the sake of my sanity and laid some deck planking. These hull planks were the primary planking as the hull was double-planked and these were Mahogany strips of 5mm X 0.7mm. As this was my first attempt, these Mahogany planks were something of a learning curve for me. Among other diversions were some gratings and a capstan as also seen in the above pic.  Some more hull photos >   The lighter coloured planks at the bow and stern areas were cut from wider stock than the 5mm Mahogany as I was experimenting with trying to get those pesky compound curves at these tricky areas. The appearance of the first planking didn't matter as it would all be covered up . . . I would just have to make sure I got the second planking right. | ||
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