Pak75 Posted November 17, 2019 Share Posted November 17, 2019 (edited) HI Here goes, maiden WIP. I bought this kit in early 00s while in UK - i have always been fascinated by idea of building a fully rigged 18th century square rigger. There are many models available on market costing $$$ and my thinking was that I could use the Airfix model to do this comparatively cheaply... Fast forward 15 years, with enforced time on my hands I am picking up modelling tools again and hope to work through my stash of kits. First step was to research HMS Bounty and find out what were the differences between Airfix kit and other models on the market. The internet is awash with photos of models and even full size replicas which gave me plenty of inspiration but each one seems to have a different colour scheme and slight variations in deck layout and other details. Some great model photos here: https://www.modelships.de/Bounty_II/Photos_Bounty_II_details.htm I found an excellent discussion by Prof John Tilley on merits or otherwise of Revell and Airfix kits here: http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/7/t/155394.aspx A problem for modellers/researchers is that the Bounty began life as a simple civilian merchantman and was bought by RN to convert for shipping breadfruit from Pacific to feed the slave trade. Therefore there are few drawings of the Bounty that exist. There are, however, fortunately some docs on-line that show conversion plans where Bligh's master cabin was converted to transport the breadfruit; eg see Australian website State Library of Victoria and National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. Colour scheme is therefore very much up to individual modellers as no record of paint scheme exists, although given that copper sheathing was applied by the RN, the Bounty may well have been in colours of British warships of the era. Who knows? https://viewer.slv.vic.gov.au/?entity=IE5772686&mode=browse I got a copy of McKay's The Anatomy of a Ship- HMS Bounty and decided to use this as a basis for my model but even this book has a major error in that stove chimney is the wrong way round compared with Admiralty drawings. Prof Tilley's articles are very helpful but IMHO Tilley is also guilty of promulgating incorrect idea that anchor hawses went through the foredeck. See Anatomy drawings for correct installation. The Airfix hull is generally accurate (compared to Anatomy), main issues are a badly modelled knighthead (curved raised parts either side of bowsprit), an inaccurately sloping deck, hawse holes too low and a weird breasthook. There are also no stern lanterns or pin rails or chocks for launch. A strange issue I have noticed is that the brown plastic of the kit is very brittle, much more so than newer kits. Normal polystyrene cement does not seem to work well and i am using much CA. Many of the parts have shrinkage requiring a lot of putty. Original model came out in 1987 and this is plastic moulding from that era, ie over 30 years ago. Starting point was to get the slope of the deck correct and to therefore to get hawse holes in right position. Working backwards from Anatomy as to correct location of hawse holes, the deck slope could be deduced and new supports glued in place... Most of Airfix knighthead was cut away and remaining knighthead reinforced with plastic strip to resemble Anatomy drawings. Doubting my ability to reproduce a painted timber deck finish, I came up with the idea of laying thin planks on the plastic. There is actually a ready made timber deck cut to shape for this Airfix kit available from US but is very expensive to ship to Australia (isn't everything?) https://www.amazon.com/Premium-Wood-Deck-Bounty-Airfix/dp/B079146JZS Then I found on Bluejacket site in US sheets of decking that could be cut to size - much cheaper and i could order rigging fittings at same time. Deck sheet duly arrived and to my horror was 1mm thick ( must have misread thousandths of inches which US deal in) which would throw out deck hatches, etc so next step was to raise hatch coamings and hatches by 1mm. I did not like kit solid gratings so replaced them with 1mm square wooden gratings. Chocks for cutter/launch added. I bought some sheets of Evergreen polystyrene of various thicknesses thinking that i could cut to size whatever i needed but this was most unsatisfactory. Strange how modelling knives seem to have lives of their own when cutting strips, etc. Rushed out and bought Evergreen strips! This tendency for knife to wander was even more pronounced with softer timber- to cut the planking sheet to fit over deck exactly seemed to be too difficult with no room for error so i decided to do planking in two halves, divided by a 4mm plank down centreline of ship (which is represented on Airfix kit). Of course, adding 1mm to deck thickness threw out my original deck slopes so i had to redo supports for deck. Along the way i decided to replace kit quarter gallery windows with transparent plastic. First attempt with Dremel saw to cut out windows resulted in destruction of port windows altogether so these had to be rebuilt. Plastic is very thick here and difficult to work (a bad workman always blames his tools).... Starboard windows much more successful and i decided to not use transparent plastic but just leave them open. This means i will have to do same to stern windows.... oh, well! Pencilled on ends of planks. Assembly of hull halves and deck was next, many dry-runs, much cursing and CA but looks okay Have started experimenting with painted wood finishes as you can see for hatches, coamings and balustrade. Next step to paint hull and install deck fittings. Cheers Edited November 17, 2019 by Pak75 typo 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArnoldAmbrose Posted November 17, 2019 Share Posted November 17, 2019 Gidday Pak, congrats on your debut WIP thread. I think the deck planking you've done looks very good. Of course, you realize you've set yourself a high standard to continue with. 😀 Regards, Jeff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robgizlu Posted November 17, 2019 Share Posted November 17, 2019 Pak 75 - I think you are doing a Fab job - love those gratings - (I now realise you CAN get gratings with 1mm spacing!) Deck looks terrific Keep it coming Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted November 17, 2019 Share Posted November 17, 2019 Glad to see you starting your first WiP with the Bounty and a good start it is too. Like you, I have got the Anatomy book and with links you've given, I'll be starting mine early in the new Year. I'll follow along, you can be 'pathfinder'. Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pak75 Posted November 25, 2019 Author Share Posted November 25, 2019 (edited) HI everybody Thanks for yr kind feedback! Will try not to disappoint. Progress last week on deck fittings but firstly a photo of new and old hawse holes puttied over for anchor ropes. It can be seen Airfix holes are 5mm lower than they should be, leading to crazy sloping downwards deck stern to bow. I grew up making Airfix kits with only a few Revell and Tamiya kits around and Airfix were to my mind were the be all and end all of modelling. Age and experience of plastic modelling and plastic moulding has unfortunately shown me the limitations of Airfix kits, best illustrated by the huge number of aftermarket accessories now available and the rise of other manufacturers Added stanchions to inside of bulwarks and assembled most of deck fittings. Hollowed out top of stove chimney and put door panelling on executive khazi (or flag locker as McKay calls it). Have not glued many fittings to deck as everything seems very fragile and I might need space to assemble other rigging. Added belaying pins to fore topsail bitts but despite these being smallest i could buy, these seem a bit big. Fixing of toilet/flag locker revealed big gaps in transom. Rudder had serious shrinkage requiring filling. Scribed plank lines on transom. Also visible are rebuilt port quarter gallery windows- window frames were tedious to construct and very difficult to get square but i think they look better than original Airfix windows which resembled The Black Pearl.... Not sure why or if 18th century ships had trapezoid windows, surely very difficult to construct in real life from rectangular timber and glass panels. Had a look at some photos of HMS Victory which seemed to show largely rectangular windows for stern galleries and rhombus windows for quarter gallery but still difficult to tell with curve of decks. Have rebuilt window frames for stern so will install them this week. Have experimented with hull natural wood colour but not entirely satisfied. Learning fast about merits of acrylic paints (nice even application but do not like being worked with brush, parts must be rinsed in soap and water first and paint is rapidly stripped by Testors gloss coat lacquer) compared to good ol' Humbrol enamels. Used Tamiya acrylic desert yellow XF59 paint with burnt sienna and burnt umber oil paint applied directly and rubbed down but still not quite dark enough to my mind. I have read much about problems with Humbrol enamels but hope to avoid such problems as my stock of 15+ years is still good. Fixing of cannons means I will delve into my Bluejacket order for first time but i will more than likely hold them over along with cutter/launch so as not to crowd deck while rigging. Carronades will be fragile so will also hold them over. Having lots of fun! Cheers Edited November 26, 2019 by Pak75 Add info 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted November 25, 2019 Share Posted November 25, 2019 Great work there Pak. Will be interesting to see where you go with wood effect. Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted November 25, 2019 Share Posted November 25, 2019 Looking good. I love that decking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robgizlu Posted November 25, 2019 Share Posted November 25, 2019 4 hours ago, Bandsaw Steve said: Looking good. I love that decking. Same from me Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murdo Posted November 26, 2019 Share Posted November 26, 2019 That's pretty impressive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beefy66 Posted November 26, 2019 Share Posted November 26, 2019 Great detailing work going on here beefy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pak75 Posted December 2, 2019 Author Share Posted December 2, 2019 HI Thanks for kind words! So, on with foredeck. Turned around Airfix pawl post and cut off its solid 'beak', replacing it with proper pawls that touch the windlass. Airfix had 'beak' pointing forward... Bell bracket snapped off and had to be glued in place after taking the opportunity to reduce the thickness of the rope holding the bell. Stove chimney has been hollowed out and new base added as can be seen. Painted and fixed in place head rails after a lot of trouble painting them; for some reason the Tamiya enamel would not cover evenly (seemed very watery) and after two coats had to buy some Humbrol. Once head rails were in position, the two cat heads could be installed after adding some strip and drilling four small holes between them to represent sheave housing for later anchor tackle (photo a bit blurred, sorry). I made up fore pin rails and then noticed that Airfix kit has only three posts to support cap rail - according to McKay there should be five. Maybe this is why the rail kept breaking where it meets the deck when i was trying to assemble hull and deck.... not enough strength and support. Added two posts each side under the rail and one of these will support the other end of pin rail. My purchased belaying pins will be too big unfortunately so will have to make them up from scratch to right size - i think this will help with securing rigging lines later. I also noticed Airfix has not included compass binnacle which I will have to build later as this is an important part of a sailing ship. After a wash with burnt umber oil paint (W&N) hull is slightly darker which I am happy with and will shortly varnish. By using a cotton bud with a small amount of lacquer on the bud I made a few planks lighter in some areas. There are no end of planks or nail details on the hull of Airfix kit but in interests of making progress, I will not bother with these at this point. All good fun, keeps me off the streets... Cheers 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 Shaping up nicely but I'm not going to pretend that I understood everything you said, words like; pawl, beak, cat heads, sheave housing.... Does Google translate 'old nautical' to English . Stuart 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Bates Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 Nice work so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pak75 Posted December 2, 2019 Author Share Posted December 2, 2019 (edited) 16 hours ago, Courageous said: I'm not going to pretend that I understood everything you said, words like; pawl, beak, cat heads, sheave housing.. Ahoy Stuart By way of explanation I have used 'beak' to describe a section of Airfix part #16 which Airfix has pointing wrong way and made no attempt to model individual pawls (see instruction diagrams 6 and 7). The pawls are a primitive ratchet mechanism that engages with windlass when operating so as to hold tension/weight of anchor when changing holes for manual winding levers being used by crew on the windlass. Other terms are as per McKay, Steel, etc. Cheers Edited December 3, 2019 by Pak75 typo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArnoldAmbrose Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 Gidday, a cat head is that roundish thing on top of a cat's neck. It usually comes with sharp teeth. (I'm sorry but SOMEONE had to give that definition. 😀) Actually, in nautical terms it is the square-section timbers protruding out from the ship's bow. The anchor is suspended from it just before dropping. The sheave housing is the outboard end of the cat-head (I think). It contains the sheaves (slotted wheels or pulleys) that the anchor is suspended from prior to letting go or after raising. HTH. She's looking very good, Pak. I like the corrections and additions you're doing. Regards, Jeff. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 4 hours ago, ArnoldAmbrose said: a cat head is that roundish thing on top of a cat's neck. Their is always one.... Stuart 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pak75 Posted December 13, 2019 Author Share Posted December 13, 2019 Hi crew Thanks for kind feedback This week was about finishing rear deck furniture, windows and belaying pins. Having realised my purchased 3mm ?*#&^% wooden belaying pins were too big i had to make my own for pin rails which involved drilling 1mm holes in pin rail and gluing short length of 1mm plastic rod in place as top of pin. In an endeavour to reproduce some sort of shape, i made bottoms of pins in 0.75mm rod. Much cursing as tiny bits of rod glued to my fingers or tweezers, in fact anywhere other than where they were supposed to go... End result not fantastic as "pins' covered in CA and paint look like they are same thickness. Hopefully they will later be obscured by neat coils of sheets, halyards and lines... Had to make a compass binnacle as well as mizzen mast bitts, both not represented in kit. Other work was on transom windows or stern gallery where i cut out Airfix windows and replaced them with frames made of strip and transparent sheet. End result was again not fantastic, while it seemed a good idea and easy to do, it was amazing how because windows are not regular quadrilaterals, every piece of frame was a different size. Again much cursing of the God of CA... still, better than Airfix kit. Airfix provide a single piece for stern gallery which is glued to stern of hull - i discovered too late this was badly warped out of shape, resulting in gaps between gallery and hull which will have to be filled. None of deck fittings are fixed permanently as I may need all the room for later rigging with fat fingers. Thought about painting hull, but i think this may be the last step as hull is main place to hold model securely with fingers covered in glue, paint etc, so best to leave till last. So now looking at next steps, cannons and starting rigging.. I am looking forward to stepping masts but I have read that rigging is best done with sails being bent to yards while not attached to masts... Will see how i go! Just realised there should be main mast bitts as well - also not in kit, of course. Cheers 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted December 13, 2019 Share Posted December 13, 2019 46 minutes ago, Pak75 said: Airfix windows and replaced them with frames made of strip and transparent sheet. For windows, I was thinking about using some canopy glue like Clearfix after painting, worked very well on my rescue launches. Rigging, so soon, one of the most daunting jobs sailing ships but it's gotta' be done. Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robgizlu Posted December 13, 2019 Share Posted December 13, 2019 Coming along right nice!! Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pak75 Posted December 13, 2019 Author Share Posted December 13, 2019 (edited) To explain further re stern gallery windows, Airfix kit has windows of only four panes. HMS Victory has 9 (3 x 3) and other illustrations show even more on Bounty (4 x 3) but perhaps these were artistic licence... So i decided to do 6 panes as 4 did not look right, this being limit of fiddly bits for me! From looking at other photos,, drawings etc, I now realise that quarter gallery windows usually match stern gallery windows on ships of that period. As Airfix had 4 panes in quarter galleries, they maybe technically correct in making stern gallery the same - and Admiralty plans also show 4 panes for quarter galleries...but frustratingly no stern view. Other models around vary enormously too, as does Mckay so I shall take a chill pill and relax! I made frames, backed them with transparent plastic and drilled holes in hull behind windows to give a better representation of being see-through when fitted. Not sure how you would paint solid brown plastic panes to look like glass but of course open to suggestions. Cheers Edited December 15, 2019 by Pak75 Add info 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted December 13, 2019 Share Posted December 13, 2019 You probably know this already but the old Scale Models magazine ran an in-depth 3 part article by John Tilly on building his Revell derived Bounty in the late 1970s. It was absolutely inspirational stuff. John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted December 14, 2019 Share Posted December 14, 2019 14 hours ago, Pak75 said: paint solid brown plastic panes to look like glass I've seen solid model vehicle windows painted. I think it depends on the amount of light behind the pane and in your case, they would be dark rooms. That being the case, I'd go with a black and do a couple of diagonal highlights for each pane. Or, you can go the next step and remove your solid pane and make a lip inside the hole you've just made. You can make and paint your windows to suit and mount them on the inner lips when it's safe to do so. HTH Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murdo Posted December 14, 2019 Share Posted December 14, 2019 If you want really clear "glass" windows try using wimmen's nail varnish. The stuff I used on the "Jura" created lovley windows but be careful, the stuff melts Acrylic paint which can run into the varnish! Funnily enough, it makes a horrible varnish... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted December 15, 2019 Share Posted December 15, 2019 I’ve only just cottoned on to this build; really lovely job so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pak75 Posted December 23, 2019 Author Share Posted December 23, 2019 (edited) Hi guys. Thanks for advice, will look at using this on next build. Once i decided to go with 6 panes, my options were limited. Unfortunately Prof Tilley's photos don't show a rear view of stern galleries either... So, this week I built main mast bitts and started on cannons. I realised pretty quickly that tackle for cannon had to be roped up before fixing in place. I made ring bolts for cannon by wrapping 0.25mm wire around 0.5mm drill bit, I also cut off Airfix thin cannon wheels and replaced them with smallest Artesania cannon wheels i could find 1.5mm thick which unfortunately look a bit too thick. Smallest eye pins i could buy are 2mm and they look out of scale as well, end result is that cannon looks a bit Noddyish... I used Bluejacket blocks which all had to be drilled out to take thread. In truth, i didn't realise Bluejacket fittings are metal until they arrived, their website says a "resin compound..." That said, Bluejacket blocks are small but not small enough for this scale. End result is that fittings are all too large and I will have to look at eliminating blocks altogether and replacing ring bolts on deck. I was attempting to rig cannon tackle in final position but it was getting late at night and elves kept demanding my attention to wrap presents.... Likely to replace rear tackle ring bolts with my own ring bolts and will consider not fitting blocks at all on cannon tackle. Can't see what Tilley did.... Even scale of 1/87 seems to have its limitations. In the meantime, Christmas holiday calls and I will resume build in New Year. Hope you all have a great Christmas and may all your fittings line up in 2020! Cheers Edited December 23, 2019 by Pak75 glitch 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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