Red Ensign Posted June 3, 2023 Share Posted June 3, 2023 16 hours ago, Bertie McBoatface said: Hello Scott. First of all, welcome to Britmodeler! And welcome aboard this thread. I hope you will choose to follow it. Thanks for your suggestions. A planking fan is something I've never heard of before, I'll look into that. There are as many planking techniques as plankers I think. I'm still working out my own style but HMS Beagle taught me a lot and I'm quite confident about planking Bellerophon. I think the most important thing I've learned is not to worry too much about the first planking (and whatever else might be underneath the top layer). As long as the shape is right, who cares what it looks like? I'll save my full attention to detail for the visible top layer. Thank you for the welcome! In addition to the planking fan, the use of tick strips to apply markings to the bulkheads for tapering were really helpful for me - same with edge bending which you’ll also see reference to on modelshipworld. A small travel iron will come in handy for that if you go down that path. You’re right about the first planking but I used the same method I would normally use for second planking for the first planking as a way of getting extra practice - and I needed all the practice I could get! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted June 3, 2023 Author Share Posted June 3, 2023 (edited) Waffle Edited July 9, 2023 by Bertie McBoatface Waffle reduction. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted June 3, 2023 Author Share Posted June 3, 2023 (edited) Waffle Edited July 9, 2023 by Bertie McBoatface Waffle reduction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted June 3, 2023 Author Share Posted June 3, 2023 I've used a table (circular) saw, a 5" circular bench sander and a 2" sanding disk hand held in a Proxxon. Oh, and a Stanley knife. There was a time when I thought it better to use only hand tools like the makers of the eighteenth century models that I admire so much. Then I wondered how many more and even better models those guys could have made with electrical tools. I could have done everything that I have accomplished today with hand tools alone, but not as well and over a week instead of a day. Let me show you. There are several parts like No.19 to fit at the bow and stern. Mostly they are there to double the receiving surface for the planking to land on, though this particular one also becomes a shelf for the upper gun deck bow platform. As you see in the photo, these pieces need to be shaped at the edges. 5mm MDF is soft and quite slow to sand as it goes hairy when abraded which clogs the paper and reduces the cut to almost nothing. Yet a few passes over a bench sander gave me nice sharp edges. That meant that the hand sanding required to get the desired profile was done in seconds. Parts 20 and 21 haven't been rounded because, well you'll see in a moment. This attempts to show the difficulties I have had with planking a bluff bow. Sometimes in the process of sanding and clamping, the planks get pushed inwards between the bulkheads shown in blue giving that oil canning effect typical of a depth charge attack. Not good! Sometimes the planks bend sharply or even begin to break over the narrow support of the bulkhead. This makes the finished surface angular like a Panzer IV. Also not good! What I'm aiming for is a smoothly curved plank that touches the edges of the bulkheads in passing and is fairly tough to support the later second layer of decorative planks. I have to make that bend over a big empty space, even though the kit designer has placed the bulkheads as close together as possible and had provided those doubler plates. I'll bend the planks with heat and moisture before fitting but even so, I find that I'll still have to use some force to line them up perfectly. That's a hard task for someone with my hand/eye skills. I will bridge that gap with balsa wood blocks. First attempt. The two aftermost gaps were done first and then I realised that I could do a lot more powered shaping of the blocks before I fitted them. I tested this idea on the foremost piece. On the other side I shaped all of the blocks. It was a simple matter of pencilling some 'do not exceed' lines in pencil and then carving away the waste on the bench sander. It still looks nasty at this stage but I had a lot less material to remove with the sanding disc in the Proxon (Dremmel type tool). Roughed out with the Proxxon it looked like this. And then there was nothing for it but fingers and sandpaper. Balsa wood sands very well as we all know and it didn't take long to get close to the shape I was after. I'm not quite there yet but it was getting painful. I'll finish off tomorrow in the garden since the hand sanding makes so much dust, not having the benefit of dust extraction via Hoover. You can imagine how much easier it will be to fit planks to that solid structure. The gluing surface will be maximised, the precise curves will already be in place, making my pre-bending less demanding, and it will be very tough, especially when laminated with the plankings. A good day's work! The next significant update to the build is HERE 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewbacca Posted June 4, 2023 Share Posted June 4, 2023 22 hours ago, Bertie McBoatface said: On one hand, it's fine. I've enjoyed this slow modelling. On the other, I'd like to see some skin on those bones. Given the progress you've made with a complex subject, I wouldn't call this slow modelling at all. Take your time and make sure that you are happy with it rather than forcing yourself to rush it and wake up one morning and think you are not happy with it. I never build to a deadline unless it's a Group Build on here and even then I rarely finish in time to make the final gallery. Having never turned my hand to all wooden models, I wouldn't have thought it would have been that difficult to bend the planking at this scale but clearly it is and your balsa wood filler solution is absolute genius. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted June 4, 2023 Author Share Posted June 4, 2023 1 hour ago, Chewbacca said: Having never turned my hand to all wooden models, I wouldn't have thought it would have been that difficult to bend the planking at this scale but clearly it is and your balsa wood filler solution is absolute genius. I find bending the wood is quite easy but bending it to the accuracy that I want is a bit of a trial by combat! My method isn't actually so revolutionary. Carving hulls from solid wood and then planking over them is an ancient way of doing model ships. I'm just fusing the best of the two methods. I'll only be filling in the bow and stern; the curves of the midships section don't present a problem (except when trying to buy trousers 😁). 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted June 4, 2023 Author Share Posted June 4, 2023 (edited) Waffle Edited July 9, 2023 by Bertie McBoatface Waffle reduction. 1 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelholic Posted June 4, 2023 Share Posted June 4, 2023 Why do I think I'm reading the script of a Carry On film? Oooooh Matron! Does a long length of abrasive help with the curves? (think drying your back with a towel) Tom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted June 4, 2023 Author Share Posted June 4, 2023 (edited) On 6/4/2023 at 5:31 PM, Modelholic said: Why do I think I'm reading the script of a Carry On film? Oooooh Matron! Does a long length of abrasive help with the curves? (think drying your back with a towel) Tom Yes indeed. When shaping the edges of the bulkheads I used a folded sheet of wet and dry that spanned three of them. That should make for a good flowing curve. For the actual bluff bow I had a palm sized piece for the convexities and the a smaller roll for the concavities. Edited July 9, 2023 by Bertie McBoatface Waffle reduction. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelholic Posted June 4, 2023 Share Posted June 4, 2023 Why rush, M'Man. Have a 'Sitting on the Dock of the Bay' moment (with wine!) Tom And I thought my 1/150 Le Superbe was a big model 'till I saw the Billie! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted June 4, 2023 Author Share Posted June 4, 2023 (edited) Waffle Edited July 9, 2023 by Bertie McBoatface Waffle reduction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted June 5, 2023 Author Share Posted June 5, 2023 (edited) Waffle Edited July 9, 2023 by Bertie McBoatface Waffle reduction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelholic Posted June 5, 2023 Share Posted June 5, 2023 I can never get the picture posting thing right. Every once in a while I'll try again, so far, still a no no. I'm taking pics as I go and modelling her as a ship captured and bought into RN service. Couldn't get enough reference material to model a specific ship (Spartiate for example) So was going to call her Viking but switched to Goblin after finding a suitable subject for her figurehead. I'm going to try to start a topic later this year. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted June 5, 2023 Author Share Posted June 5, 2023 (edited) I'm physically suffering this morning as a result of the size of Bellerophon. It's a result of that manual sanding in the garden yesterday. I'm right handed and with the ship cradled in my lap and those delicate ribs sticking up out of harm's way, I could comfortably work on the starboard side of the bow. The port* side was tricky though. Just rolling the hull over risked the ribs catching in my clothing and that could have caused a lot of damage. Instead, I flipped it end for end and then twisted so that I could sand the model out past my left leg, with my right hand - for an hour perhaps. This morning I feel like I've been kicked in the ribs and my left knee is twingeing too. Fifty-eight years a modeller and I'm still finding new ways to hurt myself. 😁 Edited July 9, 2023 by Bertie McBoatface Waffle reduction. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmitriy1967 Posted June 5, 2023 Share Posted June 5, 2023 10 minutes ago, Bertie McBoatface said: *Given the age of the ship I should say larboard, the RN didn't begin to use the word 'port' until the nineteenth century, long after our merchant seamen adopted the practice. Come to think of it, the term HMS wasn't in use either. By the way, yes, as a person with a different language, it is always very strange for me to read about the port side. At first I even thought that Google Translator was confusing something. Only then did I begin to guess. 🙂 The ship is going well, you are not suffering inconveniences for nothing! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted June 5, 2023 Author Share Posted June 5, 2023 58 minutes ago, Dmitriy1967 said: By the way, yes, as a person with a different language, it is always very strange for me to read about the port side. At first I even thought that Google Translator was confusing something. Only then did I begin to guess. 🙂 The ship is going well, you are not suffering inconveniences for nothing! My friend here said my pain didn't result from being stupid. He said it came from being old!! 😲 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmitriy1967 Posted June 5, 2023 Share Posted June 5, 2023 14 minutes ago, Bertie McBoatface said: My friend here said my pain didn't result from being stupid. He said it came from being old!! 😲 If after 55 years, you wake up in the morning and nothing hurts, then you are dead. 🙂 2 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelholic Posted June 5, 2023 Share Posted June 5, 2023 If you don't consider yourself old....well....erm...yep! Tom I don't think I'm that old though (62) so maybe a mix of both. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted June 5, 2023 Author Share Posted June 5, 2023 (edited) Waffle Edited July 9, 2023 by Bertie McBoatface Waffle reduction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAF4EVER Posted June 5, 2023 Share Posted June 5, 2023 You are only as old, as the woman you feel 😈😈 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelholic Posted June 5, 2023 Share Posted June 5, 2023 There's always one isn't there🤣 Tom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted June 5, 2023 Author Share Posted June 5, 2023 (edited) Waffle Edited July 9, 2023 by Bertie McBoatface Waffle reduction. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted June 5, 2023 Author Share Posted June 5, 2023 (edited) Waffle Edited July 9, 2023 by Bertie McBoatface Waffle reduction. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted June 5, 2023 Share Posted June 5, 2023 2 hours ago, Bertie McBoatface said: wandering off topic a case of wandering off topic. Wondering about wandering.... Wow, Bertie, that's deep..... 🤔 Just wondering what kind of glue you got going there 😋 Actually it brings to mind "the Magic Roundabout", some of you guys may remember. There was a rabbit character called Dylan.... 🐰 😎 Loving the project so far. I did an Artisana Latina wooden pilot boat many years ago so I do have a faint idea of what you are dealing with. This is going to be epic 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted June 5, 2023 Author Share Posted June 5, 2023 (edited) Waffle Edited July 9, 2023 by Bertie McBoatface Waffle reduction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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