Hello from Oxfordshire, UK

JEKMG

JEKMG

Joined
May 8, 2024
Messages
9
Points
8

Hi all, I hope you are not looking for young blood here as I am not as young as I used to be. In the past, I have been an avid model builder, a bit of everything really, as I built many demo items for a Revell sales guy who wanted them as display items for his customers shops. Then I got into Billings Boats such as the Mercantic, a cargo ship. I still have a rather nice still boxed, Billings kit Viking ship. I doubt, however, if I will get round to building it.
However, I have just purchased, I should say rather rescued, a finished build of an A L HMS Bounty which is is very, very dusty and dirty condition from a guy who built it some 30 years ago. I must say that I was impressed with the quality of the build as it must have been originally but now, It is in desperate need of a really good clean and a certain amount of repair work. It will likely mean the removal of very dirty furled sails and the original competently carried out rigging which will require some fixing. And that’s what worries me as I have not done any rigging before. It would have been very helpful to have had the build paperwork and the rigging plan but the previous owner had not kept them following build. It also seems that A.L. do not have copies available in their latest inventory of past documentation which is disappointing.
I am currently still assessing the best way forward. I would welcome any ideas.
IMG_0547.jpeg John in Oxfordshire, UK
 
JEKMG said:
Hi all, I hope you are not looking for young blood here as I am not as young as I used to be. In the past, I have been an avid model builder, a bit of everything really, as I built many demo items for a Revell sales guy who wanted them as display items for his customers shops. Then I got into Billings Boats such as the Mercantic, a cargo ship. I still have a rather nice still boxed, Billings kit Viking ship. I doubt, however, if I will get round to building it.
However, I have just purchased, I should say rather rescued, a finished build of an A L HMS Bounty which is is very, very dusty and dirty condition from a guy who built it some 30 years ago. I must say that I was impressed with the quality of the build as it must have been originally but now, It is in desperate need of a really good clean and a certain amount of repair work. It will likely mean the removal of very dirty furled sails and the original competently carried out rigging which will require some fixing. And that’s what worries me as I have not done any rigging before. It would have been very helpful to have had the build paperwork and the rigging plan but the previous owner had not kept them following build. It also seems that A.L. do not have copies available in their latest inventory of past documentation which is disappointing.
I am currently still assessing the best way forward. I would welcome any ideas.
View attachment 446469 John in Oxfordshire, UK
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Hi John
Welcome to SoS.
I have built the AL Bounty cutaway version and rigged it with sails too, 21 years ago.
I will look to see if I have any documentation still as I kept the box.
I will also take some photos of my Bounty although I do not claim that my rigging is a definitive accurate source for the original.
I will post again when I have had an opportunity to follow up.
Michael
 
Hi John
I have dug out the old plans and documentation I have from the original box.
Unfortunately I am not near to Oxfordshire, else I would bring them to you to use.
I have photographed them and perhaps you can make out the details.
I attach those photos along with some photos of my rigged model. It was one of the my first efforts so the standard is not high.
If none of this helps please feel free to PM me your address and I can look into posting the documentation to you to use until your project is completed.


IMG_4724.jpegIMG_4723.jpegIMG_4720.jpegIMG_4719.jpegIMG_4753.jpegIMG_4754.jpegIMG_4755.jpegIMG_4756.jpegIMG_4757.jpegIMG_4758.jpegIMG_4759.jpegIMG_4760.jpegIMG_4761.jpegIMG_4762.jpegIMG_4763.jpegIMG_4764.jpegIMG_4765.jpegIMG_4766.jpegIMG_4767.jpegIMG_4769.jpegIMG_4770.jpegIMG_4768.jpegIMG_4771.jpegIMG_4772.jpeg
 
Chestcutter said:
Hi John
I have dug out the old plans and documentation I have from the original box.
Unfortunately I am not near to Oxfordshire, else I would bring them to you to use.
I have photographed them and perhaps you can make out the details.
I attach those photos along with some photos of my rigged model. It was one of the my first efforts so the standard is not high.
If none of this helps please feel free to PM me your address and I can look into posting the documentation to you to use until your project is completed.


View attachment 446494View attachment 446495View attachment 446496View attachment 446497View attachment 446498View attachment 446499View attachment 446500View attachment 446501View attachment 446502View attachment 446503View attachment 446504View attachment 446505View attachment 446506View attachment 446507View attachment 446508View attachment 446509View attachment 446510View attachment 446511View attachment 446512View attachment 446513View attachment 446514View attachment 446515View attachment 446516View attachment 446517
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Hi, Chestcutter, Thank you so much for taking the time to send over the pictures from the build manual and rigging configuration for the Bounty that I have undertaken to rescue (hopefully). These are certain to be of great help in getting the model ‘ship-shape’ again. I will start by copying your photos and printing them off. It looks like it will take a bit of planning to work out where all the rigging lines will go by following the numbers.
By the way, during the whole of February and March this year, I was over in Australia on holiday and initially travelled from Sydney to Perth on the Indian Pacific and then, based in Perth, visited the southern tip of WA around Denmark and Albany. Unfortunately, missed out on Geelong though.
Thanks again for taking the time to send the information about the Bounty. It is very much appreciated.
No doubt, we will ‘talk’ again. John in Oxfordshire, UK
 
JEKMG said:
Hi, Chestcutter, Thank you so much for taking the time to send over the pictures from the build manual and rigging configuration for the Bounty that I have undertaken to rescue (hopefully). These are certain to be of great help in getting the model ‘ship-shape’ again. I will start by copying your photos and printing them off. It looks like it will take a bit of planning to work out where all the rigging lines will go by following the numbers.
By the way, during the whole of February and March this year, I was over in Australia on holiday and initially travelled from Sydney to Perth on the Indian Pacific and then, based in Perth, visited the southern tip of WA around Denmark and Albany. Unfortunately, missed out on Geelong though.
Thanks again for taking the time to send the information about the Bounty. It is very much appreciated.
No doubt, we will ‘talk’ again. John in Oxfordshire, UK
Click to expand...
Since you are printing the rigging instructions out, I would recommend that once you install or verify the existence of a line, you highlight it with a marker to help you keep track. :)

Jeff
 
Corsair said:
Since you are printing the rigging instructions out, I would recommend that once you install or verify the existence of a line, you highlight it with a marker to help you keep track. :)

Jeff
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Now, that’s a good idea, Jeff. I will do that. Thanks for the tip. I must admit that the rigging is going to be a bit of along haul for me I think. I Just took the furled sail down from the top spar of the rearmost mast and, in an effort to clean it of the ingrained dust, I washed it but it’s passed redemption as you can see in the attached photo. So, it will be a case of replacing all the sails also. John in Oxfordshire UK.

image.jpg
 
JEKMG said:
Now, that’s a good idea, Jeff. I will do that. Thanks for the tip. I must admit that the rigging is going to be a bit of along haul for me I think. I Just took the furled sail down from the top spar of the rearmost mast and, in an effort to clean it of the ingrained dust, I washed it but it’s passed redemption as you can see in the attached photo. So, it will be a case of replacing all the sails also. John in Oxfordshire UK.

View attachment 446764
Click to expand...
Just a point of note, the sails were never white and they became "not clean" very quickly. You could try to bleach that lightly, but really, assuming you are not trying to make the model of the ship when it was new, that is not that bad. :) You might want to do a little research on that.

And the idea of highlighting the lines as you go through them is not my idea, I'm just the one that mentioned it. :D It's actually a pretty common practice for modelers.
 
Corsair said:
Just a point of note, the sails were never white and they became "not clean" very quickly. You could try to bleach that lightly, but really, assuming you are not trying to make the model of the ship when it was new, that is not that bad. :) You might want to do a little research on that.

And the idea of highlighting the lines as you go through them is not my idea, I'm just the one that mentioned it. :D It's actually a pretty common practice for modelers.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that, Jeff. It would certainly be a bit of a ‘bonus’ if I didn’t have to replace the sails as they seem to have been made well and neatly sewn around the edges. So I will try a mild bleaching and see what happens. I do appreciate your comments. John
 
Carleroo said:
Good luck with the restoration! Be sure to take lots of before and after photos.:)
Click to expand...
Hi Caleroo, Thanks for your kind words. Much appreciated. I certainly will need to take lots of photos before I remove anything to repair or clean the Bounty or I will never get it put back as it should. As I say, I dod not have the paperwork with the ship but member, Corsair, has provided excellent pictures of the rigging detail which will definitely help..
John in Oxfordshire UK
 
Hi... I love old models like your Bounty. I would put that vessel under glass as is after blowing off the dust, straitening the rigging, realigning the ratlines, and re-attaching the original sails as is. You can't create that depth of authentic aging with new kits.
 
JEKMG said:
Hi Caleroo, Thanks for your kind words. Much appreciated. I certainly will need to take lots of photos before I remove anything to repair or clean the Bounty or I will never get it put back as it should. As I say, I dod not have the paperwork with the ship but member, Corsair, has provided excellent pictures of the rigging detail which will definitely help..
John in Oxfordshire UK
Click to expand...
I didn't provide the pics of the instructions, that was @Chestcutter . :)
 
JEKMG said:
Hi all, I hope you are not looking for young blood here as I am not as young as I used to be. In the past, I have been an avid model builder, a bit of everything really, as I built many demo items for a Revell sales guy who wanted them as display items for his customers shops. Then I got into Billings Boats such as the Mercantic, a cargo ship. I still have a rather nice still boxed, Billings kit Viking ship. I doubt, however, if I will get round to building it.
However, I have just purchased, I should say rather rescued, a finished build of an A L HMS Bounty which is is very, very dusty and dirty condition from a guy who built it some 30 years ago. I must say that I was impressed with the quality of the build as it must have been originally but now, It is in desperate need of a really good clean and a certain amount of repair work. It will likely mean the removal of very dirty furled sails and the original competently carried out rigging which will require some fixing. And that’s what worries me as I have not done any rigging before. It would have been very helpful to have had the build paperwork and the rigging plan but the previous owner had not kept them following build. It also seems that A.L. do not have copies available in their latest inventory of past documentation which is disappointing.
I am currently still assessing the best way forward. I would welcome any ideas.
View attachment 446469 John in Oxfordshire, UK
Click to expand...
Cornwall Model Boats sell ship plans, I know they sell Amati 'cos I bought a set to help with my rigging of Billing;s Bounty. I'm not sure about AL.
 
MisterCA said:
Hi... I love old models like your Bounty. I would put that vessel under glass as is after blowing off the dust, straitening the rigging, realigning the ratlines, and re-attaching the original sails as is. You can't create that depth of authentic aging with new kits.
Click to expand...
Now that’s a thought. It’s certainly showing its 30 years and lack of cover during that time. Like you, I think it should retain its aged appearance even when tidied up and repaired. I must try to improve the state of the sails although they will never be pristine which is perhaps best anyway. it will need to go under glass as I would not want it to get into the same state again. Thanks for your comments. John
 
Stuart Little said:
Cornwall Model Boats sell ship plans, I know they sell Amati 'cos I bought a set to help with my rigging of Billing;s Bounty. I'm not sure about AL.
Click to expand...
Hi Stuart,
Thanks for the suggestion about Cornwall Model Boats. I will give them a try and see what they have.
John in Oxfordshire
 
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