HMS Bellona 1760 1:75 Timber [COMPLETED BUILD]

As a bit of a distraction from starting the serious rigging I have started on the ship's boats. The number, size and type of boats varied over the HMS Bellona's 55 year service life. As I have fitted 6 carronades to the poop deck bringing the total number of guns to 80 my version is from late in the ship's life so I will fit the boats as they would have been from 1800 onwards. These are a 31ft launch, 32ft and 28ft pinnaces, 2 x 25ft cutters and the 18ft jolly boat.
Where the boats were stored is an interesting question. The AoTS book shows 5 boats all stored on the booms. There is an alternative to this. Patrick O'Brian's book "The Yellow Admiral" features Bellona, and the cover has a beautiful stern view painting of the ship by Geoff Hunt. This picture clearly shows a pair of davits just forward of the quarter galleries and in the book there is a description of some discussion amongst the crew about the validity of fitting these davits to carry the 25ft cutters. There was some concern that the cutters stored in these locations would have a detrimental effect on the appearance of the ship. Jack Aubrey won the day and the cutters were carried on these davits enabling rapid launching in time of need. I like the look of the 2 cutters in this position. My HMS Surprise build has the cutters in these positions and I will fit the davits to Bellona.
So far I have built the 31ft launch using the same construction method as the Surprise boats. 1 down, 5 to go.
Cheers, David304873012df3cffd70e9bd81c5a0e8bd.jpg
Geoff Hunt painting showing davits for the cutters
 

Attachments

Hi Uwek, thanks for doing the conversion.
I thought that the construction process for the launch didn't need large pictures so I copied them into a word file. This file didn't seem to be compatible with an SOS post so I managed to convert to a pdf but there my computer skills reached their limit.
Next time I feel the need to combine images I will try working in a format that can be directly saved as a .jpg. I don't know what format to use, any suggestions would be great appreciated.
I really enjoy making the boats, they are small projects within the large scheme.
Cheers, David.
 
Navis Factorem said:
This forum looks like a good place to create a build log and to share progress and to learn and to share problems and solutions.
After a couple of kits, the second being HMAT Bounty which was significantly kit bashed, the scratch build bug bit and a 1:75 HMS Surprise model has been completed.
For a bit of a challenge I have decided to attempt a 1:75 scratch build of HMS Bellona, the complex decks and intricate carvings should keep me occupied for a while.
I have acquired the "Anatomy of the 74 Gun Ship Bellona" in both pdf and hard copy and internet searches have provided lots of images.
Drawings in the book have been scaled up to 1:75 to give a base for construction. The hull profiles have been fixed to 6mm marine ply to form a skeleton with a false keel and bulkheads.

View attachment 206496
A PC was used to transfer drawings to Word for Windows where they were scaled up to 1:75.

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Hull profiles and the false keel were glued to 6mm marine ply to form the basic structure.

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Work continues.

Cheers,

David.
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Hallo David alias @Navis Factorem
we wish you all the BEST and a HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Birthday-Cake
 
There was a lull in progress over the Christmas and new year period but the shipyard workers have returned and there has been some progress.
3 of the ships boats have been completed, the 2 pinnaces and the launch. These are carvel construction so are comparatively easy. The remaining 3, the 2 cutters and the jolly boat are clinker built so present a bit more of a challenge. I wanted to finish the first 3 so I could fit the cradles to the beams before I do the foremast shrouds.
The lowest sections of the masts have been fixed in place so the rig can now start in earnest. I'm looking forward to ratlines!20230319_170753a.jpg20230319_170953a.jpg20230319_171047a.jpg20230321_101741a.jpg
 
Navis Factorem said:
There was a lull in progress over the Christmas and new year period but the shipyard workers have returned and there has been some progress.
3 of the ships boats have been completed, the 2 pinnaces and the launch. These are carvel construction so are comparatively easy. The remaining 3, the 2 cutters and the jolly boat are clinker built so present a bit more of a challenge. I wanted to finish the first 3 so I could fit the cradles to the beams before I do the foremast shrouds.
The lowest sections of the masts have been fixed in place so the rig can now start in earnest. I'm looking forward to ratlines!View attachment 364106View attachment 364107View attachment 364108View attachment 364109
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Looking Good, great research! I like your building method for construction of the frames!
 
The rig has started and the lower shrouds and ratlines are done. I loose fitted the shrouds and lanyards and then fitted the forestays before tensioning up the whole assembly to ensure the mast rake doesn't change. There are about 1,800 knots in this lot, most of them clove hitches all tied with 2 pairs of needle nose tweezers. I'm glad it's done. For some light relief I have started on the clinker built boats.20230425_122138a.jpg20230425_121544a.jpg
 
very good progress with all thes shrouds and ratlines - some more to come, but I guess that you have already 80% of them done (knots)
 
A major milestone has been achieved, all shrouds, ratlines, forestays and backstays completed. I'm very glad to not have to tie any more ratlines. At completion the total number of knots was about 3,600 once all the futtock shroud ratlines and the upper mast sections are included.
Now I can start attaching the yards and their tackle starting from the bowsprit and working back and up.
The Bellona build has been an interesting comparison with my previous build, HMS Surprise. I feel the frigate was a more difficult build despite being a smaller and less complex ship. On Surprise everything was a bit more crowded whereas Bellona has more room to move. The big difference of course is that Bellona just has a lot more of everything.01.jpg02.jpg03.jpg04.jpg05.jpg
 
Dear David
Wow, this ship looks amazing Okay
the shrouds, ratlines, forestays and backstays have made very accurate and nicely. well done :)Thumbsup
 
Another major milestone. All the yards and the associated running rig done. Now for all the little details that will complete the build. Gun port lids, anchors and I'm sure lots of bits and pieces that I will discover. Four of the ships boats are complete and the fifth id underway.20230814_153240a.jpg20230814_153651a.jpg20230814_154021a.jpg20230814_155121a.jpg20230814_155147a.jpg20230814_155315a.jpg20230814_160241a.jpg
 
Ship construction now complete. I have made up the small base with the plaque and next is the large base for the perspex box. As the ship is 1,070mm long x 420mm wide x 950mm high the box will look enormous. The next challenge will be finding a location for display.
Those keen eyed may notice that the quarter galleries have been rebuilt. The original construction wasn't very good, the proportions of the lower windows was all wrong, something had to be done.BELLONA01.jpgBELLONA02.jpgBELLONA04.jpgBELLONA06.jpgBELLONA07.jpgBELLONA08.jpgBELLONA14.jpgBELLONA20.jpg

BELLONA29.jpg
 
Navis Factorem said:
Ship construction now complete. I have made up the small base with the plaque and next is the large base for the perspex box. As the ship is 1,070mm long x 420mm wide x 950mm high the box will look enormous. The next challenge will be finding a location for display.
Those keen eyed may notice that the quarter galleries have been rebuilt. The original construction wasn't very good, the proportions of the lower windows was all wrong, something had to be done.View attachment 406909View attachment 406910View attachment 406911View attachment 406912View attachment 406913View attachment 406914View attachment 406915View attachment 406916

View attachment 406917
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congratulations, very beautiful model
 
wonderful work - a really great and well build model
CONGRATULATION for finishing this great model


and now? what is coming next? (after the base is finished)
 
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