HMS THUNDERER - 1:48 CAF Bellona kit

peter6172

peter6172

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OK team, I am starting this thread now as I have some work going on behind the scenes before I open my Christmas 22 present. I have purchased Session 1 of the CAF Bellona kit; a Third Rate 74 gun ship of the line in 1:48 scale. This is going to be a large ship at 1090mm main gun deck length. Not too sure on overall length with bowsprit and Jib Boom but it will stand nearly 1000mm tall once the masts are in place.
Why such a large ship? I don't really know. I sercved on an overseas exchange posting with the Royal Navy teaching post graduate engineering at the Royal Navy Engineering College at Manado, Plymouth. The establishment on which the college was based was HMS THUNDERER. Unfortunately the establishment no longer exists as the college was moved to Collingwood in the late 90's and the base is now a housing estate.

I have initiated the build hiring a 3D designer to produce the figurehead for the model of HMS THUNDERER as I cannot have the kit until Christmas :(. There are a few ZEUS resin sculptures out there but only one really comes close to the Figurehead. I am using that designer to modify and create a 3D print file for me to use in creating THUNDERERs Zeus figurehead.
I have also gone over the AOS- BELLONA and the Dodds and Moore book "Building a Wooden Fighting Ship" to tease out the details I need for Session 1 which is the keel and Frames of the ship. I may then proceed to scratch build the rest of the hull using the books mentioned as I feel I have developed sufficient skill to do so.
I suspect this will be a long duration build (unlike my current 3 - 6month builds), I suspect this one will be in the order of years. The only issue is its sheer size and where to put it when not working on it......

IMG_0437.jpg
 
A very interesting project !!!!

The HMS Bellona launched 1760, and documented in the Anatomy book and contemporary drawings at the NMM, was a Bellona class 74 gunner

d4077_1.jpg

Bellona (1760); Warship; Third rate; 74 guns | Royal Museums Greenwich

www.rmg.co.uk www.rmg.co.uk

j3099.jpg



The HMS Thunderer launched also in 1760 was a Hercules class

Ship_of_74-gun_model_1760.jpg l5775_003.jpg

j2830.jpg
j2832.jpg

Hercules or Thunderer; Warship; Third rate; 74 guns | Royal Museums Greenwich

www.rmg.co.uk www.rmg.co.uk
 
Uwek said:
A very interesting project !!!!

The HMS Bellona launched 1760, and documented in the Anatomy book and contemporary drawings at the NMM, was a Bellona class 74 gunner

View attachment 336287

Bellona (1760); Warship; Third rate; 74 guns | Royal Museums Greenwich

www.rmg.co.uk www.rmg.co.uk

View attachment 336288



The HMS Thunderer launched also in 1760 was a Hercules class

View attachment 336283 View attachment 336284

View attachment 336285
View attachment 336286

Hercules or Thunderer; Warship; Third rate; 74 guns | Royal Museums Greenwich

www.rmg.co.uk www.rmg.co.uk
https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/object?vessels[0]=Thunderer (1760)[/ [/UR
Click to expand...
BELLONA and THUNDERER were laid do...t and adjust the CAF kit frames as necessary.
 
peter6172 said:
OK team, I am starting this thread now as I have some work going on behind the scenes before I open my Christmas 22 present. I have purchased Session 1 of the CAF Bellona kit; a Third Rate 74 gun ship of the line in 1:48 scale. This is going to be a large ship at 1090mm main gun deck length. Not too sure on overall length with bowsprit and Jib Boom but it will stand nearly 1000mm tall once the masts are in place.
Why such a large ship? I don't really know. I sercved on an overseas exchange posting with the Royal Navy teaching post graduate engineering at the Royal Navy Engineering College at Manado, Plymouth. The establishment on which the college was based was HMS THUNDERER. Unfortunately the establishment no longer exists as the college was moved to Collingwood in the late 90's and the base is now a housing estate.

I have initiated the build hiring a 3D designer to produce the figurehead for the model of HMS THUNDERER as I cannot have the kit until Christmas :(. There are a few ZEUS resin sculptures out there but only one really comes close to the Figurehead. I am using that designer to modify and create a 3D print file for me to use in creating THUNDERERs Zeus figurehead.
I have also gone over the AOS- BELLONA and the Dodds and Moore book "Building a Wooden Fighting Ship" to tease out the details I need for Session 1 which is the keel and Frames of the ship. I may then proceed to scratch build the rest of the hull using the books mentioned as I feel I have developed sufficient skill to do so.
I suspect this will be a long duration build (unlike my current 3 - 6month builds), I suspect this one will be in the order of years. The only issue is its sheer size and where to put it when not working on it......

View attachment 336167
Click to expand...
Very very intriguing Peter. I will reserve a front row seat here. Cheers Grant
 
Bryian said:
You should consider upgrading the planking material to Huon Pine so it looks like the museum model thats planked in boxwood.
Click to expand...
Haven't got any planking yet but thanks for the advice. I should be able to mill my own planks which appear to be 6x2mm in 1:48 up to 3 main Wales of 9x4mm. Do you know of a good source of clear Huon Pine?
 
Looking very good, top-notch, Peter. Who is the designer and what will be the final material? Printing or carving?
 
Jimsky said:
Looking very good, top-notch, Peter. Who is the designer and what will be the final material? Printing or carving?
Click to expand...
Jim, I have asked the designer if he's happy to pass out his contact details. I'm waiting for his reply. The cost was around USD$50 for the design only. I just chucked the figure at the designer when I asked to hire him and he accepted. Don't know if this was too much to offer but I feel happy with the resulting design. The designer has been engaged to provide the AUTOCAD3D model that I will get painted locally so that I can match the dimensions exactly. I propose to have it printed in solid Resin which will provide the best print outcome. Don't know the cost of this yet but it shouldn't be too expensive for a 90x40x30mm sculpture.
 
Many thanks, Peter. If the designer wants to be incognito, that's fine, I thought maybe our members could use his service...
 
Jimsky said:
Many thanks, Peter. If the designer wants to be incognito, that's fine, I thought maybe our members could use his service...
Click to expand...
Its not that he wants to remain incognito, its a private hire so I want to ask him if he's happy to be made public before advertising him on the forum.
 
Anyone interested in my designers details, he's on CGTrader 3D Projects and FIVERR. He can be directly contacted on What's App at +94713926123 or email at gayan220@gmail.com.

He appears to be based in Sri Lanka and has offered up to 15% of sales to support Ukraine. I hired him for USD$50 to create a 3D file that I could get it printed in Resin in my home town Canberra, ACT. I have no idea if that was too much but he accepted and as you can see the work to date (not finished yet) is pretty spectacular. It's been 4 days since I hired him.
 
Peter, I would feel extremely content with $50 for that quality for workmanship. He must be an absolute expert, it would have taken me days and days to create that. It shouldn’t be expensive to print, if it was me I’d put an ad on wargamer forums, bound to be someone local who’ll do it at cost.
 
wmgrimball said:
Have wanted to build a three=master for a long time. Please keep a thorough build log so one day I can follow.
Click to expand...
I have built one three master (ENDEAVOUR) and started the planking of a second (BOUNTY). Follow the links in my signature for both build logs. I won't be getting too deeply into THUNDERER until early next year. I'll start with an opening the box on Christmas Day...:)

Just remember, the CAF 1:48 kit is 1250mm long and I'm not sure that includes the bowsprit. The main mast is around 900mm high so this is definitely a large ship to build. There are plenty of 3 master kits out there that aren't so big and cumbersome but if you have the space....
 
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