USS Bonhomme Richard 1779 1:48 [COMPLETED BUILD]

Joined
Feb 11, 2019
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Location
Montreal
Hi everyone,
I thought maybe it's not bad idea to share my current build - I'm doing it since January 2018 and the hull is almost comletely finished, just some final touch-ups untill I move to masting...
I will post photos from the beginning, maybe several times per week. I'm not very good in English "shipbuilding" terminology, since Russian is my native language, but I will try my best to answer any questions if there will be any :)

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The gunports.
Well, this was my second build, so at that time I decided that I would still do the square gunports, although I understood that the lower and upper lines of the gunports should not be horizontal but follow the line of the deck. At that time I just didn't know how to do it. So I did them squared. Right now if I was building again I would somehow give them the correct shape, although I still cannot completely imagine how it may be done. Anyway, this may be considered as one of my mistakes on this particular model.

As you can see from the photos I used the existing "kit" upperdeck to find the location of gunports and whales, although later I understood that this was not very accurate.

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...and below mainwhale. Used a piece of paper to put the marks to taper the planks evenely. Basically the space between mainwhale and keel I devided by equal number of planks, with equal width everywhere. Aft there is no "dead planks"... I'm not sure how it's called, when the plank ends before reaching the stem/stern. Forward there are 3 such planks.

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Here is the planking complete and I also drew the frames. I always needed at least 2 planks to go from stem to stern, so I marked the frames in the middle of the hull beforehand, so that I could match the planks joints with the middle of the frames. I did the rest of the joints with knife (I didn't have a chisel at that time, it's much better for this purpose) following the pensil marks of frames

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Second planking looks fenomenal,can you tell us about the quality of the kit a few words please,that would help other future builders in their decision of buying this kit,thanks.
 
Yes. By the way I bought it on TaoBao using google translate for the whole website. Delivery to Canada is pretty fast through DHL and costed about $200, you just need to figure out how the system works, which may be tough....
The quality is very good. There is no european/american kit that could reach this level of quality and detail - only several other chinese kits like Inger, Royal Caroline and several others (and possibly american Confederacy). It's also the biggest kit on the market after chinese Bellona. For the kit-makers this is a very good option, if you can handle the size and price.
- be sure no parts are missing. pretty regular thing with chinese
- wood is very good. first planking wood for me was better than lime
- my main wood is cherry, also very good, much-much better than wallnut or what else europeans put (though the pear is still little better)
- canons and decorations (CNCed) are also very good.
Now, if you become peaky and want everything to be ideal as per Ancre plans of this ship....
- you need to check everything. Basically all the dimensions are a little different (sometimes up to 10 mm). Location of the gunports, location of the masts, length, height and camber of the decks. You should choose your approach - you always can just stick to the kit. Nobody will ever measure your model with a caliper and compare it to the plans, so it's up to you. But if you start, you would need to recheck and redo everything. It just depends on your intentions and your skills.
- Gun carriages are not of correct construction
- The rigging blocks and deadyeys are of correct shape and good qualities, but the quantity is something like half of what you really need, and you would need a bigger range of dimensions if you want to make it good.
Other staff is minor. Having an Ancre monography, one can build a real masterpiece from this kit
 
Yes. By the way I bought it on TaoBao using google translate for the whole website. Delivery to Canada is pretty fast through DHL and costed about $200, you just need to figure out how the system works, which may be tough....
The quality is very good. There is no european/american kit that could reach this level of quality and detail - only several other chinese kits like Inger, Royal Caroline and several others (and possibly american Confederacy). It's also the biggest kit on the market after chinese Bellona. For the kit-makers this is a very good option, if you can handle the size and price.
- be sure no parts are missing. pretty regular thing with chinese
- wood is very good. first planking wood for me was better than lime
- my main wood is cherry, also very good, much-much better than wallnut or what else europeans put (though the pear is still little better)
- canons and decorations (CNCed) are also very good.
Now, if you become peaky and want everything to be ideal as per Ancre plans of this ship....
- you need to check everything. Basically all the dimensions are a little different (sometimes up to 10 mm). Location of the gunports, location of the masts, length, height and camber of the decks. You should choose your approach - you always can just stick to the kit. Nobody will ever measure your model with a caliper and compare it to the plans, so it's up to you. But if you start, you would need to recheck and redo everything. It just depends on your intentions and your skills.
- Gun carriages are not of correct construction
- The rigging blocks and deadyeys are of correct shape and good qualities, but the quantity is something like half of what you really need, and you would need a bigger range of dimensions if you want to make it good.
Other staff is minor. Having an Ancre monography, one can build a real masterpiece from this kit
What was the selling price, currently I can't find any for sale on tao bao?
 
Hallo Oleg,
a warm welcome here on board of our forum - and great that you started this highly interesting building log.
Many thanks also for the additional information about the kit - this sounds like a real good choice and very good quality for the money.

You mentioned twice the planset from ancre. I made some time ago a planset review of the Bonhomme Richard drawn by Jean Boudriot, so every body interested take a look here:

 
What was the selling price, currently I can't find any for sale on tao bao?

I know these two
 
Thank you for your kind words!
I contunie with upper whale. For treenails: I used a template made from thin transparent piece of plastic (like from berry boxes). Needle from compass to make initial marks - you need them in order to center the drill bit and prevent it from slipping when you actually drill a hole.
If I remember correct I used 0.5mm below mainwhale and 0.6mm above.

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Добро пожаловать к нам на форум, Олег! Мы очень надеемся что вам у нас понравится. Буду следить за вашей постройкой, очень мне нравиться!!!

Welcome to our forum, Oleg! We really hope that you enjoy it. I will follow your construction, I really like it !!!
 
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