HMS Bounty 1787 - Restarted the project 2024!

[Hoplitespear]

Hi everyone!

Today is the start of my build log for the HMS Bounty, it is a kit from Constructo at 1:110 scale.

Here it is in the shipping box after me taking a peek when it arrived.

This is a 'beginner kit' (although a few hours in I start to question the meaning of that word). I did not want to jump into anything bigger or more complicated before getting a feel of modeling with wood.

Intro
So a small intro before we jump into the build log, for people who don't want this just skip it .

I have been a while on the RPF and started my journey of making with cosplay and props. A few years ago my attention on this forum shifted to the modeling section, slowly sucking me in. I started looking at all the amazing work the members here did, both kits and scratch builds.

After a few months I stepped into a modeling store and bought the Bismarck from Revell (album here). I finished this kit after a few months and was sold to the new found hobby.

I did have some troubles, I did not really find my 'thing' in modeling. Do I want to scratch build space ships or build tanks or more warships like the Bismarck.... .
I then first decided to try out kit bashing and scratch building, to see the difference between following a kit and following your imagination, you know testing the different aspects.

So I made this which some of you might of seen. This revealed another aspect I liked about modeling. The manual work, labour, crafting... whatever you want to call it. Instead of mostly gluing parts together I wanted more of the creating.

One day is tumbled upon themodelshipworld.com, started going trough its pages and finding a certain attraction to the craft of building wooden ship models. And then it all clicked.

Since the start of my modeling craze I wanted to make an airship.... Yes not a regular ship but an airship.

Specifically this one:

This is the Lion's oath. A concept ship created for the intro of World of Warcraft: Legion's intro cinematic.
I always loved airships, as soon as I started playing Final Fantasy games in my younger years.

but again, everywhere you read warnings are popping up like big neon signs on a dark road.
DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE WOODEN SHIP BUILDING.

So before jumping into a fully custom 'holy grail' 1:48th scale airship I need to know how it feels to model in wood.

This will take me a few models. Here the intro ends and we start my build log with my first round of 'practice' the HMS Bounty.

*There is some huge home renovating in between where I built a small piece of heaven in our house to start my newfound hobby.*

The start

This is the content of the box (not my picture forgot to take one):

This is a solid hull model. apart from, for example, Orthofox his build of the HMS Pegasus which is plank on bulkhead, this base is a solid piece of wood. Again this is a beginner kit and more 'simple'.

The instructions are made of small pictures on the box itself and a few lines of text for each picture. This is going te be one of the biggest hurdles! The instructions are not that detailed and go over terms like you should know a boat inside out and the pictures are really tiny.

It is worth telling I have NO knowledge of classic naval ships or anything else what so ever.

Anyway, the best way to find out is to dive right in.

This is the hull you get:

The instructions first tell me to scribe in the deck planking.
Now, I knew from the start I was going to do some modifications, the kitbashing and scratch building itch had to be scratched.

A few months ago when I was renovating the house to make my 'workship' I bought a huge lot online of a master ship modeler who was quitting his hobby due to health reasons (this is the HMS Victory from caldercraft one of his 11 stunning models in his home.). In the lot, next to loads of tools, clamps etc..., where 1000-1500 of spare planks he collected in his 15 years of model making.

I looked trough them and found some 1x3 (mm) planks to plank the deck. Just like Orthofox did and many people on themodelshipworld I colored the edges with permanent marker and cut them to size following the pattern on the plans that came with the kit.

I was pleased this was already looking really cool!

After this came my first ... mistake... I had to drill holes for the masts and got one measurement wrong. Anyway not getting to discouraged I filled it with sawdust and wood glue and went on to the next steps.

They Included:

Gluing on the 'breast hook' (lots of new terms for me there)

Bending the front rail, they suggest doing it with a soldering iron, which resulted in a cracked part and a second set back. Gathering some courage I went to get some hot water and tried soaking for a few minutes and carefully bending around the bow. Which worked perfectly!

After this, the end rails and rear bulkheads where added, capped of with the rear section and everything filed and sanded flush:

It might not look like it...
but many hours where spend, some cursing and allot of learning.
For example: when I should use woodglue or super glue. How to clamp some stuff, bending, sanding and filing. All these skills where slowly enhancing (still being at below beginner level).

Then this evening I had to glue on the first upper wale. Got some hot water, soaked the 1,5 x 1,5 (mm) beams and bend, glued them to the hull.

And this where I'm at. It has been a week or two.

I'm not that much of a writer and this model is not that complicated (yet).
So my apologies for that. But I do love keeping a build log and sharing with the RPF.

I hope some of you find this interesting so far.

See you at the next part!

-Hopli

 

[PHArchivist]

Love wooden sailing ships...

 

[Hoplitespear]

Hey Everyone,

got some more things done on the Bounty.

Started with finishing up the rails.

The small scale suprised me here, it was waay harder to get correct than i initially suspected.
After the Aft rails I started on the middle ones.

These broke of atleast 3 times while finishing up the stern.

To let these thoroughly dry I did a side step and finished + varnished the stand that came with the kit.
Simple to do, glue edges on it, center the supports and varnish.

After this was dry it was time to finishe of the stern. This included glueing on window supports, veneer and edge whales.

Started with the windows.

Followed by the veneer. This stuff was really low quality, it broke easily was a b* to cut flush with the edges of the stern piece. But I made it work.

After trimming I added the vertical beams left and right. And filled any gaps at the bottom with Wood filler.

This is where I'm at atm. Next up is a decorative piece at the stern followed by supports and extra beams at the bow.

Cya then!

-Hopli

 

[orthofox]

Great to see you've taken the leap into wooden ship modeling. My apologies to all of those loved ones in your life that will get to experience the roller coaster of emotions this will invoke

 

[Hoplitespear]

Hey guys,


for the moment this project is on hold. Some stuff at home needed attention first.

Also I might switch to making my airship project instead. I'll keep you posted! (literally).

-Hopli

 

[metal wood]

Might be helpful, or not. This is me sailing the Bounty through Sydney when i was 15 back in the 90's. (Major humble brag) Thought you might like some close up shots of the wheel. Cheers

 

[Hoplitespear]

Hi everyone,

My apologies to moderators for reviving this post, but it is with good reason. I have re-started this project, and would like to pick up where I left off 4 years ago.

I also waited until i had enough content to actually make it worth wile opening this post again

So a burnout, few career changes, building a house, moving houses and so on later. I find myself in a good spot to start modeling again. (I did make some models after quitting the HMS bounty mainly my venator). I came across a cardboard box moving houses, with all the parts and the partial finished hull of the HMS Bounty. Being settled finally and having carved out a hobby desk under the stairs in the garage I unpacked said box and restarted the unique world that is wooden boat modelbuilding.

First of all, thank you 'metal wood' for the pictures, although a very late reply I still read it a few years back.

Lets get this show back on the road!

2019

Reading my last post I was about to make the decorative piece at the back and add beams to the bow. Looking back at this now I realize that I didn't even post the latest updates back then in 2019.

Being a while I will add some text to these pictures, but they are from a long time ago.

I do not have any specific picture of making the transom ornament but it will pop in one of the pictures eventually. J
The first set is me building up the various beams at the bow of the ship, followed by the lower wales and finally the stern and bow supports.
These needed notching, something I measured by a scrap piece apparently.

After this it was on to the various bow channels. these had to be cut shaped and drilled following the 1:1 scale plans available with the kit.

After this I got the whole model a coat of varnish and this leaves us with the hull I found in my box a few months ago.

THE PRESENT (2024)

I picked up by plating the rigging screws for the above mentioned bow channels.

This got me to my first dilemma (yes this fast). These rigging screws would be in the way if I decided to paint the hull. If this had been a big plank on hull/frame the choice was easy. No paint. I like to see all the wood and parts of these ships, its what drove me to the whole thing.
This being a solid hull got me thinking, and in the end the decision went to paint. Its my first wooden boat model, its a starter kit, lets just follow the steps and finish this one so I can learn and choose my new target for a bigger more advanced wooden project.

This being said, I gave her a lick of paint, and added the rigging screws:

After this followed a series of deck ornaments who immediately brought back memories from 2019.
I forgot how small these parts are
How much crafting and building they required
How mediocre the quality of some of the wood is in this kit (sadly enough)
How much freaking fun it is to build something from 0 in a kit format instead of cutting them from a sprue...

I will save you details on every deck piece, and give you a picture with the majority of the parts.

After this lot I also made the Anchor drums, steering wheel, chimney and Tiller+box.

The next step was to glue all these parts onto the deck, which required to paint all the cast iron pieces as well.
Now these pieces had a ton of flashing and molding lines, it took me about 6 hours filing and then giving them a coat of black to get them in a descent state:

People that know a thing or two about ships, boats and the royal navy, will notice I still haven't added the window frames to the bow int he aft section. I remember wanting to leave them out back in 2019, because I thought they looked off and crap compared to the wooden hull.

having filed everything and with the paint, I will add these later, making it 100% correct instead of leaving them off.

The combination of the cast iron parts and self made deck structures brings us to the next step.

populating the deck and adding the various eyes for rigging later
here is a picture of a test fit:

I wanted to finish this new progress post wit the bowsprit. For this I finally had a use for one of the equipment I bought 5 years ago.
Didn't take me long to set it up and get it spinning:

I finished it of with giving it a good coat of mat varnish and taking some final pictures:
So here we are now, five years later and feeling really happy:

Next up masts and rigging!!!!
Cya soon! (don't worry it won't take 5 years)!

- Hopli

 

[PHArchivist]

Still loving this!

 

[Hoplitespear]

Hey,

Thank you for the kind words PHArchivist!

After last session I added the required rigging to the wheel and Tiller per instructions.

After that it was on to the masts. This was a bit daunting at first, all of them needed shaping at the top to fit the caps. For the mizzenmast (third tallest) I had to drill out the cap, unfortunately the iron cast piece broke.
I fixed this by adding two bronze rings and a bit of super glue, after paint you won't see the difference.

Adding the crosstrees and supports for the tops was a bit tricky to get plumb and true, but I'm very happy with the result.

After that everything went smooth sailing (unintentional pun). They still need paint around the caps before being finished.

I finished this sessions by drilling holes to add the spars.

Spars and rigging left!


-Hopli