Scraping Mouldings

by John

HMS Bellerophon 1779 had several moulding strips running the length of the hull. On the 1:72 model those strips are 2mmx2mm and 2mm x 3mm in cross section and up to 400mm long. One of the mouldings had a rounded bullnose and the other shape was square with a quarter section removed. (see the next photo to undestand the shape.)

On the left is the 2x3mm strip with the bullnose. On the right is the strip after sawing from the 3mm thick stock.

Because the strips are bent in 2 planes I chose to use the very flexible – bendy Huon pine again.

First I band -sawed some 4mm thick strips 40mm wide from my plank, then I used the drum sander to thickness them at exactly 2mm and 3mm. Next I used my home made bench saw to cut about 12 strips of each at 2mm wide. Then used the bench saw to cut the rebate in each strip. That was a bit tricky due to keeping fingers clear of the saw blade, and the tendency of the strips to grap and be flung backwards. Anyway, I did end up with with 4 fingers and one thumb on each hand.

Next I used some 220 grit sandpaper to start the rounding over process. The above photo shows that stage on the left.

Then I tried a process which I have never used previously, namely scraping, to produce the finished profile.

These are the scrapers. I purchased them from one of the model ship builders suppliers quite inexpensively. They are made from 0.5mm stainless steel and are surpisingly easy to use. I used the profile labelled 1×3 on the right hand scraper. The scraper is lightly pushed against the wood, and I found that keeping the scraper perpendicular to the axis of the strip, bet bent at and angle of about 30 degrees from the vertical was best. To get the rounded corners required about 3 scrapes per side, with each scrape raising a tiny curl of removed material. I also tried to use my laser cutter to give me a more appropriate profile in a razor blade, but my laser was not up to that task.
And here is the first strip being glued to the hull. This was closest to the bulwark and was thus easiest to clamp. As you can see I decided to attach the steps to the side of the hull prior to attaching the strips. I used PVA so I could adjust the strip position during clamping, and even later if required by wetting the glue. I did use water for that purpose twice. I took great care with measuring and marking the position of the strip, and sighting along it to ensure the correct curves.
The final strip being glued. I had previously started attaching the quarter galleries, and aft partitions.