BLING BLING BLING BLING

by John

I composed the post heading especially for my friend JohnB who introduced me to the term some years ago, when describing the most satisfying part of making a steam engine, namely adding all of the pretty shiny bits at the end of construction.

I had never heard the term used before, but I have used it subsequently on quite a few occasions when describing adding the decorative bits to my models. On one such occasion JohnB responded that he wished that he had never introduced me to the use the word “bling”.

So here it is again, and on HMS Bellerophon, 1786, 74 gun, 3rd rate ship of the line, in common with other naval battle ships of the 18th century, bling was an inevitable addition to ships of the Royal British Navy.

There are very few contemporary pictures of Bellerophon, but there are some which celebrate the surrender of Napoleon Bonaparte, and his transport to England on the Bellerophon.

Decoration such as the elaborate gilded carvings on the transom of Bellerophon did little to increase the awesomeness of these ships to modern eyes, but no doubt the designers of such fripperies in the eighteenth century saw the value when selling their designs to the Lords of the Admiralty.

And modern kit manufacturers also..

On my model HMS Bellerophon I am at a stage of the hull construction when I am adding some of the transom components.

This is the plywood transom of my Bellerophon, painted, brass window frames attached, glazed with “Glue-n-glaze” windows, and ready for attachment to the hull.
And here it is with high technology attachments while being glued to the hull.
The coloured transom decorations are from a HMS Vanguard model which was made by a friend, and a 3 piece white metal casting for Bellerophon which he had left over from his kit, which he generously donated to me. I have primed it ready for painting and attachment to my model.
It is now glued to the Bellerophon hull and has a background coat of red ochre, and gold paint to the figures of Bellerophon, Pegasus, various hangers on, greenery, and spearmen. Still quite a bit more of “bling” to be added, plus turning the triptych into a unified object, and paint touchups. And still considering whether to use multi colours like my friend’s Vanguard, or whether to stay with the monochrome gold carvings. Both are valid but I think that monochrome was more fashionable in the era of Trafalgar.