HMS Ontario 1/48 scale 31.89`` 81.0cm Model Ship Kits MarisStella
19.03.2021. | Our products
HMS Ontario 1/48 scale 31.89" 81cm Model Ship Kits MarisStella
A relatively small, deep draft and heavily armed snow. A snow was defined by having an additional trysail mast directly aft of the mizzen and only carrying a gaff for a loose footed spanker (no boom). This snow was built like her deep draft European ocean going cousins, quite the exception to most other shallow draft Great Lake vessels. The original was built at Carleton Island, Upper-Canada in 1779 and was lost in a storm with the loss of all hands. Ontario now rests in cold fresh water at the bottom of Lake Ontario, having preserved her extremely well and she is in a remarkably good condition to this day. Preserved as a ‘war-grave’, no further exploits of her wreck-site are allowed. This wooden model kit has been reconstructed from the Admiralty drawings for dimensions and detailed information and drawings taken from the actual wreck, having a quite significant amount of differences from the Admiralty drawings. She was a rather unique vessel.
You get a model kit complete and ready to be built. It comes with:
All the top-quality wood parts needed to build the model comprising 17 laser-cut basswood and walnut sheets (7 large sheets ; 7 medium-sized sheets ; 3 small sheets)
22 cannons and carriages
Materials for making a Jollyboat with oars (to be made the MarisStella way)
Materials for making masts and spars in appropriate sizes with all the necessary rigging including chainplates
Two Photo etched brass sheets : 89,7mm x 282,6mm (3.5” x 11”), 89,7mm x 140,7mm (3.5”x 5.4”)
Instruction booklet with a new instructions comprising 87 sheets of text. 24 A4 gray-scale cad illustrations, 118 A4 color cad illustrations
Four sheets of drawings 900mm x 1000mm (35.4” x 39.4”)
Extras
In addition, we offer additional parts to make construction easier. These parts can be purchased with the kit. They are:
A complete set of semi-finished sails by MarisStella
A 3D printed mold for the stern and quarter-gallery badges
A 3D printed bow decoration
''... Within the set of the semi-finished sails, which modelers have to sew and complete, is one single sail that is sewn completely, and modelers have to add bolt ropes and other ropes on it. This sail is an example of a completely sewn sail. ...''
Extraordinary blocks and turned brass cannon barrels:
3mm pearwood single sheave 90pcs
5mm pearwood single sheave 80pcs
7mm pearwood single sheave 30pcs
You can watch the video at the bottom of the page:
Unpacking the HMS Ontario
The drawings
All MariStella models are based on the most accurate drawings we can find and we research the projects extensively to be sure the drawings as accurate as possible. Therefore, reading the drawings is extremely important when making MarisStella models.
The laser lines are taken directly from the drawings and we have found that they are a perfect fit to the drawing. When the model is assembled it should fit the drawings perfectly. If your parts do not fit, you should check your parts against the drawings. This may mean that you have to remake the part, so it fits the drawing.
The rigging drawings show the details of HMS Ontario. In various places on the drawings, we show details in a larger scale to enable you to build them accurately. On the HMS Ontario drawings, we show two rigging schemes: one for the standing rigging (sheet 2) and one for the running rigging (sheet 1). Both schemes are scaled exactly to the model scale.
The color scheme is shown in the illustrated part of the instructions. It shows how each part is correctly painted.
Wherever possible we show at least three views of each part. Where possible we include a three-dimensional drawing of the parts. These are included to help less experienced modelers read the drawings accurately.
Each part of the model is drawn. Here are just a few examples.
An intermediate level
Here we would like to show you a finished model of HMS Ontario. This model is done by an intermediate level, but experienced amateur modeller, who does not speak English, with no help from MarisStella. We feel this is important to mention, as he worked solely from the drawings and illustrations. The modeller’s photographs are not professional grade, but they show how he built the model. We like to think that this shows how accurate the MarisStella drawings are and how accurate the photo-etched and laser-cut elements agree with the drawings.
In this kit, illustrations in the booklet are three-dimensional images. They are completely accurate and authentic. They are actual photographs of this model, but, like all photographs, they are not to scale.
The instruction starts with a 50-page build log of the construction of the model hull. There are many color photographs of the model construction phases, along with a detailed textual description of the process.
In our kits, no extra materials are needed. The materials in the kit are more than enough to build this model…
... but you can get extra accessories to make your model even more beautifully made...
Modeling HMS Ontario
Construction
All the parts needed are laser cut. The keel and posts are walnut. The bulkheads are the plywood or basswood.
The keel has to be glued together with the sternpost and stempost. For best results it is the best to glue them on a perfectly flat surface, either on a pane of glass or on a polyethylene covered sheet of thick plywood. (a glass surface or polyethylene covered plywood surface is used to prevent the glue from sticking to the surface. )
When the keel and posts are glued when the plywood parts of the keel have been glued, glue them together. Check their thickness. The walnut keel section is 6mm wide and the plywood piece is 4mm wide. Make sure their centerlines are perfectly aligned.
Insert the bulkheads into their slots. Insert the carrying strips into their grooves in the bulkheads. Bevel the bulkhead tops to receive the gun deck veneer base properly. Insert the gun deck veneer base into the bulkheads.
Decks
The Laser cut margin plank and laser cut deck planks are new from MarisStella Model Ship Kits. This method will allow very complicated deck shapes to be completed very easily …
We have enclosed some additional illustrations about the decks and how to install them on the Ontario model. If you study the drawings, you will see that the parts have to be placed in exactly the right position. The 3-D drawing shows how this should look. We have engraved a template pattern for the margin plank and deck planks on the base to enable you to glue the margin plank and deck planks exactly in the right location.
It should be noted that the decks slope upwards toward the stern. Therefore the deck surface shown on the drawing is slightly shorter than the actual deck on the model.
In the new version of this MarisStella kit, we offer a choice between two different deck building methods:
1. The first option is to glue laser-cut margin planks on the laser-cut deck bases, then making and gluing solid wood strips to the same laser-cut deck bases between the margin planks. However, you should note that when 1x5mm factory-made strips are used to plank the deck base, they are sometimes not exactly 5mm wide, but vary slightly. 5,1mm or 5,2mm wide is possible. Before using them, be sure to measure each one with a caliper. If necessary, adjust their width with a plane, sandpaper or a bench saw. My personal preference is to use an electric table saw.
2. The second version of the deck is to only use the laser-cut deck base. This version will free you from the hassle of making a planked deck, but a better finish and more professional looking model will come from using method 1 above.
Regarding the first version of the deck design When gluing laser-cut Margin Planks on laser-cut Deck Bases, and making and gluing solid wood strips to the same laser-cur Deck Bases, between the Margin Planks: Be careful here: 1x5mm factory-made strips are used to plank the decks. They are sometimes not exactly 5mm wide, but a variation of about 5,1mm or 5,2mm wide is possible. Before use, be sure to measure them with a caliper. If necessary, adjust their width with a suitable tool. Personally, I am prone to electric table tools for this and similar purposes. What is happening here is that the Deck Planks in the middle area of the Decks do not have to match the laser-engraved veneer pattern exactly. This means that the widths of the Deck Planks in the middle area of the Decks can vary, so you do not have to sand the strips to the perfect widths. The Deck Planks were, in reality, a bit narrower in the center of the Deck, called the King Planks, so you can do this on these Decks. This means that the strips in the middle areas of the Decks can slightly vary in their widths. BUT the Deck Planks on the side areas of the Decks must be shaped and adjusted exactly as they are drawn on the laser-engraved veneer patterns. This is important. These Deck Planks end tapered, entering their particular slots on the Margin Planks. The tapered ends must be exactly a half of the width of particular strip. This must be done like this. (If a width of a strip is x, its ends must be x ½). The side deck areas are presented in red border on the photograph, and the important planks are framed green.
When calculating the widths of the Deck Planks, always take in account the thickness of the glue that will be applied to glue the strips together. I calculate it be 0,1mm or 0,2mm thick glue layer. So, if I need 5mm wide strip, I will sand it to the width of 4,9mm or 4,8mm.
Making Your Model More Realistic: Installing trunnels or treenails.The treenails do not have to be set on the decks, but if you wish to construct them, be aware of the wood you are using. In this kit, lime wood strips are used to build the decks. Lime wood is a very soft and fragile wood. Do not use any awl to drill treenail holes in the deck. The edges of the holes will crack and will not look nice. Do this: When the deck is finished with Margin Planks and Deck Planks in place on your work bench treat the upper deck surface with a stain.
Wipe it with a cloth immediately. Now when it has dried, the upper surface of the deck will be slightly plasticized and you can drill treenail holes. By ‘plasticizing’ the deck slightly, the holes will be less likely to crack. Complete the treenails by inserting them in the holes. The treenails should have a diameter of exactly 0,7mm. If you decide to drill holes without inserting the treenails later, create narrower holes. 0,5mm would be quite good in that case. Prior to trying to drill any holes, experiment on scrap strips. Only when you are satisfied that you have a good technique, should you try it on the model.
Beveling the Bow
About beveling and hull planking at the bow:
It was mentioned the hull going too concave at the bow. Most old-sailing ship models have rounded bluff bows. This is not always the case. On a lot of ships the bow becomes sharper below the waterline and often creates a slight vertical concavity just abaft the bow. Planking this part of the hull is often quite difficult in that the planking needs to sweep upwards somewhat to get the correct shape. In real vessels the planking is tapered at the bow (and often, at the stern), to allow the planks to sweep slightly upwards. This tapering is known as ‘spiling’ in English.
Regarding beveling the bow, here are additional illustrations attached. It is more than clear that the bow is well done in this project. This is the correct shape of the hull.
Beveling is a very important process in ship modeling. This model has a very sensitive bow shape. The construction is well done in the project, it fits the original. The deformation that you might have on the planking is probably because the beveling is not completely accurate.
About beveling in general:
The second and the third bulkhead on the bow are very sensitive locations for bevelling on every ship model. A lot of caution is needed while beveling these bulkheads. Take off too much wood and deformation of the hull lines can often occur. (if you sand off too much wood, you may need to glue a thin strip to the bulkhead and resand the bevel, or build up the hollow with a little plastic wood.)
To bevel correctly, use a flexible batten to constantly check how much wood you are removing. Apply the batten in the same direction as your planking will lie. Try not to remove too much wood or distortions can occur. Check the bow shape constantly and sand away any bumps. You may have to fill hollows if you have sanded too much off. Beveling is complete when there are no bumps or hollows in the bow area.
When sanding, use sandpaper on a wooden block that spans at least two or three bulkheads to get a smooth, fair surface. Temporarily pin flexible ‘planks’ or battens to the bulkheads to ensure you have the entire area sanded smoothly. The battens will also serve to hold the bulkheads in place while you sand. Remove the pins and battens when you are about glue the planking in place.
Transom
The transom can be made in two ways: by use of laser-cut flexible panels that has to be bent and assembled, then planked. Or you can use the 3-D printed transom. (provided as an extra to the kit.) These 3-D parts are a photopolymer resin printed with SLA 3D technology (stereolithography). The only thing be aware of is that the 3-D printed transom must be trimmed to fit the sternpost. This must be done carefully, so as not to break the 3-D resin printed transom.
The procedure is as follows:
Separate the parts by removing them from the supports. By using a new technique developed by MarisStella, the 3-D printed parts can be planked with wood strips to make the transom look and feel like it is made of wood. To do this, follow the planking layout on the drawing. When the stern and quarter-badges have been planked, they can be treated with linseed oil, paint or varnish is if they were entirely made of wood.
Ontario’s lettered name plate is a photo-etched part supplied with the kit. You will have to make the window frames from strip pieces and carve tiny slots for them to fit flush with the planking. The window frames should be painted white. The windows frames can be laminated with any clear plastic or ‘glass -like’ material to complete them.
Note: Do not plank the badges at this stage. It is the best to plank the badges after they have been installed. When installing the badges on the model, you will have to adjust them slightly to fit the hull and transom planking. Do this by sanding and filling any gaps with putty or wood filler.
While installing on the model at a later stage, be aware of the flow of the main wale and the lower beam of the badge; be careful of the alignment of the top rail (top cap, topgallant rail) and the top of the badge; and the beam that runs below the windows on the transom and the badge.
Boats, made the MarisStella way
We have attached samples of the boats, made the MarisStella way. They are realistic and in scale. Here are a couple of processes of the boat mold making. The boat mold making is the most important because it gives the final shape of the boat. The illustrations are taken from the MarisStella model ship modeling school Level 3. It is not hard to do. We find that beginners can do this with great results. All you have to do, to take a couple of balsa blocks and practice making one or two molds before you make the final one. It is a great fun!
You can watch the video at the bottom of the page:
21-foot Gig Model made the MarisStella way
Photo etched anchor
The anchor parts are to be put together from three-pieces of photo-etched parts. Assemble the photo-etched parts for each anchor (shank with arms). Fill the gaps on the edges of the anchor with solder. If you do not want to solder these parts, fill the gaps with plastic wood or other method of your choosing. File or sand the anchor into the required shape. Drill a hole for the cable ring.
Solder or glue the flukes to the anchor arms. Paint the anchor matt black. Sand the laser cut parts for the stock to the required shape. They need to be slightly tapered towards the outer ends. Make the cable ring from wire (if you have a soldering iron, solder the ends of the rings together to prevent the anchor line from slipping out of the ring). Add the stock straps cut from the remains of the brass sheet and blacken them and install. That finishes the anchor.
You can watch the video at the bottom of the page:
Photo-Etched Anchor
HMS Ontario 1/48
MarisStella Model Ship Kits
A Demonstration Model
Sails
The sails are pre-sewn on the fabric, embroidered to look realistic. In our set of sails we supply a complete sail without the bolt-rope.
You can leave the sails as they are without adding Linings or you can add the Linings. Add the boltrope for a more authentic look.
Definition of the Linings: the canvas sewed on the leeches and middle of a sail to strengthen it. Types of the Linings: Leech lining, middle-band, reef band, buntline-cloths, mast cloths, top lining. Position of the Linings on the sails: Top-linings and mast-cloths are put on the aft side and all other linings on fore-side of sail.
Cutting the Sails and Linings:
Cut the sails including the hem edges. Cut the Linings taking care of the seams on them. The
seams will give an impression like the Linings were sewn to the Sail.
Process of cutting and folding the sail edges (The Selvedge):
If you use a special glue (In America, white glue seems to work best and stays reasonably flexible.) Apply the glue along the edges, cut the sails and fold the edges over. Some modelers iron the folded edge to be sure it stays folded over. If you happen to cut a ragged edge, use a pair of very sharp scissors to trim the cut edge. When dry, trim any rough spots with a pair of sharp scissors.
If you use a wood glue, such as Pattex by Henkel, dilute it with water and apply it with a brush over the edges and, when dry, trim with sharp scissors.
Hem the Sails once or twice:
If you do not use the Linings, we suggest that you hem the sails by folding the hem twice to hide the cut edge, gluing and ironing it to ‘fix’ the folds in place. If you use the Linings on the sail leeches, you only need to hem them once.
Process of gluing the Tabling and Linings:
If you use a special glue for fabric apply the glue to the both surfaces to glue and glue them together.
If you use wood glue, as Pattex by Henkel, dilute it with water, apply it with a brush over the both surfaces to glue . When dry, press the surfaces one to the other with a very hot iron. The glue will melt and unite into one whole when cold.
To sew the bolt-rope and cringles to the sails, use a needle with a large eye. Sew the sail clew using a needle and thin thread. Sew the reef points by sewing them through the sail and tying an overhand knot on both sides of the sail fabric.
A solid wood decorated Model Stand
After the hull is completed, the model is ready to be set onto a decorative stand permanently. It is very good to create or purchase a thick solid wood well decorated model stand. This model deserves it. A thick solid wood decorative model stand is not supplied into this kit because it is heavy and would affect the price of the shipping a lot. The stand on the photographs of the model above is the stand supplied into this kit, it is easy to construct.
To show the decoration this model deserves, we have exposed a few of our products, the MarisStella wooden stands.
