ChrisLBren

Looks sweet Ben !

Go with Fiebings Black Shoe dye on Swiss Pear for your wales - it takes the dye better than boxwood.  I use 4 coats - they dry instantly then buff with an old t shirt.  I then top coat with Watcos Danish Oil.

Hi Clare

Im interested in the first three books - please send me a PM

Chris

Congrats John - shes a beauty !!!!

Unless your name is Chuck - I wouldn't attempt these with anything other than a hardwood 

Nice work Toni !

Thanks guys - actually this is the third one on this side - the other side I'm on number two ! Good thing I'm in no hurry to finish...

I would think so Aldo - if i get some time ill run an experiment for you with a spare 1/8 by 1/16 strip soaking and using a jig

Chris

This phase is taking forever (then again my time in the shop is limited).  It takes a good amount of time to cut out and sand a rail that fits your model to spec and then this happens - the boxwood crumbles as you are carving the molding. And im using a hard wood...

The scrap box is growing......

I dunno Aldo - if it were me I would use Boxwood exclusively.  In my opinion its so much easier to work with hardwoods and Costello can easily be edge bent if you use a jig, soak the planks and let them dry.

Thanks Mark !  The rails are my carving - the wolves and the filagree are Chucks resin copies painted to look like boxwood.  I cut them out of his resin trailboards and added them to my trailboards I cut to spec out of 1/32nd swiss pear on my model - then dyed with Fiebings.  Again nice to be able to rely on Chucks beautiful carvings for this part of the build.

Thanks !  Trail boards are built -  need to finish the rails with their grooves/moldings

No Rob (I wish) I used Chucks resin copy painted to resemble boxwood.  I wont have this luxury on my next builds....

With some care - Chucks Figurehead paints up nicely.  I'm hoping to get the rails and trailboards finally installed by the end of next week.

Hi Richard,

Swiss Pear takes it really well - better than boxwood.  I typically apply 4 - 5 coats buffing between coats.  It dries almost immediately and has a sheen very close to Ebony.   It is a little dangerous to dye wood on a model - because it will run.  But Ive developed ways of dealing with that as well.  I usually top coat with Watcos Danish Oil.  Check out my scratch build Confederacy Build log if you want to see some pics.

Chris

Hi Richard,

I use Fiebings Black Leather Shoe Dye available at most cobblers/shoe repair stores.

Chris

For me its Swiss Pear and Costello Box.  Swiss Pear takes dye really well to imitate Ebony. I agree with Toni on all of her points regarding workability of hardwoods vs anything else.

How are you liking the scale Rusty ?  Some swear building larger is easier. 

Amazing work Johann - i love this ship !  

Chris

Looking great Alex !  Thanks for the update,

Chris

Ha - im worried about the supply of Swiss Pear too !!!!  Welcome back from vacation Ben.  And thanks for the kind words Mike and Rob.   Mark as far as the conversion of the Commerce De Marseille to the L'Orient - its not that difficult - Gerard Delacroix included a supplemental plan sheet which has the figurehead Ive posted and the arrangement of the Poop deck to accommodate the 6 additional carronades she carried. Thats what I love about these Monographs - all of the research has been done for you - they are spectacular.  

Thanks Druxey - i now spend a couple hours at night after the babies go down to visit the workshop vs watching TV.  As far as the next projects - I feel L'Orient is a notable subject - boggles my mind that I have never seen her modeled. In my opinion, one of the most beautiful 3 deckers ever built (sorry HMS Victory).  I plan on building Le Gros Ventre as a proof of concept/introduction into building fully framed and French Naval Architecture.  Then i will decide whether to build L'Orient P.O.B. or Full Frame.  I am 43 - so hope to have another 40 years in me or so.  And yes the wife knows both will be built in 1/48.....

Here is her figurehead

Thanks guys - Mark - rest of my life - yes - Le Gros Ventre will be full frame for sure - and Im toying with the idea of building the 3 Decker as L'Orient - Napoleon's Flagship at the Battle of the Nile full frame - enormous....

Hey Group

An update !  Working on the cheeks - have to say this is my favorite part of the build so far.  This is where the careful work i did almost four years ago on the stem is paying off - everything for the most part is lining up.  You can see I did rework the trailboards vs using the ones Chuck generously supplied - mine needed to be about 1/16 wider at the hawse holes for it to fit and align everything properly.  Some tweaking will still be necessary - my advice for people building the kit is to know going in - this area is probably more of a scratch building exercise than simply using the kit components.  Most will need to adjust/re work  parts  to compensate for the creep that is unavoidable in your build.  I also highly recommend using hardwoods for the cheeks.  

Next up will be to finish the cheeks by inscribing the moldings, dyeing the tailboards/stem/adding the carvings, painting the figurehead and installing everything to the model.

Lastly picked up a couple Ancre Monographs and am currently studying them for my next builds. I'm pumped !  I should be busy for the rest of my life with these - I intend to build both in 1/48.  

Chris

Really nice work Allan on an interesting subject.  Look forward to following this build,

Chris