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jack.aubrey

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  1. jack.aubrey
    Ulises, my Soleil Royal is a "personal customisation" of the original De Agostini partswork . . . The original kit is fully masted and rigged, including sails, although simplified. I decided this kind of presentation to keep at a reasonable size the display case. Regards, Jack.
  2. jack.aubrey
    I've uploaded images of this model on http://www.deagostinipassion.com/forum/posts/list/27752.page and I've created an image gallery with the same pictures on this wonderful forum, more precisely at http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/gallery/album/885-soleil-royal-170-by-jackaubrey/ Cheers, Jack.Aubrey.
  3. jack.aubrey
    I'm working on a project of a french "brick de 24" of the Napoleonic wars in 1:48 scale that was captured by the Royal Navy and served as HMS. The plans come from ANCRE and from Greenwich NMM. There were +/- 20 of these ships (with the same person who signed the projects, Francois Pestel) built by the French between 1800 and 1814 and 18 were captured by the British. I'm collecting the individual ship histories and data and finally I'll decide the name and the ship to build. Regards, Jack.
  4. jack.aubrey
    Friday, August 8th, 2014 . . Soleil Royal Launched. . Today I did the last activities around the Soleil Royal, and towards evening, I realized that I had really finished the model . . After 1550 days from the yard opening, back in April 18th, 2010, now I can finally say: "I'm done" this model. Below are some pictures I publish here but I want to limit myself to only five. I proceeded instead to open in the site "Gallery of completed models" the topic "Soleil Royal, Jack.Aubrey, 1:70, De Agostini" >>>>> http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/gallery/album/885-soleil-royal-170-by-jackaubrey/ <<<<< where I will publish all the pictures I shot and that I'll shoot of the finished model in the next few days. These images can be downloaded at the original size. So with this message, I am going to close this endless building log. However, I'll continue to follow it in case of further comments/messages that will be inserted in the future. Thank you from now on to all who were involved and who have followed me in this long adventure. Now I will take a couple of months as a "reflection pause" even if I'm already at work from now with my computer and CAD software to design and plan my next model. A cordial greeting, Jack.Aubrey. 01 P1090926.jpg 02 P1090909.jpg 03 P1090908.jpg 04 P1090907.jpg 05 P1090906.jpg
  5. jack.aubrey
    Thursday, August 7th, 2014 I'm installing the anchors, perhaps the last work of a certain commitment that still remains to do. I'm still missing one anchor on the right side and then this task is over. After several attempts to build a decent cable with the ropewalk machine starting from far, attempts that have probably identified and highlighted the point of maximum useful usage of this machine, I folded up a simple solution: I've used, on the same machine, a traditional lanyard; that is, a larger starting base and it worked. The only drawback: the cloths. I removed this annoying problem by impregnating the cable with the vinyl glue very diluted. Once dry it was a bit stiffer than they should, but gradually I made it suitable. The color is a bit off but maybe that's okay because if the cable was immersed for a long time certainly did not have to appear as if it were new. Regards, Jack. 01 CAM00283.jpg 02 CAM00284.jpg 03 CAM00290.jpg 04 CAM00289.jpg 05 CAM00282.jpg
  6. jack.aubrey
    Again, five new images, all belonging to the same day . . 01 P1090897.jpg 02 P1090898.jpg 03 P1090899.jpg 04 P1090892.jpg 05 P1090896.jpg Cheers, Jack.Aubrey.
  7. jack.aubrey
    Thanks WackoWolf, you're very kind with your comments . . Continuation of my previous message . . Five other new images, from different perspectives, shot the same day of my last message. 01 P1090887.jpg 02 P1090888.jpg 03 P1090890.jpg 04 P1090901.jpg 05 P1090893.jpg Cheers, Jack.Aubrey.
  8. jack.aubrey
    Saturday, August 2, 2014 I finished the installation of all the guns on the open decks and, in addition, some other small detail such as casks, more pins and coils of rope. In particular, I secured the four guns of small caliber (2 on the forecastle and 2 on the intermediate quarterdeck) in a different way. This method was often adopted for the smaller gun pieces when the ship was at sea and not ready for military action. In this way they were less bulky than the traditional method, even if less "safe". In fact, their use was almost always limited to the smaller pieces. 01 P1090883.jpg Here you can see the last decoration that remained to be fixed at prow: the sort of caryatid with human head and upper body, which legs transformed into a sort of column, fixed between the cathead and the "serpe". It was glued with epoxy glue having realized that the contact points for the bonding were few and rather small. However, with this glue it is attacked rather robustly. 02 P1090884.jpg Here are shown the eight guns on the "lower" quarterdeck. Unlike those of the forecastle, here the guns are all of the same size. There are also a couple of barrels, for the moment only glued with the need for additional work. 03 P1090885.jpg The other two light guns mounted on the "intermediate" quarterdeck. rigged as their two equivalents on the forecastle. In addition, there are two "seats" I think for the exclusive use of the captain/admiral and officers, in this picture you can see only one of them because the second one is hidden by the ladder. Again, as I have often done in the past, I remember that the color of the blue paintend elements is much altered by the use of the camera flash, in the reality it is much darker than it appears in my photos. 04 P1090886.jpg The central part of the upper gun deck. Here now there is only to fix the boats: I'm definitely considering to use a pair of pins to secure the support structure of the boats without having to use glue, leaving them removable. 05 P1090889.jpg More pictures and comments are coming soon. That's all for today, Jack.Aubrey
  9. jack.aubrey
    . . continuation, "de facto" the same images taken yesterday but from different viewpoints. 01 P1090882.jpg 02 P1090881.jpg 03 P1090879.jpg 04 P1090877.jpg 05 P1090875.jpg Cheers, Jack.
  10. jack.aubrey
    Sunday, July 27th, 2014 The date of the launch is approaching. . I have almost completed the installation of the 12 guns that are presented here below in the classic position ready to be driven out of the gun-ports to shoot. Now only the tackle rope on the gun barrel is missing. This afternoon I have prepared two prototypes of them to determine the correct length and the most practical method for their preparation. To change from time to time I have prepared some special deck furnitures that are not present on the "standard" model of De Agostini and maybe even on the true ship . . . the French "sun" King is no longer here to be able to contest my choice. The gratings shown on the first picture is the first "extra" piece since remained some free space on this deck. 01 P1090874.jpg I added these "removable" railings on the gandboards in the sense that during the battle they were brought into the hold but during normal sailing gave greater security to the transit of people in this area. 02 P1090876.jpg Eight guns on the quarterdeck. . not yet fixed. 03 P1090878.jpg Finally, another "extra" gratings in a significantly empty area: I think too much inclined to be able to put other details such as casks, boxes, etc.. 04 P1090880.jpg To be continued in the next message. . Best regards, Jack.
  11. jack.aubrey
    Thanks Kevin for your comment. A "commodore" appreciation is always very helpful and well-accepted. I hope to complete this task by the end of this month so that after there will remain very few things to do and I 'll can proceed with the official launching . . . Jack.
  12. jack.aubrey
    Wednesday, July 23th, 2014 Some very small evolutions on my Soleil Royal: during this week I had a lot of stupid but important thing to do and consequently I find difficult concentrate myself on this kind of work, where patience, precision and plenty of time is important. The first image shows the gun carriages fixed on the deck. There is a brass pivot on the front side of the carriage anche the wheels are glued on the deck. I used the bi-component epoxy and this operation has to be done in two different days. 01 CAM00272.jpg The other two images show the 8 quarterdeck guns partially rigged. The barrels are positioned only. I've fixed the termination of each rope with a drop of cyan. I'll prepare separately the "bundles" (?) of rope to be applied, in the proper position, over the rope's end. 02 CAM00273.jpg 03 CAM00274.jpg Kind regards, Jack.
  13. jack.aubrey
    Monday, July 14th, 2014 . . new pictures coming . . included a positioning simulation of some quarterdeck guns . . the spare parts of the guns are 80% ready. Bye, Jack. 01 CAM00253.jpg 02 CAM00254.jpg 03 CAM00255.jpg 03 CAM00256.jpg
  14. jack.aubrey
    . . other pictures coming . . cheers, Jack. 01 P1090871.jpg 02 P1090872.jpg 03 P1090873.jpg 04 P1090861.jpg 05 P1090862.jpg
  15. jack.aubrey
    Friday, July 11th, 2014 Having nothing new to show, while I'm preparing the single elements needed to install the guns on the deck, I propose you new images of the model . . be patient. 01 P1090865.jpg 02 P1090867.jpg 03 P1090868.jpg 04 P1090869.jpg 05 P1090870.jpg Regards, Jack Post Scriptum: thanks to all for the positive comments.
  16. jack.aubrey
    . . continuation, let's turn to the overall views. Now I'm approaching an less presentable activity: the preparation of all blocks and accessories related to the installation of the guns on the decks. I think it will take me a couple of weeks before I can have something to show you, after which there will be very little to get to the end. Friendliness, Jack.Aubrey 01 P1090860.jpg[/img][/url] 02 P1090859.jpg[/img][/url] 03 P1090856.jpg[/img][/url] 04 P1090857.jpg[/img][/url] 05 P1090858.jpg[/img][/url]
  17. jack.aubrey
    . . continuation A couple of views just in front of the ship, although rather similar . . . 01 P1090852.jpg 02 P1090853.jpg . . and the decks ready to receive the last guns and the last fitting. 03 P1090854.jpg 04 P1090855.jpg See you next time, Jack.
  18. jack.aubrey
    Sunday, July 6, 2014 - "Serpi" During this week I could not produce a lot, due to multiple commitments to other matters not related to ship modeling. The major achievement of this past week was that I finally set at bow the so called "serpi". An operation that took me three working sessions spread over three different days. Day 1: I made two pieces of wood, carefully shaped, applied to the stem support of the bowsprit, exactly in the area where I would have to glue the front side of the "serpi". Their shape is designed so as to maintain the correct angle of the "serpi" in this area and provide a large surface of bonding. Day 2: I glued the first of two "serpi". The bonding is at both ends and was performed with the two-component epoxy glue. 10 minutes of work and one day of waiting. Day 3: same operation on the second day with the other piece. I also worked about some other small details that I will explain in a future post. For the moment that's all . . 01 P1090848.jpg 02 P1090850.jpg 03 P1090849.jpg 04 P1090851.jpg Cheers, Jack.Aubrey.
  19. jack.aubrey
    Yes, you are right, thank you. They are old models I made many years ago. I started building ship models at about 17 years old and, after my marriage at 25, I had to forget this hobby until I retired from work, in 2006. These are models I made in that period of time. Their main enemy was the dust (and some time a cat), because I did'nt protect them with a proper anti-dust (and anti-cat) display case. Anyway they are still life and were housed at my mother's home until she died. Later I donate them to friends and now they are no more of my property. Only two are still at my home. I'll add them to the gallery in the next days. Cheers, Jack.
  20. jack.aubrey
    Saturday, June 28, 2014 - more details In the meantime, I painted with gold some details that before I just sketched at the bow, this way they are much more remarkable and visible than in natural wood . . 01 P1090844.jpg Even the poop lanterns are now painted in the final configuration, here I have deliberately limited the golden areas because it seemed to me exaggerated if totally painted with gold . . 02 P1090839.jpg In addition I installed some new pin-rails, a little improvisation in the absence of more credible references and above all I have used metal pins (not the ones provided by De Agostini) from my personal reserve fixed to the rail with a thin film of cyano-acrylate glue. 03 P1090843.jpg 04 P1090842.jpg 05 P1090841.jpg Slowly I'm approaching the conclusion of this shipyard: the biggest hurdle is the assembly of the "Serpi" and the installation of the poop lanterns; they are relatively risky operations and whom practical implications have yet to be deeply considered. . the risk may be remarkable. Regarding the guns, instead, it's only a matter of time and, obviously, a lot of patience. Sincerely, Jack.Aubrey.
  21. jack.aubrey
    Friday, June 27, 2014 - The last cannon The first image in this post shows the guns included by De Agostini in the weekly issues of Soleil Royal. Time ago I prepared them painted (the carriages) and burnished (the guns). In a few days they would have had to be installed on the upper decks of the ship. . . P1080084.jpg But. . . from the beginning I was not convinced about these guns and I started to perform thorough researches on the internet and in some specialized magazines to find references. yet. . . I found nothing; this kind of gun seems to be present on almost all models from the Soleil Royal kits but I never found references on other more reliable sources. An authoritative publication (ANCRE) about a vessel of the same historic age of Soleil Royal shows instead that all the guns available on it were with four-wheel carriages and especially they hadn't the strange shape that seems peculiar of the anti-personnel guns (swivels) fixed on the walls. So I decided to discard them and use the configuration proposed by ANCRE for the french Ambitieux. So instead of a single model of gun and carriage I decided to use three types of guns/carriages: eight of greater size (or weight of the ball), in any case suitable to be installed on high decks, four intermediate and four light for the highest decks. You can see the three types in the first image. Of course, the barrels are currently only positioned. 01 P1090836.jpg The eight guns of larger size (brass) . . 02 P1090837.jpg The four intermediate and light (iron cast). . 03 P1090838.jpg 04 P1090840.jpg In a few days I will probably start the activities to install them in place. Greetings to all, Jack.
  22. jack.aubrey
    Sunday, June 22, 2014 These days I worked also to prepare the three poop lanterns. Of course, what you see in the pictures here below presented is only the "virtually" final phase of the process. Who has already built for this model these lanterns knows how the whole thing was made up of several pieces to assemble. In particular, there were two photo-etched elements that had to be folded and welded to obtain a cylinder with openings and a semi-cone on which to fix the other three, metal cast, elements. To be honest the first two pieces were not prepared to match in measure the remaining three, but with some work with small files I managed to get an agreement with the rest. However, it was another experience with soldering that forced me to face a total new problem. In particular, the mass of the pieces in cast metal needed to heat these piece quite well to make tin melting. . while the photo-etched pieces, with a mass extremely limited, tended to make melting tin too early and detach themselves due too much heat. However at the end I went successful, adding a new experience in this field: how to weld pieces of mass rather different. The first two photographs show the three lanterns with a couple of coats of metal primer, applied with the airbrush. . 01 P1090832.jpg 02 P1090831.jpg The remaining show the same pieces with a coat of color, which at this time I would define as provisional, since I have not yet decided whether to continue with goldening or use a couple of other colors, such as blue and red, the colors already present on other details of this model. Honestly, I'm being tempted by the second solution. 03 P1090834.jpg 04 P1090835.jpg See you next time, Jack.Aubrey
  23. jack.aubrey
    Sunday, June 22, 2014 In the three images below I want to show the two pieces of the "serpi", and then completely finished ready to be mounted on the bow of the Soleil. The first two images show the "serpi" in the outer part, while the third shows one of these viewed from the inside, without any decoration and simply painted in blue. As you can imagine this is not the result of a single work session, but the last of a long approach: it suffices to say that I started working on these details a fortnight ago. Now it only remains to find the best way to mount them on the bow, which is far from obvious; for example if it happens to break the piece would really be a big problem. As often happens when I don't know how to proceed, I use to leave settle the problem and I'm going to do something else. A couple of technical details: the decorations provided by De Agostini are bonded with epoxy glue, while the copper twisted wires are glued using cyanoacrylate, the one packaged with the brush. A final coat of clear matt varnish then aesthetically harmonized the whole. 01 P1090828.jpg 02 P1090829.jpg 03 P1090830.jpg See you next time, Jack.Aubrey.
  24. jack.aubrey
    Sabato 14 Giugno 2014 A couple on new small details at the poop . . 01 P1090823.jpg While at the bow I've added some "personal" details to improve some small areas near the figurehead. At the moment it is only an initial customization, still in the process to be finalized 02 P1090824.jpg 03 P1090825.jpg Cheers, Jack.
  25. jack.aubrey
    I understand you may not have read all this topic, but somewhere I wrote that I'll not finish the model with the full masting and rigging. I explained the rationale but I repeat here: the final dimensions of the model so completed are for me too big to be covered with a practical, manageable, display case. I prefer to finish the model with only a mockup of the four masts and keep the final dimensions much more small. By the way with this kind of presentation, which was used in a lot of Navy Board Models and other kind of model presentations, there is also the advantage to . . . save a lot of time forgetting all the rigging activities that may be a nightmare . . . personally I don't "love" this job. Regards, Jack.

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