jack.aubrey

 
After having at last terminated the work on the ship decks (. . for now . .) and having finally available all the pieces needed I started to work on the hull sides. In practice at this point the hull structure is complete and the next activities will go towards the external plaking.
 
Before the planks there is some other work to do, and this is the matter of this and the following messages.
 
What I have now to do is to mount on the upper side of the hull some pieces made with ply of 1.5mm thickness where there are pre-cutted the gun ports. Before mounting them is necessary to finish their sides with sandpaper and small files.
 
Given that these pieces can be weak, in order to be able to reproduce them in case of breakage, I made a photocopy of all of them . . 
 
As glue I used the aliphatic glue but I helped myself also with some brass nails. It is obvious that all this work was not done in a sigle day, I spent five days to reach this result.
 
Here some images of the work done.  
 
Left side near bow . .
 
01 P1070008.jpg

 
Left side near poop . .
 
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Right side near bow . .
 
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Right side near poop . .
 
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Once finished the single elements I cannot resist to see the result on the model . . . also because I spent an entire week to build them. So, as soon as they became available, I installed them. Here below how they appear once applied on the model.
 
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Something is still missing and I need to think to handles and joints, but It's a great achievement for me . . 
 
Here below some news in the bow area . . the beakhead bulkhead.
 
07 P1060998.jpg

 
Cheers. Jack.

Saturday October 30th, 2010 - Doors & Windows - Part 1

As I disclosed, while I was waiting to receive additional material to start working on the hull sides, I began to study an alternative solution to the doors and windows supplied with the kit.
 
First I had to realize that there are several versions of these elements (i.e DeA, Mantua, Lusci and the famous model in Paris by Talleron)
 
With the structure anyway setup in my Soleil I wasn't able to made them as in the Paris' model, it was too late, so I decided, in lack of precise documentation, to inspire to Mantua's plans, but not 100%. There is no historical evidence but . . 
 
In the first image in this message, taken with a scanner, I have inserted the outline that I choose for these elements on the various decks. Above the outline there is a semifinished piece from which I obtained some final elements, that are the doors and the windows. There are two kinds of doors and two kinds of windows. Windows are single and double. The semifinished here shown is for single windows.
 
01 PorteFinestre2R.jpg

 
Here below a zoomed view of the semifinished. It is made with bitch ply of 0,4mm. thickness. The base is coloured before installing the frames, made with the same ply. External frames are 1,5x0,4mm. while the internal (not yet visible here) are 1x0,4mm.
 
To obtain these strips I used a home made jig as spacer.
 
02 PorteFinestre1R.jpg

 
Here below the semifinished of the double windows.
 
03 P1070001R.jpg

 
to be continued . . .

 
One task planned in the building instructions for issues 18-25 is the construct and the installation of some gratings, on the upper gun deck and on the quarterdeck.
 
The only change I made was the wood used for the frames: instead of walnut I used boxwood.
 
Here below are shown the gratings I build and I have then fixed in place . .
 
Gratings installed on the upper gun deck:
 
01 P1060990.jpg

 
Gratins installed on the quarterdeck:
 
02 P1060992.jpg

 
An overall view:
 
03 P1060993.jpg

 
With this further work I have completed the material I have, but, in order to continue, I decided to build the doors and the windows that will be installed in the vertical walls between the decks. Having no ideas of the layout of these doors and windows I based my work on Mantua Models plans, just for reference. I'll show in the next messages.
 
Cheers, Jack.Aubrey  

 
I finally received the no. 5 and 6 packages (issues from 18 to 25) and I  immediately restarted the work on my Soleil Royal. I have put in an idle state my work on the dutch privateer Dolphyn (Corel). It may be I will open also for it a build log in the future.
 
With the new material I was able to complete che hull skeleton, by installing the last two bulkheads and the last poop deck. Again I have to recognize that the material distributed is of good quality, specifically regarding to the precision of design and cutting.
 
Again I followed my instinct of shipmodeler instead of following the building instructions, these instructions are good but it is possible to work better.
 
Here below some images of the poop area just finished . . 
 
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Kind regards, Jack.Aubrey

 
This week was spent in the vain waiting of new material from the kit manufacturer. I have used all the material I have and, if nothing arrives, I will suspend this shipyard. I will not become an unemployed ship modeler because I have another model that I use to fill my dead time but . . .
 
I have made some enhancements to the original project, by using some boxwood as finishing of the decks, well visible in the images. 
 
01 P1060609R.jpg

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As you can imagine reading my last messages, there are some problems with the shipments of the weekly issues and the bad news are that it is not possible to understand who is the guilty party: italian mail service or De Agostini ? In doubt, the result is, anyway, that I'm not receiving what I need to continue . .  
 
Cheers, Jack.Aubrey

Jack, what kit is this/ and did it have a picture of the completed build on it?

The kit comes from De Agostini, more precisely from a weekly collection of booklets made up, if i well remenber, of 160 issues.

As I wrote in my first message the collection allows you to build two models:

• the entire model of this mighty ship
• the cross section

I didn't complete the first (I sold it to a friend before installing the masts) because in that period I lost the location of my workshop, so I started and completed the second: I didn't need too much space to work so I was able to do it at home . .

Kind regards, Jack.  

 
After a pause due to lack of pieces to work on, I restarted by installing two new decks in the poop area. The quarterdeck is not yet 100% finished. All the other decks are treated with oil for wood. At every new coat of oil the colour of the wood becames better (at least this is my sensation).
 
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Within the 15° weekly issue there is another bulkhead to install (n° 11). I decided to reinforce a part of the keel near this bulkhead to avoid risks.
 
01 P1060588.jpg

 
But the main task is the installation of another deck above the upper gun deck. This deck partially hides a portion of the upper deck.
 
Fisrt I have installed the ply pieces before planking them, installation made with some reinforcements where I judged useful.
 
02 P1060589.jpg

03 P1060592.jpg

 
Here below all of you can see some of these reinforcements.
 
04 P1060590.jpg

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Once finished this quite simple installation I began to apply the deck planking, using the same beechwood of the other decks. When the work related to this task will be finished I'll post new images.
 
As I wrote some message above, I'm trying to put into each message very condensed comments to let me able to describe as quickly as possible the past activities on this model. If anyone has questions, or wants to discuss more in deep some topics, I will be honoured to answer him or to explain more in deep some tasks. 

On May 3, 2009 I officially started to build the Santìsima Trinidad's Cross Section.

It is the second part of the De Agostini collection made up of 160 weekly issues in which you build A) the entire model and later the Cross Section.
It seemed me quite simple to build and I thought to follow with due diligence the kit instructions. This was my first cross section and I didn't want to take any risks. 
 
In that period of time I had another project still active: the Armed Launch 1803 by Panart and it was in concurrence with this one. 
I published the images of the finished model of the armed launch on the gallery here: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/gallery/album/210-armed-launch-1803/

At that time I didn't have a workshop where to progress my models so I was working at home, on the kitchen table . . each time i started something I had to put out everything and at the end put away everything . . heartrending !!
 
That's all for now, cheers, Jack.Aubrey.
 
01 Cross%20Section%20Santisima%20Trinidad/P1050512.jpg

02 Cross%20Section%20Santisima%20Trinidad/P1050513.jpg

03 Cross%20Section%20Santisima%20Trinidad/P1050514.jpg

 
With the issue n° 14 were distributed new pieces to complete the upper gun deck.
The new components are pre-cutted without any defect. 
 
Once installed, without problems at all, the ply pieces of the upper gun deck I completed the deck planking. I remember that for this planking I use laths of beechwood 4 x 1mm. A final refinement with sandpaper of different grain and the final coat of oil and the work is done.
 
Here are three new images of the first two decks completely planked.
 
01 P1060577.jpg

02 P1060578.jpg

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Kind regards, Jack.Aubrey

    
New pieces added to the hull: the last piece of the false keel and three new bulkheads.
 
01 - P1060250.jpg

 
I connected together the three new bulkheads with some laths of hard wood to avoid crashes. They will stay in place until I will install the last piece of the upper gun deck 
 
02 - P1060251.jpg

 
A couple of views of the false deck from poop . . 
 
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I have also checked the hull alignment after the installation of the three new bulkheads . . . it's right !!
 
04 - P1060256.jpg

 
Last, a removable reinforcement of the keel with clamps, always with the objective to avoid crash problems during the handly manipulations . . note also a new keel clamper.
 
05 - P1060257.jpg

 

Kind regards,  Jack.Aubrey.

 
Additional activities on the forecastle, now fully planked . . I spent 5-6 hours to plank the forecastle, to level it with sandpaper and to apply a coat of oil for wood to see the deck in its final appearance . .
 
01 - P1060245.jpg

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I applied a coat of oil also on a half of the upper gun deck, just to show you the colour difference before and after the treatment with my oil.
 
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I think this difference is perfectly visible in the next image . . 
 
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Cheers, Jack.

 
New progresses: instead of using for planking the deck the material provided by the kit manufacturer, I have used some laths I had that have a thickness of 1mm instead of 0,5. The main difference resides in the kind of wood I used for this activity: these laths are of beechwood. I preferred its colour to the other, more yellow for my preferences.
 
Here below three images of the work done. There is a great part of the hull still missing so I had to leave the planking infinished until I will receive new material in the next weekly issues. 
 
01 - P1060242.jpg

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I used the vinyl glue for this task and I cleaned the glue in excess with a wet microfiber cloth.
Cheers, Jack.Aubrey