Landlubber Mike

Hmm, not sure if I would say it's heresy or not, but no names will be mentioned I'm not sure how old the kit is. The Keith Julier handbook where he builds the model is dated 1995, so it's been around since then. I don't blame Euromodel though - it seems like the kit is spot on as to very detailed and accurate plans. It's just that the name and origin of the ship has been passed down through history due to what might have been a mistake of Admiral Paris in transferring the name of the incorrect ship to the plans 150 years ago. Given the extensive plans (there are 18 sheets for the Le Renommee!) and Euromodel's reputation, I don't think that they took any short cuts with this kit. It's been interesting using Google translate to translate some of the Russian forums where this ship is discussed. They correctly noted that the stern of the ship is represented in zu Mondfeld's "Historic Ship Models" on page 108, where it is labeled as the stern of the Swedish privateer frigate from 1760 named the Jupiter. I can't find any info on a Swedish ship of that name though, I'll have to reach out to perhaps European sources. Sorry for the diversion. Now back to your Unicorn

Really amazing work Patrick. The fact that you are doing it at such a small scale is incredibly impressive.

Fantastic work as usual Igor!

Chuck, is it possible to keep this log up? I might resurrect the build in the future, or at least, want to borrow/cut and paste items from it into a different log. Hope that's ok, I know you're trying to clean things up.

I started using Swann Morton blades this summer - I like them a lot better than X-acto blades. They seem much stronger structurally (blade doesn't flex) and seem to hold an edge better.

Hello Ian, hope all is well. I was doing some poking around on my Le Renommee kit from Euromodel, and came across a deck plan for the Swedish frigate Venus from 1783. The ship was designed by Chapman, as you can see in the link below. Check it out - looks like this might have been the deck plan used by Corel for the Unicorn kit, at least when it comes to the narrow waist. It's a beautiful ship by the way, one that I will put on my list for possible ships to scratch build in the very distant future http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Swedish_frigate_Venus_(1783) Based on the Gardiner book on frigates, we always knew that the waists closed up on ships as the 19th century approached. Looking at the Venus plans, however, it looks like Corel might have created a hybrid model using not only Chapman's Unicorn plans, but possibly deck plans from a Swedish ship like the Venus (the two ships were of very similar size). As a big aside, it turns out the Unicorn is not the only kit I bought that might be somewhat inaccurate. The Euromodel Le Renommee is another. There were two Renommees in the 18th century, and one in the early 19th: 1. 1744, which was captured in 1747 for the HMS Dover, renamed as the HMS Renown, and broken up in 1771; 2. 1793, a Galathee-class frigate which was captured in 1796 by the HMS Alfred and broken up in 1810; and 3. 1808, a 40-gun Pallas-class frigate captured in 1811, renamed the HMS Java, which was captured by the USS Constitution and burned in 1813. Euromodel says it is the 1744 version, but I think the Boudriot version in the Ancre monograph series is more accurate. Keith Julier in "Period Ship Handbook 2" says he thinks the kit is based on the 1793 ship. But, the Euromodel kit looks identical to plate XXXI in the Chapman "Architectura" book: http://www.sjohistoriska.se/ImageVaultFiles/id_2212/cf_1054/31.JPG There's some discussion on Russian forums which suggest that plate XXXI is based on the Swedish frigate Jupiter, but it's a bit hard to follow the translation of the conversation which essentially seems to involve a frenchman named Admiral Paris making a mistake in Souvenir de Marine Conservs. Apparently he read an earlier work that contained plate XXXI and that noted that the anchor was similar to Le Renomee, but when Paris copied over the plans from plate XXXI, he mistakenly labeled it as Le Renommee. I can't find anything out there on a Swedish frigate name Jupiter (my search is what led me to the Venus), so I don't know if I have a French ship or a Swedish ship I might have to flip a coin after building it to figure out what nation's flag to add

Looks great JP - can I ask what woods and finishes you are using on the build? Whatever you are doing is giving a lot of character to the model, and is a look i'm trying to emulate on my builds.

Really nice work Frank. Looks fantastic! Great planking and love the weathering! I was going to ask the same question that Don did but saw he beat me to it. You're right about the Age-It products being good on some woods but not others. Looks great on the lime deck (assuming that was what was in the kit).

Nice work Elijah. Very clean planking!

I should have added that you should try to find a kit with good, extensive instructions. The Caldercraft Badger had a 60-page instruction manual. Take a look at how detailed and extensive it is: http://www.jotika-ltd.com/Pages/1024768/Nelson_15.htm There are other models out there with lengthy instruction manuals as well. Even if you don't have the particular ship they can be useful - i borrowed lots of tips, for example, from Chuck's Syren instruction manual. This book by Mastini was a good resource too in being very new to the hobby: https://www.amazon.com/Ship-Modeling-Simplified-Techniques-Construction-ebook/dp/B00ARHCE5U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1471545268&sr=8-1&keywords=mastini Also, you might want to pick a model for which there are a few build logs on here. Pre-crash, there were a bunch of us "Badger Brothers" that worked on the kit - not only did we share info and tips, but it was fun building alongside others. Unfortunately, a bunch of those logs were lost in the crash, but a few of us are still around.

Welcome Rob! I would echo a lot of the folks here that suggest you start with something smaller. You didn't say whether you have any other modeling experience. If you did, then you might be able to pull it off if you take your time. Some people can do that, but I think it's very rare. I totally get wanting a kit to keep your attention. When I was looking, I didn't want to get the very beginner level kits. I thought the Badger hit the sweet spot in terms of having enough complexity to keep me interested, but not too much to be overwhelming. If you were dead set on one of the two though, I would go with the Constitution as there are a lot more build logs and material out there that can help with the build. Good luck, and let us know what you pick!

Jagger, thanks very much for these suggestions. Sorry, I responded very quickly last night when I saw your post without fully reading it (had to put the kids to bed). I've tried using black dyes and stains. They certainly look quite nice on pear. The issue with black though is that at least with the ones I've tried, they tend to almost have a paint like effect whereby although the grain may be highlighted, the figure is not (I'm probably getting my terminology mixed up here). So, you sorta get a uniform color across the piece, unlike other colors which highlight the grain and figure. It's hard to get the highlight/lowlight effect on black though - folks that paint miniature figurines seem to face the same issue when using black. Generally though, using stains and/or oils on natural woods gives a really nice effect, as you sorta get more of an aged look with highlights and lowlights without really having to do much. Some of the Eastern European masters use a bitumen type of finish (still not exactly sure that that is) which gives that effect in a really beautiful way. It's that look that I'm trying to emulate. I have to admit that I'm feeling my way through the wood/color issue, as I only have one model under my belt and have otherwise done no woodworking except to put up a decorative chair rail in my daughter's bedroom (plus, I'm not sure that I have a single artistic bone in my body). What I'm coming to realize, at least for my own sense of aesthetics (or lack thereof), is that not only do I want to try to use complimentary colors on my models, but also, to the point possible, use similar "textures" for lack of a better word. For example, on my Badger, I used a tung oil finish on the walnut upper hull, stern counter and tanganyika deck. Elsewhere I used white, red ochre, and black paint. When I look back at it, what I really like about it is the natural wood sections. In contrast, I think the painted areas look plastic. It certainly is the case that my painting skills aren't the best, but paint definitely covers up the character in woods. So, it seems like the better course would be to try to go all natural woods (maybe with some non-black stains) to keep the wood character, or use woods with very tight grains like pear and boxwood to go along with painted areas so that the "texture" is the same across all areas of the model. I'm trying to do the former with my Pegasus (with stains thrown in) and the Charles Morgan. I do think that when I eventually get to scratch building the HMS Lyme, that I'll stick with natural pear and boxwood with a tung oil finish, maybe with either ebonized pear for the black areas or ebony/blackwood. Anyway, it's been fun experimenting and learning about this kind of stuff and sharing it with everyone. This is probably more than you were expecting - sorry, just some rambling thoughts on my end.

Yes, just sent him an email to see if he could cut custom sheets. Looks like he has really nice stuff. I'll let you and everyone know if this works out.

MWB, thanks so much! If I could kiss you right now, I'd give you a big one! I've been trying to find a source of thin cut African Blackwood for literally months now, and to no luck (I've tried the Lumberyard, but it seems like they are having difficulty sourcing the stock). I might just try ebony - I heard blackwood was easier to work with, but it seems very hard to find in thin sizes.

General Finishes makes a whitewash stain - it's coverage seems close to paint like though.

Thanks guys! After bringing out the model into more natural light (my workshop is mostly fluorescents), the natural maple actually looks quite nice. I'm pretty far from finishing the deck, with still needing to treenail and all, so I have a little time. I think i was worried that the deck was very light against the black, dark brown, blue and redheart areas that it might not fit in. I think after some tung oil it will darken a tad. Plus, it looks like the deck has already darkened a bit over time. Martin, I'm going to match the coamings to the dark brown stained upper hull. I had also stained the gratings, and I think the combo looks pretty good. Otherwise, the bitts and gun carriages will be redheart. Speaking of redheart, the upper bulkhead extensions that I made in redheart have lightened to almost a brownish-orange color. I'm in the process of doing the bulwark planking, and there was definitely a mismatch. I went ahead and sanded the visible extensions around the waist so that the color more closely matches the fresh planks that I'm using, and so that everything ages relatively together. I knew about the redheart color change going in, and actually, I think it should mellow into a nice look with the rest of the model.

Have been a bit busy with work and with family in town, and frankly, aside from time, I haven't had much energy or inclination to work on my Pegasus for whatever reason. But, I have started building the individual components for the quarter galleries and started work on the bulwark planking. So, I guess there's some progress. I'm considering whether to stain my deck, which is a little on the lighter side. So, I tested the various stains I had on some scrap pieces of maple. I also tried out the two "Age-It" products from Micromark (Gray and Brown) on pear, boxwood and maple. The first set of tests are in the top half of the picture below, and the Age-it tests are on the bottom half. The GF stains on maple were quite interesting. I used Antique Oak on the upper hull planking, which turned the pear almost walnut in color. Yet, on maple, the wood turned a grayish color which I really like for my Charles Morgan deck, as the color seems pretty spot on from when I visited the ship a couple of years ago. The Age-It stains were very interesting too. Both really brought the pear to life. The brown on the boxwood looked pretty good too. I also tried various stains and finishes on boxwood. I'm considering carving the stern and quarterbadge figures in boxwood, as well as scraping the various rails to be more decorative. So, I wanted to see how stains and other finishes would look on boxwood, and in particular, in the recesses of the carvings which is why I knicked the one edge of the test pieces. The General Finishes Amber and Yellow really changed the color of the boxwood. Yellow was a bit too yellow, but Amber looked pretty good. The Micromark Age-It Brown had a nice effect. I'd probably lean towards the amber or the Age-It brown, but i still have some time to make a decision.

No worries. There is such a thing called a "plank nipper" or the like that makes narrow cut into the underside of the plank to help with bends. Similar principle to what you are doing, but no chunks are taken out. Don is right on the use of tapering and stealers to plank. Use the first planking as a practice run for the second planking. In some respects, the second planking is easier in that you have a solid foundation to plank on - for example, you don't need to pin the planks to the bulkheads, but use pins, etc. anywhere along the planking line (just don't put the pins in the plank itself!).

Really nice work - coming along great! The french ships were really works of art, weren't they? Not sure how practical they were, but they sure were beautiful.

Yeah, no reason to do that (not sure I've seen that method either!). The first planking material is thick enough to sand the heck out of, and you can use filler for gaps.

Looks like a really cool project - nice start! I like how the bow and stern are reinforced with fore/aft supports. Seems like a good thing wood kits should think about so that builders didn't have to add filler blocks.

Hey Don, feel free at any time to ping me with any questions. I'll definitely see your PMs if you want to do it through there (probably the easiest way to make sure that you get me quickly), otherwise I'll try to keep track of your log

Nice Don - that's a nice wood for the lower decks. Is that maple or something similar? I also blackened the bulkheads and other interior items. Now that my hull is planked and the deck laid, I'd say it was probably overkill, but made me feel better. I think it's probably most important for the stern and quarterbadges though, depending on how you do the windows if you want "depth." I also hear you on stalling before the "hard" parts, though after I end up completing them, I always think to myself, "that wasn't too bad!" Are you going to do the deck next? If you do, a couple of things to note. First, it's well worth considering adding midline supports for the plywood deck template. It's a little tricky because of the various holes for the hatches, masts, etc., but you can see here how I added a few small supports which adds a great measure of support at the midline: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/7267-hms-pegasus-by-landlubber-mike-amativictory-models-scale-164/?p=243029 Second, while the kit is very close to the NMM plans, there is a slight difference in the kit's deck items to simplify construction. I moved some of the hatches and deck items forward to better comport with the plans: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/7267-hms-pegasus-by-landlubber-mike-amativictory-models-scale-164/?p=248877 The one tricky thing if you decide to do that is that the aft hatch is too far back, and if you look at the NMM plans, the hatch should be more forward to where the bitts go through the hatch. Also, if you are going for "accuracy," some of the bitts are the wrong size (the main topsail sheet bitts and jeer bitts) and the cross piece on the jeer bitts should face aft. Take a look at my log here on how I approached that if you're considering going that route: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/7267-hms-pegasus-by-landlubber-mike-amativictory-models-scale-164/?p=258189 The only other thing I would suggest is that if you are cutting your own deck planking, you get a nice clean look if you butt the planks up against the hatches, rather than sit the hatches on the deck planking. It's not really a huge deal in the grand scheme of things once the deck is finished with all the cannons and rigging, etc., but it is a cleaner look and technically more accurate if you are into such things.

Wow Don, that came out beautifully. Very nice job! Just out of curiosity, is that walnut or oak? I'm assuming walnut but just curious.

EJ, this is a fantastic build, wow! I love your work on it. I wondered about the wood in Corel kits (I have the Unicorn), but it looks really nice when on the model and finished. Seeing your work actually makes me seriously consider building the Unicorn again (screw accuracy)... Great job, you have a new follower!