zoly99sask

Spent some hours today gluing together the frames and the two false decks. Everything squared up nicely which was an improvement over the last build which had it's false keel twisted. Attached the canon barrel supports on the false decks and started to fair the hull. Still searching for the box of filler blocks that is now lost somewhere in the cluster of boxes and things that is currently my wood shop. Hopefully they will surface this week and if not then I will just run out and get some more. I definitely need something at the bow as that is a rather large empty space that I need to make a fairly sharp curve on.
 
I'm also going to have to mock up the stern galleys so I can start to plan for the lights I want to put in them as well as the interior designs. Lots of planing and testing ahead on this build.
 
I will be making a better cradle for her soon too. The one I normally use for this stage of the build is too small for Soleil Royal and so something different is needed. I have some good ideas just really needing access to my tools.

This is my first kit from Sergal. I tend to bounce around on manufacturers. Ive done a Constructo, Model Shipways, Corel and now Sergal. As long as they are a reputable company and the kit appears to be of good quality and contains the detail level I am looking for, I'm good to go. So far I am impressed with the kit. While I know none of them are perfect, nor do I really care as I always plan on changing things anyway, so far Sergal seems to have put together a nice packaged kit. The instructions like most are not made for beginers but this whole kit is not meant for beginers and so that shouldn't matter. I may change my opinion as the build progresses but right now I would have to say they did well and I would recommend their products.

A few more hours and I have managed to dry fit all the frames and decks to check fit. While the thin upper decks are warped a little and will of course have to be shaped to fit the curve of the deck, the two false decks and the bulkheads all line up almost perfectly and will go together well. The only parts that have been glued so far are the two small filler blocks on either side of the bow. I will be adding more fillers here just as soon as I unpack my wood blocks.   The other parts that have been glued are the stern post and the aft bulkhead. This bulkhead was in three pieces and had to be glued in place in order for it to stay up.
 
The forecastle and quarter decks are still lacking a lot of their supports. There are quite a few frame extensions that have to be installed in order to get them into their final position. Also the poop deck will be higher up than what it is now by about another inch.
 
As I have now done about all the dry fitting that I can really do and I'm happy with how everything is lining up, I will now take her back apart and start gluing the bulkheads to the false keel. Wood glue for strength and clamps to keep them all straight and I will be off and running. Till then, here are some pictures. I have also included some with measurements shown for height and length of the hull as is. Completed she will be larger on both dimensions.

Actually started building tonight also. Glued the false keel together and removed the bulkheads from the sheets and dry fitted them to the keel. I will hold off on actually gluing them together for a while as I want to test fit the decks and see what changes I need to make for some of the things I want to do. The main change that I know will require some extensive rework will be in the cabins. I would like to detail the cabins out and I have some LEDs to simulate lantern light to illuminate the cabins so those details can be seen.
 
As a curiosity I wanted to compare the scales of la Couronne (1:100) to Soleil Royal (1:77). This is not a comparison of the actual ships to each other as the scales are different but mostly to see how much larger of a model I am building compared to the last. I still have no idea where they will eventually find berth at but as I still have plenty of time to figure that out and build a display for them.
 
So please, pull up a chair and enjoy the very long journey I am starting out on.

Thanks for the prodding and encouragement Zoran and Don and others for the likes. Much appreciated. I wasn't going to post until I had finished planking the hull but given my slow pace I'll post now to show I'm actually still making some progress. I can't quite put my finger on why it is taking so long with this build but I seem to only be able to get a single strake on per day.
 
I have finished the top two 3 mm strakes and the subsequent four 5 mm strakes on both sides. I have spiled most of the stern planks and only a couple of the bow planks. The twist at the bow so far has mostly been manageable (and sandable) but I expect I will be spiling the rest of the way at the bow and the stern. Could I get away without spiling? Yes to this point but to achieve the more horizontal configuration that I am after I will have to spile the rest. So far I have needed stock widths of less than 30 mm but I expect this will increase slightly as I work my way to the keel. Here I thank Don for providing me with the wide walnut stock.  Thanks Don!
 
All of the planks completed so far will be covered by wales and facia, the rest of them to the keel will not be covered.
Once I mark off the rest of the hull (3 or 4 strake bands) I will repost in case someone wants to follow me down this path.
 
Best, Ian

Hi folks,
 
Just a very quick update because even though it is minor, it's the kind of thing that would dawn on me after I planked if I hadn't paid attention to the manual (and Don's Trabacollo example). You have to mark off 1.8 mm (ish) from the top of each bulkhead top surface to delineate the top surface of the first of two 4 mm hull planks to be laid. This forms the bottom surface for the scuppers and will be flush with the deck surface.
 
Best, Ian
 

Leaving paradise to return to cold Wisconsin.  Ready to restart my modeling after a 2 week break.  Here's a view from the villa on St. Martin, FWI we rented for the family.  It's good to be retired!

Thanks for all your comments and likes
 
Just a quick update to show i am still building
Second upper and lower planking fitted and partially sanded

 

A WINDOW ON HMS TERROR
 
By 1845, Terror’s stern windows were very different from those Captain John Sheridan gazed through as he bombarded Baltimore in 1814. In 1812, Henry Peake designed a relatively traditional stern gallery for HMS Terror, which included seven stern lights in addition to six windows arranged on her port and starboard quarter galleries. Each of the stern windows had nine panes, while the smaller quarter gallery windows had six panes.
 

Henry Peake's original 1812 design for Terror's stern gallery and quarter galleries. 
NMM, ZAZ5662
 
When Terror was first converted for polar service over 1835 and 1836, its vulnerable quarter galleries (and the water closets they contained) were removed, resulting in a reduction to five stern windows. Contemporary artwork by Owen Stanley indicates that the windows retained their original nine-pane configuration during Back's harrowing Arctic expedition of 1836-1837.
 
 
Terror's stern lights in 1837. Note the cipher and ship's name depicted above the hanging rudder.
 NMM, PAF0275
 
Since the time of Parry’s second Arctic voyage, 24 years previously, polar exploration vessels had been fitted with "double window-frames" (1), and Terror undoubtedly had double windows installed for Back’s 1836 -1837 Arctic voyage. Parry described that during the coldest months, "cork shutters" were inserted between the sashes on HMS Hecla (1), and it is possible that cork shutters were used on Terror’s subsequent polar voyages. 
 
Contemporary images suggest that Terror's stern gallery remained unchanged during the Antarctic expedition of 1839-1843, when Terror was under the command of Francis R.M. Crozier, although the 1839 Terror and Erebus plans indicate that significant changes were made to the great cabin itself. 
 
In the spring of 1845, Terror and Erebus had their sterns dismantled and reconstructed to accommodate large wells needed to raise and lower their new screw propellers. The centre window on the stern of each vessel was removed to make room for the new well. Green-ink annotations on Terror’s 1836 plans show that her stern frames were shifted slightly forward during the 1845 refit. The reasons for such an extensive refit are unclear, but it may have been necessary to redesign the stern framing to accommodate the weight and stress of the new propeller system. 
 
While it appears that the remaining four stern windows were kept (roughly) in their original positions in 1845, the windows themselves were redesigned from a nine-pane to a four-pane configuration. We know this because of a remarkable woodcut of the great cabin of HMS Erebus, which appeared in the May 24th, 1845 issue of the Illustrated London News (2). The accompanying article described that the windows were “double[d]”, similar to those used on Parry’s voyages. Astonishingly, high resolution images of the cabin illustration in the report clearly show the double sashes.
 
Why the stern lights were modified to a four-pane design is unknown, but the woodcut indicates that by 1845 the window muntins were much more robust than those on a typical stern window. A sturdier design might have been thought necessary, after the unprecedented heavy seas and storms Terror and Erebus encountered during their Antarctic expedition.  However, we know that the thickness of the glass was not increased, because window glass recovered from HMS Erebus in 2015 has the same  thickness as that specified on Terror’s (i.e., Belzebub’s) original 1812 building contract (3). 
 
Below, I’ll outline how I have recreated Terror’s windows for my model. Though few pictures have been released, they appear to compare well with the recent Parks Canada images of Terror’s stern. 
 
 
References:
 
(1) Parry, William Edward. 1824. Journal of a Second Voyage for the Discovery of a North-west Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific: Performed in the Years 1821- 22-23, in His Majesty's Ships Fury and Hecla, Under the Orders of Captain William Edward Parry, R.N., F.R.S., and Commander of the Expedition. London.
 
(2) Departure of the “Erebus” and “Terror” on the Arctic Expedition. Illustrated London News, May 24th, 1845. Volume 6, Page 328.
 
(3) National Maritime Museum, ADT0010
 
 

Construction of the stern windows began with laser cutting the 
sashes from a sheet of Swiss pear. 
 

A bevel was added to each muntin with a hand file. The filed 
windows are on the left, the unfinished windows are on the right. 
 

Comparing progress to the original woodcut.
 

Instead of adding four individual panes, I opted to add a single simulated pane. 
This was achieved by carving out the backside of the windows to 
accept the simulated glass. 
 

The window panes were made from high quality PVC blister packaging material. 
It is crystal clear, resists yellowing, and bonds well with CA glue. The painter's 
tape protects the surface from scratches and permits patterns to be drawn 
on the surface. 
 
 
A beading line of CA was used to glue the panes in place. 
 

Allowing the glue to dry. 
 

A pair of finished windows compared to the woodcut. Note the double 
sashes in the woodcut image. 
 

Gluing the sills to the sashes. These are not the proper configuration, 
but will not be visible on the finished model. 
 

A nickle for scale. 
 

The completed double windows.  
 

A closeup view.
 

The interior panes were sanded to simulate frost (and to prevent a 
view into the interior of the model). 
 

The port stern lights installed between the stern frames. 
 

A view from the interior of the model. The imposing nature of the 
well can be seen here.  
 

Approximating the view from the great cabin 
(as best possible).
 

The completed stern gallery.
 

Mini-Cozier surveys the pack from the comfort of his great cabin.

Hello again! It feels like a while since I last updated. I had a while where I couldn't fit much if any build time in anywhere. Now, though, I have finished the bowsprit rigging and have started work on the fore mast. The rigging was done with the fittings unpainted and I painted them afterwards. That way the paint didn't peel or rub off while I got the lines on. It is not perfect, buy I think by the last line I kind of had the hang of it (pun intended ). After painting, I hand tapered the lower fore mast. I used my squishy sanding block from say back when I was sanding my hull. I filed the notch on the top for the last cap and glued it in. I then added the 'iron' bands on which are made of striping tape. I also glued in the eyebolts. The mast is stained, but the painted parts will be painted after all the structural work is complete. Anyway, here are the pictures!
 

Until next time!

I am not almost finished with the boat, but am almost finished with the bowsprit. Next up are two cleats on the onboard side and bowsprit rigging. I hope these images work. Progress has been slow with everything going on lately. I hope to get back to pace late this month. We will see. Anyway, let's hope these images fit!


Until next time! Hopefully sooner than this time was.

The temporary braces worked. The top planks are on. I have to reinstall one window stop on the port side.
 
I somehow managed to install the window stops after I painted the window cavities. I have no idea why I did that. I'll have to carefully paint those.
 
It's time for the fashion pieces. All of you guys did great on those. I hope mine looks as good as ya'lls.
 
Edit -As usual the pictures help to find the flaws. I have a little more sanding to do on the edge of the counter on the port side. I would like to sand that top plank a little more to flatten it on out but I'm concerned that I will sand thru the walnut.

Thanks for the "likes", the comments, and the discussion.  
 
Things have been running, shall we say, dead dog slow here lately in the shipyard.  I'm putting the hours in but seems like nothing gets finished.     Probably normal then at this  stage.
 
The center line furniture aft of the main mast is done except for the pantry which is on hold.  No point in blocking access at this point.  Also the two crew ladderways forward of the main mast are done.  The pic shows the capstan but it's only set into place at this point so it doesn't get misplaced or damaged.  The crossbeam for the pinrail forward of the main mast has  been safely tucked away so it doesn't get damaged.  I'm moving forward on the deck to the remaining hatchways.   After the planking the rest of the deck and doing the ceiling, I'll install what I have ready and make the pumps (do over!!!) and the fireplaces.
 
Part of the bog that's slowing things down is taking measurements for the planking and transferring them to the drawings I'm making for the laser.  
 
I do find myself being happier with my output as I think I'm getting better at joinery and even more patient with fitting things than I was before.  After a couple of "by your leave, sir" hassles, I found I need to measure 3 times before transferring any measurement to the wood.  A bit of confidence here and there goes a long ways.  
 
Here's the pic and as always, comments, critiques, and discussion are welcome.
 

True...although....about 550 BC...thread and fabric were likely not as fine as in more recent years.
But the ingenuity and craftmanship of the ancient Greeks were amazing, so who knows?
 
the "curtain lines" (does anyone know a better word for this?)....
 
I take the evening off...done enough for today 
 
Robin

To my own amazement....so far...I kinda like rigging. One mast, one sail...I can handle that! 
The vertical "curtain" lines and the loops on the lower corners of the sail will be next.
 
More soon,
 
Robin

Thank you Geoff, Al, and Denis, and those who hit the like button. I realize that the dust cover will work for now, but once I put the masts up I'll have to improvise something else.
 
I hope all our US members had a great Thanksgiving. It was hard for us this year as my father passed away last week. He would have been 94 next month. He went peacefully and we are sad but at the same time a bit relieved that he did not have any serious illnesses that would have caused him to suffer. I will now devote the rest of this build to him and my brother who died a few years ago. Rest in peace, George.
 
I finished the two cutters this morning, by adding the cleats, lifting rings, and the gudgeons. The rudders are finished too. I still need to make the masts and oars to go inside them. For the mast fitting hardware and the pintels and gudgeons, I used left over blackened chain plates. They are nice thin brass that I was able to bend around the stern posts and rudders easily. I am still working on the gig but it should be finished in a few days. Then I will be able to focus on building the masts.
 

 

 

Some progress to show. I continue to fill out the details in the ships boats. Here I have added the floors, benches and thwarts to the two cutters, and the floors and foot rest to the gig. I am working on the thwarts and stanchions for the gig, and the gunwales for the cutters. I should have pictures of those soon.
 

 
I also was working on the martingale for the bow sprit. I added the bulls eyes by seizing them to some line, wrapping the line around the leg of the martingale, tying an overhand knot, and holding it with some thin CA.
 

 
I then added the lanyards by seizing a piece of line through one bulls eye, wrapping the lanyard three times through the bulls eyes, then seizing the end around the wrapped line to hold it.
 

 
I added the blocks and eye bolts and other hardware to the cap and here is how it looks on the bow sprit.
 

 
How do you like my high tech dust cover for the hull? It is just an opened up grocery bag, but it actually works pretty well. It is very light and comes on and off easily, so I don't worry about damaging anything when I put it on.

Out in garage, cutting some spare hatch covers. I had a thought of maybe painting the hatch covers so I thought making some practice ones would be a good idea.

 
Covers and hatch got a total of six coats of spray on satin varathane


 
To attach the rope handles to the hatch covers I decided to use zip siezings. The rope I am using for the handles is .025 in. or .633 mm from Syren. The zip siezings are 1.3 mm i.d. and 1.77 mm o.d. and approx. 1.5 mm long

 
First step is to thread two siezings onto the line, after stiffening the end of the line with ca then cutting the end at an angle

 
Then run rope through the bottom and back down from the top. Then insert the end of the line though the two siezings

 
Flatten one side of an appropriate size of dowel to the proper height, in this case 3 mm, and adjust the rope around it.

 
When adjusted properly turn it over, glue and cut the ends off. In the macro picture it looks kind of bulky but in reality it looks good.

 
Finally here is how they look. Now 19 more to go

 
Have a Good Night

Good evening folks, did a little work on the stowage hatch and thought I'd show some pictures.
 
This one is showing the location marked out and ready to cut

 
Here the hatch has been cut out using a rotary tool and a 1 mm end mill bit( a little shaky on the cut, should have had a beer maybe )

 
The hatch has been trimmed up and sanded using a sanding block\

 
The hatch has been built and am cleaning up the covers

 
This how it looks installed

 
I did not take any pictures of the construction of the hatch. It is basically two boxes built around each other. The only minor problem was when I was sanding the two inside end panels. I was using the disc sander sanding both pieces at once and did not realise one had moved forward, so I sanded that end flush, turned it end for end and sanded flush again. Although all ends were very smooth and even the pieces were now 3 mm too short.    
 So after singing a beautiful happy song it was out to the garage to make two new ones  

 
Here I am packed up and ready to go to garage to spray some varathane

JPAM,
Thanks for the kind words.
The hull itself is about 20 inches from stem to stern. The overall length from the tip of the bowsprit to the aft most point is about 32 inches. 
 
Zoltan,
More space is always a plus even without the windows. My old yard lacked both but if I had to choose I think I would rather the space as lights can always be added. Looking forward to seeing you back at your builds also! 

Thanks you all for your visits and comments it is really appreciated
 
Well it's been a long time since my last update. After many hours on pondering as how to approach the deck planking I decided to go with Zoran's(MarisStella) approach. The biggest reason being is that there is a central 17 mm wide plank that goes down the middle it would cover up any mast holes, pawl holes and one of the hatch holes. So I decided to plank the deck first and do the cutting out later. Planking went real good, I changed it a little by putting walnut at the bow and stern a blood wood plank then the cherry planks. I went with a four plank rotation, a big thanks goes to Ulises Victoria for his great tutorial on how to plank a deck http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Framing_and_Planking/Deck_PlankingIIbuttshifts.pdf.
 It was a lot of work and many hours but it is finally finished, scraped and sanded. She is approximately 175 mm x 520 mm at the largest points and took about 220 planks to cover it. Next I will cut out the main hatch then install the central strip followed by the remaining holes required.
I am really looking forward when all forms of planking are done  
 
Enjoy the pics
Take Care
 

Good for you EJ. Always good to have projects at different stages to keep the skills fresh.

Nice new workspace EJ!
 
Robin

Congrats on the re-opening and the unpacking, I'll be following both your builds

So I have reopened the shipyard tonight as I managed to get a lot more done than I was planning on the unpacking side of life. As a reward I decided to start Le Soleil Royal. La Couronne will still be taking priority but this allows me to slow down on my frame building and planking as well as make the modifications I want while still working on rigging. So please join me on the new journey and with any luck I will have two nice builds to keep us all entertained.