zoly99sask

Great progress EJ, I'll see you over on La Couronne. I'm hoping that when these two are done you will build something that is easier to spell

Sjors, Marc, Don, Michael, thank you all for the compliments!
 
I wasn't entirely sure what the intentions of the kit were with the original chase ports being so big. From what I have see on most ships, they were either the same size as the side ports or smaller as the guns for those ports were often a much smaller caliber or even just a swivel gun. If the instructions addressed it, I either couldn't find it or it was in a language I do not read and did not feel like translating out of laziness.  The stern below the balconies has been a large mystery on this build as what little is shown of the stern all focuses on the decorations and not the structure. That is understandable to an extent as most people build this ship for her decorations and not those 4 chase ports or the rudder but, it would have still been nice to have a little more detail shown on one of the drawings....
 
Don, well I do not know if you will get your wish very soon as the next build that I plan on once La Couronne is done will be a scratch build cross section of La Couronne but, at least you won't have to learn how to spell a new name!   The next full ship build that I am planning is looking like the Royal Louis. My plan is to show the evolution of French ships of the line during the 17th century. Royal Louis would make a great one to end the century on however, there is little information, drawings etc., for me to go off of to model that particular version well. The only kit available is of the Royal Louis of around 1779. While not of the 17th century actually about 100 years after Soleil Royal, I think this may be a better presentation. With the slow changes of ship building and rigging practices, the early attempts by the French are well shown now with Couronne and S.R.. Modeling a comparable ship that now carries the full range of nautical changes that have evolved of the century of time will, in my opinion, be a more dramatic display. However, that build is far down the road as the funding for that project does not yet exist and I do want to do my cross sections for each ship I build.

EJ,
 
As I understand it, the chase ports (early on) were used not just for guns. The guns weren't permanently installed there but stowed off to the side. They used the ports for ventilation and also for loading and off-loading any cargo/stores.  
 
If I'm wrong and have misunderstood their functions, I hope someone will let me know.

EJ,
 
Just catching up - as all have just posted - stern and all of its details - looking very good. Nice update.
 
 

Zoly,
I sure would like to give it a try. Let me know how to procede.
 
Thanks

a few updates ago,  I had chopped up some small dowel...diagonally cut bits and pieces.

these have been hanging around on my table.   I had done this to create the vents for the Andrea Gail.   the week before last,  I was working on the sails for the Jolly Rogers,  and to break up the tedium,  I pieces some of them together.   later I glued the pieces together.

this week.......now that I know they are quite dry,  I began to sand them...shaping them into the vents.

I still need to do the underside {the inner curve} and refine them a little bit more........but they are  all sanded to the shape I need.

once they are completely sanded {I may do some hollowing out at the spout},  they will be painted,  and then added to the model.   I've also come up with a couple ideas, for how to proceed with the stern section.   I hope to have more soon....it's high time I got back to completing this model  

Got one anchor in place tonight. I already had a lot of it ready to go already and sitting in the drawer so that helped make the process a bit faster. 

I think this item is a small Range Finder (correct me if I'm wrong - the kit doesn't give any idea of what most of the assemblies are.) Small items like this are usually harder to make than large ones. This one is 3mm square :


There are about 24 parts to the large Range Finder. I am very happy with the way this assembly has come together, just some minor edges to touch up :


The roof of the bridge is curved so it has a ceiling and several ribs to form and support the top skin :

I made a small error when trimming the edge of the roof to accept the walls, so I had to cut the walls into three pieces to get everything aligned properly. Two small tabs give extra strength on the cuts :

 
  Danny

After applying the Dullcote. Sure enough, the touch-ups are almost invisible. They actually look 200% better in "real life" .
 


 
  Danny

Dan,
I still wonder about the size, I know Igor uses a giant match stick, and Patrick a hughe watch, but I can't seem to get a hold on your build. Must be quite big to get the details so spiffy! The bridge brushed up rather well I would say even at 100%
 
Cheers

Thanks CDW, Cliff and Carl.
 
Does this pic help Carl?

 
  Danny

Hi Folks,
I'm looking to buy a copy of the AOS 44 Gun Frigate Constitution by Marquardt. Any help would be appreciated.
 
Thanks

Great idea, but way beyond my abilities!

If you apply the finish to the hull and the ends of the planks first you shouldn't have too many problems with bleeding. My thoughts are that unless you can show the actual pieces making up an individual frame, as in Danny's, I would go with paint.
Just my thoughts you are the Captain!!

Nirvana and Peter: As I have worked there I know them, (or knew them, they just reorganized the consortium and though the existence of the ship is secured, she will never sail again.)  but I have no room or tools to do a scratch build. And I can NOT afford The Falmouth, way out of my economic situation. 
But, I have a lot of other stuff to build 
 
I have now finished planking the stern
 
  
 
The arching parts are too thick as you pointed out Peter, But it is layers of ply and hullplanks + the second layer planks. I could sand it thinner from the inside, but that's the ply layer that holds the first layer planks (and also I'm too lazy to do that ) and sanding on the outside would change the form of the hull. Hopefully the decorations will hide it a little.

 
Sanding, paint and a shitload of decorations will probably hide the little gaps etc.

Rigging is complete!!! Wow what a relief to say those words!!   I still have a few things to do such as the anchors and stern lights plus some misc. details like the rope coils but the huge mountain that is rigging is over. Took 297 hours out of the 897 hours on the build to date. A couple things bug me but overall I am happy with it. wont be long now and she will be complete! Then on to the next project! 
 
More to come one as I put the finishing touches on her! Enjoy and thanks for looking in! 
 
 

She looks marvellous EJ. Pour yourself one of your favourites, you have earned it!

Looking very good indeed.
 
I will also have a drink in your honor today and watch my Dodgers ha ha
 
Cheers,

Bowsprit rigging is complete! Sprtisail yard was added as well as the braces and now an area of the ship is complete. I've moved on to rigging the braces on the foremast yards now. They are fairly simple to rig just a lot of blocks to place first which brings me to a possible annoyance; I may be running short on blocks. I'm going to get a count on how many I still need and see how many I actually have left but as the drawer with the blocks for this ship is looking rather bare, I fear I may be short. At this point though I will probably see if I can rob some off of another kit or I may get lucky and have some of the right size in the extras cabinet. Worse case I can always make a few as I don't think I am going to be missing that many, maybe 6 or so. Casualties of the build as several were split or otherwise damaged beyond use, some were ate by the carpet monster, I'm sure some were lost during the move and who knows what else. Not the worst thing to happen just annoying at this point.
 
Enough of all that, enjoy the pictures and I will probably have some more soon!
 

Thanks WackoWolf and mort stoll for the 'likes'.
 
A bit of progress made this week …..
With the aid of a couple of card templates,  plan sheet 2,  google images and several build logs the location for the dummy gun ports was found and marked onto the hull.  
 


 
 One of the most helpful logs was JJacobi’s – thank you!  I made a comment on his build log back at the beginning of March about how his build was a few pages further on in the instruction manual compared to mine only to discover that he was still in the process of uploading pictures.  In truth it transpires that he is way, way ahead! If my Victory gets anywhere close to his in terms of quality I will be well satisfied.
The outlines of the ports were incised with a sharp chisel as was the division between the double doors on the middle deck.

The ports were then painted. I’ll add the hinges etc. later on.
 

To drill the holes for the spigots of the dummy cannons some simple guides were made. These were produced from some hardwood offcuts trimmed to size to fit the ports and then mounted in a four jaw chuck on a lathe for boring. 



The manual suggests that the drill to use should be slightly larger than 2 mm.  Checking the spigots showed that they were well under this size coming out at about dia. 1.77 mm.  Trial holes drilled in a spare piece of ply from the kit resulted in my selection of a Number 49 drill bit (1.85 mm).  Although they still need painting I couldn’t resist pushing them temporarily into place.
 


I’ll be spraying the cannons at the same time as the upper gun deck barrels but first I have plans to modify these.  More details will follow once I’ve worked out how to achieve the results I am hoping for.
 
As for progress with my other project - I finally found a couple of UK based suppliers of T Track.  Neither have them I stock at present but at least they have been ordered.  I now have the base board ready and waiting for them, the parts for the gantry prepared and the set of 1:48 scales printed.  About time to start shaping some wood, I think, and another build log to begin …..
With the Victory build the next challenge is the copper plating – lots and lots of copper plating ….!
 
Cheers for now,
 
Graham

Or you COULD go the other way - build a full model AND a Cross-section of the same to show some of the interior detail that can no longer be seen after hull and deck planking :
 


 
  Danny

Thanks Ron. I noticed that you have a Card model of SMS Hegoland in the offing - good luck with her . I trust you will be doing a Build Log ?
 
I've fitted the roof of the bridge. Some filler was needed on the seams. Here's how it looks before any cleaning up ...... MESSY :

I use a narrow chisel point Xacto to remove the bigger lumps, and then a wipe over with a Q-tip dipped in Acetone to smooth it. The Acetone will remove some of the printing if it's over-used, so care must be taken :


The final details to be fitted to the bridge were the PE Railings. Note the tightly bent ones around the two hatches. I drilled a hole for each leg and used thin CA wicked in with a cut-off needle to attach them. One of the few times I use CA .
 
The railings I've got are longer than the ones indicated on the model, so some modifications are needed. For example, the two straight railings on the roof are one section of "standard" railing with an extra leg inserted into the middle with CA :




And finally - a couple of pics of the finished Bridge after painting. It still needs a coat of Testor's Dullcote, which will make all the touch-ups virtually disappear :


 
  Danny

Yay .
 
I'm into my 3rd day on the Bridge and still won't finish it today. So many small details to make - and most of them won't be visible later on . At least I know they are there, and it's all good practice.
 
There are three different types of Binocular Stand to make. I guess this one incorporates a Bearing Compass?



I've painted the step irons and PE doors. There's also some bracing under the overhanging part of each side - this is made from 0.3mm nickel-silver tube, the only stuff in that diameter that the Hobby store had (not cheap ). Here are some shots overall :



And one last pic to give an idea of scale :

 
  Danny
 

Thanks Slog, Pat and Popeye .
 
Glue doesn't stick very well to the lacquer, so I masked all the areas where parts are still to be fitted and sprayed the rest of the hull with Dullcote. This pic also shows how far the temporary balsa base extends to protect the props and rudder :

The upper section of the Conning Tower. The base of it is a "D" shape transitioning to a circular top :


There are 12 tiny Step Irons on the lower part of the tower and 15 on the upper part. These are made from 0.2mm brass wire. I made a simple jig to fold them all to the right length :

The conning tower features 8 sets of Binoculars on various types of stands. To make these tiny pieces (3mm long) I made another jig which consists of two pieces of tapered 0.5mm wire drilled into a block of wood at an angle :

The first pair finished and mounted to it's base. The base is made by tightly rolling a printed piece of 0.2 mm paper until it gets to the required diameter of 2mm :

Some pics of the conning tower with step irons and binoculars fitted. The steps will be painted IJN Grey later :


  Danny

Bulkheads faired - thanks Scott!
More photos: