Gaetan Bordeleau

HI Empathry, There is no obligation to use boxwood. I did some marquetry wit tagua nuts not sclupture. May be it could be good but tagua nuts are small. There are other woods suited for sclupture in miniature. The idea is to get some hard wood or fruit wood or exotic wood. By opposition, if you wood use balsa, it would be useless; because you cannot add fine details. Boxwood can take fine details like fingers. Sometimes I use boxwood. We have boxwood in Quebec, a typical tree is 2 feet high. What is your future project? Why would you not use boxwood?

https://www.perceval-knives.co.uk/?view=product&lang=en_US&product_id=524 A never ending quest, a very affordable knife, or should I say a handle made for meteorite for only 35,000 euros

As they say as usual this is quality. https://www.paulsfinest.com/Sharpening-Stones-Canada/shapton-glass-stones-canada/#sortBy=r.rating&sortOrder=asc&mode=append I ordered one from this Canadian site. I tried it and effectively it does the job in a more efficient way, faster than a water stone. It is called Shapman glass stone and the bottom of the stone is made of glass. So I ordered other for the finishing and I am sure that I will be happy with it. In fact, water stone are also effective but there is an aspect that I did not like about these, especially for the lowest grade. Before use you have to soak the water stone in the water for few minutes and, literally, you see bubbles coming out of the stone.

Thank you Dan, Why should I want to use a sharp blade? If I have to answer fast, I see 2 interrelated factors to get to a common goal: first, a sharper blade is easier to control, this means yo can do precise cuts second: the sharper the blade, the easier to cut, so less strength is needed to do the job. Not have to concentrate so much on the strength to use, but more on producing a precise cut.

Vossiewulf, I agree 100% with what you say. This look like to be very easy to understand, but it is not. Exacto is the prefered knife of every beginner. As a beginner, how someone could conceive ''how much sharper a good knife is'' if he has never tried one. It is worth mentioning that the usual way to check if a knife is sharpened with a sheet of paper, it is not very conclusive because they all pass the test. In the second test, if you compare the result of the notches in the wood between the first and the last knife, you see a big difference; and the same strength was use with each one.

You are right about the buffing wheel (the 2 to the left side) but during the process of sharpening a new blade, I need to use it even if it is 1 step forward, 2 steps back. If I try to give a mirror polish to the sides, it would take me 10 times more by hand. I also use a deburring wheel from 3M, the 2 middle ones in the photo and the biggest one performs a lot better than the smallest one. Additionally, I use the big one for buffing I use the front and the sides. After that test, I strongly think that Exacto blade do not classify in the sharp knife category.

Keith was an active member in the first version of MSW.

Does a Gimbal head can help me to build the 74? First, what is a Gimbal head? On the first photo, on the left there is a big lens, which can be heavy to hold for a long period. A gimbal head can hold that lens and the camera. The combine weight of the lens and the camera is 0 when these 2 components are well balanced on that head. There is another kind of Gimbal head with 3 motors, used for the alignment, horizontally, vertically and for panning (turning on itself on 360 degrees). With this Gimbal head, everything is done automatically and different kind of cameras can be install. With the small camera, having a too small weight, a weight is added to counterbalanced. The real purpose of that tool is for action film when the camera is moving, the combined action of the 3 motors are stabilizing continuously the camera. Now, to answer the question, and this is the beauty of this tool, it can attach a camera or a level and when we insert it inside the ship, there will be no need to realign the level or the camera. This solves the problem that I have when I take a photo inside or use the level , it is always difficult to align the horizontal plan; with this tool, alignment is automatic in both axes: horizontal and vertical. So, here is a gadget, interesting to use but absolutely not essential!

Hi Carl, It is a belt sander # 80 for metal and the speed is higher than what it would be for wood. Hi Vossiewulf, I did concentrate on the V shape only, it is true that a small angle will give more the look of a knife. I will add some. when completing the finishing. Interesting reference about the spark test. I compared with HSS the color is also orange but a lighter color. I could not say what metal is added, I am not familiar with this test.

The main tool to shape the blade is the belt grinder. The PM-V11 steel is not like any other steel, it does make very few sparks. I choose briar wood (wood use tom make pipes) and ebony to make the handle. During that quest for a detail knife, I did concentrate exclusively on the blade, I never thought what would be the shape of a good handle, and I still do not know but I wanted to do that knife so I tried one simple shape with 2 recess, 1 for the index and 1 for the 3 other fingers. I still have to do some final grinding but that shape of blade is very effective and this blade will not have the quality of my last one; fragility of the blade at the thinnest part. Also this V blade is very easy to sharpen on water stones because the entire side sits on the water stone and this way you do not have to give any angle to form a secondary bevel.

Very nice introduction. I am sure that this model will be a pleasure to build.

Thank you all for your likes This log have observations about 2 things, 2 things that I like -construction of a model ship boat -experimentation in photography When you see a guy crazy enough to build a 74 guns by Boudriot for the fourth time, you probably ask what's wrong with me. Learning is important for everyone because without it, life would not be as motivating. Probably, if I could build 100 times the same ship, there would be differences in each and every one. Here is an example, on the last 74, the deck beams for the first deck were made of 1,2 and 3 parts. For this build, there will be no 2 parts. In the previous build, I added 2 parts beams when there was opening in the deck because I did not want to have nicks int the beams around openings. For this build, at first thought, all the deck beams would be installed the same direction, but it will not be the case. Some will be turn 180 degrees so that the thickest face is expose facing the opening. There are 2 advantages by going this way. First, when there will be notches in the deck beam, it will not be on the side of the thinnest wall of the deck beam which could seriously injure the integrity and strongly weaken the resistance of the wood; and this is not desirable, The other advantage is that walls of the openings are in straight line with no nicks. Boudriot did not show this kind of details, he just says that there was 3 parts deck beams on the first deck. Ideally, the plan would show the partition of the deck beams, but this is not the case. Ideally, if I build or install a part, there always would be documentation to support it. I have no access to the books hidden in the museum in France and for this build, research in other books is not my priority. What is encouraging in what I do, is the fact that the engineer who draw the plans for ships, perfectly knew that the builder, the site manager would bring some of his preferences and some derived conventions governing each construction site. This build for instance, contrary to the standard model ship builder has 0 research in books (except the 4 ones of Boudriot) Also, this is not because a plan is drawn a way that I will necessary build it the exact same way. In some situations, instead of looking in books, I sit in front of the problem, and I try to find a practical solution. For the perfect model ship builder who respects scrupulously History, I am commiting a serious sacrilege. Is it a fault to go the way I chose for this build? For the purist, of course! Construction is my favorite part in this project, research is at the opposite. For the aspect of the respect of the conformity of plans, I will get 0. But from the other point of view, I have a very good time trying to play to the ship builder. If I take pleasure from model ship building, so one of the main goal is reached. If I would have to choose between 3 months of research and 3 months of construction, I would probably choose the second one. But it does not mean I hate research. One fact I find interesting about research is about rigging of a gun. Here is another comparison between french and english. Boudriot as an architect loved ships but he also loved hand guns. He described with great details how to install ropes not only for the mast, but also on the guns of each deck. In comparison, this does not look like to be the same thing with english practices. The best example, is Mark's log with Bellona. Documentation for the subject has not yet become fully accessible. But the good side of that bad side is that people like Mark helps to enhance the knowledge about model ship building and also it is very interesting to see how so many peoples wants to try to this knowledge.

I just wanted to show an extreme, in fact the remedy is easy just back up to take the photo. Major update for Vossiewulf: just came back from LeeValley and got a flushing chisel blade, PM-V11 steel, a new product which is almost the perfect blank for the next knife. As for the others, the blade will be regrind in a V shape and I will add a handle. I thought I would use a hand plane blade and cut it in 2 parts, but this solution will be faster. Hand plane blade are too thick. I did take some hand plane in my hands and I was surprise to see how heavy they were.

Carl Of course not, it depends of the lens. In this case, this is the lens of the small action camera Yi 4K which has a wide angle lens of 155 degrees with distortion. This do not necessary means it is a cheap lens even if it is really but it shows a very clear example of what not to do. In the category of the wide angle lens, there are lens with minimal distortion. This meaning a straight line will stay straight and will not curve. The other category is the fish eye. This kind of lens is not interesting for us because this kind of lens like to create artistic curves. I have never tried a tilt and shift lens but I often use a wide angle lens with minimal distortion and what is also interesting with that lens is that you can be very close to the subject. Here is an example: the camera was at the opposite of the gallery but stuck on it.

first photo : 2 photos of a 74 guns at 1/24 scale, the only difference is the date: 1 photos is dated 2008 and one 2019. second photo: did I really shaped the closest deck beam with a circle arc so big? Not really, it is a lens deformation because the lens is too close to the deck beam.

Beautiful work, I like this kind of finish, in addition to be a nice color, 100 years are instantly added, and this adds class to a well constructed model.

2013- 2019 ED, That is a real adventure, with a wonderful result, bravo

Thank you, Pat, Model Ship Building is multi disciplinary; and photography should be part of it. Unfortunately, this is not a very popular subject in this forum! About photography, 1 question is often asked; what makes better photography? Smartphone or camera? Smartphone can give very nice photo. Here is the simplest way to understand the answer: If I take the same photo with both and print with the same level of detail. Smartphone will get an 8 by 12 inches photo and the camera will give a poster.

Captain_Hook, Sorry, I do not have chairs but I have tables

Hi Mark. Both knives are made of different kind of steel, the left one from North Bay Forge is made of steel tool W1 and the one to the right with the handle made by vossiewulf is made from steel hardened to Rc 62 and this steel is cryogenically treated and the address is: http://www.hocktools.com/products/knives.html The knife from Hocktools has a better steel than the other and it will hold his edge longer. Both knives are grinded the same way in a V shape which is the most effective shape, to cut just like a razor. The down side of this V shape is fragility. The ultimate knife, to my understanding would be made of Lee Valley steel PM-V11 with a V shape sharpened with water stone and finish with a leather belt. The last serie of photos are taken by a YI 4K action camera and the fix lens has a very good depth of field, and another reason why the depth of field is depth is simply because it is 8 feet deep. There is also the model YI 4K+ which in addition in video mode 60 fps instead of 30. Another interesting fact from the shape of the handles, there is a recess to support the index or the thumb, very effective.

At first sight, having to choose a very good knife for model ship making is a very easy thing, at least, this is what I thought when I bought my first Exacto. In the last months, I learned that this subject is much larger. The shape of the handle, the kind of steel + carbon, the profile of the blade, just to name a few. In addition to this, sharpening is another domain difficult to master from water stones to leather. In fact, it is a good thing I shared my thoughts on this forum because Vossiewulf helped me a lot to understand what is a good knife and what is a good blade made of. This week, to put the cherry on the sundae, I received a very beautiful gift; 1 knife from North Bay forge, and another one made by the master himself. There are a lot of interesting features like aniline dye to enhance the color of wood, the finish is CA glue. Who could have thing to this? surely not me. the choice of steel for the blade and to top all this the knife is balance. First try in another subject with an action camera; a small camera, go pro style. I had 3 small webcam but I realized that they worked only with Windows 7. This kind of camera is mainly use for video, but it can take photos also. It is about 1,5 by 2,5inches. The fun thing is that it will be easy to insert it in the entrails of the model ship, also we can see what is the camera is seeing through the phone. What will be the next step? Every time I take a photo inside the model ship, it is difficult to level the camera, so the next thing I will try will be a 3 axis gimbal stabilizer. This little gadget can automatically align the camera in the 3 axis.

I have a lot of talc powder at home; it comes from what we call soap stone, a very soft stone, easy to cut with a hand saw. We use this stone for carving and talc powder is sprinkled on dancing floor, and it is very slippery.

Moldings around pillars are cut at 45 degrees with my favorite knife, not with the saw.

Mark, I got an idea, rename your model: Le Bellona, and then, you will be able to go this way, amply documented by Boudriot. And yes, it is true, why make it complicated when they surely made it the easy way. Here is probably another wrong way, on how I did it about 25 years ago: last photo