Gaetan Bordeleau

Yes Druxey, unfortunately a volume has a third dimension, depth. Zoltan, the sixth book is a copy of the 74 guns build as it appeared in MSW 1.0 Christian, each time I double the scale, I double the pleasure. The common sense dictate that a scale below 1/48 is a good scale where you can easily manipulate the model. The easier the task, the more pleasure I have. As I said, it is easier to work a piece of wood if you can hold it with all your 5 fingers of the hand instead of only holding it with 2. This fact seems anodine, but I had to work 7 years at different scales to understand this. Try to play a game of tennis holding the raquette with only 2 fingers, you will not have as much pleasure!

The fifth one, from Ancre.fr, and I forgot, I have a sixth book , containing almost 550 pages about the construction with photos. I did not think that there would be comments on this first post. So, thank you. Occasionnally I like to consolidate the experience of the last years. Some peoples saw the construction of the V3.0_74_ 1/24 in the MSW1.0 forum. For those who did not see the other models, there are : V1.0_ 74_1/192, to give you an idea about the diameter of the figurehead, it is about ¼ of the diameter of a small finger. V2.0_ 74_ 1/48, this model is represented at port during winter. (Here in Quebec, this year it will probably the year with the most snow the way it is looking today) V3.0_74_ 1/24, this model is made from many kinds of domestic and exotics woods. V4.0_74_ 1/24, Depending of the content of the fifth book, a choice will be made to see which 74 will be represented. The only kind of exotic wood I still like to buy is a orange amaranth which smell vanilla when we sand it. But it is to use for ship modeling. For this build, 100% cherry wood will be use. I beleive that cherry wood is a suitable wood for our activity. In the last build I done, a 64 guns, cherry wood was also use. Among the comments, only 1 people, from France, did not like the choice of cherry. Some are very strict about customs. Somebody wrote in another forum that the only scale you can use 1/48 and that the only woods you can use is pear wood and boxwood. To stay polite, I will say that I think in life we need to see broader horizon. In the structure there is no problem, it is only in the outside planking that, careful choice must be use to select the grain. If this rule is well applied, then I would say that cherry wood is perfectly suited to use for model ship construction. What did I learn working at different scales; the bigger the scale the easier the work, and the reason is pretty simple : it is easier to work a piece of wood if we can hold it with all the hand fingers instead of only 2. What is the best tool I tried? It is not for any reson if the jewelers work at a higher height, closer to their eyes, it is to see better the small parts. Height adjustable table is probably one of the best tool. To have the part at the good height makes the work easier and also the work can be done with less effortsthus inducing less fatigue. It enters in the category of the when ‘’you try it, you keep it.’’ Mike found probably the best source to buy an adjtable height table : IKEA. To make it simple, you can buy 3 kinds : 2-3 height position, handle height adjusting and electric adjusting table. In the small category, my prefered 2 tools I like to use are the scalpel with #11 blade. This tool is a great mystery in itself. Even if it is the best small knife available, most people on this forum prefer to use the commercialised hobby knife : Exacto. I guess to understand you need to compare side to side the performance, then you can see that an exacto blade is far from being as sharp as a scalpel blade. The other one is the proportional divider. This tool comes back occasionally on the forum. The last time I saw comments about this tool, I observed that there is still a lot of education to do about this tool. I am far from being sure that everybody understands the real uses of this tool. But the nice thing about this forum : is that forum is a great educational tool.

The next build. Before to begin the construction with wood, I want to have all the necessary information I need for the complete build. -I do not want to have to do extensive research -I do not want to draw plans -I do not want to begin in 5 years My prefered activity is to build and I want to concentrate on this particular aspect. V4.0 for the forth time 74 I will build a 74 guns 1/24 I will use the biggest scale I can manage. For this one 1/24 is 8 feet long. This is about the maximum I can easily manipulate. I would have love to build even at a bigger scale like 1/12 but I do not have all the plans I need. Jean Boudriot offers me everything I need. All the required information is available in 5 books, not 4 but yes 5. I am a lazy person for this time, I will not draw the frames; JC Lemineur did and I will use it. So, I have all what I need to begin : -all the paper I need (the fifth book is in the mail) -all the tools I bought tools for the last 30 years -all the wood I need, at least for the frames. I did build 1 version of the 74 with exotic woods. If I add the price of all the exotic woods used, you would not believe how much expensive it can be in these quantities. Traditionnally, in Europe, they use pear wood for the frames and boxwood for the carvings. In my country, here in Quebec, there are no places to buy these woods and anyway it is too expensive for what I want to do. Here in Quebec, one of the most stable wood we have is cherry wood. In addition the properties are similar to pear wood except for the grain; cherry has pear has not. For sanding both are identical. As a bonus, at least for my taste, I love the smell of this wood when cutting or sanding.

Thank you Christian, For the next build, I see 2 doors: 1 at 1/24 a bigger 74 and 1 at 1/12 a smaller frigate. Thank you Noel, Your answer is as good as mine. This could be a possibility, the other being in the message, there is a drawing and if you look under the door there is a height of a step giving the necessary clearance to open the door. Mark, as you are, I am also just a human.

Chris, If I rig a model height will be an issue 6 feet at 1/24. Tom, Thank you very much, I am very happy that you appreciate the photos. Carl to build an end section, Karl our german friend, is the expert in this area. When I read some builds on this forum I observe that every one has his own speciality. My speciality is not the rigging, My speciality is not end section, I would like to say that my speciality is to build as big as I can handle in the home 1/24 for a 74, 1/12 for a frigate. Pegasus could still be a possibility. I still would have to buy plans from the Museum but I do not know the complete Epicery list. Rob, I think that the best ability you need to do drawings, model ships, carvings and many more is the sense of the proportions. If 1 part is out of proportion (not to scale, balance…) the carving will not look good. The model your present is very nice one, Le Soleil Royal is another very nice one as many others. But I prefer to build than to do carvings.

Hi Shipcarpenter, If I can inspire 1 people, then it is a good thing to show this build. Hi Rob, If this is a masterpiece, well there are many masterpieces on this forum. To come and look at the different build on this forum everybody can learn a lot of things. I learned many things on this forum and one of these is that it is worth to take good photos of the completed model. It is like putting the cherry on the cake as it complete the cake. The choice of the next model: One of the reasons to choose a model ship to build are the decorations and the quarter galleries. By example, if we compare the quarter galleries of HMS Euryalus 36 1803 and La Belle Poule 36 1765, we can observe some similarity. If we compare the quarter galleries of HMS Bellona 74 around 1760 and the 74 guns 1780 from Boudriot, we have 2 interesting and very nice model ship. I could also compare with L’Artésien but the quarter galleries are not pleasantly appealing. I have a preference for the 74. I could choose HMS Bellona. To achieve as much details as the french 74, I would need to do a lot of research as Mark did. Even if the search for a treasure is always fascinating, I prefer the building of the model ship to the research. What is interesting with Boudriot is that he did all the research and all what is left to do is to build the model. For the choice of the scale, I am sure that I could build a model at 1/ 196 or 1/ 48 or even 1/24. I see 2 possibilities : 1/ 24 no masting or 1/36 possibly with with masting and rigging.

Hi Marc, For the next project, I prefer the proportions of the 74 and I prefer the approach of Jean Boudriot. Hi Chris, I am an amateur too, I am not the best in anything but I know the road to build a model ship. This is the second 8 feet long model ship I have in the home and I will go for a third one. I will continue as long as I can. I do not know anybody who want to buy this kind of cherry assembly. The reason I build model ship is not to sell a model ship, also it is not to own it, the only reason I build model ship is for the pleasure of building it. I saw this model almost everyday for the last 5 years, now I prefer to look at a new construction. I said it before and I keep thinking the same thing: after the model ship is completed I could throw it in the garbage and I would not care.

Hi Mike, For the next project, I have plan A; 74 from the nicest period, but I am also looking plan B, another set from Boudriot. Hi Vossiewulf, I did take a lot of pictures for this build, at least 1500, that I kept, and I can turn the wood many colors with the camera. I enjoyed very much building it and I also enjoyed very much taking photos.

I correct the color.

Thank you for your nice comments. Pat, one of the goals of this project was to verify if cherry is a suitable wood for model ships. This model is 99,9 % cherry and for the table on lower deck australien cherry. One of the advantages of using 1 kind of wood is the uniformity of the color in the final result.

Et voilà, c'est complété. It was a nice week end project to build. For the next build, knowing that the better the plans, the better are the chance to produce better results. What are the better set of plans available on the market? I guess I could build the same as the next project of a member of MSW. There is also another important factor, the model must be nice to my eyes.

Thank you very much Karl. In the next message you will see the result of 5 years of work. But first, let’s see what I learned during the last 5 years. If I would be a purist, I would have chosen pear wood and boxwood for this build and to continue in the same direction to be or not to be a real purist, I could not have use Electricity. Wake up, wake up, we are not based in 1637 but in 2017. The first thing I learned is that I am a Cherry-ist. This wood suits perfectly my needs and as a bonus my nose too. For the last months, I deeply asked myself what I like about model ship building. Until I found the answer, I could not restart the construction of the model (the truth My wife wanted a new kitchen). And I understood that the pleasure I get, comes each time when a piece of cherry wood is modified and as a bonus, gets part of a giant puzzle. I tried new methods and new programs like Lightroom and Photoshop. I followed 2 photography sessions and I restarted to take pictures. Do you know what was the first thing I bought when I began to work almost 40 years ago : a Camera : Olympus OM-1. In the category new tools, I got tools to make the life easier, a height adjustable table suited for my needs and the model. Over the years, I liked to tried all kinds of tools and I regrouped the scale modeling tools in 1 tool chest, and again Cherry wood was used.

We can observe on the drawings and on the original drawings that only these 2 parts are not symmetrical. Are all the carvings on a model symmetrical, or there is no rule and the author can draw what he feels. If we compare, as in home construction, all the details are often symmetrical for a greater harmony.

Thank you Pat, I asked myself the same question. All the other decorations on the model are identical. On the original drawing, apparently they are not!

This is called cornucopia.

"I have a good set and never found them accurate enough at 1:48 scale.'' Maury, could you explain what do you mean?

Here is the main application why I do not use a ruler, but a proportional divider. I use 1/48 set of plans to build a model at 1/24 scale. 1/48 scale plans are easier to manipulate than at 1/24. When I want to cut to size a part from the measure of the 1/48 plan. I can take the measure : 1 inch 27/32, multiply it by 2 with the calculator or calculate by hand and obtain the value. Or there is also the fast way. The use of the proportional divider is not only to divide or multiply but it can also be use as a ruler. For the same operation, I measure with 1 end of the proportional divider and with the other end I transfer the measure immediately at 1/48 scale in multiplying the number automatically by 2. I did transfer a measure and multiplie dit by 2 and I did have any calculation to do.For the model I am actually building from plans this is the same procedure which has been applied for 5 years. Did I save some time? Was is worth to use it? I guess I probably ask myself the same question the first time I saw a calculator. Is it worth to buy one? Will I save time ? At least I will not do mistake of hand calculation! And I can continu and ask myself the same question again and again…

I prefer to use the proportional divider instead of the ruler; fast and precise. Preferred use: measure, divide or multiply by 2 a distance.

Thank you, I added 1 picture in the last one that I forgot.

Thank you Pat, if it helps 1 person, this is a good thing. Figurehead, done with 4 components : the figure head, 1 dolphin, the sixth one on this model, 1 flower on each side of the head and finally 1 stake to kill the dolphin. Apple wood for a figure head is not the best choice for the same reason this wood is not used very much in furniture. Apple wood has a tendancy to crack. Plus if you look the wood under the microscope we can observe what llok like cristallised sugar in the wood. There is a small color difference between apple and cherry wood. Before trying I would have thought that apple wood take s better the small details than cherry. The results show the contrary and cherry wood is more stable than apple wood. The microscope is very helpfull for the face. To keep a fix distance the figure is straped on a wood block. The smaller the object, the more light is needed to see all the details. The most important thing in carving human is to try to keep proportions to all the parts in relation to each other. Without it results are less than convincing. It is very helpfull to take photos to see details that we would not see without it. For this figure head it helped me to ote that the left arm was too long and the lips too larges.

a lot of choices on amazon, ex: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JRGPH46?th=1

How do I try to make easy the location of a part in the space. I trace a line in the middle of the part. This line represent the high points and helps to lead the direction of the part. This way it prevents the part to deviate too much on a side or the other side. I repeat for the 4 sides : top, bottom and both sides. Examples with the drawing and the front of the legs. Results would be as good if I would trace the line as the green arrow shows. The exact same principle apply to relief carving which is more a 2D parts, rather than a 3D parts. In this case, only 1 line is required. If we cut the carving and look at one end, we see a square. A line is trace at the top, it represents once again the high point of the part. Then, to carve it is just a matter to knock out the 2 top corners. In an easy way, 3D carving is just adding sides and bottom to the 2D.

Beginning the figure head. Here is an idea of the tools I use. Tools; 2 knives and burrs which are easier to work in comparison with knives. The danger to use knives is that it is harder to control the strenght required and it is easy to use too much of it and break parts. In comparison it is much more delicate to use burrs and you will not break any parts. Half speed of the rotary tool, at around 25000 tpm. At first look it seems too high, but the higher the speed the less vibrations. Also less strenght is needed and you let the tool work Some drawing books showing body parts to help to see the proportions.

Using cyanoacrylate for rigging is like using a 2 inch chain to attach my dog. I prefer a smaller chain; white glue and as less as possible so it can be reversible if required. Why do we use glue on rigging? Because we are afraid the ropes could get slack by moving a little bit. The strenght to stop this is not very big. Also quality rope is there for something and some ropes are more slipery than other.

Michael you are right both can be use for different tasks. What I meant is that for a 1/8'' chisel by example, you will have more control with all your hand instead of 2 fingers only.