EJ_L
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Everything posted by EJ_L
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Lower foremast shrouds are in place. Ratlines are up next.
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All three masts are topped out and Royal Louis has reached her full size at 33 inches tall and 43 inches long. This is another massive model. I will be working on attaching more blocks to the masts, tops, and crosstrees then will begin installing stays and shrouds.
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Finally getting back into the shipyard. Should be much more regular with updates again and I am ready to build! While I have been busy over the past few months, I have managed to get in small bits of build time and have been particularly active this week resulting in all three lower masts and tops built. Neither masts nor tops are glued yet, just rough fitted. I will build all the masts, caps, crosstrees, etc. then switch to rigging. After all this time it will be nice to start going vertical.
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Bowsprit assembly complete and installed. Missing a few blocks still but those will install when the rigging commences. Foremast up next.
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Some work on the bowsprit mast. As with all masts and yards, I’m trying to attach as many blocks and other components as possible before securing to the ship. This is made trickier as I intend to have sails but of course the rigging plans do not include that information. To figure out what is needed, a lot of consulting other books and examples is taking place for each sail to try to find all the components needed. Even more fun is that I am used to building ships with spritsail topmasts, and this one has a jib boom and sail. My accumulated knowledge of the former is not helping right now…
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Marc, Vic, thank you very much. Still very busy but I've managed to get in some build time and finished installing the gun port lids and canons. A couple more items and Royal Louis will be ready for masts and rigging.
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Wow! It has been a while since I’ve updated this log. Been busy with many different things including starting a new HO scale railroad and my bonsai club has been a bit more active lately with new members which has been exciting. Also I have decided to return to college to complete my degree, so that has been taking up a lot of my remaining free time and will till the end of next year. Still, I have been working when I can. Channels have been installed and now I am constructing the gun port hatches and getting ready to install them and the gun barrels.
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I will echo Kevin in his statement of your ability to see all of these compound angles and layers and translate them from 2D to 3D. I work in construction reading 2D plans to visualize 3D buildings, but even with all of that practice, I struggle to see what some of these artists try to convey in their pictures. Your model, aside from being simply astounding, has done a lot to help me understand the make up of these vessels complex curves and angles and how they interact to form the complete picture. You pick out details that are easily overlooked and workout incredible ways of making these difficult pieces look, maybe not simple, but doable. Bravo!!
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Been a while since I have updated but I have been slowly making progress. All of the exposed guns have been rigged. Next up will be the channels and then gun port lids.
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I feel your pain! You know I love to chop up the framing on kits to allow for interior build-outs and other modifications, and what seems a simple change at first, later reveals itself to be a major issue. I now have a hefty pile of kit decks that would no longer fit the structure as intended, especially balconies. Almost all of mine end up being scratch built to either align properly with the interior decking or to fit the curves of the hull. I think your plan to extend out the framing to add more hull will work fine... just a lot of frustrating work. I have watched you recover from "whoops" before beautifully. I believe you will do so again. You do have an added bonus of the hull being black in this area which will help hide mistakes or imperfections easier than natural wood. Otherwise, she is looking great!
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Royal Caroline by EJ_L - Panart - 1:48
EJ_L replied to EJ_L's topic in - Kit build logs for subjects built from 1501 - 1750
Upper-work planking installed. Caroline is now ready to take a trip to the wood shop for sanding and finishing. Once the finish is complete, I can start fitting trim and painting the areas that will be painted. Deck planking and interior planking will follow. While the finish work is taking place, I will be switching back to Royal Louis for a while. Thank you all for the continuing interest.
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Royal Caroline by EJ_L - Panart - 1:48
EJ_L replied to EJ_L's topic in - Kit build logs for subjects built from 1501 - 1750
Thank you Marc! It is from people like yourself and the work and effort that you put into a project that inspire and push me to continue to try to improve. Well, the last few weeks have been busy ones as I have been working on installing the second planking layer. As of today, I have finished from the wales to the keel. The wales are in walnut as are the keel, stem and stern post. The lower hull has been planked in cherry. None of this has been sanded or finished yet so it is a bit uneven and faded in color. Next up I will flip her over to continue moving up the hull with planks. Still working through some of the upper color scheme and deciding if I want to represent the colors with natural wood or paint. This will really come down to what colors are chosen.
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Sometimes it is for the best. You are not alone in shelving a model project for any number of reasons. I've got a few unfinished ones myself. Maybe one day you will return to it, maybe not. In either case, life is too short to be unhappy in a hobby. I will keep an eye out for your Surprise build log. Good luck on that build!
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I've built this model and the easiest thing about it was opening the box. If all you use is glue and a hobby knife, you will end up with a pile of wood sticks and metal decorations stuck together in a vague shape of a ship after it was tossed ashore by a hurricane. As someone who has never been traditional in building easier ships and gradually working up to the big ones, I will not say a beginner cannot do this ship, but you will need more than a knife and glue and chances are high that one will become extremely frustrated with the instructions and time involved and never complete it. I forget the exact count, it is on my build log, but I know I worked on this model for over 2,000 hours.
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I've done gilt and colored. My S.R. was done in gilt in the more common method of all ornaments painted gold. Many years ago though I painted the decorations on the stern of Constitution in a variety of colors and my current build of Royal Louis has also been done in colors. I intend to do the same with my Royal Caroline, though she will likely have more gilding as she was the King's yacht.
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I cannot say for certain, but my guess is that there were removable ladders to access this area. It may not have been a regularly used space outside of battle and accessing the lanterns. I don't think I added any on mine to this deck, though I do remember questioning it myself during construction.
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I will echo that painting the sculptures in a variety of color adds a great deal to the model over just the gold. Likely more realistic as well. I have done them both ways now and I love how they pop and become more interesting with colors. On the reigns, you may look at jewelry wire from crafting stores. It comes in a variety of thicknesses and colors where you may be able to find something that does not look oversized. You could also stiffen sewing thread of the color you want with glue if you need to go extremely thin. I have always struggled with the practicality of many railings. Real, practical, functional or simply artistic. I believe that there is truth to much of it. From safety, while there was concern, we can easily overthink it with modern safety practice. With artistic, the artist wanted to convey the appearance rather than function. Dimensions should not be taken as exact, rather suggestive. I think if you find a happy medium that you like you will be okay.
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Royal Caroline by EJ_L - Panart - 1:48
EJ_L replied to EJ_L's topic in - Kit build logs for subjects built from 1501 - 1750
Main cabin floor is complete! Now I can start to trim the room and install the aft seating in front of the stern windows. First though I will apply the second planking layer. Best to get that finished before I add too many interior details. Here are some pics of the floor in progress as installed.
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Royal Caroline by EJ_L - Panart - 1:48
EJ_L replied to EJ_L's topic in - Kit build logs for subjects built from 1501 - 1750
More cabin progress has been made. Wall paneling is well underway and the LED's for two of the lamps have been installed. I finished designing the floor pattern and have begun building it. Very time consuming, but fun! A different sort of challenge than those normally faced with model ships. I also took some time and milled down a pile of lumber for the outer planking. When I finish the cabin flooring I will switch back to planking to put the finish planks on. To help with all of this, I got a new band saw for Christmas. Been needing one for a long time so when my tool store announced a sale, I quickly hopped in the truck and drove down to get one.
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Royal Caroline by EJ_L - Panart - 1:48
EJ_L replied to EJ_L's topic in - Kit build logs for subjects built from 1501 - 1750
Thank you all very much! Indeed, learning from each other, be it a new technique, historical data, or creative inspiration is a blessing of MSW. Christos, I have been following your log as well and your model is coming along beautifully. It is one that I have bookmarked and reference often. OC, Kurt, thank you both for the kind words. I feel rather intimidated by this build as there are several very beautiful models of her on here. Small update of work in progress. Picked out some different wood that I will be milling down over the Christmas holiday for the outer planking. In the meanwhile, I have been working on the interior bulkhead paneling in the aft cabin as well as figuring out the floor pattern. I will also be locating lamp placements for the lighting and paths for thee wires.
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Royal Caroline by EJ_L - Panart - 1:48
EJ_L replied to EJ_L's topic in - Kit build logs for subjects built from 1501 - 1750
First layer of planking has been largely completed. I now have a shaped hull to begin cleaning up for the second planking layer of a yet to be determined wood species. The kit came with walnut for the hull, and while I will use it for accent colors, I want the field to be a lighter coloring. I’m leaning towards a cherry wood at the moment… we shall see. The upper works still need to be cut and shaped as right now they are left long and high to be cut to correct shape later. I’m also having some issues with the forecastle elevation. To me, it seems awfully tall so I am looking back through drawings and the Anatomy of a Ship book for Royal Caroline to see what makes sense. On the interior, I have begun to locate and plan for the cabin builds. Not much beyond some measurements and markings thus far, but it all starts somewhere.
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Royal Caroline by EJ_L - Panart - 1:48
EJ_L replied to EJ_L's topic in - Kit build logs for subjects built from 1501 - 1750
I know it’s been a while, but at long last an update. I have been working on the first layer of hull planking. Climbing steadily and I hope to be ready for a round of sanding by next weekend. I’m still trying to decide how I want to plank the finish layer and of what wood species. Here are some progress pictures showing the planking process. The first one also shows the flex tube that I installed as a conduit for the LED wiring.
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Just a couple of overall pictures.
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