EJ_L

Last few weeks I have been working on the figurehead. Here are the progress photos carving it out of a block of basswood. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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. 
 

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. 
 

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. 

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. 

being an imitation modeler, for me it's easy...take a piece of wood, cut a rough form, place it on the bow, cut here cut there, place it...cut and place again and again until......ok that feels right....😁.....

Often the best approach, Vic.  The eye is more sure than the hand - every time 

Thank you, Kevin.  Despite this incident, I still love loving in a big city.  I grew up in the suburbs, and that was great until it wasn’t anymore.  Still a nice place to visit, though.  As for astronomy, it seems as though astrophysicists are making quantum optical strides all the time.  I’d hold onto those telescopes, too, but then I’m loath to throw anything away!
 
So, I’ve spent the past few nights mapping and templating card patterns for these headrail support structures.  Anyone who has been following this build can attest to my love for lamination, and these parts will be no exception;  each station is made up of three layers of .030 styrene card stock.
 
The method will become clearer in subsequent postings, but the primary challenge - once again - is coping with a similar trapezoidal asymmetry in the bow, as in the stern; the starboard side of the beakhead bulkhead projects further forward than port.  Co-incidentally, it is also the starboard side, at the stern, that projects further aft.  How the starboard side ended up so considerably longer than port, when the mid-ships ladders were my alignment point of reference - I will never understand.
 
Anyway, as any good field carpenter must do, this will be about making the installation appear correct and seamless.
 
A few pictures:

With a centerline drawn on the cardboard, as a visual check against the center of the stem, I found the distance to each headrail, working one side of patterns at a time.  I also marked the bottom of the lowest headrail, and just above the midpoint of the middle headrail on each pattern.  This enabled me to map the scalloped pattern on the undersides of these supporting timbers (as well as the cambered uppers) so that they ultimately extend out beneath the underside of the lowest headrail.

As I first drew the interior scanting of these structures, they were much too heavy and there was no reasonable transition from rising timber to vertical timber.  I wish I had taken pictures to show the difference, but I did not.  I consulted JCL’s St. Philippe monograph and was rewarded with a much better impression of what these structures should look like.  It bears mentioning that these structures are still oversize, so that I can fair to final form after lamination.
 
Keen eyes will observe that one side rises higher (about a 1/16”) than the other.  This is one result of the asymmetry that I am referring to.  It can’t be fixed; only mitigated.  Fortunately, from any viewing angle on the finished model, the combination of gratings camber and consistent alignment with the middle rail on both sides will mask this deficiency.  Proof of concept may prove me wrong, but I’m pretty confident that if I weren’t pointing this all out - it would not be obvious to even trained eyes.
 
For the time being, though, I am pleased that my patterns are glued and ready for wasting:

In other works, these fair maidens are rounding into form:

They’ll have to see a podiatrist, but then - don’t we all?
 
As always, I appreciate the support of everyone who comes to visit this page.  Thank you all very much!  More to follow.

That sounds unpleasant and probably a bit scary. I loathe cities, there always seems to be a fizz of danger about them and even though we are only 40 minutes from London I only go there maybe once a year. Anyway, good to see you getting back into the groove, I always enjoy looking at what you're up to. I'm no historian but, for what it's worth, until I read the narrative I assumed the drawings were of french ships since that's what they look like. Case proven, methinks.
 
Otherwise, you're probably right, I should hang onto my machines. And my telescopes, despite the lousy eyesight for astronomy and no longer liking being awake at 3am on a freezing night. Maybe I'll get cataracts, have them done and suddenly see a whole new Saturn or Jupiter 🙂. 
 

Thank you, Marc!  My jaw has made a full recovery and suspect posters are now posted in the subways, which is good.  I don’t really expect anything to come of it, but one never knows.
 
I’ve begun patterning the headrail supports structures and the cambered head grating.  This will be a fun and interesting component of the build.

An interesting post - in more ways than one. It seems that you've had many vicissitudes and am glad you are past them now. Hopefully the family stays healthy now! Glad you are back to the model: it can be a healing activity.

The past month has been quite a ride; painting, packing, moving, start of school for kids, COVID for my wife, sick kids, unpacking, and an un-provoked subway assault (I got lucky, ‘am fine, but I had a really sore jaw for a week, case pending) - after all of that, I kind of lost my mojo for the project.  The ship has just been sitting, locked up in its travel box, and waiting while we configure this new place.
 
Last night, I took the ship out to retrieve the starboard headrail.  Very slowly, I did manage to remake that horse carving, so today, I flushed-up all of the edges and finished that aspect of the project:


Weeks ago, when I was trying to tuck this headrail in, behind the figurehead, I was a little overzealous and removed too much material at the wrong angle.  I added back a little plastic, here, to make a good joint:

What has lit a little fire in me is the awareness that the 40th Annual Joint Clubs Meeting isn’t that far away.  My home club, The ShipCraft Guild of New York, is hosting and we are in the planning stages with the hope of putting on a really good show, in this anniversary year.
 
And, so, I have set goals for the project before the show.  I would like to have the entire head structure assembled and painted with all accompanying ornament.  I would also like to have the third balcony tier, in-place.  If I really get moving again, perhaps it is possible that I will have at least the outline of the tafferal in-place.
 
As I would like to construct cambered head-gratings, it is fortuitous timing that Chuck Passaro happens to be designing that structure for his Winchelsea group build right now.  His sequencing of assembly has helped me to clarify my own modified approach to building this structure, and I will soon get started on making that happen.
 
On a tangentially related note: I am always on the look-out for 17th Century drawings and I recently discovered very clear images of the sets for this Swedish ship, The Kronan:



There are so many interesting things about this set.  One can see that this is a Swedish ship because the Royal coat of arms with three crowns (as opposed to fleurs) is centered on the upper balcony rail.
 
Each drawing is inscribed in Swedish and translates to:
 
“Drawing of the ship Kronan written by Francis Sheldon 1660s”
 
Now, it is true that Francis Sheldon was contracted by Sweden to construct this huge three-decker for their expanding navy, in the late 1660’s.  The Baltic remains of the ship still bear witness to the heavy English influence of Sheldon upon her architecture.
 
This ornamental set, however, has absolutely nothing in-common with English design or ornamental practice.  In fact, apart from the coat of arms, everything about these drawings is distinctly French and very specifically the hand of Jean Berain.
 
Consider the following sets for Le Fleuron and Le Terrible:





And so, it is curious that these drawings would be marked as the hand of Sheldon, when at least one near contemporary portrait of the Battle of Oland, paints a very different picture of the Kronan, at the moment of her loss in 1676:
 

It makes more sense that the Kronan would have had a round-tuck stern, and that her side galleries may have been more similar, in structure, to the Sovereign of the Seas.
 
My guess is that, perhaps, the Swedish crown had plans to build a second Kronan in the 1690s, and had contracted Berain to produce an ornamental proposal.  As far as I can find, though, the original Sheldon Kronan of 1672 is the only Swedish ship to carry the name in the 17th C.
 
Anyway, it is all interesting to look at, and to consider that Berain may have been reviving the twist-tail tritons of Puget’s style, later in the century.

i gave up on the blocks...to get 2mm blocks now, just for the upper decks, would have cost me $70cdn.....and as i built this model only for the shape of the hull, it wasn't worth it......

Thanks! I stuck to doing one gun a day to keep my sanity. In fact, getting the eyebolts secured to the inside of the bulwarks was the worst part, and trying not to pull them out when tightening the lines. I used the 2.5mm blocks from HisModel. Glad it's over and done.

gads! rigging those guns is quite an accomplishment.......i just had some 3mm blocks, and tried....yuk...it ain't easy..getting old i guess....i'm trying to get some 2mm blocks....haha if i can afford them...
congrats, on the fantastic job you've done with them....

Thanks John. I appreciate your sharing what you have done. I am planning to use gold leaf on the decorations as Kpnuts did. That is going to require some practice before I actually start application. 

Hello colleagues,
I am very pleased that despite a long break there is still interest in the progress of my model.
A hearty thank you for it.
Completion: Standing rigging for jib and outer jib boom - Bâton de foc et bâton de clinfoc
After the final work on the standing rigging for the jib boom and the outer jib boom, I can also finish this chapter. So the standing rigging for the French corvette is finished except for a few minor details.
Accordingly, here are a few pictures that give an overview of the bowsprit rigging.


 




 
 
Soon I will dedicate myself to the production of the yards. So I am looking forward to work more intensively with wood again.
To be continued ...
 

I get it. Thanks!

@Dziadeczek
Hello,
you are right, but in this drawing I was only concerned with the connection of the guys by means of thimble. I based the tackle on the model of the L'Inflexible.

Beautiful work as always Johann! Glad to see you’ll be getting to spend more time at the bench. That means more eye candy for us. 
 
-Brian

Fabulous, as always!!!   😲
Isn't there a double strop on the right block D' of the tackle, you have shown on your drawing?

@Wishmaster
Thank you vor the kind words. And to all the others, thanks for the LIKES,
 
The days are getting shorter again, so the times spent in the basement shipyard are getting a bit longer again ... 😁
 
Continuation: Standing rigging for jib and outer jib boom - Bâton de foc et bâton de clinfoc
This is a continuation of my last construction report.
To finish the rigging work for the standing rigging of the bowsprit with the jib boom and outer jib boom, the jib boom and flying jib boom stays still had to be fastened. The jib boom was stabilized laterally with two jib guys on each side, one of which was fixed by means of a tackle.
 

Source: Monograph La Creole by J. Boudriot p. 129
 
For the detail of the tackle I followed the model of L'Inflexible and the Atlas du Génie maritime.
 

Source: Extract from Atlas du Génie maritime, annexe No. 1, Pl. 10
 
Attached are two pictures of the implementation and the completed tackles, consisting of double blocks. The ends of the jib guys are then fastened by means of thimbles and seizings.


See you soon ...
 

Its been an enormous long time since my last post. Sorry for that. Work has progressed though. All the gunports were finished so on to the masts and the putting irons.
I think the pictures show how I did them.

 

 

 

 


 

beautiful model....I have this kit which is waiting patiently on the shelf whilst i build Endeavour, finish the rigging on Unicorn and continue with Perefrine.....A job well done Bedford and a gorgeous tribute to your daughter.

It's been a while between updates but I've fitted the kings cabin doors and made the masts. The wood for the masts was really white so I stained it in Baltic pine and finished them in carnauba furniture wax which looks really nice. 
 
All spars will get the same treatment.