MESSIS

Gun-deck going on 

the details of the glazed window/gun-port and that of bow chaser gun-port closed (hinged port lid)

Proceeding with the gun deck. Lining of the walls and the inside of the gun ports.
 
And the waterway's harder reinforcing wood (stained) is connecting the deck floor with the walls. It has a concave profile in order to drain the water at the scuppers. (I dont know why but the AL instruction show a concave waterway!)

@cog The first picture it shows the finished coppering, now the second picture (showing a stage before finishing) was supposed to be posted before the first one, but something went wrong I guess.... anyway I just reedited the post and placed the pictures in the correct time sequence. 👌
 
Its very warm allready in Cyprus... 32 degrees Celsius. So thank you for your understanding!😎

So now after 160 working hours -from  beginning  the build in.March- I have ended the coppering.
 
I used about 1000 plates, as the 1790 Ship, a bottle of acetone and 2 lemons to clean the plates from glue and finger tips although I was wearing plastic gloves during this work. I also used up the kitchen nylon roll of my wife! (Used it to cover the finished coppering).
 
At the end the rudder with its pintels and gudgeons... you can see in the picture the greek words for those two items.  
 
And ofcourse the false keel was left without copper sheathing, in order to allow the replacement of the false keel when needed
 

 

Coppering goes on....

Just finished first side coppering.
 

Coppering or copper sheathing. Started today using the Amati plates 17x5 mm. The size is within the sizes  used by the french navy at that time.
 
Amati has left and right plates, to indicate the overlapping. In my case I used the overlap to the upper and stern side of the plate, simulating the way was done then.
 
My experience building Hermione the first time say two pkts of plates shall be enough.   Thats 518 plates each pkt. Am going to use about a thousand.... as many as was actually used in 1779 on Hermione. Cost incl.  shipm. 60 euros.

painting the hull.  Most of us dont like painted ships.... wood is warm and beautiful... no comparison! 
 
Still I enjoy painting Hermione. She looks very happy with those colours of her.
 
I have used  the  pigments of Hermione of the 17th century, which the Hermione-Lafayette History Committee found after extensive research. A pantone data table with those, is given  in the AL kit. Plus the fact that a gentleman from AL was kind enough to send me over the corresponding paints from Vallejo.
 
So... the Blue of the King, for the bulwarks. A costly colour then, as it contained ground lapis lazouli
 
The Naples yellow, a widely used recipe in the 17th and 18th century in France, was used for the level of the gun-ports.
 
And the remaining hull over the waterline was painted black. And ofcourse the underwater hull was white, which a few months after the launching of the ship, had been replaced by  a  copper sheathing.
 
Last but not least the  red (from red ochre and natural clay)  "to hide the blood" according to popular rumour, was used for all the gun-deck, the quarter deck and  the fore castle.
 
Here are the pictures of the painting procedure.
 
Note 1: The white paint seen over the waterline, its the vallejo primer (its a thin primer) which I brushed painted as thinly  as I could, in order to allow the underneath planking to be visible.
 
Note 2: The white colour, under the waterline its a spray primer which I sprayed thick enough , in order to prepare the hull for the copper sheathing. 
 
 

Stempost, sternpost and the three parts false keel are in place.
 

Hi everyone,
 
Am back again. 18 days grandson kept the shipyard shutdown. Now he is back to UK... time to catch up some work.
 
Just recalculated  the remaining plank gaps. It seems a joggler will be needed on each side. And ofcourse two correction planks, a long one and a small short one.
 
Started preparing the jogglers... and installed two bow planks, on each side, which are the last in full width. The next planks two close the bow will be a joggler almost identical in each side, which will be projected after the third frame into two thinner planks. Lets see how well it goes tomorrow. 

Few planks remain and ofcourse the correction plank(I guess two of them will be needed-a longer and a short one )  to close the hull planking.. Stealers were also used 4 each side at the stern. According to my logbook  I just conclude 100 hours of work.
 
Now its party time 🥂my grand son is coming to Cyprus and am closing the shipyard down for the time he is staying with grandma and grandpa.  😊🐖🐄🐓🦆

So planking upwards now. Leaving some spaces on the bottom  stern to catch the turn correctly. Ofcourse those will be filled at the end with a few stealers.
 
Am coming nearer to the end. Though am still stressed with the out coming of the ending at the bow, of the rest of the planks. I guess, if the planks get too thin, then maybe I will have to use a joggler or two

Planking still going on. Not so fast , but ok. The planking from the kiel upwards has   also started. I assume that another 6 strakes in this direction will bring me up to the end stage and I hope very.near to the last plank... to the correction plank.
 

Planking goes on.... not much trouble since this moment. Monday expecting headaches....  probably... definitely! 

Gun ports finished. The  transom is installed and am ready for the planking of the hull. The instructions of AL show a few very thin planks coming at the bow. Thats something am going to avoid so am not going  to follow the instructions.

 

Gun ports cutting is progressing. It was important to take care that the ports were marked  in the right position. The correct height from the cannon deck and ofcourse care was also given not to cut any frame.
 
The cannon deck planks were varnished with a satin matt varnish. The wall's inside planking of the cannon deck is going to follow as soon as all the ports have been cut.

After two weeks the shipyard has open again. Now we go in a quicker tempo. Gunwale completed today. Needs sanding and then cutting the gun ports 

Gunwale almost done with 14 planks in total. Though today the shipyard, as I already mentioned, has closed for two weeks.... the shipyard master will be busy by the visit of his grandson -a three months old petit officer, not of the Cyprus Navy, he is a British subject.
 
Limassol its now spring over 18° C. and the colours of the sea are beautiful! (picture: Limassol Port, harbor tugboat is piloting Natural Gas Drill  platform)

 
 

Planking the gunwale. Planks 2x5x300. Well soaked and then just bending on a cylinder similar to the radius of the ship's bow. So far 14 planks. But shipyard closes for next week and the finishing of the gunwale will be delayed for a week.

Started today by laying down the keel and building the frame. Easy start  only just  taking care that the sections are fitted to the keel in 90° angle.
 
 

Rebuilding the same model again it may sound -at least- boring or surely not exciting. But for me this time its  not the case
 
The first time I started Hermione was in 2017. I finished her in late 2018. It took me about 18 months and 600 hrs.  So why do it again?
 
In all this time,  studying  before, during and after building the model and ofcourse my  visit to the replica Hermione in Rochefort in 2017, gave to me a whole different perspective of the project.
 
Although A/L made and offers a good kit, still the kit of A/L represents the replica of L' Hermione and not the original ship.  Ofcourse, though already  during the first  building of the model, I tried to take distances from the replica and build the original ship.... my historical  knowledges did not  allowed me to do so.
 
Now I am more confident. Now I am aware, with more accuracy, of the distance, between the original ship and the replica. Its not only the coppering  or the flag, or some detail on the deck.... its more to it.
 
Among others, -for example- the modern health and safety regulations that the replica designer had to be in line with, have produced a lot of deviations,  by adding to the original design or by leaving behind, elements and materials that were originally part of the ship's design. 
 
So here I am to make an effort correcting my build. Hopefully I will succeed to that.... but I also have in mind to avoid all the bad craftmanship and build errors of my first build, hopping that the gained experience and my better skills of today will able me to build a decisive improved model.
 
Christos

There are three different cannon sizes on board. The  12 lb cannons (26 pieces as the 1779 ship), the 6 lb cannons (16 pcs/ 1779 ship carried only 8 pcs)  and the 1 lb swivel cannons (2 pcs/1779 ship 10 pcs).

The 12 lb Cannons, line production. She carried 26 of those and 6 cannons of 6 lb.

the details of the glazed window/gun-port and that of bow chaser gun-port closed (hinged port lid)