Beckmann

Dear fellow modellers, thank you all for your comments and likes. Over the last few days I have been working on the canopy above the stern gallery. It is an imposing vault, interrupted by four supporting ribs, which swings upwards from the window front of the main cabin almost like a domed vault in a church and then descends again on the inside of the transom arch to end there. All in all, a beautiful but, in my opinion, somewhat unusual construction that raises several questions. First question: How was the vault constructed? Second question: As it protrudes very far above the aft deck, how was the poop designed here? Third question: What might the ship's carpenters have been thinking when they were asked to build it? They probably rebelled at first. I'll start with a few photos of the original model to illustrate the problem: You can see here that in the model the vault shell has obviously been carved out of a block and fitted into place. You can also see in the last picture how far the vault protrudes above the poop deck. There are some historical models and drawings that show vaulted canopies over the stern gallery, but not to these dimensions. Here are two pictures of the stern model of a Swedish ship of the line from the first half of the 18th century: and the drawing of a French ship of the line, also from the first half of the 18th century: Both show the end of the poop deck above the window front and a construction of knees supporting the canopy and reaching up to the transom. This is exactly what this English ship of the line from 1735 looks like. Here you can already see a solution for a raised deck level above the canopy; I will end up with something similar. I decided not to make the canopy out of knees, support ribs and planks because of the complex shapes, but instead, as the construction will no longer be visible from above, I also chose to carve the vaults out of solid wood and insert them as a block. Let's start again with my paper templates to find the shape: then the wooden blocks were cut to size, the vaults worked out and fitted: Here you can see the centre vault: The inside is puttyled and sanded before painting so that the surface can be smoothed out nicely and the unavoidable dentswich appear, when carving out the curvatures can be levelled out. ...and finally everything is fitted to the model. ...then the transom could finally be fitted. Finally, here are some pictures of the result: Best regards, Matthias

Hello everyone, Let's continue with the construction of the upper side galleries. For this, 1 mm thick plywood was used as the starting material in order to achieve this rather curved shape. In hindsight, however, a thick veneer would have been better. Plywood is bulky, as the name suggests, and bending it, even when steamed, is not so easy because the glued plywood layer in the centre does not cooperate. I built a bending jig and glued the fronts together in two layers so that I can create the offset for the sliding windows. The upper cornice of the side gallery is made from a solid piece of wood. Then everything just had to be fitted into place. A kind of façade structure consisting of vertical and horizontal elements was then added to the gallery fronts to create a pilaster structure, as with the rear prospectus. The cornice was a challenge. This had to be steamed again in the cooking pot and bent over a mould, as the drawn boxwood profile strips do not easily accommodate a radius of 25 mm. The area above the centre window is again made of wood paste with the profile blade, as shown in the previous post about the transom front. Unfortunately, I made a cardinal error in the whole process, which I still have to correct: The window-bar-division of the arched window is wrong ... There should be a vertical-double-bar. So I'll have to go back to it, somehow get the bar-cross out cleanly and replace it. All in all, I also suspect that not all the windows were real, as you can see from the French baroque ships that a lot of them were just design, and that the actual glazed windows were only the smallest part of the window fronts. But since I don't know that for sure, I just left it glazed. This matter is not shown on the original model, as the model core there is solid wood overall. So far for now, happy building everyone and see you next time. Matthias

Hi Thorbjørn, nice Progress. I remember me planking my first frigate, the Winchelsea. Each plank took an eternity. But it gets better by the time. The trick is not to use force, but to prebend every plank with water and iron or hairdryer. than its a joy to see the hull coming together. Matthias

Thank you Chuck! To round off this article, I have now completed the medallion. The surrounding frieze with the double chain was printed on transparent paper and glued onto the medallion. The initials and the oval frame, as well as the foliage, were laser-cut from 1 mm thick plywood. The ends of the initials C are 0.4 mm thick. This is the thinnest that this technology can produce. At 0.3 mm, the part consists only of laser carbon and disintegrates. The parts for the medallion were then gold-plated and the foliage stained green and carefully glued into position. The transom is now ready for assembly, but will remain in the box for the time being until the quarter galleries are finished. Best regards Matthias

Dear fellow modellers, today I would like to continue the topic of the transom and its elements here. Here you can see a comparison of the drawing and the finished wax model. The dimensions are fairly accurate, although the design of the medallion in the centre of the transom is slightly different. The formation of the edges and the exact depiction of the medaillon content are more precise in the drawing than in the model. A closer look reveals the following: In the centre of the medallion are the mirrored initials of the Danish King Christian VI. A double chain runs around this monogram, representing the bearer chains of the Order of the Eledanten (outside) and the Order of the Dannebro (inside). The arrangement of the chains can be clearly seen on this epitaph: Incidentally, the Danish kings still wear these very chains today when making public appearances. And here is an example of the mirrored initalia of King Christian VI of Denmark and Norway (1699-1746). Incidentally, several Christians chose this exact arrangement, from Christian IV to IX. I have drawn this arrangement and brought it into the correct proportions for the model: The next step is to carve the medallion from boxwood: The coat of arms medallion will now first be integrated into the rear prospect and the adjacent baroque ornamental panelling added on. Due to the scale, I will print out the chains on transparent paper and glue them on, the surrounding frame ovals and the initials will be added later. The model now looks like this: However, I won't finally fit the component until the quartergalleries have been completed, te keep the accessibility for these works. Best regards, Matthias

Hi Keith, there are some examples of sliding windows, like Victory and Trincomalee. See the pictures below. Also a drawing from Blaise Olivier. It was obviously not unusual to install these windows on ships. Matthias

Dear fellow modellers, Work continues with the window front of the great cabin. The curved profile was finished with wood filler and profiled. Here you can see the moulded cornice, I finally went over it again with some paint filler to make the surface fine enough. And here is the result. After the two halves of the window front had been joined together, I installed the part on the model. One thing that still concerns me is the opening of the windows. The lower sashes were apparently always openable. The original model in the Krigsmuseet indicates this by a slight offset of the lower sashes, which can also be seen in the plans. Now the big question: Folding or sliding? The only references I found were a picture of the French liner le Soleil Royal, where details of the superstructure are shown, here the windows are hinged, and a photo from 1944 of the HMS Implacable, which is originally French, here you can also see the hooks on the ceiling, where the hinged windows were hooked on. However, the two situations are not entirely comparable, as the windows of the TRE KRONER are organised differently and each consist of an upper fixed glazing and a lower opening sash. This is the classic sliding window division. Does anyone here know any more details? Best regards, Matthias

Dear fellow modellers, First of all, I would like to wish you a healthy new year and lots of exciting projects. I would like to start my contribution with a book recommendation. The history of shipbuilding is usually told from the perspective of the technical development of sailing ships, with artistic aspects playing a more marginal role. In my opinion, the book ‘Das barocke Schiffsheck als Architekturprospekt’ by Jan Piper from 2017 has provided a nice addition here. It deals with the causes and developments of ship decorations in the French Baroque of the 17th and 18th centuries, which became style-defining in Europe, just as French art, building culture and language were formative throughout Europe during this period. The book digs quite deep here and is richly illustrated. It is interesting for my project in that the ship of the line TRE KRONER was built by a Frenchman - Laurent Barbé as shipbuilder and the sculptor - Just Wiedewelt had previously spent 10 years in Paris learning at the court of the French kings. I was a little worried at times that my interior was exaggerated, but what is shown here goes far beyond that. The following photos show models for interior decorations of French ships of the line from the late 17th and early 18th centuries. So I continue as I started. Progress over the Christmas holidays was limited, as there was a lot going on, but I can still show a little here. The side panelling of the captain's cabin is finished and the stern is currently being worked on. There is also a nice drawing for the stern front in the book mentioned above, which I am using as a guide: The component is made up of two halves. I have already shown the inner part above, the outer part is painted red and presents the challenge of flat, curved profiles. I wasn't able to bend them flat in the required radii, so I resorted to drawing them in a stucco style. The outer radius is still made in wood and serves as a gauge, the curved profile is then applied in several passes of wood putty. I still have to make 2-3 more passes, then it should be precise enough. I suspect that the artists of the time worked in a very similar way. The decorations were made from modelling wax, so they must have done it in a similar way. Best regards, Matthias

Hi Igor,. great work on these decorations!! Incredible design of J. Berain. So much fine art in a warship. These decorations must have been more expensive than the whole rest of the ship. Matthias

Hello everyone, Thank you for your encouragement, the work is continuing with the interior work on the upper deck, where the paneling of the “Store Kajüt” (great cabin) described above is now in progress. This also involved some initial carving work. I have now decided to build more or less on the original 18th century interior of the Amphion in Stockholm. I started with the carved garland below the deck beams: I laser-cut the rather filigree part with supports and screwed it to the table, then the tools can be used freely with both hands. Then the flat columns as a structuring element, here of course the capitals as the first major hurdle. and here they are put together You could also leave the result in wood, which might have been more discreet and more appropriate for a warship, but I went for a pot of gold paint... Best regards, Matthias

Thank you Ken, Colonial Williamsburg ist really a nice reference, I didn't know about this place before. Matthias

Hi TJM, Very interesting research, indeed. I have to keep that in mind, in case I build cannons for my TRE KRONER model. Will you dress Ltn. Hornblower in a danish uniform? Matthias

...and here another drawing from Thomas Phillips from the RMG-Homepage. The captains cabin looks very well equipped. Matthias

Yesterday I found this contemporary drawing from Thomas Phillips, dating 1701. All the cabins show elaborate interior. Even my petrol colour can be found in the lower cabin and some pictures of maritime subjects. Matthias

Hello everyone, There is some minor progress to report on the model and some planning considerations on how to proceed, where perhaps this or that person has an additional idea? The deck above the already completed lower cabin of the battery deck has been laid and some thoughts on the further planning of the side galleries have been sketched. It's slowly getting cozy down there... I looked for references for the further development of the captain's cabin and unfortunately didn't find much. There is a contemporary painting of an English captain on board the HMS Nottingham (60 guns) from 1742, the year the TRE KRONER was built, painted by William Hogarth: Here you can see that the wall paneling is quite elaborately decorated. Fluted flat columns and gilded carved capitals can be seen in the background. Between the stern windows, you can see the surrounding molded panels that also divide the rows of windows on the outside of the TRE KRONER. In my opinion, the cabin was relatively elaborate and of high quality, whereas later examples are rather simpler. The cost of ship decorations was continually reduced throughout the 18th century, this applies to the exterior decoration and presumably also to the interior. There is a detailed section through the Danish ship of the line Sophie-Magdalena from 1727, where a similar decoration is shown: In Stockholm there is also the original paneling of the Amphion from 1778, a little too young and perhaps already influenced by classicism, but the elements are similar. I made a drawing and put the Danish King Christian VI on the wall, what do you think? Best regards, Matthias