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Nek0

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Everything posted by Nek0

  1. Nek0
    Hello Marc ! To me it's a huge improvement. But beware of the last gunport, the bottom is too high, and not in line with the others. I wish you all the best for 2018, best regards, Marc
  2. Nek0
    Thank you for your patience. I'm very busy with work for the last couple of weeks but it should calm down soon. I will come back when I can. By the way, I wish you all a very happy new year !
  3. Nek0
    Thank you all for such kind words, I put all my heart and will in this build, I take the time to make things as good as I can, and it's a nice reward to see that you like my work, I'm honored and it's pushing me forward to do the next steps as good as the previous ones. It's a very tough and painstaking work, very demanding in time and very rigorous. Encouragements are welcome !! Victor, in fact I'm very slow at work, and I'm alone ! My little boy is now 2 1/2 years, it's too young to be productive ! I even had to stop working on the SR for two years because of him, my job, and my martial arts gym. I only came back to the workshop a few weeks ago, in september. So I hope the build will now go on again ! Anyway thank you for your words that have great meaning to me. I really hope you will like the next steps !! Marc, there are some flaws, but only I know where they are ! If you visit me eventually I will show you, but hopefully these are minor flaws... Indeed the sheerline is quite curved. I love these 3/4 views, where you can see the beauty of these curves. It seems much more linear in a side view, but the period drawings often shows 3/4 views. But I listened to your advice, (anyway that was something I had planed to do) and revised, not the top sheerline but the middle sheerline and dropped it a little more. (less than two mm, and it makes a difference) Here are the last pictures at this day, I did not post them earlier because of my job tooking me much time the last couple of days. Hope you will like them. The neon lights of the workshop make the ship a little bit darker than she is.
  4. Nek0
    This picture is gorgeous Michel !!!
  5. Nek0
    I'm back for the following pictures. Today I show the very boring step of planking the hull. One have to be very patient and very precise in the assembly of the different pieces to achieve a good result. At first I drew the planking on the hull to be sure it looks good. Then I drew the frame so I can place the nails where they should be. And the began the very long process of the planking ! At last I dyed the waterline with ebony color, which is not black but a very good looking dark brown. Hope you like it !!!
  6. Nek0
    It looks very good !!
  7. Nek0
    Hello Marc !! I will try my best to answer these questions, as well as those in the PM. You have to think now what should be the final aspect of your model. Like you I love the wood, I feel it's an organic and warm material, and I like it to be unpainted. When you build this way, it exists "conventions" or "habits" that are approved but don't represent the reality of a ship, but show the method of construction. It's the case for the nails, iron or treenails, that don't really show on a real model. They don't show because, as you mentionned, nails are iron, and iron rusts. So the nails were put down 1/4 of an inch (6 mm) into the planking and covered with mastic. And if you look closely to the hull, you should see the mastic, but not the nails ! (cf HMS Victory's hull) So, you can choose to represent a natural wooden version of a ship, and put the nails but it will be for intellectual purpose only and not a sincere representation of the real ship. It's what I do. Or you can choose to paint your model for a faithful vision of the ship. But in this case, you should keep in mind that the "nails" or mastic dots should be really really inconspicuous, or even invisible at a 1/100 scale. Also, if nowadays we like the natural wood, it was not the case in the XVIIe century, they liked vivid colours. (the more vivid the more expensive...) It is generally admitted that the first SR was black, blue, white, and "belly of the doe" with golden linings. Concerning the "gold", it was gold. In the XVIIe, there was still enough money to use real gold on the prestigious ships. In fact, only the ships with names with royal or religious meanings were golden. (such as "Soleil Royal", "Royal Louis", or "St Philippe", "St Esprit"...) But ships with others names were painted with yellow of Naples. (such as "L'Ambitieux", "Le Téméraire", "L’orgueilleux"...) So if you would like to represent what the ship really was, you should use a golden paint. But if you choose to represent a natural wooden ship, indeed I think it's better to use some yellow ochre. At last of course you do what you want, blue or even red with yellow ochre mouldings maybe, it's your ship ! You can do whatever you think it's the best, but I like to say that we have to know what we are doing, and WHY we are doing it, so we can argue and justify our choices. Good luck my friend !
  8. Nek0
    Thank you !! Victor Yancovitch, in fact I know your work from many years, and it's one of my favorite. I like to get the detail done as correct as I can, but I try to always think of the overall aspect of the finished model. Your models are a source of inspiration from this point of view. Perfect proportions, perfect curves, great harmony of colours, excellent carvings that perfectly merge with the rest of the ships, and incredibly realistic and poetic "in situation" pictures... Your work is one that I have in mind when I think of the final impression/feeling that I would like to achieve with my SR. Hervé Sasso posted a few pictures of your work in a french forum in 2011 and I was stunned. Below are some pictures of your models that I particularly love.
  9. Nek0
    And here are the finished 36 gauge guns, with one exposition gun.
  10. Nek0
    Below is what I've done. (the plan for the carriage is from the monograph of L'Ambitieux)
  11. Nek0
    Thank you ! So, I suppose the important point about a one hundred and four guns first rate warship is... the guns ! Here is what I did for the 36 gauge guns. At first, we had the opportunity Michel Saunier and I to work with Alexey Baranov, an ukrainian based craftsman, that could mold us the guns. Indeed, the guns of Le Soleil Royal were in bronze, not iron. It means they were prestigious pieces that were highly decorated. One of these guns still exist nowadays and is displayed in a french town called Le Croisic. In fact, it is a gun recovered from the wreck of the second Soleil Royal, but it may have belonged to the first one. So Michel and I send the documents to Alexey with our specifications and Alex did a marvelous job, 1/48 for Michel and 1/72 for me, by using the method of lost wax. The question was, let these guns in a "new bronze" shape, or weather them with a verdigris patina ? I chose (so did Michel) a verdigris patina, because of some informations found in period books such as "La Varende: Tourville en son temps" that says "admirable pieces made of green bronze" and "it was not in the usage to scrub them to make the oxidation disappear". At last, I did not make the guns but the painting is my personnal touch. (And I searched for a loooooong loong time to get the correct color, using an aerograph, very diluted lavis, and a final layer of protective oil) At first, let's have a look at the gun of Le Croisic. (don't look at the carriage which is a modern reconstitution and is completely false...)
  12. Nek0
    Hello Marc ! Good work on these anchor linings ! As we said earlier in the XVIIe century there was probably no treenails at all, but even later in the XVIIIe century, treenails/iron bolts was only for the lively works. Dead works should only receive iron bolts whatever layout you choose. What you're doing for the bolts and washers is quite impressive at this scale....
  13. Nek0
    Hello Cedric ! Thank you for your appreciation on my plans, I have to say I'm also impressed by what you're doing on La Reyne, and I can't wait to see the first pictures of the build !! Concerning the nails, the size of the head is 1/5 of the thickness of the piece of wood, for a std planking. For the wales, in the XVIIe century, nails had semi round heads, for a decorative purpose. They were called "orange head nails" (clous à tête d'orange). I don't know if there is a rule for the diameter of these semi round heads, I used the monograph of the Ambitieux as a guide... But as they are bigger than the std nails, it only take one nail per member... Since in the XVIIe century ships had alternate bulkheads, it would give something like this. I have no information about the bottom of the hull. We have some measurements such as -and I will write it in french because these are some very specific words and I don't know them in english, thanks if someone can translate- "le creux, la distance étrave - étambot, la longueur quille au sol, la quête et la hauteur de l'étambot, l'emplacement du fort, la largeur max et la largeur à la lisse d'Hourdy, le fait que comme La Reyne il ne soit pas ou peu frégaté..." But no further information on the waterlines, or "the shape" of the hull. So I did what I liked, studying other ships of the same time. I used the monograph of L'Ambitieux as a guide, but I gave my Soleil Royal less cheeks.
  14. Nek0
    I'm glad it is of some interest for you. Gaetan, it's a great example of good carvings with a rotary tool, but as you wrote I suppose it's a matter of personal choice and preferences. Marc, I still sometimes use rotary tools too when there is a big outer excess, but I would not call it a "carving step".
  15. Nek0
    And here comes the second Tourville, made with chisels. While not perfect, I like it better. (the calfs were too big, so they were reduced in the last picture)
  16. Nek0
    Here is my first admiral Tourville, made with rotary tools. The proportions are ok, but the wood surface is quite everage and overall, the global aspect I find it's not satisfaying.
  17. Nek0
    Thank you for your appreciation of my work. I try to do my best. The pear wood is from "Arkowood", a shop based in Germany. The first order I received was great, but the second was a lot darker and "red", I don't know why... For the carvings, I use european boxwood. It has incomparable fine grain, is very hard and dulls the blades very quickly, but you can sculpt even the smallest details with it. Blakeny, as a good beginner I first bought a set of mini chisels, but but quickly realised that they were much too big for what I had to do. So I grinded some sewing needles, as shown below. Gaetan, I had never carved anything, but I always did some drawings. I suppose it really helped me with the proportions and the "artistic" sens. I think I have a quite good 3D vision too, all I have to do is to learn the job of a sculptor properly, and learn the style of the XVIIe century. My point is, you may never know exactly what the Soleil Royal looked like, the architectural point, while not "false", may not be historically perfectly accurate. So the only real (historical) interest in building this ship is to do great carvings that respect the Berain drawings and the style of this time. This is my goal. So I began using rotary tools (as for the sitting sailor), but I quickly felt I was more comfortable with chisels, that really have neat cuts and add more nerve to the work. Also the edges are more clean with chisels (because the figures are so small) and the renderring with light is better, in my humble opinion of course. And last but not least, with chisels I can carve the way a ornamentalist sculptor would do with the same steps and same moves. The better example is my second and third attempt to sculpt a figure: a mini admiral Tourville. The first mini Tourville was made entirely with rotary tools, while the second was made with chisels. I think the surface condition of the wood, the edges and the cuts are more neat on the second version. So, Yancovitch, I really thank you for your proposal but I think I will stuck to the chisels. Of course, I talk as if I were greatly experienced in carving which is not the case, I only try to exprim my little experience as good as I can in a language that I don't master very well, so I hope my answer seems not rude and my point of view is well understood. Anyway I take all the advices you would like to give me, and while I may accept or reject them in a first place, I always take them into consideration and may accept an advice I first rejected a few days, weeks, or even years later. I never forget an advice ! Thank you !
  18. Nek0
    Next to Cherbourg, at Tatihou, there is a museum that displys the artefacts of the wrecks of the battle of La Hougue. But the big section of planking of the SR you're talking about is not there, and no further indication about iron bolts and wooden treenails. Here is a link with a bunch of pictures of what is displayed in this museum. http://5500.forumactif.org/t2499-musee-tatihou
  19. Nek0
    "Lively works" or "oeuvres vives" in french, is the portion of the hull immersed in water. "Dead works" or "oeuvres mortes", is the portion of the hull above the sea.
  20. Nek0
    Concerning the XVIIe century, and the Soleil Royal (or La Reyne), we should apply only iron bolts and no wooden treenails. Jean Boudriot probably made a mistake showing wooden treenails for the hull of his Ambitieux. Here is a short text by Gérard Delacroix: Il y a en ce moment dans le forum plusieurs discussions relatives au nombre de clous ou de gournables par membre, clous et gournables destinés au maintien du bordage des coques.Il y a surtout un malentendu quant à la signification du mot "membre" ou à son interprétation qui est, semble-t-il, la clé du problème.Dans le V74, Jean Boudriot, s'appuyant sur les textes existants, indique 2 clous par membre ce qui n'est pas faux mais qui porte à confusion car, en cherchant bien, quelle valeur faut-il attribuer à "membre" ? La solution est donnée par Blaise Ollivier qui précise qu'un membre peut être un couple mais aussi et surtout un des éléments d'un couple et à partir de là, on comprend mieux pourquoi certains textes parlent de 2 clous par membre et d'autres de 4 clous par membre (les 4 clous pouvant être remplacés par 2 clous et 2 gournables). JB s'est peut-être fait piéger car après le V74, il est passé à 4 clous dans les monos suivantes.Pour ce qui est du nombre, pour ma part et suivant les textes et devis que j'ai pu consulter, je dirais 4 clous par couple dans les œuvres mortes. Pour les œuvres vives, au XVIIIe siècle, 2 clous et 2 gournables par couple, pour le XIXe 4 gournables toujours par couple bien sûr. Pour le XVIIe, vu les membrures discontinues, on applique 2 clous par membre (donc varangue, genou ou allonges) et sans gournables.Tout ceci pour la marine d'état. Pour le commerce, il n'est pas certain que l'on trouve les mêmes dispositions car les constructions sont moins imposantes et les pratiques des chantiers civils sont différentes. Idem pour la Compagnie des Indes Below is the google translate: There are currently several discussions in the forum concerning the number of nails or gournables per member, nails and gournables intended for the maintenance of the shelling of the hulls. Above all, there is a misunderstanding as to the meaning of the word "member" or its interpretation which is, it seems to be, the key to the problem. In V74, Jean Boudriot, relying on the existing texts, indicates 2 nails per member, which is not false but confusing because, looking well, what value should be attributed to "member"? The solution is given by Blaise Ollivier who specifies that a member can be a couple but also and especially one of the elements of a couple and from there, one understands better why certain texts speak of 2 nails per member and others 4 nails per member (the 4 nails can be replaced by 2 nails and 2 gournables). JB may have been trapped because after the V74, it passed to 4 nails in the following monos. As for the number, for my part and according to the texts and quotes that I have been able to consult, I would say 4 nails per couple in the dead works. For the lively works, in the eighteenth century, 2 nails and 2 gournables per couple, for the XIXth 4 always gournables per pair of course. For the seventeenth century, in view of the discontinuous frames, 2 nails per limb (ie varangue, knee or elongate) are applied and without gournables. All this for the state navy. For trade, it is not certain that one finds the same dispositions because the constructions are less imposing and the practices of the civil yards are different. The same goes for the Compagnie des Indes Note: "couple" = bulkhead, "member"= half, or piece of a bulkhead, "gournable"= wooden treenails, "nails"= iron bolts. I hope it is clear, it's not easy to speak english with such a specific vocabulary.
  21. Nek0
    The real challenge was making the first piece for the ship: the bow ornament. I made some mini carving tools by grinding sewing needles, and I'm rather happy with the result. At least I think it looks quite like the original drawing.
  22. Nek0
    Then, we arrive to the "carving problem".... I never sculpted anything, so I had to practice before I try to do the ship's ornaments. First, I made a sitting sailor for a friend. It is now displayed in his 74 gunship model. Oh, and I forgot to say, this Soleil Royal is 1/72 scale, so is this sitting sailor.
  23. Nek0
    Next, some rear section planking: at last some pear wood !!! And the building of the bow. The waterline is marked with an x acto knife, so the ink won't dribble when applied.
  24. Nek0
    Thanks !! Gaetan, the goal is to build the full ship with all the carving, the rigging and sails, in "branle bas de combat" state. (what is the english word for this ?) I know it may take a while, since I'm not retired and I have many more activities, but I will stuck to the project and would rather go slow than rush some aspects of the building. I had to learn everything from scratch: "how is built a period ship", "what is a piece of wood and how to work with it", "what is ornament carving" etc, so it took me a lot of time because I was learning. Now I can go a little faster. Marc, indeed, I spent a lot (a looooooot !) of time on the plans because I wanted the building to be as easy as possible and I tried to anticipate any problem I should met during the build. (of course I didn't manage, but at least I made plans that were easy to follow)
  25. Nek0
    I just discover your work, it's stunning ! Very impressive ! 1/24 for a 74 gunship is huge !

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