DARIVS ARCHITECTVS

CRAP! Corel didn't provide cable laid rope for the standing rigging! So, I put and order in to Domanoff's Workshop for both La Couronne and the next model, HMS Sovereign of the Seas. Does anyone beside Domanoff provide cable laid rope? I could build a rope making jig, but for only two models it's just as well to order some. So much for starting work on the shrouds. Oh well. The masts and yards need blocks installed to prepare for running rigging...

Some details were worked on. The plywood channels are going to be replaced with scratch built ones made out of cherry wood. This is being done for two reasons. First, the channels for the foremast and mainmast are being relocated below the upper gun deck, just above the central wale, and just below the gun ports of the upper gun deck. For many early 17th century galleons, the tumble home was greater than ships built just before 1700, so the channels needed to be located lower on the hull in order for the shrouds not to contact the railings or gunwales. The tumble home on the Corel hull shape can allow the channels to be mounted higher, but I think it looks closer to the convention of the time with them in the lower position. It's a feature that distinguishes the vessel as early 17th century. Because moving the channels will require relocating all the shroud and deadeye locations to avoid blocking any guns, the slots for the chain plates will be cut into the channels after the channels are installed on the hull. The pinnace boat frame supports were detached from the main deck and sanded thinner because they looked overly thick and clunky. The rear support frame for the pinnace was re-positioned a bit farther forward and re-glued to the grating, then four blackened brass eyelets were installed on the frame surrounding the grates, adjacent to the pinnace frames. The eyelets are Caldercraft part number 83505, and are laser etched and very small. Model eyelets tend to be over sized, and these are much closer to scale. Laser etched eyelets are much smaller that any eyelets I make from wire, even with tiny tools. The boat was lashed to the support frames with 0.25mm tan cord supplied with the kit. To make this easier, the the cord was tied to the first eyelet, and then it was passed through the remaining three eyelets. Each eyelet, starting with the one the cord is tied to, installed into drilled holes with CA glue. The line is still loose enough to get the boat under it. The boat is glued to the supports, and the cord loops are passed over the front and rear ends of the boat. The slack in the cord is then removed, pulling it carefully through the eyelets, and the the loose end is secured at the first eyelet. A bit of PVA glue secures the knot. The remaining end of the rope can be glued to the deck, or if you prefer, coiled and glued to the deck. Instead of breaking off and replacing the over-sized kevels, I decided to simply add the horizontal supports for each kevel individually. Some thin boxwood scrap was cut with scissors, then notches were cut with a small razor saw, and a needle file and small sanding block were used to shape each tiny piece until they were custom fit around the staghorns of each kevel. You have to have steady hands and a delicate touch to make last minute changes like this in tight areas. The parts were positioned in place after a few test fits, and secured with CA glue. The last picture below shows the kevels before staining. To darken the white wood, some pine colored stain was applied with a small brush and the color now matches the staghorns perfectly. If you're going to fix a mistake or add a detail, it needs to blend in.

I wasn't quite happy with the size of the boarding portal deck, so I reworked it. It looks better now.

Time to have fun working on one of the small details. A lighted magnifier is necessary for all of this work. The boarding portal ladder and deck were fabricated and installed today. Small pieces of wood were snipped with small hobby scissors and sanded to length and shape with a small soft sanding block. The portal deck was made from thin mahogany. It is trimmed and supported with shapes pieces of walnut. The assembly went together quickly using CA glue. Left over railing binnacles made it look fancy. The roof was cut using the band saw, then filed to shape. The ladder rungs are cut to length after using a micro scraper to shape the wood. For additional detail, bordering on ridiculous for this scale, the rungs are hollowed out a using a diamond burr with the Dremel rotary tool. Each rung was glued to the side of the ship down to the waterline. A little varnish brushed on all the new parts darkened them up nicely.

Not much got done since last posting. The wooldings were placed on the masts using the new Syren line that arrived in the mail today. Tying them was easy. It's the same as tying a whipping knot when I was back on the ship. Diluted yellow PVA glue (Titebond III) was applied to secure the wooldings in place.

This is turning out to be one BEAUTIFUL ship! I can't wait to see how it turns out when finished.

Vielen Dank!

Hi Everyone! The topgallant trestle-trees were made today, except for the sprit topsail mast upper trestle-tree, which will be made next. The parts are very tiny. An X-Acto saw is used to start cutting the notches in the trestle-tree parts for the cross-trees. After two slots are cut, the wood between them is removed with a careful twist of a razor knife. When the pieces are properly shaped, tapered on the ends, and ready to assemble, a slender needle nose pliers and your fat fingers are used to assemble the trestle-tree assembly together, with the space between the trestle-trees adjusted such that the flagstaff and the topgallant mast fit with no gaps. Add a tiny drop of CA glue to the intersections between the trestle-trees and cross-trees. Fit the assembly to the top of the topgallant mast, making sure that it is aligned with the lower end of the mast such that the flagstaff is directly forward and in line with the main axis of the hull. Add a small drop of CA glue deposited into slender stick of wood and apply it the join ONLY the trestle-tree assembly to the topgallant mast. The flagstaff and cap remain unglued for disassembly to allow rigging later.

Hello EJ! Thanks for the information on threads and lines. I haven't looked at the Corel line yet, but I did pick up some very fine polyester/cotton mix thread in black that will make excellent serving. I also picked up some tiny dark brown beads at Michael's craft store called "seed beads" for the parrels. Today the bowsprit top assembly was completed and the parts fitted loosely together. Also included are a few night pictures of the lighting installed in the main deck, stern lanterns and turrets. The trestle-trees for the topgallant masts are next.

Okay... Corrected the fore topmast cap height and reworked the main topmast cheeks. Painted all the nails onto the topmast cheeks and trestle-trees. 👍

Work continues on the mast assemblies. The top assemblies for mizzen, main, and fore topmasts were completed in that order, and everything is assembled loose to see how the overall progress is going. The sprit topmast trestle-trees and top are next, then the topgallant trestle-trees for the other masts. The flag staves at the top of the fore, main, and mizzen masts were made, and the caps and flag staves fitted to the topgallant masts. Oops... 🙄 I just noticed that the cap on the for topmast is too low. I'll have to past that by expending the topmast with a squared length of wood and raise it 7mm more to its proper height. Easy fix. No one will notice... 😁 While I'm at it, I'll replace the cheeks on the main topmast. They appear too small. Mizzen Top Start main topmast top assembly. Assembly fore topmast top assembly in similar fashion. All top assemblies except the sprit assembly fitted together.

I saw the sheave holes in your build log, EJ. It's a matter of figuring how the lines run, especially where to belay them at the bottom. It is nice to see the overall dimensions of the model by setting up the masts, like you said. Regarding the shrouds, did you use the line provided by the kit, or did you buy better line? Many of the lines are going to be very thin and I'm considering buying replacement line. Did you serve the loops at the top of your shrouds?

I had to change the last post. I was using the term masthead when I really meant cap. 😁 I also just read in H. Anderson that the topgallant caps were did not have the ties that lift the topgallant and flagstaff masts run over the tops of the caps. So, I will remove the topgallant and flagstaff caps and remake them without the holes and grooves for the ties, then try to figure out how the ties were rigged for those upper mast staves. Every time I refer to the book, I learn something new.

In case anyone wants to see ALL the pictures in order from this thread, here they are on my ImgBB page: La Couronne Build Image Library

I spent the whole day making masts, trestles, and caps. All the tops and trestle-trees aren't make yet, but a lot of pieces got done. The first thing was making the top-gallant masts and flag-staves for the mainmast and foremast. The kit blueprints show the top-gallant mast and flagstaff for each mast as a single mast. Ej's La Couronne build log showed that he changed these also. So, after cutting the pieces according to the instructions, I had to make two top-gallant masts and cut the flag-staves, and create one more cap for each. It still have yet to remake the mizzen topmast into two sections, one for the topmast and one for the flagstaff. The new top-gallant mast pieces still need to be stained to a golden color to match the lower mast parts. Caps for each mast section were made by using cutting a rectangular rod of walnut to a width proportional to the size of the mast below it. Then the two holes were drilled into the bottom side of the wood, partially through for the top of the mast below, and all the way through for the upper mast. A band saw was used to cut the size profile of each cap. The rear hole is squared out using a tiny sharpened flat screwdriver as a wood chisel, with the cap being held in a small machinist vise. Two tiny holes are drilled and two grooves are filed for the ties, which are lines that pass over the caps and down to the yardarms, and hold the yardarms up. The sizes of the caps got proportionally smaller as you go up, and the kit blueprints provide a good guide as to the sizes you need to make. When fitting the upper mast through the hole in the cap, make sure you drilled the hole smaller than the mast, and file it out to fit the mast without being too loosed or too tight to assemble the parts. The knee for the bowsprit topmast was rough cut from walnut using the band saw. The angle of the knee was approximated from the blueprints. The resulting angle should have the bowsprit topmast angled slightly forward, because the tension of the rigging will pull it back to vertical later on. I've seen others forget about this and end up with a topmast leaning back at a crazy angle because the rigging pulled it out of position. A cap was fashioned to fit the knee and the topmast. The knee was glued to the bowsprit, but the cap and topmast are left loose to allow fitting of the top later. The cheeks that support the bottom trestle-tree for the mizzenmast were glue to the sides of the mast, then filed and sanded to shape. A cap was fashioned, and the topmast was fitted. The center hole in the mizzen top was cut after measuring the distance between the cross-trees. This provide the width of the hole in fore-aft direction. The hole was made about 30% wider side-to-side to make room for the shrouds to pass through the top. This is the tiniest top on the model, so the trestle-tree parts are not much more than toothpick size. The foot of the topmast has a cross-peg through it which rests in notches cut on top of the trestles, which takes the weight of the topmast. A sliver of walnut was used as the cross-peg, just like on the foremast and mainmast. I'll get around to making a separate topmast and flagstaff for the mizzen later. I ran out of daylight, and I still haven't eaten since breakfast, so work is done for the time being. All the mast parts were fitted to the ship, held by friction and gravity, just to get a view of the progress. The top of the mainmast looks bent, but it's just sitting loose without trestle-trees to support it yet. I'm amazed how thin and tiny these parts are. Time to eat!