shipmodel

Outstanding, sir.
Simply outstanding.
 
Happy Holidays to you and yours.
 
Dan

Outstanding, sir.
Simply outstanding.
 
Happy Holidays to you and yours.
 
Dan

Alright, so this is a go:

Well gang, Speedwell is finished except for installing the anchors and adding coils over all the belayed ropes. It has been a seven-year collaboration with David Antscherl and I think the finished model has beautiful lines. She has just enough rigging to make it interesting without the repetition of a full ship rigged setup. Thanks to Chuck for his excellent blocks and rope which really dress up the model. All blocks for sails are included even though they are not present.
 
Thanks to all who have commented on her build over the years and I'll be back in the fall with, hopefully, a new project.
 

Outstanding, sir.
Simply outstanding.
 
Happy Holidays to you and yours.
 
Dan

Outstanding, sir.
Simply outstanding.
 
Happy Holidays to you and yours.
 
Dan

Outstanding, sir.
Simply outstanding.
 
Happy Holidays to you and yours.
 
Dan

Outstanding, sir.
Simply outstanding.
 
Happy Holidays to you and yours.
 
Dan

Outstanding, sir.
Simply outstanding.
 
Happy Holidays to you and yours.
 
Dan

Thank you to everyone who has commented upon and / or liked my work.
 
Firstly a bit of catching up with the upper ends of the masts.
 
The lower foremast showing the crosstree and the shrouds.

The mainmast crosstree and shrouds prior to mounting the radar.

The small job of gluing on the previously made radar was completed.

$
The mountings for the port and starboard navigation lights were made from .040" thick mahogany.

Painted brass lights were then made and fitted.

I still have a few things to do but it is now typically 2 to 3 deg c in the workshop so the model is going to be moved into the family room for completion. Here are the final 2 shots of Germania in the workshop.

They are not that difficult to make. . Wet the wood and bend them together or separately while clamped around a curved shape similar to that of the hull. A large can or plastic container works fine. I sometimes use a round table edge like the scroll saw table. The bend always allows for some spring back. Hot heat dry with a hair dryer for a few minutes, and then let everything cool completely. I always make these pieces longer than needed to allow for clamping. Once the spring back is reduced substantially it should be easy enough to shape and clamp them to the hull.
 
Anyway, that's how I made mine on the Winnie.
 
Mike

Hi Mark. Here is a couple of photo's of the cheeks and they items made for them. Its been awhile since I made them but believe I used a piece of curved wood to get the right curve on them using a heat gun after putting water on them. Hope it help's Gary 

The Berain drawings date to the time of the refit.  Berain does not officially become designer of ornament to the King’s arsenals until after Lebrun’s death in 1690, but his famous stern drawing is a re-working of the original design by Puget - the underlying conception for which was established by LeBrun.


The quarter drawing, I have argued, is consistent with the evolution in QG design (closed lower bottle on middle deck level, wrapping main deck balcony, QD amortisement), in the 1680s.  There is strong correlation in the design elements that make up the windows and decorative rails between quarter and stern drawings.  What is somewhat confusing to me is that this quarter drawing lacks the flawless continuity of the stern drawing; there are design problems with the quarter drawing that would lead to an impractical construction, if taken literally.  Also, this drawing shows the extremely pronounced aft sheer that would have been a feature of 1670 (see how the wales/precients are cut completely by the aft ports), yet the stern height is definitely not as high as that time period.

Also baffling is the cropping of the image.  At the right margin, the drawing ends in a soft line, but the angle of that line, relative to the digital right margin, makes it seem as though the ocean water is cascading downhill and that the ship is sinking, bow first.  Rotate the drawing 15 degrees counterclockwise and one’s perception of the thing changes dramatically.
 
All of this suggests that the heading, “Bouteille du Vaisseau…” is a later notation than the date of the drawing.  It is the heading that has determined the modern cropping of the drawing.  Why it is notated at such an odd angle to the original intent of the drawing is anyone’s guess.

Just beautiful, Marc.
Bravo!
 
Dan

Just beautiful, Marc.
Bravo!
 
Dan

The yellow is so fragile, and it already needs re-touching.  I will wait for that, though, until after the installation.  As I have throughout the model, I use the darker gold Citadel Armor as a base coat, and then I highlight with the bright gold.  It creates a nice, if subtle sense of depth:

 



Next, I’ll do all the gilt work for the starboard side.  I’m also ready to begin making the third tier of stern lights.
 
Thank you for stopping by.  More to follow..

Thanks, druxey, Mark and Yves.
 
Interesting, the cheeks look so straightforward, when you look at photos of models from the period. It is only when you start down that road that you discover the complexities waiting for you!
It is further testament to the shipwrights who designed and built these. Functionally, they just had to provide lateral support to the head. But aesthetically, they had to continue the sheer lines of the hull, and echo the roundup of the main wales as they bend around to the stem. They cared as much about the looks as the function.
 
Yves, after I figured out that the catheads twist as they go through the hull, I cut the blanks oversize in the plan way, and then shaped the correct angle first on the tails and then on the head. I never did figure out ahead of time the geometry of how they intersect with each other on the tops and sides. I just worked carefully to maintain the correct angle on each end, and then the crease lines between the two just settled out on their own as I brought the surfaces together. The crease lines don't align with anything like the curve of the hull in plan or the sheer from the side. But they appear to be hidden within the hull frame, so all looks shipshape when it is all done.
 
By the way, at my 3/16 " = 1'-0" scale, I could not at first figure out a way to cut the slots in the cat head for the sheaves. I tried drilling them out, and then cleaning with a chisel, as would be done in normal practice; but I did not have a tool thin enough to get into the slot. In the end, I had to use a slitting saw on my mill to cut slots from the ends, and then fill with with small slivers of wood to block the outer end. I hope the carved cathead on the ends will cover up the fact that is it not a solid piece of wood, but a lamination of sorts. Best I could do!
 
Mark
 

Hi everyone,
 
A long, long time since I last posted. I have been working away, but the recent pieces took an exceptionally long time to work out, and there was not a lot to show in the process.
 
I realized some time ago that I would not be able to install the guns on the lower deck until I completed the outboard works, since I would not be able to turn the hull on its side for painting once the gun barrels were projecting from the side.
 
So I was planking up to the top, when I further realized that I would need to install the catheads before completing the planking at the fore end of the forecastle. And those turned out to be way, way more difficult than I had imagined.
 
I first carefully drew true size projections of the catheads in plan and elevation:
 

 
When I cut them from blanks, I assumed I could just cut straight down according to the drawn plan. Wrong! The cat tails inboard are not only shaped athwartship according to the forecastle beam round up, but also beveled fore and aft according to the sheer of the deck. But the catheads outboard are beveled according to the sheer of the hull, which is steeper. This means the cathead twists as it passes through the hull relative to its tail. I went through a number of failures before I figured this out.
 

Before I could cut the hook scarps on the tails and cut the slot into the hull on the sides, I needed to locate the cat beam underneath. Then I realized that I would need to locate the beakhead bulkhead stantions since they score onto this beam and have to align with the vertical edge of the hull in this location. But in order to install the beakhead stantions, I would need to build the substructure  for the beakhead just above the gundeck level, which meant that I had to drill the hawseholes before access is covered up here, and that meant I had to complete the cheeks outboard.
 

 
So, then onto cheeks. These also had a much more complicated geometry than I had first appreciated. They have a round-up athwartships to match the sheer of the main wales at the bow; they fay to the wales with a curve and also a slope back along the face; and they have an upward slant fore and aft to match the hull sheer. As I tried to fay these to the wales, the slightest change in holding them against the wale would change the shape needed. So I made supports at the correct angle and kept the lower edge flat, so I could reliably slide the cheek against the wale for the usual trim, test, trim, to fay it accurately. Then I could shape the lower edge of the fore and aft arm to its final form.
 

And voila, lower cheeks:
 

I don't know why this took me so long to work out these two interesting pieces, the catheads and cheeks. Perhaps because they are so prominent I took my time to get it right....
Now onto the upper cheeks and the hawse holes and bolsters.
 
Mark
 
 
 

Michael and T_C - thank you very much!  And, of course, thank you all for the likes and stopping by.
 
Painting on the headrails continues.  I’ve been through a round of re-touches and I’ve applied the distress wash.  If I may so so, they look pretty good.  The wash does a world of wonders.  Pics to follow after gilding and grey-washing of the horses.
 
I have also been busy drafting the third and final tier of stern lights.  This was interesting, for me, as I had to remind myself of a few important design considerations.
 
Firstly, I had increased the camber of the middle-tier of lights because the arc of the lower tier would have appeared too flat (in a shorter arc segment), if I had remained consistent.  It seemed like an additional increase in camber, for the top tier would not pay dividends, so I maintained the middle arc of camber.
 
I believe this will frame a nice upward sweep to the tafferal frieze for Apollo and his chariot.   What I am aiming for is best expressed by the magnificent work of Olivier Gatine on his magnificent La Belle.

There is an elegance of line, IMO, that really elevates this model above any other attempt I have seen of this subject - and there have been many really good ones.  He really captures something, here.
 
I can only dare to dream and attempt to emulate the finer points of his craft.  Here is where my upper tier stands for now.  I have to apply this drawing to a card template so that I can really see it on the model:

The drawing is a bit muddled from previous camber lines that were flatter, and subsequently fixed under hairspray.
 
As I have always said - this model is an amalgamation of compromises, and my process has yielded a few less desirable inconsistencies.  Because I have had to draw each level of the stern, as the model has become a concretely measurable thing, there is not always perfect continuity of line:

I missed my opportunity to make fine adjustments in that middle tier of drafting.  Here, it is readily apparent that the pilasters don’t line up very well from one level to the next.  Fortunately. the balcony rails help to soothe the visual dissonance.  The Four Seasons figures are also giving me a big assist, here, in obscuring these alignment problems.
 
Comme-ci, comme-ca.  It is all still a vast upgrade over the stock kit.

As much as I love wooden ships and tar and three stranded line I have to admit our hobby does not have enough modern sail vessels being represented. Dan I think yours is the ONLY fiberglass sloop on Model Ship World and I see no kits available for them out there either. Which is amazing since there is a WORLD of modern sailing vessels of every size and shape on ever lake river and sea the world over. There are kits and builds of modern motor vessels aplenty but where are the recreational sail models? I can see you have "invented the wheel" on this model, with no aftermarket parts available. For each part you had to invent the process then build the part, over and over again! I'm impressed with the whole project.

I am in that final stage of building where it is a case of bouncing randomly from one area to another finishing off bits of detail. I apologise that this post may be a bit disjointed.
 
The jib has an unusual arrangement of twin jib sheets on each side. These sheets slide in thimbles. The sheets are variously rigged on the photos i have but in general they are run outboard of the bulwark before retuning to the deck via various apertures.


I am rigging the boat on a starboard tack and so I have rigged preventers to hold the fore and main booms to port.

I then moved on to rigging the main mast shrouds. The two lower shrouds have been attached to the turnbuckles in the next photo.

The upper two were then rigged completing all 4. I worked on both sides simultaneously to keep the tension equal and the mast vertical.

I then repeated the process for the main mast

The plywood in the next shot is protecting the lines from the heat applied to strink the heat shrink tubes on to the shrouds. The heat gun is quite capable of melting the line and undoing previous work.

The rail above the turnbuckles is lashed in place and will support the various halyard lines.
 

Well, I’ve got the ocher cut-in on the port side, and I’m a third of the way through the ocher, starboard.  You can’t really tape these lines because of the limited access and curved shapes:
 



There is still much to paint here.  I have to grey-wash the horse and the cathead figure.  I still haven’t muted the colors of the red and yellow ocher, and of course none of the gilt work has been done.  Little by little, though, we are getting there.

The months since my last post have passed too quickly.  We made a September trip to Southwestern Indiana to visit my son and his family who we hadn’t seen for over a year and also enjoyed Duluth’s beautiful Autumn weather.  We have also enjoyed our Michigan Wolverine’s 11-0 football season.  Tomorrow’s game with Ohio State will be the real test.
 
Time in the shop was spent fabricating Benjamin Noble’s forecastle bulwark. Again the material is soldered brass.  The process began by carving a wooden former (last photo, previous post).  Complicating  this process is the need to think “upside down” as the forecastle deck is laid on top of plug and the sides of the bulwark are bent around the sides. 
 
Photo 1 shows the plug.  The angle between the deck edge and side shell plating has been bent around the plug and the center deck plate has been laid.  The angle was ripped from a square brass tube using my Byrnes saw.  Bending an angle is difficult as it always tries to twist.  The little aluminum angles allow short sections to be bent and secured sequentially.
 
Photo 2 The individual deck plates have been laid and soldiered to each other and to the brass deck edge angle. Material is .005in thick brass.  The photo shows the underside of the deck.
 
Photo 3  This is one of the two bulwark pieces.  These had to be “spiled.” Station lines perpendicular to the vessel’s centerline were drawn on the plug and on the outboard profile drawing.  A piece of paper was wrapped around a side of the plug and the station lines transferred to the paper.  The elevations of the bulwark at each station could then be transferred from the outboard profile drawing to the paper.  Material is 0.010in thick brass.  The round piece atop the bulwark is a piece of 1/16in dia brass tube slit on my Byrnes saw abs soldered in Place.
 
Photo 4 The bulwark piece has now been wrapped around the former.  I carved a groove in the former side to accept the round top piece.  The bulwark has been soldered to the brass deck edge angle.
 
Photo 5 The bulwark assembly has been removed from the former.
 
Next post- Finishing the assembly.
 
Roger
 
 

Hi Gerard - 
 
I guess I did not realize how small French sailors of the period were.
And now back to appreciating Johann's modeling mastery.
 
Be well
 
Dan

Hi Gerard - 
 
I guess I did not realize how small French sailors of the period were.
And now back to appreciating Johann's modeling mastery.
 
Be well
 
Dan