coxswain

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All the sails of the fore mast are in place. Two threads for each one are tiden on specific place of the deck,as indicate the manual. The ammount of the threads make life difficult now... 

I believe I have the lower Fore Mast about as complete as I can get it at this stage.
 
The throat and peak halyards are rove and the block and becket/line are in place for the hauling end of each.
 
The topping lists (there are two, one on each side) and lazy jacks are in place as well. All of the lines are still adjustable as the boom is not on the boom rest so all the lines have plenty of slack as they will all need to be elongated when the mast goes onto the hull. I have not yet connected the yard sling chain as I may need to remove the yard to add the furled sail.
 
I had to fabricate a "yard truss" to hold the fore topsail yard (the only yardarm on the vessel) as the Britannia item was too flimsy (IMHO) and I wanted the ability to swivel the yard "out of the way" as was done when these vessels needed the extra clearance next to the pier. I am also considering putting the furled fore topsail on the yard but need to make a "test jig" as the sail has a "notch" in the center to clear the fore stay. I am not sure how all this is going to work out so I need a way to rig the sail, furl it then rotate the yard. I will do it "off ship" first then maybe transfer the furled sail to the real yardarm. The sail is only held at the head and at each end - no complicated lashings so this might actually work
 
But first I need to get the other two masts completed to the same level as the Fore.
 
Do not ask me how I know but drilling out the deck hole for the fore mast to the 1 3/4" depth shown on the plans will come perilously close to going out the bottom of the hull.

Following Tom Luria's methodology (seen on YouTube) I fabricated the Fore Sail for the Simpson, lashed it to the boom and gaff and added the mast hoops. Then I made a little stand with a spare piece of 3/8"dowel to simulate the mast and "hung it up".

I did not add the reefing bands/ties or the panel lines since the sail will be furled and much of this detail would be lost. I also made the sail only about three quarters as tall as shown in the sail plan. Previous experience has shown (me) that the larger the sail the more difficult it is to get it furled "properly". Not to say that mine are properly furled, just enough to look more or less "presentable" IMHO.
 
Continuing on with the fore mast I added the rest of the detail using laser board for the bands around the square section and the required blocks. I glued on the trestle trees, added the mast cap and rigged the spreader lifts (using turnbuckles instead of deadeyes - I just could not manage to get the 3mm deadeyes to "work" - too small for my old eyes and hands). I fabricated the "stay irons" from brass flat stock and brass eyebolts soldered into the brass stock. At least I remembered how to do that as it has been many years and models since I had to solder brass fitting together.
 
With the fore mast more or less completed (I am sure I forgot something) I furled the sail and added it to the mast along with the mast cap and the boom rest. Then I rigged the throat and peak halyards - took a bunch of line with the gaff down on top of the boom. Next up are the topping lifts and lazy jacks - then on to the Main sail.

The hull and interior deck furnishing are essentially complete.
 
I still need to add six 3mm single blocks that are part of the sheet tackle for the three foremost head sails that are going to eyebolts on deck just aft of the forward most pin rails. These are shown on the rigging drawing but all the drawing shows is the blocks sticking above the caprail - no way to tell how they are attached to the ship. So I will put eyebolts in the deck and pendants on the blocks so they will be above the caprail.
 
The channels are all cut, slotted and painted so they are next along with the deadeyes and chainplates. There are six deadeyes (smaller 4mm size) on each side (three each on the main and fore masts) that appear to be attached to the caprail. The drawings says "Plain padeye fisher 135". I can only guess what a "plain padeye" looks like and the AJ Fisher catalog is no help as there are no padeyes listed and the Fisher 135 is missing - 134 and 136 are there; 134 is a cleat and 136 is a boat davit, I am going to cut some small squares out of black laserboard and call that a "plain padeye".

Since I am working my way aft I decided it was time to add the bowsprit. Hopefully I can keep from snapping it off while adding them rest of the "deck furniture".

In addition to the bowsprit and the associated reinforcing piece down the side I added the bolt heads (square this time) to the catheads and the reinforcing piece.
 
Also two hatches, the capstan and the eyelets that lead to the chain locker(s).

While trying to accurately locate where the fore sheet bitts should go I discovered that while the drawing is correct (if you read it very closely) I had built the main and fore booms using the single drawing as a template and did not notice that the sheet blocks are in different locations. Now they are correct but it seems like there could have been separate drawings for the fore and main booms rather than "hiding" the differences in the dimensioning.
 

I guess it is time to start installing some of the "stuff" I have been working on for what seems like a long time.
I decided to start at the bow and work aft.
 
First up was the cat heads. Not much drama but you have to be careful when cutting the bulwark  to avoid it being too large. I have marked the cat heads for installation of some more plastic bolt heads which are shown on the drawing.
 
The bitts also require some surgery to the deck edge and the timberheads so the bitts will stand up vertically.
 
I have not installed the eyelets to lead the anchor chain to the chain locker because I used the two provided in the kit to clean up the holes where the chain passes through the forecastle to the anchors. The basswood hull material will just NOT take a splinter free hole.
 
I have more 3/16" eyelets on the way and will get to them shortly. Just to be on the safe side, the towing bitts by the forward hatch are just sitting there at the moment so they will not get in the way of drilling the eyelet holes.
 
 

Thanks Rick!😀
 
After sleeping on it last night I decided that the brass backing links I re-purposed from a different Corel chainplate package were too over scale and looked for alternatives.
 
I set up a little jig (two pieces of .039" piano wire set vertically into a 2 X 4) and tried making the backing links out of 24 gauge annealed steel wire. Actually I tried 22, 24 and 26 gauge wire but decided 24 gauge was "best".
 

 
Here are the selected chainplate and the two alternative backing links. I made the replacement just a bit shorter (assuming I can replicate the length more or less exactly - yet to be established) so it will (in theory) hit the waterline the same as the drawing shows.
 
One down and 21 left to go.

Back to the present.
 
I got all the stern rail and bow splash rail completed and touch-up painted so I decided to take some whole model pictures.


And some with what deck furniture is ready for "prime time".

 
 
 

It turns out I have several choices for replacement chainplates. Not sure why or when I got these but when looking through the various "fittings" sites i sometimes buy "stuff" "just in case".
 
It would seem I must have visited the site with chainplates more than once as these all look like they are from the same vendor.

I shortened and rebent the kit provided chainplate and drilled two holes (not very well) and that is second from the right.
 
The other three are different sizes of the same design (from Corel I think). On the far right is a potential replacement backing link (suitably blackened/painted) because while the drawing says 22 required the kit only contains ten per the parts list.
 
Any of the Corel chainplates are going to require an upsize in the deadeyes. The two on the left use 5mm and the one on the right 6mm. The kit "large" deadeyes are 5/32' = 4mm (3.968mm according to my converting calculator).
 
I am going with the shortest of the Corel chainplates. I think I have just enough room to bend it down after it clears the molding strip since the channels will be mounted below the cap rail. The backing link is going to have to be on top of the chainplate but I do not see any other solution.
 

Stern mid rail and timberheads in place, masked and ready for seal and paint.
 
Top stern rail has been painted (ocre) and is drying now - probably will need second coat.
 
Transition pieces also in paint drying mode - will definitely need a second coat and probably a third.

 
Bow splash rail pinned in place and has been left to dry over night.
 
Plan to remove (carefully) and seal and paint before reinstalling. Looking for the material for the upper rail as what came with the kit is "lost in space" and I want something a bit wider (to allow my usual set of errors to be more or less correctable) anyway.
 

The wheel house now with the Caldercraft 24mm brass wheel which is about 2mm bigger than the Britannia cast wheel provided with the kit.
 
The instructions with the Caldercraft wheel say to paint it walnut but after getting all the nice detailing I did not want to hide it under paint so I just painted the "handles dark brown and will leave the rest brass.
 
I probably also need another coat of black on the upper "housing" and clean the CA off the wheel face - don't want to do too much with the CA solvent as that is what holds the whole thing together..

I saw from the drawing that there is supposed to be a curved piece of the stern rail that meets the cap rail to make the transition from the stern rail height to the cap rail. No mention of this in the instructions that I can find.

 
Clearly (to me) there is no way to make 1/16" basswood bend 90 degrees in 3/16" (the height of the stern mid-rail). At least none of the basswood i have will do that; I tried.
 
So I thinned down some 5/16" wide basswood so that it took three pieces to get to 1/16" thickness. Then I built a little jig to hold them in place after soaking in hot water. The jig is below but I used clamps not masking tape to hold them while drying.


After they were dry I used 60/40 PVA/H2O to bind the pieces together and then taped them back on the jig to help keep the shape as I noticed they tended to want to unbend a bit if left "unrestrained". I need to paint them orce to match the main deck cap rail then cut them but not until I get the stern rail completed.
 
I also completed the forward fife rail, or at least the forward portion. The drawing shows "legs" under the parts that extend aft of the pin rail but I think I will wait until the fife rail is installed to add them as they will be very vulnerable if they are added now.
 
Here are all the remaining deck items after one coat of Vallejo matt varnish (except the fife rail which is just out of the picture to the right).
 

I got the qdeck planked and two coats of WoP. If I had it to do over again I would start at the edges and curve the planks to follow the cap rail. Then they meet in the middle starting at the stern and extending probably about a third of the way forward. As it is I had to make three very sharply pointed pieces on each side. If I had started on the sides the pointed pieces would have been covered, at least partially by the wheel house and associated grating, which, by the way is not mentioned in the instructions either..
 
I also planked the forecastle using my "best judgement" on how to deal with the unusual shape. it has one coat of WoP now, more to follow. i had to resort to filling in the outboard pieces with sawdust as the space that was left was too small (for me) to be able to cut a very tiny piece and somehow get it into the opening.

While trying to figure out how to plank the forecastle I decided to work mon the qdeck.
 
Having learned while doing the main deck that graphite from darkening the sides of the planks to simulate caulking is messy, I applied masking tape over the cap rail. The main deck cap rail had to be repainted it was so messed up with graphite (not to mention a few dings and scrapes).
 
So here are the king planks and "end plank" in place ready to start the "real" planking.

Here is the main deck planking with one coat of WoP.
 
I clearly could have done a better job at color matching the pieces but with a few more coats of WoP the differences will be reduced (I hope).
 
The hatch covers are just sitting there to provide some idea of what the main deck will look like when finished.

Good afternoon friends,
 
After a long hiatus I spent the weekend working on he lower mizzen mast.
 
Best regards
 
Henrik
 
 

Bob and Yves,
 
Thanks for the nice comments, it’s appreciated. Growing up, my family subscribed to National Geographic and I always looked forward to articles on Cousteau’s expeditions and research, so when this model showed up at my local hobby shop, I jumped on it. It has been an interesting build but somewhat frustrating as my research has not  been able to turn up some of the details, particularly with respect to the rigging, and Billings documentation is somewhat lacking. Bob, with your experience actually spending some time on her, can you comment on the picture below. It made sense to me that the hoist just forward of the deck house would be rigged to be used with the two booms on the forward deck, and that’s what I did - pretty much speculation on my part. Does this make sense? I’m also really envious and deeply impressed that you were able to spend time on her and work with Cousteau!
 
Bob, I also want to thank you for encouraging me to post this - it’s been a nice interlude, but time to get back to the Longboat. Will be referring to your excellent log for guidance. 
 
Don

Back in February, Luekutus started a build log for the Billings Calypso which jogged me into finishing a project that I started probably 10 years ago. I really appreciate that he has planked his, it looks great and I’m looking forward to seeing more! My goal was to build a nice model for the mantel that was a good scale and not a warship. While I’ve done some basic research, my model is not 100% accurate and I’ve taken some artistic license in some areas. 
 
The Billings kit is crude by today’s standards but can be spiced up with a bit of detailing and is the best available today in a large scale. The helicopter supplied is AWFUL! I’ve given up on trying to make it look nice and am looking for an after market substitute in 1:48 that’s close. I added some 1:48 welding gas cylinders that look fine and the rope I’ve used is the truly nice stuff from  Syren. Most of the trim is Evergreen and a lot of the wood is from my spares stash. 
 
Enjoy,
 
Don

10.19-10.23 2024 China Navigation Model Competition

I have been busy participating in the competition recently，And finally completed La Renommee before the competition

Good Morning everyone
 
Thank you for comments and likes
This is something i dont say very often
I finished something
The Lady Eleanor is finished
just over 4 weeks, 
OOB
Halfords rattle cans
Everbuild C/A
Titebond - quick and thick wood glue
 
Thank you @chris watton

I hope to have the build log started shortly.  Until then, this is the completed model.

So I've finally had some free time and completed the first planking (I also installed some new overhead LED lighting which are making a world of difference in lighting up the workshop).  I used my palm orbital sander to sand the hull down - it's a great tool that makes sanding much easier and quicker for jobs like these.  I need to do some touch ups and finalize the heights of the bulwarks, but figured I could do that once I had a better idea of how things were lining up with the gunports, rails, etc.  Wont need much filler at all, but I want to take another look at the top area near the stem, where the bulkheads seem to suggest a more vase-like curvature:

 
Before doing all that, I spent considerable time measuring and adjusting the bulkheads.  Part of the issue is that the replacement keel Euromodel sent me to replace the kit's warped keel was itself slightly warped with a very tiny twist beginning near the eighth bulkhead.  I thought I had largely resolved it (using blocks and wood brackets between the bulkheads), but when looking at the stern directly from the back I noticed that there was a slight lean about 2mm towards port.  That meant that the starboard side was too high and too far to the midline, and the port side was too low and and a touch too far to port.  So that required hours of measuring, adding/subtracting material, etc.  Everything now looks much more symmetrical and square.  It was a pain, but I'm glad I took the time.
 
I also had to make some adjustments to the quarterdeck area bulkhead tops.  As PiratePete notes in his very helpful build notes, BH 14 needed extra material.  I also ended up having to add material to BH 11 - BH 13 to varying degrees to get the proper slope to the quarterdeck.  I noticed, however, that one of the plans has the quarterdeck more level while another plan has it more on an incline.  I went with the latter and will deal with it once I am closer to installing the quarterdeck.  I also added material to the ledge where the rear balcony sits (just aft of the stern extensions in the picture below).  In part I needed to adjust for the twist in the keel.  The plans also suggest that the balcony is a touch higher than where the kit parts end up, but that might ultimately depend on how I build the balcony.  In any event, I can remove any excess height from that area when I figure out what needs to be done.

 
The plans can be somewhat inconsistent with one another which can be frustrating, but they are usually pretty close.  Much better than the Corel Unicorn where measurements differed by as much as 5-10mm amongst the plans!  I imagine this is one of the issues builders had to contend with when kit bulkheads were/are hand cut and plans hand drawn.  New kits probably are a lot more precise and consistent with laser cutting and computerized plans.
 
I'm pretty excited about how things are coming out - it looks more like a ship every day.  It's also got a lot of curves and some decorative elements that should make for a nice model.  It's been fun in the meantime as this kit, as I understand other Euromodel kits, bridges a little of the gap between pure kit builds and scratch builds.  It's also been fun and a big learning experience comparing notes with PiratePete, whose build notes are a real asset for people building this kit or other Euromodel kits.
 
Happy holidays!