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Ferrus Manus

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Everything posted by Ferrus Manus

  1. So, today I started on the work I'll have to do before I close up the forecastle. The first order of business was the gun rigging. Originally, I wasn't going to rig the guns, but since they gave me two out of the three sheaves I needed (and then didn't mention gun rigging in the instructions) I figured I might as well. I bashed together another sheave for the 36 pdr, then got to work. The interesting bit was the rigging of the 36 pdr. I drilled two holes for the ropes in the front of the gun carriage, inserted eyebolts, tied on the ropes, and did the exact same thing I did for the 24 pdrs. The interesting thing about it was the fact that the ropes run to the catwalk, which means they actually travel upward from their sheaves.
  2. Interestingly, there is a thole pin where the cooking pan is. Would there simply have been an oar/seat assembly that could be removed for cooking?
  3. The apostis assemblies went on far easier than I expected they would, given the imperfect alignment of the supports. The next job is to glue on the rest of the anchor equipment, followed by more decorative stuff at the stern. The ladders will be saved for the very end, as I don't trust them not to break off.
  4. The stern lantern and flagpole: And the ship's guns, surrounded by the forecastle deck timbers:
  5. Louis is the Sun King, so sunglasses might be appropriate. I guess it seems obvious that his ships would reflect his title.
  6. Even after reading the thread, all I can assume is that you mean "ornamental decorations at the extreme aft"...
  7. I have considered the idea, but gave it up as it wouldn't look the same as paint in other places, and would likely run down to the bottom, ruining the paint job. The pictures show several errors that can't be seen in real life.
  8. That is, unless I had just glued the one side more poorly than the other. Either way, the problem was solved. I learned that most things that weaken CA also melt polystyrene (including acetone) but there was no visible damage. 3M makes industrial chemical products, right?
  9. The painting at the beginning of this build log depicts multiple other figures, plus Triton and the angels, all of which are painted gold.
  10. I was blissfully unaware when choosing the paint scheme for the stern, that the extreme aft of the ship would end up being mostly light blue:
  11. Here is the finished stern timber assembly: There are four figures that go on the stern of the ship: two angels blowing trumpets, and two figures of Triton blowing into seashells. I can either... A. paint them gold, or... B. paint them realistic colors. Which would be better? They would have been gold on the real ship, but then again, I have deviated from the historical paint scheme in several ways on just the stern.
  12. For this next fiasco, I had to remove the port and starboard forward footrest supports, as I had installed them incorrectly. I had to tear them up from the frames, turn them around, and re-glue them in. Thankfully, I had used CA glue for the quick cure time, or this would have been legitimately impossible. Internet literature is conflicting as to whether or not 70% isopropyl alcohol is effective at melting CA glue. Tearing up the starboard section was extremely difficult, but achievable without significant damage, even after application of the alcohol. But then I had an idea: what if the rubbing alcohol was the reason why this stunt was even possible in the first place? To test the difference, I added far more rubbing alcohol to the port side piece. It ended up coming up with ease in about a third of the time of the first one. I guess that's one way to prove a theory.
  13. The filigree piece at the very back is fully painted and resting on the aft timbers. The arch assembly is glued together and is resting on the timbers as well. All that's left to do on the stern is that, the figures on the back, the other, smaller decorative piece on the extreme aft, the golden screen at the break of the deck, and the supports for the awning. I will not include the awning, as I would like the detail to all be clearly visible. Immediately forward of the aft section is another deck with railings and the ship's ladders. The piece has a globe on the bottom, interestingly enough showing the Americas instead of Eurasia. James Cook made the first European discovery of Hawaii in 1788. That means the islands shown in the Pacific would have to be islands that were theorized to exist. This is the real piece: It depicts California as an island, as well as several supposed islands in the Pacific. It's clear they didn't know how far northwest North America extended, or what really any of Southeast/East Asia looks like. This is to be expected from 1694, and is obviously a product of an age before French colonies in East Asia existed. Overall, Heller has done a great job taking data from what's left of the real ship to inform their design of the aft detail pieces.
  14. The second panel took me a significantly smaller amount of time to paint. By the end of the 17th century, galleys had transformed from fighting vessels to splendidly decorated royal yachts. By this time, the galley had become a completely ineffective warship owing to its flimsy construction and small number of guns. Even a moderately sized man o' war could rip a dozen or more galleys to shreds, and they did on numerous occasions. It seems like everyone knew this in some regard- that is, everyone except for Louis himself. The last major galley battle had taken place over a hundred years prior, and since the widespread development of broadside gun batteries, sail versus galley duels almost always went in the sailing ship's favor.
  15. Now, this is where the build starts to get intense. I built the entirety of the upper works subassembly off-ship, and it's currently resting on the stern. It will be glued on before progress continues. The massive timbers at the stern are intended to offset the weight of the humongous bronze cannons at the fore. Anyone who has built a Reale knows what comes next. Most modelers paint the filigree pieces at the stern solid gold, as was likely on the real ship. However, I plan on doing something different. I will paint the interior of the piece light blue, and paint the raised detail gold. This will be done solely to show off.
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