allanyed

Two valid points IMHO, but as the admins have what is sometimes a thankless job, like herding cats, adding to their load may not be such a good idea.   When it is my time I will post my library if I can.  If not, is there any rule that says my admiral or sons cannot post here if they log in on my member ID with what is going on and what is up for sale?  I looked but cannot find any rule to the contrary.
Allan

Thanks so much for this thread @thibaultron . It's hugely helpful in understanding the process invovled. I've had printed guns done for a previous project and have been weighing up whether to commission another job for my current project or invest in a printer for this and future use. Lots of food for thought here.

64
I did a couple desk top Armstrong Fredericks in 1:24 and it made for a nice change of pace type project.  Give a shout if you want the carriage drawing.
Allan


 

64
I did a couple desk top Armstrong Fredericks in 1:24 and it made for a nice change of pace type project.  Give a shout if you want the carriage drawing.
Allan


 

I enlarged it and it indeed looks like another vessel or some such behind it.
Allan

I was so tired of Victory builds, UNTIL NOW.  Just tuned in and catching up.  I love that it is the Victory when built in 1765 as it is rarely modeled as she looked then.
Allan

JJ
Sounds like a great trip.   I can no longer imagine my old bones going on such a hike now but back in the day it would have been a dream come true.  ENJOY!!!!
Allan

Beautiful work!   Can you share what material you used to make the piece in the photo below and how you made it?   
Thank you
Allan

I am always amazed and happy to see the exactness that you put into every part of your builds.  
Allan

Hey Folks,
 
I decided to flush out the longboat that features in my Rose and Confederacy projects. This 31-footer will be similar to my other endeavors in terms of realism and texture quality, and will have every single piece of wood, metal, and rope modelled individually. However, note that I’m using the generic term ‘longboat’ instead of referring to its specific type/function (barge, launch, pinnacle). The reason being, I’m going to attempt a one-size-fits-all approach. As a bonus, I will make the model and all of its components available for free and without restriction to anyone that wants it.

[Stepping onto my soapbox] Back to the one-size-fits-all thing – I know this may sound like a bad idea. Nearly everyone I know hates the use of ‘generic’ or ‘copy/paste’ models in CGI. And this goes far beyond the naval/nautical realm. In fact, the whole anti-CGI or practical effects only movement in Hollywood is a response to bad or lazy CGI. But therein lies the point: what audiences actually dislike isn’t CGI, it’s bad CGI. [Stepping back down now]

But what on Earth does any of that have to do with a simple longboat? Well, as I mentioned before, I ultimately want to use Rose, Confederacy, and a ship-of-the-line that I’ve not yet started to make photorealistic renderings and printable artwork. Specifically, I want to do justice to a complex harbor scene. So imagine Nassau circa 1715 or colonial Boston in the latter half of the 18th century. Both have bustling ports with hundreds of boats and ships. There have been a few films and tv shows that have attempted to bring these environments to life, some of which have even done a decent job of framing, lighting and perspective to make a brief fly-over shot look convincing. However – these are film, and they are counting on the audience having only a few seconds to absorb the imagery. This is why so many of these shots rely heavily on haze, fog, lensflare, low-light or backlighting conditions… these tricks tell your brain what you are seeing is real while obscuring the actual subject of the artwork. 
 
Just for fun sometime, pause the movie/show and look at the actual frame. Most CG boats and ships are not that detailed or well done. If there are numerous ships in the scene, it usually only takes a few seconds to realize that they are copies of one another, only posed slightly differently. And studios do it this way for good reason, the time and energy required to do it right would far outweigh the benefit.
 
But creating a realistic, static render is different. My audience will have time to focus on details. Sadly, even I don’t have time or desire to individually model 100 different ships, which brings me full circle to the crux of this endeavor:
 
How do I make a single longboat that can be cloned and easily tweaked to look like many, completely different boats in the same scene?
 
It’s not a rhetorical question, so I began by making a list of variables, in increasing order of complexity…
 
Variable #1: Shared Copies (identical mesh models) with Cosmetic Differences

1.    Pose the copies at different angles and direction, for example, if there are two at the same dock, one can face inland, the other seaward. Okay, so this one’s a no brainer. This is required to even build out the scene, and is also useless by itself.
2.    Shared copies could have different colors. So if the first longboat has blue trim, the second could have red, and yet another green, etc. This is a good start, but it should be taken a step further.
3.    Shared copies could have different skins. This involves changing not only the colors, but also the overall livery. In this scenario, the entire wale on one longboat may be painted whereas on another only the caprail and molding are painted. A third may have a decorative frieze running the wale or on the transom. The strakes on some may be entirely whitewashed, whitewashed only below the waterline on others, and perhaps not at all on a few of them. This method can add a lot of variety while still being fairly simple, as I will only need to tweak certain parts of my textures, and not rebuild the textures entirely – i.e. the underlying wood grain would still be the same on all copies of the longboat.
4.    Shared copies could have different textures. The final method of cosmetic variation is to use different texture sets for different copies. This will make each longboat appear to be constructed of different or somewhat different materials.
 
That’s it for this post, will continue in the next post of a discussion of the other two variables, which are -
 
Variable #2 Unique Copies with Differences in Components
Variable #3 Unique Copies with Differences in Configurations
 
 
-Nate
 

Your gratings look nice.  One trick I went to years ago to be sure there are no openings against one or more of the head ledges or coamings is to finish the grating so it is a solid band on all four sides as close to the plan dimensions as possible, then make the surrounding timber of head ledges and coamings to fit the grating, not the other way around.  Picture & a thousand words, etc. below
Allan

Your idea of using a stiffer material is a great idea.  I have used my machinist squares similar to your use of right angle acrylic plates.  Looking forward to your progress.
Allan

The Vanguard boats really are good, but alas, the scale is wrong for your 1:72 build as Alistair states.    It is not very difficult to make your own  boats and they will look realistic.   There are a lot of contemporary plans and all the scantlings needed readily available if you want to give that a try.
Allan

Hi Ron
Will you be adding the cleats to the carriage cheeks?  I am not sure if they were on all size gun carriages but they do show up in contemporary paintings of Victory as well as on the drawings in Caruana.  I doubt many people would notice,  so maybe better to leave them as they are.  Just a thought.     Just in case, you can see these on the painting as well as the drawing from Congreve and also redrawn in Caruana.   


 
 

Hi Ron
I found out from another member that had an issue finding proper pattern barrels for his particular build that at least one supplier sells Blomefield pattern barrels that have the crest/cypher as well as the pan at the touch hole and they are relatively inexpensive.  If this is of interest, please let me know.
Allan

Hi Kiwiron,
 
Lovely build, thank you for sharing  your log.
 
For future consideration note that actually the plates overlap 1 1/2", they never butted together.  This might be difficult and may not look good with the kit plates as they look to be much too thick.  At your scale they should only be about one to two thousandths thick so likely have no choice unless you go to copper foil which is a good choice.  At your scale, nail dents (not raised bumps) would be barely visible.  See the sketch below.  (The copper paint looks very good by itself.) 
 
One point about which I am curious, hope you don't mind.   Did the kit call for the port lid stops on all four sides?  I am pretty sure Victory is like most ships of that era in that they were only on the bottom and sides of the port to keep the lid from swinging in.
 

I understand the concern but consider there would be rope rails for the climber to hold on to while climbing up or descending the steps.  A rolling ship, slippery steps, offset position, long coats and hanging swords, are a recipe for someone to wind up back in the bottom of the ship's boat  or in the water.
Allan
 
 

Welcome to MSW B
It would be great if you posted a little intro in the new members forum as well.
What model are you building?  If you start a build log you could get a lot of helpful suggestions on work arounds and thus get more sleep😀
Allan
 

The photo below is the slipways at Hillman Barge and Boat in Brownsville, PA where we had the mishap.  This photo was right after a successful launch as the barge and catch boat can be seen on the right.   Googling photos of the yard like the one I found below brought back some really nice memories.   
Allan

Welcome to MSW B
It would be great if you posted a little intro in the new members forum as well.
What model are you building?  If you start a build log you could get a lot of helpful suggestions on work arounds and thus get more sleep😀
Allan
 

Welcome to MSW B
It would be great if you posted a little intro in the new members forum as well.
What model are you building?  If you start a build log you could get a lot of helpful suggestions on work arounds and thus get more sleep😀
Allan
 

Best quote of the day!!

Welcome to MSW B
It would be great if you posted a little intro in the new members forum as well.
What model are you building?  If you start a build log you could get a lot of helpful suggestions on work arounds and thus get more sleep😀
Allan
 

Nice idea, SHJ, but no! The beams below the stachions and rail at the ends of forecastle and quarter deck were called the breast beams.

Thanks very much Jaager - and sorry for being ambiguous earlier.
hamilton