MICHELE PADOAN

Sono d'accordo con te, ma la cosa che più mi affascina di questa fregata sono le sculture e il balcone di poppa.

Good morning, girdle courses, molded planks and serre.

I completed the stern embouchure and put the forms on the open side of the hull.

I will also open the topic on the Venetian Vessel shortly and answer your questions there.

Cannon hinges and hatches.

Hi, sorry you that I only just read your question. For the Commerce de Marseille, I chose to make all the carvings in bovine bone as an alternative to boxwood, drawing on the old arsenal models exhibited at museums where ivory and sometimes bone were precisely used for white-painted decoration at that time ( late 18th century/early 19th century). The carving is done with cutters and I must say that they work very well. Because it is harder than boxwood, you can create small details with less risk of breakage.. It can also be worked with mini files for small details, whereas for gouges I find it too hard. The only drawback is that it is white and therefore very light and you can't distinguish well, as in wood, the details you are carving as you work. With a little practice, though, you get used to it afterwards. The time to make a carving is also longer, but the results are great. Then there is also to say that only small bone cuts are commercially available. In this 1/72 scale it is possible for me to make all the decorations, which I could not do in a larger scale. Instead, to cut thin pieces such as frisate I use fretwork. While with boxwood I start with a thicker board and once cut I bring it to the desired thickness using the mini grinder being very but very careful. With bone, the plates I used are 8/10 of a mm thick and it would have been impossible to cut them without breaking them. In this case I glued a wooden board underneath ( if you look at the third and fifth photos you can see it), which I removed at the end of the job. What can I say, I find it great in some respects. With that natural, warm color it gives the model a unique visual impact, certainly a material to consider for certain cases.

It is a reproduction of a model exhibited at the Naval Museum in Venice, a 74-gun vessel, 1780 class. I will also open a topic on this later, below I will put a photo of my model in working progress and my three active shipyards.

Thank you. To hold the model in place I adopt a small wedge on the side not in view.

The plans are still under development and therefore not public. It is not possible for me to show the drawings because of copyright.

Hello, the work is already in the avenzamento stage. I started the construction site a year ago. I alternate work on the Nereids with my other two active shipyards, le Commerce de Marseille and the Venetian Vessel. Now little by little I am posting photos of the work already done.

Good morning, I opened the hull from the port side. The rising fifths have been left whole, while the other double ribs have been opened up at the level of the topsides and half topsides and their respective scales. There is no clear cut of the double ribs as I personally find it unsightly.

Hi everyone, this is another yard I am working on, a new Ancre project that was proposed to me by Mr. D. Berti and my friend Franco Fissore. It is a French frigate, the Nereid, designed and built by Olliver father and son, a first order frigate of 1722. The ship will be built, based on drawings by Jean-Claude Lemineur, in 1/48 scale in pear and cherry wood. The beautiful and rich carvings will be executed in boxwood and then finished with gold patina. Finally, the whole model, as is now my custom, will be treated with judea bitumen to give that lived-in look that has now become my style. In the meantime that I am waiting for the rest of the Nereid plans still in process, I am proceeding with the material I have on hand. The frigate will be armed on one side only, while the other will be left exposed in much the same way as I did for the Commerce de Marseille.

Good morning, cartouche with vessel name, crowning hundred and rudder.

I reinforced the spur with dolphins, fills, and cubia cushion with associated lead linings. Finally, I glued the frisata bas-relief made of cow bone because at that time decorations were painted white on the vessels and made of ivory and sometimes bone on the models.

Judea bitumen treatment.

Structure of the first bridge.

Outer planking in the starboard side.

Preparation and temporary laying of the beams of the first bridge.

I proceed with the false bridge. The whole thing is treated with shellac and judea bitumen to give the model a somewhat lived-in look.

Good morning, I am continuing with the execution of pork.

Small gallery of images of the model in workig progress.

Below is the Orient in 1/48 scale and the Commerce de Marseille in 1/72 scale.

Girdle courses and gunnery opening.

Now that I have secured all the longitudinal reinforcements, I proceed to open the hull from the left side.

Paramezzal, sleepers and garlands.