yvesvidal

Now is the time to work on the railing of the rear quarter deck: The boxwood carvings are glued with liquid CA. And then, some painting is done: Now, I have to redo the same on the port side.... Yves

Very creative (and smart) way to represent the hinges on the rudder. It is definitely easier than using brass parts as I recently did it on my CAF Chebec. Yves

Such lovely and clean work. It is a pleasure to watch. Yves

It is hard to believe that this is 1/200 scale. It looks so realistic and perfect. Yves

I just completed a very delicate phase of the build: the rudder and tiller. I wanted these to be movable while keeping the capability to take them apart, as this assembly is very fragile. The hinges are photo-etched parts which is not the easiest for making something sturdy and working. The kit of the HMS Bellona offered brass cast parts which are a lot more solid and well designed than what the Chebec kit offers. This is how I approached the conundrum: A small piece of brass ( diameter 1.2 mm) is soldered against the photo etched parts provided in the kit. This is then chemically blackened (and later on painted...) and placed in shape around the rudder: Using electronic components pins, I insert the pins into the wood (diameter 0.7 mm), solder the pins to the PE part in about 4 locations. A little bit of sanding and painting on top, make it look decent. I could not find nails small enough to fit into the PE parts. Of course, while soldering, you want to make sure the wood is not burnt or overheated. It is all very delicate. The female parts going along the stern keel are the most delicate to adjust. Again flat PE not easy to put in form. Here I am using small pieces of tube (material similar to teflon) and I glue them in place along the stern. The rudder pivots very smoothly and there is no jerking. Then the same approach (pins, soldering) is done on the stern, making sure the PE parts are hugging tight the small piece of tubing. Additional CA glue is used to keep everything in line and happy. Verification of the rudder motion: The Boxwood carving is then glued to the rudder and painted black and then dry-brushed with Tamiya gold leaf. CAF Model did a great job at 3D machining this little carving: Once installed, the tiller is inserted into the rudder: The hole is tight enough and holds the tiller without any glue. Motion is possible: Et voila. Needless to say, this assembly is going to be removed, stored and will be back on the model, when is it completed. Yves

It is hard to imagine the amount of force you would have to apply to a tiller on this type of ship, to steer it in one direction or another. The Chebec I am building is also using a massive rudder and a long tiller. Yves

Excellent decision !!! Too many projects to justify loosing sleep with a single one. Yves

Great video and incredible models, in that scale. Thank you for the link. Yves

Lovely ship. Yves

Some improvements to the bowsprit: Yves

Chris, You may know more than I do about this specific kit manufacturer, but I can give two clear examples of the kits I have and am building and no build log of them can be found online: CAF Model HMS Bellona and CAF Model Le Chebec. The Kits made by CAF Model are excellent (in my opinion) but rather difficult and poorly documented. Definitely not something I would recommend to a beginner. What happens quite often, is that potential builders will get excited about a kit and later on realize that they cannot complete it or loose interest in it. We all have had to deal with this kind of problems. Yves

A few progress on the bowsprit: This is a delicate assembly and I approached it in stages: The tiny part above is not included in the kit, but helps tremendously in stabilizing and aligning the front bowsprit. Highly recommended. The figures have not been installed yet, as I am afraid to damage them (at least the one sitting on the tip of the bowsprit). Yves

It is definitely "punching" through the water..... 😄 Yves

Beautiful planking. There is a lot of care going into it and it shows. Yves

Moving our attention to the bow. For Javelin, a few more round holes.... Each hole has a tiny PE part located at the bottom, and used as a holder for a portable cannon. The hand held cannons are not part of the kit, but I have seen some models with them. I really like the intricacies of that bow, with its tilted mast. It makes for a rather interesting and unusual section of the ship. And the overall view.... Yves