yvesvidal

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

A few progress on the rear quarter deck. Rather delicate assembly due to the dry and thin wood: The first step is to glue the decorative railing in the front of the planking. 2 x 3 mm soaked in alcohol and left bending on a jig: Installation of the stiffeners under the deck: Following the instructions.... all parts are pre-painted, of course: A little bell to attract the attention of the crew: The kit does not provide the end pieces of the freeze. I will have to think about something..... Overall view: Yves

Excellent choice. That should make a fantastic model, at the scale of 1/12. Yves

I have this kit in my stash and will watch your progress with interest. Yves

Chuck, I love your new workplace but mostly the Bally Old chicago pinball machine, in the corner. It is one of my coveted machines, as I already own a Bally Mata Hari, Playboy, Silverball, Xenon and Medusa plus a Spanish machine from Recel. Yves

A quick update for the rear quarterdeck: The "glowing" deck is simply a coat of Wipe On Poly, in the process of drying. Yves

Beautiful work. I know it is very tempting to place the freezes at this stage, but they can be damaged so easily. Your construction approach is quite interesting and obviously provides an easier path to building these period ships. I love the 1/48th scale, too 🙂 Yves

I am amazed at how you get that brass polished, especially in the locations of the soldering. You are so good at metal work that it is not surprising that your model would be made of metal, like the prototypes. Yves

Finally, planking of the rear quarter deck is completed: 38 + 1 planks, total. After a fine sanding and a good vacuuming, the deck can be protected with a few coats of Wipe On Poly: You can see how the color changes.... Now is the time to finish some details on the rear deck. Yves

No, I have decided to only show the bottom of the hull, unplanked. Everything else will be complete, as much as I can do it. Thank you for the compliments. Yves

I just started the planking, using the nice maple pre-cut planks, provided in the kit. From the instructions below, you can see that I have derived from the recommended directions, once more. As mentioned, the planking is too small (not wide enough) as provided in the kit. I used a wider master plank of 8 mm wide to go in the middle: Proper alignment is done using additional side planks. You want that master plank to be perfect in the center. And then, it is the slow process of gluing one plank at a time.... until we come to the entire half: Now, I have to do the other side, which will not so easy since I cannot use the open space for my clamps. Quick CA will have to come to the rescue. Yves

The next step is to complete the framing of the rear quarterdeck: And so it is: All frames have been sanded and everything is level and straight for planking with a maple floor: Yves

Time for a small update. I started working on the guns and they turned out to be a royal pain in the ****. I tried assembling them, using the PE parts provided in the kit: The copper/brass is very flimsy and does not withstand any bending. The cannons are nicely molded but the wood comprising the chariots is very dry and will split when drilled. I have decided to resort to the same technique I used for Bellona and drill with a #61 the vertical side of the chariot, to receive small blackened nails. The PE parts are simply too fragile and too small to do anything with them (at least for my skill and patience levels...). The rigging of the guns is also simplified with the exception of the retaining rope attached to the chariot (French way) and not to the end of the cannon (British way). I will see if I can do better for the guns which are more visible. These are located under the rear quarterdeck and will be really hard to see. One gun installed.... Two guns.... (sounding like the Count in Sesame Street) And all four guns: Yves