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Dude That Is Special !!
 
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Dude That Is Special !!
 
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Built the forward tank top and the main mast and installed the mast.  The bottom of the mast is imbedded into a wood block that sits on the inside bottom of the hull, so I glued in one half of the tank top, then used a spirit level to get the mast properly aligned, and then dripped glue onto the block followed by instant set.  
 
Now from the drawings and all of my photos I'm puzzled again by what goes between this structure and the hatch (or I should say HOW the next fittings go, coupled with the oil piping), so I think I'll build the cargo winch and then see how that dovetails with the piping.  
 
Regards,
David

Pump house built and installed.
 
Regards,
David

Aft oil tank top installed.
 
Regards,
David

Water tanks installed under the stern balcony.
 
Regards,
David

I've finished the stern structures, with the exception of one fitting (see below).  Since my last post, added the rear railing, plus wire winders, life rings, chocks and fairleads, as well as the second boat with davits and rigging.  Also added tall vents and the mast.
 
The one fitting I haven't added goes in front of the capstan housing at the rear.  The problem is that I can't figure out which of the cast parts to use based on the plans, and the instructions (which just have a numbered part listing).  My pictures from the internet shed partial light.  So I'm going to wait to the end and see what cast parts are left over, and see if that sheds light on what to install.  🙃  This one of the continuing challenges of working with the instructions for this ship -- but it's still an interesting build.
 
Regards,
David

Thank you everyone for the comments and likes. one final photo before i start my next build
 
me with my happy face

Good evening everyone
 
42 days on the table and of those i did something on 39 of them and im calling her finished, i have another couple of figures to paint but im not good enough to do them
Thoroughly enjoyed this one, quick build, brilliant online tutorials, excellent plans and wooden material, pants supplied thread, instructions, and after sales (but im very well aware of what is going on in their country
glues used Titebond original and C/A
Occre walnut and oak dyes
paint 1 bottle came with the kit, a acrylic metallic colour for the shields
figures from Aliexpress
i have the Captain John Smith's Shallop ordered at the same time from @chris watton Vanguard Models
 1:32 Captain John Smith's Shallop - Ships of Pavel Nikitin - REVIEWS: Model kits - Model Ship World™
 
but have also recently ordered the  San Bartolome
1:48 San Bartolome by Pavel Nikitin - REVIEWS: Model kits - Model Ship World™
 
 

finished, will post better photos later
 

good morning everyone
 
took a while to get the sail to look more realistic, but i think this looks better, most of the fittings are now in place, except the shields and mast stands along with the bow and stern scrolls
still have to trim some excess thread from the sail, and cut the bolt rope ends.
 
5 seconds after the last photo the breeze caught her and she landed on the puppy, puppy is ok though, and build was repaired

good evening everyone
thank you for comments and likes
 
i seam to have missed a post, so lets play catch up
 
seat lockers day 29-2
nice and simple with just 28 to make up, stain and varnish

oar storage brackets stained and fitted

name plate two tone stained and varnished

day 29-2
barrels made up along with cradles and the rudder


oars required a lot of clean up due to laser char, then stained
 

1st August 2025 day 34-2
stand cleaned up, stained and varnished 

outside contractors employed (Ruth)(wifeypoos) for sail building
 

3rd August day 36-3 started rigging

i fed a bolt rope around three sides, and room for a wire if im unable to get the sail to sit right

not many rigging lines to fit, but getting the sail to sit right took longer than most other things

today was spent tidying her up. and adding a few bits like the rudder, oars, seats, rope coils
 
more to add tomorrow, before the big reveal, and move on to the next project
 
 

It has clearly been a very long time since last I was here and I hope that people remember me!  Suffice to say it has been hard to make any progress beyond a snails pace.  I last left off after focusing on the complex bow structures.  To keep moving I needed to install the rough tree rail and the various supports as well as the Fretwork to the upper finishing.  Dimensions were estimated from plans and contemporary model, and these all seem to vary to some degree.  
I had held off making the fretworks as I wasn't sure of the approach, and I wanted to get a curved profile.  In the end, shaped billets were made to size and shaped, thin 1mm square boxwood strip (which I had hand sanded down to ~0.5mm) was then glued to the upper and lower edges.  Once dry, the back was cut away and finished by hand.  This is where the piper must be paid for any prior size and alignment estimates- as things stood I'm estimating that this is maybe 1mm shorter than it should be per the various plans and diagrams (4mm vs 5mm), but this was necessary to sit appropriately.
Unfortunately, my progress was so slow making the rough tree rails that I neglected to take photos.  These were cut from 2mm boxwood following the profile of the hull and were 3mm wide.  The curved for'ad sections were made separately using a similar technique as taken for the decorative rails and then joining to the main rough tree rail.  This follows the sheer of the deck, rather than the wale, so a template was made to ensure that these were positioned correctly.  The timberheads were then added using 2x5mm pear strip., because these are continuations of the frames, they need to be perpendicular to the keel.  There seems to be a huge amount of small variation on how these were constructed and captured on plans and models, and a variation even between the plans I have for HMS Jason showing these and the various Artois class models.  The template was once again used to ensure the consistent height above the deck.  Much of this process required fine adjustments using the Mk. 1 eyeball which seemed to take a considerable amount of time.  In the end, I drew inspiration from model 1794-3 illustrated on page 19 of the AOTS Diana book.  This has 2 curious semi-bulkheads installed in the timberheads, as well as being solidly built up at the stern.  I have no idea what these are as I haven't seen them anywhere else.  The mizen and main backstay stools have also been glued into position.  Finishing up with some overall shots of where things stand (The quarter gallery lights are not attached, but were placed to get a sense for proportion when finalizing the fretwork)

 
 

Hello and thank you for your interest in my building log. Two years ago we installed a photovoltaic system in our house and I had to completely clear out my building room because the battery was being installed there. It was such a mess that it took me quite a long time to rearrange the room. There were also changes to my self-employment and I'll be moving into a different building soon. These things have distracted me from model building, and once I'm too far out, I can't get back in.
 
Because of the long break, I've forgotten many details about ship modeling I’ve learned before and now I feel like I'm back to the start. To get back into it, I'm going to pause building the Coureur for now and look for an easier project, perhaps the Alert from Vanguard Models or something similar to start with in the next months …

Put ledgers, clamps, cleats, or whatever term is correct in this situation, in the head and made new templates from chipboard
  
From which I modeled and printed new grates.These had a tendency to try to curl, so I attached wood strips to the underside to resist that. They then got primed and painted.
   
There's vertical rub rails on the hull's side.  In the 1856 portrait, I con only verify 3 at the main hatch, though more show up in photos from 1879 on, when she carried more boats as a training ship.  I'm only adding the three per side I can verify.

These were cut to shape to fit the hull, rather than try to spring a straight stick into place, and pinned with 1/16" brass rod; then they got some quick paint.
 
The hull will get a proper paint job just before the chain-plates get installed.

My main goal now is to construct the stern balcony enough to get drawings to Chuck for the fretwork. But before that I have to build a stub deck at the end of the quarterdeck. But before I can do that, I had to build the stern of the upper deck with the rudder cover and benches, since they will be covered up once I install the stub deck above. And before I could build the rudder cover, I needed to mock up the rudder head to ensure it will turn freely in the rudder cover. And on it goes.....
 
So, here is the mocked up rudder head, checking clearances:

And then the rudder cover itself. Note in the first photo, I somehow built it too wide. The second photo below shows the trimmed down version. I had to selectively deconstruct the cover, then slice out the excess, and reassemble. It reminded me of chopping tops for hot rod models when I was a kid!
 
 

I discovered that if the rudder cover top surface stays below the level of the stern lights, there is not enough room under it to ship the rudder. It will have to be removed and then reinstalled after the rudder is in place.
 
So when I built the benches on either side, I made all of this a slide fit so the rudder cover can be taken out later to ship the rudder when I get around to building it.
 
The benches proved to be unexpectedly difficult to build. They had to accommodate different curves at different levels, since this is all sitting on the fore side of a convex upper counter whose curves are different from the upper deck upon which the benches sit. It was a lot of tedious trim and test, trim and test, for several days. But now it is done, ready to be covered up by the quarterdeck stub deck above. At least I could get some sense of the standard of living for the officers. Not bad, sitting on the bench, elbow on the window sill, looking out at the sea through the wall of windows....
 
Mark
 
 
 

Thanks Tony
 
A bit more work done this week - I have made the 2 beds.  One is for the Master of the ship and the other for the Master Gunner who was on board when Le Rochefort carried its cargo of gunpowder.
 
I made the recesses in the door and the lower part of the bed in the same way I made the door into the cabin.  I just like the way this method looks when finished.

Next was the cupboard walls and the base of the bed


The pair of beds and the bulkhead with hinges and handles fitted.

The parts now fitted into the hull - it's the fitting that takes the longest time just trying to get a tight a fit to the hull as possible.



So I'm pretty sure that once I've made the hatch surround, fitted the beams and made the carlings that will be the quarter deck finished.  Those tasks will be my next jobs.
 
Cheers Mark

Wow, this is a blast from the past!
 
I had a few days before Surprise rocked up here, so thought I'd spend some hours on the pretty little Avos kit from Master Korabel. The first three photos were left over and unpublished from 2019, so I're resurrected them here. The first pic shows the hawse bolster/cheek and metal tube temporarily fitted over the newly installed wales. Everything on this gorgeous little kit, fits like a dream. In this photo, the prow is temporarily fitted too so I could accurately fit the wales and gunwale.
 

 
You can now see that gap between the deck and the bulwarks. That's all fine...it's meant to be like that. The waterway margin plank is then assembled and profiled before gluing into place and completing the look. 

 
 
Deck fittings are quite traditional in construction. The companionway is built from interlocking sections and then sheathed in pear. The fit is just perfect. Grates are made from combs etc. and the stack is made from brass tube that needed cutting and setting at 90 degrees. 

 
The keel is now properly cleaned up and glued to the hull. 

 
And here we see the work, again, before Avos goes into hiatus while Surprise takes the bench. All the deck fittings aren't glued on at this stage. You can also see that I fitted the belaying pin racks. The external channels are only test fitted at the moment.


Until next time 😁
 
 

The rails have been added to the companion way
Just need to touch up the black paint 
And fitted back on the deck
Cheers

Continuing with the elements below the quarterdeck, I made the stanchions for the companion way
Painted, and pegged I fixed them onto the coaming
I'm glad I hadn't glued this down yet
I shall be on the rails next.
Thanks for looking in👍
Cheers 

Kevin,
Great work !!! - I saw your image on "at a glance" -- Did you add the oar hole covers, or did those also come with the kit? Nice detail.....
 
I'm waiting for the 1/35th to be available in the US - shipping directly from the Ukraine is very "OUCH". 
 
Again great work - looks awesome indeed.
 
Need to get back into this hobby - been MIA for too long......
 
Cheers,

im very pleased that he is continuing to update the builds, this is the 2nd change in design since i started mine, the oars originally had to be made up, but the billet that had the blades on also had the handles to the shields, which has not been added to any of the run since i believe they are sending them out to me. no big deal i will make some 

I've installed the first lifeboat.  There are three options:  upright (then you have to fit out the interior with wood seats), covered (you need to find some covering material and somehow color it), or inverted, the way I've done it, which also seems to me the most logical way to store a boat to keep the inside dry.
 
The boats are molded styrene, and when you paint them, the paint mars REALLY easily, so after multiple touch-ups I varnished it to protect the paint job.
 
The davit rigging assumes that the falls are attached inside the boats, and that on launching the boat would be flipped over so the falls could then be used to lower it.  
 
Finally, the manual calls for double block rigging, but I got lazy and used a single.  
 
Regards,
David
 

Added capstan housing and ventilators to the stern.
 
Added life ring, navigation lights, ladder and side railing to the bridge/wheelhouse.
 
I'm going to wait until the end to touch up all the paint splatter.
 
Regards,
David

Thank you Frecap! That's very kind of you to say! 👍
 
And everyone else als thank you for looking in and the likes, appreciate it a lot!