piratepete007

JMartti, You are correct - this is indeed a beautiful ship and the drawings are very detailed. The drawings are sufficient in many details for a scratch build but this whole thing is presented as a 'kit' build and that can cause a few problems and you have highlighted one such area - the stem post. Euromodel supplies a blank that represents the total outline that includes essential components such as the knee of the head (7) and the gammoning knee (5 ?) and it is here that differences in thickness historically did occur. These three detailed drawings are aimed at the scratch builder, not the kit builder. I can see the correlation between the main head drawing and the one on the right and have added some lines (slightly off-set) to show that. The drawing on the right is viewed as from the bow aftwards. It shows an appropriate definite taper downwards and I agree that a taper forwards is also required as many ships did. In this case, as you point out, the figurehead dictates a tapering. The bottom drawing (a top view of the head) may be somewhat historically correct in that it shows a variation in thickness but I suspect that it contains sufficient errors to be ignored, especially for this kit build. Hope that helps. Pete

Fray, I know exactly what you are talking about but so as not to clutter Robert's post, if you like I will send you a 'PM' (private message) and we can discuss the matters you raise. Pete

Robert, thinking laterally but not answering your question about the use of those slotted pieces, is there any reason why the obstructing grates could not be made flush with the deck surface ? That would then possibly allow the normal recoil of the cannons, albeit over the grates ? Interested to hear what others would say about that as I have only ever considered recoiling cannons moving over a solid deck surface. Or ... is there enough of that channel material to make a solid platform between the grate and the rail for both sides ? Pete

Given the configuration of the cheek rails on this particular ship, I can see no reason for cutting into them to accommodate the gammoning. Pete

Teaching us all a few good lessons here Robert - your research has produced a few painful backward steps with your construction but you keep moving forward with your improved and more accurate view of what this type of ship really looked like. Pete

Robert, The 'ship has sailed' as you said but the attached diagram is a definite possibility (locating from the quarter to the focsl'e deck). A much earlier input from Marcus would have steered both you and myself in a better direction ! Pete

Maybe Marcus could make a comment here about the guns being on the main deck in what looks like an improbable position ? I believe these decks were deliberately narrow to lessen the tax imposition by certain countries based on a ship's main deck area. That then makes me wonder whether any guns were placed on this deck at all ? I came across this drawing of a Dutch fluyt which could support my suspicions. Just throwing that idea in for discussion.

Good update Robert and thanks for the info. After reading the above quotation, I was reminded about this argument that pops up from time to time. As a chemist, I appreciate the points being made but believe the ammonia reaction is extremely slow and soaking for a week or two will only partially change the lignin structure without any overall long-term damage. My approach is to lift the strips out of the aqueous ammonia after a week and to then place them into a previously contoured timber press that has curves slightly stronger than that required. There they sit for a few weeks - although I have used a warm oven to accelerate the process. I went and checked on ship of mine that had had some curves created by the above process approx. 10 years ago and everything looks fine. Using ammonia solution on wales and rails yes but not for general planking. Pete

Robert - when you say 'ammonia', what were you actually using ? I had a similar piece of timber soaking (and forgotten about) for approx. 12 months. When I pulled it out of the ammonia solution that I was using, I formed a rough loop and tied the crossed-over ends like a bow !

Chuck, You have made much progress since your last post and things are looking impressive. Yes, the gun port cutting out is slow and laborious but the end result is worth while. From your photos, do I assume that the galleries and side galleries are not fixed in position? If that is so, remember to align the side galleries with the sheer line of the ship. Pete

I came across this comment today and coincidentally on this same day I heard that Euromodel are actually back in production. However, they are more than a little frustrated waiting for a few components that are being held up by supply restriction/problems due to the current health issues. Pete

Adding to what Mark said, in my build of this ship, the three ports towards the bow were 36 mm centre-centre, one at the stern was only 33 mm from the next port forward with the majority between being 35 mm. Overall, this worked out to be 34.7 mm. Visually, there appeared to be little difference between the gunport separations. I continue watching with interest Mark ! Pete

Hi Chuck, I wrote the pdf's that K referred to and I see you have printed them off. Good luck with your RW build and just remember that this is not a typical run-of-the-mill kit. The drawings contain a large amount of detail, some of which could be ignored and it is really up to you as to how much of that you include. More than happy to receive any queries (PM's) and I have drawn up a comfortable chair to follow your progress.

After Ponto last posted something on his build of the Euromodel La Renommee virtually one year ago, it is interesting to read these recent posts that have started popping up. The kit may not be without a few critics questioning a few points of historical accuracy but Ponto's comment … "I was only interested what a beauty she is as depicted by Euromodel. It is always up to the builder to bring the contents of the kit to life". Ponto has certainly created a fantastic partial build of the La Renommee as it is depicted in the Euromodel drawings and one day I hope to see the culmination of all of his efforts in this ship build. Ponto has an uncluttered view on what this kit offers. Pete

Another fascinating project Mark. Well done. Pete