CaptainSteve

KITCHEN SCOURER
The following is from MSW member, Thanasis, where he has used a kitchen scourer to make baggiwrinkles on his ship. This will work in any scale whatsoever.
 
Over to you, Thanasis ….
Baggiwrinkes in 5 minutes
 
I think you all know of those green kitchen sponges ... 

1.    Take an unused one. Usually they are in green colour, but you might find some in the colour you like.
 
2.    Cut a small piece close to the dimensions you want your baggiwrinkle to be.
 
3.    Gently twist the ends between your fingers and your workbench (or between the palm of one hand and two fingers of the other hand) to trim down the corners, and you are almost ready.
 
4.    If you cannot find the scourers in any other colour than the standard green, then you can use some paint to show the threads on the surface (I used a gray in spray form).
 
Finally, place it on your model, using a needle at the edge of a strand of your standing rigging before you fasten both edges permanently. If you don’t glue it, it will slide up and down the rigging line.

POPPY SEEDS – Trying to represent the bolt-heads on the stem-plates, pintles and gudgeons for my Queen Anne Barge (1:24), I stumbled on a cheap and easy alternative ...

Each seed is approximately 0.5mm wide, and much smaller than any nail-heads that I had. I soaked a small pile of the poppy-seeds in a black wood-stain, allowed them to dry …

… and then affixed them into pre-drilled holes with CA glue. Give them a light coat with a thin varnish afterwards to hold them in place …

Here are a few examples as used on my Barge build …

 ... the copper keel-plate.

... on the stem-plate.

... on the pintles and gudgeons.

DRINK CAN RING-PULLS
After the above entries, taken from USS Constitution builds that I follow on MSW, this one comes from my own build.  I had noticed some iron-works marked on the plans. As this hull will eventually be copper-plated, I wanted to replicate these hull braces as an added detail.

 
To my eye, the horseshoe-shaped front brace looked a lot like a drink can ring-pull …

… so I salvaged a few for a trial. Holes were drilled to simulate the bolt-heads. The ring-pull ends were trimmed off.
 

… shaping the bow hull-brace around a pencil-tip.
 

Braces for the stern were cut from the rim of the drink can, annealed and straightened.
 

… grooving out a seat for the stern braces.
 

The horseshoe-shaped bow brace fitted into position ...
 

…. and the stern braces also placed. The surface of the braces sits slightly proud of the keel.
 

 
Since I am still a long way from planking and copper-plating my hull, a test was done to see how the braces would appear, once plated …

... NOTE TO SELF: Be more careful when coppering-over the holes.
 
 

SHOELACES
Browsing some of the logs that I follow recently, and I stumbled upon this idea by one of my favourite USS Constitution builders.

 
Thanks to Tom (UsedToSail) for this idea to reproduce more realistic slings for the boats on his build.
Over to Tom …
“I have been doing some thinking about how to stack the two cutters on the waist rails. The plans show only the large cutter with cradles underneath and strong backs over the tops to hold it down. I could use the same method and use cradles on the small cutter to sit on the strong backs, but I thought they might stick up too high. In the AOS book, they show the small cutter inside the large cutter, with fenders between them. I liked this method better, but was struggling how to make fenders until one day, as I was tying my shoes, it hit me to try pieces of shoe laces. I bought some white oval laces and after cutting the pieces, I browned them using brown shoe polish. I was quite happy with the look.”
 
Tom says that he first tried this with round laces, but it didn't look as good:

 
Better success was had using a flatter lace …

 
And a later pic from Tom’s build, showing the boats positioned on-deck …

 
 

Lookin' good, DrPer !!

Verily, ‘t hath been some time since me last posting … but Chuck didst prompt-eth me to do some digging and I didst manage to recover-eth some lithographs.
 
What wit’ me limited carving skills, it took-eth many an attempt afore I were to have a full set of decorations for me barge. Fortunately, Chuck did provide two extra sets of carving blanks … and these were all eventually required to produce a full set.
 
Unfortunately, as I didst mention, pictures of those appear to be lost to the annals of time (and NiCad battery life-spans).
Fortunately, however, some later pictures DID survive …
 

 
(The general viewing public shouldst be aware that the above carving is approximately 1inch by 1 inch, in real life)
 

 
Next, an friend of mine (and the Barge’s eventual care-taker), helped with the gilding of my carvings, using actual gold-leaf …

 

 
 

 
Whilst I still need to take and post some final shots of me Barge, I were to be most impressed with the eventual outcome, Chuck …
 
                     
 
                     
 
                     
 

BEADS - There are thousands of different beads available. I strongly recommend spending a few hours browsing through the shelves of a good bead store, if you can find one. Otherwise, settle for a raid on the Admiral's sewing table. Try imagining each bead cut in half/sanded/sliced.
 
This pic shows a whale-boat (1/76th scale) I am currently working on. The central drum is a bead, with the wooden ends being former chopsticks.
 

The map and letter are really extra, special touches.
Nice work, Bill !!

It's been quite some time since I last looked in on your work, Hubac (alas, studies have meant that my modelling room has remained unvisited for many months). I am absolutely blown-away by your progress, and I could spend many study-days just drinking in the photos of your work. Your research and attention to detail is producing a true piece of art. Keep it up. 

I use these sticks frequently for use in my other miniature projects. What a great idea as planking!

Wooden dowel for masts
 

Was the impossibility of making them out of wood that you had referred to based upon drilling correctly spaced holes?  You could also use the metal deadeyes you made as templates to pass a pin-vice through in order to create perfectly spaced holes in a blank of wood the thickness you desire, then carefully sand the wood blank to shape around the outside.  I've been using boxwood strips to make things lately, and it's been great to work with.  It can be held between your fingernails while you sand it, and it's hard enough that your fingernails don't "dent" it while you are sanding (I look through a cheap magnifying unit while working). If there are dents, they will be shallow and can be sanded out pretty quicky.  
 
Alan

There is one question that made my mind fluffy ... dead eyes 3-4mm dia ... from different reasons I don`t want to order and to by them ... at another side, to make them from wood - impossible mission for me. So - what to do?
And idea comes after couple months braking my head
On photos I present only idea and testing of idea, with non-adequate ropes and knots
I found brass pipes with inside dia 1mm and 2mm ... and thinking ... oneo to other, I have got 3-4mm outer dia ...

 
Soldering three of them in triangle form

Cut this structure on desired width and clean holes, and I got this!

Playing arround with first "rope" I found in home, just to try

Ok, it can be painted ....
And just testig does it work

 
And I think this will be final soolution for me
 

It's been quite some time since I last looked in on your work, Hubac (alas, studies have meant that my modelling room has remained unvisited for many months). I am absolutely blown-away by your progress, and I could spend many study-days just drinking in the photos of your work. Your research and attention to detail is producing a true piece of art. Keep it up. 

It's been quite some time since I last looked in on your work, Hubac (alas, studies have meant that my modelling room has remained unvisited for many months). I am absolutely blown-away by your progress, and I could spend many study-days just drinking in the photos of your work. Your research and attention to detail is producing a true piece of art. Keep it up. 

It's been quite some time since I last looked in on your work, Hubac (alas, studies have meant that my modelling room has remained unvisited for many months). I am absolutely blown-away by your progress, and I could spend many study-days just drinking in the photos of your work. Your research and attention to detail is producing a true piece of art. Keep it up. 

From a life standpoint, my sister and I have made tremendous strides in sorting out our father’s affairs, and our current biggest hurdle is getting approval from his long-term care insurer for assisted living.  Steadily, we are getting there, and I appreciate those who have asked, just as I appreciate everyone who comes to visit me here.
 
I have managed to sneak-in a few hours, here and there, and I have completed all of the port side buttressing knees of the channels, and I got everything nicely re-painted and pretty.  In general, lowering the channels pretty dramatically changes the whole aspect of the model, and the difference is pleasing to me:
 

 

 

 
The mizzen channel knees were challenging to cope over mouldings and around the fleurs, but I am happy to have lowered them to here, where there is less interference with the frieze:
 

 
I am using this portrait of the DR, circa 1680, as justification for this placement:
 

 
I continue to comb through the archives, but I have yet to find anything vividly descriptive about the ship’s pre-refit external appearance.  Despite the beautifully florid cursive, I’ve come to realize the hard truth that the letter writers and record keepers of 17th C. France were basically clerks.  Mostly their correspondence has to do with SR’s comings and goings; armaments and dis-armements;  payments made/owed to painters and sculptors; cost estimates relating to her refit, etc.  It is all fascinating, and it will all get its due mention in my book, but it does not help me paint the picture of the ship.
 
Where are the artists sharing their wonderfully descriptive observations, when you need them?!
 
What I’m hoping to find is something along the lines of this:
 

 
”The morning fires shone brightly upon the gilded ornaments of Soleil Royal and her heights rose up and became one with the azure sky.  The warrior of the Americas clung resolutely to the port side, while that of Africa peered off in the middle-distance - daring his lesser adversaries to emerge from the morning mist.  Presiding above, with shimmering rays of gold and silver gilt bursting past his golden chariot is the Sun King, himself…”
 
And, so forth.  It must be out there, somewhere, right?
 
Anyway, I can now get busy with fitting and prepping the starboard upper bulwark for paint.  I can also go ahead and design my stove - that will make a nice little side project.  Before long, I can design and make the next tier of stern lights, which will enable me to finish off the wrapping stern walk.
 
As always, thank you for your likes, comments and for looking-in.  More to come!

The show was really very good - a near-record turnout, with about 110 guests, and I believe 105 models.  Toms10 (Szabo) earned the Jim Roberts award for his HMS Leopard, and the recognition is well-deserved.
 
My only regret of the show is that I somehow missed Fried Clams’s Stonington Dragger.  I only realized this after the fact when going through pictures of the show that our club member Vadim had taken (see below).  That really is a terrible oversight, on my part, because I would have really liked to see the model and to meet Gary, in person.  I’m really sorry about that Gary.
 
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPZ6wW4gq0yNnMeDfHRzCuuKllVRkgFa-nCegjb6IvJk_YyzcEfasiougNEAuSIzQ?key=M0NvMmVWVEloWVRSbzgzWktwRC1BSV9aZTNtd2pR
 
SR was, indeed, well-received!  I gave about a 20-minute presentation, following Chuck’s excellent ropewalk demonstration - which is a hard act to follow.  At first, I only had a couple of new friends from the Jersey club at the table, but Mike Swanson did some rustling for me, and I ended up with a very engaged group of 10-12.  This was about perfect for me, as it has been a long while since I did any “public speaking” - my voice didn’t quaver much, but my hands sure did!
 
Many thanks to our club president Dan Pariser who took the time to mount five specific images of SR and her contemporaries, which very much helped with the story I was trying to tell about the ship and this model.  Without these visuals, Dan, the presentation would have been a very different experience.
 
I owe my wife and two children many thanks for coming out to the show and supporting/enabling Dad with his obsession.  They enjoyed themselves, and I think they were surprised to see the range of talent and subject matter on display.  Many thanks to them, as I know they hear and see quite enough about ships at home.
 
After quite a bit of traffic, we made it home, we ate and then I went to bed and slept for nearly 12 hours.  Today, I am clear-headed for the first time in ages.  I will still leave the model alone for a couple of weeks.  I want to be excited about it, when I take up with it again.

These window banks are incredibly labor-intensive, but the process of making them has been very enjoyable for me.  What I am doing, here, essentially mirrors what Tanneron did for the sterns of his models.  The damaged stern of L’Agreable illustrates how his windows are all pierced into one plate, as seen with the lower bank of windows:
 

 
Considering the density of detail in such a small space, this method seems far easier than framing each individual window.  Getting all of the elements (window frames and pilasters to flow harmoniously would, otherwise be quite difficult.
 
As I have done previously, I add window backstops to the bulkheads as added insurance that the windows can’t drop out of their frames, if the CA bonds should ever fail:
 

 
I remain indebted to Druxey for showing me how to make really good acetate windows by simply scribing the mullions into the acetate, and then filling those engravings with medium grey acrylic paint:
 

 
It really is simple and it just looks so much better than anything else, at scale.
 
Of course, I will next plank-in beneath the windows, but I am pleased with how the stern is rising:
 

 
One detail that isn’t so apparent now, but will become so after planking, is the chamfer I filed into the door sides; this chamfer will create a shadow relief that will more clearly delineate the door opening.  For the door handles, I recycled a pair of my frieze scrolls, which had the right shape and were sized closely enough.
 
The round-up really helps to minimize the warped geometry of my stern:
 

 
At this stage, it is becoming more apparent how the increase in hull-width has established a more ship-like impression of a stable gun platform:
 

 
This is quite a difference from the stock kit.
 
So, I will plank and paint beneath the windows, install the balcony bulwark, and create the cap-rail for the balcony bulwarks. I will then take a break from the stern so that I can focus on finishing certain details.
 
I need to paint and install the starboard spirketting on the main deck.  The f’ocsle beam needs re-touching, where I installed the moulding.  The starboard bulwark joint needs to be puttied and painted.  I need to fit, paint and install the quarter deck beam.  Then, I need to retouch the exterior joint for the starboard aft bulwark.  Finally, I need to install the starboard channels and fit all of the buttressing knees.
 
When all of that is ship-shape, I will return to the stern.  One fun thing to make are the pass-through archways that support the figures of Africa and the Americas:
 

 
On the back-burner of my mind, I’ve been thinking about how best to make up this piece so that I can represent the delicate acanthus carvings.  I think I know what to do now.  The most important thing is getting the scale and shape of the opening right.
 
Following that, I’ll tackle the third level of stern lights.
 
Thank you for your interest, your likes and comments, and for looking in!

The more I consider your specific point about color saturation, Marc, the more I can appreciate the truth of atmospheric conditions and the way that they impact our perception of color, in real life.  Once again, when it comes to diorama ships, Herbert Tomesan comes the closest I’ve seen to getting this right.  Your point is well-received and I will do my best to tone it down a bit more.  And, yes Vic - one does need to be careful with clearcoats.
 
So, the process of making this first starboard bracket has been highly educational!  Anytime I’m making a part like this, I am designing a process to arrive at a level of detail with the least amount of difficulty.  For these brackets, one of the primary details that I wished to capture is the pierced filigree of the false canopy.  This, much like the trailboard at the head, can only be arrived at through careful piercing and paring, from one side to the other and back again.
 
As always, though, I like cleanly delineated shoulders and panel reliefs, so I thought it would make the most sense to build the bracket up from three primary layers of .028 styrene sheet which, I will show later, gives me just nearly enough part thickness to mount the Four Winds mascaroon.  Carving  the filigree into a larger supporting lamination is far easier than carving it as an independent insert piece.
Above, I’ve already carved the filigree and laminated the aft layer to the center.  The edge that joins with the hull is also about a 1/32” oversize, to allow for precise scribing to the hull, a little later.
 
The bottom of the scroll, where it mounts to the bulwark rail, has been left deliberately overlong for final shaping, once the three layers have been laminated together.  I was mindful, at this stage, that the back-raking angle of the bracket would necessitate a raking angle for the scrolled foot, as well; were I to shape each lamination to size, before gluing, I would end up with a significant gap, at the forward face of the foot.
 
After lamination and initial scribing to the hull and gallery rail, the foot looks like this:

With the bottom angle of the foot established, I could proceed with shaping the scroll and fairing the leg to it’s final form.  Here is a montage that shows the evolution of this process:
 

One thing I have found to be true; it is much easier, at times, to “draw” with the tools, than it is with a pencil.  I was able, for example, to emphasize an elegant sloping transition into the foot with my files and a sanding stick.  Now, when I position the bracket on the model, the negative space of this archway is at a more complementary angle to the adjoining windows than my initial drawing/template.



It’s a little hard to read in the following picture, but I have introduced a slight taper to the scroll foot from bottom to top; this is the first step along the detailing path of a scrolled volute.  I will show the relief work, in this area,  in the next post, after I have attached the acanthus brackets.

So, with this much established, I could focus on fitting the mascaroon that I had retrieved from the kit quarter gallery.  Given the difficulty of carving convincing faces, it is always worthwhile to see whether one can salvage the kit sculptures.  The mascaroons are oversize, but I thought I could make it work.  

What I am trying to achieve:

After much fettling, the mascaroon pares down quite a bit from where it began:

Now - the head is unavoidably wider than the bracket, but I will show a little later how simply softening these hard edges makes the sculpture look more like a deliberately rounded relief.  I was able to retain just enough of the headdress, so I consider this sculpture experiment a success!

Next, I turned my attention to the mouldings which are really just a continuation of the top and bottom rails of the upper gallery bulwark.  My idea was to simply profile a piece of scrap 1/16” styrene and then “rip” the moulding off the blank:
 

After truing the back edge, it was a simple task to profile the ends and secure them to the bracket:
 

This approach results in a generous perch for the seated figures:
 

I am currently adding-on the final layer of appliqués:  paneled headers, bell flower escutcheons, filigree accents,
and acanthus brackets.
 
Here you can see how softening hard edges helps turn a shortcoming into an advantage:
 


Honestly, I don’t think I can do a better job of satisfying the design and artistic challenges of this complicated part.  Nevertheless, it did dawn on me that my approach resulted in a fundamental architectural flaw that would never have found its way onto the actual ship.  Can anyone spot it?
 


I’ll give you all a little time to mull it over, and then I’ll explain why it won’t matter for this model, and is not worth the monumental effort of remaking the part.  I got lucky, this time, but the insight has only deepened my appreciation for these 17th C. shipwrights who managed to knit the whole structure together seamlessly.
 
As always, thank you for your support!  More to follow..

Yesterday was a milestone day as I completed the main deck gallery of stern windows and finally completed the wrapping balcony.
 
Per usual, there was quite a lot of touch-up, but here is where we are after applying the walnut ink wash:

Somewhat remarkably, I managed to avoid breaking the aft bulwark supporting knees, the angle of which had to be faired a little to match the corresponding rake of the corner joint.
 
Because the nature of this reverse-engineering project precludes a comprehensive drawing, from the outset, the build is always evolving, in-process.  I realized, for example, that increasing the camber on this main-deck tier of windows ultimately necessitated adjusting the camber of the bulwark railing, if those two things were ever to agree with each other.  Even though I thought I had set the camber of the windows to match that of the bulwark, it didn’t quite pan out that way, in actuality.  Unfortunately, this only became manifestly evident to me AFTER I glued the bulwark in place.  For the sake of comparison, here is the relatively flatter camber of the bulwark, prior to alteration:
 

Fortunately, there was enough solid-bond glue surface to enable me to re-shape the bulwark, in place.
 
The bulwark cap-rail, itself, was determined by making graphite rubbings along the top edge with masking tape.  This gave me the precise shape, as well as the location and depth of all of the pilasters, so that I could arrive at a reasonable overhang, without making the railing appear too heavy.
 
The forward end of the side cap-rails required some allusion to timbering, considering the need to cover the relatively large-scale expanse of the wooden end-piece beneath it.

My big idea was to wrap the side railings over the corner join to the aft bulwark, thus re-enforcing the construction.


A few different perspective shots with all of the paint re-touched:
 





So, now the stage is set to make the pass-through archways that also serve as supports for the figures of Africa and the Americas.  My adaptation of the Berain design is as close as I can keep it, while still respecting the particular slope of tumblehome on this model.  Here, I’ve drawn my proposal directly to a cardboard pattern:
 

These will be fun to make, as I’ve made all other things like this, before; there will be a primary sandwich of three layers of styrene, with two thinner appliqués that make up the acanthus brackets, and applied mouldings that continue the lines of the upper stern balcony.  There will be pierced fretwork and applied ornaments and all kinds of fun that add up to about a week of effort to make each bracket.
 
I’ve extracted two of the Four Winds carvings from the stock QGs, that will be fitted to the outboard surfaces of these brackets.  I didn’t bother to draw them on the template, but here they are beside said template:
 

They will be reduced, accordingly, to fit between the upper and lower scrolled volutes.
 
As always, thank you for looking in, and for your kind comments and support of the project.
 
More to follow…
 

Hello,
I discover this beautiful subject.
I would like to show you my interpretation of the figurehead of the SR based on the drawings of Bérain and printed in resin at various scales:

 
The link to the topic on Gérard Delacroix's forum:
 
https://5500.forumactif.org/t4141p75-la-figure-de-proue-du-soleil-royal

I have more pairs of glasses than model kits and only this morning have been re-trying random pairs to see what works best this week. I’d almost give my right arm to not need glasses for close work, but as I actually need three arms, going down to just one would be a major setback. If Darwin was right, maybe we’ll eventually evolve a spare: one to hold the piece, one to hold the screw, one to take the drill from between the knees while not dropping the screw or piece. And if it could be an extra long size that’d be nice.
 
Marc, I think where you are really making the difference is in your eye for the part, and then the finishing. Even I could probably rough out some of these parts in a 2D fashion, but seeing the compound angles and relationships is a special skill - I for one would probably have a workbench littered with discarded attempts, if I even had the patience. And then the finishing, because all of that careful smoothing is what brings it to life, makes it a miniature sculpture rather than a small block of hacked plastic, along with the paintwork. As I’ve said before, I could certainly make these parts using 3D modelling, but I’m not at all convinced I could give them any life with that as the process. It’s that engineering vs art conundrum and your work is very much in the latter camp.

I had a series of epiphanies in the grocery store.  First of all, the exact positioning of the aft medallion matters a great deal, because it determines whether the cathead timbers will clear the headrails.
 
Last night, when I was positioning the stock headrail to take a measurement at the figurehead, I was looking at it from the outboard perspective; I had failed to consider that one of the modifications I made was to recess the beakhead bulkhead into the upper bulwarks, so that there would be an “actual practice” plank overlay of the beakhead bulkhead.
 
When I got home, after putting away the groceries, of course, I positioned the stock headrail piece where it actually needs to be.  I discovered that the shortage is much closer to 5/16”, rather than the heavy 1/8”th I had previously based my pattern on.
 
It also dawned on me that I had not even bothered to place the sprit-mast to even see whether the forward medallion was actually now below it.  What was I thinking?!
 
Anyway, these were not difficult alterations to make.  Here is headrail pattern 2.0:


The other important consideration is that the beakhead grating has to flow into the headrail on a steady incline, so the top edge of the headrails can’t dip below the line of the grating.
 
Of course, the next question is whether I will have room for the pixie figure that I drew, just aft of the headrail:
 

I’m not sure about that:

Although, it could simply be a matter of re-scaling the figure.  When I drew her, it still had not dawned on me that the Berain bow drawing does not account for the forecastle deck.  The figure I drew is “stretched” in order to accommodate that reality:
 

Perhaps she can be somewhat reduced in scale to fit comfortably between the headrails and that first port opening.  I may, ultimately, need to alter the aft medallion to copy the actual Berain design because the Heller version adds width to this critically tight spot.
 
That’s a problem for another day.  At least I have the length and sweep worked out. 

A lot of small odds and ends have been happening.  I’ve smoothed-over and re-touched the upper bulwark joint.  I painted and installed the starboard spirketting and the quarter deck beam.  I’ve fitted and installed the last little piece of the frieze, where it bridges the bulwark joint.  I’ve also installed all of the starboard channels.
 
One aspect that has provided a series of mis-steps is the buttressing knees of the channels.  First, I could not locate the card template I had made for the port side, so I made a new template.  Then, the first knee I fitted was made from slightly thinner styrene than what I used  on the port side.  After the second knee, I found my original template!  So, even though I will remove the first too-thin knee and replace it, I manually faired the first two knees to the correct profile.  The third knee I installed was too tall!
 


I decided to take a break from that frustration, for a moment.  The port side gallery bracket is well-underway and coming along nicely.
 
Last night, I was in the mood to take a stab at a pretty challenging re-design.  As previously discussed, the kit head rails are now a generous 1/8” too short, after increasing the hull width at the stem.  To attempt to use them, anyway, would result in a visual compromise that would only serve to draw heaps of attention to its wrongness.
 
Even on the stock kit, there are numerous problems with the way these rails were designed.  Most significantly, the forward escutcheon rises above the level of the sprit-mast, where it becomes an encumbrance to the rigging.  Secondly, the low-sweeping arc of the rails makes it very difficult to craft plausible supporting knees, which the kit omits, in the first place.
 
Since, I have to re-make the rails, I thought I’d try and solve these two additional problems, while also improving the grace of the arc.  My plan is to extract the forward and aft medallions, as well as the acanthus stiles that connect the three rails.
 
The pattern I arrived at, I think, does a reasonably good job on all of these fronts.  The three rails taper, gradually, from 3/4” across the rails at the aft medallion, to 1/2” at the forward medallion:

Arriving at this pattern was just a matter of holding the stock part to the model and taking a measurement for the increased length, as well as figuring out the point at which the arc could transition into a slightly more shallow curve (just aft of the cathead support).  Then, it’s just a process of drawing and erasing arc segments with a set of French curves.
 
The stock rails on the model:

The sweep is so low, your supporting knees must be practically flat in profile.  The forward medallion is also way too high:

By contrast:

There is, now, at least some elevation to create a cyma-curve for these supporting knees.

I think the curves are more fair now, as well.


There is a lot of work in these, to bring them to fruition, but I think this is a solid starting place.