Jean-Pierre

Why not upgrading an existing model:  I mean the model Shipways Flying Fish, a beautiful ship, and a potentially beautiful model, but rarely finished! (Probably because the kit is not quite up to modern standards)

I love this model, and the way you are building it is outstanding.  I am sure, once finished, you will have a superb rendering of an excellent kit.
 
By the way, there is a little point I think you definitely could and should improve, and that is the position of the figurehead, which sticks out a little too much.  Have a google at other Berlin models.
 
Get on with the fine job.
 
JP
 

I love this model, and the way you are building it is outstanding.  I am sure, once finished, you will have a superb rendering of an excellent kit.
 
By the way, there is a little point I think you definitely could and should improve, and that is the position of the figurehead, which sticks out a little too much.  Have a google at other Berlin models.
 
Get on with the fine job.
 
JP
 

Nice and unusual choice of model.  This ship surely looks quite detailed and will be impressive. About the cannons, I had the same problem when I built the plastic Soleil Royal, and I had to close a few gunlids because their cannon had gone adrift.  In this case I would certainly wrap a thin blackened metal thread around the gun, pass the ends through the bottom of the carriage, through the deck and fix it underneath.  Could easily be made invisible.  Otherwise, you could put the guns on their carriage only when rigging is completed.
 
Oh, just a little detail: the name Roter Löwe is German, so I suppose the ship is from one of the German states, and not Dutch (from the Netherlands)
 
I look forward to your progress: happy modelling.
 
JP

Nice and unusual choice of model.  This ship surely looks quite detailed and will be impressive. About the cannons, I had the same problem when I built the plastic Soleil Royal, and I had to close a few gunlids because their cannon had gone adrift.  In this case I would certainly wrap a thin blackened metal thread around the gun, pass the ends through the bottom of the carriage, through the deck and fix it underneath.  Could easily be made invisible.  Otherwise, you could put the guns on their carriage only when rigging is completed.
 
Oh, just a little detail: the name Roter Löwe is German, so I suppose the ship is from one of the German states, and not Dutch (from the Netherlands)
 
I look forward to your progress: happy modelling.
 
JP

Nice job! A little question.  Doesn't your plan show an access to the latrines on the beak.  You know, all that gaspacho, and zarzuella and paella and bocadillos have to find a way out, caramba.
 
(As you can see, I am revising my spanish

A drink or two?  I tried this while planking my last deck.  But then for some reason, the quality of my planking decreased progressively....

A drink or two?  I tried this while planking my last deck.  But then for some reason, the quality of my planking decreased progressively....

A drink or two?  I tried this while planking my last deck.  But then for some reason, the quality of my planking decreased progressively....

Nice and unusual choice of model.  This ship surely looks quite detailed and will be impressive. About the cannons, I had the same problem when I built the plastic Soleil Royal, and I had to close a few gunlids because their cannon had gone adrift.  In this case I would certainly wrap a thin blackened metal thread around the gun, pass the ends through the bottom of the carriage, through the deck and fix it underneath.  Could easily be made invisible.  Otherwise, you could put the guns on their carriage only when rigging is completed.
 
Oh, just a little detail: the name Roter Löwe is German, so I suppose the ship is from one of the German states, and not Dutch (from the Netherlands)
 
I look forward to your progress: happy modelling.
 
JP

What a beautiful build!  What a beautiful ship.  Your model proves once again that there is no necessity of a bunch of guns to make a spectacular model.  I look forward to the rest of your build.  Thanks for sharing.
 
Happy modelling
 
JP

What a beautiful build!  What a beautiful ship.  Your model proves once again that there is no necessity of a bunch of guns to make a spectacular model.  I look forward to the rest of your build.  Thanks for sharing.
 
Happy modelling
 
JP

What a beautiful build!  What a beautiful ship.  Your model proves once again that there is no necessity of a bunch of guns to make a spectacular model.  I look forward to the rest of your build.  Thanks for sharing.
 
Happy modelling
 
JP

What a beautiful build!  What a beautiful ship.  Your model proves once again that there is no necessity of a bunch of guns to make a spectacular model.  I look forward to the rest of your build.  Thanks for sharing.
 
Happy modelling
 
JP

What a beautiful build!  What a beautiful ship.  Your model proves once again that there is no necessity of a bunch of guns to make a spectacular model.  I look forward to the rest of your build.  Thanks for sharing.
 
Happy modelling
 
JP

What a beautiful build!  What a beautiful ship.  Your model proves once again that there is no necessity of a bunch of guns to make a spectacular model.  I look forward to the rest of your build.  Thanks for sharing.
 
Happy modelling
 
JP

Isn't this cutter based on the "Cutter Alert" plans, a ship that has been described in an"Anatomy of the Ship" book?
 
JP
 

I suppose everyone has met them at some point: these commercial model parts or accessories which for me are a pain to look at.  I would really like other modelers to tell me what they think about them.
Ship wheel: it seems pretty impossible to find a wheel of the right thickness: I just saw in the build logs an absolutely beautiful model built with extreme care and attention to detail, but with a thick, clumsy white wooden(?) wheel.  Then you have the metal wheels in the Caldercraft kits: beauiful kits of course, with a wheel in the right size, but much too thin.
 
Barrels:  their metal bands are molded in relief but could better be replaced with black paper strips (at least three each side of the barrel.  And yes, this is fairly easy to correct
 
"Bubble" pins: Caldercraft seem to have delivered thinner items as from their Victory kit, but it seems to me that all commercial items are way too thick not only to look good, but also allow lines to pass between them easily.  OK, it is possible to sand them a little, but it would be damn difficult to make a full row of them exactly the same size, I think.
 
Gun carriages: I will not comment on the metal items that are almost impossible to rig, but rather on the wooden items one finds in most kits, the sides of which are parallel, which is a gross and quite visible mistake.  It seems to me that this would be quite easy to correct, but I have never seen a build log description of, it, and never have done it  myself.  I suppose one could cut the bottom of the carriage lengthwise, and reglue it after inserting a (very) thin triangular strip.
 
Anchors:  while most manufacturers have excellent anchor parts in their kits, some still deliver items which are either out of scale (ex.: Sergal's Dutch Whaler) or very clumsy (ex.: Euromodel's Renommée, an otherwise superb model.
 
Red lights and blue windows:  these definitely should look transparent (ship lights) and gloss black (windows)
 
Has anyone comments?
 
JP
 
 

I suppose everyone has met them at some point: these commercial model parts or accessories which for me are a pain to look at.  I would really like other modelers to tell me what they think about them.
Ship wheel: it seems pretty impossible to find a wheel of the right thickness: I just saw in the build logs an absolutely beautiful model built with extreme care and attention to detail, but with a thick, clumsy white wooden(?) wheel.  Then you have the metal wheels in the Caldercraft kits: beauiful kits of course, with a wheel in the right size, but much too thin.
 
Barrels:  their metal bands are molded in relief but could better be replaced with black paper strips (at least three each side of the barrel.  And yes, this is fairly easy to correct
 
"Bubble" pins: Caldercraft seem to have delivered thinner items as from their Victory kit, but it seems to me that all commercial items are way too thick not only to look good, but also allow lines to pass between them easily.  OK, it is possible to sand them a little, but it would be damn difficult to make a full row of them exactly the same size, I think.
 
Gun carriages: I will not comment on the metal items that are almost impossible to rig, but rather on the wooden items one finds in most kits, the sides of which are parallel, which is a gross and quite visible mistake.  It seems to me that this would be quite easy to correct, but I have never seen a build log description of, it, and never have done it  myself.  I suppose one could cut the bottom of the carriage lengthwise, and reglue it after inserting a (very) thin triangular strip.
 
Anchors:  while most manufacturers have excellent anchor parts in their kits, some still deliver items which are either out of scale (ex.: Sergal's Dutch Whaler) or very clumsy (ex.: Euromodel's Renommée, an otherwise superb model.
 
Red lights and blue windows:  these definitely should look transparent (ship lights) and gloss black (windows)
 
Has anyone comments?
 
JP
 
 

I suppose everyone has met them at some point: these commercial model parts or accessories which for me are a pain to look at.  I would really like other modelers to tell me what they think about them.
Ship wheel: it seems pretty impossible to find a wheel of the right thickness: I just saw in the build logs an absolutely beautiful model built with extreme care and attention to detail, but with a thick, clumsy white wooden(?) wheel.  Then you have the metal wheels in the Caldercraft kits: beauiful kits of course, with a wheel in the right size, but much too thin.
 
Barrels:  their metal bands are molded in relief but could better be replaced with black paper strips (at least three each side of the barrel.  And yes, this is fairly easy to correct
 
"Bubble" pins: Caldercraft seem to have delivered thinner items as from their Victory kit, but it seems to me that all commercial items are way too thick not only to look good, but also allow lines to pass between them easily.  OK, it is possible to sand them a little, but it would be damn difficult to make a full row of them exactly the same size, I think.
 
Gun carriages: I will not comment on the metal items that are almost impossible to rig, but rather on the wooden items one finds in most kits, the sides of which are parallel, which is a gross and quite visible mistake.  It seems to me that this would be quite easy to correct, but I have never seen a build log description of, it, and never have done it  myself.  I suppose one could cut the bottom of the carriage lengthwise, and reglue it after inserting a (very) thin triangular strip.
 
Anchors:  while most manufacturers have excellent anchor parts in their kits, some still deliver items which are either out of scale (ex.: Sergal's Dutch Whaler) or very clumsy (ex.: Euromodel's Renommée, an otherwise superb model.
 
Red lights and blue windows:  these definitely should look transparent (ship lights) and gloss black (windows)
 
Has anyone comments?
 
JP
 
 

This is not the only Artesania kit where the lateral deck camber has been omitted, I'm afraid.  Suppose they do so because their plywood (?) false deck would be difficult to bend in both directions.  I suppose that the upper deck definitely should be cambered, but the lower deck could stay flat, except if you are building the model with the open side.
 
Anatomy of the ship is a generally most reliable source, I think.
 
Happy modelling
 
JP

I agree with your choice.  Caldercraft would certainly be well inspired to change their Mary Rose according to the last findings: I suppose this would require added superstructures both fore and aft, and also a revised beak.  What would also be a big (but expensive) modification, would be to correct the gunnery in accordance to what is on display in the Mary Rose museum at Portsmouth.  Now I wonder if the original Mary Rose kit could not fairly easily be modified as required.  Have you considered this, or would this be beyond feasability?
 
 
JP

I don't know if the subject has already been treated before.  If not, I really think this is worth looking at.  To duplicate guns, or gun carriages, or ornamental figures, make extra anchors, or to replace a lost, missing or broken piece.
 
The first "3D copies" I saw were rather rough looking, but I am sure the technique has improved in the meantime.  One question though: how small duplicable detail can be rendered?  At what cost?  
 
I recently was rather surprised to see such a printer on sale in a warehouse (Makro in Belgium) at around 1000,-€, but I have no idea what the actual cost of materials is.
 
My questions: has anyone tried this new technique?  Are there any 3D copy shops, and was is the resulting quality?

This is still a very nice model, although it is more than half a century old.
 
By the way, in my teenager years, I got interested in ship modeling by this model, which was on exhibition on an advertising display for... Cutty Sark Whiskey.  I was then particularly impressed by the brass chains on the bowsprit.  But of course I have improved my criteria since then.  So did you as you tinted those chains.  Excellent job. Special thanks for sharing this one.
 
JP
 

Nice pictures of what is becoming a great model.  Special congratulations for the slightly curved waterline, just as it should be!