rybakov

Hello and thank you for all the nice comments and likes,
today only the painter was active and because the paint must dry, the carpenters had nothing to do 😃

I'm looking at the moment how to build the rest of the grating. Especially the seats of ease and the boomkins. The drawing for the 1745 establishment shows the boomkins I think in a wrong way. The smaller part should be at the outside of the ship and the heel not against the stem, but against the knight-head. That is what Falconer and also Goodwin write. May be it was earlier in this way? 

Here is a picture of the model SLR0472, build 1745. I would build it this way. The grey boomkin above. I would think, that this is a strait boomkin bend by the rope to the bow. Goodwin writes at page 224, that the heel was butted against the knight-head. What did that mean? Later it was bolted, but what is later? After 1730 he wrote, the boomkins look like the one at the picture below. 

@tlevine
 
Hi Toni,
thank you for your interest in my construction report and the appreciation of my work.
Many thanks also to the others for the many LIKES.
 
Continued: Equipment of the yards
As announced in the last part of my construction report, I equip the larger yards with real discs. As before, I make these discs out of brass and blue them. As far as I know, these discs were usually made of lignum vitae. The rather dark brown coloring of this wood can be easily imitated with a blue finish.
For the main yard and the fore yard, the sheaves have a diameter of 2.9 mm. The main topsail yard, fore topsail yard and mizzen yard are fitted with sheaves with a diameter of 2.0 mm.
With the following series of pictures I would like to illustrate how I make the sheaves. Since my turning skills are limited and with these small diameters, I made the circular groove with a jeweller's saw. The fine saw blade I use for this has a thickness of 0.15 mm. I can control the width of the groove. The more inclined I lead the saw blade, the wider the groove. As a rule, the groove has a width of around 0.2 mm.

 
After cutting the sheaves, I grind them to the required thickness according to the size of the protrusion for the sheaves, i. H. about ø 0.6 mm or 0.8 mm. For grinding, I made myself an aid, the tip of which engages in the axle hole and thus enables the sheaves to be guided more or less evenly for grinding.


 
 
The axle bores of the sheaves were made with ø 0.8 mm larger than the axle diameter ø 0.4 mm itself. This makes the installation of the sheaves much easier and also compensates for small inaccuracies.

 
The next pictures should give an impression of the installation of the sheaves. As can be seen in the second picture, the axle holes are not exactly opposite. This is due to the fact that I have to drill the ø 0.4 mm holes for the axles from each side. If you try to drill these holes in one go from one side, it can easily happen that the hole on the other side does not arrive in the middle due to the thin drill and other inaccuracies. This is then much more disturbing than the axis points that are not exactly opposite, which is no longer noticeable after the shortening anyway.


After shortening the axles, the ends are filed clean with a micro file and blued. The filing creates a small burr, which usually makes it no longer necessary to glue the axles.
The last picture shows the finished yardarms of the fore yard, main topsail yard and mizzen yard.

 
It then continues with the stunsail boom irons. There are still a few open points to be clarified, as always... 😊
Sequel follows …

@AJohnson
@jfhealey
@hollowneck
 
Hello,
Thanks for the positive comments, also for the many LIKES.
That motivates even more.
 
 
Equipping the yards
In the meantime, I have started to fit the ends of the yards with sheaves, over which the sheets and reef tackles are then passed.
In the lower and topsail yards, the holes for sheave were made with the 0.8 mm and 0.6 mm milling cutter, with the exception of the mizzen topsail yard. Brass turned sheaves will be installed there later.
For the topgallant and royal yards with the mizzen topsail yard, the sheaves are only suggested due to the size. The following pictures show the individual processing steps.
 
1. drill holes with 0.5 mm

2. finishing with 0.5 mm wood hollow chisel

3. rounding out with 0.5 mm shank drill bit


The last picture shows the yard arms of the main topsail, fore topsail and mizzen topsail yard.


I think that the "fake" sheaves in the mizzen topsail yard are reasonably convincing. I have also used the same method on many blocks.
See you soon ...
 

Continued: ship's compass
Some time ago I was concerned with the question of what the part at the back of the binnacle of the La Créole is. There is much to be said for a soft iron corrector, the so-called flinders bar. Lighting would also be conceivable based on the shape. The discussion, including in the MSW, does not yield a clear result. After I got to see historical compass housings in the meantime, where the lighting was arranged below the compass rose, I personally tend to think that this could have been a lamp. Also because of the fact that this corvette was a wooden ship, i.e. had little iron to influence the compass, and on the other hand lighting seems to be quite useful and necessary. In the end I can't say for sure.
So I decided to just build this thing and leave it up to the viewer what he thinks it is.
On this occasion I revised the compass and remade the wooden case. The lamp ? or the soft iron corrector? was made from a round brass rod ø 1.5 mm analogous to the photos of the Paris model available to me.
 


Sequel follows …

@jdbondy
Hello,
I sand the surface of the spars with 500 grit sandpaper and finish with a fine steel wool.
 
Completion: Yards and spars
With the production of the lower studding sail booms, which are attached to the fore-channels, I could finish the chapter yards/spars for my corvette.
So I had to show all the spars in their entirety, as you can see below:
 
This completes the woodwork on this model except for more blocks and a few odds and ends.
I am currently researching the studding sail boom iron, among other things. Also for this there is a multiplicity of variants, which are to be evaluated and classified chronologically correctly. The monograph of J. Boudriot leaves some questions open.
See you soon ...
 

@shipman
This steady rest I have built with simple means.
With this I can position small ball bearings for round logs with diameters of 1 - 10 mm for support. The simple tool has already proven itself very well. 

@Nunnehi (Don)
@matiz
Hello,
thank you for the interest and the good comments, and thank you also the others for the many LIKES.
 
 
Continuation: Making the topgallant yards - Vergue de cacatois
In the meantime, I have started making the topgallant yards. As already written in the last report, the topgallant yards are even thinner and more filigree, like the topsail yards.
The dimensions from the plan documents of J. Boudriot were again compared by me with the data of a contemporary original document. This table shows the dimensions of the masts and yards of the La Blonde, which is identical in construction to the La Créole. All dimensions corresponded to the drawings, as is clearly shown in the following drawing.
 
I have already noted that with these dimensions at ø 1.4 mm it is no longer feasible without a steady rest. A toothpick, for example, has a diameter of 1.8 mm. In this respect, particular care should be taken here and not too much pressure should be exerted on the roundwood.


The shaping of the square edge with the octagonal yardarm also requires sensitive processing, which can be seen in the next picture.


At the end of this work, a comparison of yardarms:
Main yard, mizzen toppsail yard and mizzen topgallant yard
 
Now two lower studding sail booms have to be made to hang on the fore channels. 
With the gaff (upper spar) and the driver boom (lower boom) already made some time ago, all the sail-carrying spars for the French corvette are then ready. They will then be equipped with the necessary fittings (sheaves, boom irons, etc.).
To be continued ...

 

Continuation: Making the yards - Topgallant yards - Vergue de perroquet
After the topsail yards, we continued with the making of the topgallant yards. 
Here is a quick look at my workplace with the most important utensils for making the yards:

 
The diameters of the topgallant yards, especially in the outer sections, range around 1.6 mm. In this respect, it is not surprising, if you work without a steady rest, that it can sometimes come to breakage. 

 
At the latest when working on the yardarms, it is advisable to support the filigree yards with a steady rest.


The next picture shows the finishing of the octagon in the center of the yard.

 
The last picture should give an impression of how filigree the topgallant yards are compared to the lower yards. It shows the yardarms of the main yard compared to the mizzen topgallant yard. The octagon of the yardarm of the mizzen topgallant yard still has a width of 1.3 mm at the outer end.

 
Of course, the royal yards can be made even thinner and more filigree. Especially the octagonal shaping at the yardarms requires special care.  
To be continued ...
 

Maybe the compass question can still be solved,
in the meantime things will continue with the yards:
 
Continued: Making the yards - main topsail yard - Vergue de grand hunier
For long enough I evaded the decision to execute the yardarms of the main topsail yard. Further research on this did not bring any new findings.
Now that the holidays are over and with renewed vigor in the new year, I have decided on the following embodiment of the yardarms of the topsail yards, as already signaled in one of the last posts:

So now we can continue with the production of the yards.
Sequel follows …

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134391155611?hash=item1f4a564b9b:g:2f8AAOSw-DRjd9vo
 
 
compass and lamp combined 

Continuation: Clarification of the yardarms
As already announced, I have now also drawn a variant with vertical cleats. However,  with this variant I see a big problem with the guidance of the topgallant sheets. 
 
In addition, I find on the contemporary ship models actually predominantly horizontally arranged cleats. 
The pictures of the La Créole, which were kindly given to me by the Musée national de Marine Paris, do not show the decisive details of these filigree parts in spite of a higher resolution. But in connection with the already shown yardarm of the Le Suffren I will most likely realize the previously drawn variant. The yardarm of the Le Friedland 1810 also goes in this same direction.

 
During all the research I also found out that the yardarms of the lower yards so far are not quite correct, so I simply made these yards (shown in the picture above) again, as shown below: 
To be continued ...

Hello,
just to schow you that we are not lazy, here a picture of our current work

Hello,
it is done, the last rail at the head is ready and fast! At least I have to reinstall the two port lids and then the gratings are the next goal.




 

Hello,
the painter is a little out of training! But at least we got it. That's the second try now. The rail ist not fast, first the paint must dry.

Hello and thank you for your nice comments and likes,
 
today the carpenters finished the rails, so next the painter should do his best.

Hello,
Mark and Håkan, so let inspire you. I will see then if it has worked.
 
Here the first rail is mostly in shape and the second one is on the way to it.

 

Hello and thank you all for your comments and likes, I'm overwhelmed 
today only a little update, even when it took nearly the same time, as to build the knees. This piece is only to fill the gab to the wales. 

📣   Hello, I'm back!
The two knees, who support the cat head, are ready in raw. The final form come when all is assembled. 

 
 

I already mentioned the problem of the bulkheads to the officers' mess and the captain's cabin. Because I still have to press the hull shells together at the top, I don't have a clean connection to the ship's side.

So I marked the beginning of the bulkhead ...



... and made a small slot in the hull. Then the bulkhead can slip in when pressed together and everything is clean http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif



Then up to the next adventure. Window bars were cut out of the rear windows.



And the first two print tests went right off the bat. I'm slowly getting the hang of it.



And then the full width, even with the minimum curve upwards in the center.



On the inside the frames between the windows also were applied, but I still need to adjust the length properly.



Next were the side galleries. The starboard side even fitted on the second try.



Port side took me two more tries, I had measured stupidly once when trying it on the first time. Probably I held the part upside down. Meanwhile I have a mark on it, so that something like that can't happen.

The paneling of the aft cabin is also a bit more accentuated, below the first try, above new.



The bench seat under the stern windows has been panelled, once it looks better and also hides the base of the planks.



Here then the ensemble, the bulkhead between officers mess and captains cabin is missing. It is only indicated by the small tail. This time I left a slot in time, one can learn. Sometimes at least http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif







Cheers, XXXDAn

Hi Ian - for the ships of the 1670s and 80s, where the beakhead is more elongated, elevated and Dutch-like, the gammoning tends to be a little more removed from the waterline:
 





Towards the end of the century, though, the head configuration changes, and the beakhead sweeps down closer to the water:
 

And then it was time for the doll's house in the rear. First of all, the width was determined.



Then the reminder that there is still a lot to squeeze together in the back. So the width must somehow remain flexible, more about that later.



The cabins in the back are represented in the kit, but not the front bulkhead to the wardroom.



The passages into the side pocket is also a bit sporty in size.



So a quick replica in the right thickness.





And in place. The door was hinged on the outside of the hull and aft like Boudriot.



After that came some paneling.





And since that was still a bit too rough for me, a printing test.





Even if the bottom fit is not yet matched it is already a bit finer in texture http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif

XXXDAn

I have painted and distressed the corbels and the upper window tier.

I found myself swearing early and often, as I repeatedly broke off the doors from the window tier.  There isn’t much plastic connecting them, and until they’re glued into the model, they are exceptionally fragile.

I appreciate the tip, T_C, but presumably my bitumen is making its long journey across the Atlantic like the swarthy pilgrim it is.  As I wait, I continue to construct the stern.  I made up and fitted the next transom header, so that I can glue-in the window tier:

Although the winding out of square continues, it does so marginally and the eye really doesn’t see it:

With the header in-place, I could begin to focus on the design of the most challenging aspect of the decor:  as the French call it - the Couronnement.  It is somewhat hilarious to me that after all of this effort to make the hull wider, the tafferal ends up being only fractionally wider than the stock stern plate:

This development is the result of fashioning the internal gussets that support the aft bulwarks, at an angle that promoted a more realistic tumblehome for the after castle;  the stock kit is a little more vertically slab-sided in its approach to this detail.  Here, you can see the comparison between the tafferal width I thought I’d have (at the start of the project) and where I ended up:
 Despite this not un-satisfactory development, Tanneron and Heller (following suit) chose to represent the backboard (tafferal) as improbably tall for the refit of 1689.  So, in other words, I was going to have to re-fashion this area anyway.
 
Towards that end, much earlier in my modification of the upper bulwarks, I cut away the poop royal sheer-step (5/16”+), only to replace it by 1/2 that height of a more realistic, low, sheer rail that is more reflective of the times:

However, the more significant  shortening of the tafferal comes from lowering the side support for the outer lanterns, so that they are aligned with the sheer rail, as opposed to above it.
 
The first step was to re-draw the goose-neck cornice because I never liked Heller’s interpretation of this detail:

Next, I had to define the field for Apollo and his quadriga, which meant defining the height for the bar of astrological symbols along the top.  On the stock kit, these are a continuation of the side lantern supports which I will re-cycle for this build.  However, to follow the height of those boxes does not leave me with a large enough field for the main carving, below; see the dotted line proposed in the upper right.  So, I decided to cheat that line upward about a 1/16”.  It will necessitate hand-painting these astrologic symbols into these tiny paneled recesses, but that is okay.
 
The really good news is that I will be able to re-shape the swagging vestments of Europe and Asia to fit the new cornice shape:

This is really great because, as it is, I have to re-carve The Americas and Africa because the stock figures are too tall and Africa has the wrong posture.
 
The next task was to see whether my original drawing of Apollo could be reduced enough to reasonably fit my field.  Here is the full-size drawing:

I did a series of reductions, at 50, 60, and 70%.  Seventy percent was close:

As compared to the kit carving:

But, I felt it encroached too much on the upper and lower boundaries of the field.  I settled on 67%:

As compared with Berain’s drawing:

I’m not totally satisfied with the scrolled vollute.  It’s too big. I’ll have to re-work the clouds to conform more neatly with the lower moulding, but I am happy with the scale of Apollo and his horses.
 
It is not as wide as Berain drew it, but this will allow me to better create my gradient sky from light cerulean blue to dark azurite, up top. radiating outward in all directions, from behind Apollo will be fine needles of sun-light  in gold and silver gilt.  Apollo and his horses will be all gold and the clouds will be temperamentally white and grey.  Once I am satisfied with the scroll, I can photocopy the drawing and make a reverse copy, so that the port side can be matched to its mirror for a perfectly symmetrical pattern.
 
My motivation is to have the stern fully framed and perhaps even painted by the time of Joint Clubs on April 30th.  I think this would be a satisfying resolution to everything that came below:

In other news and notes, I have made satisfying in-roads into Dassie’s Architecture Navale.  I now have a pretty solid understanding of the proportional derivation of the principal elements of a ship, although there is still much translating to do.  This essentially amounts to re-typing all relevant passages into Google Translate because the photo capture feature never results in nearly as intelligible a translation as the more tedious path.  My French is improving though, as a result, and full transcriptions are becoming less necessary as I develop a vocabulary of French ship nomenclature.
 
I am simultaneously doing the same translation work on the 1685 Le Have du Grace dimensional survey of what is presumed to be the pre-refit Soleil Royal.  It is extremely helpful that this document (which I downloaded from Gallica) has a numbered drawing that details all of the principal parts of a ship and it’s framing.
 
What is fascinating is that the neither Le Havre du Grace nor Dassie’s prescriptive formulas correspond with what was supposed to be SR’s original length of keel:
 
As built: 142’
Le Havre du Grace: 140”
Dassie:  136’
 
I have been applying Dassie’s formulas to SR’s particulars, as I go, and ultimately I will have a more complete comparison with the Le Havre de Grace document.  This is all ground previously tread by Michel Saunier, and in-fact, I still have a copy of his exhaustive tabulation of all the dimensions of every aspect of the ship.  He emailed this to me years ago.  I still think this is a worthwhile exercise, though, to better understand how he arrived at where he did with his model.
 
Anyway, it keeps me occupied.  Thank you for your interest, your likes and your comments.  More to follow!

Thank you all for the nice words!
 
After the stressful pre-Christmas period, I actually managed to leave the computer on the side for almost 3 weeks. At least I just managed to finish the programming of the 1803 figurehead of the Victory

Now here is the addendum from Käpt dafi, who was really looking forward to the painting. Attached are the parts as they came out of the printer.

 


The motto "Honi soit ..." is already imprinted, but with the etched parts it comes a bit more concise, so scratch out one letter at a time, with a thin wooden stick ...
 


... set some not immediately setting superglue to the respective place ...
 


... using another stick to move the letter to the right place ...
 


... ... and with a thicker chopstick pressed the letter to the curve by tilting it in and out.
 

 


Here's one with the letters imprinted ...
 


... and once with etched parts glued on.
 


The back also finally has volume and sits neatly on the head.
 


And for the sake of completeness here the comparison to Heller's original part, the painted one finally slightly inked to get the necessary depth.
 


Dear greetings and a happy new year to you all, Daniel

Used the nice weather to sand outside. Good for the tinkering cave, the nose and the soul.
 

 

 


Just enjoy.

XXXDAn