rybakov

Hello,
meanwhile, I have completed the assembly of the top of the main mast.
On the first picture all parts to see.
The second picture shows how to make holes with the 0.3 mm drill.
On the last picture the mounted top can be seen.
 

Thanks to all for the interest in my report.
In the meantime, I have made some progress on building the
top of the main mast.
Currently, I'm going to make the supports for the railing.

Thanks to
Rob, Albert,
an all others for the LIKES.
 
Lately, I've managed not much. So I'll show you just a few pictures.
I hope I can show more again soon.
 

Thank you, Albert!
Here is an update on the construction of the masts and topmasts.
 
On the first picture is to see how I just made the hole for the sheave of the top ropes.

The next picture shows the topmast heel with the fidhole and the fid.

On the last picture, the components are provisionally composed.

 
 
 
 

This update takes me up to hull completion (apart from fitting the lanterns and quarterdeck hammock cranes which will be fitted later).
 
Work starts on fitting out the forecastle deck, fitting out with the hatch assembly, belfry, fore bitts cross beams and the breast beam rails.





 
 
Of course, there's those catheads which need fitting. These are designed with engravings that mean each cathead is an easy, multipart assembly, and they look rather nice when built up. Opening up the bulwark holes for the catheads was the longest task here, taking about 90 mins in total, but they fit superbly.




 
 
Ok, back onto the quarterdeck, fitting the stairs I made much earlier in this build. The same goes for my capstan and hatch assembly. The ship's wheel unit is something I made up in the last week, and that goes nicely into position.



 
 
 
Now, the quarterdeck breast beam rails are installed. These did look fiddly, but they fit together as easy as Lego! That's right down to installing the PE hammock cranes through all slots in each layer. When complete, these are painted black.




 
Time for timberheads! (and quarterdeck rail stanchions).


 
 
Followed by the rails:

 
 
Off to the other end of Sphinx now as I build up the head rails. These are made from laminated pear and the top of these are shaped as I did with the timberheads on the gunwales. Those 'seats of ease' are also installed.


 
 
 
Remember those cannon port lids? Here they are, finally installed.

 
 
 
The boat beams are now slightly different to the ones I used as they are engraved with the positions of the specific boat cradles, making things a little easier for the builder. The mounts for the beams are cast in a tough resin, attached with CA once I'd measured the 'between centres' to the holes in the gangways.

 
 
 
Hammock cranes are now installed and rigged.



 
 
The boomkins and figurehead parts are fitted, completing this update...


 
 
Here's a few pics of the build so far. Tomorrow I'll be sending Chris a pen drive with over 830+ photos and 24,000 words of text. Your instruction manual will be epic, in every sense of the word 😆






 
 
 

Progress has been a bit slow, lately.  I have continued to be amazed by the amount of prep that is necessary before painting the forward bulwark pieces.
 
I was having trouble making good eyebolts out of 28 gauge annealed wire.  The scale wasn’t quite right, and the eyes were more ovoid than round, before the stems would break from twisting.  So, I switched to 32 gauge galvanized steel wire, and consulted Marsalv’s amazing log for Le Gros Ventre:
 
Somewhere, in there, he shares his particular technique for making these eyes, and it involves twisting the shank through a hole drilled into a clothes pin; doing so ensures a straight shank and a neatly centered eye:

 
I did not happen to have any wooden clothes pins, on hand, so I took a poplar scrap and was able to achieve the same results:


 
I found that I had some difficulty while drilling into the bulwarks for these eyes.  I repeatedly drilled all the way through the bulwarks.  On a wood model, this would be a disaster!  On this model, I could simply plug and fair the holes, on the outside, with .030 styrene rod.
 
I had been debating whether to glue-in the gangway supporting knees, before paint and assembly.  Ultimately, I decided that it would be much easier to locate these accurately before assembly.  As with all of the stock kit parts, I spend a significant amount of time and effort cleaning these parts up and breaking all sharp edges.

 
Lastly, I drilled through the cap rails for the baying pins that I will add later:

 
After masking any surface that I didn’t want to scrape away paint from, later, the parts were ready for a coat of spray primer:

 
The beauty of the primer coat is that it always reveals whatever might need a little additional attention.  I can see that there are a few places where I let the upper port enhancements into the drift rail, above, but was a little overzealous.  A small bit of filler will clean that up.
 
Thank you all for looking in.  More to follow!
 

Good morning.

Here's a couple I did on my phone late last night. 
 

As I'm about to fit out the upper deck shortly, here's an update on progress so far.
 
Over the last week, I've concentrated on getting the quarterdeck and forecastle beams in place, plus the decks. All beams are lettered to ID them, along with the timber they sit onto. All you might have to do is bevel an occasional end to get it to conform to hull shape. Along with the deck beams on quarterdeck, I've also add the optional hanging knees. These won't be seen too easily, but I've installed them for the sake of the manual.
 


 
 
All the beams are now fitted into place, along with the various carlings.


 
 
Before fitting any deck, the beams and carlings are also added to the forecastle area. Note the anchor hawse that's now added and tied back inside the bow. After the beams are fitted, the MDF ears from above deck level, are removed.




 
 
A drill bit is now wound with some medium grit paper and hand spun into the bowsprit hole, shaping this passage on the way down to the support which is plugged into the gun deck. This was a nice easy job due to the shape of parts and various cutouts. The 8mm dowel is then test fitted.

 
 
Before I can lay the forecastle deck, the fore jeer bitts need to be installed. Again, this is a simply task. I only glue these in at deck point so I have some play in the vertical posts.


 
 
The deck is supplied as 0.8mm maple veneer, laster etched. There is a ply part supplied as an alternative if you want to plank this yourself, but you'll need to source your own strip. Before the deck is glued, it's test fitted and sanded to make sure of an exact fit.


 
 
Inner bulwarks are now added. First the 1.5mm ones that butt up against the MDF bow former, then the outer 0.6 ones that run full length.

 
 
 
A sanding stick is then used to level up the tops of the bulwarks. Tape is laid down to protect the engraved deck and reduce any dust getting into the hull.

 
 
Now it's the turn of the quarterdeck to be fitted. Note that the beams are sanded of char where they can be seen through the deck cutouts etc.


 
 
The shallow bulwarks make the decks easy to 'pin' down around the edge using small clamps. Again, a sanding stick is used to level up the bulwark tops so the gunwales will be horizontal.

 
 
 
Bulwarks now fitted...

 
 
Seems such a shame to cover over so much of the detail, but now's time to cover yet more with the gangways. These are made from a layer of 0.8mm maple ply, with an underside in 0.6mm pear.

 
 
The gangway is temporarily added to model and the position of the adjoining gunwale is marked at each end. The gunwale is then sat over the gangway and then an edge drawn along the gangway. That area, which will differ slightly on different builds, is then removed from the gangway so the gunwale will recess into it.

 
 
All of the gangway knees are now painted and installed.


 
 
Then the gangways can be fitted. I use a small weight in the centre of the gangways to hold them into the gentle curve they need along the top of the knees.

 
 
Bulwark cleats are now added, as well as the stern knees. Before the stern knees are fitted, a 0.6mm drill is used to drill through two laser cut holes, to the outside stern. These are for mounting the lanterns. The knees will then cover the internal holes you drilled through.



 
 
 
And for the time being, this is where I'm at. My apologies for the lighting on this photo. I'll be retaking this one tonight. 

 
 
 
 
 

Some pics from actual step of the Saint-Philippe :
 

 

 

 

By this post I declare the model of the reconstruction Helga Holm of the ship 5 in the archeological excavations at the Helgeands islet finished.
 
It has been a very enjoyable, albeit at time tedious, journey. And I'm quite happy with the result.
 





Thank you everyone who has followed, commented and supported with advice and encouragement. You have been a great help.

Thank you, Henry and John.  Henry, I remember that phase of your build, and I thought that was an ingenious use of this awkward gap in the joint.  I would do the same, but for the fact that I have lowered the fore and main channels to this upper main wale, so that my chains will now be secured at the middle deck level.
 
Speaking of that troublesome joint - the lapping-lip of the port side bulwark piece is significantly thicker than the rebate it fits into on the hull.  This creates an awkward landing for my waist spirketting/joint re-enforcement.  In order to create a flush landing, I furred-out the hull side of the joint with .030 styrene strip:

I then sanded away any high spots for a flush mating surface, while protecting the painted deck with painters’ tape.  Weirdly, this problem does not exist on the starboard side.
 
I’ve also been making a pair of hanging knees for each side, that will be visible beneath the break of the forecastle deck:

The top edge of these knees doesn’t have to reflect the deck camber because they will be situated behind the deck beams which are cambered.  In order to include this aft-most knee, without placing it beneath the beam, I am increasing the length of the forecastle deck so that it comes to within about an 1/8” of the waist timberhead railing.
 
This small increase in deck length (say that three times fast 😂) will help with the layout of the forecastle; I need room for the deck railing supporting knees, the stove chimneys, and the capstan drum.  There must be enough clearance for the capstan bars to travel without interfering with the fore bitts.  There is some debate as to whether a forecastle capstan would really have been a feature of a First-Rate from this time, however the Louis Quinze model features a vacant space where the drum should be:

Above, you can see the locking pawls and the hole for the drum barrel.  I have found other evidence on contemporary and near contemporary models to support this detail.  I’m excited about that because I really wanted to scratch-build a capstan.
 
I knew before I started that the rear gallery bulwark would be a tremendous amount of work, but it was time well-spent.  As is my practice, I like to build-up a part like this as a series of layers of varying thicknesses, which results in a part that has depth and enhanced detail.  Here is a montage of the progression:

Necessarily, this process begins from the center, and proceeds out, towards the ends.  The critical consideration is that both the bottom and top edges of this railing are beveled to account for the railings back-raking angle.  Each layer has to be optimally placed so that not too much material is removed from the lower edge.  This is especially important for the lattice pieces.  Before moving-on to the next element layer, I make sure to fair these top and bottom bevels, so that I have a reliable reference for placing the next layer.

 

 

 

This fairing step was critically important for these scroll brackets that flank the nameplate.

 

Another consideration is that the outermost pair of pilaster mouldings is just slightly wider than the innermost pair.  They all had to be individually fit.

Just before modeling of the scrolls and central lattice:

Afterwards:

There is still some modeling to do yet, and I still need to add tiny scroll ornaments around the nameplate, but here is the part taped in-place to give an overall impression:

I didn’t set out to make this bulwark railing wider at the center, and more narrow at the corner joint, but it was necessary to taper the ends, in order to come down flush with the side bulwark pieces.

I probably won’t focus on painting this part until I am closer to actually installing it, but I am satisfied with what I think is a rather stark improvement over the stock kit railing:

As ever, thank you for your likes, comments and looking-in!
 

A little more progress folks; some dusting, removal of glue (when properly dry) etc still to do but here is the result for the Gallows and Belfry.  In hindsight, I wish I had not secured the Elliott riding bitts in place as they need to be a little more forward, but in reality there is still room to work the cable around them if needed.  I couldn't move the gallows further aft as I have to preserve room/space for the capstan bars when fitted.  I still have to add the simulated bolt heads on the legs of the belfry.  
 
The bit of brass at the top is a breather pipe.  The tank is 3D printed resin airbrushed with Mr. Metal 'iron'; although not clear, the bit bottom central is a cock for drawing fresh water which I think should no be at the back - too late now though.
 
Sorry the challenge was not taken up re fitting a bell rope - the thing was just to small.  I could not drill a small enough hole in the clapper's end without the drill bit wandering around (only 0.3mm  end below the round part).  I may end up just gluing a bit of twisted cotton (3 colours)  on there.
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 
cheers
 
Pat

I've been pondering for a while (analysis paralysis!) how to get the rubbing strake round the stern without it standing proud, and with enough contact for it to glue well... Planking the hull proved that trying to find any shortcuts here would cause pain down the road... so... here's my attempt.
 
It's 4x1.5mm walnut, and pretty sturdy, so I thought why not bend it to shape, then bend another plank to width to go inside round the stern, and then sand the taper caused by the counter into that double width so it ends up single-width by shaped... 
 
Something like this...
 

 
Clearly that cross-section would need to be tapered as it went round to the sides.
 
I was concerned that it would be hard to get that inner-taper right, so I used a plank with less height on the inside at the bottom, to make tapering easier. (1.5x1.5mm)
 
Some pictures follow...
 
1. Rough shaping the parts...
 

 
Painting before gluing in place...
 

 
3. Gluing in place with carpenter's glue... (and checking the gap is 18mm from the top of the main rail, to the top of the rubbing strake)
 

 

 

 
And checking that the decoration would fit at the bow... 
 

 
4. And a few photos of the result... 
 

 

 

 
Because the stern piece goes right round, the other side should be much easier by comparison.
 
Anyway - thanks for looking in, and happy building
 
Rob

Hi @BranPie - you're right. This took longer than I was expecting. It's the first time I've done top timbers like this, and it takes perseverance... But no more than a deck full of guns, or a shroud full of ratlines  The main challenge is to neatly cut the walnut to the correct angle for the deck both at the bottom and the top without knocking the corner off. I did this by using a scalpel to cut through the grain on the far side to prevent it splitting out, but it doesn't make it more time-consuming.
 
Once they were all cut down to size carefully, with an xacto saw, I added the pre-cut parts that form the rail. These parts fitted beautifully.  No adjustments were necessary - just care to ensure they were glued with a 4mm gap on either side of the hull. This was achieved using plasticard as packing. Weight was applied to get the parts to follow the curve of the freeboard. 
 
I pre-painted these parts, leaving a small gap on the under-side where it fixes to the freeboard. I didn't fancy trying to cut the paint in along the toptimbers!
 
Here are a few photos of the process.
 
First, the parts were tacked together at the joints with masking tape, and laid on top of the hull to check the layout. The parts were left in place while the individual parts were glued to ensure they would eventually fit.
 

 

 
Then the parts were painted, and glued in place one by one, with the packing around the sides to ensure they were lined up with the freeboard...
 

 
Because the walnut has quite a lot of grain, the parts were sanded and then painted again a few times to smooth them out, and to knock off the very sharp edges. This is especially important where the end grain meets the edge. Sand with the grain, not against it... otherwise it could splinter out.
 
I worked from the stern towards the bow.
 

 
And here's the end result...
 

 
There's a little touching up to do, but I'm very pleased with how it's come together... The contrast between the white and black is very striking, along with the tanganyika and walnut of the deck. Onwards and upwards!
 
Rob
 
 

Ok, I promised you an update.
 
I've been working on this pretty intensively over the last couple of weeks so Chris has some pictures for his Model boats magazine advert. When that happens, you know things aren't too far away. I'm thinking this will be an August release, or late July at the earliest. 
 
On with the show.
 
The next thing to do was add the frieze work and embellishments. The stern resin decoration was now fitted along with the rest of the stern decor. The closed bow and stern gun ports also had their ironwork and rig added. 


 
 
 
One task that is never my favourite is adding the chainplates, but these are quite easy and a breeze to fit.


 
 
 
 
A little ironwork now on the deck and inner bulwarks.

 
 
I actually made up the bulkhead screens quite a while ago, but now they were finished and fitted. Acrylic glazing was added using acrylic varnish to glue into position. On top of these went the window frame parts. Handles and hinges are also fitted. Each screen only needed a quick lick with a sanding stick to enable it to fit into place in the deck slots.



 
 
And with those in place, this is what we now have...

 
 
Real early on the build, I made a whole raft of deck fittings in between jobs such as building the frame, fairing, planking etc. This is where spending that time really paid off in pushing this project towards completion. The pictures you see now will miss out lots of stuff showing the individual elements being made, but you'll get the idea. You'll see the deck gradually build up into something a lot busier.
 
First, the coamings for the grates.

 
 
Then fitting the stairs in...


 
 
 
Sphinx is fitted with a chain pump system, and here you see aft stanchions for that in place, along with the main jeer bitts.

 
 
Then it's the turn of the two chain pumps to be installed.

 
 
Followed by the main topsail sheet bitts and gallows...

 
 
 
Then the forward chain pump handle stanchions are glued into position. 

 
 
 
Of course, we need a stove for all souls on board, so here's a brand spanking new one, with ornate brick surround.

 
 
 
Aft and fore riding bitts are installed, as well as the bowsprit support and the galley doors...


 
 
 
The chain pump handles are supplied as photo-etch parts, already shaped so there's no need to bend these into the awkward shapes needed. Each side is in two parts and dead easy to install. These are then painted black. The lower capstan is also fitted.

 
 
 
And lastly, it's the turn of the cannon. These really give a sense of how Sphinx will look when complete. 

 
 
 
And now, some extra photos showing the overall hull and details for you.

Ok, I wasn't going to publish this picture until the next update with the proper studio photos, but here you go!
 

Work on the open-walk aft bulwark, continues at a steady pace.  The piercings are too narrow to work with files, so the entirety is cut to the line with a No. 11 blade:


It is an easy thing to extract these panels, all around their perimeter, but I will leave them intact for the time being.  Next, I will cut the pilasters and the projecting center portion.  Then, assembly can begin from the center, outwards.
 
As I mentioned, prep of the upper bulwarks is proving to be quite intensive.  I decided the best approach for building up the hull was to begin with the forward bulwark pieces.  To that end, I installed the beakhead bulkhead, and glued-in a strip of re-enforcement, where the bulkhead meets the main deck.
 
What immediately became apparent, once this piece was secure is that the bulkhead is not square with the centerline:

This mirrors the same problem that I have noticed at the stern.  Essentially, my ship is a parallelogram:

Obviously, this is not ideal.  It is hard to say with any certainty, at this point, but the error must have been introduced at the very  earliest stages, when I glued the lower hull halves to the plinth-base; I must have induced the port side to slide aft, somewhat, or perhaps didn’t realize the geometry that I was creating through some other error or oversight:




This second stern picture seems to show the problem, but this is really a perspective problem of the photograph.  I know that my rounded stern counter started as a squared layout with the centerline.  Whatever the case may be, now the job is to make it all look okay.
 
Among the myriad tasks for the upper bulwark prep, I glued-in the kevels, scraped away the forward-most monogram escutcheon (because there will be a robed figure just aft of the headrails), filled all of the remaining holes and low fairleads for the sheets and tacks.
 
One error of the Heller kit is that the entry points for these lines are all low, where they would run a-foul of the gun carriages.  To correct these errors, I recycled one of the Four Winds carvings to make chess-trees for the fore and main tacks.  I then decided to make a housed double sheave for the fore and spritsail sheet lines:

I based the decision to do this on Puget’s drawing of the Royal Louis, following her refit in 1677:

Frolich’s L’Ambiteaux of 1680 is also a solid reference for this detail.

One other unintended consequence of my hull-widening modifications is that the extreme ends of the beakhead bulkhead now sit about a 1/16” below the top sheer of the forward upper bulwark piece:

This was perplexing to me until it dawned on me that the beakhead bulkhead side-extensions follow the top-rail camber, so that now that arc extends further outboard and intersects with the bulwarks (which are still the same height, naturally) at a lower point.
 
This creates something of an interesting dilemma.  For the time being, I have decided to take a little authorial license, here.  Although I can find no pictorial evidence for this on contemporary models from the 17th C., I have fashioned an entry-point for the cathead line, along the top of this beakhead railing:



I have subsequently filled that small forward gap and refined the shape of this cleat(?), a little.  My argument for plausible deniability, here, is that the intersection of the cathead timber with the beakhead bulkhead is now closed-in with plank, yet the cathead line needs a working contact point for sweating onto the small kevel.
 
In the end, there will also be a horsehead sculpture that rests on top of the bulwark top sheer.  Even if this detail isn’t correct for the period, it’s presence will be minimized from the outside looking-in.
 
The other major consideration for these forward bulwark pieces is that the joint to the lower hull is just garbage.  I had to do quite a lot of fairing to close the gaps along the outside of the joint, and there remains some significant tension as one flexes the part into its place.
 
I may, ultimately, induce a bit of a bend into the part by clamping it into a form and leaving it like that for a few weeks.  That should take tension out of the piece and ease the assembly process.  Regardless, though, I wanted some added insurance, and so I glued an additional re-enforcing strip that will bridge the joint and increase glue surface-area.

Just fore and aft of this strip, I will fashion gusset pieces that lend additional strength, while also providing deck beam mounts for the forecastle deck.  Above, I am fitting card templates that I will use to pattern the 1/16” styrene sheet gussets.  All of this structure will not be visible from the waist, nor will it interfere with the ship’s stoves.
 
In the waist, where this joint would be visible, I will cover the joint with spirketting.  Just as before, the added glue-surface will really solidify the construction.
 
Before I can paint these bulwark pieces, I still need to fashion a supporting knee that will be visible from the waist overhang of the forecastle deck.
 
In a departure from my usual, I will be airbrushing the primary ground colors, as there is too much fine detail that might be obscured by brush-painting.
 
All of this will, of course, take time.  Thank you for stopping-in!
 
 

Thank you Sirs 🙂
 
Once you take a look at the whole thing manned, you immediately see how tight it is inside and out.
 

 

 
Seen from above, it's clear that even the diving away under the swifter and running back that some people assume will be somewhat difficult here, and could quickly throw the others out of rhythm. If, while the bars are being inserted, the rest of the crew is heaving the guns over, a smooth work flow is guaranteed while turning. I'm not talking about work safety here but of a smooth rotating flow 🙂
 

 
The Swifter was led by a notch at the end of the bars. Whether there was only ever a knot in front and behind the bar or whether it was secured for example by a half hitch I will still find out.
 
Interesting also in the lower perspective. Jumping over the guns wasn't possible there either, the deck beams were only a few centimeters above the
heads, and the outer sailors probably have to watch out with the hanging knees anyway ...
 

 

 
Here you can see it nicely what I mean, at 0:15 - This action combined with deck beams one would then hear a rhythmic "Klock" when hard wood (sailor's thick head) hits hard wood (deck beams) ... 
 
Jumping the gun
 
Simply delightful to see. 
 
And for the naval officers in the boats finally a possibility to look unpunished under skirts, as the girls up there come along on the spar ...
 
It remains exciting 🙂
 
XXXDAn
 

... and with the case I can mount the model on its final stand and start rigging it. Most of the details for the rigging was already ready, so it was not so many hours work. (This rig is not very complicated 😀)
 
Some of the lines need to be tightened a bit, but otherwise I'm happy with the result.
 

In the end I decided to do the shrouds in the same way as on the reconstruction. It uses a combination of "shroud needles" and blocks for adjusting the tension.
 

The anchor is made from wood and paper and is placed in the aft. This is from the practice that we follow on the reconstruction. Anchoring is always done with the stem towards a steep cliff with the anchor some boat lengths straight out. So the anchor is handled from the aft deck.
 

The next step will be sail and the running rigging.
 
Cheers
 
 

Good morning.

Hi, and tanks, my friends🙂

Hi 🙂 Bread oven, part twoo:  

Hello,
today I finished the fries at the port side. You may notice, that I also installed the port lids at the quarterdeck.