rybakov

Good morning.

Time for another small update. 
 
I'm currently working on the stern and galleries of Sphinx, so I can show you what I've done up to that point.
 
The rudder is built from a 3mm pear core, with 1mm engraved pear facings on either side. This is first glued up and then the rudder pintle straps are fitted. I use cut off pins to insert here so I have the domed head on either side. Laser slots in the timber give the locations for the 'hinges' that hang the rudder to the stern post. The spectacle plate is then added and the upper straps etc. painted in black. 






 
 
The rudder brace straps are then glued to the hull after hanging the rudder. The pins are also then painted white and the upper straps painted black (not shown here).

 
 
Onto the channels. All of these are also engraved with a position which needs to be drilled to locate the support pins. Those pins match up with holes that are laser cut into the hull, in an engraved area which matches the channel. 





 
 
A small break now to work on the bow area. The v-brackets and bow gratings are assembled on the hull without gluing to the hull. The assembly is then removed and finished off before finally gluing onto the hull.




 
 
The various bow rails are now added, including the hawse, bolster etc. All of this will be unified later under a coat of matt poly varnish. Some shaping of these parts will need two be done, but they're designed to have extra timber to allow for any hull variations the modeller may have introduced inadvertently. 

 
 
Back to the stern again now. The acrylic windows are now removed, gently filed and fitted to the stern and galleries using acrylic varnish as a glue to hold them. I didn't want to use CA due to potential fogging. I know there are odourless CA types, but I just didn't have any to hand 🙃


 
 
Once dry, the white window frames were fitted using more acrylic varnish as glue.

 
 
The golden pillars between the windows were now fitted. For these, I prefer CA gel as it gives a moment or so to manipulate stuff.


 
 
The various rails are now fitted...

 
 
Whilst waiting for things to set and cure, I painted the stern decoration. This was first primed in Tamiya fine white primer, and then airbrushed with Humbrol Matt 25 Blue. Vallejo Liquid Gold was then diluted with a few drops of isopropyl alcohol and brushed onto the stern with a size 0000 brush. The whole lot was then varnished to protect it.

 
 
Lastly for this update, I completed the stove. After a coat of primer, Tamiya Flat Black was airbrushed over it, and then steel pigments applied to it before being sealed in matt varnish. The bricks were painted in MRP RAF Roundel Red, sealed, and then a light grey panel line wash applied.

 
until next time...

Thank you Jorge,
 
I know that photography is not very popular but it does not mean that I cannot try some experiences with light.

@Jorge Diaz O
@Hubac's Historian
@Gahm
@md1400cs
@Roger Pellett
@albert
Hello,
there still seems to be interest in my construction report. Thank you for your nice comments and also for the many LIKES.
I am very happy about that and it gives me further motivation for the next sections.
I would like to express my sincere thanks for this. 
 
But let's continue here.
I was able to finish the double blocks for the breast backstays in the meantime.

 

 

 
And here is an overview of the back stays of the La Créole:

 
The Shifting Backstays are already in preparation.
More about that soon.

I want to use this post to explore the more artistic considerations of this kind of kit-bash because this particular piece is literally a mid-point in the stern decor, and it ties together everything below to everything above.
 
Berain’s intent:

Tanneron’s adaptation:

 
Heller follows Tanneron fairly exactly.  For reasons that became clearer, as I attempted to draw this, Tanneron simplified Berain’s design.  While I understand that I will not be able to copy Berain’s design, exactly, my goal was to arrive at something a little closer than what Tanneron achieved.
 
The first step is to make a cardboard template that exactly fits the opening, while accounting for stern round-up and camber:

From there, I could exactly mark centers for continuation of the ‘tween window pilasters, along the bottom edge of the bulwark piece.
 
From there, I could flesh-out the pilasters and just go ahead and make the styrene foundation for this part:

I made the part a little oversize to account for the back-raking angle that needs to be sanded into the top and bottom edges of this part.
 
Besides the pilaster locations, the other constraining factor is my intense desire to recycle the name plate and the monogram escutcheons from the stock balcony.
 
The stock escutcheons have fleur-de-lis, in relief:

I decided, though, to shave these away and incise the crossed-L monogram emblem:

Because these were so small, it was much easier to do this while they were still attached to the balcony piece.
 
Layout for this bulwark piece necessarily begins at its center.  The main artistic conceit, here, is that I am trying to strike the balance between faithful detail and the interplay between positive and negative space.  This translates to much erasing and redrawing;  this is why I love vellum so much.
 
The nameplate and monogram escutcheons were removed, shaped, and then traced to the drawing;  these parts really define exactly the parameters of everything happening around them.  Of course, they restrict the available space in ways that are less than desirable, but I think I am on-track to a reasonable compromise:



At this point, in a perfect world,  I could stop drawing and just make a mirror photocopy for the port side.  This is not a perfect world, though.
 
The depth of the quarter gallery segments differs from port to starboard.  I’ve drawn the less-deep starboard side.  That won’t, nearly enough, correspond with what’s needed for the port side.  At the least, I’ll have to draw that port QG segment, as well.
 
So, that’s where things stand for now.  I can’t do perfect, but I can do plenty well-enough.
 

The days I have again made some guns, 2 horizontal, two lashed upwards, one with etched parts but unpainted and an old one painted but without etch parts.
 

 
Then some shipwrights came by and installed a makeshift deck in the aft capstan area. The caulkers came also immediately and left a giant mess with their tow and tar ...
 

 
I'll spare you the curses of the sailors who had to clear the deck, they were terrible, but afterwards the whole thing looked passable again.
 

 
Here is shown the area covered by the capstan bars´ radius.
 

 

 
And this is where the guns come into play: in their normal position, they are simply in the way of the spars. But stowed lengthwise on the ship's side, it looks much more spill user-friendly.
 
Here in the lashed position with the muzzle on top, without chair and the coin.
 

 
Here with the barrel in the horizontal position, chair and coin inserted.
 

 
And just to check: even when run out, it's not enough for a decent bar radius.
 

 
It remains exciting 🙂
 
XXXDAn

Now rest in his showcase!

 

 

 

 

With this last work, the model is considered finished!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last decoration: the bow frieze:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stern decoration:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello and many thanks for all the likes and nice comments. They are very appreciated.
Today only a small update, because my lawn waits for me 😐 , but much more bad is, the shipwright would't spend a grog today 🤨
 

 

 

The eyebolts and split rings for the bulwarks and gun deck are done. Boy! I just love making those🤥 I made them as small as I could. The ID the bolts are around .025" which conforms to the smallest round nose pliar that I have. Just enough to get the 24ga rings through. Be careful not to drill too deep into the bulwarks against the plywood bulkheads. It wouldn't be hard to snap a bit if you did.

 

 
Mike

Thank you, John and Mark!
 
There is often a temptation to rush things along, a little, here and there.  I am always happy when I manage to resist.
 
The Four Seasons are secure now, and re-touched.  I used styrene cement, first, for a welded-bond, and then later allowed capillary action to draw-in thin CA for a little added insurance.  As compared with Berain’s drawing - absolutely, these figures are a little too broad.  The overall impression, though, is good and I think the adjusted posture of these figures conforms nicely with the new architecture:



 
Part of me wishes I had thought of the stylized false-window treatment earlier.  If I had, I probably would have done that throughout, as I like the way it looks, and it would have eliminated any concern for dust accumulating on the i side window surfaces.  Anyway, c’est la vie!  I can still get canned air in there to blow away most of the plastic particles.
 
The open-walk bulwarks took a while to paint because I insist on not simply dry-brushing the top surface of the frieze elements, but cutting-in to the ground.  One realization was that I did not need to thin the Vallejo artist acrylic yellow quite so much because I wasn’t painting broad surfaces; so, instead of a 5:2 ratio of paint to water, I could get away with 5:1, or even 6:1.
 
Painting yellow over red is particularly difficult for achieving good color saturation. Nevertheless, by not thinning the paint so much, I was able to get there in two passes, as opposed to five.
 
I discovered, on Kirill’s Spanish Galleon build, a very clever little hack for adding depth to the gold brightwork; He uses two different shades of gold paint.  Once I had that in my head, I couldn’t get it out, so I went to the Warhammer shop over the weekend, and picked up their bright gold.  This gives an idea of the contrast:

In practice, the effect is much more subtle.  Here, the lower bulwark piece has had the highs and edges of the ornaments brightened:

The yellow ocher has a way of muting the gold effect, a little, so whatever enhancements one can make are helpful.  I will gradually go back and add these highlights to all of the other gold ornaments.
 
I decided to leave the nameplates untouched by the walnut ink wash because I wanted them to really pop.  The lattice, here, gives a good impression of what the main frieze will look like.  As I did with the bellflowers flanking the name plate, I will continue to search for opportunities to incorporate silver gilt.
 
Once these bulwark pieces were finally painted, I could do a final fitting and secure them in-place.  It was necessary to pre-bend these bulwark pieces so that they would conform easily to the curve of the gallery.  I found it was easiest and safest to induce these reverse curves with my fingers.  The heat experiments I tried with a hair dryer and open flame on scrap sheet plastic were way to difficult to control.
 
Fingers are also, often, the best glueing clamps.  The forward edge/pilaster is CA-glued to the wooden return, while the bottom edge is weld-bonded with liquid styrene cement.  Inevitably, there will be touchups, but at this stage I declare these quarter galleries a successful marriage to the amortisement:
 







 
Next, I will pattern the back bulwark, in cardboard so that I can design an exact layout of all of the ornamental elements.  I won’t be able to install this back bulwark until after the main deck level of stern lights is in-place and painted, but making this part is a good small-work project.
 
I will probably do a short series on its creation because it will be made from several layers and the process of getting where I want to is a little more involved than other parts I’ve made so far.  I can also make up the bulwark cap railing that will finish this structure, while simultanously re-enforcing the corner join of the bulwark pieces.
 
In the evenings, I will begin finalizing the upper bulwarks and preparing them for paint.  I have to drill new fairleads for the sheets and tacks, and secure all the kevel pieces.  Without the stock stern plate to anchor the aft bulwarks to, construction of the upper stern takes on a few shades of complexity.  I have some ideas for a work-around, there, that should provide for a much more robust construction.
 
She’s a BBG (big beautiful girl) - Soleil Royal!  Little by little, we are getting there.  As always, thank you for your likes, your comments and for looking in.

Hello,
after a long time of meditation about the next step, and there is nothing more to do in the garden, I had no more excuses to start painting the fries. I did't sleep well last night, and the first brush strokes where really horrible, but at least I think I got it. My nerves calm down 😊
 
I went with the ship in my winter-garden (?) and used my campaign chairs to hold my ship. That was a really good idea, because I could turn the ship in the direction I needed to work. The first picture show you this assembly.
 

 
And here I'm painting. I used at least only three colors, and Prussia blue for corrections. 

 
and the first result. This is at least a 3 hours work. 

Hello,
La Créole also had breast-backstays and had them on the mainmast and foremast. 
I am currently making the double blocks (length 6 mm) for the tackles. These will be hooked into an eyebolt on the channel.

 
Here is an attempt to show the leather lining of the hole in the cap.

 
Here I show an example from the L'Hermione.

 
 

A quick end of week update before I delve into the bow area and then onto the stern/decor.
 
This last couple of days been finishing the rudder and fitting it, adding the pintle/gudgeon straps, the horse shoe/fishplates to the keel....and the channels.
 
All channel parts are first drilled with a 0.5mm drill bit in pre-cut laser slots and then painted black (after masking joint edge). Cut-off brass pins are then CA'd into the holes. Corresponding laser holes in the sides of the hull are then used to locate these when glued into position. Once fitted, the channel knees are added. I decided to leave the char on the upper edges of these with bare pear sides instead of just hiding the shapes under black paint. Here's the work so far.
 

Good morning.

some other small decoration:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course it tickled my fingers and was already overdue, but finally I could slap some colour on the pilasters 🙂
First some ochre, then a bit of heavily thinned ink for the depths and finally some white brushed over it for the heights, and then the whole thing on a black background - oh how cool 😎
 

 

 

 
This is the area as I did it with the original part of the kit to compare. Also the form of the pilsters now is correct 🙂
 

To once again contradict all those who think that the printer is the solution to all trying and an easy way to the part ...
 

 
In the meantime I have converted some of my resin castings into printed parts. The form is just a bit more sharp. Here are the timber heads.
 

 

 
And the anchors now have their shape according to Steel and other contemporary sources.  The edge between the shaft and arm is sharp by now and not as rounded as in modern sources as AOTS and others.
 

 

 

 

 
The shaft has the nut in the area of its head, the stock has the matching counterpart.
 

 
I was particularly taken with the small kegde anchor. It was probably stowed on the aft starboard best bower.
 

 

 
With the pin lock and the pin securing line.
 

 
And a very, very small detail after Steel: The anti-slip device of the shaft. Simply split the end of the arm and bend it open. Can be pressed together again for repair purposes and then again fits through the hole 🙂
 

 
Still missing the family pictures of the anchors 🙂
 

 
Stowing of the Stream Anchor on the aft port Best Bower.
 

 
The head of the shaft with its characteristic bevelled corners and the indicated woolings of the rings.
 

 
And anchor buoys and anchor shoes were also redone.
 

 
XXXDAn

 

I thought I'd do another quick update as I've managed to put a little colour on things.
 
Before paint, all the areas which would be under colour were first brushed with a little polyurethane varnish to prevent the paint soaking into the timber and looking grainy. For paint, I've used Humbrol 25 Flat Blue and Vallejo Flat Red. These are just brushed on by hand. I've purposely gone a little into the rail area so I know there won't be any areas I need to later touch up. You will still notice some areas where the channels will be fitted. I just want a solid wood - wood connection with no varnish in there.
 

 
 
The rails are now added to the sides, making things look a little tidier. The sections over the cannon ports are part cut through with the laser, so I just snip them out.



 
 
Fenders fitted:

 
 
The last thing I've done is to get some paint on the quarter galleries and stern, prior to be doing the decoration within the next week. My next update should see things looking quite different.


 
 
Until then...
 
 
 

From the very beginning, this project has been an effort to apply context to the fragmentary imagery of Soleil Royal.  One thing that has puzzled me from the moment that I came into possession of Lemineur’s Vaisseaux Du Roi Soleil, is the cover art illustration of Soleil Royal.  Was the ship actually ever painted all blue?
 

As is well established for this project, by now, you all know that I believe this structural representation is of the refit of Soleil Royal in 1689.
 
I also make a strong argument for the likelihood of red vermillion and yellow ocher being prominent features of the refit color palette.  So, then, why might this refit representation be colored all blue?
 
I believe a strong clue may be found in Hyatt’s description of the Royal Louis, in 1677.  Therein, he describes the deadworks, above the waterline, as being painted all white, as a backdrop to the richly gilded ornamentation.
 
If one were to simply see a ship portrait or model of a French ship from this time, painted all white, but without understanding of that historic context (Hyatt’s description), then that might seem very strange.
 
But, then, here’s Soleil Royal, in gouache, represented as all blue.  What are we to make of that?  Well, I have a theory:
 
Perhaps, after Berain created the pen and ink drafts of the stern, quarters and bow - at the time of the refit - Pierre Vary was commissioned to put these drawings into color, according to the original color scheme of the ship between 1670-85.
 
My theory is that, as beacons of the Ponant and Levant fleets, respectively, Sr and the RL were originally painted in representative colors; blue for the Ponant fleet and white for the Levant fleet.  I am searching for a more concrete confirmation of that notion, in the historical record, but I have yet to find it.
 
Whether or not the refit SR was actually painted all blue above the lower main wales, remains an open question.  I suspect that ventre-de-biche had become a fixture on the lower two gun decks by the late 1680’s.  Perhaps in her original incarnation, though, SR really was painted all blue above the lower main wales.
 
It certainly makes for a striking presentation, as evidenced by a modeler calling himself Grymm on FineScale Modeler:

A link to the page:
http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/7/t/68572.aspx
 
Maybe that is what this vaguely blue seeming portrait of a ship, pierced for 16  on the lower gun deck, is actually all about:


And, although the thumbnail, below, is black and white, the original is almost certainly a full-color portrait.

Also of interest, between these two portraits, is the marked similarity in the style of the wave painting.  Are both of these portraits by the same hand?  Is the color palette of the above portrait representative of the portrait, below?  Do both of these portraits represent the same subject?
 
As my theory currently stands, I believe the subject is either Soleil Royal or the Royal Louis.  So, which is it?  Well, if the actual portrait shows a blue ship or a white ship, we may just have an answer.
 

Nice to hear from you, Michael - thank you very much!
 
I present for you now, The Four Seasons:

 
I attempted to modulate their complexion to reflect their time of year.  I also wanted to incorporate silver gilt.  Winter is a natural fit for this treatment.  He has the same grey enamel wash coat that I used for the figurehead, and I then picked out the creases in his robe and his beard with silver.
 
I wanted, though, to experiment with silver gilt as a base-coat for red and green translucent washes.  I did a little experimenting:

I thought the middle selections were pleasing colors that allowed the silver to peak through.  The effect is similar to what you sometimes see with glass Christmas ornaments that are glazed with a metallic base color.  I like this well enough that I will incorporate this treatment selectively into the amortisement, as well as between the main deck guns where there are acanthus branches flanking each royal monogram escutcheon.
 
I am also painting the open-walk bulwark pieces, but these are particularly slow to cut-in, right down to the ground.
 
As always, thank you for stopping by.

Ship' double wheel:
Some are from a Go pro camera. It is possible to correct image distorsion and other characteristics in LIghtroom which has the profile of many camera  and lens.

Hello,
I'm not very busy these days, but I painted the hull with clear satin finish lacquer. The yellow is now a little deeper and brighter. The lacquer is't totally dry at the moment, and a little thicker as when fully dry, but you can see that I did't lost any detail. But now you see every fault in the planking, you have not seen before I painted the hull 🤔, but that is ok. 
 

 
And I'm doing my homework for painting the friezes. These friezes are 8 mm high, it is even with a pencil a challenge to draw. 😰