rybakov

Small update: Things are moving a bit slowly lately, but I did manage to get some work done. I've been jumping around a bit in the build sequence which seems okay for now. Here are few photos showing where I'm at.

 

 
Looking at the laser cut sheet one can see that the 5 moldings that run along the top edge of the transom are not all the same width. Only the center molding at the very top is correct. The other 4 are slightly wider and the lower edge of each needs to be reduced in width in order to match the center molding.
 
I found that PVA glue doesn't work well for adhering the figures so I suggest using medium CA which works very well.
 
The green paper on the transom was cut back approx 3/64" along its outer edge to allow for a gluing surface.
 

 
Mike

Hi friends I put some photos of the Victory, I am putting the filling ribs provisionally, I intend to leave them at this height to have a greater space between the raising ribs, in this way you can have a smoother view on the various bridges and observe better interior details.

Here we go again.
First cleaning the front edge of the channel board from paint and leveling the heights of the irons ...
 

 
... and then fixing the batten to hold the deadeyes in place.
 

 
From near one can see the difference nicely. One more area finished.
 

 
Then the gunport lanyards. 
 

 
Still had some sprue, that was hollowed and pulled over the candle, resulting in nice micro tubes 🙂
Those bits were made from leather, to protect against friction and to keep water out. Took a needle to reopen the holes after cutting and used the intended thread to check the inner diameter.
 

 
The spliced the ring onto the lanyard and hooked the ring onto the lid. Checked from near and I think it could be considered to be ok.
 

 
So five or six more lids to go ...
 
Grüßle, Daniel

Just a quick update:
 

In all likelihood, I will cut away the smaller, inside wings because they interfere with my aft octagonal ports.  However, until the amortisement is made and I can see the actual relationships of all these parts, I wanted to keep all options open.
 
Tomorrow I will start the heads, but my own head is growing weary and my neck is getting sore, after sitting hunched over these gals all day.  I tend to start making mistakes when I push through.
 
A few of those mistakes, I’ll be filling-in with BONDO, this evening, as I prepare the main deck for painting and priming; some of my nail impressions were poorly placed, and/or ill-conceived.
 
I’m excited to get back to a little painting, though.  In addition to the Windsor and Newton Van Dyke Brown, I will experiment with a lightish grey Windsor and Newton oil shade, that will be applied and wiped streakily before a blanket application of the brown.
 
The deck is coarsely sanded, so it should pick up these colors nicely.

Hi🙂
 
 

With the 3.2 mm I was able to work the channels an lineal holes.....
 


 
This face is the one that at the end will be hidden....

Finally I was able to put it in the mold to configure the curve and forms...
 

 
It is time to start with the laterals...... it will continue

Steady progress:



One of the things that anatomy forces you to learn are ways in which to introduce the soft hollows of a body, with whatever tool can get into tight spaces.  In the area of the belly and hips, I don’t have a gouge that’s small enough to get in, close to the side of the body, without the arm getting in the way.
 
What I use is the hooked knife to scrape hollows on a bias, according to the same principle of cutting a cove moulding on a table saw, by running a fence at an angle to the blade.  The scraping motion, at an angle, gently introduces a hollow that, in this case, defines a fleshy love handle. Each scrape removes just a little material at a time, and eventually you arrive at where you want to be.
 
One other thing I’d like to mention is the undercutting of the upper thigh.  I could simply define the lap line, where one thigh rests against the other.  This would look okay.  However, the pose of the figure suggests that the outer thigh overhangs the other leg.
 
What I like to do here, to suggest this, is that after I have first defined that meeting line - the line that delineates the shape and proportion of each thigh - I come back with sharply angled scrapes that undercut the outer thigh.  I use the sharply beveled tip of the EXACTO to do this.  The accentuated shadow line creates a false sense of depth in what is a very shallow carving.
 
While I wait for my #80 drill bits to arrive, I have made and fit the fore and aft sections of the main deck. Unlike the middle deck, where I had to make mast plates to fix the plumb and rake of each mast - I now had a reliable reference to measure the exact centerline of the fore and mizzen masts; I could measure directly from the fore and aft edges of the main deck center section to the center of each mast.  The masts are all in alignment, now, and the slight bow of the mizzen will eventually be corrected by the stays and shrouds.
 
I have also decided to re-enforce the main deck hatch openings with carlings that are scribed to the longitudinal curvature of the deck.  The styrene I’m using for the decks is a bit thinner than what the stock kit provides, and is not as rigid.  It is my pathology to overbuild the whole thing, so, here you go:


I enjoy the exercise of scribing and fitting these curved parts because it is good practice for when I eventually transition to wooden builds.
 
Thank you for looking in.  More to follow...

I always love the original artefacts 🙂 
 
Here is the belle 🙂
 

 
XXXDAn
 

Just a small update.
 
Here is how the oars are fixed to the "gunwale" (can it be a gunwale when guns haven't been invented yet?).
 
A hole drilled into the gunwale just aft of the thole (see red circle).
 

 
 
And a hole in the oar, with a brass pin inserted. Then the pin is put into the hole in the gunwale and the whole assembly glued in place - both at the gunwale and at the oarsman's hands. The handle didn't quite line up with the oarsman's hands, so I moved the oar's pivot point slightly further along the shaft - so the whole oar was slightly further outboard. 
 

 
I'm now regretting putting the pavesade (the railing that will hold the defensive shields) in place so early. It's made access rather difficult, particularly when drilling holes. It was a problem when I was trying to drill holes for the ringbolts, and now again trying to drill holes to pivot the oars - the home-made drill I made from a small brass pin  wasn't long enough, and I had to make a longer one from a dressmaker's pin with the end cut off.
 
 The first oarsman is finally complete, painted and glued in place, holding his oar (note the lemon yellow hose!). Not totally happy about the inboard hand on this one, but as I get more experience with doing these I'm sure I will improve.
 
 
 
I'm trying to work out the best way to portray the loop of leather or rope that holds the oar to the thole - as it would have been pretty thin I'll probably just use a bit of cotton glued around the oar.

Work on the main deck continues:



The gratings required a little extra attention to get them to lay in an even plane.
 
The main mast plate finally secured the mast, perpendicular to the keel, but the extra thickness of the plate and coamings necessitated a little inletting of the deck furniture:







Next, I will drill all of the nailing impressions, and then I will paint the deck.
 
Work on the forward MerAngels is proceeding nicely:

 
Thank you to everyone for your likes, your comments and for looking in. 

Hello,
in the meantime I also fixed the guiding blocks for the bunt lines at the bottom of the maintop.

 

 

Michel Saunier has very graciously agreed to share some of the specific information he has compiled about Soleil Royal, over the years.  In his working life, Mr. Saunier was an engineer, and the following spreadsheet is a sort of mathematical portrait of the ship.  There is more than enough information, here, to make a really sound reconstruction of Soleil Royal, just as Mr. Saunier is doing.  For his part, he combined this dimensional information with the work of Jean Boudriot, who drafted plans for L'Ambiteaux, in order to arrive at his hull form.  Below is the Google Translated version of the letter he sent me, accompanied by the spreadsheet, which is staggering in its completeness.  As he implores me to do at the end of this letter, I hope we will all make good use of this tremendous gift of scholarship.  For so many of us who are lacking the means to go visit the archives for the many weeks it would take to sift through and assemble this information, this truly is a tremendous gift of intellectual effort and demonstrates his absolute commitment to the project of resurrecting Soleil Royal.  Perhaps this information exists, somewhere, on-line.  But, go find it.  I've been searching on-line for years and have only come away with the basic dimensions of the ship.   I will not attempt to translate the XCEL spreadsheet, for fear that I may in-advertently make a mistake that is mis-leading.  Frankly, I have yet to sift through the document in any detailed way, but I can see just how complete it is.  Everything you'll see is in the antiquated French foot, so just multiply by the Battle of Hastings (1.066) to arrive at the modern English foot.
 
Thank you Michel Saunier!
 
From M. Saunier via Google Translate:
 
good morning Marc

I recovered in its time a document of the "Havre de Grace" which indicates a survey of the dimensions of a ship in Brest on the shipyards. This vessel is marked "drilled at 16", that is to say with 16 ports on the first battery. At that time only the Royal Sun was pierced at 16 and moreover all the dimensions correspond. It is therefore a document of a survey of the SR in 1688.

On the other hand I have found another document which gives the dimensions of the elements of the mature of the Royal Sun.

I have other documents found elsewhere that supplement this data.

I have gathered this data in an EXCEL file. I join him to this message.

All that is missing are the water lines, but I have reconstituted them to the best for my project.

Make good use of this gift.

Michel
 
 
SR Dimensions.webarchive
Keel, Stem, Sternpost.webarchive

Given the crowded and complicated nature of the ornament surounding the quarter galleries, I wanted to sketch in the various elements (the mermaids, the figure if Africa sitting on her caryatid archway, the quarter piece supporting the side lantern, and the crown and flames), in order to get a sense for their relative proportions and whether I could make it all work in the space available to me.
 

 
What I found was that the 1/4" extension I was adding to the stern was not going to be sufficient, however, if I added an extra 1/8" (the dotted, parallel line that previously represented the round-up of the upper stern) - then I had enough room to make it work.
 
once all of those elements were sketched in place, and relatively close to their ideal shape and size, I was able to complete the freize layout around them.  I think that when I digitize this image, I'll be able to shorten Africa a bit, and lengthen the quarter piece just enough to seem right.  Anyway, now that I can see where the frieze falls, in the midst of it all, I am now fully confident that I can pull this project off and produce something good.
 
I can't really continue to fill in detail on this sheet of regular bond paper because the surface integrity of the paper is failing with all of the erasures and re-working of the design.  As tends to happen with this approach - the surface is also becoming too muddy with loose graphite.  I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't going to commit all of this time to learning software, only to discover that there are layout problems that I couldn't overcome.  An astute eye will notice discrepancies between what I am drawing and what is shown in either the black and white stern drawing or the Compardel interpretation of the same, however, there are a few small choices that were necessary for me to either include certain important detail, or omit less critical detail that overly clutters the design.  Again, the proportions of all of this are not yet ideal, but workable now, with the software.
 
here is how the frieze layout translates to the f'ocsle:
 

Good morning, everyone, thank you very kindly.
More photos.
 

 

 

 

 

 
Un Saluto.

@Louie da fly
Thanks for the kind words. That motivates again and again.
Thanks to the others for the LIKES.
 
I am currently preparing the futtock shrouds.

 


The front futtock shrouds were served. The others only in the area of the splices.

Source: Atlas du Génie Maritime
 
 

 

The midlle third of the miling cutter was  grinded  with a wheel for carbide. This way,  the cutter  has a smaller diameter than the diameter of the cutters. Before the diameter on the top of the cutting part was larger. This meant that the cutter could not go deeper than the area which is sharpened as a cutter. This also means that I could not mill through the wood part completely. Now, the cutter can go through completely.

For the next weeks, i have to make some curves. For this section, there are no real obligations to follow exactly the plans. This is why Boudriot says: It only has to please the eye.

The bow light:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

today's job:

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 
 

small advances:

Thank you Bob!
 
And 🙂 if things speed up, they speed up 🙂
 
Missing the mast for proper alignment, I put some irons in the middle as spacers for orientation.
 

 
And suddenly things are done.
 

 

 
Knowing my fat fingers, I will do the final alignment just before the final finish.
 
And too, looks like I need better light on my working place - for better enlightment and pictures 😉
 
 
XXXDAn

@mugje - just to be clear, the resin hull shown is an 'aftermarket' mini-kit supplied by caldercraft, its not included in the kit.  What I'm attempting to do is leverage the kit supplied items as best I can.
 
Cutter Progress: Part 2
 
Keel and bow section was cut out of some spare wood and glued in place, and once the basic hull was completed, a decision was needed on how to add a second layer of planking, kit instructions specify to use another layer of 0.5mm walnut.  I really wanted to try and replicate the clinker hull planking shown in the AOTS Diana book, and to do this a used some cardstock instead of wood to cut individual strakes.  Fist challenge was to determine the width of each plank on the hull.  This was done using 'tick strips' at about 10 points along the hull.  The lowest (non-clinkered) garboard strake was simply omitted.  The end of the cardstock strips were cut down (rather than truly tapered) to allow the planking to terminate smoothly at the front bow and stern which is how I believe the planking is done in practice.  Each strip was cut to about 2.5mm thickness, the benefit of cardstock is that when coated with dilute PVA glue it becomes very manageable and can simply be bent to shape rather than the spiling that would have been necessary if wood had been used.
 
Once the hull had been marked out to 'prove' the planking separation, these were not referenced again.  Once a strip had been installed, the lowest point of the next strip was placed using the tickstrips.  This process was simply repeated, with time allowed for the glue to dry sufficiently for the surface to harden.  Dilute PVA was used quite liberally to ensure a good bond between the wood and card as the hope is for this to add additional structural strength.
 

 

 
The final 2 strakes were completed with one wider strip as the uppermost strake is non-clinkered and would not be visible.  Extra height was added for safety as this can be easily cut back once glue has dried.
 

 
Once both sides had been completed, each was  given a few more coats of dilute PVA for added insurance....why not?!  With the exterior planking work completed, attention could be turned to the interior and the potentially catastrophic step of removing the frames.  This actually went smoothly, but has to be approached with patience and a light hand.  The kit base was removed as well as the actual flooring should be a little lower I feel.  The frames were cut back a little more than is perhaps necessary, but this will allow flexibility as to where the floor is, and hopefully prevent them from being seen.  Practically, it also allowed the interior planking to be sanded more effectively.  The hull in this state clearly needs a light hand, but is surprisingly robust despite my fears.
 
Once an initial sanding had been completed, some light wood filler was used to fill imperfections and deal with some of the slight clinkering of the topmost walnut strips.  Once sanded back, dilute PVA was once again brushed on....yes, paranoia perhaps, but can't hurt.
 

 
Finally I was able to add an initial coat of white point to the hull to get a better idea of how this turned out (In this case Valejo 'off white' as it was all I could get from Amazon in a reasonable timeframe).  This highlighted that some finish work will be required in some areas where the eye is drawn to surface imperfections, but one thing I've learned is that the cardstock planks can be effectively sanded, probably due to the application of dilute PVA glue.  Definitely some fine tuning still needed and far from perfect, but its hard not to be pleased with the result for a first attempt.
 

Good morning, everybody, some progress.
 

 

 

 

 

 
Un Saluto.
 

No, Mark. it's part of the "truss" which holds the yard to the mast, but is loosened when tacking to allow the yard to shift to the other side of the mast - per this illustration from Björn Landström's book The Ship.
 

Pulling on the "downhaul" tightens the truss, pulling the yard to the mast. Loosening it allows the yard to swing free so the lower end can be pushed past the mast, over to the other side which is now the leeward side. That way the wind doesn't push the sail against the mast, which allows a better aerofoil shape and reduces chafing.
 
Steven

Hello,
the catharpins for the mainmast shrouds are completed.
The catharpins with the futtock shrouds get the final tension.