rybakov

Thank you druxey for the addition, very appreciated! I already realised while building that the way of simply putting a block underneath the stretcher is not sufficiant. I already found ways of fixing the strechers the same way as the thwarts in some plans in contemporary plans in RMG. Also here a modern model I photographed in an exhibition in Rochefort in 2018. Unfortunately I can´t read the name of the maker any more.
 
 

Installation of the door and the remaining deck beams to the cabin wall. The other beams cannot be installed yet, because of the guns.
 

 
I started building the planking of the rear bulkhead, after using some spacers to account for the quarter deck planking.
 

 
I am approaching the construction by mixing elements of the instructions: 
 

 
 I am also modifying very slightly the rear wings (1K-5) to better accommodate that platform on the stern (3K-1 on the picture). I am adding a small strips to support the platform, on both sides: 
 

 
I am also adding a 2 mm strip to increase the height of the "wings" and compensate for the thickness of the platform: 
 

 
Before gluing the platform, I am trying to finalize all the gold painting of the freezes, that will be hard to reach, once glued: 
 

 
Finally, the platform is glued, making the stern a lot more solid and sturdier: 
 

 

 
There is still a lot of sanding and painting that has to take place, to make it presentable.
 
Yves
 
 

Some time ago, I made the mistake of getting involved with the boats because of the oars. Of course, this was not without consequences ...

... Here is the white “big” launch from the kit and behind it a new “decent” 34 foot launch according to McKay's drawings.

Unfortunately, the planks of the inner floor gave way during printing, there was only a small usable remnant at the front and rear.

And if you man the boat, you can see straight away that the large boats were rowed “double banked”, i.e. 2 men per thwart and if the capstan is used, one thwart cannot be used.

Oar lengths inside and outside and the position to the rower and his arms seem to be correct.

But the inside floor still gives me pause for thought. As McKay draws it, it is 30-40 cm too low for the rower's legs and too high so that 50% of the load volume is lost. So it's a strange intermediate height

Somehow this still didn't fit. I then rummaged through my documents again and found what I was looking for, as these details are seldom shown.



Here is the small kit that has evolved as a result.

The inner floor to protect the hull now rests on the frames at the very bottom. The rowers' feet have been given a bar for this purpose.

Trial sitting ...

... and it fits reasonably well. With slightly straighter legs it even fits quite well.

So the other foot bars are also installed.

After that came the thwarts and the other interior ...

 




And again we had a rehearsal sitting ...

... even multiple ones.






This also seems to fit. The capstan is removable, so two more rowers could fit in.

But the next question is, what was the rigging like?



In terms of the mast positions, I would have guessed lugger rigging, which I was able to see live a few times in France, or perhaps sprit rigging, but I'll see what Steel has to say about that later. Above all, all the fittings on the hull are still missing, which are vera often omitted.

Greetings, DAniel
 
 

Hello and thanks for your comments and likes
today I build the tiller for the rudder. After turning most of the handle, I had to glue it to a peace of wood. My fingers are too thick to hold it. It's 21 mm long, and the handle after the head has 1 mm Ø.

I carved mostly with my small V cutter and my carving knife. Using also small files. And that is the result

This is a little faking, because the tiller is too short to go through the slot 😐 But you would't see it 😇

And now in action, but not fast

Finished with the third set of Trophies Of War... with the days being so long and with plenty of yardwork - and boating ! - to do, time in the shipyard is limited to 1-2 hours in the morning. The third TOW is a frontal view of a plumed helmet bracketed by spears and axes.... 
 
I can see flaws at a very close range, but I am not going to change a thing, as I think the appearance from normal viewing range is just fine. I MAY trim the axed blade on the right so it has a point on the back side, but then... maybe not.
 

 
 

 
 
I made extensive use of 28 guage copper wire to make the spears and axes. I just tapped on the wire with a small hammer on concrete to make "leaf" blades on the spear tips, as all that I needed at normal viewing distance was the hint of a point. As for the axes, I just cut tiny blades and straps from the flattened copper wire. This TOW uses polystyrene, copper wire, ApoxieSculpt, and Gorilla Glue. The actual assembly took only two hours, but I had to build in plenty of drying time.
 

 

 

And I was also finally able to finish the capstans.

All the parts had been in the making since well into last year, but I never really had the chance to finish them. Basic programming strictly according to plan is always done quickly, but until the look of the printout refreshes my eyes and heart in terms of model making, it takes a few more rounds of printing, tinkering and improving, version #15 is the normal case here.

Here is an intermediate version, the brass tubes have now been replaced. Still mising are the bevels on the wedges below the ribs, which allow the rope to slide smoothly from round to pentagonal or hexagonal. I take such pre-prints for color samples, and lo and behold, it looked stupid in this color scheme.

Here is already the penultimate version. [Note to self: HOPEFULLY!] Good enough for a prototype. [Note to self: HOPEFULLY!]
And what do I always say? Before applying the aging, a clean base coat must be applied. Here you go.


And then life gets in: The wood starts to show at all the rubbing points of the rope on the drums. After several tests, I decided on a non-covering drybrush, which gets across most of what I would have liked to show.


And someone else has bombed into the picture: The capstan bars ...



... to match the capstan.


I made a template for alignment, using corrugated cardboard as a base to sink the upper part of the drum into and bring the spars to paper height ...


... bars inserted into the capstan and the capstan inserted upside down ...


... bars aligned and glued.



Then the swifter is pulled in and that's it.




And here are the individual parts, the middle piece is available in two heights, depending on how the battery deck is fitted with gratings.





XXXDAn

Back to work on Trophies Of War after 10 day hiatus due to a Canadian fly-in fishing trip, etc. With all of the gear in the basement that needs unpacking... my attention strayed to the ship to finish my second set of TOW (2nd set of 12). As I contruct each set, I am attempting different techniques/materials, which will hopefully help in the future.
 
This is the TOW I was trying to create...
 

 
And I completed two of these after having a redo on the helmets that I made before my trip..
 

 
You can see the extensive use of 28 guage copper wire... I stretched a two foot length of the 28 guage wire by hanging a weight on one end, which resulted in a very straight piece. I cut the rings on the staff from 1.5mm brass tube. The plume on the hemlet is AppoxieSculpt clay as I was experimenting to see if I could get a bit more texture. The shiny amber blob on the helmet is a tiny dab of Gorilla Glue; I couldn't figure out to make the helmet a bit more three dimensional by giving it a dome shaped quality. My "super glues" were either too thick or too thin to reliably form and hold a dome shape before trying, but Gorilla Glue seemed just right and resulted in a very symmetrical dome shape, especially viewed from the side (the tiny air bubbles are not pock marking the surface, but are buried in the blob and won't be visible after painting. 
 

 
Finally, instead of making the helmet from 0.13mm thick styrene, I beefed it up to 1mm thick and then added additional pieces for the protective visor and cheekpiece in an attempt to make the helmet have areas with varying thickness to hopefully create some shadows, as it is the centerpiece of the assembly. Of course, I am not satisfied with the original helmets that I made! (these are very simple helmets with no plumes, so they should be easy to remake).
 

 
However, I am a bit burned out on helmets and need to try a "one off" TOW that has a different shape (with NO helmets)... the weaponry will be very easy to make from 28 guage copper wire.
 

 
 
 
 

And the pumps were also due.  


First the elm tree pump. There is a protective bracket to protect the handle and the two through-pipes for the two lower decks are also included. In order not to have a pinch-off point, the handle was printed free-flying, diameter 0.5 mm x 0.5 mm. It came out straight, but when washed in acetone it bent uniformly on all prints. It's better to make a connection at the top for the next print in the hope of minimizing warping during washing.

Therefore, a glass of hot water, briefly dipped in ...



... kept in shape while cooling down and - tata ! - everything is straight again 🙂



Here is the comparison picture. So never cold bend resin, it works wonderfully with heat!

Then I discovered that I had made a 0.15 mm hole in the 0.5 mm x 0.5 mm handle.



Checked the passage with a wire ...



... and pulled in a rope. It actually really worked 🙂
The wooden clamp is not a standard one but a mini clamp ;-)

And the chain pumps have also arrived.

XXXDAn

Hello,
after I build the last days toggles in all variations, I build today the rudder. Tomorrow I will start then with the tiller.

Oh God, now the building report has actually slipped so far down that archaeological excavations were almost necessary to find it again ...

A lot of business in the business, vacation, home garden, garden plot and life itself - lots of things that can get in the way and prevent you from tinkering.

But a little something did happen. On request, I did a bit of research into the deck accessories. First the riding bitts. Another small kit in itself of 10 parts.


XXXDAn

Rudder done!

Thank you druxey.
I continue with the planking of the stern. First it was necessary to make another rather complicated part defining the extension of the sides at the stern. The part is "shaped" in all three axes and the production is quite complex.

Spent time finishing up the forecastle front and companionways.  I also added a foul weather shutter partially open exposing the window behind.  
 
Rob

Hello,
just to give you a sign of life, I'm currently building blocks and cleats. Today, new yarn has finally arrived, so the rope production will soon also begin.

Began the forecastle face and companionways.  
 
Rob

For fun, I decided to add the figurehead. 
 
Rob

HI everyone,
A long time since my last post. I realized that I was getting to far ahead of myself, building up the stern with everything just pinned. I needed first to paint the lower and upper counters before I could actually start assembling things.
 
And learning how to paint the friezes was a major learning curve!
 
I greatly followed David Antscherl's advice on painting in the Fully Frame Model, vol. II section 7.26. It was exceptionally helpful for everything from paint and brushes to technique.
 
Alas, I discovered after a great deal of experimentation that hand painting alone did not work well for me. Particularly for the background Prussian blue and the letters "Bellona" on the stern, I needed a way to get things sharper and more even in tone. So, I turned to my airbrush. I masked everything but the counter and sprayed away.
 
 

I glued artist's frisk onto a print of the upper counter letters and frieze elements (a woman riding a sea monster, a man riding a galloping horse). I could then turn the frisk/print every which way on my light table, and very carefully cut the frisk with a scalpel. I then attached the frisk and sprayed everything that would be the yellow ochre base for all of the frieze work:
 

I then used white graphite transfer paper to trace the rest of the pattern onto the surfaces:
 

Then following David's advice of painting highlights and shadows on the basic forms, I eventually got to an imperfect copy of the original Bellona model:
 

I learned to admire those original model builders for their painting skill. Try as I might, I just could not get to the same level of skill. But as good as I can do! So, moving on to actually gluing together the stern!
 
I did learn a few good things that I will pass on for anyone else attempting these kinds of friezes.
 
First, after trying a number of airbrush and hand paint brands, I settled on Golden. They have the same colors in different densities, for airbrushing and hand painting; the colors match the historic colors I was looking for; they come in plastic bottles with ball bearing inside, for mixing. They spray without problems through my airbrush. And they are highly regarded in the artist community.
 
Second, I struggled with the acrylic paint drying too quickly on the palette when I was trying to mix colors. My son introduced me to the model gamers' favorite tool, the Army Painter Wet Palette. This tray holds a water saturated pad, upon which is placed a parchment sheet. Paint mixed on top of the parchment can stay wet and mixable for as long as 48 hours. A huge help!
 
A glass of wine tonight in celebration, and on to assembling the stern!
 
Mark
 
 

 
 
 

Masked and painted.   
 
Rob

@rwiederrich Rob, 
A Father’s Day gift of a sort for you. From Monthtly Nautical Magazine Quarterly Review, April 1855 there's an article on the 5 year old McKay California Fleet clipper Stag-Hound. While she had the fastest times among other clippers for the seasons she sailed in. I found a confirming spec that her masts raked 1 & 1/4" each instead of the erroneous 1 & 1/2" printed in the Boston Daily Atlas. There are 2 errata in this article: it's inconceivable that her keel clear of the garboards was 39" as that would leave an impossibly thin 7" for her inner keel. The specs in the Hall lists her outer keel as 30" leaving a more sensible 16" inner keel. In Cornelius McKay's handwritten specs lists her bowsprit steeve as 4.2" (19.34° inclination) not the more aggressive 4 & 1/2" (20.56° inclination) of this article. As we've discussed, using multiple historic sources results in greater accuracy.

I have become intrigued with the concept of "how small can things be accurately made..?"... for example, observing what Marc LaGuardia (Hubac's Historian) has accomplished on his build, as well as sources like Phillip Reed's books/videos..
 
So on to my second set of twelve total sets of trophies of war.... I had speculated that I would be done with all twelve sets in "10-12 days..."... ummmmm, not going to happen. 
 

 

 
OK... I see the helmet is plain (I used Apoxie Sculpt to make the plume), and my spear points aren't pointy and half a dozen other flaws. However, when I remind myself that you can only add so much detail at this 1/100 scale, and that this is the view that people are going to see.... I can live with this and move on to the next. And you may note I ;eft off an axe head and the handle of a sword; I left them off as it madeit even more cluttered - and I figured the ridged detail of the quiver would attract the eye, anyway....
 

 
I made the rolled up quiver a bit longer, as I wanted the eye to be drawn to the quiver. I glued 25mm lengths of 28 guage copper wire onto a 1.5mm half rod. And as Clint Eastwood observed.. "a man's got to know his limitations..", I knew that I couldn't apply the cross straps freehand. I had to make a jig to guide my pattern. 
 

 
And after dousing the paper strips in thin set cyano, I ended up with a blank to cut my 4 pieces from to make two trophies of war. Then it was just a question of making the other parts of the trophy. I am just going to leave well enough alone and move on to the third set!
 

 
Regarding how small can you accurately represent things? For some reason, I really got hung up on making a tiny gun tackle rod/washer on the outside of the hull, per this Dutch drawing that shows how a wedge was hammered in to hold things in place. However... I knew my limitations and no way could I attempt to make 400+ of these!!!
 

 
Until I went back to Nigel's Soleil Royal build, and remembered he had ordered some beautiful cannon and gun carriages from Kris at Skutznik (Poland) who did 3D resin printing. So I contacted Kris... and am getting 110 cannon and 36 gun carriages (I will only use these carriages on the upper decks where they will be visible)! The cannon will be bore size and length appropriate, thus saving me weeks of time working on the kit pices to "beef" them up.
 
But then I had a thought.. how small can pieces be made? Could Kris make the gun tackle rod/washer/wedge at a tiny, tiny scale? He said that he would give it a try, and a week later.... I have ordered 500 total pieces from him! The washer is all of 0.026" in diameter, and the rod is only 0.011" in diameter. At normal viewing distance, you can just make out the wedge. I was already drilling 4 holes at every gun port to put my tiny copper nails in, where the round head would simulate the washer, and I was going to stop there. But instead of inserting nails in the holes, I will simply insert these pieces and have a rod/washer AND a wedge!
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

Thank you guys.
To Chris - I don't like the black caulking between the planks to be too prominent, so the caulking here is created only by blackening the edge of the plank with a pencil so that it is not too prominent. The only exception is the planks on the decks, where the caulking is created with black paper. Here this color contrast makes a bit more sense (at least from my point of view).
I continue by planing the "thicker" part of the bow.

The main deck is pretty much completed, at the exception of the hooks required to rig the guns.
 

 

 

 
The support of the front mast has been completed on both sides: a rather unusual piece of equipment on a period ship...
 

 
I am not attaching the front shield yet, as I think it is too fragile and prone to breaking. This is what it will look like:  
 

 
I really need to concentrate on the stern at this stage. I have been procrastinating it, but the mizzen mast and the stern extension are calling for my attention: 
 

 
An overall view of the model, as it stands today: 
 

 
Yves

Hello,
it is done, the deck is finished. That was no easy job, at least in the stern and stem. I'm waiting now for the second oiling, and build in that time may be the rudder, some cleats or toggles.




And that is all you could see from the interior. Just some frames and parts of the mast step. But I have the pictures.

I am starting to carve my trophies of war that will be displayed between the middle gun deck ports. There are twelve "trophies" on the St. Philippe monograph, and conveniently, I have twelve spots that need filling... twelve trophies, two copies of each (and since they will be displayed on different sides of the ship, I don't have to agonize over making them identical as I had to do with the dolphin carvings.
 
Here is the end result of my first trophy of war pattern (there are some tiny corrections to make, but honestly they will be very difficult to observe at a normal viewing distance). Conveniently, the ship kit has six trophies of war featured on the quarter, but as shown below, they are just too big for me to use...
 

 
It required about two hours of time to make the first two copies; I chose the easiest pattern to start! First, I had to settle on the appropriate size of the St. Philippe trophies so the tiny photocopies could be glued to styrene sheet.
 

 
Conveniently, five of the twelve trophies use an identical shield, so my first step was to make ten shields (five face right, and the other five face left).
 

 
The next step was to carve out a tiny helmet - my small wood gouges really helped with the curves here.
 

 
And this is what the first trophy looks like overlaid on the 1:24 size copy. There is a tiny bit of cleanup work, but it will be very hard to see at normal viewing distance; I exaggerated the size of the crest on the helmet so that it could be seen. I even tried to make the protective cheek and ear flaps for the helmet, but they were so small and hard to see, I decided that step wasn't worth it. 
 
Now on to the second set of trophies; this will probably take 10-14 days to finish, but it will be worth it.
 

 

Planking between wales and molding rails completed.