rybakov

So, I’ve managed to make some progress.  I finished painting the deck hardware.  On the one hand, the degree of detailing I put into the lin-stock tubs may seem like overkill for something so small, that is largely overshadowed by the waist gangways.  However, I truly enjoyed the process of engraving them, boring them out, banding them, painting/weathering them, and making ears and annealed wire handles for them.  It gave me the sense, once again, that I was engaged with the project, in the limited time I had available.


For placing these tiny items where clumsy fingers fear to tread, I found that wall-tack putty rolled around the end of a toothpick enabled me to place these items precisely, in the limited time before the CA sets.

I did make one shot-rack placement error, but it will be completely concealed beneath the f’ocsle deck.  It wasn’t worth creating a paint repair problem.
 
Now, I still have cleats and blocks and cavals to place on the main deck.  I still also have to belay sheet and tack lines to the inner bulwarks for the eventual rigging.  I had momentum, though, and wanted to continue making significant progress.  I decided to begin detailing the f’ocsle deck as a motivator to finally route my belay points on the main deck, so that the whole project can move forward.



A few of these plank lines are a little ragged, but from most perspectives those flaws will not be very apparent.  I found that, at first, I was moving a little too quickly with the engraving, and not taking enough score passes to create a clean channel to back-drag the tip of my blade.  The proof will be in the paint, when those lines really jump out, but I think it will be okay.
 
Next up, I decided to make the galley chimneys:


I blacken the edges with graphite, so that I can more easily gauge the bevels I am filing into them.



Next up - I wanted to make a f’ocsle capstan because I see evidence of one on the Louis Quinze model at the musee.

A montage:

The foundation of the machine are 4 pcs of .100 square stock cemented together, and then trimmed to 3/16” square.  I then faceted the barrel into an octagon:











I am always looking for places where I can re-purpose the stock ornamentation, and these radiant fleurs from the quarter galleries seemed like a fitting complement to this machine.

The capstan will stand four scale feet above deck and the capstan bars will just clear the height of the chimneys:

All-in-all, this little machine was one of my favorite elements to make for this project.  I still have to make the capstan locking pawls that engage at the foot of the machine.
 
Next, I think I will design the break rail and belfry.  Thank you, as always, for the likes and looking-in.
 
 

 
 

Work is very slow, as college soccer season is in full swing... and there aren't many boating days left, so you have to enjoy them while you can!
 
The last decorations I really have to make are the dolphin hance pieces. I have two drops in the railing at the aft of the ship, so I need four dolphins. I created two dolphin hance pieces over a year ago, but I created those free-form and I think that I can do a lot better.
 
One of the key things that I have learned, especially by watching what Marc LaGuardia does, is to have a template. Months ago, I finally drew a template when I was designing the new head for SR 1671, and it made the process much easier. So I have been using templates whenever possible since then.
 
I found a dolphin in a fountain at Versailles that I really liked, and I created a drawing (using the exact dimensions of the railing).
 

 

 
I cut out a very rough template to check the fit, and was satisfied.
 

 
Now the thing that I need most is patience, as I really have to let the ApoxieSculpt dry overnight, else all is ruined. You can see my original hance piece from last year (bottom of the picture), and the scale will be much better. The half-piece at top has been built up with two thin layers of ApoxieScuplt on the 0.5mm thick Evergreen template. I am trying to add some subtle details, like lines and fish scales... if they don't dry overnight - they are lost!
 

 
The tweezers is holding onto a tiny 1mm thick disc glued to the body stock. This will allow me to offset the tail from the main plane of the body, like the foundtain dolphin at Versailles. It will realistically take me another 3-4 days of work to finish this first one - 15 minutes of work, then 16 hours of drying! However, once I have the process down, I will just build the other three hance pieces together, step by step. 
 

 
Note below the original template, which is one piece. I quickly found that it worked much better if I seperated the body from the tail, then added the tail at the end.
 

 

And there is TOW #12.. designed to fit into this small space..
 

 
Here is a broadside view, with the TOW's in no particularorder. Toward the stern, where the wales sweep up, I will use a 0.5mm thick backing plate (that matches the wale thickness) to sit the TOWs directly on the wale...
 

Camp is over and back to, and that allowed me to finish Trophy Of War #10.... only two more TOW to go, so the finish line really is in sight. This TOW is not quite done...  I experimented with oversizing the sword so it could be seen easier. It looks too big to me when it is laying on the hull, so I will downsize the sword hilt and point. The  various strips in the skirt appear to have large "buttons" (decorations) at the top at the waistline; I snipped off some of the really tiny nail heads that I have and applied a few. I will add a few more as shown in the St Phillippe monograph drawing, but frankly, who will ever notice that little detail? You may note that I did NOT choose to contour or shape the armored breastplate, as apparently shown by the subtle lines on the midsection of the drawing.... that appeared to be way too much work for little gain.
 
I have referred to Marc's post #356 above multiple times, which is Hyatt’s description of the first Royal Louis in 1677. The apparent use of gold is extraordinary to me, and it makes sense that the first Soleil Royal would also be completely festooned with gold decorations, listons d' or, Trophies Of War, etc. I haven't painted a model in 45 years, let alone used an air brush, so there will clearly be a steep (but hopefully short) learning curve!
 

 
And the menagerie grows...
 

So, your first question caused me to focus on the fact that you have, in many cases, metal rods cris-crossing behind the shields.  As they are, if you simply tried to glue the trophies to the hull, they would invariably pivot unevenly on the lowest placed element.  This would be a weak bond.  My solution to this problem is essentially what you are proposing; behind and within the footprint of the shields, I would glue styrene pads in 2-3 places that then become my glue points to the hull.  This ensures a strong bond, and that your shield ornaments would sit evenly on the hull.
 
One thing you don’t want would be to have cris-crossed cannon barrels, for example, hanging freely above the hull planking.  Portions of ornaments, such as these, should also be supported from behind and firmly attached to the hull.
 
I also agree with you that you will want to glue down the upper port surrounds and frieze elements before painting.  You could wait to affix these ornaments until after painting the upper works, however, it would be advise-able to scrape away a small paint patch for glue.
 
For small things like fleur-de-lis, this is difficult to achieve within the small footprint of such an ornament.  It is far easier to become practiced at detail painting, in place.  Glue a small field of fleurs to a spare hull part and practice.  I have found that the best way to achieve a sense of depth on the painted ornament is to continually adjust the angle of approach, so that I can always see exactly where the tip of my brush is.
 
When looking at my model, for example, please keep in-mind that while I AM very good at this kind of detail painting - What you are looking at is the end result of numerous rounds of retouching.  It looks very close to perfect because I kept revisiting this and that flaw over a long period of time.
 
As for extending the bronzing protocol to the ornament and port surrounds above the main deck, this is something I would personally avoid.  While it is absolutely true that gold leaf budgets were more closely adhered to in the 1680s and 90s, these first two capital ships of the new Navy, SR and the RL, were always intended to be spectacular realizations of the Monarch’s power and influence.
 
Just as Versailles is blanketed in gold leaf, I think it likely that gold was used much more liberally on the first launchings of these two iconic ships.  I think that, largely, because Hyatt’s description of the first RL in 1677, just before her first refit, paints a fairly vivid picture of her ornamental works.  I have translated and tried to clarify some of the ship nomenclature, throughout:


“The smooth dourdy [lower transom] is enriched outside laurel leaves with shells seashell on it, all of ore has perfection.

Over there is a marine horse at each coast [side of the lower transom] and four large consoles that support the first baterie [lower stern balcony], above which there is a very beautiful cul de feu lamp [concealing the rudder head and stern post].
 
The first gallery, at the height of support is all dotted with fleurs-de-lys d'oreen [in gold], on which are affixed four sirens that serve as a support for the second gallery, and costez [along the side galleries] three tritons and two consoles with a frieze that runs all around, where are the arms of Monseigneur le Duc de Beaufort, supported also by two tritons holding an anchor with one hand; on the starboard side Neptune and Thetys on the left, with a babe at their feet, present[ing] in the divinity of the riches of the earth and the sea, which they then present to the figure of the king, who is in his throne of justice above the third gallery in relief and gold. as well as the whole stern, with a slave of each side and a cornice of gold which reigns all along the ship [sheer rail all in gold?], with trophies joining the said divinities.
 
On each corner, from above, there is a renomee [fame] each holding a trumpet.

On the second cornice at the coronation, which has the same effect as the other, are two affixed figures holding in their hands a crown of laurel on the head of the King, of one side, and on the other an olive branch.
 
On the third floor [quarter deck level] there is a balcony, two feet high, where the king's arms are in a medal, on which there are four capitals, or four half-bodied figures, all of them representing the four parts of the world.
 
All portals of ports [gunport lids] are adorned with fleurs-de-lis, figures of the King, lyres, and suns.  All between the wales [from the quarter deck level to the sheer railing] there is a frieze in gold which reigns all along the ship, of fleurs-de-lis, also of gold.
 
Between the ports of the second baterie there are trophies of the navy, all of them between lasses of peles [?indescipherable?] and anchors of the same.

Those [ports] of the third gundeck are adorned with a frame of foliage with griffins on the sides, all of gold in perfection.

At the highest wale [beneath the sheer rail at the poop deck level] there are consoles of space in space, with festoons between two, all in gold.
 
The sides of the vessel with smooth are enriched with fleurs-de-lys golden with molures[?].

The whole mirror, in other words, the guardianship of the vessel is blue in color with golden fleur-de-lis [the stern/tafferal, I suppose].
 
THE BOW
 
At the bow of the vessel there are two great escolats, two half-wives, whose bottom ends in foliage running along the precients.

All precients of the bow are the same, with consoles from below the bows and florets gild space to space.
 
The figurehead is a renowne [fame] holding the king's arms, with a little triton underneath, which has it to wear them, all of which is excellent.

The crane carriers [cathead supports] are two big tritons of gold.  At the face of the castle of Prou [beakhead bulkhead] there are two children in low relief of gold who carry one a laurel and the other a palm, are an escort or are the arms of the King. The whole bow is adorned, even the herpes [head rails] of fleur-de-lis and the figures of the King of the Golden Crown in perfection.

Okay, now you are getting to the fun part - bringing all of this to life!
 
For your same stated reasons, I would steer away from bright gold or yellow ocher.  The admiralty style model of the SP chose yellow ocher, but this can be a bit much:

You could go the route of John Ott, and use a light sand color as a base, and then overlay that with a darker brown, translucent acrylic wash that will get into all the crevices and give the TsOW some depth.

Personally, I would avoid anything too polychrome.  You don’t want the ship to look like the U.N.
 
However, if this were my model to paint, I would probably take one of the following approaches.
 
First approach:
 
Over a primer base (flat black), I would spray a uniform, matte acrylic dark bronze (almost black, but still brownish).  Over that, I would selectively dry-brush either a bright bronze metallic acrylic, or I’d dry brush bright metallic bronze powders (later sprayed with a matte, clear fixative).  These types of powders are available through the same outlets that supply railroad modelers. The idea is to merely catch the highlights, here and there; part of a shield edge, here, a spear shaft there, etc.  You are trying to avoid any sense of gloppiness in the dry-brushing.  There are endless dry-brushing tutorials on YT.
 
The advantages of this approach are several.  If there are any particular aspects of any given trophy that you wish to de-emphasize, then they will fade into the background of the darker base color.  Overall, the TOW will show a strong contrasting silhouette against whatever color you choose to paint the planking of the hull.  The bright bronze highlights draw attention to where you want it most.
 
Second Approach:
 
This is a slightly more advanced (read: more work) version of the above, which should yield an even greater sense of depth.
 
Over a black primer, airbrush a matte acrylic dark brown that is not nearly as dark as the black bronze, but not too light either.  Over that I would spray a clear acrylic dark brown wash (matte) that will get into all of the crevices.  Finally, I’d dry-brush with either bright bronze acrylic paint or powders.
 
As for prepping your hull to paint, here is what I would do - so far as the TsOW are concerned.  First, clean both hull halves in light, soapy water.  Once dry, I would place a patch of blue paiters’ masking tape, in each TOW position.  Rub the tape down firmly with the pad of your finger.  Sharpen a #2 pencil to a WICKED point.  Holding each TOW in-place with light finger pressure, lightly trace its outline onto the blue tape.  Be sure to stay as close to the border of the TOW as possible (the reason for that wicked point).  For the trophies where there is a profusion of thin shafts, and flag staffs protruding outside of the shields, I would not concern myself with masking outside of the shield.
 
Next, use a razor sharp EXACTO (#11) to  cut a heavy 1/32” inside those lines.  Doing so, will ensure that you have a good-sized glue area (mostly the shield area, but also cannon barrels, flags, etc), and that the shield will overlay the planking color completely.  Finally, pull away the outer tape, and your hull is ready for primer and paint.
 
I would also spare myself the difficulty of painting the TsOW on the model.  I would simply follow one of the above paint protocols, off-model, and then you can attach them and have perfect borders.  As you noted before, this also enables you to distress wash your hull planking without the encumbrance of the TsOW.

The eighth set of twelve Trophies Of War are finished. This one was a it more complicated.... I had to make the torches larger at 2mm wide than than the 1mm wide proportions that were drawn in the St Phillippe monograph, as they would have been too ridiculously small for me to make! I incorporated a brand new material to make the tiny balls on the end of the torches... #9 shot from my bird hunting shells (I tried ApoxieSculpt at first, but couldn't make balls as smooth and round as lead shot was).
 

 
For the torch flames, I found some old wire in my tool box and lightly tapped it with a hammer to try and make some broad "flames".
 

 
Next, I cut individual snippets of wire and inserted them into the "torch" . The torch was a short length of 2mm round stock that I drilled a 1.5mm hole into to insert the flames, and then I split the round stock down the middle to yield half a tube. I then glued the half tube to 0.13mm sheet to give it some backing, then I simply cut the torch base out after the flames had been glued in.
 

 
Finally, here are the previous seven sets of TOW... note that my first attempt was in the upper left, and then we move across the first row, and then the second row to end with my seventh attempt in the lower right.
 
I am thinking down the road about how these would have been painted. My assumption is, even on SR 1671, that cost constraints would have prevented them from painted gold (let alone gold leaf). Perhaps a bronze color? I owuld think they need a bit more pop than yellow ocher.

Halfway through the Trophies of War collection... again, these TOW will decorate the spaces between the middle deck gun ports. First, the fifth set is completed. You may notice subtle differences, such as the size of the helmet plumes, etc. as I experiment to see if something that I prefer more can be applied to the next sets of TOW (and no one will ever notice the slight differences as the TOW's will be displayed on opposite sides of the ship).
 
I added one set of tassel strings to every flag - not two tassels as in the St Philippe monograph drawing - just to see if I liked it. Frankly, they are so tiny (2# test monofilament), I doubt anyone will ever notice them. Oh - and flanking on each side are the original TOW sizes that I made for this symbol; I decided they were way too small.
 

 
And then I finished one of the sixth set TOW's.... this took a lot of work on the blacksmith shop, but I created a stockpile of arms for the remaining TOW's as well....
 

 
I know that I benefit from having jigs if I am making multiple copies of something. So, to make the axe blades appear consistent, I didn't have a jig, but I simply glued photo copies of the axe blades to flattened copper wire, and then just cut them out with a blade.
 

Well, I wasn't going to post today, as I have finished only one (of two) of the sixth set of the Trophies Of War; but I received a package in the mail and am very excited! So TOW first... here is the result... about 95% completed.
 

 
And here is what I was trying to emulate.. by the way.. are those tassels on the end of the flags really a detail that would somehow have been carved in?? I tried, and made some tassels from 2# test monofilament fishing line. It was actually very easy to do, but they looked so fragile, and... it just doesn't seem realistic to me that somehow tassels would be carved from wood and somehow dangle like they are in the St. Phillipe monograph!
 

 
I had several hours of time in the early morning, and this TOW really flew by. First, because it was the sixth one and the practice really helps, and second, I had already made the flags and some other minor parts. I did scrap my first attempt, as it was just too small for my liking (I make a photocopy from the St. Phillipe monograph, which is 1:24 scale, and shrink it down to 1:96 scale for my model). I wanted a bigger helmet and fluer de lis!
 
Minor things to note... #1, I was frustrated at trying to make perfect rings from Evergreen, so I finally used 24 gauge copper wire that I wrapped around a 5mm drill bit and soldered the ends together. #2, the helmet is not my usual effort of Gorilla Glue (which I have been using to get a domed, 3D appearance). but is a resin cast of a tiny helmet that is on the Heller kit quarter galleries. #3, I used a paper thin sheet of ApoxieSculpt for the plume.
 

 
Here is a picture of the helmet and the resultant resin cast - which I like better than Gorilla Glue, at least in this instance.
 

 
And now the mail.... my cannons and gun carriages from Kris/Skutznik in Poland arrived! The kit barrels are ostensibly 24#, 18#, 12#, and 8#. After first finding out about Kris on Nigel's (NMBROOK on SOS) Soleil Royal build log, I ordered 110 barrels in 36#, 18#, 12#, 8#, and 4# sizes... I also ordered 30 gun carriages of appropriate size for the cannon that will be visible on the upper deck (I will use the kit carriages for the lower deck).
 
I am very pleased with the barrels from Kris; the Heller kit barrels are incredibly detailed, but... the "but" is that I would have to glue them all together and builk them up somehow (likely as Hubac's Historian did). Now, I don't have to do anything but paint them, and I have the precise barrel lengths and bores that I wanted... you can see how the barrels from Kris maintain their beefiness compared to the kit even as the barrels go down in size.
 

 
And the gun carriages are extremely detailed already... with wedges in the wheel axles, and even a quoin. So as much fun - and time spent - as I am having making my own Trophies Of War, I am very happy to get something like cannons and carriages that I won't have to sink all of that time into! Certainly there will be work to do on the carriages, but nothing like it would have been. Ohh - and I won't have to move the trunnions back for a proper fit of cannon to gun carriage, nor move the kit wheel axles either.
 

The 5th set of Trophy's Of War is completed...
 

 
 
Up veeerryyy close, I can still see things that I am not happy with. The resin casting in the center was made from a head on on of the kit quarter gallery pieces, but it just doesn't show precise features at this scale. On the other hand, when you zoom out to a normnal viewing distance... it doesn;t seem to matter.
 

 
The TOW in the center is what I was trying to create...
 

 
I think my technique for making the flags was helpful (roll ApoxieSculpt out into paper thin sheets and then freeze it). I also used some 8# cannon pieces from the kit to make the cannon barrels. Here are the various pieces before assembly - minus the tiny fluer de lis that are on the flag poles and the crown.
 

Phew... this 4th Trophy Of War has been the most complicated yet. This is what I ended up with, and paired with the drawing that I was trying to emulate. Without a doubt, wrapping the "rope" around the anchors was the most difficult part of this exercise! I still have to add a tiny piece of rope to the upper left anchor eyelet, but I want the glue bonds to dry thoroughly first.
 
 

 

 
I continued my extensive use of copper wire, tapping different guage sizes into flat sheets to make the flukes, the decorative bands on the shield, the fletching of the spear, etc. I am finding that in some situations, using copper wire is easier/faster than using Evergreen sheet or ApoxieSculpt. For example, several light taps on 28 guage copper wire made a plausible fletching on a spear. I manufactured all of the component parts for both TOW before assembling both together at the same time.
 
My other TOWs followed a predicatable pattern... make the first set and then decide I can do better. I will NOT make this set over... I can live with this!
 
 

 

 
And a parting shot from normal viewing distance.... yeah, I can live with this first effort.
 

Time to continue with the big launch.

The masts have been redesigned, with details taken from Steel.



I keep noticing that thin printed parts such as oars and masts warp after painting. See the upper half of the picture.



After a quick dip in hot water, they are straight again, see bottom half http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif I simplified the rigging of the launch and combined various sources. As with the Hermione boats, the eye bolts were no longer attached to the top of the gunwale but underneath on the frames. It looks much clearer. Here is the first dummy rig with the newly positioned attachment points.



Once rigged, it looks like this. I actually wanted to work without stays, but due to the stubborn rigging, this is hardly possible without curvature. The mainstay should then of course lead to the foot of the foremast.







Here are the attachment points in detail. The running end is wrapped around a cleat, but not yet stowed.







And the sails are also waiting to be processed http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif



XXXDAn

In the meantime I was working a bit on the big guns, here are some samples.


More on that adventure here :
 

And we continued with the lugger-rigged version of the large launch.

First came the masts. I took the measurements from W. E. May's summary, but they also correspond fairly closely to the French measurements. The strength of the lugger rig is its simplicity. Insert the pre-rigged mast, hook in the pairs of backstays on both sides with the standing end, hook the tackles in the middle, and belay the free end. The halyard of the sail is already sheared through in the masthead, so the sail is immediately hoisted, the tack, sheet and brail are secured, and off you go.



In my scrap box, I charmingly found a sample from my sandwich sail tests from 2017 – yes, I actually keep such things for that long – and the sizes I need fit quite well, even avoiding the messy areas. I developed the material back then to combine the advantages of fabric as an elastic material and paper for a more true-to-scale surface. Thin strips of restoration repair paper are ironed onto both sides of a layer of silk to create a sandwich that resembles closely the visual properties of the sails. It is also unbeatable for folding and stowing. However, at the time, I did not yet have a model that was ready for me to use it on ...




I took the angles from Steel's drawings, but I had to mark the radius at the bottom – one of the differences to French sails – with a pen and thread, as the radius is larger than my templates.



I shortened the furled sails by approx. 25%, i.e. below the lower reefing band, which I had also omitted for this purpose.

The surrounding leech was glued on and the eyes for the brails were added.



If necessary, I'll even clamp a sail in a vice 😉



And then it was time to fold and fiddle around.



And then it was adjusted to fit the storage space.




Together with the masts in place looks quite cheerful and full. Two barrels have also found their way there. Who can find them?







It's great to finally be able to use the sails developed eight years ago in a model myself. Some modeling friends have already impressively demonstrated their potential. Thank them for that.

And I'm already testing out the next crazy ideas for my boat collection...




XXXDAn
 
 
 

At the same time, work continued on the boats, especially on the 32-foot launch.

The nice thing about printing is that you can simply repeat, so suddenly there were 4 hulls in front of me. What am I supposed to do with them again?


The little devilish voice inside me then came immediately: Build it! Build it!

Well, that's the way it happened.


Here are the 4 steps of the interior: Priming black to prevent flashes, dark brown for the inner body, thin black ink for depth and usage, and white drybrush to bring out the textures again.

On the other hand, I painted the interior parts with a lighter shade of brown, inked and brushed them to emphasise them a little. It could also have been interpreted as different wood.

But when I looked at it ...



... and compared it with the first launch at the front in a completely lighter colour ...

... it looked too much like a toy to me, and the dafi had to do what it does best - tear it down! - and everything flew out again ...


... and the inside of the boats has been coloured lighter. Fits much better now http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif


Here is a picture showing how the barrels fit - that's easily over 7 tonnes of weight -, in the middle the rowing version, and the third one still without thwarts , where you can see the height of the stretchers above the inner floor. Then you can also see that the rowers' feet would otherwise have been hanging in the air and intensive pulling would not have been so successful.

So that I don't always get the thwarts mixed up, I have given them markings on the underside. The stretchers too, by the way.

XXXDAn

And once again I've made a mistake. This drawing from 1815 shows the loading of the large launch with barrels of drinking water.



And so, of course, I had to know how big the barrels were in order to put them in my launch. These large barrels are so-called Leaguers with the equivalent of 480 liters. So with wood, they weigh over half a ton. And then 14 of them in the boat, making well over 7 tons.

The research was somewhat difficult, as the volumes are often mentioned, but not the exact dimensions. In the meantime, I have researched the sizes of the whole family more or less reliably, so that I was able to start on the models.

Here are the 3 sizes for the model: Leaguer 480 liters, Puncheon 318 liters, Hogshead 200 liters and a small powder keg. Each in three parts, as I don't want the supports to be visible as usual.



Family picture with avatar.



And after priming and inking came the challenge: blackening the hoops.





At the back right was with the brush. On a good day, I get a few hoops, but then it's all over. Okay, that wasn't a particularly good day anyway. So I tried the back left with a felt-tip pen, which was better, but still uneven and above all an unpleasant metallic-reddish sheen.

And in front a completely different approach, because I remembered that the prints are made of black resin. I quickly tried to see if sanding the hoops worked, and lo and behold ...



... it works like a charm!



The powder keg was given its copper hoops and light-colored withy rings and joined the others. No iron hoops on purpose, because they could cause sparks and that would be really stupid. The copper is also nicely embedded between the withy rings so that it doesn't stick out. There are wonderful artifacts showing this, recovered from the HMS Invincible, which sank in 1758.

And that brings us very close to what I wanted 🙂

XXXDAn

I had finally found the time to finish off a few little things around the stove. It was slowly becoming what I wanted http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif

Here are two colour versions, one with a classic red brick floor and one with the typical southern English yellow-beige floor covering.



And here in the detail shots you can also see the warming trays that could be hung on the handrail of the cooker.


Of course, the stove also includes the kitchen area. I have chosen the wickerwork that can be seen on the contemporary model of the Princess Royal and others.



The whole thing is a cute little kit of 22 parts. The drive chain is twisted copper wire and the rail is bent wire, for which there is a template.



Here are a few more details:

The base plate with catch tray and tube for the fresh air supply from the deck below ...



... the stove body ...



... the holders for the skewers ...



... the distiller with all its attachments ...



... ... and the cowl, all that's missing is the round cover plate against rain and storm.



As usual, the ensemble was finished with a little diluted ink and a white drybrush, and the metal parts with a little graphite.

XXXDAn






PS: And it took me a while before I had the courage to print the warming trays directly and completely. But all the attempts to glue the holders on with holders were just horrible in the result ...

 

Waiting for Godot ...

Since the geometry of the boats is highly complex, the printer has to run at the highest resolution, and that takes time ...

That's why I used the time in between to finish a few other things, or rather to give them a final polish.

All the bitts on the upper deck have now been joined by the bitts on the upper battery deck, which hold all the halyards of the main mast. Big strong things with nice rollers in the base.



Here with the swifel pump in between.



You can already admire them in the open heart of my Vic.


The matching deck beam supports. Cheaper by the dozen. A bit of drybrushing here too to modulate the shape.






Plus the small kit of the riding bitts and what you can be done with it.




And I would like to take this opportunity to out myself again: As much as I like and need high-quality tools, but often nothing beats the basics!



- A sheet of sandpaper on the table and you can make smooth and even strokes when sanding

- Sandpaper stuck to wooden sticks using double-sided tape allows sanding tools to be cut to the exact width of the workpiece using the width of the sticks. Some of the sticks shown here are exactly the width of the gunports of my Constitution.

- Right-angled blocks facilitate sanding at a 90° angle.

And when the paper is blunt, a new one is put on.


And here is the guessing game of what else I have prepared 😉



Best regards, Daniel

You can do everything you need to do with paths/splines in Photoshop CC plus have a much more logical workflow for the graphics, Illustrator is really for folks specializing in vector graphics for advertising or other graphic design.
 
I recently took Gerard Delacroix's Commerce de Marseille deck plan (with his permission) and did the below in Photoshop. I'm pretty sure this kind of detail is enough for what you need and as you can see you can generate depth without much difficulty - almost all of the shadows here are just painting very low strength black (like 95% translucent) with a soft-edged brush and building up those those strokes where it should be dark and not so much where it shouldn't be, and limiting where they go by working inside selected areas.
 

If 2D isn't good enough you need to go to 3D, CAD programs are the obvious choice there but I prefer 3d modeling programs, I think the workflows are much easier to use for creation of complex 3D objects, you can always export a DXF/DWG/OBJ and import into a CAD program if you need the plan/drawing generation features. However, the learning curve is both steep and long and it takes real commitment to learn enough to be reasonably productive. I've been using 3DS MAX since it was 3DSr4 for DOS in 1994 including off and on professionally, and there are still big sections of it that I have no clue about. So strongly suggest you go as far as you can 2D.
 
 
 

Alright, so I couldn't stop myself and I sketched in the dolphins to either side of the main deck windows.  Again, it seemed that these were elements that I couldn't simply scan in artwork, trace and scale to fit.  Maybe it really is as easy as that, but I wanted to sketch them to scale.  I also filled in the panel stiles of the middle deck level and settled on a new transitional line from the stern counter, just below the middle deck windows of the stern, and the upper stern; this would be the middle line, which I think strikes a nice balance and makes for a reasonably elegant transition.  But the paper really is starting to disintegrate on the crease.  So, this time I mean it;  digitize or bust!
 

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.