mtaylor

Hi Walt, I make the same wishes to you and Linda. I'm praying that 2015 will be better for all of us. Anyway, take your time and make yourself and your bride comfortable and happy. The ship isn't going anywhere and we'll be here.

I think "Wow" says it all. Are you using miniature hardware or simulating it? I'm seeing nuts/bolts that just add to the detail.

Sweeeeet.. I love that cutter.

Are you pointing to the bar between the two davits? If so, that's a griping bar. http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/9027-puddened-gripes/ See Frankie's post near the bottom of the page.

That's beautiful, Lee.

Thanks Robin. I'm thinking about getting that book. I've paused my build while I mill some planking wood and sort out some things.

Thanks Robin. This is a great way to sort things out and get input from others. Pity we can't all meet and talk over coffee or tea. Thanks Gaetan. That's what I was thinking but needed another input.

I'm going to steal Robin's (and others) titles for this.... put down some thoughts, confusion, observations, and see how they fly. First a bit of background: I've become tired of waiting on ANCRE for the translation of the Belle Poule monograph and am doing it myself. Which as I read leads me down other paths. Some good, some not so good. It was recommended that I use this monograph as a "guideline" for my Licorne since it's in the time period (they were together when they ran into Admiral Keppel's fleet and Belle Poule went on to much fame). I'm also Googling like crazy in the quest for information. Per my sources, Hahn had it wrong on the rig. The masting and yards might have the proper dimensions for Le Venus but the rig should be from Belle Poule. Le Venus has some (quite a bit actually) things that were not done at the time of Licorne and Belle Poule. I do have to be cautious as Belle Poule is "as built" but Licorne is "as captured" which was after a rebuild. Much is different from the "as captured" and "as built" when she was built in 1755. So... for the first of many questions and thoughts.... 1) The first port (chase or hunting port or as the English call it: bridle port). It wasn't until 1787 that this port had a gun fitted as standard practice. There was also a full size lid on it. The rest of the ports were open unless bad weather dictated installation of the covers. I'm going to follow this practice. 2) The NMM plans for HMS LIcorne are very clear on the cross-section about the wales and how they were done (they blend into the planking as they do down the hull). Belle Poule and other frigates of this period have them done that way. Originally Licorne had wales like the English ships. So.... would the thicker planking have continue upwards in the bow area like Belle Poule, Bonhomme Richard, and others? Or not? I'm leaning towards following those examples. See photo (I'm using Karl's photo. I hope he doesn't mind.) for what I think is right. It's the area highlighted in red : As I stumble through this, I'll add to it

1:64 isn't too bad, Alan. Some things do get really tiny, real fast, though. Have some fun and I hope to see some sawdust.

One other concept from Keith that some of us using is an offset on the fence such that it ends just past the front of the blade. Some use wood, some use metal. Here's pics of what I use and with the right blade, I can strip off 1/32" strips :

I have no working knowledge of the Byrnes Saw.. ok, that's the disclaimer but I had a similar issue on a different brand. Is the fence on straight to the blade? Is the wood going under the fence? Some folks have glue a piece of wood so it's flush to the table.

Bob, I "liked" not because of the news but because you had news. The news does make me sad, though.

Figuerres, I think you're thinking of the La Salle expedition. There's some good info here: http://nautarch.tamu.edu/academic/alum.htm Search on La Belle for info on the ship they have found. Around Tampa would have been heavily French and Spanish as the English were focused on the north part of the continent.

Short answer Frankie: Sam designed the kit. Somewhere in the production, things when to hell in a handbasket apparently. Rafine was building an early version (see his log for specifics). Sam got ill. Someone else finished or was involved in the rework for production. In the middle of all this, ME had management issues. It's still unclear to me what the issues were and how they were resolved.

Nicely done on the breeching ropes. You'll get faster since the first ones always take more time.

Mark & Druxey, Thanks for that info. I'll do that next time I make cannons. I knew about the center bit and it works a treat but holding the darn cannon without damaging it is a trick. Doing it before turning would be best. Hmm... note to self, don't start turning cannons now.

George, I'm glad you got the double posting sorted out. The one thing I've found about modeling these old ships has the same effect I found in engineering: "Every answer begats two more questions.". I guess I'll never get it all sorted out with that kind of progression.

Nice work on the mooring pipes. Are they made from wood? And that's a lovely snow. Gives one a good excuse to stay in and work on a model.

Just quick non-update. I'm still making planks and figuring out the planking and realized I had forgot to put in the feed-through sheaves in the side. So naturally, I had dig out the Belle Poule plans and figure out how many and what size... then the ropewalk came... what size sheaves for the rigging. Which meant, what size rigging lines. Since the monograph for Belle Poule is in French with the English version due out last month, I'm translating the pages covering the plans (some things just aren't clear to me still). I don't speak French but Google Translate does. So, everything is on hold because of a senior moment.

A neat idea on the blank placement, Denis. And a new avatar I see.

Mark, Did drilling the trunnion hole first cause any issues with the turning of the gun? I've thought of that but was concerned about chatter and possible cutter breakage. I've got one of those angle tool mounts on my lathe. They make doing things like cannon a lot easier.

Ouch, indeed. I thought I was the only one who "forgets" the tool is running. What the cam shops do is start with a solid billet, lathe to round, then while still on the lathe, make the cuts between the lobes and bearing points. They then set the billet up in the mill and do the lobes with an end cutter. If they have access to them, some billets are preforged with the low points already there so they don't have to mill between the lobes and bearing points just true the bearing surfaces and then take to the mill. The stuff is all CNC controlled so I don't know how they do the offsets, etc. for the shaping. Watching this is making me remember some things from a different era.... I think your plan is a good one... mill as one piece and then cut and pin to places needed.

If the deck isn't oiled, a touch of glue at each hole and a light sanding of the deck with fine sandpaper usually hides them. Not always, but usually. There's also fill the hole with wood filler and then sand and re-oil as that will make the holes less visible and more like a treenail would appear.

Quite a few of us have. Here's two links: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/2143-san-diego-maritime-museum/ http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/2141-pictures-san-diego-maritime-museum-movedretitled-by-moderator/ I thought there was more... hmm... It's well worth the visit to see not just Surprise (ok.. HMS Rose replica) but the models, the Star of India, etc. I'm not far north of you and if I could get there, you can too.

You're off to a great start and Augie gave you some good advice. I like what you did already with the keel and life rings.