mtaylor

Another masterpiece in progress!

More details around the head of the ship, the boomkins etc. Also added the various hooking points (ringbolts) for the bowsprit rigging  

The details of the stern, based on her 1890s photos. The rigging plan and as much as I could discern from the paintings will be in her 1820s configuration, but for everything else, I'll have to take some later details to fill in the gaps.

A short but productive day working on the gunwals, paint, masts and yards.
 
I needed to build the gunwales on the sides of the main deck. I used 4.0x0.4mm basswood. A little Tamiya Putty (Basis Type) made the edges fit in nicely. I also needed to build up the forecastle with 1mm thick basswood to avoid lowering the gunwales to accommodate the cannons.

 
By using the ready made diagram measurements, the masts and yards were easy to cut. The masts have a 5mm overlap which consisted of a filed recess to give the glue a flat surface to attach to and also help line up the mast sections. The threaded and glued ties also add strength and provide authentic effect. You may notice the colour coding on the mast bottoms so I don't get them confused. The top half of the mast are stained and the bottom halves are awaiting yellow ochre paint (as pointed out in my research). I used cocktail skewers and toothpicks for the masts and yards.

 
Finally, the first coat of Vallejo Yellow Ochre (70.913) and Vallejo Copper (77.710) were applied. As it works out, the divide between the TOP and BOTTOM blocks is where the waterline is. NB: I still have NOT glued the two halves together.

 
Tomorrow I hope to locate the portholes and start on the deck items and colour. Have a good one!
Cheers,

Next step is to do some serious shaping from top and side-on.
 
I glued (using PVA) a scale diagram on each side of the blocks using the top plan to line up the sides, and the orange lines on the join.

 
I used my Dremel but it still took about two hours.

 
With the help of a primer and some putty, the result is as 'smooth as a baby's ................. cheek!

 
It has been an enjoyable day.
Cheers,

Big guns are brought in for assistance...

better control and results but also lots of noise from machine itself and vacuum..

Happy modelling..
 

Thank you, MikeY.
I will poke around with combination of hand tools, milling machine, patience, etc and hopefully have some satisfactory result for me...
 
 

Sanding would never leave a perfectly flat surface, no matter how straight your hand is. Milling is the best, but if using handtools only or if mating curved pieces - then shave off the curved center area with a blade or a knife. If one really want to make the joint disappear - you can scrape the middle with a curved tool, creating a tiny ”shallow zone” 😊
Good luck with these!

Finally back on my Le Rochefort after building balsa planes for over a year. I’ve been figuring out where I left off. First thing is to taper the tops of the frames inside. They’re close now but I still have work to do on them. Since I used the Hahn method the bottoms, floors, chocks do not have the complex joints in each half of the frame. The keelson will be another major headache to notch and fit if I decide to notch it at all. I’m going to assemble this hull and when done and able to remove of from the jig take stock of it and decide to either continue or start over completely. 

Making the hawse holes at this stage was a mistake, so I blinded them with a wooden plug and will drill them again after the planking.

Are those wooden plugs in the hawse holes?

Very neat! Thanks for showing your milling setups, that is extremely useful and I am curiously examining every photo 😊

I continue to complete the bow.      

Working ratlines:

The lower foremast ratlines are done and the lower starboard main mast ratlines are done.

Beautiful work, and a beautiful vessel, Patrick. As usual your handiwork is superb. She's taking shape beautifully, and looks just like I'd imagined she would have in real life.
 
Steven

Thank you for the high praise. 
I see that the photo makes visible what the eye in ordinary life does not notice. And I see a lot of inaccuracies. Maybe I'll even try to make another attempt so that I can't be picked on in a macro photo as well. For me this is the ideal. And I have something to strive for. There are such masters who delight with their exceptional accuracy.
 
And at the same time I want to say that if you can see mistakes from the outside, you can safely talk about the problems that you have noticed. I will of course first curse anyone who sees mistakes and says that my work is far from ideal. Perhaps I will run around the computer for a while, show my tongue, beat myself with my fists in my chest and show my dissatisfaction in various other ways. But soon it will pass and I will definitely start listening to criticism. Alas, such behavior is the norm for almost every artist. It doesn't work without it. That's why I warn you in advance, so that you are ready for anything. The main thing is not to be afraid at such moments, not to show your fear of my grimaces and shouts and not to make any sudden movements. You may not even look me in the eye, sometimes that helps too. Remember, you are at a safe distance. I have rarely had time to run to people who criticize me who are more than 100 kilometers away from me. More often I've managed to cool off on the way. So that should be a calming thought too.
 
And it's also important to realize that pointing out my mistakes is very important. Because there is a possibility that my eyes may get tired and not notice the mistake. Which means I might notice the problem much later.  So after a tantrum, I'm pretty much 100% thankful for the advice. So criticism is really important to me as well. Almost as important as praise. Although who am I trying to kid? There's nothing better than praise. Thanks!!!!! THANK YOU!!!  
I'm also very happy that you're interested in reading my stories. It is also an important part of my life for me. I am not good at short stories. And I am very glad that the translator keeps the possibility to understand my stories and even the humor.

Lovely curves that you've cut. I also enjoy your sense of humor. Building one of these models requires that, I think!

Chapter 7 (unplanned).
About how the author reflects on time and finally gets to the main thing.
 
As I said at the end of the last chapter, the original plan was to put the issue about the side gallery dome in one issue. But then I decided that it would be better to split it into two parts because the text was too long. It was too tedious to type a large text. And even the online translator began to hang, swear and complain. So I decided to publish half of it before the translator completely destroyed everything I had time to translate.
In the morning, when I decided to continue publishing the story, I thought of one nuance.
 
And indeed, it is now the last days of May. Just a moment more and summer will come. Which means that about a year ago and took up this project. And I saw it as my usual carving work. I put my lion projects on hold because now was my chance to tackle new ways of carving. Except that in order to start carving for the Fulminant, I'd have to prepare a bridgehead first, build the stern of the ship. I expected it wouldn't take me very long. And what happened? It's been almost a year and I'm not even halfway through building the stern yet. I have the most challenging design and fabrication phases ahead of me. When will I get to the point where I can do the carving? And that realization was kind of scary to me. It told me that I had misjudged my strength. And one has to accelerate a lot to keep this project from becoming a perpetual thing. On the one hand, doing what you love and building a ship is wonderful. I certainly don't dare to start building my own ship. And this opportunity to do the ship is ideal. If I enjoy it, then let it go on for as long as possible. But at the same time, the thought makes me very sad. If it were my own project, I would not rush, but rather stretch the pleasure of each stage and each new task. But I made a promise to the customer. And I've already broken it. I've missed deadlines. And it's always weighing on me. 
Also, as much fun as it is to build the stern structure, I get a sense of longing when I look at the lion figurine I've put aside. When will I get back to this project? So eager to get back into carving again. I really miss the process.
And now, while finishing the dome structure of the side gallery, I realized my dream of returning to chisels and cutters. But first things first.
 I put the arch in its place and began designing the rest of the dome. 
 

 

 


On the historical sketch this element is drawn loosely. And this drawing can be represented in the finished design in different ways. I was faced with the task of making the design look realistic and at the same time not too different from the original. There were a lot of questions, for example, how to make the dome look three-dimensional, because in fact it is a flat part. Or what kind of materials to use so that the end result would be a balanced combination. Some time ago I already tried to rebuild Beren's drawing into my own version, and they differed from each other, as the ship's hull and the historical drawing had many differences. So now I was faced with having to make changes for the second time. I was not quite satisfied with what I had drawn once. I needed to look at certain nuances in more detail. For example, I came to the conclusion that I should change the original shape and size of the false window. 
The painted version now looked too big compared to the windows on the stern. And I didn't like it. I also decided to correct the dome and make it smaller.
Unfortunately, I can't show photos of intermediate stages of production. They just do not exist. At this point, my son left for a few days on a small trip with friends and took the camera with him. And before that, I broke my phone, so there was nothing to take photos with. So right after photos with paper templates will immediately follow photos with already finished dome.
 


This picture is the only one that can be called intermediate and working. Here I glue the inner part into the frame. At the same time I will explain a little what is this strange bar, which “stuck” to the dome. I made the frame of the dome the way it would be made in life. And in a shipyard, it would be assembled from several separate segments. And the sides would be made of separate boards. And because the joints are so small, it's easy to break off when working. So I glued a temporary strip on top of this joint, which gives additional rigidity. So now it will be a little clearer to look at the following shots, where you can also see this temporary detail.
 

 


And this is how the dome looked after I removed this temporary stiffener.Now there is no point in it anymore. I've already done all the work, so it's not so dangerous to accidentally break off the gluing point. Besides, now the inner field has taken over the role of a rigid base. And the frame will be safe. 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
And now for a historic moment in the history of this project. I have finally gotten to the stage that can be called carving! Yay! Opening the champagne, setting off the fireworks and dancing on the balcony! 🙂

 

 

 
 
And the final frames are now left. This too can only conditionally be called a finale. Other elements with decorations will appear here in the future. But these details will be made of another material, not wood. So it will be a different story. And I am finished with the wooden part at this point. 
Carving has appeared so far in a very small form. But it is even more logical to begin with. The first appearance by all laws and should be small and insignificant, like a fresh sprout. Some time will pass and it will turn into something more significant and big. Maybe even like a huge tree. Hopefully my story too will someday be filled with carvings that will finally become many and will finally become the main theme of this story. We'll live to see...
 

 

 

 

Thank you! 
I just have a question. You wrote that the method is not standard? But isn't that what Hubac's Historian advised me to do?  
The need to use a translator does not always convey thoughts the way they sound in one's own language. Is this again a case of me getting it wrong? Just wondering. 

Well, you got there, Aleksandr! An unorthodox method, but it worked for you. Well done!

Chapter 6
which will talk about the power of advice, and the author calms down and even rejoices. But it's not accurate.
 
When I was a student, there was a guy who went to school with me. In the course, he played the role of the joker. He was always cheerful and would drop jokes and witticisms on every occasion. With such an easy to communicate, but he was irresponsible and even lazy, often took his duties not seriously, from which he himself and suffered. And the other students at some point realized that it is better not to rely on him, he could easily fail. People can be like that. I remembered him now because at first many fellow students tried to correct him, to press on his conscience or to show that his not serious attitude could bring him problems. Usually at such moments they would say:
Sasha, I want to give you some advice. 
And then he would turn the conversation into a joke and answer:
- “What a country of Soviets. Well, give your advice. (play on words: Soviets = advice)
After that, someone would wave his hand and decide that there was no point in trying to make sense out of it. Someone still expressed his opinion, saying that Sasha does not do right. But often after the advice, our cheerful fellow student would make another joke, again showing that he was not in the mood to dramatize the situation. Eh, don't worry, everything will be fine.
Ever since my student days, when I hear the word “advice”, I remember this classmate.
 
I remembered it now, because after this introduction, the conversation in this part of the story will begin with advice. And these tips I asked other forum members. Because I could not figure out how to make a molding in the form of a curved ellipse. Now I am already surprised, because the solution was simple and obvious, even strange, how could not guess? But I was really stumped. And the decision to seek advice was a good one. So I want to say thank you very much for your active participation and good advice. In this thread I often ask for help, and always get good discussions that help in working on the ship. 
And now I will show you what I got.
 

 

 

 
This is the template I got. Maybe I could have made it out of brass with less thickness, but I was afraid that the template could deform when working.  Thanks to the advice I immediately paid attention to the fact that when making moldings there are two options: 1- to fix the template with the workpiece stationary and hands to move the scraper; 2 - to fix stationary scraper, and hands to move the template. Since I didn't know which option was better, I decided that the template should be such that it fits both options without problems. The holes around the edges will allow the template to be fixed stationary. They may also be useful in the 2nd method. Since the template is not that big, it may be difficult to hold. 
In this case I can screw some kind of rail to the template, which I will use as a handle. 
 
At first I tried the 1st way, but then I changed my mind and fixed the scraper stationary. I can't give a definite answer as to why I decided to do it this way. Most likely both methods can do the job. But for some reason I felt more comfortable moving the template. I fixed the scraper primitively and not beautifully, just clamped it between two bars. Like this. 
 


Here is a photo of the very beginning of the process, a little later I added another addition to this primitive clamp for the scraper. Even more primitive. Almost at the very tip of the scraper, I hammered in two nails. They gave even more rigidity to the scraper, it did not sag from the pressure and this addition was enough for me. As you can see from the photo, I did not attach to the template and lath - handle. It turned out to be quite convenient to hold the template in my hands. And after a while I got a molding in the form of the necessary shape.
 


The arch should continue I the form of straight sections, so I immediately with the use of the same two scrapers (outline of the inner part of the molding + outer outline) made and straight sections. On the same my depot for the moldings I have already shown.
 

 
All that was left was to put it all together. This is what it looked like when finished. I particularly enjoyed adjusting the tiers on the straight sections. I made the gap at the arch on purpose. According to my idea, the window frame will be placed in this niche later. Of course, it could have been done differently, but this gap will simplify several problems at once. At first I thought about how to properly describe everything in my head, but then I changed my mind. When the stage of work is up to the window frames, everything will be easier to understand from the photos. Much easier than my explanations now. I will emphasize the main thing: the gap at the arch is made on purpose, it is not because of my crooked hands and blind eyes. Do not throw rotten tomatoes.
 

 

 
Hmmm. I sincerely thought I could fit everything into one post until the end of this little object. But now I'm looking at how much I've written, and I think it's best to stop there. 

What words will I leave as a conclusion? Last time, I wrote about how a lot of things didn't work out for me the first time. And I was dissatisfied, even annoyed. Now I felt quite the opposite emotions. Throughout the work with the molding-arch I enjoyed it. When I thought about how the final design should look like, how I will then insert the window frame here, when I made a template, when I put all the parts together. And even when I was preparing this post. I guess it's all about spring. Although, wait, it's almost summer already!

Hello,
and thank you for the nice comments and like. 

Great beautiful work Siggi your model is fantastic. 

Beautiful work and photo

That's a great photo -- like a Norman Rockwell composition.