Le Renommee by Ponto - EuroModel - Scale 1:70

[Landlubber Mike]

JP, welcome back!  I picked up the kit off of eBay a while back and logs like yours make it hard not to start it

 

Just out of curiosity, is that blue paint or stain?  Manufacturer and name?  It looks really nice.  

[Ponto]

Nice to hear Mike,....the blue is simply a water based paint I had on hand  (nothing fancy) -- it is a hardened puck of pigment that needs  a wet brush to activate (just like back in preschool). I applied directly to the surface and sealed with a walnut stain after it had dried.  I prefer a "dyed" look to the painted surface at this scale and I like the results. Some thin trim (wales)  will  form the edges of the painted area.  I used l be in the complete natural wood look before but have grown to accept some color in my builds. 

 

JP

[mtaylor]

JP,

 

I would discount any kit models pictures as kits are notoriously inaccurate.  What Ofencer said.  The ANCRE monograph by Boudroit is probably the most accurate.

[ofencer29350]

in fact you could build a  cute model like the way you do....

 

but a real model with all detailled things with the monograph

it's an eternal problem:

what do you search? take pleasure yourself or be accurate with documentation

what is the level you've placed to aproach?

it's a  question you must  answer at the begining of each build...because there is  a lot of think to transform or rebuild!

[ofencer29350]

if you have any doubt about the drawing ,just have  a discuss on delacroix's forum with himself or éric lémaillet ( ériclem on it)

 

it will be a good stage on 17 and 18th century

[Ponto]

Head rails and Bow underway......the supplied head rails take some manipulation before they fit over the stem and they readily get nicked up as the metal is quite soft!  However, Euromodel has supplied rails that are infinitely better than I would have been able to come up with. The images show stages in progress and I'm constantly revising my thoughts on just how final finishes will look. As additional components are added my thoughts change...........

 

JP 

[Ponto]

Thanks for the likes and looking in....my rendition of the  French frigate continues.  I'm liking  the way the dark rich tones are coming together and is what I set out to do from the beginning. It's a work in progress and will likely take another year (??) at my current pace. 

 

JP

[Landlubber Mike]

Looks great JP - can I ask what woods and finishes you are using on the build?  Whatever you are doing is giving a lot of character to the model, and is a look i'm trying to emulate on my builds.

[Ponto]

  Thanks Mike,... the images never quite seem to duplicate what I see when looking at the model. My camera skills are likely to blame but that is a whole other learning curve and a road I'm unwilling to go down.

  The wood is all stock walnut supplied (for the most part) by Euromodel as well as bits and pieces from my stash. The darker "black" values are either a black stain or simply a black Sharpie pen.  The blue value is a water based powder pigment that I had on hand. Once  applied to the wood, and after some drying time,  I always "knock back" the painted surface with a fine sanding stick to remove excess paint and to reveal the wood beneath. When I'm happy with that, I apply an old walnut stain that has aged to the point where the pigments seemed to have separated, to a degree, from the solvent base.

This application blends in the bare walnut surface with the painted areas and the results are more or less what you see.......I would describe the finish as an "aged" one as opposed to the pristine newly minted ship ready for her first voyage.  Thanks again for your comments and hope this helps a bit.

 

 

JP

[piratepete007]

I agree with Mike - the ship just seems to project an air of quality about it. Looks really good.

 

Pete

[Ponto]

Thanks guys,... believe me when I say that my results are far from  projecting any sort of quality. While we all typically attempt to shoot for the best results in each and every little step during construction, I'm learning to accept minor  build "anomalies" along the way. I used to focus on  the imperfections at each step but have come to realize that those little anomalies disappear when the build progresses and the "whole" is the focus. I should have some additional images on the bow available soon.......thank for looking in.

 

jp

[Ponto]

My Le Renommee adventure continues... the upper deck is filling in and I can see mast work just around the corner. My efforts on the cannons displayed below... I was able to modify the supplied trucks with a lot of manipulation using assorted files and trimming. The dimensions for the trucks on the plans, though very detailed, would end up being too high in my openings so I suggest double checking always....

 

JP

[Ponto]

Progress continues with my rendition of Le Renommee... my intention from the beginning was to leave the cannons as is but i am knocking back the "sheen" with repeated  applications of  a dark walnut stain. (similar to repeated washes) The contrast with the dark wood tones and the cannons is close to what I'd hoped for... hope you enjoy and thanks for looking in!

 

JP

[Landlubber Mike]

Beautiful work J.P.  Lot of character and artistry in your model.  You're setting the bar very high for us other LAR builders

[SimonV]

Beautiful work J.P. 

Always waiting for your latest updates on La Renommee  . Keep up the good work.

 

[Ponto]

Thanks Mike and Simon for the very kind comments.  The likes are also very much appreciated. It is onto the bowsprit now as the rudder will be left 'till later (I knocked it off after carefully installing it a short time ago.) Just to be different I'm considering building and rigging only up to the first mast tops. I have other builds calling out to me......

 

JP

[nightingale]

love your choice of color and stained woods-----aka Stray Dog

[Allatum]

Hello. There's a question to kit owners - is there any chance to measure the length of the main bulkhead? And what's the width of plywood of this detail?

Ponto, good luck with this project and looking forward to see more progress soon! Thank you.

[Heinrich der Seefahrer]

Hello Alatum,

 

this is a really complex issiue to change something on one modelkit's backbone. So the easyest way is to cut the mainboard twice (in save distance from slot N° 7) and to add a bit of plywood between the original parts. BUT this will change to hole game!!! Suddenly nothing will work - the decks basic plywood parts are too short. Also the gunports are not were they are planed to be. Nothing will be the same as before - adding the length of the backbone to the part of the given 124 1/2 feet is a gamechanger!    

 

As far as I see the kit's parts in here I think this kit is not worth it's price - the tinparts look clubsy. Also the best parts I discovered were the gun barrels - not knowing if the can match the original French barrel types. Typicaly they are taken from some other kit - but keep in mind: French barrels are "very much longer than RN barrels" - so be aware of a sudden awaking from your dreams to reorganilizie your Renommeé into a hole mass. The figure head is a proven example as a recycled kit part from the Swedish fregatt Jupiter (from the Chapman plate 

 

All together J.P. invests a huge ammount of time, ideas, patriente, creativity and money to get a Renommeé out of his kit. And he is doing a good - no a phantasic - job! Stay on your coure, J.P.! 

 

But from my point of view this kit is a wrong directed investment. I am unwilling spending $800 for this kit. By this money I can buy the Renommeé - book from Ancre, a Proxxon drilling maschine with a coordinate table below, a little lathe, a dish grinding mashine, a pile of plywood for the backbone and bulkheads and all the Fimo I'll need for the decoration. And I'm free to choose my own scale.

 

I've to admit being still far away from starting to build her in scartch (due to my abilitys), but I was fed up with the kit when I opened the first building report somewhere and all the others I could find. The Renommeé is a beauty of 124 1/2 feet - the more models I see the more I like her. There are PoF- and PoB-models of Renommeé all over the world, worth looking at her. 

 

As I love late baroque/roccoco decoration most - I certainly fall in love to the Delacroix and Bodriout plans from the first moment I got in contact to. In some months I do eat cheaper and buy more expensive books. This is the way I'll do it - always singing "Richmond is a hard road to travel". 

 

Here nice scratch example: http://maquettes-marine.pagesperso-orange.fr/renommee/RENO01.html

 

I don't trust myself to build a PoF model with masts and rigging. Also any pure wood model is out of my possibilitys. But a PoB model coloured with paint will be within reach - later. 

 

 

 

Edited November 1, 2018 by Heinrich der Seefahrer

[piratepete007]

Little comment needs to be made regarding the previous post but I feel moved to make the following points.

 

If you were to actually purchase the kit (and by the way it is only $US 627, not $US800), you would be in the position of discovering that the extensive drawings contain so much detail that you are literally drawn into evolving your own unique build. It has the conventional kit bulkhead frames and first and second planking and so on. For me, the price is a little high but the VALUE is incredible. Look at the work on Le Renommee by J.P. and Landlubber Mike and note how different their builds are. This is no standard 'kit' build for sure but the level of challenge steers you away from the usual kit build. Build a Euromodel kit and the doorway is then open to start thinking about a scratch build. Also, the Euromodel website does contain some very useful notes on the Renomme build.

 

Pete

Edited November 2, 2018 by piratepete007

[Landlubber Mike]

Not to clutter Ponto's log, but to add to what Pete said, the kit is actually very nice.  And the kit is designed to match the frigate in the Chapman plates - which is a completely different ship from the Renommee that is the subject of the Ancre book.  In fact, I think the Chapman plates actually represent a Swedish frigate named the Jupiter (hence, the Jupiter figurehead).

 

As Pete said, the plans are very detailed.  Unfortunately, it is true that some of the plans don't line up with each other to be perfectly honest.  But, it's not an issue.  The kit wood and components are well done.  Cast metal is never great in kits, but it's pretty good here.  The kit provides the cast metal detail pieces as a way to more simply build the ship, but you can always scratch those details like I plan to do.

[Ponto]

Just as an FYI....the kit in question has been sidelined as my Corel Berlin called out to me from its resting place on my shelves. In response to the most recent posts, yes, the kit was expensive (by my standards anyway) but there is value to the kit contents. Euromodel kits are challenging for various reasons and this one is no exception. Even if there is some confusion over the accuracy of the actual ship I was only interested what a beauty she is as depicted by Euromodel. It is always up to the builder to bring the contents of the kit to life.

 

[Ferit]

Flashy ship, a good choice both as a ship model and as a manufacturer and outstanding work as expected... 

[Ponto]

9 hours ago, Ferit said:

Flashy ship, a good choice both as a ship model and as a manufacturer and outstanding work as expected... 

 

Thanks Ferit,

I'm surprised to see this old log still has some life and many thanks for the "likes" as well.  I'm humbled by one sent by the Mr. Watton. Maybe I should bring her down from under the dust covers and bring her back into the game.

[Ferit]

Hi JP,

 

If you do not log in frequently, and if you look to the photos instead of reading all the comments, unfortunately it is inevitable to use false expression as I did...

Sorry...

 

It should be:

" I'm sorry to hear that you had given up on this production when I am thinking about it; flashy ship, a good choice both as a ship model and as a manufacturer and outstanding work as expected... "

 

 

 

[GrandpaPhil]

15 hours ago, Ponto said:

 

Thanks Ferit,

I'm surprised to see this old log still has some life and many thanks for the "likes" as well.  I'm humbled by one sent by the Mr. Watton. Maybe I should bring her down from under the dust covers and bring her back into the game.

You have done excellent work so far.  Please do bring her back into the game.

Edited September 26, 2019 by GrandpaPhil

[MESSIS]

Dear sir,

 

Thats a fine kit, of which I had no idea that it existed.

 

And secondly,  congrats for the fine work so far!

 

Bringing her back in the game...  sorry for being indiscret, I believe its a mast.👍

 

 

Am going to follow your log with great interest, anxious to see the outcome. 

 

Christos

 

 

 

Edited September 26, 2019 by MESSIS

[piratepete007]

After Ponto last posted something on his build of the Euromodel La Renommee virtually one year ago, it is interesting to read these recent posts that have started popping up. The kit may not be without a few critics questioning a few points of historical accuracy but Ponto's comment … "I was only interested what a beauty she is as depicted by Euromodel. It is always up to the builder to bring the contents of the kit to life". Ponto has certainly created a fantastic partial build of the La Renommee as it is depicted in the Euromodel drawings and one day I hope to see the culmination of all of his efforts in this ship build. Ponto has an uncluttered view on what this kit offers.

 

Pete

Edited September 27, 2019 by piratepete007

[Ferit]

In fact, I do not believe in the historical accuracy of many kits. Except for scratch builds, it's a separate category.

Even in a popular ship like Wasa, where the original exists today, where there are examples in the museum, different companies produce different Wasa kits.

So if you decided to go with the kit, in my opinion it is enough to get close to the historical accuracy without waiting for it to match entirely...

[chris watton]

Nice job! I have always liked the Euromodel kits, one of the few European manufacturers that 'get' the graceful lines of period ships.