ancre La Créole 1827 by archjofo - Scale 1/48 - French corvette

[Hubac's Historian]

I am out of superlatives, but I continue to be thoroughly amazed.  The rigging is extraordinary, and the chandlery just goes beyond the beyonds.

[jdbondy]

Do you have any pictures showing the process of securing the swivel hooks within their swivels? It looks like you had to solder together the hook with its retaining stop, while making sure that the swivel itself did not become fused. How in the world did you do that?

[archjofo]

Hello,

first of all, thank you all for your interest and kind comments.
Also thanks to all for the many LIKES.

@BobG

 

@druxey

 

@Keith Black

 

@Hubac's Historian

 

@jdbondy

Hello JD,

unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of it. But I will try to explain it.
The bracket was soldered hard. So it was no problem to soft solder the head on the hook without melting the other one away.
I hope that I have explained it understandably.

[jdbondy]

Yes, understood perfectly. Still quite remarkable.

[archjofo]

Hi there,
the first strop for the heavy garnet tackle block with (croc à émerillon) the swivel hook is ready.
The others are then produced in the same way.

Quelle: Atlas du Génie maritime, annexe Nr. 1, Pl. 2

Edited November 10, 2021 by archjofo

[archjofo]

Continuation: Garnet tackle - Palan d'etai
In the meantime I have finished all the components for the garnet tackles.
The pendants were hung up on a specially made mast collar with a thimble. I made these hooks with thimbles using my own method. For this purpose, an 18 mm long brass rod with a diameter of 1.2 mm was turned off with a needle file on the Proxxon fine grinder so that the thickened areas were created at the corresponding points on the hooks. I made the thimbles in the tried and tested manner from brass tubes.

 
The next picture shows the finished hooks with thimbles, not yet blackened.

 
The other two pictures show all components of the 3 garnet tackles:
- 6 double blocks, 3 of which have swivel hooks for the tackles
- 4 single blocks for the guides, 2 of them with hooks
- 2 guide elements
- 2 mast collars (one tackle was lashed directly to the stay with an eye)
- ropes ø 0.46 mm and ø 0.67 mm (original ø 32 mm or ø 22 mm)
- 3 pendants ø 0.90 mm (original ø 43 mm)

 

 
Sequel follows …

[archjofo]

Addendum: garnet tackle - Palan d'etai
I almost forgot something. Because to secure the garnet tackle, eyebolts still have to be attached to the deck. I also found out that according to the Paris model, the hauling part for the garnet tackle, which is attached directly to the mainstay, has to be led over a single block. 

So for this purpose some parts had to be made, which can be seen on the following picture (double block with swivel hook only for size comparison):

 

See you soon ...

 

Edited November 16, 2021 by archjofo

[druxey]

Your attention to the fine details of the forged hooks is nothing short of superb. I've never seen the metal tapered so nicely as you've done it. Brilliant!

[archjofo]

@druxey

Hello,

thanks for the interest and the nice comment, and all the others also for the many LIKES.

 

Continuation: Garnet tackel - Palan d'etai
To check that the garnet tackels do not collide with pendants and guys, I attached them provisionally before final assembly. As already described, there is nothing in the monograph of J. Boudriot about the attachment of the granet tackle to the tops. Accordingly, I am guided by the representations in the Atlas du Génie maritime and by the photos from the original model. Accordingly, it can be seen that the attachments of the two garnet tackels to the tops were made on the starboard side.

In the next picture a single block for guidance and the pendant with the tackle can be seen in detail:

After the garnet tackle installation is complete, I will begin lashing the chaloupe and pinasse. The exact details of this still need final clarification.

To be continued ...

 

Edited December 21, 2021 by archjofo

[archjofo]

Standing rigging of the royal masts
Before I lash the boats, I would like to finish off the standing rigging as a whole.

To complete the standing rigging of the royal masts (shrouds, stays), a few more detailed clarifications and preparations were required.
As can be seen in the image section of the upper rigging of the original model, the royal masts are very filigree components. In the model, the royal masts are between a maximum of 2 to 3 mm thick.
In the picture I have the stays
marked in yellow and the royal shrouds in red.
 
Source: Monograph by J. Boudriot, detail of the original model

Since neither the plan nor the description of the monograph contain any specific information on how the edition of the royal stays and shrouds should look in detail, I tried to find relevant information in relevant sources (literature, internet). Unfortunately, I was unable to get much information on this. Somehow the stays and shrouds have to be given a fixed position. Therefore, I orientated myself on the book by KLAUS SCHRAGE - RUNDHÖLZER, RUNDHÖLZER, RUNDHÖLZER, RUNDHÖLZER UND SEGEL page 92, Fig. 255. There you can see cleats on the royal masts. Accordingly, I tried to make these cleats as suitable as possible.
In the first step, the fastening of the cleats (model size 2.8 mm / 1.2 mm) had to be clarified. For this I needed tiny bolts, which I made from brass wire ø 0.25 mm using the method of a Russian model maker.

 
Furthermore, the ropes for the royal shrouds (mizzen mast ø 0.25 mm or fore mast and main mast ø 0.35 mm) and the stays (ø 0.25 mm or ø 0.40 mm) were made with the rope making machine manufactured.
There was also the question of how to manage the lifts for the royal yards. There was only one royal shroud per side. In this respect, the thimbles for the royal lifts could not be integrated. So I made a mast collar with two thimbles (ø1.2 mm).
A serving of these thin ropes was not given in the original either. The stays are placed with one eye on the cleats. The stays were brought down using thimbles and fixed with lanyard lashings. I still have to clarify these fastening details.

 

The location of the cleats on the royal masts was above the sheaves for the royal halliard, as can be seen in the following picture (mizzen royal mast).

 
Sequel follows …

[j.guydal]

Cette corvette est une œuvre d’art et ce chantier une bonne leçon de modélisme . Beaucoup de bonnes idées à retenir et surtout il est une incitation à progresser. Merci pour ce partage. Jacques.

[druxey]

M. Jaques Guydal: En anglais, SVP! 

 

Beautiful progress. Love the finial - or is it a weather vane?

 

 

[archjofo]

@j.guydal

Bonjour Jaques,
merci beaucoup pour ton commentaire positif.

 

@druxey

Hello,

thank you for the compliment.
Yes, it is a weather vane. In German it is also called a Verklicker.
The special thing about it is that the commissioning pennant has been attached to the top of the main mast. That's what the little ring is for. I will only attach this pennant at the very end, as they are very long and would therefore be a hindrance to the rigging work.

[giampieroricci]

Museum model! Very impressive!

[archjofo]

@giampieroricci

Thanks for the recognition.
I admire your work as well.

I would also like to thank everyone else for the many LIKES.

 

Continuation: Mizzen topgallant and mizzen roayl shrouds
The shrouds on the royal mast on my corvette have a model scale of 0.25 mm. The following picture shows a prepared shroud with integrated thimble (ø 0.9 mm) and the counterpart for the lanyard lashing, which is attached to the end of the crosstree of the topgallant mast.
  

In this context I show again the thimbles I used on this model, which are made of blacked brass. The smallest thimble has a diameter of around 0.9 mm.

 
The mast trucks that were stupidly glued in place by me when building the topgallant masts are of course extremely cumbersome when laying the shrouds and stays. It is very problematic when attaching the stay collars with the integrated thimbles. So I tried to carefully remove these mast trucks again. This worked quite well for the fore and main mast. With the mizzen mast, on the other hand, it did not work with the best will in the world without causing damage. As an alternative, I therefore tried to install the collar for the lifts of the mizzen royal yard directly on the model, which ultimately succeeded with the help of a corresponding device.

   
I tried the first variant with a rope ø 0.35 mm for the collar and with thimbles ø 1.2 mm. The dominance of this collar on the royal mast top bothered me and seemed immeasurable to me. So I started another attempt with a rope ø 0.25 mm for the collar and with thimbles ø 0.9 mm, which now suits me much better.

 
So the next picture shows the completed standing good of the mizzen mast, starting with the crosstrees.

  
Which means I can then move on to the main mast to attach the royal stay and shrouds there too. I have already prepared the royal shrouds for the main and foremast with other corresponding rigging components as shown in the last picture.

 
Up soon …

Edited December 8, 2021 by archjofo

[archjofo]

Continuation: Standing rigging of the royal masts
Meanwhile I am already installing the royal shrouds of the foremast. To keep the distances of the thimbles more or less equal, I use a correspondingly curved piece of wire for the installation.
 
 
See you soon ...

[albert]

Fantastic work.

[druxey]

Superb, as usual. What is your method for making thimbles, please?

[archjofo]

@albert

 

Hello,
thank you for the recognition of my model.

 

[archjofo]

@druxey

Hello,

first of all I would like to thank you for the appreciation of my work.
Of course, I'll be happy to show you how I make the thimbles. I hope that the following pictures explain this as far as possible.
Should there be any unanswered questions, please don't be shy and just ask.

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2021 by archjofo

[mbp521]

Johann,

 

I’m not sure what I am more impressed by, your ship building skills or your photography skills. Building a first rate model like this is one thing, but to do that and take such beautiful pictures as you go along. This just takes it to a whole other level. I truly enjoy following your work. 
 

-Brian

[druxey]

Thank you so  much, Johann. I assume those punches are custom made by yourself to flare both sides equally. A very neat solution!

[archjofo]

@druxey

Yes, I turned them on my Unimat SL. The profile can certainly still be optimized.

[archjofo]

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and many happy moments surrounded by your loved ones!

 

[mbp521]

Johann,

 

Merry Christmas to you and your family as well!

 

-Brian

[Keith Black]

Thank you, Johann, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours. 

[archjofo]

@mbp521

@Keith Black

Hello Brian and Keith,

thank you both for the wishes for Christmas and the New Year.

 

Main mast top with weather vane and war pennant (flamme de guerre)
It's hard to believe, but there are still a few details to be clarified on the masthead of my French corvette.
Thus, in addition to completing the standing rigging, I also deal with the final clarification of these details, which I always find a pleasant distraction in between. Sooner or later it has to be done anyway.
  

Source: Monograph by J. Boudriot, detail of the original model

By providing a picture of the mast top of the L'Inflexible from 1835 (model in the Musée National de la Marine-Rochefort) by Daniel @dafi, I am able to complete the corresponding detail.
What I previously thought to be the remains of a flag or a pennant based on an old black-and-white photo of the Paris model clearly turned out to be a windsock that was attached to the end of the weather vane by means of a small crossbar. The weather vanes of La Créole and L'Inflexible are basically designed similarly and the lightning conductors are also present in both. In this respect, I can confidently attach this windsock to the weather vane of La Créole and regard it as historically correct and documented, even if it is neither drawn in the monograph nor currently available on the original Paris model.

 
In this context I also try to clarify how the war pennant or home pennant could have looked in detail. Of particular interest are the length, the lay rope, integration into the flag line, pennant wood, etc. The flag line of the war pennant drove through one of the two discs in the flag button.

 
For the production of the windsock and the war pennant, I thought of silk fabric, which in my opinion comes closest to the desired scale in terms of its fine structure.
Let's see what the first attempts bring to light.
More about this soon ...

[Hubac's Historian]

Spectacular. It can’t be better made in full-scale.

[Dowmer]

Johann, if the silk fabric doesn't look right, you might want to try some silkspan tissue or paper. 

[GrandpaPhil]

Johann,

  Looking good!