jack.aubrey Posted March 18, 2013 Author #31 Posted March 18, 2013 (edited) Saturday October 30th, 2010 - Doors & Windows - Part 1 As I disclosed, while I was waiting to receive additional material to start working on the hull sides, I began to study an alternative solution to the doors and windows supplied with the kit. First I had to realize that there are several versions of these elements (i.e DeA, Mantua, Lusci and the famous model in Paris by Talleron) With the structure anyway setup in my Soleil I wasn't able to made them as in the Paris' model, it was too late, so I decided, in lack of precise documentation, to inspire to Mantua's plans, but not 100%. There is no historical evidence but . . In the first image in this message, taken with a scanner, I have inserted the outline that I choose for these elements on the various decks. Above the outline there is a semifinished piece from which I obtained some final elements, that are the doors and the windows. There are two kinds of doors and two kinds of windows. Windows are single and double. The semifinished here shown is for single windows. 01 PorteFinestre2R.jpg Here below a zoomed view of the semifinished. It is made with bitch ply of 0,4mm. thickness. The base is coloured before installing the frames, made with the same ply. External frames are 1,5x0,4mm. while the internal (not yet visible here) are 1x0,4mm. To obtain these strips I used a home made jig as spacer. 02 PorteFinestre1R.jpg Here below the semifinished of the double windows. 03 P1070001R.jpg to be continued . . . Edited August 29, 2017 by jack.aubrey Quote
jack.aubrey Posted March 18, 2013 Author #32 Posted March 18, 2013 (edited) Saturday October 30th, 2010 - Doors & Windows - Part 2 Once finished the single elements I cannot resist to see the result on the model . . . also because I spent an entire week to build them. So, as soon as they became available, I installed them. Here below how they appear once applied on the model. 04 P1060995R.jpg 05 P1060996R.jpg 06 P1060997.jpg Something is still missing and I need to think to handles and joints, but It's a great achievement for me . . Here below some news in the bow area . . the beakhead bulkhead. 07 P1060998.jpg Cheers. Jack. Edited August 29, 2017 by jack.aubrey Quote
Mioriticul Posted March 19, 2013 #33 Posted March 19, 2013 Well done Jack. I really like your build. On the first moment I was wondering why you did not plank the lower deck, but I realised afterwards that it will be barely visible (why they added it to the model then?). Keep up the good work... I will follow it for sure. Quote Nelu A The shipbuilder without patience is like the ship without an anchor. Completed build: SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST by Mioriticul – D’Agostini (AL) – scale 1:50 – first wooden ship model
jack.aubrey Posted March 19, 2013 Author #34 Posted March 19, 2013 (edited) Sunday November 14th, 2010 - hull sides and gun ports After having at last terminated the work on the ship decks (. . for now . .) and having finally available all the pieces needed I started to work on the hull sides. In practice at this point the hull structure is complete and the next activities will go towards the external plaking. Before the planks there is some other work to do, and this is the matter of this and the following messages. What I have now to do is to mount on the upper side of the hull some pieces made with ply of 1.5mm thickness where there are pre-cutted the gun ports. Before mounting them is necessary to finish their sides with sandpaper and small files. Given that these pieces can be weak, in order to be able to reproduce them in case of breakage, I made a photocopy of all of them . . As glue I used the aliphatic glue but I helped myself also with some brass nails. It is obvious that all this work was not done in a sigle day, I spent five days to reach this result. Here some images of the work done. Left side near bow . . 01 P1070008.jpg Left side near poop . . 02 P1070009.jpg Right side near bow . . 03 P1070010.jpg Right side near poop . . 04 P1070011.jpg Edited August 29, 2017 by jack.aubrey Quote
jack.aubrey Posted March 19, 2013 Author #35 Posted March 19, 2013 (edited) On 19/3/2013 at 5:48 PM, garym said: Preshaped gun ports almost make it worth the price you are paying for this model . . . . I cooperate with De Agostini in managing its forum in Italy. . . for this reason I receive this model (booklets and materials) totally free of charge. November 14th, 2010 - Continuation Here below four other images. In the first two images you can see the entire model. It is very big and to focus it with my digital camera I need to stay quite far from it !! It has not the size of Dolphyn, that you can se in the background on the left. 01 P1070012.jpg In these other images it's possible to see also all the doors and the windows in place . . elements not totally implemented when I published the images of them. 02 P1070013.jpg 03 P1070015.jpg 04 P1070014.jpg See you next time, Cheers, Jack. Edited August 29, 2017 by jack.aubrey Quote
jack.aubrey Posted March 20, 2013 Author #36 Posted March 20, 2013 (edited) Wednesday November 24th, 2010 - Upper hull sides and gunports - continuation Thanks to new materials just arrived i can continue to install the preshaped ply on the hull sides . . Now it's the right time for the upper gun deck. In terms of experiences, nothing new with respect of previous similar work but I had to close the background of some gunports otherwise I will not reach them after the installation. This is clearly visible in the images. As usual, here below the poop zone on the right: 01 P1070016.jpg And here the bow zone on the right: 02 P1070017.jpg Here below the bow area on the left side: 03 P1070018.jpg and the poop zone, same side: 04 P1070019.jpg I have coloured with mahogany stain the internal side of the ply that simulates the handrails, but I don't like this kind of finishing, it is not realistic. I will plank this internal side with walnut stripes of 1mm. thickness. In addition, before starting this planking I will install a shaped stripe to simulate the waterway. But these are for now only plans or ideas, before this become true I must finish the hull sides, where two pieces are still missing . . See you next time, Jack.Aubrey Edited August 29, 2017 by jack.aubrey Quote
jack.aubrey Posted March 20, 2013 Author #37 Posted March 20, 2013 (edited) Continuation . . Here below some other images belonging to November 24th. With this work done I am aligned to the work that should be completed with the material and instruction provided with the 36th issue, with some small exceptions that are not important for now. In the background of the first image a german heavy cruiser I made +/- 40 years ago. 01 P1070020.jpg 02 P1070021.jpg 03 P1070022.jpg 04 P1070025.jpg See you next time. Cheers, Jack.Aubrey PS: I have received a new shipment from De Agostini, package n° 10 containing the issues n° 38, 39, 40 and 41. There is some new interesting work to start . . although I have some new ideas for a more realistic and practical result. Edited August 29, 2017 by jack.aubrey Quote
jack.aubrey Posted March 20, 2013 Author #38 Posted March 20, 2013 (edited) Friday November 26th, 2010 Here are the last two ply preshaped panels . . They completely close the upper part of the Soleil Royal hull. Left side: 01 P1070027.jpg Right side: 02 P1070029.jpg A view from the decks: 03 P1070028.jpg 04 P1070030.jpg And a view aback: 05 P1070033.jpg I'm now in sync with issue 38th. Next steps are to start planking all this ply covered area with strips of softwood 5x2mm. But, at this point I need to implement some of my planned customisations to enhance this model: I will show these tasks in the next messages. That's all for today, cheers, Jack.Aubrey Edited August 29, 2017 by jack.aubrey Quote
tom.pullings Posted March 20, 2013 #39 Posted March 20, 2013 I'm following with great interest all your logs and galleries. I like in particular your Santa Maria gallery. Great model. Cheers. Tom. Quote
jack.aubrey Posted March 21, 2013 Author #40 Posted March 21, 2013 (edited) Saturday November 27th, 2010 - Waterways As I wrote, before starting the external hull planking I decided to make some customisations: one of these customisations is the installation of the waterways and the planking of the internal sides of the headrails. In the following four images you can see the waterway installed onto all the decks of the ship. With this operation it also becomes evident that a consequent benefit of doing so is to totally fill some gaps in the joints between the decks and the headrails. In effect without this "trick" the deck presented some small openings that the waterway simply hided. 01 P1070034.jpg 02 P1070035.jpg 03 P1070036.jpg 04 P1070037.jpg The waterways dimensions are 2,5mm. wide and 0,8 mm. thick. Its installation was quite simple: the main problem was to remove as well as possible the exceeding glue. Now let me spend some time writing about the shape of this element and how I obtained it. The section of the waterway is visible in the left side of the next image. Having in mind the strip dimensions, I did not though to obtain it by starting from a simple small strip and rounding a part of it. So I tried an alternate way. 05 Trincarino.jpg The right side of the image shows the section of a beechwood tablet found in a wood store. It is 1cm thick and 8cm wide. I rounded the external angles as shown in the picture. With my circular saw I cut the highlighted (Yellow) parts obtaining two strips of 10x0,8mm with a rounded side. At this point, with a cutter and an iron ruler I obtained my strips of 2.5x0.8. That's all. See you next time. Jack.Aubrey Edited August 29, 2017 by jack.aubrey Quote
jack.aubrey Posted March 21, 2013 Author #41 Posted March 21, 2013 (edited) Here are some detailed images about the internal planking of the headrails. The gun ports are not yet refined and the rounded ones on the higher decks are for now closed to avoid possible crashes. At the right time they will be reopened and refined. The visible part of the waterways is now smaller. 01 P1070042.jpg 02 P1070043.jpg 03 P1070044.jpg 04 P1070046.jpg 05 P1070047.jpg Cheers, Jack.Aubrey Edited August 29, 2017 by jack.aubrey Quote
jack.aubrey Posted March 21, 2013 Author #42 Posted March 21, 2013 (edited) Friday December 3rd, 2010 - Hull enhancements before planking Let's now show another small enhancement I planned and realized. The idea is to fill the bow area with some softwood blocks in order to make easier the installation of planks in this traditionally difficult area. I used several layers of 1.5cm wood to fill the area and then I shaped it correctly with some levelling blocks. I made a lot of sawdust. In the same task I shaped the bevel of the first 3-4 bulkheads. This is particularly well visible in image n° 3. I have also doubled the thickness of the keel reinforcement, visible in the first image with a lightning shaped mark. 01 P1070040.jpg 02 P1070041.jpg 03 P1070048.jpg Cheers, Jack.Aubrey Edited August 29, 2017 by jack.aubrey Quote
jack.aubrey Posted March 21, 2013 Author #43 Posted March 21, 2013 (edited) December 6-12, 2010 - Leveling blocks In my previous message I introduced the term "leveling block". Here follow two images of these blocks I specifically built to fair the hull. The raw material I used is 1) wood blocks of different shapes (rectangular, semi circular, circular), found in wood stores and 2) sheets of sandpaper of different grain but of very high quality. High quality is mandatory if you want to be able to use the block for long time. Sandpaper is glued on the block in a way that you can remove it and eventually change it with another piece with higher or lower grain. If you use these blocks for wood only, they are long living, but they can also be used succesfully on metals, such as copper or brass, obviously with a shorter life. 01 P1070054.jpg 02 P1070055.jpg Here below a collection of some blocks made just for the gun ports of the Soleil Royal. 03 P1070056.jpg Cheers. Jack.Aubrey. Edited August 29, 2017 by jack.aubrey Quote
jack.aubrey Posted March 21, 2013 Author #44 Posted March 21, 2013 (edited) December 6-12, 2010 - Start planking I finally finished the planned customisations and enhancements and now it is time to start planking the hull. This activity can be considered made of two main steps: first the planking from approx the waterline upwards and, second, from the waterline downwards. Before I had to do a preliminary session for fairing and beveling the bulkheads. This is a mandatory activity and the best this work is done the best the result of planking will be. It is something very important that cannot be underestimated. The instructions contained in issues 39, 40 and 41 describe with great detail how to proceed but I don't take much care of them because I know very well this process, having used it when I built the Santìsima Trinidad. Then, I started and I spent three half days of work. I was able to install only nine planks of 5x2 on both sides, 18 in total. I know that I am not Speedy Gonzales, but one reason comes from the need to work around the gun ports, and this takes time. In addition I prefer to level the planks as soon as a small number of them are installed and dry. I do this to maintain better control over the work and to avoid, at the end, a long, tedious and weakening leveling session. Here below some images of the work done during these days. 01 P1070049.jpg 02 P1070050.jpg Just two words about the wood strips: they are made of softwood, erroneously for me called "ramin". They are about 30cm. long and it is necessary to install three or four of then to install a full plank. A little bit as in the real ships . . The problem is that they are not calibrated and I must keep great attention to find and use three or four of them equal before proceeding with a full plank. 03 P1070051.jpg 04 P1070052.jpg Here below, in spite of the controls, an example of non perfect strip that was installed . . 05 P1070053.jpg That's all for this week. To the next one. Jack.Aubrey Edited August 29, 2017 by jack.aubrey Quote
jack.aubrey Posted March 21, 2013 Author #45 Posted March 21, 2013 (edited) December 6-12th, 2010 - gun ports This sunday I had some time to dedicate and I worked to exercise myself to serially open the gun ports. The leveling block I prepared are demonstrating their value, although they can be used only were there is nothing that closes the port. In the latter case I must use a cutter and the work is heavier. I will have to learn a lot from this exercise because they are about one hundred ports, but my experience with the Santìsima Trinidad, where the ports were 140, vaccinated me forever. Anyway it is important to cut a few ports together to avoid to get tired. So my suggestion for this kind of task is to dilute it in short sessions. The next planks upwards can be installed faster because there is not the problem to curve the wood strips. Anyway there is again the problem of the gun ports. I also decided to progress the work in the same way on both sides. 01 P1070057.jpg 02 P1070058.jpg 03 P1070059.jpg That's all for now, Cheers. Jack. Edited August 29, 2017 by jack.aubrey Quote
jack.aubrey Posted March 22, 2013 Author #46 Posted March 22, 2013 (edited) December 13-19th, 2010 - Planking This week wasn't too much productive; Christmas is coming soon and other important things must be done. I continued to install planks upwards and to open, or better refine, gunports. Now both sides are simmetrical, with the same number of planks, but I'm finishing the strips and I'm waiting for additional material, other I cannot continue. Kind regards, Jack. 01 P1070060.jpg 02 P1070062.jpg 03 P1070064.jpg 04 P1070065.jpg 05 P1070068.jpg Edited August 29, 2017 by jack.aubrey Quote
jack.aubrey Posted March 22, 2013 Author #47 Posted March 22, 2013 (edited) December 13-19th, 2010 - Planking - Additional considerations A personal evaluation of the strips of wood used for this first planking, strips o a soft wood that De Agostini calls "ramin". As first planking they are absolutely perfect: the wood is soft and it is ideal to use for this task. This because when you need to level the planked area with file or blocks their softness makes leveling easier to achieve . . I cannot imagine the efforts when using an hardwood. Again, also the task of opening the gun ports and refining them is greatly simpler and comfortable. The only negative point is that all these strips are delivered within different weekly issues and, while they should be all equal, with 5x2 size, this doen't happen due to small differences in size. The only way to minimize this problem is to select the best and leave the worst, helped also by the fact that De Agostini delivers more strips than really needed. I take the opportunity to insert new images, from different viewpoints. Kind regards, Jack. 01 P1070066.jpg 02 P1070067.jpg 03 P1070071.jpg 04 P1070074.jpg 05 P1070073.jpg Edited August 29, 2017 by jack.aubrey Quote
jack.aubrey Posted March 24, 2013 Author #48 Posted March 24, 2013 (edited) December 20-26th, 2010 - A problem, a solution and new planks Before planking the headrails of the upper gun deck I discovered a small problem caused by the fact I decided to plank the internal side of them, task described by me some messages ago. The problem is that after this task was done I found the curve of these headrails presented itself with a wrong shape: instead of being slightly curved outside, it was the opposite. So I built two spacers to insert above the deck and between the two opposite headrails to force a little the wood externally and, keeping them in place, apply the external planking. This solved the problem. Here below I show the two spacers I used to achieve this result. 01 P1070083.jpg Next three images show the area where I applied the new planks, after the glue was dry and after having removed the spacers I show in the previous image. To provide the maximum in terms of strength I used some strips of walnut in place of ramin. The gun ports here are not yet opened and also the exceeding wood is not removed. I prefer to pospone as much as possible this work to be sure my solution works well. 02 P1070079.jpg 03 P1070080.jpg 04 P1070081.jpg See you next time, regards. Jack.Aubrey 05 P1070082.jpg Edited August 29, 2017 by jack.aubrey Quote
jack.aubrey Posted March 24, 2013 Author #49 Posted March 24, 2013 (edited) December 27th, 2010 - January 2nd, 2011 - Finally got the edge !! I finished planking the right side of the ship, until the edge. Due to the ship dimensions there are a lot of planks: in the higher zone there are 36 of them !! Not difficult to install but anyway this is an important achievement for me. Now I need to finish also the left side and after I will start sanding and levelling. I foresee a lot of sawdust while sanding all the planks, and there are also the last gun ports to refine. Here below you can see the finished side and also my technical assistant and global consultant . . 01 P1070128R.jpg Here two other images without the assistant. 02 P1070129R.jpg 03 P1070130.jpg That's all for now, Jack.Aubrey Edited August 29, 2017 by jack.aubrey Quote
jack.aubrey Posted March 24, 2013 Author #50 Posted March 24, 2013 (edited) Wednesday January 5th, 2011 This morning I finished also the left side and now I'm planning for future and looking with new eyes my model. The last strips on top of the bulwarks are of hardwood (walnut) and I left wood in excess with respect of their shape. 01 P1070131.jpg Why hardwood ? Next step will be the planking of the hull, from waterline downwards. To do so I need to work with the hull capsized and I also need to put it on something such as a table. Having used hardwood and having wood in excess means that I probably will not take any risk to ruin the work done until now. Later I will refine this important area, when the hull will return in its normal position. 02 P1070133.jpg 03 P1070134.jpg Anyway, the near future predicts for me an interesting session with sandpaper. Some fitness is healthy . . Kind regards. Jack.Aubrey Edited August 29, 2017 by jack.aubrey Quote
jack.aubrey Posted March 24, 2013 Author #51 Posted March 24, 2013 Saturday January 8th, 2011 - Dust, Dust and Dust This morning, after a strong breakfast, at 10:27 AM I started the "Sawdust Mission": levelling all the planks installed until now. I began with sandpaper no. 80, then 120 and finally 180. I thought I finished, so I paused and checked the result, but early I realized there is additional "sandpapering" to do. I restarted with new energies and I come to the end at 12:14 AM. That's all for today and, at least for this time, no photos. Cheers, Jack. Quote
slagoon Posted March 25, 2013 #52 Posted March 25, 2013 beautiful work - the cat is a cutie too...paws off though! Quote ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -Sarah Current Build: Krabbenkutter CUX-87 Harriet Lane Fishcutter GO-38 In the Wings: Corel Victory Cross section Completed Build: USS Missouri HMS Bounty's Jolly Boat Peterboro Canoe
jack.aubrey Posted March 25, 2013 Author #53 Posted March 25, 2013 (edited) Saturday January 15th, 2011 Until now I finished the complete levelling of the planks and, after, i decided to close the gun ports still open with a square piece of ply (supplied with the kit). Task quite easy to achieve, with only one main aspect to take care: these "closures" will be drilled in future with a small bore to receive the half barrells of the guns. It is very much important to fix them very well, with a very strong glueing, because if they will detach when the hull is complete, it will be nearly impossible to substitute them. For this reason, when these pieces were fixed and the glue was dry, I started on each gun port something similar to a stress test to be sure they do not detach at all. Here below some images, the task is still in progress. 01 P1070137.jpg 02 P1070140.jpg 03 P1070141.jpg 04 P1070142.jpg Edited August 29, 2017 by jack.aubrey Quote
jack.aubrey Posted March 25, 2013 Author #54 Posted March 25, 2013 (edited) Additional images with more details 01 P1070146.jpg 02 P1070147.jpg 03 P1070148.jpg 04 P1070149.jpg Edited August 29, 2017 by jack.aubrey Quote
jack.aubrey Posted March 25, 2013 Author #55 Posted March 25, 2013 (edited) Tuesday January 18th, 2011 - Again . . gun ports I found some time to complete closing the remaining gun ports, with the exclusion of the 5-6 of them that must still be opened on the upper gun deck, in the middle of the hull were there are the strips of walnut. I plan to open them as soon as the completion of the first planking for the whole hull. In these tasks I'm following the kit instructions, but from now I will start to follow less them and more my instinct to continue planking. I have also in mind a completely different way to finish the model . . this is still an embryonic cloud in my mind and it is too early to explain or to take a decision, but I'm thinking about its feasibility . . I made a test of painting the internal of some gun ports with a matt, black enamel to confirm my assumption: I choose the black colour instead of, for example, the red because I want to obtain an effect of deep or empty . . and to get this I had the confirmation that matt black is the best solution. To paint these ports I had to mask the sides of each port with masking tape . . something to do staying comfortable while listening and watching the television . . so I will complete this task at home, not in my workshop, during the evening and I will complete all of them in the same way. 01 P1070150.jpg I have closed the missing plank at prow . . I didn't forget it. 02 P1070151.jpg 03 P1070152.jpg 04 P1070154.jpg 05 P1070155.jpg Edited August 29, 2017 by jack.aubrey Quote
jack.aubrey Posted March 25, 2013 Author #56 Posted March 25, 2013 (edited) Thursday January 20th, 2011 - again . . gun ports Today I spent a couple of hours to mask all the gun ports with masking tape and to paint all of then with black enamel. Here below two images of the method I used. 01 P1070165.jpg 02 P1070166.jpg Next infos in my future message, the paint is now drying . . Edited August 29, 2017 by jack.aubrey Quote
jack.aubrey Posted March 25, 2013 Author #57 Posted March 25, 2013 (edited) I close with this message the long story of the gun ports . . I have removed the masking I applied before painting the interior of the gun ports and finally I can write: end of a long chapter I'm happy of the result achieved, good deep and empty lookup. This is not easy to show with photos but the real things sound good. It must also be considered that, with the half barrells and the gun port linds in place this area will be enough crowded to become plausible. Here below five photos of the model at this important milestone . . (at least for me) 01 P1070167.jpg 02 P1070168.jpg 03 P1070169.jpg 04 P1070170.jpg 05 P1070171.jpg And now another game is being started . . continue planking, until the end, from the waterline downwards. I will start soon, although the instructions at this point of time suggest some minimal tasks (mounting anchors, stairs and casks) that in my mind can wait. Now my first objective is to complete the first planking, all the rest can be posponed to the right moment. Kind regards, Jack.Aubrey. Edited August 29, 2017 by jack.aubrey Quote
Ulises Victoria Posted March 25, 2013 #58 Posted March 25, 2013 Hello. This looks like a nice kit. Is it one of those that you buy in weekly installments? I would be very interested in getting this kit if available in the USA. How do you get it? Quote There aren't but two options: do it FAST, or do it RIGHT. Current Project Build Log: Soleil Royal in 1/72. Kit by Artesania Latina. Last finished projects: Royal Ship Vasa 1628; French Vessel Royal Louis 1780. 1/90 Scale by Mamoli. 120 Cannons Future projects already in my stash: Panart: San Felipe 1/75; OcCre: Santísima Trinidad 1/90; Wish List: 1/64 Amati Victory, HMS Enterprise in 1/48 by CAF models. So much to build, so little time!
yvesvidal Posted March 25, 2013 #59 Posted March 25, 2013 Ulises, You cannot get these kits in the USA. Your only option would be to have a friend in Europe buying the weekly installments and sending you the various sets on a regular basis. The end result would be very expensive, due to the price of the installments and the additional shipping charges (assuming nothing gets lost). Sometimes, these kits after having been distributed on a weekly basis, end up as a final kit offering. Amati has already done that and it may happen again with DeAgostini. It is sad that newsstands and magazines are almost completely gone from the US market with the exception of Subscriptions. Yves Quote
jack.aubrey Posted March 25, 2013 Author #60 Posted March 25, 2013 Hello. This looks like a nice kit. Is it one of those that you buy in weekly installments? I would be very interested in getting this kit if available in the USA. How do you get it? Hello. This model was infact distributed as weekly issue starting early in 2010. It consisted of more then 100 issues and today the entire collection is terminated. After this model De Agostini launched Victory, Sovereign of the seas and this year Twelve Apostles. I heard that recently De Agostini is also on the US market, see the following link: http://www.deagostiniusa.com/ecm/web/dea-us/online/home It seems you can get some models, surely Victory and Sovereign, try to look in deep the site, may be you can get more infos. Cheers, Jack. Quote
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