La Couronne by EJ_L - FINISHED - Corel - 1:100 - 1637 Version

[EJ_L]

I would normally think the same but all the images I have seen of her show it built this way. My guess is that it help to give better stability to the taller tower. If I could see how they were actually built structurally that would help but I have not yet fund a framing plan that shows how those were built.

 

Then again it could just be a weird design feature. Many ships from this era have designs on them that do not make a lot of sense. That is one of the things I actually like. Gves them features that stand out and sets them apart, for better or worse, from other ships.

[EJ_L]

Okay, so after spending some time looking through my drawings and pictures that I have been using to help build this ship I have noticed that I did indeed mess up on the platforms for the quarter galleys. They are built in the right direction but where they hang down on the rear is a bit off. I have mine going almost straight down with just a slight curve towards the front. This curve should be much more defined so that it is more of a arc shape from front to rear. Hopefully if you are building this same ship you catch this before I had it pointed out to me! 

 

Whoops! Well, not the first mistake nor will it be my last on this ship. I doubt I will change it at this point. Those platforms were kind of a pain to build and honestly it doesn't bother me that much. I may change my mind if it sits and festers in my brain. We shall see. As for now I am still pushing onward with the galleys. Trying to build the center cabin now. Should have some pictures in a couple of days. 

 

May be time for a drink....

[EJ_L]

Starboard quarter galleys are complete! Lots of trial, several errors, a couple of cut fingers and one complete start over later and I was finally able to sit back and smile at my work. I'm hoping that the port side will go a bit smoother now that I have a plan on how to build them and learned several ways not to. If not, well the admiral and I did make port this weekend and restocked the bar so I can always just sit back with a glass and look at her which is nice to do also.

 

Well, thanks for stopping by to look and enjoy the pictures.

[cobra1951]

Looking smart  

[Elijah]

They look like neat little houses sitting on a ship ! Great job, she is coming along!

[Salty Sea Dog]

Oh boy! The turrets on the La Couronne are my favorite part!

[mtaylor]

Nicely done on the galleries...  I like them... a lot!!!

[francisb]

She is looking great, I have to admit this is not an easy model not so much in the actual "doing" but some more instructions / photos may have been helpful.At the moment I am building up and placing the cannons will try and upload some photos all the best Mark

[EJ_L]

Yes, there is a lot of unknowns on this one. A lot of what I have been doing is comparing pictures I have found of other models, plans from different manufacturers, what I have read about early 17th century French ships, a lot of "best guess", borrowing from similar ships and what I like. As it's long term goal is to sit in my house and make me happy, I'm okay with that.

 

The one huge plus of having to do all this research though is I am learning a lot about ship construction of that era. I have probably learned more about ships from building her then I have from all the other kits I have done with good instructions and clear pictures. I do love a challenge and she has given me a good one!

[cobra1951]

Yes, there is a lot of unknowns on this one. A lot of what I have been doing is comparing pictures I have found of other models, plans from different manufacturers, what I have read about early 17th century French ships, a lot of "best guess", borrowing from similar ships and what I like. As it's long term goal is to sit in my house and make me happy, I'm okay with that.

 That is the best reason you can have for building kits

[EJ_L]

I'm trying to show some more of the in between steps and not just the finished product. Here is one of the port quarter galley towers being test fitted together. I still have some final sanding to do to close out gaps and smooth it up.

 

I am glad I decided to build these myself. You can see the hexagonal blocks that came with the kit. The instructions call for the window frames to be glued to the surface and the roofs were supposed to be those smooth cones. By building my own walls, cutting out the windows and opening up all the window panes, you can now shine a light into the windows and see inside if you wished. Granted there is nothing to see but you can still do it. The best part of those blocks was using them as a template and support while I glued the new walls together. Helped to hold the correct angles.

 

I m hoping to make some good progress over the weekend. Would love to get the port side done but that may be too much to hope for. We shall see.

[EJ_L]

Latest update has the tall tower on the port side quarter galley built and the balcony completed. I also went ahead and installed the decorative carvings. I decided to use the metal ones provided by the kit. They are not the greatest looking, but for now they will work. I would like to one day replace them with wooden ones that I carve myself however, as my carving skills are not that great yet it will wait. I figure I can always pop off the metal ones to replace them when I can.

 

Work is still progressing on the port quarter galley. The small tower is in production and hopefully I can get it done today and start building the center cabin.

 

Better get back to work!

[cobra1951]

It's like a little miniature fortified city, love it

[yancovitch]

looks cool......smart idea with the windows...always thought that plunking them on the outside was cheapish......was wondering what all that filigree at the top was..hmmmm......one of the big issues for me will be, what kind of decorations to put on my model when the time comes, aside from the obvious madonna and fleurs de lys.................

by the way...does anyone know how to apply word wrap here?...script keeps running off the screen......

Edited July 31, 2016 by yancovitch

[EJ_L]

I have not found much consistency in decorations on this ship. Put 6 different renditions of her and you will get 6 different styles of decorating. The fleur-di-lis and the Madonna as well as the crown above her head and a variation of the crossed palm branches are usually there. Size, and number varies but they are present. The rest of the stern decorations come and go depending upon the builder, manufacturer of the kit and even the year the kit was produced. As I have no definitive drawing that can confirm exactly what was there I decided to use the pieces that Corel has provided. Not saying they won't change later as I am constantly researching for more and better information and if I find something that can confirm the look one way or the other I will change it when I carve the new pieces.

[Kevin]

Sorry i am late to the party, and you are so far into the build, but I have brought popcorn, enough for everyone, can I stay and watch please, lovely build

[EJ_L]

Welcome Kevin and thanks for the kind words. Always room for one more and thanks for the fresh popcorn, the old popcorn was getting stale after 6 months.

 

The great thing with these build logs is no matter when you join in it is fairly easy to get caught up and look back through the build to see what has been missed.

[md1400cs]

Just catching up nice detail work with the towers. The metal gilded bits look nice as well, and certainly part of the original ships in those days. Yes carving IS another entire art in-and-of-itself. I'm also on the "T" ball team with that skill (:-) 

 

On MSW's scratch build side there are works there that are out of this world beautiful. Love meandering over there but makes me nervous ha ha ......

Edited August 2, 2016 by md1400cs

[EJ_L]

Thanks MIchael! I have spent several hours over on the scratch build side looking at many of the awesome ships shown there. Many unbelievable works there.

 

The gilded works are adding some nice character to her. In the below photo I have started to add more of them to the sides now that I have finally completed the port side quarter galley. I did find out that some of my carving skills will be put to the test shortly as the decorations that go on the uppermost wedge directly below the poop deck do not fit the dimensions of the ship. I am not completely sure what happened as my measurements match the 1:1 drawing and all other decorations fit but in any case they are too short for this model. Luckily they are some of the simpler ones so I believe I can do it. We shall see. At least I do not have to make a hundred fleur-di-lis! The metal ones actually look fairly good so that is a relief.

 

Enjoy the picture. Once I finish up with the current decorations I will add some updated pics of the whole ship. 

[ca.shipwright]

So many ships, so many great build logs. On the shelf are La Couronne, Niagara, and Syren. I may have to play spin the bottle to decide which gets the next kiss.

 

Regards

[EJ_L]

Well you can't go wrong with any of those choices. I do wish that the hardest choice any of us would have to make is which ship to build next. Life would be much more enjoyable on the day to day level.

 

I look forward to seeing whichever you choose.

[ca.shipwright]

thanks EJ

[EJ_L]

Completed the first of the front towers as well as adding more of the gilded decorations with 32 fleur-di-lis. Now to repeat on the other side. She really is looking more and more like the iconic ship she is. 

[cobra1951]

Superb !! you'll need sunglasses to work on her soon with all that gilding

[Landlubber Mike]

EJ, this is a fantastic build, wow!  I love your work on it.  I wondered about the wood in Corel kits (I have the Unicorn), but it looks really nice when on the model and finished.  Seeing your work actually makes me seriously consider building the Unicorn again (screw accuracy)...

 

Great job, you have a new follower!

Edited August 6, 2016 by Landlubber Mike

[EJ_L]

Bob, you are not far off with needing sunglasses. When the LED lights on my visor reflect back off those pieces it can be extremely bright and blinding when looking through magnification. If this cloud cover will break I want to take her outside for some pictures. I have a feeling it will be even brighter then!

 

Mike, glad you are enjoying it! The kit wood is not too bad. I did add some other wood to it though. The mahogany on the lower hull, below the bottom wale, and the pear wood that is on the interior bulkheads and the cabin walls came from Jason at Crown Timberyard. All the rest is from the kit. I have found that most kit wood is usable it just sometimes takes extra effort to make sure the thicknesses are even and the edges straight. Nothing that we shouldn't be doing already anyway. 

 

I will keep an eye out for that Unicorn build if you decide you want to give it a shot.

[EJ_L]

Finished the second tower! All of la Couronne's hull structures are now built. It is good to see her looking like herself. I still have a long way to go but I feel like I have reached another big milestone on her build. Now to work more on all the misc. decorations, rudder, furniture and the build out of the ram. Also sometime soon I will need to build her launch.

 

The kit came with a preformed, solid hull to use for this. I think I will build that one for a place holder but I would like to frame and plank one from scratch. I have never done that before but as my desire to learn how to do actual framing is constantly growing greater and greater I think this may be a good place to attempt a first try. Worst case I have the solid hull one I can use and best case I will make something great!

 

I also need to give her a good dusting/cleaning. Since most of my work is currently being done very close to her she is collecting some saw dust build up on her edges. I am looking forward to having my large table back at the new shipyard to help prevent this. I will try to give her a good cleaning hopefully before the next major set of pictures.

 

Working around the bow more lately I have also noticed the very pronounced twist at the forecastle deck. I new this was there but as much of the build up till recently has focused on her stern I didn't pay that close of attention. Now however it bugs me. There is nothing I can do at this point and really other than acknowledging my mistake the reason I bring it up is to stress the importance of making sure the false keel, on these kits especially but on any build really is straight and true. Most of us know this but reminders are always good and for anyone new who is reading this, there is your warning!

 

Still I am very happy with the build as she is by far still my best wooden ship to date. Enjoy the pictures and I will get back to work! 

[Homebrew]

Excellent work!
I can't believe you can work so quickly.

It is good for me to see a build of her. Years ago I purchased a set of plans from France which includes some photos of the admiralty model.

 

Cheers

Mark

from Tasmania 

[MartinB]

Love your hull. Your hard work paid off. Classy

 

Regards

Martin

[EJ_L]

Martin, Mark thank you both for the kind comments and to everyone who has liked this and followed along. The appreciation is motivation enough to keep going.

 

Mark, I don;t know if I would call it quickly. As of last night I am at 490 hours and over 6 month in. What helps is that with my admiral in graduate school and a clinical internship I have a lot of free time where I am alone and able to work uninterrupted. In a couple of months when the new shipyard is built and we move that free time will shrink considerably as I will have a lot of work to do setting up the admiral's office and the rest of the house. So I am taking advantage as much as I can in the meantime.

 

By the way, I would love to see those pictures of the admiralty model as well as the plans if you would be willing to share them. I have been doing a lot of research on the ships of this century and would love to see how they show her framing.

 

Thanks,