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

[EJ_L]

First gun port lid is installed. More coming soon!

Edited September 3, 2016 by EJ_L

[Bill Morrison]

This is a beautiful build so far!  Someday, I would like to build this kit, but I have far too much in my shipyard right now. My hat is off to you, sir!

 

Bill

[janet bode]

Janet B

 

       This must be one hell of a build,i think it takes some doing to get the decks all in line.Sure would like to build her someday.

[EJ_L]

Thank you to everyone for the kind words, likes and just looking in.

 

Ships like this are with out a doubt massive undertakings. Hundreds to thousands of hours spread out over months to years and yes, lots of money. They are not to be taken on lightly.

 

I hear all the time from people when they look at my models, be it ships or the train layout and they always say "I don't have the patience for that." I always say in response that you do have the patience if it is where your passion lies. I love building models. That is why I have the patience to do what I do. Other people may love sports and can sit through miserable cold and wet weather to watch their team play. I cannot do that. I can barely be bothered to turn on the game and watch it. That is not my passion so I do not have the patience for it. My dad rebuilds classic Mustangs and can do it in his sleep. I never had the patience to learn more than basic repairs. That was his passion not mine.

 

The biggest piece of advice I give to anyone who thinks of starting a model of this size is to make sure that this is what you are passionate about. It has to be the thing that brings you joy to work on even when you are stressed from life. If it is just a passing hobby, (of which there is nothing wrong with and I have many of those myself) then I strongly recommend sticking with the smaller kits. Otherwise there is an extremely good chance that you will spend a lot of money and end up with a box full of scrap wood that sits in a closet never to see completion.

 

Now to get back to work on la Couronne and in a couple of months I get to start on the next massive undertaking which is sitting across the room from me just begging to be built.   

[yancovitch]

nicely said..............uh.......what undertaking? ....you created a nice feel with the ship.....visually appealing....

Edited September 4, 2016 by yancovitch

[EJ_L]

My next ship, which will be the first in the new ship yard when we finish building our house, is going to be le Soleil Royal, 1:77 by Sergal. I will be building it alongside la Couronne and hopefully starting it in November-December.

[yancovitch]

now that's a super duper project!............hope you do a lot of research instead of building exactly like the kit.....you may be able to make some nice improvements......here and there...uh...mostly there

[EJ_L]

I have been gathering a lot of information on her. That is part of the reason I bought the kit so early to my start time. Aside from having to stock up on future projects and materials before all my spare money goes into the new house, I wanted to have plenty of time to go through the kit and really look at what was provided so I know what I need to bash and what I want to do with her. Plus this is giving me a lot of lead time to research her and gather what I can on how she should look. Like most ships of that century, there is little surviving information and accounts, pictures and models are rarely in agreement with each other. Fortunately, unlike la Couronne there is a bit more available which is helping tremendously. Plus there have been a few more models built of her that I can use for ideas.

 

Since she is a larger scale than la Couronne at 1:77 compared to 1:100, I will have a little more room for better detailing and easier building. I intend to bash a lot of the kit and am toying with the idea of adding LED lanterns in the cabins as well as detailing the cabins with furniture and such. I always say that I try to push myself to do better than the previous model and as le Soleil Royal is one of my dream builds I really want to take my time and make sure that I get in every element I want and that she looks like I want with minimal settling for good enough.

 

It will help that I will be building her alongside la Couronne. I will have another ship to work on which will help keep me from wanting to skip difficult things or settle for less than my best in order to keep building. Instead when those times hit I can back off of Soleil Royal and keep working on la Couronne which I anticipate will probably be entering into rigging about that time. 

[ca.shipwright]

Hi E.J.

Your La Couronne is coming out great. I have this ship and I may put it in the ways next, after I complete the Endeavour.

 

As for expensive, it's relative. You buy a kit for oh, $500. Then you spend half again to build it. Now were up to $750. Just for the h..l of it, buy $250 of new tools- you know  gotta have 'em. So now were up to the magic number, $1000. So off we go, and, in 2 or 3 years or 2-3000 hours later we finish the kit.  I just don't know many things I can do for 50 cents an hour.

 

Please chime in with comments if you care to. I have an Endeavour build log and a Sultana build log.

 

Regards,

[EJ_L]

That is actually the very reason my wife actually doesn't mind me spending the money on model ships and accessories. Yes, I tend to buy expensive kits and tools but the tools are a one time purchase. I'm not buying a completely new set each build. Just adding a few as needed. The builds themselves, like you said when broken down into the amount of hours I get to spend on them work out to often around 50 cents an hour if not less. There isn't much that can give me that kind of value.

[md1400cs]

EJ_L,

 

Nice several updates. Yes repetitive work is sometimes a chore. Thankfully during those times I also usually watch my Dodgers (keeps me sitting) xo. Your ship is coming along very beautifully. 

 

The French certainly had vision. Though I read somewhere that oft-times captains would remove a lot of the heavy decorative froo froo in order for their ships to lessen their draft and increase their speed. Don't know if there is any truth to this.

 

SO Soleil Royal for you next project- you are a braver builder than me. It is certainly on many builders super "Wish I could" list. If I ever finish my current one, the next will be a cross-section just for a change. But SR and SOS are always on my dreamer's mind.

 

Michael Z, had it right -super cheap hobby by-the-hour....I'll have to share this with my wife next time Proxxon drops something at my door. Though I'm also a car nut and have spent a bit on her as well hmmmm

 

Cheers,   looking good.

Edited September 5, 2016 by md1400cs

[EJ_L]

Port side gun port lids have been installed this week. I also took some time to build the entry balcony. This feature is completely made from my imagination as I have found no reliable source that shows what this would have looked like or if it even existed. This entry has always been a mystery to me on if it was on many ships or not. I know that it was on some ships but with others, some designs show it and others don't So I made an executive decision as I liked the look and think it is something that could have easily been on a ship of this size and so there it is. I still have to build the ladder up the side of the hull to get to it.

 

I have started building the next set of lids for the starboard side but those will probably be another week to get completed and installed. Then I will switch woods for the forward and aft lids and the off to the next item. The list is getting shorter of things to do before the masts begin.

[yancovitch]

that's innovative.....such little space between the upper and lower gun ports......

[EJ_L]

That is one of many of the incredible things about living on these ships. They may have been massive in overall size but once on board the room shank down considerably. There was a reason that sailors were short, a 6 foot tall person would be constantly bent over and hitting his head everywhere. Even some one only 5'-6" would be hard pressed to stand up straight and walk without ducking on some decks. The ships may have been large but they were not spacious. 

[cobra1951]

That entry port looks amazing, nice job. I think it fits well with the rest of the ships design and deserves to be there even if it was or was not on the original ship :)

[donrobinson]

I agree with Bob, it looks in place. Good call

[EJ_L]

Don, Bob, Thanks for the compliments and also to all those following along.

 

I guess that one of the main things with modeling the unknown is making sure what you build fits both the ship and time period. Regardless of historical accuracy, if it looks like it should be there, with similar architectural design, scale and function, then it can work. It is also the freedom of modeling for myself.   

 

Well, better get back to it. Still have 34 more lids to make!

[cobra1951]

Well, better get back to it. Still have 34 more lids to make!

 

I don't envy you that task

[ca.shipwright]

E J,

I totally agree with what you are saying about adding the appropriate items as to time and building practices. But, even more, if it looks right, it's right.

 

Regards

[KenW]

Great build; great workmanship.

Cheers.

[md1400cs]

E J,

 

Just catching up. Excellent work indeed. Love the details. Entry balcony - perfect. Also really like your triangle openings at the weather deck railings. Also all of the various hull planking woods make your build very special indeed.

 

Cheers, 

[EJ_L]

Michael as always, thanks for dropping by and for the kind words.

 

Those triangle openings I had held off of for a while as I wasn't sure how I was going to make them. One day I had happened to lift a tray that was holding a bunch of parts out of the drawer and discovered a small bag of tiny wood blocks. Those were the pieces for those openings. Somehow they had slid under that tray and I never noticed they were missing. Well a couple hours of file work, a few rebuilds after breaks and one that became well glued to my finger, I had all the blocks inplace on the rails.

 

Yet another example of sometimes things are not as hard as they would seem.

 

As for todays progress, I am still building the starboard gun port lids. I havnt gotten as much work done this week but they are moving along. This week has been busy with the new house and the admiral and I had our anniversary on the 13th so time to build has been limited. Still, the lids themselves have all been built and I will be making the eyebolts and installing hinges soon. Hopefully I can get them all installed this weekend.

[cdogg]

The ship is looking awesome, that balcony is pretty cool.

[Bill Morrison]

Well said!  I am a high school history teacher in Hartford, CT, and I have run a model building club for the past two years.  Some of my students have become very interested in building this type of ship model, so I am dedicating this year to helping them develop the necessary skills, and I have told them about the difference between patience and passion.

 

Given that my school is in an urban and underprivileged area, I have donated several of these kits to those in my club who want them.  They are thrilled to learn!

 

Bill

[EJ_L]

That is awesome Bill! You are exposing them to a hobby that they would probably never get to enjoy otherwise and teaching them valuable skills in the process. Not building ships themselves but reading, measuring, interpreting plans, patience and pride in their work. It is good to see that this hobby is being used for more than just creating a flotilla of miniatures to sit on mantles.
And maybe as a side benefit we will gain a couple more life long modelers that will help keep model ship building alive. My hat is off to you sir.

[Bill Morrison]

I appreciate that.  Thank you.  Most of the students are hesitant to go beyond plastic, and that is okay.  I have convinced our principal and the Board of Ed to pay for all the necessary tools, paints, and kits.  These kids are starving for adult attention in their lives, and this is one way to give it.  Thanks again!

 

Bill

[EJ_L]

So the good news is that a lot of progress has been made on the gun port lids as I now have 36 of them complete. The bad news is that I need 52 of them. I was hoping to get them all finished this weekend but I spent a lot of time up at the new shipyard checking on its progress and so lid production dropped. New goal is to be done by next weekend. We shall see.... 

[cobra1951]

The upside is the longer you take the better the end product

[yancovitch]

a gentleman sent me this link for the lusci's couronne.....really nice!!..although it may take something to figure out how to download it haha.....i managed too somehow....i don't know how to add the link in this forum??

Edited September 19, 2016 by yancovitch

[yancovitch]

i tried this??

Document.rtf luci la couronne.rtf