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

[ca.shipwright]

I haven't tried it, but, it seems like starting with a fat tooth pick or a wooden kabob skewer might make fabricating belaying pins a lot easier than trying to turn down a piece of wood. I will let you know how this comes out.

 

Regards

[ca.shipwright]

?? What size brass pulley would you use for sheaves and cathead in 1:60  scale?

 

Thanks

 

 

[EJ_L]

Thanks for the advice.

 

I'm not sure about 1:60 off hand. If you know what the actual size is I use an app on my phone for conversions. It is free  by Woodland Scenics called Model Scaler. As it is made for model railroading it comes set up with all the common model railroad scales but it has a spot to enter and save custom scales. I have all the ones that I am currently using in there. It is great for scaleing both up and down and will convert between imperial and metric units. 

 

I know that for my 1:100 I need them no bigger than 3mm (1/8") diameter and no more than 1.5mm (1/16") thick for a single. Honestly, a little smaller than that would really be better as in some cases that would be very tight to fit in the openings. My next build at 1:77 gives a little more room fortunately but they will still be small.

[cobra1951]

The link i gave above has them as small as 2mm

Here's another in Canada https://castyouranchorhobby.com/index.php?sid=4q54qx8y6beya1d8273dlfivtl0m76l0&app=ecom&ns=prodsearchp&ecom--prodsearch--string=sheaves&SUBMIT=Go

only as small as 2.5mm though

Edited October 8, 2016 by Cobr@

[ca.shipwright]

Thanks EJ and Cobr@

[Bill Morrison]

Inspirational, Sir!  Simply inspirational!

 

Bill

[EJ_L]

Thanks Bill! Much appreciated.

 

Been a productive day today between cooking and ship building. House smells delicious and the bits have been built and installed. Still have a few odds and ends to add but I have also begun to plan and build the bowsprit. This will also be my first challenge with the round platforms that the ships of this era had. I will be relying heavily on Michael's (md1400cs) work on his Wasa build as the platforms on it are the same design used on la Couronne.

 

Now for the entertainment! Enjoy the pictures!

[cobra1951]

Some very nice detailing added to your build

Edited October 10, 2016 by Cobr@

[Robin Lous]

Nice EJ!

 

How do you fix the pin rails to the deck? Just glue, or do you also pin them?

 

Robin

[EJ_L]

I usually just glue them however, I have in the past gone in with actual pins that I drilled into the bottom of the posts and into the decks. In all reality, to actually pin them is the better course of action. The more I'm typing this the more I'm thinking about changing them to actually pinned and not just glued for the additional strength. Easier to do now than later when I usually have to fix stuff.

[Robin Lous]

And all the sudden I feel like an experienced wooden ship builder.

 

...as if 

 

Robin

[ca.shipwright]

EJ,

Definitely pin them. Glueing end grain is always risky. Just think of the catastrophe when a bit comes up after you installed all those lines on the pins and are doing the last one.

 

Regards

[EJ_L]

I have had that happen, I think it is just a bad habit I need to break of waiting till after it breaks to fix it instead of being proactive.

 

Robin, we all learn from each other and sometimes the new guy can say or ask something that gives even the most experienced (which I am not) a chance to learn a new way or see something in a different light. That is why questions and comments are vital to the continued growth of this hobby.

[donrobinson]

Pin rails look good, I think I would consider pins in the bottom of the posts also. As for your sheave problem I would go to the Sherline site get a lathe and make my own ......Christmas is coming!!  

[EJ_L]

I've got two lathes already! A full size and and a mini but unfortunately until we move to the new house, hopefully next month, my shop is shut down as it is now a storage unit. lol

 

As for Christmas and new tools, I am really wanting a Byrnes table saw. I have a very nice full size saw for my regular wood working but I really want a mini that I can use to mill more of my own lumber with closer tolerances and a lot less waste than what I can do now.

[ca.shipwright]

EJ,

Get the Byrnes' table saw and the thickness sander. With those two, you will never again have to buy milled lumber.

 

There is a log called "Can I Live Without a Byrnes' Table Saw." It has some very interesting comments. It resides in the Tools and Equipment Forum.

 

Regards

Edited October 10, 2016 by ca.shipwright

[EJ_L]

They have both been rapidly climbing my list of must haves for me and are now at the top of that list. Too many things I keep wanting to build and the need for more precision at the small sizes that we model in are making things difficult with my current set up of full size tools. Hopefully I can get USS Visa out of dry dock some time soon and take her for a cruise.   

 

In other news, the bowsprit construction has begun. After three long hours of work and reading I have managed to get it cut to length and carved the knee for the top mast.   I have to give a lot of credit to Mr. R.C. Anderson for his works in both The Rigging of Ships in the Days of the Spritsail Topmast and Seventeenth Century Rigging as these have been priceless to me in figuring out both how to build the various masts but also in the rigging for them. His drawings and diagrams are excellent especially in Seventeenth Century Rigging as it has larger fold out pages with detailed drawings of many joints, connections, and rigging methods. Also the photos of actual models of the era are a great addition as it adds the three dimensional element which can sometimes make more sense than a two dimensional sketch. I would highly recommend these books to anyone building ships of this era.

[yancovitch]

sure looks beautiful so far.....

Edited October 11, 2016 by yancovitch

[EJ_L]

Been far from idle last night and this evening. Bowsprit is shaping up with the cross trees and knee mounted as well as the top platform. I have also test fitted the topmast as the out of focus picture shows.    I will be making the railings and their supports next. Lots of delicate work involved in those. Wish me luck! 

[cobra1951]

Good job

I don't envy you the next few jobs, I hate the fiddly bits. But all part of the process to make it great, as I am sure yours will be

Edited October 12, 2016 by Cobr@

[donrobinson]

Looks like you have her nailed E.J., with this part of the build you shouldn't miss your power tools too much

[EJ_L]

Thanks Don. I agree, this stage will be a lot needle files, tweezers and knife work and not much in the way of power tools needed here. If something comes up I do still have my Dremel handy so I'm not completely powerless.

[Elijah]

Nice work EJ! Did you mean to use powerless as a pun. Because it makes a good one ?

[EJ_L]

Productive night on the spritsail top. Got the lower rail installed and now to make the upper rail. This one is very thin which will be fun bending into a circle. Slow and easy and it should go. The stantions will be another matter but I think I have a plan for those. We shall see tomorrow.

Edited October 13, 2016 by EJ_L

[EJ_L]

So somehow I have managed to have one of those rare and highly successful nights in the shipyard. Now I am kind of worried about either what I forgot to do or what will go wrong next time... Oh well, deal with it then. So my good fortune came in the form of getting the top railing onto my spritsail top in both one piece and in one try. That completed the woodwork portion of the top and now I can focus on getting the various rigging components ready to go and installed. I think I have a plan for everything now after spending a lot of time reading and looking at pictures trying to decipher the hows, wheres and whys. I shall find out soon. I'm trying to get as much built on the bowsprit as possible before I install it onto the ship for ease of access. I'm thinking I should be able to get the topmast on and the shrouds as well as eyebolts and even some of the blocks before I will be stuck till the foremast is up.

 

As a comparison, you can see the kit supplied top in the upper left corner of the picture. While it would have been usable I know that I can do better than that one and am very glad that I chose to make new ones from scratch.

 

One final note, I have rolled over 600 hours tonight on this build. It is now my longest build in terms of hours worked on it. Previously that record was held by the U.S.S. Constitution in my signature at 585 hours. I meant to post that when it actually happened but it slipped my mind then.

Edited October 14, 2016 by EJ_L

[yancovitch]

not just an improvement...a great improvement.........

[cobra1951]

Nicely done

[donrobinson]

That's real sweet, nice work. What kind of wood is that?

[EJ_L]

Yancovitch, Bob & Don thank you as always for stopping in and the kind words and to all the likes as well.

 

The reddish wood is Pear and the brown is Walnut.

[EJ_L]

Spritsail topmast is coming along rather well. Got it stepped into place and the deadeyes rigged. One side of shrouds and ratlines has also been completed and the other side started. I also added the cross tree to the top of the mast. Couldn't find what would have been there to hold the shrouds into place. Some references say a ring or collar, others a cross tree and even looking at other ships of the era has not left me with a uniform decision and so I made the executive ship yard decision. I'm happy with the look and it will aide the rest of the rigging better I think than a collar would have.  

 

Took these pictures with a tape measure in the background for size reference. Family and friends keep asking for that so they can put it into perspective easier. It does help to do that from time to time as with all the close up pictures it is easy to forget just how small some of the individual components are.

 

Enjoy the photos and once it is all done I will take some better pictures.