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

[md1400cs]

Thomas,

 

Good point. I used Watco Danish oil on the hull, and weatherdeck of my first model some 40 years ago. Hull still as nice as the day that I oiled it. Also, as you mention the wood looks So natural with invisible protection.

 

Michael

[yancovitch]

yea, watco is good too..............the only reason i used wipe on poly, was because the grain on the wood i used, was a bit strong, and the poly didn't show up and exaggerate the grain, like oil did....eg. tung oil

[EJ_L]

Thank you for the suggestions. I've used wipe on poly a lot on other wood projects and I do like it. I may have to try out that danish oil though as I like the sound of it being almost invisible. I've got a couple of sample pieces I've made up of scrap planking so I can try out a few different sealers to see what I like the best.

[EJ_L]

It's now 250 hours into building la Couronne and the hull planking is complete! I still have some sanding and a few areas that I will be filling with saw dust and glue but the hard part is complete and I'm happy with the results. Next up is work on the forward bulkhead at the bow. I need to plank it and trim it out and finish shaping the curve of the hull planking. 

 

On another note, the feet that she is resting on are kit supplied. I am just using them temporarily for pictures as she will be going back into the clamps for work. I do not completely like the stands design that the kit instructs me to build but I do like the shape of these feet. I'm thinking I will use them as a template to make new ones with a nicer wood.

 

Now for the pictures. Enjoy!

[cobra1951]

Looks great EJ

[yancovitch]

clean as a whistle!................vc

[EJ_L]

I got the forward bulkhead planked and finished the hull where it wraps around the bow. I still think this was a very impractical design with the gun placement but it does have an interesting look instead of just a flat, blunt front. The weather also cooperated and the rain held which was great as I hate trying to apply finish to wood with high humidity as it takes much longer for it to dry between coats. This allowed me to get the finish applied and I think she looks great now with the wood colors brought out. Although there are a few flaws this is my best planking job I've done.

 

I have removed the temporary decks down to the upper gun deck and I will now begin to plank the interior bulkheads and detail it out. I will also begin the long process of building all the canons. This is where the excitement of seeing all the tiny details take shape begins. 

[mtaylor]

I got the forward bulkhead planked and finished the hull where it wraps around the bow. I still think this was a very impractical design with the gun placement but it does have an interesting look instead of just a flat, blunt front. 

 

Indeed, it was impractical.  But at the time, if you look at lot of the ships of the line, they had guns pointing every way they could think of.  Including at themselves.  

[yancovitch]

sweet job.....even though impractical, some things should be acceptable for their romantic appeal.........

[tomasg]

Great work, it looks very nice.

[EJ_L]

Don't get me wrong, I love the look of the ship even with it's impractical designs. That is actually one of the major things I love about ships of this era was all the unique features they possessed. Their architecture to me was just such a huge wow factor that it negates the "well that is just dumb" design elements that are often found on these ships. Although ships of the late 18th and 19th centuries were better built they lost the grandeur and awe that the 17th and early 18th century ships had. Granted fancy designs don't win wars and as a former Navy man I appreciate a well designed ship that will win vs something that looks good. However, for modeling purposes bring on the elaborate and impractical!

[francisb]

Shes looking really good, today I started to get things  ready to begin mine, first thing I notice is  the slots in the frames  and keel will all need easing was this the same in your kit? At least my keel is straight!

[EJ_L]

Francis,

Yes, I had a lot of easing to do to get everything to fit. I think I would rather this though as it is easier to sand and file the opening gradually bigger to allow for a good fit vs having to try to shim the bulkheads into place if the opening is too large. You are lucky your keel is straight. Mine took a bunch of working to straighten back out and even now I can still see a little twisting. Hindsight being what it is I'm wishing I would have just cut a new keel rather than try to use what was supplied.

 

I will keep an eye out for yours to start. Make sure to start a build log and I will follow along. It would be nice to see another Couronne come together.

[RedDawg]

Good morning from my neck of the woods. As I look at your second planking, I am interested in learning how you came up with the measurements for your hull. As I go to the second planking of my sovereign from Model Space, I will try my hand at your technique. My first planking leaves a lot to be desired. But I'm alittle touched in the head as I like things that are hard over the easy way.

[EJ_L]

RedDawg,

How I did my planking was I first laid the wales and built the upper half first. reason being is simply that the upper hull is simpler to plank as it is mostly straight runs without any crazy curves. Then I laid the garboard strake along the keel.

 

Once those were in place I used a tailor's tape measure to determine the distance between the bottom wale and the garboard. I knew that the widest plank I wanted to use would be 5mm in width. So at the center bulkheads, which are the widest, I took that measurement which in my case was 110mm and divided by the 5mm width of my plank. This gave me 22 strakes. I was fortunate in that it ended up being an even number. Had it been otherwise I would have adjusted the number of strakes so that none of them would have been wider than 5mm. 

 

Now that I have the number of strakes at the widest point I measured along each bulkhead to find each distance. I then took those numbers and divided them by the 22 strakes that would be on the hull. This gave me progressively smaller widths, 4.75mm, 4.5mm, 4.20mm, 3.8mm, 3.5mm, etc., as I worked out from the center to the bow and stern. 

 

The trick became measuring along the front edge of the bow as the bottom of the boat does not extend out as far as the top. Here I could not measure from the wales to the garboard as they simply did not line up. I instead measured the curve of the leading edge of the bow and divided that number by the 22 strakes. In doing some research I learned that the width of a plank should not be reduced past 1/2 it's overall width. In this case a 5mm plank should not go below 2.5mm in width. Fortunately my leading edge came out to be 3mm in width so I was safe.

 

While I was measuring all this out I also placed tick marks along the lines of measurement just to use as guidelines to help make sure I stayed on track.

 

Something to keep in mind when you go to plank your hull is that you may lose a little width of your planks if you have to bevel the edges for a tight fit. This can easily throw off a layout even if it is a very small amount as we are dealing with measurement in 1mm or less. I recommend continually rechecking your measurements as you proceed so adjustments can be made if necessary across the entire hull and not just in the last one or two strakes at the end. It is easier to hide a few mm mistake when spread out over 50mm vs suddenly having a couple of planks much wider than the others.

 

The other reason for checking is it will ease your mind when it looks like you are running out of room towards the ends of your ship. Due to the way hulls curve it will quickly begin to seem like there is no way your planking will fit in the remaining space. If you are measuring and cutting them to the measured widths, they will fit. It trips me up every time I do it and I spend a lot of time remeasuring to verify it will work.

 

Good luck, and if can help anymore I will be glad to try.

[cobra1951]

Excellent way of working, measure 20 times, fit once :)

Edited April 28, 2016 by Cobr@

[EJ_L]

That is what it feels like sometimes. My initial layout took me most of the day one Saturday. I don't remember how many times I rechecked what I did but I do remember completely erasing everything and starting over at one point when I was certain I had something messed up. A glass of bourbon and some time playing with my dogs in the yard later I went back in. Turns out I had it right when I did the second layout and my marks were int he same place. I had worried myself into doubting what I was doing!  

[cobra1951]

Yeah while it is best to check check and check again, overthinking it can mess you up. A break is a good idea, mine sometimes last days lol

Edited April 28, 2016 by Cobr@

[mtaylor]

E.J.

I think we all do that when planking and spiling.  That is, until we've done enough ships that we can be confident that we're doing it right...  but I think only a few get to that point.  There's so many skills needed for these things (model ships) it's tough to be a master of all of them

[RedDawg]

Thanks E.J. You simplified it quite a lot. I like math anyway. I've got five rows started at the top deck of the sovereign and three full rows at the bottom the way the book shows on my first planking. But I'm going to play with the math and get some practice in to start with for the rest of the planking.

[KenW]

E.J.  I really like the coloring of the wood on your model.  A nice deep tone.  Well done!

[EJ_L]

Thanks Ken! I'm glad I chose to use mahogany on the hull. It gave it that nice deep tone you mentioned which is what I was wanting.

[EJ_L]

I have spent the last few days casing the gun ports and planking the inside bulkheads where they will be exposed to view. Still have some work to do on the planks but the casing is mostly done minus a couple of touch ups. Then it will be time to switch gears for a while and build canons. As most of the canons on this deck will not be seen some of them will go fast. However I still have 10 that will be getting the full detail treatment. The rest will just be a simple carriage and minimal rigging as the only way to view them will be through the ports which does not allow for much viewing especially into a dark interior. I will also be installing most of the dummy canons.

 

I will take some more complete pictures once I finish everything but here are a few progress pics till then.

[cobra1951]

You're making great progress

[EJ_L]

Thanks Bob!

[Elijah]

Nice planking!

[Mikeymo]

EJ_L,

 

This is a pretty amazing job you're doing. Me being completely new to model ship building, this type of build log with your detailed notes is invaluable for me.

It's coming along nicely and I'm looking forward to seeing the detail take shape.

 

What ever did we do before the internet? The information sharing capabilities are mind boggling!

[S.Coleman]

Beautiful job on the planking. Looks great. Good work.

[EJ_L]

Thank you everyone for the compliments and likes. Mike, I agree with you that before the age of the internet this sharing of knowledge was far harder and slower. Word of mouth at hobby stores and magazines was primarily of I learned to build models. Having a site like this with the vast amounts of knowledge, pictures, helpful people and links to great suppliers has made a great hobby even better. Now if I only lived closer to where all of these great looking conventions take place.

[cdogg]

Your ship is looking awesome, I have my eye on this kit for someday.  Can't wait to see more posts, keep up the great work!