Sovereign of the Seas 1637 by modelshipwright (Bill Short) - Sergal - 1:78 - Port "as built", Starboard "as presented to King Charles I for approval"

[modelshipwright]

Thanks Robbyn. Your build of San Francisco brings back memories. It was my last build prior to The Sovereign.

 

Regards,

Bill

Edited April 7, 2013 by modelshipwright

[modelshipwright]

A friend of mine is a dentist and periodically he updates his equipment used in surgeries. I was fortunate enough to inherit one of his dental drill units. It is a brushless motor in the handset and has a quick change handpiece head for changing burs. I use both the belt driven drill and the new dental drill in my carving.

 

The Spectra Surge Dental Drill unit with handpiece.

 

 

The black stand with the grey cord on it is an LED light that turns on when the drill is operated and focuses a beam of light on the area it is aimed at.

 

 

More to follow......................

 

Bill

Edited April 20, 2016 by modelshipwright

[Maury S]

Bill, thanks for sharing what you use for your "craving".    

Maury

[modelshipwright]

Hi Maury,

 

At times I think my carving is a craving.

 

Regards,

Bill

[modelshipwright]

Thanks Gary. Nice of you to drop by my build.

 

Regards,

Bill

[modelshipwright]

The next carving I approached was the Coat of Arms for the area below the gallery windows on the starboard side. It is much the same as the one shown below that I carved for the port side.

 

 

The Coat of Arms drawn on the blank of boxwood.

 

 

The blank in position on the starboard gallery.......

 

 

The carving roughed out.......

 

 

The ball end burs I will use to carve the crest.......

 

 

 

Additional unnecessary material removed.....

 

 

Starting to detail the lion on the right......

 

 

More to follow.....................

 

Bill

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 10, 2013 by modelshipwright

[lamarvalley]

I have carved before but if honest, it was frustrating and the results were just so so.

I am consistently amazed at your patience and attention to detail. This is a fun build to keep track of.

 

Thanks for posting.

[modelshipwright]

Thanks LamarValley,

 

Regards,

Bill

[Sjors]

Hi Bill,

 

I was following you on MSW1 and in the back ground I follow you again.

When I see that dentist drill I almost got pain in my mouth 

Amazing job you are doing!

I will follow you further in silence.

 

 

[john46]

Wonderfull job, nice pictures. Will follow your built with interest.

 

Regards,

John

[modelshipwright]

Thanks Sjors and John for dropping by. Your comments are appreciated.

 

Regards,

Bill

[realworkingsailor]

When I see that dentist drill I almost got pain in my mouth 

 

Just be happy he's not doing to your teeth what he's doing to the boxwood...

 

 

 

Bill, as others have said, simply amazing. I'm very glad you're taking the time to repost your log. I can't remember where you had left off before "The Big One" so some of this seems new to me..

 

Andy

[modelshipwright]

Thanks Andy. In reposting the log, I tried to include as much of the build as my memory would allow. My photos, I confess, are not stored in the most organized manner which required some effort to sort. The log is now caught up to where I am at the moment. Every day, I seem to remember more bits that I left out.

 

One very important reference that I obtained was a book by Hendrik Busmann called "Sovereign of the Seas" Die Skulpturen Des Britischen Konigsschiffes von 1637, published in 2002 by Convent, and Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum, Brenerhaven Germany. Busmann did his thesis on the sculptures on the Sovereign and produced this wonderful account in the process. It came complete with three inserts which include the view of the hull from port side from the Payne engraving, the Van de Velde sketch of the port side and the painting from the Museum of Fine Arts Boston of the starboard side which is attributed to Peter Pett.

 

The book is written in German but does provide a wealth of information in photos with closeups of specific areas on the hull. It has proved to be a very important guide for my carving work and needed to be mentioned in this log.

 

Regards,

Bill

[modelshipwright]

Some further progress on the Coat of Arms.

 

 

More to follow.........

 

Bill

Edited April 11, 2013 by modelshipwright

[modelshipwright]

Some further progress on the Coat of Arms, detailing the lion and a start on the crown at the top.

 

 

More to follow.............

 

Bill

Edited April 20, 2013 by modelshipwright

[WackoWolf]

Every time I see a update to your post, I am more amaze than the time before. Please keep the pictures coming, I am always waiting for an update.

[gjdale]

Bill,

 

I remember your log from MSW 1 and was inspired at the time to buy your e-book. A great reference, though I've not yet had the opportunity to try out some of your teachings. I'm so glad you have re-posted as much as you have of the original log. A true delight to read and an excellent tutorial in itself. Thank you!

[modelshipwright]

Grant and WackoWolf,

 

Thanks for stopping by and for your comments.  Now that I have caught up with the log, the postings will be somewhat slower from here on.

 

Regards,

Bill

[JPett]

Ahoy Bill

 

Your journey is an inspiration. You light the way

 

Thank you for taking the time to repost your log.

[modelshipwright]

J.Pett,

Thanks for looking at my build.

Regards,

Bill

[modelshipwright]

Got a little more refining done on the lion, unicorn and the crown at the top.

 

Edited April 22, 2013 by modelshipwright

[Anja]

Hello Bill,

 

Thanks for all the beautiful and detailed pictures of your work.

 

I haven't done any sculpting myself, but your work is very inspiring and stimulating to give it a try.

And your carving book is a good tutorial to get started.

Is carving with the Tagua Nut als included in the book?

 

Looking forward to your progress.

 

Take care,

 

Anja

[modelshipwright]

Hi Anja,

 

Thanks for dropping by.  The tagua nut is not in the book, but rather I included it in this log to show that there are other materials available for carving.

 

Regards,

Bill

[modelshipwright]

Thanks Janos.  Coming from you, that is special.

 

Regards,

Bill

[Martin W]

Bill -- like the others, I want to thank you heartily for this log.  I have your book here beside me now, and I followed it closely in trying my own hand at carving (and found that I enjoyed it as much as anything else in this hobby).  It's the reference I recommend to anyone thinking of taking the plunge to buy a bunch of micro burrs and an optivisor! 

 

Seeing your work here again reminds me of just how rewarding it can be to take care with details.

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[modelshipwright]

Hi Martin,

 

Thanks for dropping by and posting your comments. Hopefully, the book has helped others as well in getting a start on carving. I am pleased you took the plunge and tried it.

 

Regards,

Bill

[md1400cs]

Bill,

 

I have been silently following, no ! not following -Admiring With Open Mouth- your level or artistry. At the risk of being redundant; STUNNING work.

 

I will try my kindergarten hand at carving, after I read and look at your book. My current build is tailor made for "bashing", but I'm not remotely in the same galaxy as you are. Thanks for re-posting some of your earlier work on this SOS. You remain an inspiring artist for many of us, I'm sure.

 

Regards,

 

Michael (from the next solar system over (:-).......

[modelshipwright]

Thanks Michael for your kind comments. Good luck with your carving.

 

Regards,

Bill

[NMBROOK]

Hi Bill

I would only like to echo what everyone else has said,truly splendid work.I too have picked the Sovereign as the very steep learning curve into the world of carving and I don't think that without someone like yourself as inspiration,I would of tackled it.I have managed to obtain a copy of Busmann's book and must say I must of been mad to contemplate this project without it.I shall try my hardest to do this fine ship justice,but you have set the bar so very high.

Kind Regards Nigel

[modelshipwright]

Thanks Nigel. Good luck with your build.

Regards,

Bill