La Renommèe by Landlubber Mike - Euromodel - Scale 1:70

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks Pete!

 

Hubac, thanks for looking in.  I’ve thought about taking that approach, but worry about whether the structural integrity will be weakened.  The gun deck is almost completely obscured by the main deck save for a small opening between the main and fire masts.  In addition, I don’t think I can achieve complete historic accuracy of the gun deck level as the plans don’t show the locations of the hull runs (i dont think that the bulkheads completely match up with them).

 

What I might do is frame the gunports in redheart but paint the inner bulwarks red ochre.   Not sure if anyone will be able to distinguish the painted areas from the use of redheart.  That will save some money on the redheart which I can use in the more visible areas (like main deck bulwark planking, main deck gun carriages, etc.).

Edited July 12 by Landlubber Mike

[Landlubber Mike]

So I've finally had some free time and completed the first planking (I also installed some new overhead LED lighting which are making a world of difference in lighting up the workshop).  I used my palm orbital sander to sand the hull down - it's a great tool that makes sanding much easier and quicker for jobs like these.  I need to do some touch ups and finalize the heights of the bulwarks, but figured I could do that once I had a better idea of how things were lining up with the gunports, rails, etc.  Wont need much filler at all, but I want to take another look at the top area near the stem, where the bulkheads seem to suggest a more vase-like curvature:

 

Before doing all that, I spent considerable time measuring and adjusting the bulkheads.  Part of the issue is that the replacement keel Euromodel sent me to replace the kit's warped keel was itself slightly warped with a very tiny twist beginning near the eighth bulkhead.  I thought I had largely resolved it (using blocks and wood brackets between the bulkheads), but when looking at the stern directly from the back I noticed that there was a slight lean about 2mm towards port.  That meant that the starboard side was too high and too far to the midline, and the port side was too low and and a touch too far to port.  So that required hours of measuring, adding/subtracting material, etc.  Everything now looks much more symmetrical and square.  It was a pain, but I'm glad I took the time.

 

I also had to make some adjustments to the quarterdeck area bulkhead tops.  As PiratePete notes in his very helpful build notes, BH 14 needed extra material.  I also ended up having to add material to BH 11 - BH 13 to varying degrees to get the proper slope to the quarterdeck.  I noticed, however, that one of the plans has the quarterdeck more level while another plan has it more on an incline.  I went with the latter and will deal with it once I am closer to installing the quarterdeck.  I also added material to the ledge where the rear balcony sits (just aft of the stern extensions in the picture below).  In part I needed to adjust for the twist in the keel.  The plans also suggest that the balcony is a touch higher than where the kit parts end up, but that might ultimately depend on how I build the balcony.  In any event, I can remove any excess height from that area when I figure out what needs to be done.

 

The plans can be somewhat inconsistent with one another which can be frustrating, but they are usually pretty close.  Much better than the Corel Unicorn where measurements differed by as much as 5-10mm amongst the plans!  I imagine this is one of the issues builders had to contend with when kit bulkheads were/are hand cut and plans hand drawn.  New kits probably are a lot more precise and consistent with laser cutting and computerized plans.

 

I'm pretty excited about how things are coming out - it looks more like a ship every day.  It's also got a lot of curves and some decorative elements that should make for a nice model.  It's been fun in the meantime as this kit, as I understand other Euromodel kits, bridges a little of the gap between pure kit builds and scratch builds.  It's also been fun and a big learning experience comparing notes with PiratePete, whose build notes are a real asset for people building this kit or other Euromodel kits.

 

Happy holidays!

Edited December 24, 2018 by Landlubber Mike

[Robert29]

Nice work Mike, very neat and accurate. It's good that you take the time to adjust inconsistencies in the kit that apperantly you find in most of the kits, the end result always pays for the time spent.

 

Happy Holidays you too.

 

Robert

[fnick]

Hi Mike

 

That's a lovely first layer of planking!

Have a good Christmas!

 

Nick

[piratepete007]

Mike, I agree with your above comments (and humbly say thank you). A Euromodel 'kit' build is a fascinating experience because unlike any others, there are real challenges all the time. They are not difficult to overcome but they do make you think and they do allow you to add your own touches so I am looking forward to seeing how this ship evolves. Given your enthusiasm and your great attention to every small detail, this is going to be a great experience for the many who follow you.

Pete

[Landlubber Mike]

Thank you very much Robert, Nick, Pete and Mark.  Really appreciate the kind words!

 

Mark, I’m wondering about using spacers and braces between bulkheads.  I’ve always been concerned that there might be some flex depending on the what the bulkheads are made of.  For example, if basswood, there probably will be some flex.  On the other hand, my Amati Pegasus used MDF, and there was zero flex.

 

When I installed the spacers/braces, I was very careful to use Legos on the opposite sides of the bulkheads to keep them square.  But, if your braces/spacers are slightly too short or too long, it seems to me that you end up pushing or pulling the bulkheads out of alignment.  Is it just better to include square blocks in the corners where the bulkheads meet the keel?  I don’t know.  I guess you do your best, and make any adjustments when the skeleton is glued.

[marktiedens]

Not sure if I`m the Mark you are asking,but I added spacers between the bulkheads to keep them from flexing while planking - I had a small problem with flexing bulkheads a few builds ago.  

As long as the keel is straight & the bulkheads square,the spacers shouldn`t change anything as far as bulkhead alignment goes.  They just need to be fitted well enough to not push things out of shape. 

 

Mark 

[Landlubber Mike]

1 hour ago, marktiedens said:

Not sure if I`m the Mark you are asking,but I added spacers between the bulkheads to keep them from flexing while planking - I had a small problem with flexing bulkheads a few builds ago.  

As long as the keel is straight & the bulkheads square,the spacers shouldn`t change anything as far as bulkhead alignment goes.  They just need to be fitted well enough to not push things out of shape. 

 

Mark 

Sorry I was referring to the Wallace Mark. But I tend to agree with you too Mark on the use of spacers.  

[popeye the sailor]

spacers are good..........I've sen a lot of folks use them........especially at the bow and stern where the planking flex is pretty aggressive.   I've never used them though........if you intend on pre bending your planking,  you likely can forego doing it.  but I would anyway if it's what you usually do.   it will give more surface to cement to.   the hull looks super    hope you and your family had a great Christmas!

[Landlubber Mike]

Thank you Popeye, Santa was very good to us.  I even got a few nice gifts this year.  Hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas as well!

 

Mark, that's what I did - though, I usually use my kids' Legos 🙈

[Landlubber Mike]

Happy 2019 everyone!

 

I’ve made some progress over the holidays and last few weeks.  In getting ready for the second planking, I built the stern post and rudder using walnut from Crown Timberyard.  Since I’m not planning on painting the lower hull, I was a bit uncomfortable using the kit wood which had different woods for the rudder and stem versus the keel, leading to a pretty big color difference.  Kit manufacturers really should as a matter of course stock a kit with consistent woods or at least colors/shades.

 

I added brass rod to the stern post to help position it when running the second planking so that it ends up nice and flush.  I built the rudder using in three sections, though the wood is dark and despite marking the edges with pencil, the edges may not show up when the wood is oiled.  I’ll finalize the rudder once the stern post is installed, including adding the bottom sole (the kit rudder is in the right):

I spent some time working on the various hatches for both the gun and main decks.  I originally thought the kit didn’t provide enough grating material so went to buy more but the cost on the Euromodel site was awfully high.  So I went with some gratings from RB Models.  You can see them in the piece on the upper left side of the picture below - really nice quality, but unfortunately the grating openings for the ones I bought ended up being slightly too oversized I thought.

After building the three sets of gratings for the gun deck using the RB Model gratings, I realized that I miscounted the the amount needed relative to what the kit provides.  Stupid me, I double counted the gratings on the gun deck under the opening in the waist, which are also shown in the main deck plans.  Turns out the kit barely gives you enough to complete all the visible gratings, so I went with the kit gratings which are more in scale.  The one piece using the RB Models material is completely hidden so the disparity won’t be noticed.  So, crisis averted but it would be nice if the kit provided more material to be able to construct all gratings (visible and hidden) in the kit, and at least to have some extra in case of mistakes, poor material, etc.

 

In the RB Models piece, you can see the gratings look darker than the kit gratings. I used the brown Age-It from Micromark and really like how it darkened the gratings, which typically seem too light for me.  So, l’ll likely use this to darken the other gratings as well.

I’m still mulling over the ultimate color scheme.  I’m leaning towards keeping the colors simple in browns and black, but have thought about adding reds and/or blues (blue seems to have been used in Swedish ships) for more color.  I’m already using reds and blues on my Pegasus, so I might just stick with browns and black.  Since I’m painting with wood, that would enable me to use the kit cannons and not have to scratch them in redheart, etc.

 

Thanks for looking in!

[mtaylor]

Mike, 

The grates look great.    

 

You might give some thought to just painting for "highlights" and not the whole hull.   I've seen many (my Vasa included) were the only thing painted was above the wales and even then it's more to highlight that area and also most viewers will think (not sure why) that more is painted than actually is.

[piratepete007]

Mark - I agree with you whole heartedly re the minimal painting which in a way would present more of an authentic weathered look. Maybe, a mass of colour over the full hull could be a bit of a shock !

 

Mike - do I assume that the 'Age-It EASY' is a water-based material and not oily ? Looks like a good move to use that stain.

 

Pete

[Beef Wellington]

Looking good Mike, I find making up gratings tedious but somewhat satisfying and glad it worked out for you.  I have to admire your commitment to painting with wood, especially in a kit, and suspect it takes longer to customize satisfactory solution that building from scratch.

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks very much for all the likes.

 

Mark - the "highlights" concept is something I've been thinking about.  Seems like colors on the sides of hulls typically ran into the stern as well.  I had posted a few weeks ago (and you kindly had replied and helped me think through some of the issues) of inner bulwark planking - e.g., if I go with red, do I have to do both the main deck and the gun deck to match (as well as the port sills)?  If the bulwarks are red, do the gun carriages have to be in red?  Etc.  What I might do instead is go with blacks and golds (using washes, etc. to bring out the details) for the decorative pieces.  The Kenji Nakajima model below took this approach and I really like it (he added blue in a couple spots of the decorations on the stern).  Where I will deviate from him is that he used the kit cast pieces - I'm likely going to scratch my own because while I think they are pretty good, I don't think that they fill out the teardrop shape of the quarter galleries the right way and some of the lower decorative elements are not in the right scale.  So, it will be a bit different and hopefully look half as nice as his model.

 

Pete - The Age-It is water-based, and goes on very nicely.  I tried a bunch of the General Finishes stains but the Age-It looked nicest to me.  It turned the gratings a nice golden bronze, which complemented the dark walnut coamings when tung oil was used.  Unfortunately, it looks like the best time to apply is after the gratings are completed because of all the gluing and sanding of the camber that you need to do to assemble them.  I tried to apply glue only to the bottom of the gratings so that it didn't penetrate too far at the top so that the stains will take.  Will see what happens.

 

I agree about too much color.  It's nice, but I almost like the more simplistic 3-color scheme you see being used by folks in Europe (pear/boxwood/ebony).  Here's a model on one of the websites that uses a lot of color - nice, but not really what I'm going for (the sails are fantastic though).

 

Jason - yeah, the gratings are a bit tedious, especially when you have to do as many as are on this ship.  But, they provide a nice detail I think.  I figured I would knock them out at once since I was already cutting wood for the coamings, and making them at the same time would make it easier for consistency of dimensions.  As usual, I grossly underestimated the amount of time it would take to put them all together.  I have to say though that the Byrnes table saw with sliding table and the Byrnes disc sander make the job much easier, especially to get straight lines and uniform dimensions.

 

The painting with wood thing isn't too bad.  I probably could have built this straight from the box as the wood quality is very nice, but the color of the wood used for the keel was way too blonde relative to the stem.  It just wouldn't have looked right to me, and I struggled for a while with whether to just stick with it or buy new wood for consistency.  This is not a Euromodel-only issue of course.  Caldercraft and Amati stock their kits with different walnuts and walnut ply which is all over the place in color variation.  My Corel Unicorn wood was quite consistent, and MS kits use basswood so the color there is pretty consistent.  It seems like some of the newer European kit makers are using more consistent wood, so maybe that will carry over to the others I mentioned who otherwise put out really nice kits.

 

You just have to plan ahead.  It's been quite tricky in places on my Morgan build where one side of an item may be black and another in a different color, so you end up laminating different woods together.  I like the challenge though.  It also forces me to work more precisely knowing that I can't rely on wood filler and paint to clean things up.  Probably the big thing is the added cost of the new woods, but on my current builds, I bought the kits off eBay or MSW members at prices low enough that even replacing the kit wood still makes me pay less than buying the kit retail.

 

I also like the fact that I feel like I'm doing real "woodworking" and not just model making in using various tools, finishes, etc.  It's been a lot of fun learning these things and playing with all the toys - almost as much fun as the model making side.  I've recently learned a lot from Vossiewulf and his posts on tools - that is a man that knows and loves his tools!  

Edited January 17, 2019 by Landlubber Mike

[pirozzi]

On 9/22/2016 at 9:33 PM, marktiedens said:

Oh goody - another Euromodel ship to follow . Hope you don`t mind if I pull up a chair.

 

Mark

Me too! Mark and I are builders of Euromodel ships. Mark did a fabulous job on his Royal William, and I am still in the process of finishing mine. You are quite correct about Peter Coward (Pirate Pete). He is the man to count on with any and all questions about Euromodel ships.

Good luck,

Vince P. 

[Landlubber Mike]

Hope everyone is enjoying 2020.  With the holidays, work, and a diversion into plastic models, I haven't been devoting as much time recently to the LAR.  I did manage to line out the gunports on the gun deck level.  

 

All I can say is this took forever!  The gunport patterns on other European kits like Caldercraft and Amati are a godsend.  Given that there are 14 gunports per side, I thought it was important that there be smooth line to the ports, that they be square, and that they be even with each other.  Hopefully the pictures below show clearly my particular method.  Essentially, I spent many hours marking out the 10mmx10mm gunports by transferring measurements from the plans, drilled a 2mm hole in the center, and ran a brass rod through to make sure that the gunports on either side were square to each other and level with one another.  Then after cutting out the 10mmx10mm gunports, I ran a square 10mmx10mm through to make sure that everything was still lined up.

 

Since I'm lining the ports, i went ahead with adding 2mmx2mm sills, opening the gunports to 14mmx14mm.  This was fairly easy using a micromotor with a small cut off wheel.  The cut off wheel made for quick, straight work.  The sills ultimately will be about 1mm, so I have an extra 1mm to overlap them with the second outer hull planking.

 

I'm using padouk that I picked up from Woodcraft.  It's an interesting wood - nice color (though will dull to an orange-brown over time, interesting smell when worked, and machines fairly easily.  It does have pits in it like mahogany, but these fill up pretty nicely when sanded.  Hopefully when I apply a finish there will be no visible pits.  You have to be careful with the dust as it can be an irritant, so I worked using a respirator and a shop vac going at all times.  It also can stain very light wood, so you have to be a little careful with that as well.

 

To get ready for the inner bulwark planking, I decided to remove most of the gunport-level bulkhead frames.  That was not at all easy but took lots of micromotor work.  I was a bit nervous doing so, but I had rubbed PVA all over the first planking which kept the planking very stable.

 

Next up will either be the inner bulwark planking or the exterior planking.  Given that the interior bulwark planking will largely be invisible, I might start with it, so that when I do the outer hull planking, clamping and pinning issues might be easier to deal with.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 14, 2020 by Landlubber Mike

[Beef Wellington]

Hey Mike, can definitely relate!  The CC Diana kit predates the precut strip approach and is exactly what you are dealing with.  What I found especially tricky was keeping the sides of the gunport vertical (parallel with hypothetical frames), but the top/sill parallel to the sheer of the deck.  Can't tell from your photos whether the rearmost ports are completely square or not from your photos.  Anyway, congrats on reaching this stage, looks more like a man o' war now than a bathtub, very satisfying I'm sure.

[Landlubber Mike]

Hey Jason, thanks for looking in!

 

I don’t know if they are completely square but they are probably pretty close.  The bottoms and tops follow the line of the deck, but for the most part there was only a 0.5-1mm change in height from one corner to another.  When i built the ports, I just went ahead and made them square.  I figured I could sand the inside of the vertical parts of the ports if necessary.  With that little of a rise though, I don’t think whether the sides are perfectly vertical or not will be very noticeable.

 

i think some kits set the bulkheads apart in such a way that the ports are either equidistant between bulkheads or abut the bulkheads.  No luck here where the bulkheads are spaced at varying distances. 
 

Just very glad to be past this stage.  So many hours spent transferring plan measurements to the hull, double checking and triple checking, etc.  

[CDW]

Hi Mike

I just caught up with your log. Your work looks great! Looking forward to following your progress in the future.

[popeye the sailor]

really nice progress Mike    I've never done gun ports before....you make it look easy   

[Landlubber Mike]

On 2/25/2020 at 6:23 PM, popeye the sailor said:

really nice progress Mike    I've never done gun ports before....you make it look easy   

If you saw how many hours I spent fumbling around with things, it wouldn't have looked too easy   But thank you for the kind words.  

 

I have to say that while dealing with gunport strips on Caldercraft, Amati and other kits can be a little of a pain, in the end they are much easier to deal with than cutting out your own.  It might have been a lot easier if the bulkheads were arranged in such a way (and quantity) that the gunport fit equidistant between bulkheads, but that wasn't the case with this kit. 

[mtaylor]

Ah... the catch is the in real life, gunports seldom are equidistant from each other.    You can move them a bit or put them where the plans say they go.   I'll be running into that on my Belle Poule build probably sooner than later.   The plans show ports with a bulkhead right in the middle of them.  On the other hand, with the spacing of the deadeyes in the channels, it's a necessary evil so firing a cannon doesn't kill the rigging.

 

Your ports look great from here and I'd say all the fussing and frustration is worth it.

[Old Collingwood]

Very nice work mike.

 

OC.

[piratepete007]

Adding to what Mark said, in my build of this ship, the three ports towards the bow were 36 mm centre-centre, one at the stern was only 33 mm from the next port forward with the majority between being 35 mm. Overall, this worked out to be 34.7 mm. Visually, there appeared to be little difference between the gunport separations.

 

I continue watching with interest Mark !

 

Pete

[Ponto]

Ahhh,.... brings back some memories for me. Looks like things are progressing nicely with your La Renommee. Will check back often to see your progress.

 

JP

Edited March 5, 2020 by Ponto

[Landlubber Mike]

The ports indeed are spaced different lengths from each other along the hull.  However, when you look at the ship from the profile side, due to the curvature in the hull, they look equally spaced on the two-dimensional image.

 

I guess what I meant to say is that if a kit manufacturer set up the bulkheads in such a way that a gunport would fall in the middle of the two bulkheads, it would greatly simplify measuring where the ports should lie on the hull (you would essentially just have to measure the vertical distance, which is a little easier if you can measure up from the deck).

 

On 3/4/2020 at 9:11 PM, Ponto said:

Ahhh,.... brings back some memories for me. Looks like things are progressing nicely with your La Renommee. Will check back often to see your progress.

 

JP

Thanks JP.  Yours is the only log I've found (besides the one on the Russian site) and I check your pictures constantly.  Are you still working on yours?

[Kevin]

just read your log from the start, as i have started looking for another kit to replace the St Nectan, its taken a while to get this far, but what a lovely job you have done

[Landlubber Mike]

10 hours ago, Kevin said:

just read your log from the start, as i have started looking for another kit to replace the St Nectan, its taken a while to get this far, but what a lovely job you have done

Thank you for the kind words Kevin.  Personally I think it's a really nice kit of a beautiful ship, regardless of the questions as to its name and origin.  PiratePete's build notes also are incredibly helpful.  Great materials, tons of well-drawn detailed plans, and lots of options to make the ship as detailed as you want.

 

Along with this kit, I have Euromodel's Prince William zu Pferde in the stash, which is a really fantastic kit.  If you're looking to go big, the Euromodel Royal William to me seems to be at the pinnacle of kits on the market.

[JMartti]

On 1/2/2018 at 12:55 AM, Landlubber Mike said:

I'm a little confused by the plans for the stem:

 

I get that the front-on view (the diagram to the far right) shows a slow taper transition from 7mm at the top to 4mm at the bottom.  What I can't seem to figure out though is the diagram at the bottom.  I'm assuming that this shows the taper from the underside of the stem (if you are looking up at the stem from underneath it).  What I'm confused about is that step transition midway through does that seem correct?  It's almost like the stem is full width until the stem post (Part 4), but then there is a dramatic change in diameter with the main piece (7) and figure piece (6).  The stem needs some tapering to get the figurehead to sit properly, but not as much as suggested by the lower diagram.

 

Unless I'm reading it wrong?  Anyone have any ideas?

I know I'm two years late, but someone could find this useful. The way you actually read plans like this, is that the drawing on the right is the piece viewed from the stern. Think about rotating (or rolling) the piece from the side view to the right. It would be sitting on it's front edge (after one turn). If it was drawn on the left you'd have to rotate it so that it sits on it's rear edge. 

 

But all in all, beautiful build and refreshing model among all the English and American ships.