Ragusian Carrack by jack.aubrey - FINISHED - Marisstella - 1:59

[jack.aubrey]

Thursday 22 November 2018

 

Finally I finished to apply the second planking . . 😁😁😁

 

 

See you soon, Jack.

[jack.aubrey]

Friday 23 November 2018

 

Having finished the second planking, I propose you a nice feast of images.

 

01 Ragusian Carrack/23112018/IMG_20181123_180740.jpg

 

02 Ragusian Carrack/23112018/IMG_20181123_180750.jpg

 

03 Ragusian Carrack/23112018/IMG_20181123_180755.jpg

 

04 Ragusian Carrack/23112018/IMG_20181123_180803.jpg

 

05 Ragusian Carrack/23112018/IMG_20181123_180811.jpg

 

06 Ragusian Carrack/23112018/IMG_20181123_180817.jpg

 

07 Ragusian Carrack/23112018/IMG_20181123_180822.jpg

 

08 Ragusian Carrack/23112018/IMG_20181123_180831.jpg

 

Now the problem arises of what to do next.

 

There are several possibilities but I will have to choose the one that I can reasonably complete by December 15th, when I should leave Milan, move to Tuscany and stay there until next spring. 

 

Unlike other times, I'm not going to continue working there, for reasons that are too long to explain here. So I will be forced to suspend work on this model for a few months. For this reason I have to find an activity that can be completed in a couple of weeks or so.

 

I have to think about it.
We'll see.
Greetings, Jack.

[jack.aubrey]

Thursday 6 December 2018

 

Latest updates: the work done may seem a small thing, but in terms of time the installation of the two guns has taken quite a bit. In short, I decided to proceed with the building of the quarterdeck, over the main deck at poop, and, in order to build it, I had to set up two guns under it. This because they will still be visible.

 

To avoid that subsequent activities on the outer hull can detach these two guns, I have set in place a series of defensive measures, including that of not protruding outside the barrel of the gun. That's why the two guns are presented in the fully retracted position.

 

Subsequently I proceeded to complete the installation of the beams above and now remains the application of the planks of the deck to complete the task. I'm thinking to close the deck matter within a week.

 

See you next time, Jack.

01 Ragusian Carrack/06122018/IMG_20181206_161036.jpg

 

02 Ragusian Carrack/06122018/IMG_20181206_161044.jpg

 

03 Ragusian Carrack/06122018/IMG_20181206_161120.jpg

 

04 Ragusian Carrack/06122018/IMG_20181206_161124.jpg

 

05 Ragusian Carrack/06122018/IMG_20181206_161133.jpg

[yvesvidal]

Beautiful progress Jack.

 

Yves

[jack.aubrey]

Friday 7 December 2018

 

The build of the quarterdeck is in progress. 
This is the first 4x1.5mm wooden planking. Then the one in Tanganika will follow. The second layer will cover everything, including flaws, like the other decks already completed.

 

01 Ragusian Carrack/07122018/IMG_20181207_180703.jpg

 

02 Ragusian Carrack/07122018/IMG_20181207_180720.jpg

[jack.aubrey]

Monday 10 December 2018

 

Update: the deck has taken its definitive appearance, still missing only some details that will follow in the coming days (horizontal planking in tanganika veneer, as for the other decks, waterways, a central column, a ladder and little else).

 

01 Ragusian Carrack/10122018/IMG_20181210_121453.jpg

 

02 Ragusian Carrack/10122018/IMG_20181210_121535.jpg

 

03 Ragusian Carrack/10122018/IMG_20181210_121546.jpg

 

04 Ragusian Carrack/10122018/IMG_20181210_121501.jpg

 

05 Ragusian Carrack/10122018/IMG_20181210_121509.jpg

[jack.aubrey]

Thursday 13 December 2018

 

And this new deck is finished too: I applied the second planking and finished the whole with a fine sanding. The result is equivalent to the other three decks.

 

01 Ragusian Carrack/13122018/IMG_20181213_105343.jpg

 

I tried to build the ladders: in this model only two of them are visible, but the usual pre-worked elements were not included in the kit to set them up. Perhaps because the scale of the pieces on the marketplace was not suitable for this model. The fact is that I have achieved the result in complete scratch building mode. Yesterday I was able to prepare the pre-worked material needed for the assembly of the two ladders but I managed to finish only one ladder, that I show you in this post. I'll build the next one tomorrow, contingencies permitting.

 

Apart from some thoughs that allowed me to succeed in the enterprise, it was an interesting experience, further improvable.

 

02 Ragusian Carrack/13122018/IMG_20181213_174023.jpg

 

03 Ragusian Carrack/13122018/IMG_20181213_174034.jpg

 

04 Ragusian Carrack/13122018/IMG_20181213_174040.jpg

 

05 Ragusian Carrack/13122018/IMG_20181213_174323.jpg

[jack.aubrey]

Friday, December 14th 2018

 

More details have now been built and added to the decks, although some of them are not yet been fixed, as they would only bother for now. I have today reached a point of relative stability in the execution of the tasks: it is no longer necessary to insist on working on the decks but start now to finish the outer part of the hull, where many horizontal (wales) and vertical reinforcements must be installed, typical of the ships of the time. But time when I will leave Milan for Tuscany is approaching fast and, as I anticipated, this time I will close the shipyard.

 

01 Ragusian Carrack/14122018/IMG_20181214_173347.jpg

 

The ladder leading from the main deck to the quarterdeck . . Same technique used for the first ladder.

 

02 Ragusian Carrack/14122018/IMG_20181214_173416.jpg

The hatch to reach the hold, not yet completely finished but already at a good point of completeness . .

 

03 Ragusian Carrack/14122018/IMG_20181214_173402.jpg

 

And the same to access the forecastle, at the apex of an imaginary internal staircase . .

 

04 Ragusian Carrack/14122018/IMG_20181214_173352.jpg

[yvesvidal]

On 12/15/2018 at 4:45 AM, jack.aubrey said:

Friday, December 14th 2018

 But time when I will leave Milan for Tuscany is approaching fast and, as I anticipated, this time I will close the shipyard.

What? Jack? You are thinking about going to Tuscany without even taking a little kit with you? That is very surprising....😉

Yves

[jack.aubrey]

Yes Yves, you are right!

I'm planning to stay in Tuscany for 3/4 months and I don't think to continue modelling there. 

But there is a reason: me and my wife are in the process to sell a house, located in the Milan neighborough and we cannot plan when it will be really sold. In this climate of uncertainty may be I will be back most before 3/4 months.

But my workshop is located in that house and will be obviously lost.

And I'll need to look for another solution.

So, as you can imagine, the future is not clear and I'll have a lot of other issues to follow; this is a complex matter and I don't want to bother all of you with my personal problems and plans.

Surely I will try to find solutions that allow me to continue, in the meantime, with this hobby.

Regards, Jack. 

[jack.aubrey]

Thursday 20 December 2018

 

Last updates: I finished the two hatchways by applying the missing rings, followed by a browning process, and then the permanent fixing in their position. The photo below shows these details.

 

01 Ragusian Carrack/20122018/IMG_20181220_143658.jpg

 

Then I applied the gunwales in the area of the quarterdeck plus its related external border.

 

02 Ragusian Carrack/20122018/IMG_20181220_182825.jpg

 

But the most important part were the works around the external vertical reinforcements, fosused now on the extreme poop area. But I am absolutely unsatisfied with the result, for two reasons:
1) The timber released for this purpose in the kit is in walnut and the chromatic effect does not satisfy me at all, too dark. A lighter wood would be better, such as beech. Unfortunately, now I have to continue with the walnut and it does not excite me, I hope that once all these elements are finished the overall situation will be better. We'll see.
2) I have mistaken the shape of these elements. But in this case I can still fix it. If I had checked the images of the finished model I probably would have avoided this error but I forgot the smartphone at home and so I could not check them before and I was wrong. We will see to remedy.

 

03 Ragusian Carrack/20122018/IMG_20181220_182920.jpg

 

Complete images of the model, the negative feeling towards vertical reinforcements is confirmed: at least in these photos the walnut too dark color hides these very spectacular details.

 

04 Ragusian Carrack/20122018/IMG_20181220_182757.jpg

 

05 Ragusian Carrack/20122018/IMG_20181220_182807.jpg

 

I take this opportunity to greet all the people who follow this diary and I wish them a Merry Christmas and a Happy 2019. Optimism is extremely necessary given the times. .
Jack.Aubrey.

[MarisStella.hr]

Merry Christmas Jack !! Merry Christmas to everyone !

With best wishes,

Zoran

[jack.aubrey]

Thursday, January 10, 2019

 

Gentlemen,

 

From now on the shipyard will be closed for a while. 
I believe to resume works next June, when I'll be back from Tuscany.
Here below some new photo in daylight.
Kind regards, Jack.

 

01 Ragusian Carrack/29122018/IMG_20181229_141016.jpg

 

02 Ragusian Carrack/29122018/IMG_20181229_141023.jpg

 

03 Ragusian Carrack/29122018/IMG_20181229_141008_1.jpg

[jack.aubrey]

Saturday, April 20th, 2019

 

Tomorrow is Easter and I take the opportunity to submit to all the members of this forum my warmest Easter greetings.

 

I also take this opportunity to inform you that today I am still "wintering" in Calci (near Pisa) but I decided, obviously together with my wife, that we will return to Cinisello (Milan) on Sunday, May 12.

So, if everything goes according to our plans and no unexpected events arise, I should resume activities on this model in the second half of May.

 

See you soon, Jack.

[Nikiforos]

I know I'm very -very- late to the party but that main mast ensign is the.famous 'St.B.' isn't it. Remarkable in detail, maybe its available still for purchase sometime.

 

Wishing you the best in 2019, sir.

 

(Image by Jaume Ollé)

Interesting to ask the designer of this model whether his current 'St Blasius' flag is too 'late'? He could perhaps confirm or deny that this second flag below (image by Željko Heimer) was more standard in the era specified, although variations must have been plenty. Thank you.

Edited May 8, 2019 by Nikiforos
Typo, clarity

[jack.aubrey]

Friday 7 June 2019 - Shipyard reopened . . .

 

Last week I managed to finish all the many commitments related to my return to Cinisello and then, finally, last Monday I was able to reopen the Ragusian Carrack shipyard. Because of my "trip" to Tuscany, I left in January this year, this shipyard has been closed for approx. six months and I was looking forward to being able to resume activities around this model.

 

First I spent Monday by fixing a mistake I made before closing the yard, an error related to a wrong shape of the  vertical reinforcements in the poop area. This correction caused a nice amount of very fine walnut powder that gave me a hundred sneezes !! In fact, breathing this powder is like pulling a pinch of tobacco from the nose, a remedy, I don't know for what, used by our grandparents until 60/70 years ago.

 

Then I started, on Tuesday, to do new things that you can see in the photos below: a first wale, at the moment still incomplete, and five vertical reinforcements integrated with the mainmast channel. Obviously this on both sides of the hull.

 

Finally, today, I applied two other (still incomplete) wales from midship to the stern. The photos shown here do not contain these last details. It may seem few progresses but I can assure you that my three hours per day were full of work, without breaks or similar loss of time . . .

 

Cheers, Jack.

 

01 Ragusian Carrack/06062019/IMG_20190606_175253.jpg

 

02 Ragusian Carrack/06062019/IMG_20190606_175137.jpg

 

03 Ragusian Carrack/06062019/IMG_20190606_175102.jpg

Edited June 8, 2019 by jack.aubrey

[JpR62]

I really like this ship ! The building is beautiful and precise. Glad you could get back to the shipyard. Bravissimo.

[J11]

Magnificent craftsmanship, the wood colors and clean installation is wonderful. Love the hull shape of these old Carracks. Look forward to your updates and more images. Maybe one day I'll add one of these beauties to my collection. Keep up the fine work Jack!

[jack.aubrey]

Saturday, June 8th, 2019

 

The installation of all the wales in the stern area, including the mizzenmast channels, are the result of my work done between Friday and today. These details unlock the installation of the remaining vertical side reinforcements and other details . . . but tomorrow is Sunday and I have other programs to pursuit, and they don't include modeling.

 

Enjoy the pictures and accept my best regards, Jack.

 

01 Ragusian Carrack/08062019/IMG_20190608_170113.jpg

 

02 Ragusian Carrack/08062019/IMG_20190608_170104.jpg

 

03 Ragusian Carrack/08062019/IMG_20190608_170055.jpg

 

04 Ragusian Carrack/08062019/IMG_20190608_170044.jpg

 

05 Ragusian Carrack/08062019/IMG_20190608_170035.jpg

[yvesvidal]

Superb work Jack, as always.

Yves

[jack.aubrey]

Friday, June 14th, 2019

 

This week I was not very active, however I almost finished the installation of the vertical reinforcements located in the midship/poop/stern area: now only two reinforcements are missing and then I'll move on to other activities.

 

Basically I have two choices for the near future:

 

1) continue the installation of the wales and vertical reinforcements from midship-to-bow, in practice an activity similar to the one performed in these days; in this way I would complete these details on the whole ship;

2) make a digression and prepare and install most of the poop/stern decorations and maybe even the railings of the two rear decks; a way to make life less boring.

 

I have to think about it; anyway, it's a matter of next week. Sincerely, Jack.

 

01 Ragusian Carrack/14062019/IMG_20190614_112006.jpg

 

02 Ragusian Carrack/14062019/IMG_20190614_112013.jpg

 

03 Ragusian Carrack/14062019/IMG_20190614_112024.jpg

 

04 Ragusian Carrack/14062019/IMG_20190614_112035.jpg

 

05 Ragusian Carrack/14062019/IMG_20190614_112058.jpg

[jack.aubrey]

. . . Continuation

 

The starboard side where this task is practically finished. Friendliness, Jack.Aubrey.

 

01 Ragusian Carrack/14062019/IMG_20190614_192249.jpg

 

02 Ragusian Carrack/14062019/IMG_20190614_192333.jpg

 

03 Ragusian Carrack/14062019/IMG_20190614_192345.jpg

[JpR62]

Superb job ! Precise and clean ! I like the choice and the warm shade of wood species. Magnifico !

Do you upgrade the wood or user the one provided by Marisstella ?

[vossy]

Hello Jack, I am so glad I found your build log. This is a superb job you are doing. I love the Carracks! Your skill is unbelievable. Congratulations to you and your many feline assistants. If I may ask a few questions; is this model originally supposed to be double planked on the hull? Where on earth did you find your 0.4mm cherry strips? On the Maristella site it lists this model as for sale both upgraded kit and retro. Do you know what the difference is there?

 

Thank you very much, I will follow along with great interest and admiration for your work.

 

Cheers

 

Chris

 

[mtaylor]

Chris,

You might as Maristella's owner here as he could probably give you more than enough info:   

 

[vossy]

Many thanks Mark! Didn't know the owner was on here.

 

Chris

 

[jack.aubrey]

On 6/15/2019 at 1:38 PM, JpR62 said:

Superb job ! Precise and clean ! I like the choice and the warm shade of wood species. Magnifico !

Do you upgrade the wood or user the one provided by Marisstella ?

Hi Jean Paul,

I used the wood provided by Marisstella (in practice only walnut strips) just as first planking for decks (for the hull I used limewood, better suitable for this task than walnut).

As second planking I used wood not included in the kit (tanganika and cherry veneer).

 

20 hours ago, vossy said:

Hello Jack, I am so glad I found your build log. This is a superb job you are doing. I love the Carracks! Your skill is unbelievable. Congratulations to you and your many feline assistants. If I may ask a few questions; is this model originally supposed to be double planked on the hull? Where on earth did you find your 0.4mm cherry strips? On the Maristella site it lists this model as for sale both upgraded kit and retro. Do you know what the difference is there?

Hi Chris,

this model has originally born as a single planking hull. The strips provided for this task were walnut of 4x1.5mm. As first idea I tryed to follow this single planking goal but I found it very difficult and unpractical to pursuit and very soon I changed my mind and decided for the double planking. The first plaking was done with 5x1,5mm limewodd and the second with cherry veneer 0,4mm. Considering the particular shape of this hull, specially at bow, this was a very good choice, at least for my skills and taste.

 

I found the veneer at a wood wholesaler near the town of Pisa (Italy). It is sold as in the pictures here below as linear meters. You can easily obtain strips at your choice by using a common cutter in cojuction with a spacer and a metal ruler to cut strips at the proper height.

 

Regarding a basic and upgraded kit from Marisstella I cannot answer 'cause I don't know, I bought the kit more than a year ago. Regards, Jack.

 

01 P1070686.jpg

 

03 P1070688.jpg

[jack.aubrey]

Wednesday, June 19th, 2019

 

Activities are still focused around the hull of the Carrack.

 

At the end I decided it was better to continue with the installation of the wales and the vertical reinforcements and this week I focused my efforts on this objective.

 

The most demanding activity of course was to install the wales: on Monday I installed (obviously on both sides) the upper wale while on Tuesday I installed the two others below.

 

Today I was able to proceed with the vertical reinforcements, something much simpler but more boring. At the moment on the side highlighted by the photos here attached there are still two of them missing, the ones that support the fore channel.

 

I plan to finish both sides by the end of this week.

 

Sincerely, Jack.

 

01 Ragusian Carrack/19062019/IMG_20190619_175914.jpg

 

02 Ragusian Carrack/19062019/IMG_20190619_175925.jpg

 

03 Ragusian Carrack/19062019/IMG_20190619_175951.jpg

 

04 Ragusian Carrack/19062019/IMG_20190619_180010.jpg

[jack.aubrey]

Saturday, June 22nd, 2019

 

FINALLY I completed the installation of vertical reinforcements and the channels !!!!!!!

 

Here below I submit you a series of images on both sides of the hull, some with more detail.

 

I have now two/three days while planning the next activities, then I'll restart again. Greetings, Jack.

 

01 Ragusian Carrack/22062019/IMG_20190622_102032R.jpg

 

02 Ragusian Carrack/22062019/IMG_20190622_102045R.jpg

 

03 Ragusian Carrack/22062019/IMG_20190622_102056R.jpg

 

04 Ragusian Carrack/22062019/IMG_20190622_102118R.jpg

 

05 Ragusian Carrack/22062019/IMG_20190622_102128R.jpg

 

06 Ragusian Carrack/22062019/IMG_20190622_102138R.jpg

 

07 Ragusian Carrack/22062019/IMG_20190622_102144.jpg

 

08 Ragusian Carrack/22062019/IMG_20190622_102149.jpg

 

09 Ragusian Carrack/22062019/IMG_20190622_102153.jpg

[jack.aubrey]

Wednesday, July 3rd, 2019

 

For more than ten days I have not provided any information on this project. In this message I try to show the results of the work I carried out in these days, work that was quite huge but with the flaw of being scarcely visible. In practice, a lot of many very small details where the time needed to implement them was generally high, but with a practically insignificant visibility. Apart from some details at the bow and midship area, which are also shown in the first detailed images, my work focused particularly at stern, where I started to apply the planned decorations.

 

01 Ragusian Carrack/02072019/IMG_20190702_175810.jpg

 

02 Ragusian Carrack/02072019/IMG_20190702_175502.jpg

 

Here are highlighted the scuppers for the main deck, on the ship bulwarks. But, to consider them really finished I still have to proceed to drill the bulwark itself.

 

03 Ragusian Carrack/02072019/IMG_20190702_175509.jpg

 

Most of the details are concentrated in the stern, here we see a portion of the gunwale of the top poop deck seen from one side and, in figure 05, from above.

 

04 Ragusian Carrack/02072019/IMG_20190702_175518.jpg

 

05 Ragusian Carrack/02072019/IMG_20190702_175525.jpg

 

The next images show part of the stern decorations, obtained with household means painted with coats of primer and gold polyurethane paint.

 

06 Ragusian Carrack/02072019/IMG_20190702_175546.jpg

 

07 Ragusian Carrack/02072019/IMG_20190702_175612.jpg

 

08 Ragusian Carrack/02072019/IMG_20190702_175644_BURST001_COVER.jpg

 

09 Ragusian Carrack/02072019/IMG_20190702_175627.jpg

 

The next tasks will still be concentrated on the other poop decorations that are still missing. For these elements the matter becomes more complex and we will talk about it in the next message when I'll finish this task.

Sincerely, Jack Aubrey.