Royal Louis 1780 by EJ_L - Mamoli - Scale 1:90

[EJ_L]

Thanks Marc. The scarfs are hand made. I ran long strips of wood from the stem as far back as they would go, laid out the pattern and scribed the scarf joints in with a #11 blade. I went over the lines several times to give the joints depth. Where the strips stopped, I will splice on an additional piece to complete the wales to the stern. That joint will be the only actual scarf joint. 

 

The process is really quite simple and easy enough to repeat. I will likely have to go back and run the blade through the joints after I sand on the wales prior to finishing the wood to deepen and clean out sawdust. 

[EJ_L]

Just a quick update, ran the lower wales and first band of planks for the lower gun deck on the starboard side. Now I’ve moved up the he middle gun deck wales. 

[KenW]

Excellent looking planking. 

It's going to be a beautiful model.

 

[EJ_L]

Thank you all for the comments and likes. Progress update on the planking, I now have the second row of wales and middle gun deck planking in place.

 

Next I will work on the beakhead, installing the bulkhead and deck planking as well as cutting out the curved hull where it slopes from the forecastle down to the beakhead. This will also include more work on the stem post.

 

Moving aft, I will complete the planking up to the cut outs for the cabins. I will frame out the gun ports in the forward two cabins on each side. I still need to finish the build out of the Admiral’s cabin which I am still working on the designs. 

[Ulises Victoria]

On 5/27/2019 at 5:49 PM, EJ_L said:

Thanks Marc. The scarfs are hand made. I ran long strips of wood from the stem as far back as they would go, laid out the pattern and scribed the scarf joints in with a #11 blade. I went over the lines several times to give the joints depth. Where the strips stopped, I will splice on an additional piece to complete the wales to the stern. That joint will be the only actual scarf joint. 

 

The process is really quite simple and easy enough to repeat. I will likely have to go back and run the blade through the joints after I sand on the wales prior to finishing the wood to deepen and clean out sawdust. 

Excellent work my friend. I would like to copy this scarf method for my next build, if I may!!!

[EJ_L]

By all means, feel free to use the idea. I learned from others myself and am glad to pass it on. I would recommend if you are cutting your own wales to make them in one piece the full length and eliminate the splice all together. I was trying to use up some shorter scrap that I had laying about before tearing into a new board and my scraps were a bit short. Scribing the scarfs is far easier than actually cutting them. I've done that in the past on both S.R. and Couronne and while I am proud of my effort, there are better ways to spend that effort. 

[EJ_L]

Y.T., I do not know if a simple and exacting answer exists for your questions, but I will say what I know.

 

All wood dimensions were largely determined by the availability of wood. Region, trade, war all affected the timber availability and quality. The larger and more crucial parts such as keel and frames would get first selection of the longer timber with wales and planking taking second picks. I have seen dimensions ranging from 20 feet (6.1m)  in length to 60 feet (18.3m) in length. While I have no doubts that some of these extremely long dimensions were used, I do not think they would have been widely used in planking as the availability of that much lumber in those lengths would be both rare and difficult to transport.

 

Think in modern terms that a semi-trailer averages 50 feet in length and how difficult they are to maneuver on roads designed for them. Now, try to imagine moving a tree trunk that long or longer in an era where horse power and wagons were employed and there were no roads, just winding paths through often difficult terrain. Even with rivers to float them down or make use of barges, they still needed to be transported to that river.

 

That all being said, I typically stick to lengths of wood for planking around 20-25 feet (6.1-7.6m) and wales 25-30 feet (7.6-9.1m). What determines the actual number is the framing. Any joint in the planking must start and stop on a frame and split the width of that frame in half in order to share the space with the plank that butts into it. With a P.O.B. build, there are no true frames to measure to. This information must be created by the builder but is fairly easy to do. The simplest way is to measure spaces between the gun port lids as the jambs are made from the ships frames. No this is not an exact science, but for our purposes it works. For this build my planks are running 20.5 feet or 70mm in scale. My wales are 25 feet or 85mm in scale. 

 

Unless you are planning on submitting the model for study as a historically accurate representation and have it judged as such by the experts, exact measurements are not crucial. The more important aspect will be keeping the shift pattern uniform and aligned. Typically 3 or 4 butt shift patterns are common. I usually use a 4 butt pattern. I am not certain on the historical accuracy specific to this ship, but for my purpose it is fine. Making sure that this pattern is carried evenly across the hull or deck is crucial.

 

As for the scarfs themselves, there were many types used between the different countries, eras and functions. Often the wales would use a hook style scarf which is far to intricate at this scale, but was the standard nibbed scarf (what I have modeled) but with ledges carved into the sloping portion that formed hooks to aid in locking the timbers together. From what I have read, these would average between 4-7 feet (1.2-2.1m) in length. While there is an exact formula for calculating the dimensions of the scarf joint, (I do not remember where I read it) at the scale I'm working on, I use 1mm recess, then a 20mm angle slope down to another 1mm recess. My wales are 6mm wide on the lower to 4mm wide on the upper and I think this creates a pleasing ratio. 

 

I do not know if that helped to answer your question or if it just confused things more.

 

[EJ_L]

Small update. Been working on the upper deck gun ports. These I start taking a different approach as they are visible from both sides of the bulkhead. So I added additional framing and then made the liners out of blood wood as I have the others. Now that they have been set on one side, I am planking the interior with blood wood as well. Usually I will plank the interiors with a white wood but for this build I decided to add some color and went with the red. I will update when I have completed the planking and obviously, the deck needs some touch up sanding and a new coat of finish. 

[Old Collingwood]

Superb detailed tidy work EJ   she is looking really nice.

 

OC.

[popeye the sailor]

your building a second ship this size?!?!?!?!  I read through it EJ and man.........your doing a super job!  very nice looking hull so far........I like the deviations in wood.   so glad I found it...........really like to follow along   

[Snow]

Hey mate going  great cant  wait till you get to that great 4 teir  deck

Cheers snowy 

[EJ_L]

Thank you all for the nice words!

 

This is actually my third ship this size. La Couronne was a 1:100 scale and a third rate which placed it only a few inches smaller than S.R. and R.L. My wife keeps joking that I need a garage to store all of these ships when they are done. I don't disagree as I have more planed for the future. May need 2 garages.

[diablo0007]

great work and a fast progress 
i believe i will learn a lot from your work
thanks for sharing us your working 

[DarkAngel]

What a fantastic ship ! I shall be following your progress with interest.

 

I love the woodworking details and the choice of wood colors.

 

Maybe a museum would be in order instead of 2 garages

[EJ_L]

Thank you all for the nice words and likes. Quick update as I managed to get some more planking both inside and out the hull done on the starboard side. 

Marcus, I tried to show a little better the detail I was talking about on your log concerning the false bulkhead posts that go through the deck. In the picture below, the left side shows the posts as the come stock and on the right is after I have cut them away. 

As you can see, I left the deck planking back away from the slots for these posts until I was able to remove the posts after the exterior hull planking was in place. This allowed them to act as the supports for the hull to ensure proper shape till the glue set up. After the glue dried, I was able to cut free the top portions of the posts that were no longer needed and replace them with scrap wood to act as frames to provide the bulkhead support and proper thickness. In the areas where either the quarter deck or forecastle deck will go, I carved out the arched shapes to simulate the knees that will support the beams for those deck. I then installed the water boards and interior planking to close up the frames and create the finished look. 

As always, thanks again for following along. Much more to come!

[DarkAngel]

Aha !

 

That's a really interesting insight I would not have anticipated for my HMS Victory build. Plus I like the idea of excess wood to use for framing port liners on my cannon hatches prior to planking.

 

Thanks for the pics, as having a visual reference really makes the point

 

What's the thickness of the deck wall you have settled with ?... on your scale ?

[md1400cs]

E.J.,

Just catching up on this one - looking super. Your scarf joints for the whales are perfect - Will add your technique to my memory banks-  

Great hull and deck work as well.

 

Cheers,

[EJ_L]

Thank you all! 

 

The hull thickness at the upper gun deck sides are 7.5mm which at the 1:90 scale I am working comes out approx. 26.5 inches at full size. I am not certain if this is fully accurate hull thickness for this ship but I do not think it is far off and for my purposes, it looks good. 

 

Essentially I have my frames set at 4mm, the inner planking is one piece of 1.5mm and the outer planking is made of two layers of 1mm planking each. 

Edited June 26, 2019 by EJ_L

[DarkAngel]

Wow that planking looks flawless

 

Looks like you have added framing to the deck wall and I like the subtle port lining you can see beyond the hatches.

[Ulises Victoria]

Splendid job!!! It is looking really fantastic. Love how you use the different woods to make a very interesting effect in the hull. 

 

Congratulations.!!!

[EJ_L]

Ulises, thank you! From what I have seen you do on your own build, that is high praise indeed!

 

Marcus, thank you so much for the compliments. Believe me, the planking is far from flawless but as the saying goes, we are our own worst critics. I also try to keep the really bad parts out of the picture frame.

 

Yes, I added extra frames on either side of the gun port frames as well as other places where additional supports are needed. On a real ship, the framing is nearly solid with spaces in between frames in some places as little as 3-5 inches or sometimes none at all depending upon the type of ship and the era of its construction.

 

I just last night finished up adding the frames to the opposite side as well as modifying the false bulkhead posts to turn them into knees for the deck above. I will try to remember to upload some picture tonight when I get home. Next up I will complete the deck planking and install the waterway. Once that is done, I will frame up the gun ports with their jambs, sills and headers. These I oversize so that I can trim them down to match the curvature of the hull. Lastly, interior and exterior planking will go on.

 

 

[EJ_L]

Here are a couple of pictures of the modified framing. I completely removed the posts in the waist area between the quarter deck and forecastle. They are far to wide and easier to just remove and replace than to try to use them. Also, by removing them I can properly align the frames around the gun ports as the jambs for the ports used the frames for this purpose. 

 

Beneath the quarter and forecastle decks, I cut away the material to form a knee to support the horizontal beams that will hold up the deck. I then added additional frames to build the gun ports and provide planking support where needed. 

 

With the frames modified, I can now finish planking the deck to the outside bulkheads unimpeded. 

[EJ_L]

Here are a couple of pictures of the modified framing. I completely removed the posts in the waist area between the quarter deck and forecastle. They are far to wide and easier to just remove and replace than to try to use them. Also, by removing them I can properly align the frames around the gun ports as the jambs for the ports used the frames for this purpose. 

 

Beneath the quarter and forecastle decks, I cut away the material to form a knee to support the horizontal beams that will hold up the deck. I then added additional frames to build the gun ports and provide planking support where needed. 

 

With the frames modified, I can now finish planking the deck to the outside bulkheads unimpeded. 

[EJ_L]

Here are a couple of pictures of the modified framing. I completely removed the posts in the waist area between the quarter deck and forecastle. They are far to wide and easier to just remove and replace than to try to use them. Also, by removing them I can properly align the frames around the gun ports as the jambs for the ports used the frames for this purpose. 

 

Beneath the quarter and forecastle decks, I cut away the material to form a knee to support the horizontal beams that will hold up the deck. I then added additional frames to build the gun ports and provide planking support where needed. 

 

With the frames modified, I can now finish planking the deck to the outside bulkheads unimpeded. 

[DarkAngel]

Thats a smart way to do the port liners. Are you going to square the frame around the hatches ?

 

I'm learning alot from your buil EJ

[EJ_L]

Not a lot of progress this week but I did finish the port frames and now I am working on planking the interior. 

 

For the port frames, I cut the liners long so that they extend past the frames on the inside and the first layer of planking on outside. 

I do this so that I can cut them down to the same thickness and curvature of the hull. Once they are all in, I trim them to fit and sand them smooth. Now I can install the planks over the frames and liners for a finished look. 

[EJ_L]

More progress on the hull planking. Both sides are even again to the top of the upper gun deck ports. Inner hull is planked and a coat of finish applied. 

 

I’m going to to take a break from RL for a little while. I need to save up a few dollars for materials to plank the lower hull and finish building out the cabins so the upper hull can be closed out. In the meantime I plan on working on Soleil Royal and continuing her rigging. If you are not already, feel free to join me there and I promise to return to RL soon! 

[Michel Bénard]

Money, eternal problem..... 😫

[KenW]

Looks excellent.  I like the color scheme.

[EJ_L]

Royal Louis’ ship yard is open again! That break was far longer than I had originally planned, but I wanted to finish Soleil Royal. Now that she is complete I can turn my full attention back here.
 

With that, I spent some time taking inventory of my current wood selection and I was pleased to find that I should have enough of the mahogany wood that I used on the previous two French builds to complete the lower planking of Royal Louis. Not a lot of room for mistakes so I will need to go slow and be mindful of cuts and waste. Hopefully, with many states slowly opening back up, some of the local lumber mills may also open again and I can find new stock. 
 

For now though I build! So, welcome back to everyone! Looking forward to getting back into this ship!