HMS Atalanta 1775 by tlevine - FINISHED - 1:48 scale - from TFFM plans

[druxey]

The icing on the cake, eh, Toni? Looks good.

[tlevine]

Thanks, gentlemen.  I am now working on the stern quarter carving.  Hopefully that won't take more than a week.

[michael mott]

Beautiful workmanship Toni.

 

Michael

[Jeronimo]

Hello Toni,

try it Gerard Delacroix.

www.gerard.delacroix.pagesperso-orange.fr

Forum

 

The helped me a lot a few times already.

Regards

Karl

 

[tlevine]

Karl, thanks for the tip.  Some beautiful carving on those models.  As my punch list has gotten smaller, I could not put off the upper quarter carving any longer.  On both the plan and the contemporary model I could not tell for certain what the creature was.  Because of the tail, I had to choose between a dragon and a lioness.  I decided upon a lioness because that is what Atalanta was turned into after she had sex in a temple.  The first thing I did was make an oversized mock-up of the carving out of Sculptey.  Then, I made a second mock-up that fit into the space.  Once I was satisfied with that I drew the outline on to a block of English boxwood.  The color was a good match for the costello boxwood and I wanted the extra strength because of the tail. 

 

 

 

After a few failed attempts, the lioness slowly came out of the wood.  The hardest part was the head, both the direction and appearance.  Although in the pictures the face looks more like a bear than a lioness, it was the best I could do.  

 

 

 

 

[tlevine]

I debated back and forth whether I should put a flag on the ensign staff.  Although few models of this style are shown with flags, I decided to make one.  My reasons were that the model needed a pop of color and I had never made a flag before and wanted to see if I could do a good job.

 

The technique that follows is exactly what was demonstrated by Gus Augustin at an NRG Conference a few years ago.  I determined that the correct flag for 1775 was the red ensign.  I drew the outline onto both sides of a piece of plain copy paper with pencil.  Next, I cut the flag out, leaving extra paper inboards to make straps to secure the flag to the staff.  The flag was shaped by crushing it in my hand, being careful to leave the inboard edge flat. 

 

 

The flag was gently wet in a bowl of water and the crinkled shape was formed after laying the wet flag on a piece of glass.  I did not touch it again for a few days but Gus states that one should wait at least 24 hours.  The flag is then (sort-of) flattened and painted.  Start with the light colors and gradually go darker.  I used Poly-S and Model Master acrylic paints full strength. 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the flag was dry I air-brushed it very lightly with gray to soften the colors.  Finally, I reformed the flag and secured it to the staff.  Overall, I am pleased with the appearance.

 

 

 

 

 

[tlevine]

Greg had drawn it to my attention that when I rebuilt the rudder head cover I had forgotten to add the sill.  Greg, this one's for you!  You can also see the gunport tackle and tubes.  The tubes are made of leather which I simulated with rolled paper dyed with brown Rit.

 

The rudder chain has been installed.  It attaches onto the spectacle plate with a U-shaped tackle.  The last things on my punch list are the figurehead, cleaning and paint touch-up.  After my experience with the upper quarter carving the figurehead has me terrified.  

 

[tlevine]

I have started work on the dreaded figurehead.  I decided to make her out of clay rather than attempt carving.  I felt sorry for the wood that I would butcher.  Thank you to Chuck for his clay sculpting lesson and thank you to David Antscherl for carving a figurehead of Atalanta for Chuck.  The photos he took and posted on MSW were a godsend.  Here is the link to those photos.  

 

This is a copy of one of Chuck's photos of Atalanta.  She is holding a golden apple in her right hand.  The first thing I did was make a wire armature.  This provided more strength to the arms and legs.  I mounted the armature over a mock-up of the stem.

 

 

The first layer of clay was applied.  I was not too careful with this as it was simply a base to build upon.  I used white Sculpey clay with a few drops of softener added.  After every significant addition I baked the clay per the instructions to harden that section.  I think the biggest piece of advise that I can give is be careful with your proportions.  Stand in front of a mirror.  Your wrists hit the femoral head.  Measure a female hand for the correct length (mine is 6").    How long is your torso in relation to your legs, etc.  The breasts are not cones, as you can see in the picture above.   

 

I decided to add the clothing and hair after I had the proportions correct, leaving the details of the hands, feet and face for last.

 

 

After the other details were completed I test-fit the figurehead to the actual stem.  I discovered that I had forgotten to incorporate the taper of the stem on my mock-up and had to add extra clay to the medial thighs.  Obviously there is still some finesse work remaining.  I have a question for the members.  Should I paint it white to minimize losing detail or in natural colors (white robe, dark brown hair, tanned skin).  The apple will be gold, either way. 

 

 

[kurtvd19]

Go with colors Toni

[druxey]

Can you still bring her head and torso up so that her line of sight is to the horizon?

[tlevine]

Druxey, I think I can change her line of sight without too much problem.  The feet and hands and nose still need work, as well.

[druxey]

That's good, Toni: she should be a bit more arched back towards the hair bracket. Make sure that the top of her head clears the underside of the bowsprit as well!

[Mike Y]

She actually looks nice looking a little bit lower - making sure the ship would not hit any underwater rocks. Captain would be pleased with her help!

 

 

[kees de mol]

beautifull work. I like the way you made the figure

[tlevine]

Gentlemen, I appreciate all of your observations.  Although she still looks a little clunky compared with the masters on this site like Doris, it is the best I can do.  I promise you that I am a much better surgeon than a sculptress.  I have lowered the figurehead, making sure the bowsprit clears the top of her head.  I have also re-positioned her so that she looks to the horizon.  I started painting with a coat of acrylic gray primer.  The clay soaks up the paint and this helped seal it.  The rest of the painting was done with various acrylic paints.  The apple and the buttons on her skirt are gold leaf.  

At this point all that remains is cleaning the ship, touching up the black paint on the wale and installing a base.  I do not plan on masting and rigging her.

[Dowmer]

Toni, a real masterpiece. Well done. Have you considered adding short stub masts and bowsprit like some of the admiralty models do?  Just to show easily where they are located. 

 

Either way, a real beautiful ship

 

 

 

Edited September 2, 2018 by Dowmer

[tlevine]

Dowmer, I tried stub masts a while back and decided that I did not like how they looked.  But thanks for your suggestion.

[mtaylor]

Beautiful work, Toni.  The figurehead is just fantastic.

[druxey]

Well done on the figure, Toni! All your model needs now is a nice base and case.

[Kevin Kenny]

She is beautiful. Something  to aim for

Edited September 2, 2018 by Kevin Kenny

[tlevine]

Thanks gentlemen.  Druxey, a base is in the works.  I hope to have the materials in a few weeks.  As for a case...  

 

[dvm27]

Congratulations on the completion of an extraordinary Swan class model, Toni! You've done TFFM chapter and verse and my hats off to you.

[Maury S]

Very nicely done Toni.  What's next?

Maury

[Martin W]

A lovely addition to a lovely fleet, Toni.  There's much to admire and to learn from.

 

Martin

[tlevine]

Maury, I have a couple of things to keep me busy.  Atalanta still needs some final cleaning and touch-ups.  I also plan on doing a little more on the Echo x-section.  Finally, it is time to learn a little CAD so that I can loft my own plans.  Who knows what else I will come up with.

[druxey]

Meanwhile we will wait, all agog! Again, congratulations on a fine Swan model!

[albert]

Congratulations on the beautiful work, a greeting.

[ChadB]

Bravo Toni! Absolutely beautiful!!!

[Chuck]

That looks beautiful Toni.   It was a pleasure to follow you as you built it over the years.   

[ChrisLBren]

Congrats Toni - beautiful ship/build !!!!

 

And if you want you can build a simple schooner along side me.... Just a thought (smile)