ancre La Belle Poule 1765 by mtaylor - Scale 1:64 - POB - French Frigate from ANCRE plans

[mtaylor]

Thanks for the likes and comments.  I pushes me to do better.

 

One thing I've found is that due to size, I can't put in much detail on most of these carvings.   However, it seems to be a quirk of the mind to fill in things.   I was working on the front porch and some neighbors came by... they looked at what I've been working on and then started asking about things they saw that I never carved liked feathers on the one raven I have done.   I need to look into as it's stirred my curiosity.

[knightyo]

If you have time, check out Netsuke carving on YouTube.  It's just unreal what some of those artists carve; I think they mostly all have to create their own tools tho.

 

Alan

[mtaylor]

18 hours ago, knightyo said:

If you have time, check out Netsuke carving on YouTube.  It's just unreal what some of those artists carve; I think they mostly all have to create their own tools tho.

 

Alan

I have.  I also have or maybe had a book on those carvings.   I'll have to check some boxes.  Very unreal what they do.

 

Speaking of carvings, here's where I am so far.  One shot close up and the other to show placement using my "dummy" stern.  The "dummy" is about 5" wide (130 mm). A bit of a pain if I screw up, the piece goes to the trash and I start over.   Next up are the leaves (?) and then the main event, the Arms of France.

[G.L.]

They look good, Mark.

[FriedClams]

Very nice carvings Mark.  If I had carved those, I'd be pumped.

 

Gary

[mtaylor]

All I can say at this moment is thanks for the likes and comments.   My eyes are crossed and happily the two carvings I'm working will soon be done.  They're the smallest.

 

I really don't know how Hubac's Historian can do the carvings he does at that size and with all the detail on his Soleil Royal.

[BANYAN]

You're doing a much better job that I could aspire to Mark.  If this is what you do with your eyes crossed, well what would you achieve if ....

 

cheers

 

Pat

[mtaylor]

Good question, Pat. I'm adjusting to the new glasses but I'll keep my options open.  My optometrist thinks that in about a year, I'll need lens replacement on my eyes.  If I get the surgery before I'm ready to install the tiny bits, I'll re do them.  But at least I'll know what I'm doing then.  This is still deep learning.

[mtaylor]

After much hair pulling, naughty words, and rending of garments... the leaves are done.   I'm going to leave them on the backing for now.   Fragile and tiny.   I'm happy they're done and will have a (in my opinion) well deserved adult beverage.   Tomorrow, I face off with the Arms of France which just above the stern windows.   

 

Sorry for the "bad" photo... I'm pushing my limits here on photography also.  In person, I they do look better.... maybe it's my lighting.  I work on that.

 

 

 

[mtaylor]

Continuing the carvings.  Still working on the "Arms of France".     As a side thing and maybe to check my sanity (there is a little left it seems) I did the shield for the figurehead.  Don't look to hard but in person, the three doodles in the center aren't clear so could pass for three Fleur-de-lis.  The center is inset and doodles are standing proud.  Now my head hurts.

[Jack12477]

Nice carving 

[mtaylor]

Thanks Jack.  I've put this back on the bench.  I think I can do better.

[jdbondy]

"Ye people, rend your hearts! Rend your hearts, and not your garments!"

 

-from Mendelssohn's Elijah

[druxey]

A magnificent piece of music, JD! I've had the privilege of singing it (chorus!) a few years back. But I digress....

 

Carving at such small scale is tough. Do you have good, directional light to work by, Mark? That alone can make a huge difference. A few years ago I invested in a set of miniature carving tools from Mihail Kirsanov. It improved my success rate considerably.

[mtaylor]

I do have good lighting, Druxey and also a complete set of the old Dockyard chisels (they came in several packages of 6 each) and are well honed. Also some surgical blades (Swann-Morton and Havel's) which I keep honed.

 

The only power tools being used are the laser (to etch the design, not cut) and my jig saw to cut it out.

 

I'm currently working on the major stern carving and it's been a steep learning curve, sometimes frustrating, but overall, very satisfying.  Not sure why I'm obsessed with getting the carvings done, but this last is trying my soul.   Like the others, it's cut out and then glued to a backing plate.  I did some testing and found that by "painting" it with PVA and water mixed, I'm not seeing the breakage or splintering of the small, thin parts.    Hopefully, this week I'll do one that I'm happy with.  

 

 

[jdbondy]

Question for the group: I see people from Europe referring to this vessel as Le Belle Poule, not La Belle Poule. The word poule in French is in fact feminine (for chicken, or a colloquial for something that is loved), so the La would appear to be correct at first glance. But I think they may use Le because essentially we are abbreviating "Le Vaisseau Belle Poule" (the vessel named Belle Poule) to Le Belle Poule. Any insights? Anyone from overseas want to weigh in?

 

Or perhaps this has already been discussed...

[wefalck]

Where did you see the masculine form ? In fact, the 'La' is not a grammatical article here, but part of the ship's name in French. In Germanic languages we typically do not use the article in ship names, at least not in this kind of name, hence we tend to drop it from French names.

Edited July 6, 2021 by wefalck

[jdbondy]

I saw it in Frolich's text on ship modeling by Ancre (English translation).

 

 

[mtaylor]

Hmmm.... interesting.  The monograph uses "la" since that is the name on the stern. I had a look and I'm not sure why Frolich used "le" for the name.  Might be an error is translation. 

[Old Collingwood]

Just catching up Mark,   that is some lovely work you are doing  and  with your carvings  - nothing can be taken away from the skill to even attempt such a task  - hats duly taken off my friend.

 

OC.

[jdbondy]

Well if that's what's on the stern, that settles that!

[Bitao]

Mark, I admire a man who takes his job seriously. Because it's all about the details. And I've learned something from your work. Open-minded, friendly, discreet, all in your position. I noticed that the angle adjustment of the background inspired me a lot! Because I have several such accessories, although the accuracy is not high, but convenient, intuitive is the advantage. It is often more practical to deal with some common processes. Inspired me to design other tools. Thank you!

 

[mtaylor]

40 minutes ago, bitao said:

Mark, I admire a man who takes his job seriously. Because it's all about the details. And I've learned something from your work. Open-minded, friendly, discreet, all in your position. I noticed that the angle adjustment of the background inspired me a lot! Because I have several such accessories, although the accuracy is not high, but convenient, intuitive is the advantage. It is often more practical to deal with some common processes. Inspired me to design other tools. Thank you!

 

Thank you.  That is a Hitachi CW-40 scroll saw. It basically allows the deck to be rotated for angle cuts.  You might get some better pictures on the internet.  If not, I'll be glad to take some photos at different angles for you.

[mtaylor]

4 hours ago, jdbondy said:

Well if that's what's on the stern, that settles that!

I agree. I took a look at Frolich's site and using the French language choice, he calls it "Le" there also.  I'm sticking with ANCRE at this point.

[Bitao]

Mark,That's very kind of you. In fact, my basic tools are comprehensive. But because the Chinese are so sorry, many of the world's best tools are scarce at home and often more expensive. Although the online shopping is very convenient, but involves the procedure, the transportation, the time, the assembly model processing gadget is nearly all blank (mainly is Proxxon) , after all, the domestic real player is not many. So many special tools, I am based on their actual needs of the design and production. It's another fun thing for me to do with models!

[mtaylor]

On 7/6/2021 at 11:40 PM, bitao said:

Mark,That's very kind of you. In fact, my basic tools are comprehensive. But because the Chinese are so sorry, many of the world's best tools are scarce at home and often more expensive. Although the online shopping is very convenient, but involves the procedure, the transportation, the time, the assembly model processing gadget is nearly all blank (mainly is Proxxon) , after all, the domestic real player is not many. So many special tools, I am based on their actual needs of the design and production. It's another fun thing for me to do with models!

Bitao,  I had to give this some thought.   I recall that some had a saw without a tilt-table who made one using some wood and hinges.  But, I can't remember where I saw it.   Maybe that would work.   As I recall, the hinges were screwed to the existing top and the wood deck was raised by wedges.

[mtaylor]

Well... I think the Arms of France are about done.   Needs some tweeking on the left side still but for now, I'm putting it away to work on some planking and hope my eyes uncross.  At a "normal" viewing distance it looks pretty good considering it's size.  Still have more carvings but.... need a break.  I may decide to re-do the carvings later on once I've have my mind cleared as there are some things I think I could do better and I need to stop comparing them to the 1:48 scale work I've found on line.

[Keith Black]

Man that's small and fiddly, hat's off, Mark. 

[wefalck]

You are getting better, Mark, practice helps.

 

How do you fix the parts during carving ?

[mtaylor]

Just now, wefalck said:

You are getting better, Mark, practice helps.

 

How do you fix the parts during carving ?

 

By "fix" I assume you mean "hold"?    After laser etching, I cut them close as possible and then glue it to piece of scrap wood, much like what's the photo.   I used Swiss pear for the photo backing since I wanted to see what it would look on the planking.