Jalouse by Oboship - FINISHED - Caldercraft - Scale 1:64

Oboship · July 11, 2020

Hi all,

I started the build of HMS Jalouse sometime late in September 2019, but took the first pictures only in March 2020 because my Olympus camera broke and I have currently only my old smartphone available. Therefore the quality of the pictures is not too good.

The kit is of the usual good Caldercraft quality and standard, with the exception of the strips provided for the deck planking. The strips were not precisely cut and the width varied up to 2mm (per strip) on some of them. The plans and basic hull construction are also as known from Caldercraft (planks on bulkhead). The plywood parts in turn were cut so precisely that some sanding was necessary before they could be put together. The advantage is of course that such a tight fit facilitates the proper alignment of the bulkheads to the keel.

The kit is provided with copper plates for the underwater part of the hull. Since I had some "interesting" experience with coppering when I attempted to build the schooner Pickle I decided against the plates and thought it a clever idea to cheat a little bit and paint the Jalouse's hull with copper (Caldercraft supplies a bottle of copper paint for final correction and touch-up of the plates). So, after I had the second planking completed and nicely sanded to a smooth surface I was quite happy with what I had achieved and started painting. After the paint had dried a shockingly brutal surprise was waiting for me: the highly glossy appearance of the copper paint shows you every single minor scratch and unevennesss you would hardly or not at all detect on the unpainted wood! This idea was rather a desaster than clever. After I spent some time swearing 🤬 I grabbed the sander from the shelf and removed the shine from the hull. Finally, I decided to paint the underwater part in the traditional white colour.

On the pictures you may notice paint stains here and there, these have been or will be touched-up. You may also notice that the deck planking shows a few gaps. These gaps look worse on the images than they really are (modern cameras can be so cruel 😧, even my old smartphone). The main channel and belaying racks on one of the pictures were dry-fitted for adjustment purposes.

Next steps will be the guns, boats and spare spars.

Uwe

BenD · July 11, 2020

Another Jalouse build! She's looking good. Coppering isn't for everyone and I think it looks good with in white.

Caldercraft needs to mill their wood better... My deck planks were awful too, ranging from 1.8mm - 3mm. Your deck turned out good at least.

thomashd · July 13, 2020

Mate, your Jalouse is looking splendid. The white below is very nice looking indeed!

Oboship · July 13, 2020

Thanks for the comments, guys! Will update as I'm progressing.

Oboship · October 23, 2020

During the last couple of months the build of my Jalouse was progressing rather slowly. But I can at least post a few pictures.

Guns are assembled and put in place, channels and belaying banks are fitted, longboat is on its cradles, sweeps are being made and the jolly boat is also ready. I hope that I can soon start with masting and rigging.

Oboship · October 23, 2020

... by the way, SPEEDY might become JeALOUS(E) if I`m not ALERT enough...

Sigh...🤔

Edwardkenway · October 23, 2020

Looking really nice, you have done some great work!

BenD · October 24, 2020

After working on the old Caldercraft kit you are going to find the Vangaurd kits just fall together. Laser cutting magic I tell you!

Oboship · October 24, 2020

Thanks for the comments and the Likes!

Yes, I am very much looking forward to start building Alert or Speedy, although watching Jalouse and her nice lines develop is fun too!

Oboship · January 25, 2021

Here is a quick update on the build of my Jalouse:

Deadeyes are attached; to me this is the most unpopular part of the build(s). I hate to bend and work on these 0,5mm photo etched brass thingies! But somehow I made it, finally, and forgot about the tedious time. The pre-cut slots in the channels needed considerable widening before the deadeye straps went in (probably that's why I hate it...).

Now I'm working on the masts etc., i.e. the main mast is completed and the lower fore mast is close to completion. On the photos both are preliminary in dry-fit. Below is a close-up picture of the top of the lower fore mast which I included to show that it is possible to do very precise shapings with the Proxxon compound table KT 70.

Uwe

Oboship · February 27, 2021

Hi,

The masts, sweeps and both boats are now in their positions and I have started rigging; bowsprit first and the shrouds for the lower fore mast. The jib boom and cap are ready to come on to the bowsprit but I will wait with their installation as long as possible because boom, cap and dolphin striker are prone to snapping off (as I very well remember from previous experiences...😉). The gap above the bowsprit will of course be closed as I move on.

I have not found out yet why there are differences in the quality of the photos, probably limits of my smart phone's zoom function.

Uwe

Oboship · May 17, 2021

Here's another brief update.

I had to remove shrouds and ratlines couple of times because something went wrong with the necessary tension and that caused a delay of several weeks.

The shrouds are in place again (still not perfect but acceptable) and I have now started to cut and shape the yards. So I'm getting there slowly...

The pictures show today's status of Jalouse.

All the best
Uwe

baskerbosse · May 18, 2021

Maybe installing the stays would help with maintaining the tension in the shrouds?

Great looking model!

/Peter

Oboship · May 18, 2021

Many thanks for your comment.

I haven't rigged the stays yet because they obstruct attaching the yards. And from bitter experience I know that the stays (as well as the jib boom and dolphin striker) can very easily be damaged along with a terrible cracking sound... 😒

The tension of the shrouds is now okay and I will wait with the stays until the very last moment. I'm not sure if the stays would have helped to solve the problem because they lie on top of the shrouds. Since I had to remove and re-do the shrouds the same would have been necessary for the stays if had I rigged them earlier.

All the best,

Uwe

Oboship · July 10, 2021

I`m currently rigging Jalouse and thought I`d post a few pictures:

Fore mast yards are fully rigged except for braces and tacks.

Main top sail yard:

Fore top with fore lift and clue line

Fore stay and preventer stay

Oboship · September 21, 2021

Today I completed the Jalouse after a build time of quite exactly two years. However, since there were many interruptions the net build time would sum up to approximately 18-20 months.
Caldercraft rates this model as of intermediate level "resulting in an excellent second or third model". I agree to the intermediate level but the statement as for the "second model" is rather ambitious in my opinion. Anway, it was fun to build the Jalouse and I really enjoyed the detailed drawings.
I took the pictures with my new camera, a Panasonic Lumix which has a tremendous zoom capability. And no, my work bench doesn't look always as tidy as on the pics.
After Jalouse I will concentrate on VM's Alert and I'm looking already forward to the modern construction method...

Take care
Uwe

The window in the attic gives a nice lighting

Bow and anchors: the forward anhor lashings had to go through the gunport because the commanding Officer (i.e. I) refused to secure the anchor to a belaying pin as was indicated on the drawing!