Le Coureur 1776 by captain_hook - CAF - Scale 1:48

[captain_hook]

With the jig gluing the frames was rather easy, only to secure that corresponding frames were of equal shape and size. First I made a test-fit and then glued all of them in place.

 

 

After glue has dried the jig can be removed.

 

 

After doing this on both sides, the building jig was reassembled again. That finishes the first installation / box. Next will be planking the inner side, I will give a sneak peak inside the box within the next days. Some final shots of the finished framework.
 

 

 

 

BTW I realized that I am a rather slow builder. Well ..

 

 

Stay tuned and save ..

 

Andreas

 

Edited May 29, 2021 by captain_hook

[captain_hook]

The second box contains all parts for the inner structure, planking the inside and outside of the ship, deck planking and fittings, masting, rigging as well as the metal and other small parts - in other words all the other stuff. There are lots of laser-cut cherry wood parts. OMG - looks like I won’t find much time for the Badger soon ..

 

For planking the inside of the ship there are several sheets with laser-cut cherry planking supplied with the kit. These planks are already shaped to fit but some post-processing might be needed first - at least to get rid of the laser char. They are very thin and might easily break so forcing them into shape might not be a good idea. Maybe I’ll use some heat to bend them.
 

 

But first I have to install the deck clamps that will carry the deck beams later. These are also laser-cut but need to cleaned first and bend to shape. There are four parts on every side.
 

 

To determine the correct position of the deck clamps and for easier Installation there are several holes cut into the jig. These are meant to take up cherry strips that will act as a guide for the deck clamps. The deck clamps will be installed directly under these strips. Here is an example.

 

I will start to install the deck clamps next weekend. 
 

Stay tuned and save.

 

Andreas

 

 

 

[WalrusGuy]

That's looking so good!!! Those beams add a whole other dimension to the already pristine frame construction! 

[captain_hook]

Thank you WalrusGuy! The installation of the deck clamps took a lot of time and patience and I haven‘t finished the task yet. The lower clamps are made of 3mm cherry wood and even watering them in hot water for about an hour made them little flexible. So I used some heat to bend them. Especially the stern part has to be bend into a complex shape.

 

 

At least I was able to finish the bow and middle sections. Heavy clamps were of use to secure a good fit until the glue had dried.

 

 

 

Only snapshots this time. I will finish this task next weekend.

 

Stay tuned and save (some more time) ..

[captain_hook]

Today I finished all the deck clamps. The measuring sticks were helpful to locate the correct position and helped fixing the clamps during the gluing - although the lower stern clamps look a little weird. But the CAD-drawing provided by CAF show them in the same position and shape. 

 

 

Well I guess then it is the way it should be done. 
 

 

And the bow clamps as well.

 

Next weekend I will start planking the inside of the hull. Just have to figure out where to start.

 

 

Stay tuned and save.

 

Andreas

 

 

Edited June 22, 2021 by captain_hook

[Pete Jaquith]

Very interesting and informative build.  We are all watching.

 

Pete

[yvesvidal]

When planking the ceilings, will you be planking everything or just half of the hull?

Beautiful build, I am in awe at your skills.

 

Yves

[captain_hook]

Thank you very much, Pete and Yves. Well, I should think about that. The inner hull is supposed to be planked with the upper center area  left unplanked on both sides. Here are two CAD-drawings provided by CAF showing the completed inner planking.

 

So you will be able to take a look inside. But that means I have to leave at least one side and the corresponding deck partial unplanked, which will be most likely the port side. But I haven‘t decided yet ..

 

 

[yvesvidal]

It is a difficult decision. These kits are so precise and provide all the intricacies of the various decks and framing.

In a way, it would be a pity to not show all your beautiful work. On the other hand, it is also very nice to have a fully finished hull and to be able to admire the sleek and harmonious shapes of it.

 

Are you an engineer or an artist? I think it boils down to that. Whichever decision you go with, I know it will be perfect.

 

Yves

[Ponto]

This is an excellent build log. Very much appreciated since I've been considering this very kit. The kit looks very well done and I'm sure it will turn out superbly in your hands.
 

JP

[captain_hook]

Thank you there much. I have started to plank the stern gallery. The planks are already laser-cut, but they differ from the plan and most of them doesn‘t fit onto the gallery at first so more post-processing was needed. The planking still look weird but I guess it is simplified to speed up the building process. The top and bottom edges of all planks were tapered to fit the corresponding planks as the surface to be planked is a curved one. I painted the edges with clear acrylic vanish first (to prevent the black colour from soaking into the wood) and then applied one layer of black acrylic paint to simulate chaulking. The cherry wood is too dark to use a pencil for that. No finish applied yet.

 

Hm, not sure if I‘m satisfied with the result but most of the inner planking won‘t be seen later. Stay tuned…

 

 

Edited July 11, 2021 by captain_hook

[Tigersteve]

Looking sharp!

Steve

[captain_hook]

Thank you Steve, much appreciated. After installing the strake below the clamps I started to do the inner planking of the frames. As mentioned before the planks are laser-cut but they simply don‘t fit the corresponding upper and lower planks. I don‘t get it - all of them are individually designed with complex shapes but in the end they don‘t fit each other, so more post-processing is needed and because of the reshaping I might need a custom drop plank to close the area left.
 

It might have been easier - and more true to scale - to use regular planking with some use of fishing at bow and stern, because these provided planks are very wide which makes them difficult to attach properly to the frames. The planking is also simplified - maybe because most of it will be covered with interieur later but it looks even more weird in comparison to the stern gallery planking. I only managed to do two strakes - as every new step becomes more and more time consuming my motivation is limited these days. Stay save ..

 

 

[captain_hook]

Thank you all for the likes, you give me much credit. Better don’t bring up high expectations until the planking is finished. To check the upper bow planking I started to plank the upper front frames. These pre-cut planks fit much better - but some of them are too short.
 

 

About 3 mm missing to fit them into the brackets between the keel and the first two frames. Well I did my best to fix them anyway. This area won‘t be seen later but it is still a pity (my OCD keep telling me that). The sides are painted with black acrylic paint to simulate chaulking as done on the gallery. 

 

 

I consider finishing the bow area first, then starting with the lower planks and finish the stern area at last, So I will be able to make a custom plank to fit the unplanked area between lower planking and upper stern. Stay tuned ..

 

Andreas 

 

 

Edited July 21, 2021 by captain_hook

[captain_hook]

Well I is also a pity to cover all that nice frame structure. I thought some time about different options to leave areas unplanked to show the structure. But I discarded most of them because these options would leave the finished ship look very much unfinished. This would have been an option if I was to build a dockyard model without masting. So I decided to leave only a small center area unplanked located at the port side to light the inner structure and to show some frames (like done on the MS Confederacy) To enable looking into the ship I will leave some deck planking off. 

[captain_hook]

Planking the inner front of the bow turned out as difficult as the stern planking and the result is not my best job. I don‘t know if it is my lack of skill or misshaped pre-cut planks. I spend some time carefully sanding all of them to shape so they fit into each other. I watered them only for minutes and used head to bend them to shape. But when time to install had come I had to force all of them into position knowing something went wrong. Sanding didn’t help very much. Not a good sign for further progress and motivation .. Stay safe.

 

 

 

 

[yvesvidal]

I would skip the inner planking (I think they call that "ceilings") and leave that beautiful structure plainly visible.

Instead, I would concentrate on building some of the inner compartments and structures.

 

Yves

[captain_hook]

You're right Yves, the frames look much better without planking. Well I think about removing the installed planks, get rid of the pre-cut-planking and use some regular cherry wood 5mm planks (or better pear) as a substitute instead. But the question for me is: Is it worth the effort? Well, it may at least be good practice for future projects. 

 

Most of the inner planking will be barely visible after the interior will be installed. Even if I would leave the planking off, the frames and skeleton would be barely visible as well. And the planking add stability to the fragile construction, don't know what happens if I leave the frames completely unplanked.

[bdgiantman2]

Personally, I like the ceiling planking, it is very clean and tight. And if I remember correctly, the CAD images that Captain Hook shared earlier do show the whole midships area none-planked, so I see it as a little of best of both sides. On my current build, I am wanting to do something similar. Keep up the great work on this model, sir!

 

Brian

[captain_hook]

Thank you Brian. I‘ll try. 

Well, challenge accepted. I was able to remove all planking without doing any damage to the structure. The provided precut-planks might still do the trick - but I failed somehow to install them properly and won‘t give them another try. Feels like turning back the clock - every step backwards hurts somehow but on the other hand I surely need more planking practice for all the projects still to come. 

 

 

I studied the plans in the Boudriot / Berti book and also the pictures of the POF model build by Etienne Riette and now have an idea how to change the inner planking in a more authentic and easier way. But first I will have to give the frames another good sanding to enable a smooth planking run. Studying Chuck’s planking guide again might also prove useful.

 

I‘ve just ordered several cherry stripes but now have to wait for delivery. So meanwhile I might build some barrels / boxes or just take a break from modeling for the next weeks. Stay save .. and thanks for all the feedback.

 

Andreas

Edited July 23, 2021 by captain_hook

[captain_hook]

I will put this build on hold as my enthusiasm has almost completely disappeared. I started this build  almost 9 month ago with the idea to build my first POF and I thought this kit would make a nice introduction to plank-on-frame. But meanwhile I have realized that this kit would require much more effort to complete that just building it from scratch. The part-fit is often weak and required a lot of post-processing, wood quality is bad too - almost made a quarter of all ribs from scratch because of wood defects - and the instructions are not more that a picture with a single sentence for every step. Even the building sequence is not always reliable.
 

While I was waiting for the cherry stripes I thought it would be best to make a little side project to rise motivation. So I decided to assemble some barrels and boxes that are supposed to be stored in the cargo area later. But even these parts were full of mistakes. Half of the smaller boxes can’t be assembled properly because the upper and lower parts are mirrored - so they don‘t match the side covers. 
 

 

And the veneer that is supposed to cover the sides is so thin - it is almost impossible to release it from the trays without breaking it. To make things even worse, when you finally release them the laser-cut veneer parts don‘t fit the bigger boxes, they are just too small. Well I managed to build two barrels at least. 
 

 

I will finish the remaining 8 barrels and then put the ship aside for undefined time. I won‘t give it up completely, but I fear if I continue this frustration build now I will question my interest in ship modeling soon - and I do not want this thing to happen. And … you won‘t find me buying any chinese kit in the future, have learned my lesson well. Well I do not blame CAF (except for quality control), maybe I just don‘t have the skill yet to build this properly or my standard how I would like to build it is just not compatible with the supplied kit.
 

I will keep some weeks away from ship modeling and will return to the Badger after that. Thank you all for following this build so far.
 

Andreas

 

 

[Matt D]

I’m sorry it has not been going well, Andreas.  I look forward to watching you finish your Badger.  

[VTHokiEE]

I’m sorry to hear this as well, but I hope your break does you well and that you enjoy your badger upon your return. I also appreciate the details, I had considered one of these POF kits but based on your experience I doubt I’m ready it yet.

[dvm27]

While I applaud the innovation in these POF "kits" there are just too many variables that are introduced including the quality of the laser cutting (or CNC), wood quality and a dozen other factors. A clinker style hull is especially challenging and unless the notched frames are perfectly cut and aligned the average builder is likely to become extremely frustrated with the results. It's been my experience that planking expansions are just a rough guide to the final shape of the plank which can only be determined once the hull is faired. So inexperienced (and experienced) builders should have some reservations about pre-cut planking and framing (unless for a less complex project such as the Syren Models barge)

[captain_hook]

Thank you for the nice words. Yes, you‘re right, Greg. In fact, the precut-parts with zero possibilities to adjust them to your need makes it very difficult in the end to get a proper and clean result and therefore making spare parts from scratch took most of the time. I never thought this would be an easy build - like just putting all precut-parts together and then you have a museum quality model. I have studied MSW builds for over 6 years now and got a good idea how much effort and joinery is needed to build a nice POF model. And a POF model wasn‘t supposed for me to build soon, just liked the lines and the look of the Coureur. But I didn‘t expect these kind of difficulties - maybe because I expect all kit designers to offer only a proved design (like Chris Watton letting all folks on MSW part on each stage of the developement of his kits). Meanwhile I searched the web for other Coureur builds but failed to find a single building log which shows clean results. Well looking at some precut part-sheets in a review doesn’t help anticipating all future problems that might occur. 
 

In the end it is a simple time or effort / outcome - ratio, that makes me put this thing aside and considering the large amount of time I put into a project I don‘t want a kit just come together - but come together properly. It is not the money but more the time spend and the fact that I almost lost my interest in ship modeling that hurts most. I started enthusiastic with some work every day, in the end I had to force myself into the workshop every second or third weekend. 
 

Tom at CAF is surely a talented CAD-designer, but most problems are related to the quality of the supplied materials, the parts and some design changements, mostly planking. So the list of improvement for this kit for me would be as following:  

- use pear instead of cherry (more expensive but less ugly grain, less wood defects and colour differences and especially veneer parts would be more solid and laser-char easier to be removed) or at least more quality cherry wood sheets - means minor tolerances in thickness of sheets, use of clean wood instead of sheets affected by obvious defects that act as weak spots for parts to break exactly there

- use of supplied spare parts where very thin parts are supplied (for example barrels, boxes etc.) because it is very difficult to get spare wood that matches the colour and structure

- get rid of all precut-planking and supply regular stripes for planking

- make a more detailed manual with clear instructions and building sequences in right order

- update the kit and remove reported design mistakes in future production circles

- prove the design by at least one builder to build it properly without any major modifications made to the kit

to name a few. But most of all make a definite statement about the target group of this kit. It pretends to be an intermediate kit (with almost all parts and planks precut) but the lack of clear instructions and the need for adjustments puts it rather in the advanced / expert level category. On the other hand an expert will think twice about building this kit but rather build one from scratch using quality wood like pear or boxwood selected by himself and true-to-scale construction methods and planking techniques. 
 

Well, enough said - don‘t want to bore anyone. Just a little frustration, but it won‘t last. And I don‘t want anyone to scare off buying this kit, it just didn’t work for me. 
 

Stay save.
 

Andreas

Edited August 2, 2021 by captain_hook

[yvesvidal]

23 hours ago, captain_hook said:

And … you won‘t find me buying any chinese kit in the future, have learned my lesson well. Well I do not blame CAF (except for quality control), maybe I just don‘t have the skill yet to build this properly or my standard how I would like to build it is just not compatible with the supplied kit.

I will keep some weeks away from ship modeling and will return to the Badger after that. Thank you all for following this build so far.

Andreas

 

Andreas,

 

I am really sorry to hear about your disappointment with this kit. I hope you will find the strength and motivation to resurrect it.

 

I am also concerned by the quality as you are describing it, as I wanted to procure two of their kits that I find absolutely magnificent: The Bellona (1/48) and the Chebec (1/48). The first one is plank on bulkheads (traditional), whereas the second one if POF. After reading your comments, I am not sure I want to spend twice $1200-1400 for these kits. This is really disappointing and I hope the CAF support group is able to do something for you.

 

Yves

[James H]

Such a shame, but if something is sapping your enthusiasm, then shelve it until you feel differently, and then maybe use as a filler project between others. 

 

Perhaps after Badger, maybe the Sphinx kit? (no, I'm not on commission earnings! 😂)

[Kevin]

have you voiced your concerns with Tom @cafmodel

[captain_hook]

Thank you guys, that is a lot of social support. Much appreciated! During the last weeks building the Coureur didn‘t bring much joy but if I put this ship aside, then I certainly won‘t pick it up again. I haven’t decided yet.
 

When I receive the cherry stripes I will at least try to substitute the kit-supplied planks and plank the inside. If that works well, I will start planking the outside. And if that also works well I will continue building. But I will take my time and not update the log very often during the next weeks. 
 

Stay save and thank you all again for support.

[captain_hook]

23 hours ago, yvesvidal said:

 

After reading your comments, I am not sure I want to spend twice $1200-1400 for these kits.

Sorry Yves, I can’t say anything about the quality of other asian ship kits, the Coureur is my first (and last). And I even can’t tell if later batches of Coureur kits were updated or any design changes have been applied so far.I got mine in late 2020. But I also won‘t buy any kit made of cherry. It is a nice wood for making furniture but caused too many problems during my build.