ancre Allège d’Arles 1833 by tkay11 – FINISHED - scale 1:100 - POB - from Ancre plans by F. Fissore

[wefalck]

I would double the resolution over what the printer can do and scale the drawing appropriately. The decals will certainly stick to the aluminium, but the question would be, wether it does not peel off again, when one tries to drape the flag. Probably one of those decal softeners would help, because they seem to dissolve the backing film, leaving essentially a coat of paint in place. That is less likely to peel than a film of something.

 

Otherwise, it could be a good idea to shop around the fora of figure modellers. They deal with the problem of complex patterns and images on draped fabric all the time and might have other ideas - apart from actually painting it by hand

 

[tkay11]

Very nice ideas, wefalck. Thanks. I hadn't known that decals could dissolve in that way. Lots to experiment with!

 

Tony

[tkay11]

Fittings

Flags

I eventually gave up trying to make the flags from Modelspan or thin cotton cloth, and instead opted to print them on to ordinary copy paper at a resolution of 2000dpi. At least the definition was ok.

 

The method was to print the two sides of the flag edge to edge with a 0.2mm gap. I then laid a 0.1mm line down the middle of the inside and folded each end of the line over to form a loop. The two sides were then glued together using a stick glue.

 

Again the monograph does not reveal the origin of the arms on the flags, but a search revealed them to be of the Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur.

 

 

Anchor & Grapnel

I had to make the anchor 3 times before I got the hang of the sequence necessary. The monograph suggests drilling a hole for the arms, but that would still leave the problem of how to solder the remaining two arms at 90⁰ when using solder that has only one melting point.

 

I eventually hit on the following sequence:

1.    Cut a 4mm brass rod to the maximum diameter (1.63mm) of the shaft (i.e. the diameter of the head and crown.

2.    Drill a 0.7mm hole for the ring

3.    Drill two 0.5mm holes at right angles to each other for the arms near the crown.

4.    Mill 0.5mm grooves for the arms from each of the holes.

5.    Cut the arm between the holes to the final diameter (0.9mm).

6.    Insert the first bar of two arms through the first hole at the crown, then bend them together until they sit in the grooves. Solder with silver solder.

7.    Re-drill the hole in the second hole so that it passes through the paired arm in the first.

8.    Insert the second paired arm through the second hole, and repeat the process for the first paired arms.

9.    Bend all the arms to right angles at the same spot. This makes it easier to solder on the flukes exactly.

10.  Prepare the flukes by cutting a 1mm strip of 0.07mm brass at a sharp angle at 1.5mm intervals.

11.  Wipe the flukes with a cloth impregnated with isopropanol then solder to each of the arms.

12.  Bend the arms to their final shape.

13.  Blacken with Sodium Metabisulphate solution (5%)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I now just have to put their ropes on, make the stand, and those will be shown in the next post.

 

Tony

[tkay11]

I decided to have another 'waterline' model in a perspex/acrylic stand. The top is acrylic blue, the sides plain so as to see underneath. It's to make me think of a clear blue Mediterranean sea.

 

I've now completed this model. As with previous models this was more of a learning exercise to look at (1) what it is to work at a smaller scale (not quite the 1:196 some modelers achieve and certainly not nearly as good as those who have worked at 1:96); (2) seeing if I can improve working with card; (3) practising with an airbrush; (4) continuing to try to improve working with a lathe and making blocks.

 

After completing it, I can see I have a long way to go before I can be satisfactory in any of these areas, although there is some improvement.

(1) My main concern is especially with the sails. I can't seem to make them retain their shape in the wind even though I used dilute PVA to stiffen the paper and a hair dryer. Part of the problem was maintaining the tension in the ropes without a real wind to keep the sails in position (perhaps wire is the answer). Then there is the fact that the left side of the sails is left bare as the bolt rope is fixed to the right.  I shall try working with cotton voile next time and sewing on the bolt rope.

 

(2) I don't think I'll ever try mixing card with wood again, and will stick with just wood and metal.

 

(3) Although I used a satin varnish to mix with linseed oil and white spirit as a finish, it remains too glarey under artificial light.

 

(4) I found that by making the ropes to the correct diameter, the appearance seemed very meager. I now understand why the advice is sometimes to go with appearance rather than correct dimensions. However, that brings with it the need to make blocks bigger than they should be. Also, using cotton thread without waxing it or singeing the fluff, the ropes have a very ragged appearance.

 

(5) The paintwork. Ouch! The poor waterline and edging of the card wales. I don't want to repeat that!

 

(6) Finally, it is clear I need to spend more time sanding the wooden parts.

 

All the same, I do like the general appearance of this allège, and am pleased to have done it. It would make a great model in more experienced and better hands.

 

It was also a kind of review of the Ancre monograph. In summary, I'd say that in comparison with other Ancre monographs (1) the explanations and translations were inadequate; (2) the plans needed very careful checking as there were plenty of inconsistencies and some mistakes (so far the plans I have worked with from Ancre or studied have been of a much higher quality); (3) very poor quality of the photos, which often were also poorly taken from the point of view of knowing what was shown. However, the rigging diagrams and notes were very good. Understanding this monograph is certainly helped by looking at the detailed photos on Fissore's own site.

 

You're welcome to have a look at the overall pictures that follow. If you need detail, they'll enlarge considerably.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's it until next time! I wonder what it will be?

 

Tony

Edited June 21, 2021 by tkay11
Typos

[drjeckl]

Tony, Just caught up here.  She's stunning, yet casual.  I think the sails look very realistic.  Nice work.

 

[tkay11]

5 minutes ago, drjeckl said:

She's stunning, yet casual.

Gosh, John, that's very nice of you. It's also exactly how I would describe my own view of the build. Well, maybe not quite stunning.

 

Tony

[wefalck]

Nice work on the flags. And I agree that printing on thin paper is probably more successful. I usually then repaint with acrylics, as the the printer inks may not be very lightfast.

 

Also liked the 'engineering' approach to the grapnels. Not so simple to recreate these simple fire-welded units.

 

The flags made me curious, as they have as the main motive the colours of Aragon (the red and yellow stripes), which also appears in the flags and coats-of-arms of Catalonia, Barcelona, Valencia, Spain in general, and various others.

Its a long story dating back to the Counts/Kings of Aragon, who sort of spread to the coastal zone of Eastern Spain and SE France as the Reconquista progressed. A bit of the history and the flags can be read here in German/English: https://www.flaggenlexikon.de/ffrkprov_dt.htm.

It appears that your flag was created only in 1999 for the then newly created 'region' of Provençe-Cote-d'Azur (the French administration assembled a number of the Départements created after the French Revolution into larger units of certain economic and cultural coherence over the past 20 years or so, to some degree re-establishing the ancient feudal-political units that the revolution intended to break up).

Edited June 21, 2021 by wefalck

[tkay11]

Thanks for the history of the flags, wefalck. I should have been more suspicious, as I had had a look at the history and the flag and the emblem on the stern panel are different -- the emblem on the rear looking the more accurate. What do you think?  The flag and pennant are, however, as in the monograph. Maybe an equal oversight by Franco Fissore.

 

Tony

[mtaylor]

Tony,

I think the old saying that "we are our own worst critics" applies here.   Beautiful build.   I also agree about ANCRE plans as they can be inconsistent depending on when they were done and by whom. 

[Edwardkenway]

As usual Tony, you've done yourself proud, the model looks fabulous and the display base suits it perfectly. Excellent work, and I'm looking forward to seeing your next offering 😀

 

[tkay11]

Thanks very much for the several 'likes'. They are much appreciated.

 

Thanks also for the generous comments, Mark and Edward. They make me feel it's not as bad as I thought! I try to keep reminding myself that this is a process of continuous learning and improvement, just as for everyone else, but I also sometimes feel frustrated when I know I'm not doing something as well as I'd like.

 

Tony

[GrandpaPhil]

Congratulations!  Beautifully done!