Le Pourquoi-Pas? 1907 by Greg Davis - FINISHED - Constructo - 1:80 Scale - i.e., Why Not?

[Greg Davis]

Got a little behind when I broke a couple of soft metal cleats. It turns out that getting replacement cleats of the same size proved to be a bit of a challenge. Fortunately, I found what I needed for a far price and quick overseas delivery from Cornwall Model Boats!

So the cleats are on, as are all of the mast blocks:

What are the chances I will cut all of the waste material and not any of the block attachements on the main and mizzen masts?

[clearway]

On 11/11/2023 at 12:21 AM, Greg Davis said:

What are the chances I will cut all of the waste material and not any of the block attachements on the main and mizzen masts?

oh yes- i have been known to have been trimming excess thread binding shrouds and not realised another shroud was in the scissors jaws till it fell away with the other thread😱.

Build is looking great Greg- my collection on hold until i get my outdoor messy modelling garden room finished!

 

Keith

[Keith Black]

1 hour ago, clearway said:

i have been known to have been trimming excess thread binding shrouds and not realised another shroud was in the scissors jaws till it fell away with the other thread😱.

 My greatest nightmare!

[Greg Davis]

Here are the eight spars for the main and fore masts. I believe that all the needed blocks and brace pendants are in place.

[Greg Davis]

I've temporarily pinned the spars to the masts. They are not staying right where they belong, but it is giving me an  idea of how much space this model will take up. Not too wide, so when cased it should easily fit in the office it is destined for.

I guess it is time to get the lower deadeyes in place so that the rigging process can really get underway.

[Greg Davis]

Finally got back to working on this ship.

 

Since mid-November, I've been spending most of my building time on the new Model Airways Santos-Dumont 14bis kit:

 

So back to Le Pouquoi-Pas? for a while - maybe straight to the end!

 

The lower deadeyes are all attached, the masts are erected, and I started putting on the lower shrouds yesterday and today. It's nice to be reeving lanyards again.

[Greg Davis]

The lower level of standing rigging (including a few stays) was finished yesterday and I'm now on the second level. More shrouds are being added currently.

[clearway]

Looking good Greg- ahhh the joys of shrouds and ratlines! Hope you have had a nice Christmas.

 

Keith

[Greg Davis]

17 hours ago, clearway said:

Looking good Greg- ahhh the joys of shrouds and ratlines! Hope you have had a nice Christmas.

 

Keith

I did - a good Holiday Season to you and everyone else!

[Greg Davis]

All the shrouds and fore stays are in place.

Tomorrow the back stays begin followed by the rat lines!

[Greg Davis]

All of the back stays are in place.

Just the rat lines and the standing rigging will be done.

[Greg Davis]

I started with the rat lines on the port side. I expect this side of the ship will end up against a wall when displayed, so it was a good place to reacquaint myself with clove hitches! 

Time to swing around to the other side and tie a few more knots.

[Greg Davis]

Now the starboard side ratting is also done

Next up: some spars!

[Greg Davis]

Spars and lifts for the fore and main masts are in place:

Certainly will be adding the spar braces.  In the meantime, thinking about how many of the sail handling lines are going to be added. 

[Greg Davis]

Since yesterday, I was able to add most of the sail handling rigging - the last bit, associated with the lower masts will be added later.

A few of these lines are attached to pin rails. When I got to this part I decided to rummage thru odds and ends for enough metal pins to replace the wooden ones provided (that were badly out of scale and historical period for the ship).

Now I have started fashioning the two spars that attach to the mizzen mast.

[Greg Davis]

The last two spars are in with their respective rigging.

Now I can see just how much room this model will take up. Looks like it is turning into an acceptable display model!

The list of tasks to complete is shrinking:

 

• lower mast sail handling rigging
• braces
• anchors
• ship boats
• finishing touches

• display mounts
• display case

The launch date is coming into view!

 

 

 

[Greg Davis]

Foresail and mainsail rigging done - I always like the three blocks that come together for this part.

Time to start with the braces.

[Greg Davis]

I set up the braces this evening. Tomorrow when I have natural light I will take another check that the lines are where they are suppose to be. Then I can complete the attachments to belaying pins and cleats.

 

[Greg Davis]

Braces have been taken care of. No more rigging planned at this point.

I'll be setting the main assembly aside for a while; hopefully in a safe place! I'm looking to have the project complete for when it warms up and the snow / ice goes away - probably well into April. Likely on and off work till then.

 

Time to work out what the case will be made of. Currently thinking of using Cherry so the case can be darker in nature and complement the hull. Once the case of the base is done, I'll make the two cradle type mounts - these will be painted black and attached to the case base. Once the ship is mounted, I plan to add the anchors, either hanging or laying on the case base. 

 

Additionally, I want the ship to have all 6 boats. The kit came with two cast boats that are the correct size for the upper deck. There should be two slightly shorter boats alongside the smoke stack and then two additional (even shorter) boats ahead of the foremast. I have searched the web countless times looking for boats that fit the need of this ship but have not been able to find anything that will work. Looks like I will need to fabricate them myself. 

[Keith Black]

 Greg, check out the below. These folks are out of New Zealand, their products are gorgeous and very pricey. The third link is their 1:72 boats which is as close to your 1:80 scale that they sell. Search through all the boats, you might find something that would work for you. i've not bought from them but I'm very tempted, let me know what you think. 

 

https://micromaster.co.nz

 

https://micromaster.co.nz/collections/royal-navy-ships-boats

 

https://micromaster.co.nz/collections/royal-navy-ships-boats/1-72-scale

 

There's also Cornwall Model Boats in the UK. Very nice folks, I've ordered from them several times.

 

https://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/aeronaut-liferafts.html

[Greg Davis]

25 minutes ago, Keith Black said:

 Greg, check out the below. These folks are out of New Zealand, their products are gorgeous and very pricey. The third link is their 1:72 boats which is as close to your 1:80 scale that they sell. Search through all the boats, you might find something that would work for you. i've not bought from them but I'm very tempted, let me know what you think. 

 

https://micromaster.co.nz

 

https://micromaster.co.nz/collections/royal-navy-ships-boats

 

https://micromaster.co.nz/collections/royal-navy-ships-boats/1-72-scale

 

There's also Cornwall Model Boats in the UK. Very nice folks, I've ordered from them several times.

 

https://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/aeronaut-liferafts.html

Keith 

 

Thank you for the links - the micromaster boats are amazing, but there is no way I'm spending > $250 on boats to give away! They must have a pretty nice 3-D printer. I've recently thought about getting a 3-D printer for making some parts myself. I haven't been able to determine what a minimal outlay for reasonable results would be. There are so many printers on the market.

 

I've already been thru the Cornwall site a few times and didn't see what I wanted. I've ordered from them previously and, like you, have had good experiences. 

 

Thanks again,

 

Greg

[DavidG]

Hello Peter, good luck for your search for the manual. It may sound silly at first... but if you have the plans and still feel the need to a pictorical manual, look thorugh a manual of a different ship from the website of Artesania Latina or Occre. These type of kits have very similar design, and you may get answers to building sequence, planking tips etc, even it's a different ship. Hope you find what you are looking for, though.

[Greg Davis]

After months of having this model sitting on a shelf, I finally added the 6 ship's boats and the anchors. The ships boats are not as good as I had envisioned, but will do. I decided to paint them all a color similar to the hull planking and then stowed them upside down. I'm taking some 'artistic liberty' here, as the actual boats were probably white at this time and stowed upright as the ship had a significant davit system for the boats. Here again I choose not to include this detail. I'm going to call it job done as far as the model goes. 

Time to build a case and get this out of the house!

[Keith Black]

 Greg, congratulations on completing Le Pourquoi-Pas. I think she turned out looking great. 

[Greg Davis]

13 hours ago, Keith Black said:

 Greg, congratulations on completing Le Pourquoi-Pas. I think she turned out looking great. 

Thank you so much!

[clearway]

well done Greg- need to kick myself up the buttocks and get back onto mine!

 

Keith

[Greg Davis]

Finally started working on the case today - maybe I really don't want it off my shelf! Fortunately, I'll still be able to see it once it is cased and moved to its destination.

 

This will be the fourth case I have made based on Wes Marden's 'Build Your Own Model Ship Case' PDF.

 

I got most of the base completed today. A nice piece of plywood is the main part of the base. The rest of the wood in this case will be cherry - I wanted a wood that would finish nicely to match the darker hull of the model. So the molding was made from some 1" by stock. It's now 3/4" thick and I routed a Roman Ogee shape into the top of the molding. It is now glued and finish nailed to the plywood. Next I need to make up a lot of 3/4" square material for framing the 'glass'.

[Greg Davis]

Construction complete, the case is now just about ready for its finish.

After the picture was taken, I filled the finishing nail holes and a couple of 'almost perfect joints'. After testing a few finishing methods / colors, I've decided to go with two coats of Minwax cherry stain. I also made a matching cherry display board for the model to be attached to via a pair of brass pedestals. 

 

Inching closer to the finish line!

[druxey]

Congratulations on completing your model, Greg.

 

Lovely looking case. But might I suggest a couple of ventilation holes in the base covered with fine mesh to prevent insect entry? A sealed case is not good for a model.

[Greg Davis]

43 minutes ago, druxey said:

Congratulations on completing your model, Greg.

 

Lovely looking case. But might I suggest a couple of ventilation holes in the base covered with fine mesh to prevent insect entry? A sealed case is not good for a model.

Thank you very much!

 

The whole frame that holds the plexiglass panels lifts out, so there is some opportunity for some air-exchange between the frame and base inside the molding. Do you think that is enough exchange or should there be more? I have always wished that there was more information on case construction within forum - it always seems to be a bit of a mystery to me! It actually would be a nice topic for NRG to set up a tutorial and / or a nice article in the Nautical Research Journal.

 

Greg