Prince de Neufchatel by Coyote_6 – Constructo – 1/58 scale - American privateer

[Coyote_6]

I have always been a fan of tall ships, since childhood in fact.  Remember the Navy recruiting poster, sailor holding a kid’s hand in front of Old Ironsides herself?  That poster has stuck with me all these years (although ultimately I joined the Marines instead of the Navy).

 

Anyway, stop me if you’ve heard this one before.  2002 Festival of Sail in San Diego, California.  Toured something like 14 tall ships from around the world.  Walking out of the Berkley I spy the gift shop and some wooden ship model kits, and the Prince de Neufchatel really calls to me. 

 

 

I take her home to our apartment – no “shop”, no tools, no skills.  I proceed to get the false keel and frames together (relatively) square, attach the false deck and some fundamental shaping of the bow and stern blocks, and then – nothing.   Over two decades, I was able to plank the deck with a new exacto knife in hand.  Fitted the plywood bulwarks and transom stern.  A couple of false starts planking the hull occurred, neither of which was pretty to watch.  And so she sat in “ordinary” (storage) for, as I said, 20 years.

 

Then last month, after a marathon “Pirates of the Carribean” watchfest with the kids, I brought the Prince back out.  A little “battle damage” to the bulwarks with busted out gunports, but all in all she aged well.  And now I am committed.

[Coyote_6]

A photo of a photo, showing her status in 2002.

[Coyote_6]

First things first.  Armament. 

 

According to Howard Chapelle's "History of American Sailing Ships", we likely have sixteen "12-pounder carronades and two long 18's as chase guns".  Chappelle argues the lighter weight of the carronade would have helped with the Neufchatel's renowned speed.

 

 

 

 

Carronade mounts will likely be painted or blued at some point, and rigging will be an event in itself.

 

I really like the brass ordnance, but the elevation elements for the carronades were a poor fit.

[Dr PR]

The Prince was a pretty ship. I'll be interested in seeing how you do on this.

 

I understand the "ordinary" part. I am slowly completing a model that sat unfinished for at least 30 years.

[Coyote_6]

11 hours ago, Dr PR said:

The Prince was a pretty ship. I'll be interested in seeing how you do on this.

 

I understand the "ordinary" part. I am slowly completing a model that sat unfinished for at least 30 years.

 

I hope I can do her justice, especially being my first wooden ship.  The Constructo lines look pretty good compared to plans I've seen.

 

Good luck with your long term project!  I think it speaks to the topics we chose, if they keep calling through the years.

[Coyote_6]

Rounding out the plywood sheet parts, the deck house framing and the bulwarks and transom stern.   The bulwarks were difficult in two regards - firstly I should have pre-bent them to conform to the ships lines better, and secondly, having broken away the tops of several gunports did not help in getting the shape desired.  I believe the planking both inside and out will cover my issues pretty well, but time will tell.

 

Foundations of the deckhouse - not a precision form by any means.

 

 

The bulwarks installed and checking gun barrels for center in the gunports.  I should mention the mast hounds were drilled out in 2002ish timeframe - fairly straightforward as the bit followed slots in the false keel.

 

 

Damaged gunport framing and an ill-fated first attempt at hull planking, which was later removed.  Ugh.

 

 

 

Edited October 15, 2022 by Coyote_6
referencing mast hounds

[Coyote_6]

Planking the Bulwarks

 

The planking of the weather deck was the one thing I did in my initial attempts twenty years ago.  I have been told by experienced shipbuilders that it turned out ok, so to build on that success (and to attempt to correct various issues with the bulwarks plywood) I decided to plank the bulwarks down to where the guardrail/bumpers will be installed.

 

First plank and stringers between deck and inner bulwarks

 

 

Stern inner planking first row and second side row begins.

 

3rd row and on...

Edited October 19, 2022 by Coyote_6

[Coyote_6]

Inner planking with gunports being cut out...

 

 

 

And outer planks.

 

 

I choose to leave a small gap between planks so the individual planks will be delineated after sanding (whereas below the bumper line I intend to tighten the gaps between planks)

 

I am leaving the transom stern til last - you can see I edge-bent the first internal plank, and continuing that process will be a little more time- consuming.

[Coyote_6]

So the first issue with Constructo's kit arose, and I am glad I caught it early.  Kit provides 1300 linear mm's of "Manzonia" wood for framing the gun and sweep ports, but the ship requires at least 1408 linear mm's of material.  Imagine if you were installing/glueing as you cut, only to discover you don't have enough "Manzonia" to finish the frames.  Crazy.

 

Model Shipways walnut strips to the rescue, and enough to do multiple ships at that!! (Small stained sample of new wood in photo.)

 

First framed gunport! (Severely damaged plywood bulwark within - should be plenty strong now!)

 

"Boom!"  Ha! Love it!!

 

Steve

Edited October 19, 2022 by Coyote_6

[Coyote_6]

So a question to the audience - On the Prince, the keel and hull sit lower aft than forward when the weatherdeck is level (drag).

 

Do you prefer to mount the ship for display with the weather deck level or the keel level?  Which do you think looks better and why?

 

A wise man at a local club meeting recently told me to figure out how she will be displayed, and incorporate the mounts now before I plank the hull.  It will be brass pedestals on a wood base, but will the aft pedestal be lower than the forward one, or will they be the same height??  Looking for some ideas.

 

Thanks,

Steve

 

[ccoyle]

Deck level. Most people may not see anything wrong, but every fellow ship modeler will notice if a ship with keel drag is displayed improperly.

[TBlack]

The waterline needs to be level. The deck may have some slant to it.

BTW, you’re doing a great job on your first outing. Keep it up!

Tom

[GrandpaPhil]

I made my deck level when I built the Prince de Neufchatel (still my favorite build).

 

I made a cradle using the profiles of two bulkheads (allowing for planking).

 

 

I measured off on the plans so that the model would be approximately centered and centered it on the display board.

 

It ended up like this:

Edited October 20, 2022 by GrandpaPhil

[Coyote_6]

Well, to paraphrase Captain Barbosa from Pirates of the Caribbean, " then we have an accord."

 

I had not considered waterline in the equation.  Since most plans I've seen of the PdN depict the waterline approximately parallel to the weatherdeck (accounting for generally equivalent deck sheer fore and aft),  I think everyone is in agreement.  See this image from Chapelle in The History of American Sailing Ships:

 

I will select some brass pedestals that will keep the weatherdeck and waterline level with the base,  allowing the keel to be lower aft to demonstrate her drag.

 

Thank you all for sparing me from making a mistake here!! 

 

I appreciate all the input!!  

Edited October 21, 2022 by Coyote_6
Wrong ship image - ooops!

[Coyote_6]

21 hours ago, TBlack said:

The waterline needs to be level. The deck may have some slant to it.

BTW, you’re doing a great job on your first outing. Keep it up!

Tom

 

Thanks for the compliment.  Hopefully I can keep things moving and keep the quality up!

[Coyote_6]

On 10/19/2022 at 5:52 PM, ccoyle said:

Deck level. Most people may not see anything wrong, but every fellow ship modeler will notice if a ship with keel drag is displayed improperly.

 

And this is sound advice - not something a novice like me would generally consider.  I soooo wanted to make that linear keel level - it would not have looked good in retrospect!! 

Edited October 21, 2022 by Coyote_6

[Coyote_6]

14 hours ago, GrandpaPhil said:

I made my deck level when I built the Prince de Neufchatel (still my favorite build).

 

I made a cradle using the profiles of two bulkheads (allowing for planking).

 

 

I measured off on the plans so that the model would be approximately centered and centered it on the display board.

 

It ended up like this:

Your PdN is fabulous GrandpaPhil.  I looked at your entire build log when I first signed up here and was amazed, both by the beauty of the model and what you can do with card!  I can see why she's your favorite. 

 

I am leaning towards brass pedestals, but now must consider a cradle as well.  The cradle would leave the ship unmolested and removable for inspection, whereas I think the pedestals may require drilling in to the keel and having fasteners or rods protrude.  You definitely have given me something to think about!  (Not that I generally want people "inspecting" my ship,  but I think I like the idea of the ship being the ship, with no protruding add-ons or modifications.)

[Coyote_6]

Finally, some progress!  The gun and oar ports have been framed.  On to hull planking.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 2, 2023 by Coyote_6

[Coyote_6]

The next natural progression at this point would seem to be hull planking.   

 

This brings me to my second issue with the kit - the plywood framing "keel" in no way conforms with the provided stem, forefoot and keel provided.  Test fitting convinced me to attach these pieces before planking so I could iron out any issues.  I had fitted the best I could and ended up with significant gaps.

 

 

 

Now that we're at the point of adding the garboard strakes, it is time to address the issue.  Custom shaped a piece of walnut to fill the largest gap between the plywood framing keel and forefoot and then resorted to PVA glue and sanding to fill all the gap lines.  It looks passable, but staining will be the true test.
 

 

[Coyote_6]

So I was working on the port and starboard garboard planks, with a plan to fit the stern portion of the keel and rudder after planking.

 

It quickly became clear the stern keel and rudder needs fitting prior to planking, so stay tuned for that!

 

(Stern keel piece [sternpost?] Not included in image,  but it clearly does not "fit" at this time.)

 

Here I've shaped the keel to match the rudder shape, with proper spacing between the two.  (More or less, anyway!  )

[Coyote_6]

Finally some progress.  The sternpost has been adapted to the keel/false keel.   The end product is very much as the PdN appears in Chapelle's Search for Speed Under Sail, so I am pleased.   Particularly with the uniform gap between sternpost, keel and rudder.  Whew!

 

Edited May 11, 2023 by Coyote_6
Add white space between image and text.

[Coyote_6]

So with the sternpost fitted, the garboard planks went on without a hitch.  At only 5 mm wide the addition is almost insignificant, but you have to have someplace to start.

 

Starboard

 

and Port.

 

This model has very nice lines and accessories but is not a stellar model of how a real ship was built.  Without a rabbet to install the planks, a lot of careful sanding and filing will be required to make her fair.  I think it can be accomplished but I will have to be careful not to eat away the stempost, sternpost or keel.

 

In any respect, a milestone.

 

Edited May 12, 2023 by Coyote_6
Spelling

[Coyote_6]

A little shaping of the garboard strakes at the bow...

 

 

 

But the stern will likely wait 'til the deadwood is more filled in.  About 2 mm proud of the keel at this time.

 

Edited May 12, 2023 by Coyote_6
Added detail.

[Coyote_6]

Curious before I go much farther.  Has anyone else done a ship where the aft deadwood era was so far above (proud of) the keel before shaping?  

 

The false keel was only like 4 mm thick, so to shave it for the planking would be to effectively remove it.

 

I will be targeting the hull strakes to be 0.5 mm proud of the sternpost/keel after sanding.  Will this work?

 

Any thoughts appreciated!

Edited May 12, 2023 by Coyote_6

[GrandpaPhil]

Here is what the stern of my Prince de Neufchatel looked like:

 

[Coyote_6]

@GrandpaPhil. That's awesome!  I think with careful filing and sanding I should be able to get there.

 

What filler/coating do you use on a card project like that?  It looks challenging.

Edited May 14, 2023 by Coyote_6
Spelling.

[GrandpaPhil]

I used drywall spackle and Delta Ceramcoat sealer.

 

The Folk Art brand clear primer works just as well.

 

I had a lot of fun building Prince de Neufchatel.

 

It is one of my all time favorite builds.

[Coyote_6]

I feel like it's less about planking and more like sitting around watching glue dry.     

 

 

 

 

Edited May 23, 2023 by Coyote_6
Duplicate Image Deleted.

[Coyote_6]

In profile I am starting to develop a "smiley face effect", where the planks are riding higher at the bow and stern than in the middle.  I have been removing about 1/4 height of each plank at the bow to minimize the effect.   I want to avoid a bunch of skinny planks (1/2 width or less) at the bow. 

 

Anyone have any thoughts on how to proceed elegantly here?

 

Depending on how she sands I would like to spare myself the second planking - the current planks are 2mm thick.

[Pirate adam]

I would recommend reading through Chuck's planking tutorial in the planking and framing section.  The best way to do it ends up being to mark the number of planks you need on each frame and taper the planks accordingly.  It is a bit of extra work, but the most surefire way to get the line of planks you want.

 

Adam