FULMINANT by HAIIAPHNK - French stern castle

[HAIIAPHNK]

1 hour ago, Hubac's Historian said:

Alex, your log is wholly unique to the site and a pleasure to read, with marvelous works that both inspire and amaze.

 

It is really fascinating to see the progression of your carving skills, through your earlier vessels like L’Ambiteaux, Le Francoise, etc.

 

The detail has always been there, but there is now a lightness and animated quality to the work that is really extraordinary.  It’s such a vague and indeterminant quality to describe or quantify, but you have certainly achieved it.

 

Here would be a fun, never before modeled winged project; Puget’s exuberantly ornamented Le Paris of 1668 (later renamed and redecorated as La Royal Therese):

 

Thank you so much for your kind words. I am very happy to have received grateful readers. It is a pleasure to share what is going on in my work. It concerns emotions, thoughts or some difficulties that unexpectedly appear. 
And I'm glad that I can always ask for help when I don't get something right or have questions about theory. I always see support here. It is inspiring. Thank you very much!

You once again give unique images. I have a separate folder on my computer where I collect all your sketches. Thank you. You are a great connoisseur of ship's history. I can't imagine how long it takes to find so many unique photos.

[druxey]

Aleksandr: The name is derived from an American English slang word meaning 'to vomit'. 

 

I absolutely agree with Hubac's comment on the quality of your carving work.

[HAIIAPHNK]

12 minutes ago, druxey said:

Aleksandr: The name is derived from an American English slang word meaning 'to vomit'. 

 

Thank you very much for your patient explanation of meanings in English. Now I can add another word to my vocabulary after “I need your clothes”. Just have to be careful with it. I don't want to accidentally say it in front of my spouse. She might think I'm making weird innuendos about her kitchen. And then I'd have to yell Help me! Somebody help me! 🙂

I hope it's clear that this is just a joke. 

 

I actually adore both my wife and the way she cooks. 

 

Honey, if you read this, read only what's highlighted. You don't need to look at the rest.

 

[Hubac's Historian]

Yes, because this early period in the development of the French navy - before the widespread use of plans - interests me so much, I am constantly searching for contemporary portraits that give an overall sense of line, proportion and decor.

[HAIIAPHNK]

Chapter 13
In which there are few interesting events, so the author makes a joke about toenails. What else is he supposed to do?

Finally something to show! 

Lately I have been working on small details to complement the transom decorations. These works were unremarkable, so there are no photos of the process, only final shots.

But there is still a lot to tell. Life sometimes makes adjustments: because of health problems I had to take a break. When I came back, I found that some glued parts had moved away from the body. The reason was the material itself - the thin elements of the tagua walnut had deformed like chips and had come off, despite the strength of the glue.
This is what some of the slises look like in the billet box.

 

 

And this is what some of these problems look like already on the ship model

 

 

If you work with this material, be aware of its tendency to warp.

I tested different glues before I started, primarily for bone. For tagua walnut, I then quickly chose the second glue - it showed strength on large surfaces. But later it turned out that for small parts and complex carvings it is not suitable, especially if it is not possible to use clamps or weights.

Secondary glue is only good for temporary fixing. I use it to secure the workpiece to the slipway. Once the carving is complete, the piece can be easily removed. But to glue the elements to the hull of the ship, you need a more versatile glue.

Given my previous problems with paint, I started looking for a glue that:

1. Would be suitable for different materials - wood and tagua walnut.
2. Will allow future removal of the decor without damage if repairs or repainting is needed.
3. Will account for possible warping of the walnut due to changes in humidity or time.

In the end, I chose a soft silicone glue. But, as practice has shown, it cannot withstand the stresses that occur in the thin thread elements.

I am now thinking again about changing glue. Perhaps I will return to organic glue, for example, from rabbit's feet - it perfectly holds the bone. But for now, for the sake of easy disassembly, I left the decor on silicone glue.

If you work with tagua nut, be prepared for its unpredictability. And of course, I am open to advice and would appreciate any recommendations.

 

 

 

 

 

There is another topic that I wanted to discuss. I have talked about it in the past. It concerns the white color of walnut. 

Tagua walnut is so light that it optically “steals” volume from the figures. Even shadows on it look too soft and details are lost. On photos it is especially noticeable - instead of a clear carved ornament you get either a shapeless white mass or something ghostly-glowing, which makes you want to cover your eyes with the palm of your hand from this glow.

I decided to change it. But how? With a brush and paint. I decided to try and do a patina. I know that sounds obviously not what the idea looks like in my head. And when I tried telling the customer about this idea, he expectedly said he didn't like the idea. White carving and patina is not the most obvious combination. Admittedly, I myself would have been wary of the idea if I had heard it from someone else.
But then chance intervened. In fact, a lot of time passed between my question and answer. I don't remember exactly what the pause was. Maybe it was days, maybe even a week. And for me, every second of waiting seemed like a century. You can even imagine such a picture: I am sitting in front of the monitor and waiting for an answer. I have already grown a beard, I continue to sit in anticipation, biting my nails with impatience, looking at the clock and seeing that already from the moment of sending the letter has passed Terrible .... FIVE MINUTES!!! And still no reply. I sit again, staring at the screen. My beard is already wrapped around my chest. I'm biting my nails again, already on my toes. And there is still no answer. Now make this wait into days. I've already seen some stars explode around me and others born. Can you imagine exactly how I felt? And all the while I was thinking that the customer wouldn't understand what I was trying to say. And at one point, I couldn't take it anymore. I jumped up, rushed to get my brushes and started to make the right tone for the patina. In fact, you could almost call it a transparent composition. The paint came out with a slight yellow tint, nothing more. I understood that for a white color, you don't need more than that. In the end, I carefully used a thin tip of the brush only in the deepest hollows. For the experiment, I chose a faun's head that I had recently been working on. It was interesting, but it was lost against the background of the rest of the carving.
 And this is what I ended up with.

 

 

 

I think it's gotten better now. Although it's still not so obvious in the photos the difference between before and after. But I'm happy with what I can see for myself.

Finally, I will mention that I went to the hospital right after the patination was finished. By that time I had not heard back from the customer. All this time I was thinking that he may have already written that he was against the idea. And I, without waiting for his opinion, redesigned the whole thing. 

So now I'm waiting for his reaction and preparing for any outcome. Maybe he'll get angry, or maybe he'll come to me, give me a hard time for being AWOL, and take Fulminant away. Then the last thing I'll have time to say in this thread will be a joke about biting my toenails. And who knows, maybe that's what everyone will remember better than all the previous stories about this project!
That would be a scandal. 

 

[Keith Black]

 Aleksandr, I never tire viewing your beautiful work. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours. 

[HAIIAPHNK]

22 hours ago, Keith Black said:

Aleksandr, I never tire viewing your beautiful work. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours. 

 

Thank you.

[Hubac's Historian]

Merry Christmas, Aleksandr!

 

That is such a curious thing about the carvings freeing themselves from the glue.  Even if you were using the same type of silicone that one might use to seal a gasket around a sink, it is remarkable that they would work themselves free.  I’d have thought they’s break along weak spots sooner than that.

[Hubac's Historian]

Perhaps the nuts have a high oil concentration?

 

I am certain you will find an alternative.  I think the patination you have chosen is just enough to lend depth to the details.  As always, the work is a joy to behold!

[HAIIAPHNK]

Thank you for your kind words.
I too think this type of material has its own characteristics in the form of oil content inside. And that affects the adhesion. In the stories with paint and with glue, the same peculiarity is at the core. I hope that I will find reliable options so that the walnut decor will not reject the chemical formulations. 
I don't know for sure if the glue gel is a relative for plumbing sealants.It's a small tube that promised me versatility on different surfaces. It may be the same sealant, just in a smaller package and with different marketing promises. Once dry, it remains elastic and soft, and it's very reminiscent of the plumbing options.
Of course, to say that the adhesive can be very easily and repeatedly peeled off without fear would be very bold. Tagua is a very brittle material and likes to break at the most unexpected moments. So far I've been able to get the parts safely out of place. And the glue is easy to remove. 
 

I have already thought about where there is no gold plating immediately glue on organic glue. I really hope it will give a good result. But that's just speculation for now. And it too needs to be tested with time. The next elements of the decor will definitely become a place of experimentation. 
Here, too, there are peculiarities that need to be taken into account. For example, organic glue cannot be stored for a long time.  
And since small parts require quite a drop of glue, it's hard to brew it in such microscopic doses. The only option for convenient work with such glue is to make a large volume of parts, accumulate them separately in boxes. And then glue them all in place at once. This is what I plan to do with the decor on the balcony. But first you need to do an experiment and see if this glue will be a good option or not.

This whole project is one big experiment. I guess that's the advantage of it.

[druxey]

I agree that the carved work 'sits down' better visually against the background work, as well as defines the details nicely. If it were me , I would present the work as a fait accompli without comment. Should he dislike it, I'm certain you would find another buyer!

 

Frohe Weihnachten, Aleksandr!

 

[HAIIAPHNK]

I try to make jokes in some places. And make the text slightly absurd. There may be problems in this, the translator may not translate my words correctly.

In fact, I can in no way say a single bad word about my customer. He is a very wonderful person, I was very lucky to meet him. 
I can easily tell him about real events without hiding some moments that I don't like. Even on the contrary, he is the one who stops me. I tell him that I want to redo something, and he tries to talk me out of it, writing that he likes everything as it is. For example, I left the problem with the structure of the “ears” (I do not know how to call these details correctly) out of the chat. The place where columns with arches will appear in the future. On this ship these are large vases. When I designed the cornice structure, I lost sight of some of the nuances. It was only later that I saw that it was not going to be a very pretty design. We had a long discussion about what we can do now that a lot has already been done. And a lot will have to be removed, torn off and redone. The customer wanted to leave it as it was already done. But in the end I didn't listen to him and redid it. In the future I will continue the remodeling, remove the cornice completely and redo it. The way I would do it for myself.

I believe that hiding problems is not the best option. He trusts me, and I have to honor that trust. It would be a lot worse if he suddenly saw problems I wouldn't tell him about. I value my reputation. I try to do the project to the best of my ability.

I realize that a lot of things can be left out. There are a lot of things in any job that are problems with the normal workflow. There's no point in telling everyone about it. If you knew how many of these problems go quietly. But I thought the most interesting ones should be shown. For me, this project has a lot of new things in it, things that I have never encountered before. And it may be useful to those who dare to take on similar tasks. More detailed stories are useful to me myself. Sometimes I reread my own posts. Some time will pass and I will forget what exactly I did, what methods I used. I'll flip through these pages and I'll remember. And I will thank myself.
It is interesting to look at photos alone, but I like not the result itself, but the path, the stories, the emotions that arise during the work.

[empathry]

Happy New Year dear Sasha ;

 

Reading (eagerly) your sudomodelism adventures really makes me saving me a subscription to Netflix, whilst your adventures are worth a Netflix serie ! 

 

I am thinking about your glueing problem, and a logical opinion could be that it's not really worth trying to select a glue permitting the quite unprobable occurence of having a modification to do (or a little repairing).     

I have myself some ship models I realized three decades (and more) ago and sometimes, the wood works is such a manner that cracks may appear, but whilst the ship models are protected by glasses, there is no wind, no dust, and no need to clean the model, so that the probability of a little bit of something needing a fixing is quasi nil.

 

Your photos are always excellent ! 

 

I hope for all the people you love the best, and particularly for you a good health !