FULMINANT by HAIIAPHNK - French stern castle

[druxey]

I've also had this problem to solve. I cut a blank, longer than the finished ellipse, and PVA glued it to a backing block. This reduced the chance of breakage cross-grain. I then very carefully scratch molded the section. After soaking the piece off the backing, I was able to cut the joints with the straight sections of the moldings.

 

If there are any 'tricks' to this, a really good piece of boxwood is needed and patience while running the molding along it.

[HAIIAPHNK]

Thank you very much. The tips are great. I don't know if the translation is accurate? But I get the main point. Or guessed. I will try to implement a new way of working with the scraper. 

What will work (or not) I will try to take pictures with my camera.

P.S. I have after eight years of life fell to the death of the brave my phone. I tried to take pictures with it in the workshop, as I didn't want to keep the camera in a dusty room. But now, along with the phone, the shots I took during the work are gone. So it will not be possible to show the latest changes in the form of gradual changes. There will be only those shots with the current state of the work process. 
In principle, it is not so upsetting. There was nothing new or very interesting in the work. More had to be redone. Several times we had to remove what worked and do it differently. It's even good that I didn't have time to show anything.
But with the arch I will try to shoot step by step. The situation was not so trivial. Perhaps someday it will be useful to look at it again and remember what methods I used to do it. It often happens that I forget myself. So detailed comics about the arch will be useful.

 

[HAIIAPHNK]

Winter has not been easy for me in recent years. It is during this period that various problems pile up. And they “knock me out of the saddle”. And this winter was no exception. Therefore, in the winter period of time my shipyard on the table covered with cobwebs and dust. But fortunately with the onset of spring the work there began to come to life. So after a long break I have something new to show. So far it's still small steps. All that I will show are minor changes. But the ice after winter doesn't melt in a minute. I'm happy with this pace. 

That's the introduction. And now after the introduction, you can write something like this:

 

 

Chapter 3 (or 4, or even 5).
in which we learn about the balcony windows, the crooked moldings, and the author is furious. 

 

I finished work on the big screen on the transom of the ship, on which the crest with wings should appear in the future. And now it was necessary to go lower and deal with the decoration of that part of the transom, which is on the second floor of the officers' rooms. Where the balcony is. 

 

I thought this was the easiest part of the whole transom. It would be perfect for “warming up your hands” after a long break.

But it turns out it's not that easy. And the easy ride I was expecting didn't work out. I couldn't figure out the best way to make the shields and screens under the windows and the columns between the windows. I won't list everything, I'll just say that I didn't like some nuances and others. And I had to remodel several times. I will show only one of those variants, which were. 

 

 

 

 

It was also a very ugly design that I had to remove completely. I don't even remember exactly how many attempts there were. 

And now I'll move on to another problem. I need to make moldings for my job. A lot of them. This is the most basic part that is required all the time. They are used to make the edging of shields with fillets. Moldings decorated the joints between the parts. And so on. I made them with the help of a figurative scraper. The technology is so old and familiar that there is no point in describing it. But now when making moldings I faced a problem. Very often they turned out crooked, the pattern of the profile was not even along the rail, it resembled a drunken snake, which in addition still hiccups. 

 

 

 

In the photos, you can even see that the scraper cut into the lath during the movement and chewed off its side wall.

The reason for the defect in the moldings was most likely due to the wood. At least it seems that way to me. I think that the laths I made as blanks were from a board that had too wavy fibers. And that wood grain kept the scraper from going straight. The fibers had different textures, next to the area with soft fibers were places where the wood was harder. So it was easy for the scraper to go sideways and cut the wrong areas.

 

I primarily wanted to show how crooked the pattern is, that it doesn't match the rail. To be honest, I was very surprised when I got the discarded laths for the photo shoot. They had been lying in the garbage can the whole time. I didn't see them after the milling itself. And now it was a big surprise to me to see that the slats themselves had become crooked as well. So this again suggests that the problem is most likely poor quality material. From the same log I carved an English lion. The carving satisfied me. But as a material for thin laths this blank already showed a bad result. What can you do, wood is a living material. From the same billet I made moldings for the transom. And there everything was in order. The remaining laths are still even. But here the result is quite different. Wood is not metal, and not plastic. It has its own character. Although I may be wrong. After all, the laths were lying (exactly wallowed) in the trash. The rest of the trash that was lying on top could have also affected the warping. Maybe there was a different humidity from some wet wipes or something else.
Again, I got distracted.

Of course I started looking for wood with a straighter fiber pattern. But I still had concerns. What if there would be rejects now too? 
And at this point I decided to make a small bed, which can help in working with moldings. 

 

The principle is simple. I used to glue the rail to a piece of plywood and move the scraper by hand. But what if you do the opposite? What happens if the scraper is clamped and the lath moves? I can make walls on both sides of the rail, and then it will move like in a chute and can't run off to the side. A clamped scraper would also ensure that the wood cut would only be where it needs to be. 
I can make one side of the tunnel movable and the width of the channel can be adjusted for any lath size and handle laths with different sizes. So I decided to try this method. Perhaps this method has been around for a long time and I should have just searched a bit for similar designs and made one, taking into account other people's experience. But I have not met such a thing before. So I had to do everything on the basis of my own assumptions. Or maybe the fact that I haven't seen something like this from others suggests that it's not the best way to make moldings. 

I really like it when homemade machines or devices are made qualitatively and beautifully. But more often it happens that you need to make something very quickly and from the material that was lying in the corner. And then homemade devices look like Frankenstein's monster. This little machine became that monster. I just took the first materials I could find. We need to at least figure out if this system will even work. Why waste good material on such an attempt? So I apologize in advance for the fact that the device does not look very beautiful. 

But, you will agree that this is not the most important issue. More interesting and important is another one. Does this method work at all?
In short, yes, it is quite a working option. Although it also has its nuances or disadvantages. What are they?

 

 

 

 

Let me start with the scraper itself. In the process of work it is impossible to immediately set the scraper so, when it makes the last, clean removal of wood. When you hold the scraper with your hands, it gradually descends lower and lower. This is the same principle on this bed. This means that after each layer, the scraper has to be readjusted and lowered. And it is very important that it is lowered without any misalignment. Otherwise it can lead to defects. It takes more time and needs more attention. I would not call it a disadvantage, but rather a feature. But the following nuance definitely fits under the name “minus”. Since for milling it is necessary to push the rail, and it can be very thin, then there is a high probability that the rail can easily break when you push it. And the thinner the cross-sectional size of the rail, the more likely this problem is.

What can we say then? This method is not good? No, I will not categorically reject this milling method. It is possible to achieve a quality result even with very thin laths. All I did was to push the rail very slowly and adjust the scraper so that it removed the chips in very small portions. Plus I also covered the channel where the rail was moving from above. So there was nowhere for it to bend and therefore break. 

A little later, I added another stop to this bed at the back edge. At this end, I could install a scraper that would remove chips from only one edge. This position is convenient when you want to make a shaped edge on a convex part, for example.

 

 

This whole design was a bit of an experiment. I was prepared in advance that the method is not worth attention. And many “pitfalls” were obvious even before the experiments started. But I'm glad I tried it. And I'm happy with the result I got. Yes, I had some discarded parts. A few slats did break before I even got the idea to turn the channel into a tunnel. I won't say that I will reject the classical variant (when the scraper moves) now. Most likely I will use both methods. For the final comparison we need to take the rails that started the whole story. Those that turned out to be crooked by the classical method. And use the same ones, but already in this “depot”. Then it will be quite clear whether this device has such advantages that cannot be obtained by other methods. But I will do this when I have nothing to entertain myself with. For now, my head is already puffing with other tasks and problems.

And at the end, I'll come back to the balcony area. Here's what I've got. 

 

 

Compared to what came before this option I liked it. So I kept it. And after the transom, I decided to turn my attention to the sides as well. Where the side gallery is. And more precisely the upper tier of this gallery, where the dome is made in the form of a false structure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The story about the rest of the false dome will already be in the next chapter. I already asked for advice in a previous post. So the intrigue about what will happen next will definitely not happen anymore, but I still have to pretend that everything is unknown and covered in fog. Let's see what I got. Did I get anything? Did I succeed in taking the advice.

Intrigue...

[druxey]

Scraping moldings: some tricks I found helped me:

 

1) Glue the blank strip down on a solid backing piece. I use  PVA white glue. This may be soaked off in 95% isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) when complete.

 

2) Make the strip no deeper than the deepest dimension of the finished molding.

 

3) Scrape lightly and gently. If you apply pressure, the scraper will wander with the wood grain. As the molding develops, you can add a bit more pressure.

 

4) When the blank edge of  the scraper runs against the backing board, you are at the correct depth and the scraper will not bite in deeper.

[Hubac's Historian]

You are doing something quite difficult and arriving at excellent results.  Druxey has great advice, here, although if your initial grain was too variable - then you would be more likely to arrive at wavy results. This is all ground you have covered.  Keep going.  You will get there.

[HAIIAPHNK]

Yeah, that's what I'm doing. It's hard to do anything differently in this process. Only if you do it with your eyes closed. Or if you try to squeeze the scraper all the way in right away. But you have to be very persistent and have the strength of the Hulk to push through the wood at once. 
But nevertheless, I suddenly started to get rejects. And it wasn't just one lath that turned out to be of poor quality. There were several. That's why I decided to look for another option. I agree that it is too complicated. It was much easier to just look for a more suitable material.
But it turned out to be an unusual story. Without the adventure with moldings, this post would have turned out to be an ordinary set of photos with the result. Maybe it should have been done that way. But I wanted to share it. 

 

[James H]

Can someone give me an approximation of the year of this vessel so I can put it in the build logs, where it belongs?

[Blue Ensign]

There was a French 1st rate Le Fulminant built at Rochefort Dockyard 1691.

 

B.E.

 

 

[Gregory]

Considering earlier discussion it should easily fall within 1501-1750.

[HAIIAPHNK]

23 minutes ago, Gregory said:

Considering earlier discussion it should easily fall within 1501-1750.

 

Is there some kind of typo here or some kind of humor? ❔

 

 

 

 

[James H]

45 minutes ago, Blue Ensign said:

There was a French 1st rate Le Fulminant built at Rochefort Dockyard 1691.

 

B.E.

 

 

 

30 minutes ago, Gregory said:

Considering earlier discussion it should easily fall within 1501-1750.

 

Thanks guys, topic now moved.

[HAIIAPHNK]

Chapter 6
which will talk about the power of advice, and the author calms down and even rejoices. But it's not accurate.

 

When I was a student, there was a guy who went to school with me. In the course, he played the role of the joker. He was always cheerful and would drop jokes and witticisms on every occasion. With such an easy to communicate, but he was irresponsible and even lazy, often took his duties not seriously, from which he himself and suffered. And the other students at some point realized that it is better not to rely on him, he could easily fail. People can be like that. I remembered him now because at first many fellow students tried to correct him, to press on his conscience or to show that his not serious attitude could bring him problems. Usually at such moments they would say:
Sasha, I want to give you some advice. 
And then he would turn the conversation into a joke and answer:
- “What a country of Soviets. Well, give your advice. (play on words: Soviets = advice)
After that, someone would wave his hand and decide that there was no point in trying to make sense out of it. Someone still expressed his opinion, saying that Sasha does not do right. But often after the advice, our cheerful fellow student would make another joke, again showing that he was not in the mood to dramatize the situation. Eh, don't worry, everything will be fine.
Ever since my student days, when I hear the word “advice”, I remember this classmate.

 

I remembered it now, because after this introduction, the conversation in this part of the story will begin with advice. And these tips I asked other forum members. Because I could not figure out how to make a molding in the form of a curved ellipse. Now I am already surprised, because the solution was simple and obvious, even strange, how could not guess? But I was really stumped. And the decision to seek advice was a good one. So I want to say thank you very much for your active participation and good advice. In this thread I often ask for help, and always get good discussions that help in working on the ship. 

And now I will show you what I got.

 

 

 

 

This is the template I got. Maybe I could have made it out of brass with less thickness, but I was afraid that the template could deform when working.  Thanks to the advice I immediately paid attention to the fact that when making moldings there are two options: 1- to fix the template with the workpiece stationary and hands to move the scraper; 2 - to fix stationary scraper, and hands to move the template. Since I didn't know which option was better, I decided that the template should be such that it fits both options without problems. The holes around the edges will allow the template to be fixed stationary. They may also be useful in the 2nd method. Since the template is not that big, it may be difficult to hold. 

In this case I can screw some kind of rail to the template, which I will use as a handle. 

 

At first I tried the 1st way, but then I changed my mind and fixed the scraper stationary. I can't give a definite answer as to why I decided to do it this way. Most likely both methods can do the job. But for some reason I felt more comfortable moving the template. I fixed the scraper primitively and not beautifully, just clamped it between two bars. Like this. 

 

Here is a photo of the very beginning of the process, a little later I added another addition to this primitive clamp for the scraper. Even more primitive. Almost at the very tip of the scraper, I hammered in two nails. They gave even more rigidity to the scraper, it did not sag from the pressure and this addition was enough for me. As you can see from the photo, I did not attach to the template and lath - handle. It turned out to be quite convenient to hold the template in my hands. And after a while I got a molding in the form of the necessary shape.

 

The arch should continue I the form of straight sections, so I immediately with the use of the same two scrapers (outline of the inner part of the molding + outer outline) made and straight sections. On the same my depot for the moldings I have already shown.

 

 

All that was left was to put it all together. This is what it looked like when finished. I particularly enjoyed adjusting the tiers on the straight sections. I made the gap at the arch on purpose. According to my idea, the window frame will be placed in this niche later. Of course, it could have been done differently, but this gap will simplify several problems at once. At first I thought about how to properly describe everything in my head, but then I changed my mind. When the stage of work is up to the window frames, everything will be easier to understand from the photos. Much easier than my explanations now. I will emphasize the main thing: the gap at the arch is made on purpose, it is not because of my crooked hands and blind eyes. Do not throw rotten tomatoes.

 

 

 

Hmmm. I sincerely thought I could fit everything into one post until the end of this little object. But now I'm looking at how much I've written, and I think it's best to stop there. 

What words will I leave as a conclusion? Last time, I wrote about how a lot of things didn't work out for me the first time. And I was dissatisfied, even annoyed. Now I felt quite the opposite emotions. Throughout the work with the molding-arch I enjoyed it. When I thought about how the final design should look like, how I will then insert the window frame here, when I made a template, when I put all the parts together. And even when I was preparing this post. I guess it's all about spring. Although, wait, it's almost summer already!

[druxey]

Well, you got there, Aleksandr! An unorthodox method, but it worked for you. Well done!

[HAIIAPHNK]

7 hours ago, druxey said:

Well, you got there, Aleksandr! An unorthodox method, but it worked for you. Well done!

 

Thank you! 
I just have a question. You wrote that the method is not standard? But isn't that what Hubac's Historian advised me to do?  
The need to use a translator does not always convey thoughts the way they sound in one's own language. Is this again a case of me getting it wrong? Just wondering. 

[HAIIAPHNK]

Chapter 7 (unplanned).
About how the author reflects on time and finally gets to the main thing.

 

As I said at the end of the last chapter, the original plan was to put the issue about the side gallery dome in one issue. But then I decided that it would be better to split it into two parts because the text was too long. It was too tedious to type a large text. And even the online translator began to hang, swear and complain. So I decided to publish half of it before the translator completely destroyed everything I had time to translate.
In the morning, when I decided to continue publishing the story, I thought of one nuance.

 

And indeed, it is now the last days of May. Just a moment more and summer will come. Which means that about a year ago and took up this project. And I saw it as my usual carving work. I put my lion projects on hold because now was my chance to tackle new ways of carving. Except that in order to start carving for the Fulminant, I'd have to prepare a bridgehead first, build the stern of the ship. I expected it wouldn't take me very long. And what happened? It's been almost a year and I'm not even halfway through building the stern yet. I have the most challenging design and fabrication phases ahead of me. When will I get to the point where I can do the carving? And that realization was kind of scary to me. It told me that I had misjudged my strength. And one has to accelerate a lot to keep this project from becoming a perpetual thing. On the one hand, doing what you love and building a ship is wonderful. I certainly don't dare to start building my own ship. And this opportunity to do the ship is ideal. If I enjoy it, then let it go on for as long as possible. But at the same time, the thought makes me very sad. If it were my own project, I would not rush, but rather stretch the pleasure of each stage and each new task. But I made a promise to the customer. And I've already broken it. I've missed deadlines. And it's always weighing on me. 

Also, as much fun as it is to build the stern structure, I get a sense of longing when I look at the lion figurine I've put aside. When will I get back to this project? So eager to get back into carving again. I really miss the process.

And now, while finishing the dome structure of the side gallery, I realized my dream of returning to chisels and cutters. But first things first.

 I put the arch in its place and began designing the rest of the dome. 

 

 

 

On the historical sketch this element is drawn loosely. And this drawing can be represented in the finished design in different ways. I was faced with the task of making the design look realistic and at the same time not too different from the original. There were a lot of questions, for example, how to make the dome look three-dimensional, because in fact it is a flat part. Or what kind of materials to use so that the end result would be a balanced combination. Some time ago I already tried to rebuild Beren's drawing into my own version, and they differed from each other, as the ship's hull and the historical drawing had many differences. So now I was faced with having to make changes for the second time. I was not quite satisfied with what I had drawn once. I needed to look at certain nuances in more detail. For example, I came to the conclusion that I should change the original shape and size of the false window. 

The painted version now looked too big compared to the windows on the stern. And I didn't like it. I also decided to correct the dome and make it smaller.

Unfortunately, I can't show photos of intermediate stages of production. They just do not exist. At this point, my son left for a few days on a small trip with friends and took the camera with him. And before that, I broke my phone, so there was nothing to take photos with. So right after photos with paper templates will immediately follow photos with already finished dome.

 

This picture is the only one that can be called intermediate and working. Here I glue the inner part into the frame. At the same time I will explain a little what is this strange bar, which “stuck” to the dome. I made the frame of the dome the way it would be made in life. And in a shipyard, it would be assembled from several separate segments. And the sides would be made of separate boards. And because the joints are so small, it's easy to break off when working. So I glued a temporary strip on top of this joint, which gives additional rigidity. So now it will be a little clearer to look at the following shots, where you can also see this temporary detail.

 

 

And this is how the dome looked after I removed this temporary stiffener.Now there is no point in it anymore. I've already done all the work, so it's not so dangerous to accidentally break off the gluing point. Besides, now the inner field has taken over the role of a rigid base. And the frame will be safe. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now for a historic moment in the history of this project. I have finally gotten to the stage that can be called carving! Yay! Opening the champagne, setting off the fireworks and dancing on the balcony! 🙂

 

 

 

 

And the final frames are now left. This too can only conditionally be called a finale. Other elements with decorations will appear here in the future. But these details will be made of another material, not wood. So it will be a different story. And I am finished with the wooden part at this point. 

Carving has appeared so far in a very small form. But it is even more logical to begin with. The first appearance by all laws and should be small and insignificant, like a fresh sprout. Some time will pass and it will turn into something more significant and big. Maybe even like a huge tree. Hopefully my story too will someday be filled with carvings that will finally become many and will finally become the main theme of this story. We'll live to see...

 

 

 

 

[druxey]

Lovely curves that you've cut. I also enjoy your sense of humor. Building one of these models requires that, I think!

[HAIIAPHNK]

1 hour ago, druxey said:

Lovely curves that you've cut. I also enjoy your sense of humor. Building one of these models requires that, I think!

 

Thank you for the high praise. 
I see that the photo makes visible what the eye in ordinary life does not notice. And I see a lot of inaccuracies. Maybe I'll even try to make another attempt so that I can't be picked on in a macro photo as well. For me this is the ideal. And I have something to strive for. There are such masters who delight with their exceptional accuracy.

 

And at the same time I want to say that if you can see mistakes from the outside, you can safely talk about the problems that you have noticed. I will of course first curse anyone who sees mistakes and says that my work is far from ideal. Perhaps I will run around the computer for a while, show my tongue, beat myself with my fists in my chest and show my dissatisfaction in various other ways. But soon it will pass and I will definitely start listening to criticism. Alas, such behavior is the norm for almost every artist. It doesn't work without it. That's why I warn you in advance, so that you are ready for anything. The main thing is not to be afraid at such moments, not to show your fear of my grimaces and shouts and not to make any sudden movements. You may not even look me in the eye, sometimes that helps too. Remember, you are at a safe distance. I have rarely had time to run to people who criticize me who are more than 100 kilometers away from me. More often I've managed to cool off on the way. So that should be a calming thought too.
 

And it's also important to realize that pointing out my mistakes is very important. Because there is a possibility that my eyes may get tired and not notice the mistake. Which means I might notice the problem much later.  So after a tantrum, I'm pretty much 100% thankful for the advice. So criticism is really important to me as well. Almost as important as praise. Although who am I trying to kid? There's nothing better than praise. Thanks!!!!! THANK YOU!!!  

I'm also very happy that you're interested in reading my stories. It is also an important part of my life for me. I am not good at short stories. And I am very glad that the translator keeps the possibility to understand my stories and even the humor.

[empathry]

Hi there ! There's a saying that “perfection is achieved when there's nothing left to remove”, and that's the impression given by the latest photos taken from the upper side dome. The whole thing you've created blends in so nicely with the initial support (the customer's base) you're working on, that it seems as if your work had already been done all along.  There's no visible discrepancy (difference / gap) between your personal work and your customer's initial support, as all harmonizes well !     

 

Well done chap ! The sculpting phase is about to begin !

 

What I appreciate through your "step-by-step" images (and comments) is that you are both a geometer and an artist.

 

In so many (complicated) shipmodels of this type, we often see flaws due to geometrical difficulties and/or flaws due to artistic (sculpture) difficulties. 

 

We are eager to see how it all will turn out as we are now probably predicting a highly skilled finished shipmodel.   

 

Edited May 31 by empathry

[HAIIAPHNK]

Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I have already sent my customer a photo of the results of the work at this stage. He hasn't replied yet. He's probably busy right now. I think he will be able to check his email this weekend. I hope he likes it too. 

[empathry]

Hi there !   I remain highly favourable to the "ancient traditional style" workmanship, sculpting the pearwood with one's hands, just as you do Haiiaphnk !

Realizing a model is a true adventure with high (enlighted) moment ... and also more difficult moments ; and the new generations prefer to throw away those (supposed) difficult moments by using computers.

Therefore and for the fun (because I don't wish start a combat), I wish to post hereunder the realizations of some vessels made by AI programmed softwares ...  Please feel free to comment !    

[Alvb]

appalling, absolutely appalling.

sorry, I don't mean to offend anyone, but... why?

[HAIIAPHNK]

15 hours ago, empathry said:

Hi there !   I remain highly favourable to the "ancient traditional style" workmanship, sculpting the pearwood with one's hands, just as you do Haiiaphnk !

Realizing a model is a true adventure with high (enlighted) moment ... and also more difficult moments ; and the new generations prefer to throw away those (supposed) difficult moments by using computers.

Therefore and for the fun (because I don't wish start a combat), I wish to post hereunder the realizations of some vessels made by AI programmed softwares ...  Please feel free to comment !   

 

Hello, empathry.
I may not have been able to grasp the full meaning. So most likely I will answer past the target. If I am not making the right comment, I apologize. 
I don't understand why you put two different aspects together: making models by people using computer programs and machines and creating pictures with the help of Neural Network. They are completely different things. Certainly the pictures you have shown make people laugh, especially people who know what sailing ships really look like. A huge number of people won't even notice the silly places in those images. If you look, for example, at computer games with a maritime theme, there you can see even more stupidity. And after all, they were drawn and modeled by people. In many movies there are even more anachronisms. And this applies not only to ships. In any subject there is a huge number of errors. Historical movies resemble clowning. Decorators and directors often do not even try to look in textbooks, go to historical museums. That's what's really offensive. And if this is what people do, then what can we expect from a neural network, which takes analogies from the network and looks at what a person has drawn or made on the subject. It's not fair to mock algorithms in this situation. 

 

That's the first thought. The second is that the neural network is a new tool. And it is also controlled by a human being. I am not an expert in this field and may be wrong. As far as I know, to create such pictures, a person creates a description and the computer relies on this task. And for a good level of the picture it is necessary many times to sift out errors and give clarifying data. It turns out to be a paradoxical situation. A person does not draw himself, and he does not spend his time on this process. But he spends his time anyway, so that after a long series of mistakes and corrections he gets what can be called a good result.

 

I will tell you a story I have learned about creating a neural network. Did you know that you were also involved in its training? Yes, I did. Have you come across captchas on the web?
Remember that they used to look different. There used to be letters on the screen with fuzzy elements, blotches and other defects in their appearance. And you had to write the correct letters. And then at some point the captchas changed. You didn't have to type the letters anymore. You had to look for bicycles or traffic lights or something in several pictures. There were also some really weird captchas. I was particularly amused by them. You just had to check the box next to the inscription that you are not a robot and click OK. And that was it. And it was not clear to me why such a stupid task. 

 

So, all of these captchas used humans to train a computer brain. The first kinds of AI were created to search and sort information. For example, for a computer program to convert scanned texts into electronic form. And this algorithm ran into a problem. The program's brain could not recognize those letters that had defects, fuzzy elements. After all, the defects are always different. It is necessary to introduce such a huge number of different kinds of any one letter into the algorithms that the algorithm would have a huge base of different variants. And for a programmer it meant a hell of a job, just to sit and search for letters with defects. One can't do it alone, you need a lot of employees. And even in this case it would take a lot of time. And all such people need to pay a salary for such a boring, but necessary work. And then an ingenious way out was invented. It was easy to find people who would teach the program for free. And such free employees became us. All those who have to fill in captchas. The program gave us those letters that it did not understand, and we entered her translation, indicating what letter is actually depicted in the picture. The same scheme works for captcha with pictures. We teach the AI what a bicycle or something else might look like. Even when we just click on a checkmark, we are also teaching the computer. It's looking at exactly how the cursor moves across the screen.

 

I don't know if this is bad or good? How useful is it that in our world computer programs copy people? There are a lot of different problems being solved with algorithms now. I talk to doctors a lot. And it scares me what I see. I talk to a person, he asks me about my symptoms, writes them down in the computer. He takes my labs and they go into the same “box.” And then this “doctor” just reads the recommendations from the screen and announces to me the pills I should take. He doesn't determine the treatment either, he just reads what the computer has written. And what scares me is that the man himself becomes an attendant. He's just needed to do some of the work. And not the most important one. For now, it's much more profitable to use a human for this purpose. And what will happen then? I already face such cases when I see incompetence of people. One “doctor” argued and proved to me that my liver is in a different place. And it's a good thing they found it at all, or didn't turn out to see it in my heel. Other “doctors” tried to give me an electrocardiogram by attaching contacts to my sweater. I'm not kidding, it's true. And yes, my sweater is dead, that's what the diagnostics showed. And that's what makes me happy, now I wear it in peace. I'd be scared to live next to clothes that have arrhythmias.

 

 And your funny pictures just show that we live in a world where people are used to accepting something approximate rather than an exact result. That's scary! These pictures were uploaded online by their author. This means that he himself liked them. And he considers them to be a result that is already suitable for showing to others. But this is no different from other similar cases. We go to the movies and don't pay attention to the huge number of clichés. The Chinese must have dragons, Russians must have bears, France always and everywhere has the Eiffel Tower on the horizon. And so on. 
Recently, I decided to watch the movie Napoleon. I was interested in seeing the French decor, even if it wasn't exactly the period that Fulminant refers to, but it would still be interesting. And it made me want to cry and laugh. It was a complete mockery. The historical events, the personalities. It had nothing to do with computer algorithms.

I wonder what these same pictures would look like if the programmers had selected the right ships. What would happen if we could teach the neural network to read at least some of the ship's books. For example, input Budrio's data into it. Show what ship elements distinguish a French ship from an English or Dutch ship. What is the difference between an 18th century ship and a 16th? But alas, this is only talk and dreams.

 

[HAIIAPHNK]

I decided to add my own pictures to yours. This is my experience with the neural network. 
It will be necessary to add a story here. In my thread about carving and project with lions on one of Russian forums the conversation turned to one curious topic.
There is one ship in the history of Russian shipbuilding. It is called the “Eagle.” And this ship is considered the very first ship of the Russian fleet. It was with him that the birth of Russian naval history began. So it's an iconic ship. 
But there's a huge problem. All that is known about this ship generates huge disputes and theories. Only small descriptions of this ship have reached us. In this case, the Old Russian language has its own specificity, many words now sound quite different from what it was in the distant time. In addition, then there was simply no clear and precise marine terminology. The person who described the appearance of the ship used such words, which are difficult to interpret unambiguously. Which adds gunpowder to the debate about what this ship might have looked like? So we know very little, the ship was built under the direction of visiting Dutch craftsmen and that is the only starting point. Everything else is very vague. Among other things, the description says it was decorated with a lion. And it is this lion that has been the main topic of discussion in my thread. People have put forward their own versions of what the lion on the Eagle might have looked like. And even if you take the rest of the ship out of the question, this figure alone caused heated debates. How was this sculpture placed? 

 

Was it vertical or was it horizontal, as on Vasa? From historical documents we know that the main master during the construction was a Dutch specialist, but it is also known that the sculpture was made by Russian sculptors. So what did that lion look like? Russian depictions of the lion had some laws, Dutch lions were carved according to other standards. Did the glorious master specify what the Russian carvers had to do, or did they have free rein? And in general, if the main figure was a lion, and the ship was called “Eagle”, should it be somehow taken into account? Should the image of an eagle be present on the ship? Maybe the stern was depicted with this bird? Or maybe the lion held a shield in its paws and an eagle was depicted on it? There are so many questions. This is a very creative question. No one can give a definitive answer or offer a valid criticism. 

And it was at this very moment that the vogue for neural network-generated images reached me. I wondered what a computer brain could offer if given the command to show a lion on the Eagle ship. And these were the results I saw.

 

 

 

I didn't play with this idea for long. Very soon I realized that the computer was not capable of doing anything that could make me happy. I watched some tutorial videos, where they told how to enter more correct queries and realized that I am not interested in spending my time on it. That was the end of my story of communication with the neural network.  

 

I don't remember where exactly I heard one interesting expression: “You have to pay for everything in the world. Even for the opportunity not to pay!” It's an interesting expression. In this situation it is somewhat suitable for this situation. At least the main idea has the same direction. We're used to the idea that the neural network does everything for the person. But despite the fact that a person who cannot hold brushes and paints in his hands can get a picture with imitation of oil painting, it is likely to be of value next to zero. For a good result, you need to have quite a bit of experience in other subjects. And an art education comes in handy too. So you still have to “pay” in the end. 

 

[Mirabell61]

16 hours ago, empathry said:

Hi there !   I remain highly favourable to the "ancient traditional style" workmanship, sculpting the pearwood with one's hands, just as you do Haiiaphnk !

Realizing a model is a true adventure with high (enlighted) moment ... and also more difficult moments ; and the new generations prefer to throw away those (supposed) difficult moments by using computers.

Therefore and for the fun (because I don't wish start a combat), I wish to post hereunder the realizations of some vessels made by AI programmed softwares ...  Please feel free to comment !    

 

 

16 hours ago, empathry said:

Hi there !   I remain highly favourable to the "ancient traditional style" workmanship, sculpting the pearwood with one's hands, just as you do Haiiaphnk !

Realizing a model is a true adventure with high (enlighted) moment ... and also more difficult moments ; and the new generations prefer to throw away those (supposed) difficult moments by using computers.

Therefore and for the fun (because I don't wish start a combat), I wish to post hereunder the realizations of some vessels made by AI programmed softwares ...  Please feel free to comment !    

Hi HALLPHNK,

nice paintings, but in the first pic its the first time I see a squarerrigger sailing backwards and the top flags are in wind direction

 

Nils

[davyboy]

Hi empathry,it might be a good idea to educate your AI software as to how a Sailing Ship functioned and what it looked like. These two pictures are ridiculous and bear no resemblance to reality. 🤣

 

Dave 

[HAIIAPHNK]

Chapter 8

In which the author is gnawing on a nut and examining the branches.

 

After finishing the flat part of the side gallery and its dome, I had to look for a new object to build. I told you in the last chapter that I was very happy to get back to carving. Even if it was just a small detail on the dome. 

I mentioned that I am now looking for areas that are better done before the balcony and its railings. So that this balcony is less in the way, and I don't have the fear that I might accidentally break something. It's a perfectly simple and logical thought, and anyone would do exactly the same thing. But now I thought there was a flaw in my plans. I had planned to completely build the entire structure of the overall ensemble. And then to do the decorating, covering the built structures with decoration details. And there's logic in that, too. But now I thought I could go the other way. When I become engaged in making decorations, I may again face the problem that in some places the construction will get in the way. For example, the same balcony will be an obstacle. After all, for the decor you need to take the dimensions qualitatively, then I will have to do frequent fitting, so that these parts are properly docked. That is, it will again be easier for me to do this work even before some of the structures.
And this thought was a joyful one for me. Because it meant that I could continue working with the same second floor of the side gallery that I had just built. And I could get on with the carving. What a great thing to do!

I mentioned earlier that on this model the decor was to be made of an unusual material. The customer wanted it to be made of mammoth bone or tagua nut. Earlier I described a little experimentation with these nuts. And now I had a full-fledged work with these nuts. 

This is a new experience for me. I have never worked with this material before. I've never "gnawed" on it. Moreover, I don't like to carve with power tools. I'm used to chisels and knives. And I even purposely try not to polish my sculptures. And I leave tool marks on them. And after working with a manual milling pen, you can't do without abrasive treatment. This tool leaves completely wrong marks, they need to be processed later.
And when I take a milling handle in my hands after chisels, it feels like a log to me. I feel like this.

 

 

So starting a new kind of work was exciting for me. Would I get the decor at the right level? But eyes fear and hands do. 

For the first time, I decided to start with these parts.

 

 

It turned out to be not so complicated. I will allow myself to tell you about my first impressions. First of all, can tagua walnut be processed with chisels? After all, if i do not like power tools, why torture yourself? Maybe we should do all the work with chisels, if they are more familiar.

In principle, cutting with knives is possible. But in spite of my attitude towards borax, I still won't do all the work the way I'm used to. Why not? You can't carve these nuts like wood. When you carve wood, you can cut large chips. But you can't do that with nut. You can work it very thin. You might not even call it "cutting the material", but "chipping". Nut is somewhat similar to textolite. It has short, thin flakes that separate when you cut it off. They don't just fall on the table, they fly off like bullets. And often I've caught myself thinking that this happens even before the point completely slices off the slice. It breaks off earlier. So this material is quite brittle. 

With the tagua nut, I have the ever-present thought that a small piece could break off much sooner. And I'd better not put any more pressure on it. It's hard to explain it exactly. The structure of the nut is strong and hard. And you have to gradually increase the pressure. And then suddenly, in an instant, there's a click and the flake comes off. The point enters the wood gradually. But in walnut, it goes in sharply. That's why it's easier to grind walnut into dust with a hand router than to cut it with knives. So I spent 80-90% of the time holding this handle. But it still had more pros than cons. The knives went on the attack occasionally. Most often it was the last stages of work, when I was tweaking something. For example, where it was necessary to remove the plowed surface after the boron, and it was impossible to reach this place with anything else. 
That's the feeling of working with walnut.
And now what you got.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next details I chose were the acanthus branches on the sides of the dome. Having practiced on the simpler parts I wanted more complex ones. 

 

 

There was a whole other level of challenge to be tackled here. First, the decor now had to hug the frame molding and a groove had to be made on the inside. And secondly, the plasticity and movement of the branches should go in several planes at once. And at the top, these branches had to turn into very thin cilia. And this task was very interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

I will tell you about one more nuance. The tagua nut has one peculiarity. Because it is completely white, it makes figures made of it look quite different from the way the same parts look from wood. The white surface steals volume. The decor appears flat. This is because the light is very much cut off from it, even in the shadows. The shadows look light. You can solve this problem by making sharper gradients between convex areas and hollows. Then more active shadows will remain in the depths of hollows and depressions, and the figure will look more voluminous. But I can't always do it this way. For example, the laurel garlands that I just made can't be done with this method. The piece is thin, there's just nowhere to place the deep depressions. So the white color of the tagua nuts has its own characteristics.
In my case, however, there is nothing wrong with the garlands looking flat. It's even normal. If you look at the whole ensemble of decor, it should be varied. Some details should be more active. And they are made large, detailed. And other details should play the role of a supplement. Then the ensemble will be balanced. Just like in a musical ensemble or orchestra. Each instrument has its own role.

So the acanthus branches, which I've taken up now, should be the parts that look more active. That's where you need to make deep depressions, so that they make these parts of the decoration volumetric. So I tried to make sure that the hollows didn't go too deep, especially where the channel for the dome frame was cut on the back side. It was very exciting and interesting. To combine all the nuances together: to make sure that the depressions were deep enough but didn't pierce the body through. To make the pattern of branches lively and logical, so that the viewer would not even guess that in this place it is impossible to go deeper. So that he would say: this is how it should be, it's a real branch. So that the delicate details don't break off. 
I can say that so far this is my favorite detail on this ship. I got a lot of satisfaction from working on the branches.

I can say that my perception is not yet used to white decor elements. I'm used to more classic materials. And so far this option looks controversial to me. But I like these acanthus branches so much that I can't imagine them in any other material. The white glowing light of the tagua nut gives a special look.
In the future, when more and more details will appear and the white color will become more common, I may revise my opinion of this style. And then I will write honestly about what I think, just as I write honestly about my thoughts today.

And that will conclude this chapter. There's already a lot written in it. And the story about the rest of the dome decor details will come a little later.

Oh yes, I forgot about the photo of the finished branches.

 

 

 

 

[CiscoH]

masterfully accomplished!

how did you hold these tiny pieces while carving?

[druxey]

Beautifully done. Thank you for your comments on tagua nuts. I was given some many years ago but never tried cutting or carving it. Sounds tricky to use.

[HAIIAPHNK]

58 minutes ago, CiscoH said:

masterfully accomplished!

how did you hold these tiny pieces while carving?

 

Thank you for the kind words.
I planted the first parts with the laurel garlands on a drop of second glue on the plywood. But then I really regretted it. My jar of anti-glue was empty, I guess it was not properly sealed and the acetone just disappeared. So there was nothing to dissolve the glue with. I risked trying to peel it off with a thin blade. I was very worried that the whole piece might burst. But it came off all right. 
So when I made acanthus branches, I did not try to glue anything. I just tried to hold it gently in my hands. That's all.

 

[HAIIAPHNK]

26 minutes ago, druxey said:

Beautifully done. Thank you for your comments on tagua nuts. I was given some many years ago but never tried cutting or carving it. Sounds tricky to use.

 

Thank you.
I'm glad the information was helpful.
Don't be afraid, it only sounds complicated. Try it. I'm sure you will succeed. Especially with your experience.