FULMINANT by HAIIAPHNK - French stern castle

[HAIIAPHNK]

Chapter 9
About the author telling a story and saying hello to Wilson.

 

Now I'm going to tell you a story. It's called Kolobok. I don't know how to translate this word correctly. It's an ancient word that doesn't apply to modern life. The only thing I can say is that the morphological composition of the word consists of a root that means something round. Dictionaries don't have the exact answer either and there are several different explanations about exactly what it could have previously meant. And each of the versions could be correct. Or it could be a mistake. One of the versions of philologists says that the word kolobok called a small round bread or bun. And such a small pastry was needed to check the quality of flour or the correctness of the prepared dough.
For me, on the other hand, from childhood, the word was taken as a name. The name of a character in this fairy tale. It is for the very young, its plot is short and without complex events.

 

The fairy tale begins with the fact that the old man asks his old woman to bake a kolobok from the remnants of the last flour. And she fulfills the request. When the Kolobok is ready the old woman put it on the window sill so that it cools down faster.

But Kolobok turned out to be not an ordinary bun or bread. It came to life. And decided to escape from the owners. So he jumped out of the window and rolled down the path into the forest. On the way he meets different animals in turn. First the Hare, then the Wolf and the Bear. And each animal, seeing the tasty Kolobok on the path, says that now he will eat him. But the young Kolobok easily escapes from the beasts. 

 He feels agile, fast and brave. And proud of himself. He even hums a song in which he tells that he has managed to escape from the old man and the old woman, and after he has escaped from each of the animals, his song becomes longer. He adds a new verse where he describes how he escaped from each of the animals. 

But then he met a cunning fox. She did not say, like the previous animals, that she wanted to eat Kolobok. She began to praise him and asked him to sing her a song about his adventures. Kolobok lost vigilance and began to roll closer and closer to the fox. In the end he became so proud that he sat on Fox's nose. For this he paid the price. He was eaten.

 

 

I do not know whether a similar tale exists in other countries. I have a suspicion that it does. For example, there is a Cookie Man in the Shrek cartoon. And I suspect that he is related to Kolobok. But I don't know that for sure.

So why did I decide to tell a fairy tale? And why this one? Wait, the meaning will "pop up" in a couple of minutes.

 

And now I will move on to the continuation of the story about making decor for the dome of the side gallery. Now I decided to make this figure.

 

 

There have been discussions here before about these hand grenades. I have been carefully considering this large bomb and the smaller grenades below.

 

 

It was important for me to understand exactly what is painted on these balls. Are they cracks that appear moments before the grenade explodes or is something else drawn. And no matter how many times I looked at these balls, I saw grenades. But now, when I started making them, I didn't see grenades. I saw a kolobok. And it made me laugh. 

 

I imagined that at the top of the dome Beren had placed a strange hero. And it's not just a Kolobok. It's a Kolobok with wings. Can you imagine how hard it was for me to work? My imagination kept coming back to this funny image. I was thinking about why a Kolobok with wings. Does it mean a dead Kolobok? Maybe this is where the whole story is encrypted? Does it show this character's "exploits" at the bottom? His successful escapes from his masters and the three beasts. It's all the same, isn't it? There are four little Koloboks on the sketch too, like his four victories. And if the winged Kolobok at the very top signifies some kind of resurrection, then the Fox must be hidden here somewhere. And the fact that she is hidden is also very allegorical and explainable. She is cunning and hard to see at once. Maybe the pearl shell is the Fox? This is her mouth, into which the naive and proud Kolobok fell. It is quite possible that there is another meaning here. In Kolobok's eyes, the fox was perceived not as a treacherous enemy, but on the contrary. She looked alluring and desirable, so much so that Kolobok himself wanted to approach her like a treasure ...

 

And every time I started laughing at myself. I wonder what Beren would say to that. He'd think I was crazy. That's how a completely unrelated image can be easily turned into a wild, strange and funny theory. And yet everything matches, every element can be explained and crazy explanations can be attached to those fragments.

 

So I was having a lot of fun. I started smiling very often, because every new look at the sketch brought me back to the story of Kolobok. And now I've infected you too.

 

But it's time to move on from fairy tales to a story about work.
Perhaps in response to my bizarre fantasies, the pomegranates decided to mess with my mood. I never thought they'd give me any trouble. 

I decided to make the balls as if on a lathe. To do this, I spent an entire day making a simple fixture that would hold my hand-held engraver in a rigid position. To make the engraver into the main part of the lathe - the motor and the chuck. The rest is self-explanatory. If one end of the workpiece is to be fixed in the engraver, then a bar with a nail clamps the workpiece from the back side. I even made a semi-circular scraper out of a metal saw that was supposed to become a cutter and make balls quickly.

 

However, things did not go as I expected. The tagua nut did not want to be processed. It began to burn from the touch of my semicircular cutter. It would break off easily where it was attached to the engraver. I made several different attempts, tried to change the methods of fastening, sharpened a shaped scraper. But it was just as bad. This material was in no way suited for this type of work. So I spent a lot of time before I decided it was best to abandon the idea. 

 

I spent the rest of the evening wondering how else I could use a shaped blade. I guess you could call it stubbornness. Sometimes you want to get results no matter what the cost. How could I do that? I was rotating the workpiece and the cutter was clamped. And it didn't fit. What if I switched places? What if the workpiece was clamped and the cutter was spinning? Theoretically, it could work. After all, both methods are equally applicable in industries that make balls. Except that in my case I need to make such a cutter first. It has to be well centered. So it must be a drill bit. Or made from a drill bit. For example, you could resharpen a feather drill But I don't have one, I have to buy one. It would take too long to drive to the next town. I decided to look for such a drill bit on amazon. Maybe it would be easier. And since I found this site, I decided to see if there are already ready drills that are already made for making balls? I mean, it's even easier than remaking them. And I found.

 

 

This was not a bad option. This is the kind of drill bit set used to make beads. In my case, I don't even really care that this drill bit leaves a hole for the thread. It doesn't bother me. On the contrary. My Koloboks have flames on top. I can put a nail in the hole, which will be one end put on the "fire hat" and with the help of this pole it will be firmly held on the Kolobok. And from below the nail can go into the socket prepared for it on the ship and it will also improve the fastening. So it is even good that there will be holes.

 

But I still didn't have peace in my heart. First of all, it's not a free drill set. And I'd only need it for a few balls. And then it would just sit in a drawer somewhere. And secondly, I had more serious concerns. On my little lathe, the tagua nut reacted very badly to the blade. It would quickly begin to smoke. And there wouldn't be much difference in what was spinning: the blank or the blade. There's a good chance I'll get an unacceptable version again. And that's bad.

 

What do I do? There are only two options: 1- to make a ball by hand, gradually giving chisels rounded shape to the blank, 2- to take a risk, buy and hope for success.

 

And that's where the third option came into my head. If I came to the conclusion that the balls can be with a hole, I can conduct one experiment. I'll put the blank on a shaft that will be loaded into the engraver. And I'll try putting a bar of abrasive against the workpiece. I will be able to do this with short pressures to minimize heating of the walnut. This experience will tell me if the shape can be shaped with rotation. If even then, the walnut will darken, that will give a clear answer that there is no point in buying drills. To be honest, at this point I was confident that this method could help. After all, when I process the walnut with burs, it is the same process. And I can control the situation without getting it toasted. So it should work now, too.
That's what I did. 

 

And indeed, the result began to show that this method, unlike the figure scraper, does not lead to rejects.
I even got bolder and decided to speed up the process even more. I turned on my grinding machine and started shaping at a much higher speed. This, too, showed that everything was working as it should.

 So I abandoned the idea of buying any drills at all or making them myself. 

Yes, the drills could give clear dimensions. That was the thought I didn't want to let go for so long, trying over and over again to get around the problems. The method with grinding didn't give the same precision. I tried to make the correct shape, but you can still see that they have inaccuracies. I made the balls with a small amount of stock and selected the best fitting ones.

 

In such a method, one can even find and excuse. For example, I could say that they were handmade, just like the craftsmen in the age of the Ludovics did. Since I found a logical justification for the theory that Beren encrypted in this ship the fairy tale of Kolobok, this version that handmade balls are better is quite a simple task. 

 

Well, now we can show off this very Winged Kobobok, too

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All that's left is to make the shell. If in the last chapter I talked about how much I liked the acanthus branches, now I will just as frankly say that the shell turned out to be the least favorite. 

 

 

From the very beginning, I had a strange emotion. I could not feel its beauty. And made it with a dissatisfied look. Maybe, of course, it was revenge from Beren after I turned his shell into the mouth of the Fox in my imagination. I'll add another point to the piggy bank of Conspiracy Theories and Phantasmagoria. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lilia showed in practice that the sketch was different from the three-dimensional design. Therefore, we had to adjust her design a bit. That's how the work on this piece went.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bear with me, I've already told you almost everything. It remains to show the last photos.
In the last chapter I told you that the white color of tagua nut is not easy to look at, but even more difficult to photograph. And I had to adjust many photos to somehow pull out the volume, which looks very bad on the photo.

This is where another problem comes in. I've noticed that when the ship stands in its normal position, it gives a better result in the photo. It makes sense. When the light falls from above, the shadows look natural. Here in these shots, for example, the volume is very readable.

 

 

 

 

And when the parts were lying on the table, their appearance looked different, it was worse. But when the light came from above and not from the forehead, everything changed immediately. But that's where the problem comes in. 

The thing is that very many details are not yet fixed. The decor and even the construction of the dome and arch are all separate puzzles that are not connected to the model. I am working with them, or will continue to work with them in the future. I put the pieces on the table, measure. I do decor fitting after a couple seconds so I don't miss the right mating of parts. So I can't intentionally put everything in its place.

When I needed to carefully place a couple of garlands, I did. Put a towel or something else soft underneath so nothing would get damaged in case of a fall. But there are too many parts now. Any movement that wasn't careful could set off a cascade of falls. So I turned the model on its side. 
So that the parts no longer have a chance of accidentally flying down. And now the light from the ceiling is shining on the side gallery right in the forehead, which immediately spoils the picture. 

 

 

I photographed each stage and realized with bitterness that you are not seeing things exactly as they really are. I can't give the picture that would be perfect. And now I suddenly thought, what if I turn off the light on the ceiling. And only what comes in from the little basement window would be left. And I'll also have a light fixture above the table, which is also by the window, to help me out. In this case, the model will receive light as if it were standing in a normal position, because the light from the window is drawn to it at almost the correct angle. However, there is a huge disadvantage that without ceiling light the camera does not get enough light and it swears and makes the frame dark. But I still decided to give it a try. Maybe I could pull out the imperfections in processing. 
I did have to mess around for a lot more time. But when I finished one of the frames, I was amazed. I was able to get a pretty good result. Here's a look at it.

 

 

 

Still, how much the little things and nuances play in this world. I'm very glad I had the idea to experiment. It all started after I decided to talk about the peculiarities of white material. After that, my brain kept working on the idea and suddenly gave me the idea that there is another way to show white carving. I'm not even sure if this was a conscious action or if my brain gave me this idea without my conscious participation.
For the sake of clarity, I'll put two similar views side by side. It feels like they are completely different works.

 

 

The third and final photo is what the photo looks like without processing. As you can see, it took quite a bit to get a good result. The second photo differs from the first one by excessive smoothness. In a normal situation, such smoothness is not good either. But it was a forced action, there was too much "sand". But the most important thing is that the volume of white parts is well distinguished. And smoothing just eats such nuances, which give the volume of details. And this did not happen even after noise suppression.

At the end, however, I went back and finished the rest of the Koloboks. And when I made the first baby I suddenly realized that now it was no longer a Kolobok. Now I saw a completely different image. Try to guess who I saw? I will leave time for your imagination and show you the answer a little later.
 

[Hubac's Historian]

Your execution on all of this is outstanding.  If I could make one small suggestion:  I might consider reducing the almost full-roundness of the globe beneath the wings to maybe slightly less than 3/4 roundness.  To my eye, at least, that detail looks a little too full.

[HAIIAPHNK]

1 hour ago, Hubac's Historian said:

Your execution on all of this is outstanding.  If I could make one small suggestion:  I might consider reducing the almost full-roundness of the globe beneath the wings to maybe slightly less than 3/4 roundness.  To my eye, at least, that detail looks a little too full.

 

After your words, I saw my Kolobok in a different way. And now I too can see that a full balloon does not look good.

I didn't understand your advice exactly. So please clarify. Do you think that from the back part it is necessary to cut off part of the circle, to make a truncated ball or hemisphere?

 

 

Or flatten it out, make it an elipsoid?  

 

 

 

What do you think would be more correct and better?

[druxey]

I agree that high relief rather than 'in the round' would be more likely here. 

 

Your story-telling is as entertaining as your construction notes! I use a single point light source from beyond the piece I'm carving to throw the shadows in the correct direction. Diffuse light or from other directions is not helpful.

 

Beautifully done!

[Hubac's Historian]

I think you can shave down this sphere from its backside, incrementally, until it gives you that sense of high relief.  Not quite to the mid-way point, but almost.  As it is now, it is just a little to protuberant.  It would be well, though, to maintain some small trace of the undercut, or “rounding” shadows.

[HAIIAPHNK]

13 hours ago, druxey said:

I agree that high relief rather than 'in the round' would be more likely here. 

 

Your story-telling is as entertaining as your construction notes! I use a single point light source from beyond the piece I'm carving to throw the shadows in the correct direction. Diffuse light or from other directions is not helpful.

 

Beautifully done!

+

2 hours ago, Hubac's Historian said:

I think you can shave down this sphere from its backside, incrementally, until it gives you that sense of high relief.  Not quite to the mid-way point, but almost.  As it is now, it is just a little to protuberant.  It would be well, though, to maintain some small trace of the undercut, or “rounding” shadows.

 

Thanks for the very helpful tips. The outside perspective is very important. 
I was planning to do another post in the future. With the grenades at the bottom of the dome. 
And these grenades I made exactly in the form of truncated balls. There's no other way to do it differently. A whole ball wouldn't fit on a narrow ledge. 
Now it's even lucky that the modified Kolobok will be with the others.

The element with the winged Kolobok can either be remade from the existing result and leave the wings three-dimensional. Or you can completely remake and make a completely flat version, so that the wings lie on the planks of the paneling. Which is better?

At the same time I want to voice one more question. I was planning to ask it later, but since the topic of conversation itself stopped on the Big Grenade, it will be right to voice my question now.

 There are small elements in Beren's drawing that I have my doubts about. And these elements also concern the grenade with wings. These are the small details I am referring to

 

 

In the current state of the winged Kolobok, I left room for these details. So that they are placed at the back of the wings.

That being said, there is no clear understanding in my mind of how these details should be done. I can't even tell exactly what Beren drew? What's in there? Or rather not. I see that there are bundles of lightning. It's an element found elsewhere in the decor. But here, I don't see the point of this addition. It just looks like random trash. And it might even be worth not doing at all. If you do, do it in a more active way. Like multiple beams. But I'm not really sure if that's the right thing to do. On the transom, the beams have not just a function of decoration. They, in my opinion, carry an allegorical meaning. They increase the significance of where they come from. A coat of arms with wings that glows carries a certain meaning.
Is it right to give the same emphasis to the pomegranate? 

On the one hand those rays behind the grenade could simply mean explosion and in that way be appropriate. And on the other hand the rays can also mean the rays of Glory, which should only be with a very important symbol. 

I have similar doubts about the branches of laurel around the shell. 

 

 

In the picture they look unkempt. I do not see the point of adding them to the overall decoration. But maybe I am wrong? Maybe these branches should have some sense and it is necessary to leave them?

 

[Hubac's Historian]

As for the carvings surrounding the top grenade, I see them as a continuation of the flames at the top of the grenade, with the addition of the lightning bolts.  The impression these two elements give me is one of the kinetic potentiality of the grenades, and by extension - the ship herself.

 

The laurel branches are a consistent element of French decor, of this period, symbolizing peace in the wake of Victory.

 

The available space in the crowning of the amortisement essentially dictates the layout for these branches.  I think that your interpretation of the structure of Berain’s quarter gallery drawing does a nice job of balancing the volumes of the QG around a central axis.  With all of that established, I believe your version of the laurel branches can’t fail to find harmony with the rest of your work.

 

The shell carving is really excellent!

[HAIIAPHNK]

Thanks for the reply.
Now I see in my imagination the whole construction of the dome and the decoration on it quite differently than I saw it all before.
I am now more inclined to think that the design should be more flat. And I was trying to make three-dimensional details. 
I will now take time to reflect on what to keep and what I would rather redo. 
The easiest option is to just remove the ball part of the grenade. And the hardest one is to completely redesign the whole top part. I'll think about it.

How dramatically things can change.

[druxey]

I completely agree with HH's remarks.

[empathry]

We have in France a poem (By Jean de Lafontaine) telling a fox who (after making many complimentings) eats a cheese belonging to a crow :

 

Master Crow perched on a tree,
Was holding a cheese in his beak.
Master Fox attracted by the smell
Said something like this:
“Well, Hello Mister Crow!
How pretty you are! How beautiful you seem to me!
I’m not lying, if your voice
Is like your plumage,
You are the phoenix of all the inhabitants of these woods.”
At these words, the Crow is overjoyed.
And in order to show off his beautiful voice,
He opens his beak wide, lets his prey fall
The Fox grabs it, and says: “My good man,
Learn that every flatterer
Lives at the expense of the one who listens to him.
This lesson, without doubt, is well worth a cheese.”
The Crow, ashamed and embarrassed,
Swore, but a little late, that he would not be taken again.

 

This pretty looks like the Kolobok's story you told us !  

 

And as for the spherical "bombs" you are sculpting in tagua, maybe should you interested to know about natural veneered wood spheres, used in rosaries.  I send you a photo of them.   

[HAIIAPHNK]

Thank you very much for your reply.
 So many stories live equally in different countries. Some fairy tales some writers consciously translate into their native language. For example, such fairy tales as Pinocchio and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in the Russian version turned into the fairy tale "About Pinocchio and the Golden Key" and "The Tale of the Sleeping Princess and the Seven Dwarfs". And La Fontaine's fables were probably translated by Krylov. I don't know if they all migrated to Russian books from France or if Krylov made translations of different stories (not only La Fontaine's), and maybe some belong to him himself. I have never thought about this question. I only want to say that I have heard the fable of the Crow and the Fox since my early childhood. 

 

As well as many other fables.
Quartet
The Swan, the Crayfish and the Pike.
The Monkey and the Spectacles
The Elephant and the Moss (that's the name of the little dog).

and many others. 

 

 

 

 

I've heard of the rosary beads. They are just made with this kind of device, and I even pondered whether it might be worth buying one. I wrote about it.
The tagua turned out to have its own nuances, I doubt it would be possible to turn balls out of it with such a drill bit. 
If I were to make balls out of wood, that would be a different challenge. And it's unlikely that I would record the process. And tagua nut is less familiar and I decided to describe my first feelings and my experience. Maybe it will be useful to someone someday.

 

Edited June 27 by HAIIAPHNK

[HAIIAPHNK]

Good afternoon, everyone. I needed some outside advice and opinions. I am looking at a drawing of Beren and trying to figure out what exactly is depicted on the coat of arms. More precisely, I am interested in the frame around the circle with lilies. There are two tiers of some decorations, but it is very hard to see what is drawn there. 

 

(The two images are practically indistinguishable from each other. I tried to clean up the image a bit and sharpen the image. It is clear that the automatic algorithms of the program cannot restore the drawing, but I still decided to leave both images. Maybe someone will notice something useful).

 

On the inner ring, in some places you can see an ornament similar to the letter S or a paragraph symbol. I don't know exactly how to describe such waves. 
On the outer ring the details are not visible at all. Only in one place (at the bottom near the central axis, but a little to the left) you can see some pointed outlines. Either it is a cross or a lily. But very controversial version.
I began to look for similar images. What do French coats of arms look like. And the only thing that roughly resembles the drawing of the coat of arms on my primary source looks like this:

 

 

The inner ring is very satisfactory to me. I have found similar ornamentation in other images. So most likely I will stop on a similar wave.
But there are still a lot of questions with the outer ring. 
On the one hand, it looks like Beren has the same garland of heraldic signs. But I am confused that on the primary source of the 18th century the outer ring has not a uniform ring. It's looser. It's hard to describe in words what I see with my own eyes.
Does anyone know what might be in there? What parts? I read once that the coats of arms on the ships meant not exactly the coat of arms of France, but the coat of arms of the armed forces. Hence the question, can there even be heraldic designations attached to a regimental military coat of arms that are placed as an addition to the coat of arms of the country? Then it would be a mistake.
Maybe someone knows what can be advised? I want to do it right, and without being able to see the details well it is not easy.

 

[HAIIAPHNK]

As soon as I asked a question on the air, I immediately remembered where else to look. 

 

Here, too, you can't see very well, and the drawing itself was made quickly and sloppily. But still it looks like I was close to the truth. 
But still I will leave the question open, not completed. If anyone has other opinions, I would be glad to hear them.

[Hubac's Historian]

Aleksandr, the Royal Standard you have pictured above is your best guide.

[HAIIAPHNK]

Thank you for your reply. You've confirmed my hunch.

[empathry]

The inner ring is named the "Sankt Michael" (with the shells) ; the exterior one is the "Sankt Esprit" (with the "H" letter). 

 

Here are the reference pictures.

 

I hope it helps !

Edited August 11 by empathry

[HAIIAPHNK]

Thank you. You can see everything very well here. 

[empathry]

I send you other symbols of the French king hereunder, some with wings :

 

Please note that France symbol (the country) is similar to the one of the King ; in other terms, the King is France (as Louis XIV told to French Parliament in 1655  << L'Etat, c'est moi >> )

[HAIIAPHNK]

It's a great gift. I will definitely keep these photos in my collection. Thank you! 

[HAIIAPHNK]

Chapter 10
In this chapter the author decided to tell how a small detail can become a big problem. Probably he should have become a biologist and told about mosquitoes, ticks or other insects, but he decided to do ship modeling. So he has his own little problems, and he is excited to talk about things that others are not interested in at all.

 

 

It's been a while since I've posted an update from my shipyard. Time to rectify that.
I stopped at the side gallery. There were some details that needed to be finalized. For example, I completely overlooked the laurel branches that are shown on the back of the shell in the drawing. 

 

Because this piece is very thin I had trouble making it. The branches were breaking. I even tried to get around this problem in other ways. 

 The customer wanted some of the white decoration to be gilded. Not all of it, just small sections. And I had an idea that in the decorative ensemble of the dome the laurel branches could be just covered with gold. And if it will be so, it is not necessary to make branches from fragile tagua (and in such a thin form this material breaks very easily). So I made two options at once. One wreath I decided to make from wood. This material is more familiar to me and I hoped that it could give other, better results. And if the wreath will be gold anyway, it doesn't matter what material it is made of. There is a logic in it.

And the second option is quite unusual. I took from my wife the material from which she does modeling on the nails. I don't know the exact name of this liquid. Something like resins, she then dries this liquid under ultraviolet light and it hardens. And I started trying to make branches out of this polymer material. I also had another backup scenario in my head, but I never tried it out, but more on that later.

 

 

 

I will not go far into the description of molding from polymer composition. I will only say that in my idea I even decided to complicate the task a bit and make the wreath volumetric, not flat. But in the end it turned out to be a bad idea. First of all, a very thin bas-relief would work better here. The laurel leaves should be in the background and not distract too much attention. And in technical matters the voluminous wreath had many disadvantages. The biggest problem I had was when I got to the gilding stage. First I tried to apply thin slabs of tarnish. And it came out really awful. It was almost impossible to apply even a thin sheet of titanium between the leaves in several layers, with one leaf overhanging its neighbor.  If the wreath had been larger in size, it could have been solved somehow, but on such a small scale I could not do anything. The tinware crumpled, lay down with creases and folds. Eventually the wreath lost its shape and was more like I was drinking tea with a chocolate candy and the crumpled gold foil from the candy was left on the table. Just trash. I didn't even bother fixing anything or trying to redo it. There were too many downsides to this version to waste time fixing it. 

There were too many disadvantages in such a variant to waste time on corrections. I am not talking about the fact that the customer is against the use of modern materials, polymer resins or computer modeling. I was well aware of this, and I knew that when I showed my result and told him exactly how I made the wreath, he would not like it. But I had to go through this experiment. Now I saw with my own eyes what I got and realized that to complicate this element too much is not that it is not necessary. It's even harmful. And it would look bad even if I could do it better. So I didn't even start a backup. I will describe it, maybe for others this way can be a good solution. Or maybe I'll leave a hint for myself as well. Maybe I will need this idea in the future. 

So, I had an idea to make a wreath out of metal, out of wire. I planned to do so:
At the first stage is the manufacture of individual leaves. To do this, we beat the wire with a hammer and flatten the edge. Then this edge grind and give the shape of an almond. You will get a bay leaf on a stem. And so make as many leaves as you need. And then we bite off the stems to the necessary length and solder one to another, so that the leaves turned into a twig. Well, and then there is further refinement. Such a wreath can be painted with paint or with the help of a chemical electroplating bath. I think it can get a good result. But I did not make a wreath this way. 
I decided to try again to carve from tagua. And so I went back again. I had to make the wreath a little more puffy, not exactly like in the picture. In the drawing, it's exactly two thin branches, and mine is more like a wreath. It has more leaves, I arranged their pattern so that they were one total mass, there were no thin branches that could easily break. Considering my variant I noticed that my wreath even resembled fire, the sharp tips of laurel leaves were like tongues of fire. But this I did not put in the minus and disadvantages. Let there be a double meaning. This ship already has a big connection with fire, so I don't see a big problem in seeing two different images here at the same time.

 I also left a very thin layer in the area that will be covered by the shell. This backing in spite of the thickness of the web provided the help I needed. And the wreath became more stable and more sturdy. I was satisfied with what I had accomplished. And I no longer saw the point in trying to make a wood version. I couldn't make it any thinner, and otherwise there was no point in starting.

 

 

 

It's such a small detail. I even missed it at first in my attention. 
It ruined a lot of my nerves, strength and emotions. This small laurel wreath became for me a real mosquito or wasp, which stung me painfully. And I rubbed and scratched the sting for a long time, trying to get rid of the itch. In a figurative sense, of course. I've redone it several times, I've wanted to stop doing it a hundred times. But each time I went back, since the ship has this element of decoration, I must figure out how to make it. And it all worked out in the end. And I'm glad that everything ended safely. In this photo, all the parts are already up for fitting.

 

 Small grenades with torches of fire also appeared. There is no sense to tell separate stories about them. The only thing I will say about them is that while I was making them, I was constantly thinking about Tom Hanks. Why him? What does Tom Hanks have to do with it? I'll put it this way:
Wilson!

 

You know what I mean? In my mind, these fire grenades looked like a volleyball stuffed with some kind of grass. Well, they're the same, aren't they? Look at them!

 

 

 

And now if I look at the side gallery, I quietly say: “Weeeeelsoooooon!”

 

 

Edited October 8 by HAIIAPHNK

[HAIIAPHNK]

Chapter 11
In which the author talks about the main theme and confesses his love for wings.

 

After finishing the dome of the side gallery, I decided to tackle the most important decoration of the Fulminant's stern. Of course, it will be about the large royal coat of arms. It was no accident that I asked questions about the small details that surround this important symbol. Again, many thanks to everyone for their help and good hints. They made it very easy for me and answered my main questions. After your answers I had no more questions about what exactly I should show in this main decoration on the stern of the ship. 

At any stage of our creativity there will always be challenges, questions, and problems. I guess that's why doing model building is fun for us. I used to complain about the small and delicate detail of a wreath or branches. I used to say that it was very difficult to cut it out without breaking the workpiece.  I guess that's why now life decided to laugh at me and showed me that the exact opposite situation is also a problem. And it needs to be solved too. Right now I have to make the largest sized piece possible.

And that means that a solid piece of tagua nut will not be enough to fit the entire coat of arms on one blank. You have to join several blanks together. But I wanted to keep that out of sight. I didn't want to just put two pieces side by side and glue them together. You'd see the seam. And I didn't want that to happen. I set out to glue several pieces together so that the joints between them would not be visible. It's not that difficult, but it still requires proper calculation and care. It's not even a problem. It's a task that just needs to be accomplished with quality. 
The problem turned out to be something else.

The tagua nut is a living material. Each nut has its own characteristics. For example, there is a cavity inside almost every nut. Inside, the body of the nut begins to crack. And the pattern of these cavities is different for everyone. It's logical. And the fact that it's impossible to know in advance what's inside each nut is also understandable. 

 

 

 

Tagua can also have a color change. The nut is darker on the inside. It can be yellow, or it can be gray or dirty brown. You can't know how strong the color is beforehand either. Only when you saw the nut you can understand what you will find inside. At the same time, some nuts have yellow color only in the center, and the layers closer to the surface are almost white. And others have their own color near the surface as well. So the only way to know what you're holding in your hand is to find out as you work. The easiest way to make some conclusions and sort the nuts is to grind the crust of the nut in different places.

 

 

 

 

Here's the problem: When I need to make a small part, it's easy enough to find an area with pure white color. But when I needed to make a large part, I was immediately faced with big questions. How do you find a good white walnut color? So that there are no dark spots and cracks in the workpiece? There are only two options: either to make a set of individual parts from small pieces and then I will get something like a parquet. Or take a long time to find unique nuts where there will be large sized sections with ideal conditions. There is a chance that I could search endlessly for such nuts, saw a ton and still not find the right blanks for me. So I wrote to the customer and explained the situation. The customer understood everything and replied that I could safely search and saw all the nuts he provided for the job. And if the supply ran out, he would order more. I calmed down and continued my search. Let's keep looking. We can always go the “parquet” or “briquette” gluing route. 

I will not keep you in secret. In the end, we managed to find suitable blanks. And I can show you an example of how during the work even a piece of walnut, which at first glance seems to be suitable, can gradually turn out to be not quite suitable as the extra layers are removed. Here you can clearly see that one wing has a more yellow color. Although in the beginning the blank looked much lighter in color. But other, more yellow layers started to appear inside.

 

 

 

 

 If you are planning to get into carving tagua walnut, you may find this information useful.  What followed was a gradual work in progress. One large mass was gradually transformed into different individual parts with their own small features. Here I don't know what can be noted separately. I didn't take many pictures at this point.

The only thing I can tell you is not about technical issues, but about my emotions. It so happens that I really like it when in carving I work with wings. I don't know why. But I really like their plasticity, their lightness. I always enjoy carving wings. 
And it so happens that all my previous works on French ships and their decorations were almost always connected in one way or another with wings. I never really thought about it. It turns out that the French are very fond of feathers. Of course, this is a joke, the French have so many different characters in ship decoration, and not all of them are related to wings, but in my practice I almost always did exactly “winged” Frenchmen. Only the Minerva from the 74 gun frigate from the famous monograph had nothing to do with feathers. All the rest of my work has been “feathered”. "Le Ambiteux", "Le Francois", "Le Marseille". 

 

 

 

 

All of them had wings. Now I've added a "Le Fulminant" to my personal flock of Winged Frenchies as well. I like this trend. If next time I encounter a feathered craft like this again, I will be very happy.

 

And this time I got a lot of satisfaction too. One can have different opinions about the idea of combining a classic wooden structure and white translucent and luminous decor on one ship model. It is a bold and unusual decision and a separate topic for discussion. But what I can say for sure is that the snow-white color of the decorations gives something unimaginable and surprisingly light to the wings. Or vice versa: the wings add something ethereal, special, radiant to the white material. It's just a stunning combination. You can say whatever you want, but I will never, ever change that opinion. The snow-white tagua nut wings are my personal ecstasy.....
Those who wish can go have a smoke and only then read to the end.  😉

 

 

 

 

 

I have already written in the last post that the off-white decor will be enhanced with gold. And considering my past not very successful experience with gold leaf, it was decided that further work with gold will be with paint.
And I didn't realize that here too a new problem would be waiting for me. 

 

 

 

Before painting I made some experiments on unnecessary pieces of walnut. I applied paint to them and saw how the result would look. And everything was fine, I was satisfied. So with a calm heart I started painting the finished decor. But here I had an unexpected discovery. I noticed that over time the gold on the walnut had become more transparent. When I was preparing the decoration for landing on the final place and touched the details with my hands, my fingers removed the powder and the gold was slightly wiped off. It didn't happen immediately, the paint didn't fall off in pieces, and at first I didn't even notice the changes.  But then I realized that after a while it would be completely wiped off. It will remain only in the recesses where my fingers can't reach. That's news! What happened? Why? I pulled some experimental pieces of paint out of the trash. I rubbed the paint with force to see what would happen. But the paint held firm, nothing rubbed off. So it's not the paint itself? Maybe it's the application technique? On the practice pieces of nuts, I didn't bother to apply it carefully. Why? I just dabbed with a brush like a fence. On the finished jewelry, I only applied the paint with the very tip, it was important to me not to smudge areas where the gold shouldn't be. Maybe that's the point. I don't know. Maybe the experimental pieces had a different surface? There was a rougher texture, and after knives and chisels it became smoother and slicker? I don't know. Maybe I stirred the paint worse during painting? There were a lot of different thoughts. For example, there was the idea that walnut has oils inside, which is very likely true, it is walnut. Maybe that's why there's no good adhesion. But after all, it holds up great on the practice. Or should I look for a different paint, with a different base? I still don't know what was the reason for the defect.

I did another series of experiments. Bought another paint, tried first coating the walnut surface with art shellac to make it a base. Tried applying shellac on top of the paint, if the wiping goes on top of the paint, then maybe that's the way to fix and protect the gold powder? Tried other options. And compared different results afterward. 
If anyone has a similar experience and knows what the cause was, I'd love to hear your advice.

In the end I re-painted with one of the options I liked. This time the paint laid down better and so far I haven't seen any more of the previous symptoms.
And now it's time to dilute the abundance of letters with pictures. You are waiting for pictures, right?

 

 

 

 

That's all for now. As you can see, I haven't shown the final photos on the ship yet. Which means that this is not the end of the story and soon I will post the remaining pics as well. I just need some time to prepare the text.

 

[druxey]

Your attention to detail is astonishing! If you want to try gold leaf again, there is a new system that i used recently and works like a charm. No waiting for the right amount of 'tack' for oil gilding or messing with rabbitskin glue for water gilding. It's called Kölner Instacoll and made in your country - Germany! It's in two parts, water based. Check it out.

Edited October 9 by druxey

[HAIIAPHNK]

That's interesting. I will definitely try it again. I'm not really having trouble with the chemistry, I bought different liquids, tried putting sheets on shellac art sheets as well. The problem is more with the sheets. And the small scale of the molds to put the gold on. Even a thin layer does not lay down well, it's hard for him to repeat the desired curves. I need to practice more. It's silly to hope that this process can be done well the first time. 

Thank you very much for your appreciation of my efforts. I am very pleased that you enjoyed it.

 

[albert]

Fantastic work Alex.

[HAIIAPHNK]

Thank you for your review and appreciation. 

[HAIIAPHNK]

Chapter 12
The story of the Faunus who is sick of the seasickness.

 

 

While I resolved the gold issues, waited for the new colors to arrive, made new samples, waited for the results, sampled again I had a pause. I couldn't get the coat of arms in place. And it was necessary to find a new project for my hands. And I chose the head of a mythical creature, which is placed below the coat of arms, in the arch above the doors. On the drawing you can see the main features of this character, but since everything is very small and the drawing does not take into account the volumetric relief much has to be invented by myself.

 

 

Of course, first of all, I started looking for images of different mascarones. And there are a huge number of them. In the end I chose the most suitable reference for my prototype and started working. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alas, I did not take photos during the work, and they will be very few. So it will not be possible to show the process in detail.

 

 

 

I took these photos for myself. This is the very beginning of the work. And first of all, in working with the workpiece in this situation it is necessary to start from the inside. The head should lie on a complex relief and you need to make depressions and bulges, which should be combined. To make the work easier I decided to make a print. It is simple enough. For it you need some molding mass, which can harden in the air. Just mold it on the place where we want to repeat the relief. If this mass is sticky, leaves traces and can dirty the ship, then everything is solved with the help of thin food film. We put a piece of such film and the problem is solved. And you can make an impression. I made a couple of such prints, one sawed with a thin hacksaw lengthwise. It is more convenient to make sure in the first place in the exact repetition of the resulting shape, and secondly, so got a mold and easier to outline the necessary bends on the workpiece. This is already unnecessary descriptions, I'm sure that everyone and so immediately understood the meaning in this venture. By the way, I used approximately the same method when cutting out the wings. But then the task had a slightly different meaning. The wing from the back side was also a complex shape, it was necessary to make a graceful and delicate detail. And then in the same way the back side had to be made first. To make sure that the wing does not rest anywhere, or on the contrary, exactly touch. And only then the carving itself begins, the drawing of details. In the end, the curved part had its own nuances. As if not to press too hard with fingers to the table, suddenly the thin plate will burst from the pressure on the weak points? So the molding mass served as a reliable slipway for the workpiece. I made a mold on the table from polymer clay and carefully pressed the wing into it. After hardening it turned out to be a perfect matrix. The wing lay in it safely and securely, and I was not afraid that something somewhere might break. It turned out to be very convenient for such tasks and simple.

 

 

 

 

And now for a photo of the finished head:

 

 

 

 

 

Now it's time to put everything in its rightful place on the ship:

 

 

 

 

My spouse, when she looks at what I do, sometimes draws some very curious conclusions. Now she looked at this head for a long time and then asked:
- Who is this?
- Mascaron,” I answered, ”is the name of such an element in architectural sculpture. And the character is probably Faunus or some other mythical character.
- I see. What does he do?
I rubbed the back of my head: 
- It's hard to say, he spits out flames.
- Spitting it out? He's throwing up! He ate some hot peppers, that's what made him sick. Or maybe he got drunk. That's why he threw up. That's right! He had a drink, a snack, and then he had a bumpy ride. That's the result.
I laughed.
- All right, let's call it that. You got me.
- Well, we're joking, but it's really done that way. Why would you make a sculpture that makes you sick? Would you decorate with images like that?
- Well, we live by different rules now. We used to have our own notions of what was appropriate and beautiful. You can see it's a lowlife character, maybe even a negative one. Maybe it had a certain meaning. Like gargoyles on castles and temples, or other evil things. There, too, they were often depicted at times when they were bad. Maybe it's about the same meaning here, too. At the top is a strong, beautiful symbol of power and purity. And beneath his feet, a lowly and humiliated enemy.
- I still don't get it. Look, there's an archway. Will there be doors there?
- Yes, there will be doors.
- And that's where the captain will go to the balcony?
- Yes, the captain will go through those doors to get some fresh air, that's right. Maybe even the admiral. Why? You're obviously trying to lead me to something. Come on, admit it.
- So this faun pukes on the admiral's head? Who insulted who?
I laughed.
- How did you come up with that scenario?
- Wait, I've seen it somewhere before. Where? I'll have to remember.
- You've seen faces like that a lot of times. We went to see a castle the other day, and it looked just like this one.
- No, that's not it. I remember! There! That's him!
And my wife held out a cell phone with a picture like this:

 

 

I started laughing again.
- Yeah, it looks a lot like him.
- And your faun looks like the Grinch. Look, maybe in the cartoon it was his childhood. Then it's definitely a match. A prankster like him could have lurked over the door to wait for the captain to come out. And then stain him from head to toe!

 

Such a woman's fantasy...

[HAIIAPHNK]

Well now separately general views of the stern with crest and side gallery. That's where I've stopped for now. There are other details of decoration ahead. Gradually the ship starts to be decorated and it becomes more and more clear what should turn out in the end. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[druxey]

Thank you for the conversation with your wife that you've shared. Perhaps you could call your mascarone 'Pukey'. He's beautifully done, by the way,

[Hubac's Historian]

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):

 

And as the Royal Therese:

 

Edited October 9 by Hubac's Historian

[HAIIAPHNK]

1 hour ago, druxey said:

Thank you for the conversation with your wife that you've shared. Perhaps you could call your mascarone 'Pukey'. He's beautifully done, by the way,

 

Thanks for the feedback. I will pass on your regards to my spouse. She doesn't know yet that I have written about her. I hope I don't get a kick out of her for that decision. But I couldn't resist mentioning it. I did have fun, and now when I look at this element of decor, I have very different thoughts. 

Unfortunately, my English is very weak. I know it at the level of “I love you”, “Help!” and “I need your clothes!”. That's all. So I didn't really understand what the word “Pukey” means. The internet gives me pictures of some monsters. And I can only guess at the proper meaning of the word. I'm assuming it's what they call someone who vomits. One of the pictures shows one of the characters from the movie Ghostbusters. I don't know if I spelled the title correctly, I'm not a connoisseur or fan of the genre. So I don't know who exactly is pictured and what does it have to do with Pukey? I can make an assumption that this could be the name of one of the ghosts in this movie, but since I am not very familiar with it it is a vague assumption. 

And in the meantime, I apologize if my writing has a lot of errors and it may be hard to understand what I'm trying to say.  

 

Special thanks for the appreciation of the work. Unfortunately, photographing a very white subject is not easy. The photo does not show the volume. I tried for a very long time, but still not very satisfied with the quality of the photo. And attempts to improve the contrast on the computer turn the shadows into dirty traces, as if there were notes drawn with a pencil on the sculpture. When you look with your eyes, the feeling is quite different. 
I really appreciate your comments.