La Couronne 1637 by Greg Davis - Corel - 1:100 scale

[Greg Davis]

I bought the Corel La Couronne kit in 2011, during one the many Model Expo sales, thinking the sprit-sail rigging was interesting. I still feel that way and am looking forward to having the completed model on a shelf sooner than later!

 

It took until 2020 before I began the kit and within a year was shelved in favor of a number of other ship modeling projects. As part of a reclamation of workspace, I am now going to make a concerted effort to finish the model. At this point almost all of the hull planking is complete; also, all but one of the decks have been installed and planked. This is what model looks like presently:

Unfortunately, I did not take many pictures earlier in the project, but there are a few things that I do recall such as:

 

• The decks are planked with 1/8" x 1/16" basswood instead of the thinner material provided in the kit.
• I do recall that I used a good deal of basswood filler between the bulkheads so the first (lime) planking would create nicer contours. The second layer blue strakes were supplied already colored. Similarly, the stern is planked in pre-colored yellow planks. Going downward through all of the wales, I had planked with strakes that went from stem to stern - inspired by pictures I had seen of dockyard models of ships from this era.
• I then changed my tack and the lower second (mahogany) layer is made from approximately 3" long planks was applied with a three-butt shift. I recall that once the mahogany was in place, I went to my basement to sand the planking smooth and after a short time of work started to have a nosebleed. A check on the internet had me find that this was not an uncommon reaction to mahogany dust. Because it was winter when this happened, I decided to wait until the weather was warm enough to sand outdoors before continuing. It is now several years later and I am about to take it outside for a little more hull sanding and then continuing with the construction process.

 

So, hopefully, starting this build log will keep me going more quickly (or at least steadily) to the finish! My main goal here is to get a nice looking model, one that has the rest of the work well-done, but not too dissimilar to what has already been done; i.e., an even presentation. 

 

 

 

[Greg Davis]

The last deck, the foredeck, has been added and planked. I also finished the blue second hull planking just below this deck. The red painted planks in the fore ground have been prepared for the inner bulwarks - that will go in next.