Schooner Albatros by oudi2311 - OcCre - first build

[oudi2311]

Hello ! Just discovered this forum a few days ago and thought I would share my work.

 

I discovered model ship building in a naval museum this summer (in La Rochelle France) and wanted to build my own model. I chose the Occre Albatros as it is an affordable kit ans looked begeinner friendly. I have a bit of experience in wood working but this is my first model.

 

I am already almost two months into the build (started september 4th).

 

Fell free to critisize my work as I dont want to make begeinner mistakes on my next model

 

These are the first images (I used wood filler to do the clauking)

Edited October 26, 2024 by ccoyle
corrected log title

[oudi2311]

Then I made the cannons I had trouble painting them with acrylic as it didnt adhere well to the metal

 

Edited October 26, 2024 by oudi2311

[oudi2311]

I did the second planking it turned ok but there are a few imperfections

 

The rudder was a little bit tricky but I still worked it out. I think the hole for the rudder is too big (image number 4), it doesent make sense to have a hole under the water line…

 

For the paint I tried painting the ship in dark red at first because the planking was dirty. Unfortunately it turned out even uglier so I went with white and it seemed to have fixed the mistake.

 

I have done a little bit of reasearch on the schooner « albatros » and I didnt find any historical details on it. I guess its just an example of a schooner rather than a scaled model of a real ship that existed (I did find a schooner named albatros but it wasn’t the same ship ; no cabin). That’s why the colors diverge from the original kit.

 

I also used copper to make these decoration as it felt blank, maybe windows would have been better.

[oudi2311]

This the build as it is now :

 

As for the lifeboat I glued the rows in the bottom of the hull, I didnt pay attention to this detail thats why it doesent make sense.

 

 

[ccoyle]

Welcome aboard!

 

That is not bad work for a first model -- a lot of first-timers don't even make it this far, so you are ahead of the curve. And it's clear from the photos that you've learned that a wood kit is very forgiving of some 'rough' work if the builder intends to paint it afterwards. Neatness will come with practice.

 

Cheers!

[oudi2311]

Thank you for your kind words. True, practice does make perfect.

[oudi2311]

Just done the anchors yesterday, looking forward to make more deck details.

[oudi2311]

Good moring fellow builders hope you’re all well.

 

Did more deck details yesterday and started the shrouds. The ship didn’t feel « alive » so I added a bit of deck furniture.

 

The barrels were made from empty fountain pen cartiges that I cut and painted. I also used the little balls in the cartiges to make the cannonballs. I tried to look up how the cannonballs were stored on schooners, I didn’t find accurate informations so I just glued them on deck as if preparing for a battle.

 

The buckets are just from excess wood that I sanded and drilled.

 

If you have any suggestions for more details I would be pleased

 

 

[oudi2311]

Completed half the ship, I took a few pictures