Le Chebec by Yvesvidal - CAF Model - 1/48

[yvesvidal]

Thanks Nil. 

 

I know you have built that model too (yours was scratchbuilt, I think) so you know about the lack of straight lines and flat surfaces on this vessel.

 

I am making some slow progress, which I hope to present in a few days. As always, I am moving away from the official "Instructions" and going all over the place, as needed.

 

Yves

[hamilton]

Beautiful results as always, Yves - so nice to see her out of the cradle - you really get a sense of the sleek lines - a great looking model!

hamilton

[yvesvidal]

After building the gun deck (on one side...), I wanted to see how the planking is going to match and fit the gun ports and the overall allure of the hull.

 

 

As you can see and in my usual way of building a model, I am not exactly following the instructions and the way CAF Models suggests to do it.

 

I am using 1.5 x 5 mm planks as suggested by the kit. First, I tried to paint the planks in Ochre Yellow wood color to hide certain of my mistakes. But after seeing the beauty of the wood and its incredible smoothness when sanded, I have decided to leave the wood natural and will be removing all the paint from the hull.

 

 

 

Above, most of the gun ports have been defined and built. I now need to move to the two gun ports located in the stern section, and these are much more difficult to build since they require cutting some of the frames:

 

 

Planking is done little by little, to get an exact position of the ports.

 

 

 

After some delicate surgery, I have come to a point where it is not too bad:

 

 

I have also added a small strip of wood (not provided in the kit) at the top of the gun ports and planking, to offer a more stable platform to glue the railing. It also makes the bulwarks much more solid and realistic.

 

 

 

 

Some fine sanding remains to be done but the hull is starting to look like a Chebec ship. Honestly, the shape and smoothness of this hull is almost sensual and I do not tire of holding that hull in my hands. What will it be when both sides will be planked....?

 

 

Now, I have to do it all over again, on the other side.... or should I leave it un-planked...? Probably not.

 

Yves

 

Edited February 28 by yvesvidal

[Nearshore]

Hi Yves,

 

Absolutely stunning so far. You are doing an amazing job! Thank you for the fantastic description on your process.

 

Nearshore

[DocRob]

A piece of art. Your Chebec looks fantastic and your log definitely shows, I´m not ready for this kind of kit, but I will follow yours with pleasure.

Cheers Rob

[Mirabell61]

On 2/26/2025 at 7:57 PM, yvesvidal said:

Thanks Nil. 

 

I know you have built that model too (yours was scratchbuilt, I think) so you know about the lack of straight lines and flat surfaces on this vessel.

 

I am making some slow progress, which I hope to present in a few days. As always, I am moving away from the official "Instructions" and going all over the place, as needed.

 

Yves

Hi Yves,

 

I have a pic here to show the Eagle of Algier with set sails in a quite broad glass casing. I fitted the starboard side with a set of sweeps whilst the portside is equipped with closed oar doors. A ship`s boat with crew is placed at the waterline, heading for shore

 

Nils

[yvesvidal]

Thank you Nil, for that beautiful picture and model.

Excellent way of presenting this unusual ship, with oars and sails.

 

Yves

[yvesvidal]

I believe that a couple of updates are overdue. After building one side of the deck and hull, it was time to offer some symmetry to that model: 

 

The wale are carefully positioned to match as much as possible the other side and the planking follows. However, you do not want to plank too much and must stay below the gun deck level, for ease of assembly:

 

 

Next is the construction of the gun deck:

 

 

 

 

Again, for sturdiness and longevity, the supports are pinned on the main deck. Below, the grates are installed and the delicate planking of the gun deck can start.

 

 

 

 

Starting from the rear and slowly moving to the bow:

 

 

Once the gun deck is fully planked and we are happy, we can complete the planking of the side of the hull, all the way to the railings:

 

 

 

 

A couple of details: the rear deck, is not finished yet. The base of the rear mast is not installed yet, and will be fine tuned later on, when building the quarter deck. However, the frames that could not be installed before (you would need the Holy Spirit to hold them in place) are now added as shown in the picture below:

 

 

There is still plenty of work to be done to file to the right dimensions all the gun ports, on the starboard side and place some more planks, but it is moving along, slowly but surely. The Port side is almost finished...almost.

 

 

Hope you enjoy that quick update.

 

Yves

 

 

[Nearshore]

Very nicely done so far. She is really starting to take shape.

 

[Paul Le Wol]

Yves, the gun decks are a work of art!

[Mirabell61]

 

Beautíful work Yves,

 

I was allways wondering how the triangle shaped spaces underneath the gundecks were to be cleaned, as there must have quite a smell coming from underneath. I knew thar there were  some triangle shaped scuppers to the hull outside in that area. Probably the cleaning could be done from above, after lifting and removing the appropriate gundeck gratings.....

 

Nils