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

[yvesvidal]

I am now concentrating on the stern as I need to make some progress there, to place the mizzen mast and the rear deck extension. Also, and not surprisingly, I am not following exactly the order of the instructions as suggested but moving along to what makes the most sense to me.

 

Interestingly, the door is missing from the parts provided with the kit and as such, I will have to build it myself. It should not be too difficult.

A few pictures of the construction of the cabin wall:

 

 

 

 

 

It is now time to build the two large joists, which are supporting all the framing of the quarterdeck:

 

 

After careful measurements, we come to this:

 

 

 

 

I started assembling some of the quarterdeck framing, but nothing will be glued until I finish all the trims on the hull. It is way too fragile and will impede the correct installation of the guns and other details located on the main deck:

 

 

Yves

 

Edited May 28 by yvesvidal

[Kevin]

there is so much lovely work going on in this build

Edited May 28 by Kevin

[Ronald-V]

1 hour ago, Kevin said:

there is so much lovely work going on in this build

Agreed! It's such a fascinating build  

[scrubbyj427]

Beautiful work Yves!

[yvesvidal]

Moving along (slowly) with some delicate assembly. The kit calls for a 3x4 mm strips all along the handrail. 

 

 

Unfortunately, I do not have the exact molding profile and thus decided to go with a semi-round, instead.

 

 

It goes in one piece from the stern to the tip of the railing.

 

 

 

It will stay with the color of the wood for now. I may tone it down a little bit later....

 

 

Next is the assembly of the railing

 

 

and the various strips going on the deck and bulkheads: 

 

 

 

Again, the kit calls for a dark strip of 4x4 mm which is enormous on that little deck. Instead I went with a strip of 2x3 mm matching the color of the deck: 

 

 

This provides a barrier when rolling the guns on the deck and potentially funnel the waters through the grates. I think its smaller size looks a lot better.

 

Finally, that long piece of wood used to anchor the guns and attach various things can finally be installed at the right location and height: 

 

 

 

 

Now, to do the same on the other side.... Of course, all the parts (railings and strips) are painted before being assembled.

 

Yves

 

Edited Saturday at 02:26 PM by yvesvidal

[Kevin]

wonderful work, so very clean and tidy

[Paul Le Wol]

Yves, she is looking great! I like that you decide what looks best to you and go with that. Nice

[yvesvidal]

Working on the bow for a change of pace, and to see some details and progress: 

 

 

these parts are like little kits in themselves: 

 

 

The position of the front mast has to be carefully done, both laterally and longitudinally, to respect the 20 degrees angle: 

 

 

 

I will finish the other side, after installing the front rail (starboard side).

 

 

 

I hope you enjoy these little progress. It is very enjoyable to build and adjust precisely.

 

Yves

[yvesvidal]

The main deck is pretty much completed, at the exception of the hooks required to rig the guns.

 

 

 

 

The support of the front mast has been completed on both sides: a rather unusual piece of equipment on a period ship...

 

 

I am not attaching the front shield yet, as I think it is too fragile and prone to breaking. This is what it will look like:  

 

 

I really need to concentrate on the stern at this stage. I have been procrastinating it, but the mizzen mast and the stern extension are calling for my attention: 

 

 

An overall view of the model, as it stands today: 

 

 

Yves

Edited Wednesday at 01:46 PM by yvesvidal

[DocRob]

What a masterpiece, Yves. It´s a joy to follow your great build and log, even, when I never will have the courage to build something similar.

Cheers Rob 

[yvesvidal]

4 hours ago, DocRob said:

What a masterpiece, Yves. It´s a joy to follow your great build and log, even, when I never will have the courage to build something similar.

Cheers Rob 

Thank you Rob. You may not have the courage to do a wooden ship model, but I will not have the courage to put together an Hiro Factory model the way you do it for all these beautiful automobiles. I am glad that we can admire and appreciate each other master-pieces in different domains.

 

Yves

Edited Wednesday at 06:52 PM by yvesvidal

[hamilton]

Been a while since I checked in here - she's looking really nice, Yves

hamilton

[yvesvidal]

Not much to show but big progress in term of advancement for the rest of the build, with the correct placement and inclination of the mizzen mast. The mast stands at 10 degrees behind the vertical. 

 

 

 

I will try to post a picture of all three masts erected to give a sense of that "latina" rigging.

 

Yves

[DocRob]

18 hours ago, yvesvidal said:

Thank you Rob. You may not have the courage to do a wooden ship model, but I will not have the courage to put together an Hiro Factory model the way you do it for all these beautiful automobiles. I am glad that we can admire and appreciate each other master-pieces in different domains.

You are absolutely right Yves, it´s always a pleasure to see how fellow modelers skillful work on their models. It´s not only entertaining but I learned a lot through the build logs of others, even if the subjects are of a kind, I may never tackle myself. I once ventured into wooden ship modelling building Vanguard´s Duchess of Kingston in three month sans rigging and had immense fun doing it. When I ever finish the rigging, a task I´m really afraid of, I have the HMS Sphinx as my next wooden ship on line or maybe a heavy weathered Fifie fishing vessel from Amati. 
I sometimes looked at the CAF kits, but decided, it´s far over my skill level, but who knows, maybe in a decade or two...

Cheers Rob

[yvesvidal]

The masts: 20 degrees inclination for the front mast, 10 degrees for the mizzen mast.

 

 

 

Yves