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 8 hours ago 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