Astrolabe 1812 by Knocklouder - Mantua - 1:50

[Knocklouder]

Hello, I would like to introduce  Captain Rodney.  He is named after my friend who gave me this Astrolabe 1812.

He had to quit building  and gave all his ship yard to me. I am so lucky  wow. I would never have bought one my self. It looks expensive.  Plus  a Bluenose and a Wasa 1628, the wasa has lots of missing parts though. 

Rodney has done a lot of the work on building, no rigging  lol. The build should go pretty fast as most of it is done but there are ratlines  and shrouds  and deadeyes  ohh my. So I guess this is kind of a box opening. Let's see what I got. The ship.

Lots of fittings. 

The Astrolabe has 14 cannons, there is way more than 14 in this box. I will have to figure them out.

 Some of the yards are started as well.

Another  tray of fitting  deadeyes, of different colors. 

This is the tray holder he gave me. It has all the goodies  for five ships.

 He also made a thread holder and it has four razor saws that attract  to the orange handle 

I  only know as much about this ship as Google and Wikipedia  has told me. There is one log I can find on MSW. It has not been posted on for awhile, but he gave two links for more info on the Astrolabe. 

 I am just finishing up my Duchess of Kingston  and decided this is my next build.

 Rodney is not doing well, and I should have started this awhile ago, but the crew was not ready.

  So with all of your help this should turn out fantastic  

   So I have packed everything  away.  Please feel free to leave any links or information that I can look up , one that has a lot of pictures. It also has plans and instructions.  But I have not looked into them to much. Ok Back to the Duchess.  Just wanted to start another log while the paint drys  lol

.

 

Bob  M.

PFCGP 

Goober  

[Glen McGuire]

Larry and I are on board with you and Captain Rodney.  Let's...

 

[Bryan Woods]

Wow! Christmas two months in a roll!  Give good instructions, that can be my present:-)

[Keith Black]

Go ahead and break off the bowsprit now, Bob. It'll be a lot easier to fix before you get a bunch of line attached to it.    

 

 I'm looking forward to your new journey. 

[Knocklouder]

@Keith Black if I do I couldn't fix it as good as it is now. I tell you this is the last time for a picture of the stren , I almost did.  

I was just cleaning things up and had to fix just one or two things that needed to be reglued    Well   

.  Then I gave the wood a drink of shellac sealer. 

 

All the windows look like this and I have them. Rodney's work is amazing stuff. 

Copper hull looks great to me.

All the mast are ready, I had them on and on the work  bench  but I am so excited about this build. I forgot to take a picture.  But I am going  to see him soon they have moved him 90 miles away, what can you do.  He has the  cancer  so I am sure big old Knocklouder will have a tear  😢  or two,  From time to time. But the work is all his, I only  will rig it. Well I might  touch up a few things as we go  

 

I will try to get as much info on his build that he will let me share, he is a very humble and private man. 

 

So now really back to the Duchess, lol.

Or painting figures  lol  bet she wins lol.

All I know is this is going to take up my whole display case  .

Stay tuned as they say,  I hope to make it look good for my dear friend      Rodney   Who will always be the Captain of this ship.  ❤️.   

 

Knocklouder.      

 

Edited January 11 by Knocklouder
Typos

[Keith Black]

 Regarding the bowsprit, Bob. You need to make yourself a used pieces parts workbench guard that you can fit around both sides of the bowsprit. Nothing elaborate, just something that when your hands or forearm touches it you immediately stop you arms momentum. I'm thinking a 1x6 base 14 inches long and the two side pieces made from scrap 3/4 ply as long as the base and 12 to 14 inches high. Capiche?

[Knocklouder]

Precautions   have been installed.   . But Keith has sent me plans for a more robust  is that the right word lol set of plans lol.

Bob M.

 

Edited January 15 by Knocklouder
Guessing typos lol

[Keith Black]

43 minutes ago, Knocklouder said:

Precautions   have been installed. 

 No, Bob, that ain't it. A helmet wasn't exactly what I had in mind.  

[GrandpaPhil]

Bob,

  Looking forward to seeing this one!

Edited January 13 by GrandpaPhil

[Knocklouder]

With time on my hands, and a grin on my face, you can't wipe off, I decide to look at my next build to see what is what as they say.

Rodney has two binders of information and the manual, for the Astrolabe. 

 

I decided to change the look of his cannons to one I found on line . A bit of black paint here, red paint there, I will paint the wheels, then tomorrow clear coat them. Lol. I had to see what they would look like 👍🏾.  

 

I have to study his notes to see what he was thinking about how far to go rigging the cannons.  I am good with just the breach rope and a tie down at the back. But, if he has something already rigged up I will see. Lol.

Time to put it on the bench. WOW it is huge. 

 

I took a few extra pictures to show off Rodney's work.  It does look impressive. 

 

 

 

There is no other logs for The Astrolabe, so I am in uncharted waters. I know with MSW/NRG  on my side, I will pull off another one . Wait till Pile gets back, he will be Gobsmacked . It is a beautiful ship, but she's big wow!

 

Knocklouder. 

 

 

 

 

PS.

I will @Keith Black I will.

.

Edited February 5 by Knocklouder
More info

[Glen McGuire]

On 1/10/2025 at 5:41 PM, Knocklouder said:

but there are ratlines  and shrouds  and deadeyes 

You're fixing to be busier than a stump-tailed bull during fly season!

[Knocklouder]

@Glen McGuire there are 1,200 glove hitchs, 600 per side. Yyeehhaa!!!..

 The cannons are in the paint shop so I am making a list of things I need to study.

This is a big ship,  after looking at Chris beautiful   Duchess of Kingston , by Vanguard Models , now I got to look at this huge horse barge. 

Up first is drilling holes for the crowsfeet on all masts.

Many more notes have to be looked at into, the list  continues.  I have to find all the parts and try to figure it out.  Rodney has got gunport llids made of wood in the box , but has the kit lids installed on the ship. I t looks like there is errors in the plan an instructions 🙃 😕 😅.  And he had to move some of them didn't like it so he put the kit lids on. I have to see why latter.

 It would be a lot easier if I could talk to Rodney, but he can't remember anything about ships. It so sad to see my friend this way. That's why I got to do a good job,   "For Rodney  "  .

Also for the next few days I will be tracing the plans, and making diagrams for the ratlines. . This morning I hit my first roadblock, whether to attempt this. I was looking at Bugs Pegasus log, to is awesome, and almost  decided to change ships lol. I need to do this one. I need practice on my ratlines.  Because  

The next model I buy will be the one that I will try to do the best. 

 

There is so much to do its like I first joined

the excitement of starting a build.

 I have found much useful information from Rodney's notes, and what I can find on the net. The Frist Mate just this morning showed me how to put pictures in my files so I can study them closer up. It's a life saver. Lol  So giddy up partner's, lol I just thought we might even see Texas long horns soon LOL. Hang tight @Glen McGuire I got to go round them up lol

 

Just Bob M. for now.     

Edited February 5 by Knocklouder
I Will Keith.

[Knocklouder]

 

I need an assistant.  He he is, 😂  Donkey. I think he is the perfect A .. to be my Assistant lol.

I reach a point in Rodney's notes, oh my. Apparently mistakes have been made. He followed the instructions, the plan is different from the instructions.  We need 8 gun ports we only got 7. The way the plan tell you to put the deadeyes  the cannons will blow the shrouds off. I think it was at this point that he stoped, there is a lot of torn pages in his book , and references to a web site that I have to go to latter.

I found  some notes it possible that he started this model in 2014 / 5, hard to say. But in his notes the guy he was following abandon the plan  at this point as well and build it his way. And it looks good. Mine will be different  but it will work. Now I just got to put it all together. At least I don't have to stop, I be rigging and adding to my Surprise jar in no time. Lol

Donkey  let's me know what he thinks of the plans and instructions 😉. I would hate to spend this kind of money on a model to have such bad information  wow. But where the is a will there is a way I guess.

We are goingto leave the lids alone, shifting the lines slightly to avoid the gun ports we will be fine.

 So now I going to fix the white, then attach the chains for the deadeyes. The instructions  says to attach the chains to the upper whaler. Rodney has them in between  the whalers mine will be at the bottom whaler like the plan says lol.

Ok, with that roller-coaster day I am very glad I have a plan and going forward 😀. MSW/NRG will have its first Astrolabe 1812 log marked  finished, just a matter of time. But the instructions are so bad you may not see another lol.

Good night my friends, I hear mooing comeing  from the hold. Lol 😆 🤣 

Bob M.

 

 

Edited February 6 by Knocklouder
Guessing typos lol

[Knocklouder]

Well all the tracing of the shrouds and ratlines.  For Nothing, garbage, worthless 🙃.  It seems that the measurement in the manual don't line up with the instructions  All my tracing for Nothing lol.

So Donkey and I looked at each other and said,....... money for the Surprise, lol.

It seems that I can't make any headway. Oh well I think I worked it out.. we continue. 

Patching the holes, repainted the white and black strips and let it dry. I moved on to the deadeyes. What a mess? I can't really figure out what he got going here. Some peices are soderd some have  chain links and a small pile of copper strops. 

I think. The plans shows nothing. The manual says build them this way but if I do they are way to long.

At this point I was about to say,  50 cents for the jar, but this is what modeling is all about. Let's model on. Rodney has lots of fitting and things ,two different plies of belaying pins , rings, pins of all kinds and chains.

 

I tryed a few ideas out, nothing really  looked right.

As much as I tryed the chain plates were hard to get at least some accuracy to them. Then it hit me, if the manufacturer doesn't care about detail neither will I.   Chain plates, so I made them out of chain. This is what I came up with.It may not be right, but it gets the deadeyes on and I still the lower masts to drill the crowfeet lines and start the shrouds. I had to figure out what size of deadeyes and where they go. 7 mm and 5mm are needed for the lower masts. I figure out what's need for the upper later.bI have lots to do before then 🤔.  I might even get some rat lines in lol.

This is what I am going to do for the chain plates, chain. Lol. The plan is to attach the deadeye to the chain , position it and nail it on to the whaler with some big headed nails. It will do.

I was beginning to think that I might have taken on to much, I could not understand most of the instruction and all the parts are in containers and I have no idea what they are. Lol.  The First Mate could tell I was getting anxious about things , she can tell it was getting to me. She came down to the ship yard and I told her what I really need is better pictures of what I was attempting to do. Some computer lessons were needed.well what do you know we found some pictures and now I got it. The build will go ahead, it just won't be like the plans or the instructions  lol.

This is what I will do, the chains will be placed in the right  place then Nailed to the whaler.  Done deal. I like it, once they are on and the shrouds tied on , it will do. And once the yards and rigging is done the chains will be a distant memory  lol.

 Thanks for put up with my frustration, but I think it will be smooth sailing from here on. We got plans and pictures and the will.

 

Talk soon my friend's 

Bob  M.

 

 

Edited February 8 by Knocklouder
Guessing typos lol

[Knocklouder]

ÇMore progress on the Astrolabe, the decision about the chain plates has been made, and some assembly has been done.

I am letting things dry but the chains are made up. Let's go paint the cannons. 

I had to put one on for a peek, which lead to another.  Soon I had a boat load.

They need to be rigged, and no instructions.  But I got pictures. .

Well waiting for the paint to dry let's look at the platforms. This is the first I  look at them in the manual, I have no  idea how Rodney got to this point. He has put 7 mm 

Deadeyes on instead of 5 mm eazy fix now I have to drill some holes for the crowsfeet lines.

  It's-30 out in the shed so I brought it to the shipyard, it will be a great addition to the tools.

I  am ok with the shrouds positions, I am letting  the chains dry really well before tacking them on. I have all the cannons to rig, so they should be cured when I return to them. But I have to let the cannons dry over night as well. To the platforms it is.

   The build will be a great time, I reliesed that I have no direction  on a lot of things and get to make it they way I want, not the plans, which gives me two ways to do it. Wrong and wronger.

The kit is fantastic, great wood lots of add on. Not bad for a barge. But again the instructions need work.

Again my apologies for letting my frustration lose, 🫤  I can only claim insanity, I tryed to do it my way not what I have been taught  by MSW/NRG. So I gave myself a slap and said gitty up..

 Thanks my freinds, may the fun never stop.

 

 Bob M.

[Knocklouder]

Yes haa, the last piece of the puzzle has been solved. I am so excited now. Rodney had a couple of check marks on the plan and a check mark in the manual, they were the same color, so from there I could figure out the rest .. I have this horse barge whipped, just got to put it together. 

 I am finding so much wrong with the plans, wow, but I got it. Now I just have to do it.

These are my calculations for the sizes, I still need the colors for the ropes but I know the sizes, just color preference, my choice  lol.

  I had posted a question this morning, but just found the answer lol.  So I deleted the post.  

So now rig the cannons, attach the masts, chain plates and start the rigging.  Ezay peesy lol. This is going to be great practice for rigging, some cannons may have to be stowed because of the cannons lids been  in the wrong place.  All good though lol.

  Ok on my way , may the fun never end. Lol

 

Bob  M.        

 

Edited February 9 by Knocklouder

[Knocklouder]

They say when you get bucked off a horse best to get back on and hold on lol. Well, I am  back to this stage, eventually I will get this right.

Remember I have a hard time with words& numbers. What I thought would work won't, I would not like the way the shrouds were looking. I have to fix the channels  to many holes  I am just going to replace it.and wait for it....start over lol.

  I have found 9 different pictures  of this ship so far, on the computer. I find myself dreaming about how I would like it to look like, and in the back off my head what would the Captain want. I am trying to read his logs but can you belive it  his grammar is worse than mine.  Lol 😆 

  This journey  that I started over 3 and   half years ago is incredible.  I am hooked lol. Rodney's work is amazing  so far just little things, but between the two of us we are going to make a beautiful ship.  Lol the  First Mate  was not impressed about the idea of me wanting to change the  build in book case into a display case.  I said why do we have all these books , instead of boxing my models why not box the books. Lol  😆 

   I have sent word out to PFCGP that I could use his help. No reply yet lol. 

  This is going to be fun the rigging is intense. But at least it doesn't have parallels, the French tried them on , I write the name of in latter. 

Thanks so much for following along I couldn't have gotten this far with out you all . Thanks.

  

 

Knocklouder. 

 

 

Edited February 10 by Knocklouder
Guessing typos lol

[Glen McGuire]

12 hours ago, Knocklouder said:

you all

You've made great progress with your Texas dialect, but you gotta fix that and change it to "y'all".  

 

Bummer that you have to backtrack with some of the build, but it will be worth it to make it look the way you want it to look.  Tell PFCGP that his loafing is over and it's time to get back to the shipyard!  

[Knocklouder]

I am back in the saddle again.  Great tune.

I had to fix the channels and repaint them.

There was way to many holes in some and not enough on others. The plans are of no help. I have got a couple of pictures of  some idea for the chains. This is what I will do.

Now that I got that all straight out we can continue.  I will make up the chain nail them to the bottom whaler, done deal. Then on to the platforms, more questions there about the number of holes for the crowsfeet lines.  We  diffinly got the wind on our backs now full steam ahead. Thank you all.

Knocklouder. 

 

Edited February 10 by Knocklouder

[Knocklouder]

Well now that I have calmed down and did some research on this ship, I believe I am in for the time of my life once again. When I started this it was incredibly difficult to understand.  I really almost gave up and started my Pegasus, looking at @Moonbug 's  log didn't help matters ,  that is some ship he's got going , fantastic stuff to watch.  Thanks for posting that valuable information, and pictures lol.

  Donkey said we better wait till PFCGP to get back , He can't understand the plans either. 

We really had to work to get it into shape , but I think we have it. It looks like the shrouds might still be a problem, but I think it should be OK.

I install all the chains on the starboard side and will make up the chains for the side as well. But we won't nail them on until Pile gets back. We need confirmation from the inspector.   A different set of plans for the Astrolabe are on the way, they are from a French museum  when I get them I will tell you about them .ok keep modeling till you drop lol 😆 

Knocklouder. 

 

PS  Thinking of cleaning the copper  or should I leave it.????

 

Edited February 11 by Knocklouder
More info

[Knocklouder]

Today I have decided to clean the copper. 

I needed to blackin some more chain, @Gabek requmended Photo-etch  AK and it works great. He is a man of many talents and Amazing with his printing figures, I am glad I have met him. Just a bit of buttering him up cause I am fixing to ask him to make and French captain figure. 😉 

 

I cleaned them with Lacquer thinner  soak them 5 minutes  dryed them off waited 10 minutes  then soaked them again for 5 minutes.  Looks pretty  good but I will spray high heat barbaq  flat black , that makes them nice to my eye.

  I am awaiting  plans for the LA  Astrolabe  aka LA Coquille Corvette , that a freind of mine said were better. He used it for his and its looking good. The best part is it has what blocks and what lines info that will be of great value. 

 Boy look at me doing research  lol . MSW/NRG  has trained me well, let's see what I can do on this Astrolabe  1822.

 Thanks so much for take the time for me, and for forgiving  me for all my typos and mistakes along the way. I look forward  to making more mistakes and learning more. Thanks 

Knocklouder.   

 

Back to , The chain gang I go , lol 😆 🤣  Good bye 'Y"ll'

 

Edited February 12 by Knocklouder
Texas

[Keith Black]

 Bob, you can't go wrong following this man's build log. It's one of the better MSW build logs and it's real close to Astrolabe's time frame. 

 

 

 

[Knocklouder]

I could not look at the copper any more the way it looked. They put something on to cover it up. I used Brasso to clean it off. Once that was done the hull was spotted, lots of open seems that were green , Dang I am going to have to paint it.

So I ca all the lose plates then brushed on a coat of Testor copper paint.

Well I have to touch up the white latter but over all I like it. So while the paint drys over night it's back on the chain gang. lol.  😆.

Thanks for the likes , and all your help.

Knocklouder. 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 13 by Knocklouder

[Gabek]

On 2/12/2025 at 2:51 PM, Knocklouder said:

I needed to blackin some more chain, @Gabek requmended Photo-etch  AK and it works great. He is a man of many talents and Amazing with his printing figures, I am glad I have met him. Just a bit of buttering him up cause I am fixing to ask him to make and French captain figure. 😉 

🤣Flattery and coffee will get you everywhere!  

[Knocklouder]

After an over night drying, I compared the Astrolabe hull to my Pegasus hull.

The Astrolabe is lighter, but when viewed separately they look wonderful. I.think

 The stand got repainted  black  and today I put it on the stand.

 

It looks really good at normal veiwing distance. So with that ,it is back on the bench with a nose gaurd for the Bowsprit mast, I seem to break them off easily  😳. 

so now that the nose guard is in place, it is time to get back to that little dish in front of nose guard, it is full of deadeyes and chains.  . I am happy with the results of the copper, it'll do.

Y'all take care now. 😎.

.Bob  M.

Edited February 14 by Knocklouder
Guessing typos lol

[Keith Black]

 Bob, as often as you break bowsprits maybe you need two nose guards? 

Edited February 14 by Keith Black

[archjofo]

The Astrolabe, a French corvette, an interesting project.

[Knocklouder]

Thanks @archjofo, I  can't read very well and don't really know if the Astrolabe is a French Corvette,  but my good friend @Keith Black  has got me to book mark your log. Fantastic work  I am sure to learn lots. I have only peeked at your logs, one thing  I did find was the French just tied the yards  on , no little  parallels, yahoo 

Bob  M.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 15 by Knocklouder

[archjofo]

Hello Bob,
In my opinion, your model is definitely the L'Astrolabe from 1812. There is a contemporary model of this French corvette in the Musée national de la Marine in Paris. Here is a picture of it:

[Knocklouder]

@archjofo, thank you.  I looked at the German link, 325 pages! Wow! I'll be busy. Then I looked at your logs again that my friend @Keith Black recommended me to look at.  All I can say is . Thanks so much Keith, I am indebted to you, as well as the MSW/NRG. I must warn you though, I build models for the joy the hobby brings to me. 65 years ago I was forced to stop modeling. About 4 years ago, I started again. I have a hard time spelling, and the love of my life, the First Mate, just hates when I say how do you spell this word. So following instructions is not my strong suit.  And I have a knack for getting in trouble,  lol. Your logs will go a long way to bringing me years of enjoyment.  Thanks for posting this.  And Keith my friend, write something for me so I can send it to you so we can always "stays" friends.

  So the pictures coming from Texas  and from France have been sent. And with  help from Scotland and other UK member the fun continues.   😀 

 The chain plates on the portside went ok.

The chains for the starboard side are hung. Following the plans is of no help as all the holes have been moved to avoid friendly fire from their own cannons.  As it is, I have one extra hole on one of the channels.  lol. I will just try to make them look good, then move on to the cannons. 

   Authenticity:  I lost half of you long ago , now that I  have painted the hull, 75% more have left. 😀  Another  15% left because I am just to insane for them, lol leaving 10% to enjoy the ride on this one. 😀  I will get bucked off a few times, but I will get back in the saddle. I would even ride this barge bare back if I had to. I am not sure how Rodney was trying to build this, but he seems to have done lots of work then changed everything 🤔.  I can't figure it out, but like I say I build for the fun the hobby brings and I am sure having fun.  Ok going to rig some cannons.  😆 

Knocklouder     

Edited Sunday at 09:58 PM by Knocklouder
Posted before First Mate edited. Lol