L'Anémone 1747 by Willi - 1:48 - French corvette

[Willi]

Hello everyone

I've been asked several times to post a construction report. So I'm trying to fulfill this request with my current project.
I'll start with a summary of the construction progress so far. This will be done in several steps and will probably take some time.

I started in June 2024.
the hawse timbers (compared with those of la Vénus on the same scale):

 

 

The pictures show what happened next.

 

 

 

At this stage, a decision had to be made.
The first carvings on the bow had to be created now, as this area will be difficult to access later.
This meant I had to decide on one of the three sister ships. They differ almost only in their decoration.
For his plan, Gérard Delacroix chose L'Amarante. Its figurehead was an ornate coat of arms.

 

 

La Palme and L'Anémone had female figures as figureheads instead of coats of arms.

 

 

My decision...well, what can I say...I prefer a pretty woman.😉

 

In conjunction with the decorations on the stern, I chose the l'Anémone.

The carvings on the bow were interpreted by Giampierro Ricci and Vladimir (marsalv) as open, or free-floating.

 

 

However, this seemed too delicate to me for such an exposed element subject to heavy seas.

My interpretation is therefore as follows:

 

 

to be continued...

 

 

[Willi]

Hello everyone

Hello everyone

The rear (hopefully these are the correct terms or are translated correctly)

 

 

How I made the frames:

 

Copy the plan, cut out the paper frame.

 

Disassemble the paper frame into its individual parts.

 

Glue the segments onto a boxwood strip. Consider the grain as much as possible.

 

Cut out.

 

Clean, sand.

 

Reassemble the individual parts to form the two frame halves (almost like a puzzle).

 

 

 

Assemble the frame halves (left before, right after pre-shaping).

 

 

Installation

 

 

to be continued

 

Herzliche Grüße

Willi

Edited September 15 by Willi

[Willi]

Hello everyone

 

All frames in place. The finishing touches are still missing.

 

 

Jig for installing the stern timbers.

 

 

 

First plank (the one between the wales)

 

 

For greater strength, the plank was lashed vertically.

 

 

Installation of the waist rails (?)

 

 

planking goes on

 

 

 

to be continued...

 

Herzliche Grüße

Willi

[Willi]

Hello everyone

A special and unique feature of the l'Anémone is the upper end strip of the transom.

 

 

To stabilize the stern structure, it had to be manufactured and installed now.

Due to its curved shape, I couldn't use a scraper. Therefore, the strip was hand-cut using a small milling tool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

to be continued...

Herzliche Grüße

Willi

 

 

[Willi]

Hello everyone

Planks usually look somewhat straight on the hull. But in reality, they aren't.

Here is the comparison of a plank with a ruler.

Here I'll show you my method for finding the right plank shape.

 

Starting material. Here, a strip of ebony.

 

The bottom edge of the new plank is measured from the top edge of the adjacent plank using parchment paper or paper tape.

 

The template thus created is glued to the ebony strip...

 

...and sawn out.

 

 

It is moistened and bent over a camping stove.

 

 

Once again, the plank-ruler comparison.

 

 

Fits

 

 

to be continued

 

Herzliche Grüße

Willi

Edited September 15 by Willi

[Willi]

Hello everyone

Progress on the planking.

 

 

 

 

Carvings on the stern.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

to be continued...

 

Herzliche Grüße

Willi

[Willi]

Hello everyone

Let's continue with the carvings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

to be continued...

 

Herzliche Grüße

Willi

[Willi]

Hello everyone
Internal Affairs...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

to be continued...

 

Herzliche Grüße

Willi

[Willi]

Hello everyone
different doors...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

to be continued...

 

Herzliche Grüße

Willi

Edited September 15 by Willi

[Willi]

Hello everyone
the belfry

 

 

 

 

to be continued...

 

Herzliche Grüße

Willi

[Willi]

Hello everyone
Furniture...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

to be continued...

 

Herzliche Grüße

Willi

[Willi]

Hello everyone
The head...

 

As mentioned elsewhere, it's difficult (for me) to create a profile on a curved strip.

 

Here, I worked with several layers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

to be continued...

 

Herzliche Grüße

Willi

 

Edited September 15 by Willi

[Keith Black]

Thank you for starting this build log, Willi. Your work is beautiful. 

[Willi]

Hello Keith, thank you for the kind words.

Let's move on to the capstan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The descent to the cabin

 

 

The galley

 

 

 

 

 

to be continued...

Herzliche Grüße

Willi

 

[Willi]

Hello everyone

 

A few details:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

to be continued...

 

Herzliche Grüße

Willi

[Willi]

Hello everyone

 

The channels an their chains:

 

 

 

 

That brings me to the current status of the work.
I'm not satisfied with everything. There's a gap between my expectations of myself and my abilities.

Even though I hope you enjoyed the little journey so far. 

 

to be continued...

 

Herzliche Grüße

Willi

[Knocklouder]

Very amazing work,   I am going to pull up a chair and whatch this wonderful  ship come to life, fantastic stuff.

Bob  M.

Edited September 15 by Knocklouder
Guessing typos lol

[JacquesCousteau]

Really fantastic work! I'm struck by the table and chairs--they may be some of the simpler constructions in this build, but they're made beautifully.

[Willi]

Hello everyone

There's been a little progress, as small as its parts.
There are probably around 60 eyebolts with rings that had to be made and installed.
In the first photo, you can see four thimbles at the top. I didn't use them, though; they were too big.

 

 

 

 

A lot of work for a barely visible result.

 

Herzliche Grüße

Willi

[Willi]

Small progress:
The bumpkins have been made.
Part of the length has an octagonal cross-section. Because these things are very small and curved, and taper towards the end, I couldn't think of a sensible way to machine them precisely and with sharp edges. The first attempt resulted in the area being perceived as more round.
I then used a visual trick by giving the beveled surfaces a slightly concave shape with a ball-end milling cutter.

 

 

We'll see if I leave it at that or if I can think of something else to improve them.

I can't install them yet; they would get in the way when lashing down the bowsprit and adjusting the figurehead.

 

Herzliche Grüße

Willi

Edited September 22 by Willi

[Willi]

Hello everyone

The figurehead:

 

 

First, I tried to draw the figure to fit its size and shape.

 

 

Here, it fits quite well, but it's looking too downward.

 

The direction of view is now correct, but a piece is missing at the bottom.

 

This is ok.

 

Carving:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

still a bit too strong, the lady, too many workouts I guess

 

 

 

 

 

I'm still missing a few pieces of cloth that will extend the figure aft, and of course, the little flower it's supposed to hold in its right hand. I'm not sure how to do that yet.

 

Herzliche Grüße

Willi

Edited Wednesday at 08:26 AM by Willi

[Willi]

I felt like I was looking into the face of a dead person. So I reworked the figure, just a few tiny cuts....

 

Edited Wednesday at 07:48 AM by Willi

[g8rfan]

Hi Will I,

That is an amazing bit of carving. Very impressive. I assume you are using a Drexel tool, or is this all by hand? Either way, you do great work

[Willi]

Hi Frank @g8rfan

Thank you for your kind words. Regarding your question: I work with a Proxxon drill with a flexible shaft, but also with small chisels and knives.

 

Herzliche Grüße 

Willi

Edited Wednesday at 12:38 PM by Willi

[Willi]

Hello everyone

For the bouquet, I stripped a low-voltage stranded wire, twisted one end together, unraveled the other, and bent the ends over, then glued pieces of tissue paper over them.

 

Maybe I'll come up with something better, but for now, I'll leave it as it is.

 

 

I'm not entirely happy with the lady's eye area yet, but that's the case with almost all my figures of this type and size: they're too deeply hollowed out. This creates very dark shadows, which, if you look closely, create a zombie-like expression.

 

  

 

This happens when I try too often to correct the facial expression, because this can only be done by removing material.
If the light falls correctly, i.e., without casting shadows, the result is quite okay.

 

Besides, these strong shadows make the eyes recognizable at normal viewing distances, so they're okay.

 

 

 

 

Herzliche Grüße
Willi

[Willi]

Hello everyone

Some progress...

The gammoning with it's cleats, iron hoops of the bowsprit and the bumpkins are installed.

 

 

 

 

 

Herzliche Grüße

Willi

[Chuck]

Lovely work!!!