MORDAUNT 1681 by NMBROOK - Euromodel - 1:60 - Beyond Bashed

[NMBROOK]

Hi Patrick,yes the deck beams will be natural wood.Just to clarify,the pieces are not going to be glued together,I am just doing two at once to speed the operation up

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[NMBROOK]

Work is slowly progressing on the port side.As I have proved everything on the starboard side,this acts as a template for the port side.This has enabled me to fit the gunport frames earlier in the process to make it easier to shape the internal profile.The handy thing with the gunport design is that tweaks are easy.Some of the holes for the linings have been adjusted and boxwood veneer shims used to ensure perfect alignment when sighting down the side of the hull.I have also been able to fit the lower counter side timber earlier than before.The rather random looking pear blocks at the bow are for shaping to match the other side.The are placed to ensure adequate material to carve the shape out of.

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

Edited May 7, 2014 by NMBROOK

[mij]

Hi Nigel

 

She`s looking good.

 

mij

[Blue Ensign]

Those last shots along the hull show the wonderful curvature you have achieved, great stuff Nigel

 

B.E.

[NMBROOK]

Thank you very much indeed Mij and Blue Ensign for your kind words

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[gjdale]

She's developing into a very impressive build Nigel.  Wait, what do I mean by "developing"?  She IS a very impressive build!

[Keith_W]

Hi Nigel, it is hard for me to see what you are going to do here. You have obviously taken a lot of trouble to get the frames accurately cut. I presume you are not going to cover it all up with planking? That would be such a waste!

[NMBROOK]

Thank you very much indeed Brian,Grant and Keith  Brian when I priced up the plans and castings,there wasn't a big difference in price to the complete kit.I was unsure at that point whether I would use the castings.If I did it meant more sense just to buy the lot.Should I not use the castings,then I will essentially have a complete kit to sell on minus the bulkheads.I could always offer to cut a set of these for any prospective buyer<Royal William is a different matter,the difference in price is massive!!As you know I already bought the plans but the casting set is not much more than Mordaunt's!Castings and plans will work out at roughly 35-40% of the total kit,so I will save a lot of money as I wouldn't use the supplied timber and most of the fittings.

Keith,yes,there will be a section between the upper wales unplanked so the frames are visible.

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[NAZGÛL]

Such nice work you're doing Nigel!

 

 

/Matti

[pete48]

Quite the Build you have here Nigel, I just discovered this build log , you have done a beautiful job hats off

 

Best Regards,

Pete

[NMBROOK]

Thank you very much indeed Matti and Pete for you kind words

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[patrickmil]

Nigel, as always exemplary work! Now we have your secret about getting such wonderful curves on seemingly single pieces of wood. LOL

[NMBROOK]

Thank you very much indeed Patrick Aside from the fact I simply couldn't be bothered to source a 'chunk' of Pear for that bit at the bow there is actually a small triangle that will be visible which I wanted to appear as individual frames  .I most certainly will need to make a template or two to ensure both sides match .

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[Sjors]

Great job Nigel !!!!!!!!

 

[NMBROOK]

Thank you very much indeed Sjors

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[NMBROOK]

I have started a job on the side that will run in conjunction with the main construction work.This is that of the figurehead.There are differences between museum model and the kit.The main one being there are two 'characters' behind the lion.I say characters because I am still uncertain as to what they are They remind me very much of the 'purple' thingy on Matti's Vasa build .However these affect the shape of the prow considerably and I will need to produce this trio of carvings to be able to determine the prow shape.

Some good news is that the museum model's Lion is tailless unlike the one on the kit plans and it is not clutching an emblem also shown on the plans.It is a nice change that research actually simplifies a design .Anyway I chose to take a copy of the Lion shown on the plans and use this,just omit tail and emblem,as it will be far more convincing than my freehand drawing attempts.The copy was glued onto a piece of European box of suitable thickness.

I first milled the slot for the prow,but leaving a small section at the feet.This will be removed later when the bulk of the shaping is done,it simply serves to keep a little strength for now while the rough work is done.The profile was cut using a combination of the miller,large scalpel and burrs.The result in the pics is from about 8 hours work!!.

The very thin wafer at the mouth will hopefully be the tongue when finished

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[NMBROOK]

Hi Janos

That is an excellent picture!I have the NMM images but because of the gilt it is harder to make out the shaping.I would be very grateful for a high res image as I have printed this one out and it is very pixelated.The main issue is the figure behind,this is the only image that shows this clearly.The figures will be seperate as the prow runs right through the lion and the figures.I have been able to establish that from the images I have already.

Thanks again

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[NAZGÛL]

Yay, blue purple thingy is getting friends!

 

Very interesting to see your approach and it's looking great so far You are so much more structured than me when you work.

 

 

/Matti

Edited May 11, 2014 by NAZGÛL

[NMBROOK]

Thanks mate!Unfortunately I have to do it all again on mark 2.Janos's picture has highlighted errors in the kit drawing profile,so I will revisit this probably next weekend and make some amendments to the drawing before starting again.Whilst everything else is correct,the line of the nose is wrong and I haven't enough material to work with.I need to alter i.e. almost remove the slot as I have discovered another picture that shows how things fit together.I was struggling with some b/w pics and shadows looked like parts of the ship.I may well just take a step back and redraw the whole prow out with the other necessary changes before making any more sawdust in this area.The museum model's figurehead actually looks more like a bear(apart from the mane)whereas the kit figurehead resembles a Chinese style lion.I shall carry on with hull construction in the meantime while my blood pressure returns to normal    
 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[NAZGÛL]

Ah I see what you mean, you have high standards mate. But it looks to mee like you could correct it just by carving it differently?

 

/Matti

[NMBROOK]

Hi Matti

Not really unfortunately,I did weigh it up,but there isn't enough material from the bridge of the nose downwards.I have carved the crown outline already to get a guide for the shape of the head.I have plenty of boxwood  

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[mathewp]

Wow. Some serious mods there, and she looks great so far. I cant wait to see the rest of your build.

[NMBROOK]

Thank you very much indeed Mathew

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[Blue Ensign]

I will be following your approach to figure creating with interest Nigel, something I've always shied away from.

 

B.E.

[NMBROOK]

Thanks B.E.I found human faces hard at first,but it became a little easier as you program yourself as to the common proportions of the human face,even remembering a couple of pointers from art class in the early eighties   Problem now,animal anatomy     Will be watching wildlife on one reruns to get my head around it On a serious note I am going to do lots of googlin to establish some basic proportions.As further investigation shows that the lion is a complete figure with only one tiny notch on the prow,the overall thickness of limbs and body need to be close as it isn't split in half.I envisage the figurehead carving to take up months of intermittent work,so that is why I would like to get stuck in.Ersin Derebek's Royal william figurehead took him 500hours of carving,so whilst this is nowhere near as complex,it is definitely more than a couple of days work    

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel.

[NAZGÛL]

Ouch that's a lot of hours and sweat but it will be so worth it when you are done.

 

 

/Matti

[NMBROOK]

Hi Matti

I think Ersin's figurehead speaks for itself(pics in his log in the scratch section)If my humble attempt gets anywhere near 1/10 of the standard of his work,I will be more than pleased Anyway we shall she,those pics of Lloyd McCaffery's miniature carvings made me think of taking up golf instead    

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

Edited May 12, 2014 by NMBROOK

[WackoWolf]

Screw golf, I would rather have someone hit the ball and then see if I can shoot it in the air instead of hitting the ball and then go find it just to hit it again and in the end I have to bend over to pick it up. The real challenge would be to shoot it in the air after someone hits it, now that would be hard. I will stick to boats and pull the rest of what I have left for hair out. Just my 2 cents.

[NMBROOK]

Only kidding Joe     golf is not for me either.

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[rafine]

Nigel, you guys don't know what you're missing. Golf provides enough aggravation to make any difficulties encountered in ship modeling seem very easy.

 

Bob