Royal Louis 1780 by Ulises Victoria - FINISHED - Mamoli - Scale 1/90 - French 126-gun ship

[mtaylor]

Ulises,

 

Give some thought to pre-bending those beams before gluing.  I'd soak them and the put them into position (maybe help by drying with a hairdryer.  Also check that you're not pushing the tops of the bulkheads apart.   I'd want to release as much stress as possible to prevent further problems.  

[Ulises Victoria]

Thank you Mark. Good point.

[Jack Panzeca]

Hi Ulises,

 

Great build, it looks great.  If you want to look at the Minwax Aged Oak that David B mentioned take a look at my Oseberg log (post # 162).

 

I definitely agree with Mark and would pre bend the beams to unload the bulkhead tops.  

 

Thanks for sharing.

[demonborger]

The metal windows will probably need a fair bit of filing down to fit nicely

[Ulises Victoria]

Thank you all who commented and gave advise.

I pre bent the beams as advised.The stanchions relieved a bit of the tension anyway.

The beams are more even in person than in the photos, believe me.

The metal window needed some sanding down especially at the edges.I over did it a bit in the middle, but no big deal. The gap between the window frame and the beam looks bigger because the frame is curved, not flat. This will go totally unnoticed once the false deck (shown already marked with 17mm lines to line up the planking) is nailed and glued over the beams.

 

Really appreciate your input, my friends.

Edited August 10, 2014 by Ulises Victoria

[Ulises Victoria]

Hi Ulises,

 

Great build, it looks great.  If you want to look at the Minwax Aged Oak that David B mentioned take a look at my Oseberg log (post # 162).

 

I definitely agree with Mark and would pre bend the beams to unload the bulkhead tops.  

 

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Jack. That Aged Oak looks great on your hull, however, that's not the look I'm looking for in my decks. I want something more like a grayish-worn-aged wood. I have to keep looking. So far that Weather-It stuff is more closely to what I want.

I thank you for your input and your kind words! 

[demonborger]

Those windows aren't really visible on the finished model anyway, between the ships wheel, cannons, deck, double staircase and mast there isn't much to see.

[SawdustDave]

Hi Ulises:

Just joining you log....enjoyed all of your postings. Very nicely done.

Pulling up a chair here.

Dave

[BANYAN]

Very nice work Ulises and great discussion on the various issues you have encountered and the remedies applied.  Have you thought about installing any LEDs to highlight those windows? 

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Ulises Victoria]

Very nice work Ulises and great discussion on the various issues you have encountered and the remedies applied.  Have you thought about installing any LEDs to highlight those windows? 

 

cheers

 

Pat

Thank you Pat.

Actually no. Seems like electronic stuff is still out of my league! But may be in the future!

[Ulises Victoria]

Arthur: The stanchions are cut to fit. No way to use the top of the window frame as a guide as it was way too high originally. I had to sand it down to match the camber. Dang. I'm going to have to lower those beams. 

 

Edit: I decided against redoing those beams. I tried to pry one of the stanchions and it was so well glued that I was afraid it would tear out the planking. So I just sanded down the tops of the beams to reduce just a bit of the camber.That will have to do!

Edited August 11, 2014 by Ulises Victoria

[Ulises Victoria]

Done building and placing the metal window frame and the rudder wheel assembly.

Can you tell in the 3rd vs 4th photo that the camber of the beams is different?

Yes, I fixed that after all. :)

 

Wheels painted wood color

 

 

 

 

 

[Ulises Victoria]

Aaaaahhhh! Thank you Arthur, my toughest judge.     

I can now proceed. 

[Ulises Victoria]

Update August 16

 

Planking of the upper rear deck at various stages.

Gluing of a piece of wood that is going to shape the stern galleries.

Next step: GULP!!  Hull first planking!!! 

I'm under the impression this is going to be a real challenge!!!

 

Wish me luck!

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is how far the planking will go until now. The remaining will be planked once the first hull planking is finished, the bulwarks built, and the tip of the bulkheads removed and planked over.

 

 

 

 

[BANYAN]

Ulises, if you approach the task with the same aplomb you have with the deck planking I am sure it will look great.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Karleop]

Suerte Ulises, you are doing a nice work!!

 

Saludos, Karl

[Ulises Victoria]

Update Sept. 7. Finished planking the keel of my Royal Louis.

I will start first hull planking next.

 

 

[Vivian Galad]

Great update, amigo Ulises. She´s coming smoothly, it seems.

[shoule]

 Very nice. I like the messy work bench, too; it makes me feel better about my own.

[Ulises Victoria]

What??? I cleaned it before taking the photos!!!! 

[Jack Panzeca]

What??? I cleaned it before taking the photos!!!! 

A man after my own heart!!!!

[Ulises Victoria]

Update Sept 12 2014

On Tuesday 9th started with the first planking. You will see not much progress in 4 days, but this has been a real challenge for me. I definitely don't like this system of the metallic gun port frames. It makes things harder instead of easier, *in my opinion*. You are forced to plank the hull in segments between frames, and it's harder to do an even planking job. I prefer the method of "cut your own".

Anyway, I thought before starting that this was going to be a nice challenge, and I wasn't wrong. However, if I manage to do it right, the sense of accomplishment will be equally big.

 

I keep telling myself that first planking is some sort of "training field", so things are easily patched and fixed.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

 

 

[Sjors]

Ulises,

 

You have to help me with this....

The first plank goes under the metal gun ports.....

The second one above , you have to glue that against the lower one......because there is no other support.

Then you are working to the top...

But when I see it right, you have to cut the final plank that goes between the gun ports....

That one has to be glued to the 2 planks in between.....

That's gonna be precise working then......

 

Sjors

[NMBROOK]

Hi Ulises

I have been following along in the shadows  Your build is coming on well,but I can appreciate the problems the gunport design must cause. Sjors has touched on something I have been thinking about.You have probably thought of this yourself.If you place one plank above and one below the metal gunport,you could glue a section of first planking vertically from behind to these planks against the gunport on the opposite side to the bulkheads.This would provide strength to the otherwise unsupported end and give you something to glue that end to.This does rely on access so you may find it easier to do one row at a time as you work downwards with the planking.

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

Edited September 12, 2014 by NMBROOK

[Ulises Victoria]

Sjors:

I just don't understand the instructions, so I'm working just following my gut. I had to tear apart a few planks of my first attempt.

In my second try, I placed the plank that goes over the frames (painted red), then the one that goes under, and then 6 frames that go in-between those, which you can see in the second photo and are unpainted. Then I started cutting pieces of wood to the precise length to fit between frames. A snug fit to make the frames more stable, and glued side to side of the bottom plank . The metal frames will have to be sanded/filed down later to make them flush with the first planking. The problem I am seeing now is that the vertical distance between the top and bottom planks is not exactly the width of 2 of the planks, so a gap is going to happen between the upper plank and the next. I foresee a lot of wood filler to be used here. (sigh) 

I hope this makes sense!!!

 

Thanks for your comment.

[Ulises Victoria]

Nigel. Indeed. What you say about the vertical planks is something mentioned in the instructions. I did not do it because I felt the frames were epoxied and very firmly placed that I though there was no need to reinforce them, BUT... you are quite right regarding the support for the in-between planks. I may not be too late to start doing that.

Thanks for your comment.

[Sjors]

Thanks Ulises,

 

And thanks Nigel.

 

I understand all of it.

And I must say...I love the idea what Nigel is telling you.

So let me see the final result   

 

Sjors

[dgbot]

One of the things you might try is filling in around the ports.  Using balsa or another soft wood as a filler.  I might take awhile but would probably be worth it down road.

David B

[marktiedens]

Hello Ulises

 

If I remember right I think I first filed the metal frames down to the level of the bulkheads - then laid the planking on top of the edges of the metal frames. It seemed easier to me to "fair" the metal frames first.

 

regards,Mark

[Ulises Victoria]

Thanks Ulises,

 

And thanks Nigel.

 

I understand all of it.

And I must say...I love the idea what Nigel is telling you.

So let me see the final result   

 

Sjors

Thanks Sjors. I just placed the vertical supports behind the planks I already have. Photos to follow pro'lly tomorrow.

 

One of the things you might try is filling in around the ports.  Using balsa or another soft wood as a filler.  I might take awhile but would probably be worth it down road.

David B

Thanks David. My problem will be to fill the gap that certainly will be between the top and next plank. I'll post some photos later.

 

Hello Ulises

 

If I remember right I think I first filed the metal frames down to the level of the bulkheads - then laid the planking on top of the edges of the metal frames. It seemed easier to me to "fair" the metal frames first.

 

regards,Mark

Thank you Mark. I think I will have more trouble with your approach. It may be more work, but I think that filing the metal frames after the first planking is laid, will allow me for a smoother finish.

 

I sincerely thank all and every response.

Ulises