The Ship Model Forum

Utterly superb work. Love the thinking behind, as well as the final result, of that mizzenmast.

Hello Marijn
I'm eagerly following this thread, your work is fantastic! I would like to share with you a sensation I have when looking at these in-progress photographs, but please keep in mind it is just my point of view and I'm the first to say it could have absolutely-zero value: the first impression I have when looking at the deck is it is still too tidy. I think that this is due to the lack of small-scale debris- for an example if a cannon ball hits a wooden structure it probably produces a rain of splinters that should produce a messy look on the deck nearby, the same applies for the broken mizzen mast, or the (eventually) damaged gun mounts. I understand that this kind of debris is so small in scale that it is difficult to reproduce (perhaps some scaly sand could do?). What do you think?
Again compliments, what you do really is the very peak of modelling art
Ciao Stefano

Thank you very much Willie, Dan and Stefano!


Stefano, of course your point of view does have have value. And in fact, I agree completely with you!
The problem is much more apperent on enlarged photographs; in the flesh the busy feel of the decks makes it less obvious. But still...
I had hoped to reproduce this with paintwork. But unfortunately, when I tried, the dusty tones turn out too close to the colours of the deck. Because of that, the 'dirt' is not visible but only removes the dark seams between the planks, and the result just looks like badly painted deck...

So, maybe I should try with something with a texture indeed? I will think about what to use! But any suggestions are certainly welcome.
For the splinters, I have used tiny fragments from splintered toothpicks. With real wood splinters, I don't think I can get any smaller than what is already on the model. Most sand will look too grainy I think. Maybe I can try (coarse) sawdust?

Not sure that small debris would really add to the realistic look. We don't really know what such debris would look like and how it distributes over the deck.

Concerning the material, I would think that sawdust would be coarse and sanding dust doesn't have the right shape. Perhaps one should look into some dried herbs or other plants that are sort of 'spikey', rather than 'leafy'. Dill came to my mind, but it is dark green, while you would need something more or less wood coloured. Perhaps one could treat the dill with bleach/javel and thoroughly rinse it?

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Eberhard

Former chairman Arbeitskreis historischer Schiffbau e.V. (German Association for Shipbuilding History)

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Jaw-dropping! Bravissimo!!



Probably a blasphemy: how about crushed graphite from a pencil lead? Sufficiently stiff as to simulate small splinters, but don't know how much small you can get to and how graphite would take painting. It needs a thorough feasibility study first.

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all very very good!

The mast, platform and spar look very good
Ratlines look very superb indeed
BRAVO--their delicacy is excellent

question--

Futtock shrouds from Platform to ratlines-- still to come?

EDIT JIM B-- I have looked closer--and of course the (damaged futtock ) shrouds are there...
doh!"

and ....apropos spar.... is it missing its footropes? or still to come?

I am also at the rigging stage--( there is awful lot of string o -isn't there...!!!! )
hence ....

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I think you nailed that mast tension, it looks "heavy". Well done!

Yeah, I mean well done doesn't really cut it but english language isnt strong enough to convey how utterly awesome this artwork is.

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- @Shipific on IG
my gallery

Hi Marijn...

Busy, busyer, more and more interesting to watch for the small details and "micro-stories" in the deck!
On the subject of small debris:
IMHO it would be overkill to add it to the scene! As you wrote before, it would only make it like a bad painted area of the deck.
Eventually, if you care to try in again, why not using chalk pastel (scrapped from the pastel stick with a fresh x-acto/scalpel blade)?
You'll get some dust, some bigger fragments and you can display them according to the hit paterns you need and they also are available in different colors.

As I have said before: THIS IS EPIC!
Thank you for sharing your progresses!

Cheers,
Rui

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Ship Modelers of the World UNITE

This is a good suggestion, and you can also go with patches of debris that is removable, as a test. So you can set debris on some sticky tape, set them on deck in places and see if it looks like clutter or badly painted deck. debris can be lighter than then deck but with some shading here and there on edges to make it stand out. The chalk thats scraped is probably something id do also, or you know, just scrap stuff from your work area, all that stuff that languishes on the cutting mat and see if just gathering it up will give you that random clutter. And if it sucks - remove, no harm done. Personally, I would try it.

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- @Shipific on IG
my gallery

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Amen dico tibi, hodie mecum eris in paradiso (Lk 23,43).

Thank you everyone for all the positive input!

Willie does have a point: things are really really small at this scale. For example, any kind of dried herbs/spices would be way too big for this purpose, as these are the size of the middle-sized splinters I already put on the decks.
For the finer dirt, we are really looking for something dust-sized.

But I could try to crush dried herbs further and use that 'powder'? There would probably be a nice range of sizes from dust to the tiniest flakes.
Colour is not an issue. That's what paint is for!

I do like the idea of pastels too. I'm only worried about it's 'dissolvability' when trying to fixate it. But some tests can hopefully prove me wrong.
Graphite may be more sturdy, but it would maybe be harder to paint without any of the graphite seeping into the colour?

Ok, I'll try some stuff. If it doens't work, I can still leave it as is.


Jim, thank you very much!
I simply forgot about the footropes! Doh!
I remember thinking about them, and that maybe they would not be used on the crossjack yard, and that I should check Lees. And then I just forgot... Stupid!
Indeed, so many ropes... Easy to forget something!

I checked Lees, and 'on some ships footropes were not used on the crossjack', but it seems on most ships it was (with only two stirups on each side), so I should still add them. That would of course have been much easier before gluing the yard to the mast and installing the lifts etc. ... I'll first have a good think how to tackle that!

Don't tell anyone , but while the futtock shrouds are present (damaged) the catharpins are not. I omitted them on purpose, because they will interfere too much with the placement of the spanker gaff in the future (pushed upwards on the mast in the fall).

Are colouring pencils graphite too?
I was wondering if something like this scraped and beaten up would allow the correct size and colour?

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Tom

Magnificent.

Bofors tested replica guns from Vasa.

Videos are still in YouTube.

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Mikko Saarela

Measure twice, cut once. Measuring once could be quicker...

"is it missing its footropes?"

Footropes could sometimes be removed before the battle? It made it harder for the enemy to try to board the ship as one of the methods was to tie the tackle of the ships to each other. And also
to occupy the high ground in the masts.

Regards,

Jari

No progress reported here since the end of November. I hope there are no serious reasons behind this !

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Eberhard

Former chairman Arbeitskreis historischer Schiffbau e.V. (German Association for Shipbuilding History)

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This was visible on Marijn's KMK club table at the M-KLB happening in Puurs a few weeks ago

Thanks Steven!

And thank you for the concern Eberhard!
But luckily there are no serious reasons for the lack of updates. It is just my laziness to take progress photos!

I have been busy modelling, but doing more of the same: converting and painting another 150-ish figures and installing them, their equipment and some rubble on Redoutable (the second ship).

The figures are very time-consuming, so that has kept me busy for the last 3 months. I had intended to take in-progress photos along the way, maybe showing some step-by-step how I paint figures, but then I was in the flow of the modelling and I didn't...
I also still have to take some photos of how it looks like now, but I will do that one of the next days. So, an update is coming soon!

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Eberhard

Former chairman Arbeitskreis historischer Schiffbau e.V. (German Association for Shipbuilding History)

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As promised, a long overdue update!

All figures for the upper decks of Redoutable have been converted, painted, and installed Except for 4 figures on the beakhead; they will only be installed after bowsprit etc. are fixed. I also added their equipment and some rubble:


This is the main action: the men of Redoutable amassing in an attempt to board Victory:


At the gap in the netting, one of the big anchors will be stuck between both ships, offering a means to bridge the gap. But Vic’s men are ready at the other end…






Captain Lucas overviewing the action with some of his officers:


BTW, the wounded sailor being carried away by two comrades is one of my favourite conversions of the project!

More action on the poop deck:




And on the quarterdeck:


And the forecastle:


It’s always nice to create a little connection between the action on the different deck levels:


People who see it in the flesh keep telling me that it is so much smaller than they imagined from the photographs (even people who are used to 1/300 – 1/350), so here is one last shot, including my thumb:



Next up: masts and rigging!

Gulliver on steroids.

I'm going to reiterate my thought on a "deck" cam of sorts. All that work, all that detail, and so hard to see from any distance. Either that, or a photo display. Think about it, Marijn.