A little bit about carving and a Sovereign of the seas model hand carved in pearwood, in scale 1:72

[schifferlbauer]

Hi
Talking about carving is not so easy, because there are a lot of differet opinions, but first to a special man and his special Model of the Sovereign Of the seas.

Our Vienna group of model builders had no artists, but well craftsman and one of these guys was Wolfgang Rotter. One day, by a Model Exhibition he told me
there was a beautifull wooden modelkit of the Sovereign of the seas 1637 and had start to building it. "Wow" He get a little smaler, as I told him, that the kit have
a lot of errors, because he was made after a model in the National Maritime Museum and that this model was built 1830 with a wrong stern . As he asked me
from where I knows, I told him from my research about english ships of the 17th in England. I told him too, that I would help him, if he was ready to carve all
the tiny little figures and decorations needed for the model and I would make him the drawings for his carving work from the two original depictions. One of the
Stern and one of the port side and for the carving on starbord side I have a discription. The only problem was that all pictures shows the model with open gunports
and he want built the model with closed. But I know from my research that there was mask heads for decoration on it.

Fourtin days later he call me and said he was ready.

There are a lot of pictures to post, so I will start with the first one and continue with the details

Willi (schifferlbauer)

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[JArthurD]

Wow! Very impressive detail. Museum quality really. I wouldn’t even know where to start something like this. Thanks for sharing the photos!

 

[Jimsky]

@schifferlbauer As always, Willi (schifferlbauer) Very impressive workmanship I have mentioned your super-high skills many times. Sometime you will no see such great quality of models even in museums. Many thanks for sharing your experience with us.

 

[schifferlbauer]

Thank´s a lot
I will soon continue whit detail picteure of the model decoration and some words about the problems.

Willi (schifferlbauer)

 

[janos]

Beautiful work! Are the figures gold leafed or painted?
Janos

 

[schifferlbauer]

Hi Janos
The are not gold leaved like my York, but painted with real gold dust colour.

Willi (schifferlbauer)

 

[Moxis]

Amazing if the guy has made all those carvings in only fourteen days (as I understood from your text). I wonder with which method has he made the carvings, manually with small chisels or with a rotary tool?

 

[modelshipwright]

I take my hat off to anyone who attempts to carve the Sovereign sculptures and this is an example of a very well done attempt. Just beautiful.

Bill

 

[janos]

Amazing if the guy has made all those carvings in only fourteen days (as I understood from your text). I wonder with which method has he made the carvings, manually with small chisels or with a rotary tool?

The text says that but I very much doubt that the SoS carvings could have been done in 2 weeks time... unless we are talking about a repetitive CNC process, which must have been started with a modelling phase, lasting for months and other preparations.
Janos

 

[schifferlbauer]

May be ,it was my error, but it means he was ready to build the model, not that it was finnished. To finished the model it needs five Years.

Willi (schifferlbauer)

 

[schifferlbauer]

Sovereign of the seas
The decoration from the first step to the finishView attachment 104134

 

[schifferlbauer]

By the drawings along the ship side, for me it was necessary to use the Van de Velde drawing of the ship,what I have it in a good big siz,e
because the picture of Payne was to smal to see details of the figures.

 

[schifferlbauer]

It was hard for my eyes to find out, what some figures shows, because the all are very small on the Van de Velde drawing.
And also not easy to draw, because some times the peak of the pencil was to thick fore good details. So I must made
some detalils in a biger size, to show Wolfgang what he must carve.

 

[schifferlbauer]

Days, weeks, months and Years go by and it was fine to see the work by wolfgangs Sovereign model.

 

[schifferlbauer]

The carvings are done and looks very fine. Only the figurehead make problems, because Payns drawing of the figurehead show not all three dimensions
Wolfgang needed to carve it. So I make him different drawings. The Kings what lay down on flor, the horse and King Edgar, all from both sides.

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[Norway]

Incredibly fine work.

 

[schifferlbauer]

Close ups of the figurehead

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[schifferlbauer]

The figurehead was put on the peak and the bellfry was the next to be build. The problem was no body knows extact how the look like.
By my researches in Oxford and St. Magdalene college in Cambridge I have found a piece of adwice that four animals was placed on the corners
of the bellfry . The hold the shields of the house Lancaster, York, Tudor and Stuart

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[schifferlbauer]

Now the end was near and wolfagang and I was proud what we have done.

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[schifferlbauer]

Fore the next work, the installing of the channels, my help was no necessary and so I make the drawings of maskheads for the outside of the gunport lids.
This maskheads are only shown of the first design drawing of the ship.

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