french 64-gunner LE FLEURON in scale 1:48 by Joachim

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A german friend is building the Le Fleuron based on the drawing set / monograph by our member Gerard @G. DELACROIX
Last spring I met Joachim and had the chance to see his model under construction.
Based on his request I was asked to open this topic, where he can start to show hie building log of his interesting model.

For now I can show the status of his model in spring


During this meeting Joachim´s Le FLEURON met my La SALAMANDRE

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Here the planset review of the monograph:


So stay tuned - Joachim will post soon and show his model in much more details
 
Dear guys,
my name is Joachim and I am a german modelship-"maker" and I live near of Frankfurt. I started with these ships as I was young with plastic models of Revell. As I was about twenty, I saw my first wood-kit of a ship from Corel in Milano, Italy. I bought it instantly and the next ten years I had fun with it. After that I built two more kits: the sovereign oft the seas and the Wappen of Hamburg. I always thought, these models are nice, but inside, they are not original. And about 5 years ago, I found in the internet the first pictures of plank on frame-models. I was excited and I bought many books with plans from the US and France. Meanwhile, I am building for two years Le Fleuron, a French ship with two canon-decks of 1729. At time I am setting more than ca. 6000 nails at the outside of the ship, most actual pictures you can see on the german internt page https://www.segelschiffsmodellbau.com/t5665f581-Le-Fleuron-Vaisseau-de-canons-plank-on-frame.html, but for english speaking guys, thats maybe no fun. In this english forum I will show you at first the beginning of this ship: The keel with deadwood and so on. I place also a picture of the finished Wappen of Hamburg. Time after time I will show you the progress.

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I have been working at Fleuron since Christmas 2016. I would like to document the construction progress of Le Fleuron in our forum. I started with the first components ofthe keel. Every single part is unique! I reckon with about 10 years of construction
The wood is pear tree. I bought it from Frank Horschig, Berlin (www.modellbau-holzleisten.de)

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The individual keel parts are milled to fit together.

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Then comes the bow with the ship's beak. Without a milling cutter, disc sander, scroll saw and cylindrical sander for the drill, small gaps would be difficult. Sometimes the last 100th of mm is still looped and filed

The challenge is to grind the parts at the bow so that they fit together with the smallest possible gap. The final grinding is about 10ths of a millimeter. If it fits then the joy in every single part is great. It becomes tricky when several parts lie behind each other and then everything has to fit together, as at the bow, for example.

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Progress in January 2017

After the keel is ready, I continue with the bow. All 20 bow fill frames are cut out. The front double bulkhead is set, the fitting is a bit tricky, as the keel rises underneath, so it is not straight. After that, the first filler frame for the bow is attached at a 90 degree angle to the foremost double frame, which I first had to mill to the correct thickness.

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After that it gets even trickier. At the very bottom between the keel, the foremost double bulkhead and the first filler frame, a filler wood is installed on which 10 filler frames sit and form the bow. The filling wood then carries the filling ribs, but at two different levels. Three go lower, 7 further up. Only because of the plan difficult to guess what that looks like in reality. Thank goodness there are many construction pictures on the internet about the Fleuron, so that after three tries and a lot of tasting I then modeled the two filling woods from pear (sawing and milling and grinding). Completely sanded the filler wood with the filler frames at the bow then only when the bow is closed.

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On French websites, another great master has photographed the ship and the galeonsfigure very well from all sides. I took part in a course of a carver, we measured the figure in the photos and then roughly transferred to the wood. Since the figure is indeed put on the keel, I mill a corresponding groove in it. This would be difficult later on, because the finished figure can no longer be clamped (too filigree).

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The bow is difficult and the two filling woods for picking up the bow timbers are very difficult. I made them three times bigger each time. Nothing annoying than too small and then you have a "hole" in the bow after grinding. Then I cut out the individual 10 bow frames (for each side), removed the thickness with my disc sander and then sanded each frame with a sander so that it tapers to the side of the ship from both sides. 10 frames put together have to give an angle of 90 degrees at the bow. The foremost part of the bug has no gaps between the frames.
When grinding, you have to be careful that you do not press too hard against the grinder. Then you remove to much wood. But I get routine here, only very carefully to hold wooden parts against the grinder, then very little material is removed and there is no unwanted tilting when grinding. Grinding by hand is almost even more difficult an nearly impossible: straight surfaces are almost impossible to grind. Often, the part is round and when glued together with other parts arise gaps.

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Here you see the filler: It takes on two levels the timbers of the bow and is now beautifully honed in shape.

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Now I set the other frames behind this closed nose piece. They also belong to the bow and widen enormously strong towards the ship's center. I was already in doubt, if I do not get "steps" between the individual frames. After the first sanding I realized, that a hull form arised around the bow :) But I'm not finished with the sanding yet. For grinding I take my Proxxon micro drill with abrasive sleeves. Goes great. The consumption of the abrasive sleeves is also enormous, I have now ordered 200 at Amazon for 20 euros, coming from China soon. The galion is not yet stuck, but wanted to test again that the stem has not bent (he has not :)).

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And my carving course continued: The figurehead takes shape. Without my master Mr. Zimmermann, I could probably not carve a whole figure in this quality. He is an absolute professional, restored church decorations, church figures, antique furniture and is thrilled by the Fleuron. We have carved faces in the course before and that alone is definitely 100 steps. Such a figure is even more complex than just a face. Clothes, arms, shoes, etc. Next time, he gets the finishing touch and then he will take a seat at the bow :) I'm curious.

The figure is made out of boxwood. The wood is so hard that you can hardly carve it with normal carving knives. They almost do not go into the wood and are quickly dull. That's why we also use a micro mill. The interim result came after six hours of work. Boxwood is slightly yellowish and goes great with the reddish pear tree.

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I continue rib for rib (is that the right word for the german word Spant?). Each consists of two halves with about 7 pieces. The hull ist now of course, still a bit rough, I will sand it later.

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I have built now a real slipway. I always asked myself if that is really necessary. But it is necessary. With the slipway the frames sit in the middle and they are not crooked. My slipway construction sits in the middle directly on the keel, so it is centered (in the bottom of the slipway is a groove so that it can stand on the keel). At the top of the slipway sits a sturdy pear-tree stick with cm-indications: In consequence the frames sit also in higher positions in the middle and the hull does not bend.


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Meanwhile (June 2017), I have set 32 frames: Half of the length is done :) Pretty beautiful diligence. Today I turned the half of the hull once more and sanded it with a srewdriver with sanding roller and smudge paper for a "half" day. It starts looking like a ship :)

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January 2018: After a year of construction I have arrived at the last frame. I attach a few impressions. I am sanding inside and outside again and again. That's not done all at once. At the front of the bow she is getting more and more shape. Inside, I've already sanded but there is still much to do. At the rear I started to grind. Next steps: With the last frame I will build the stern. That's my turn. After that , the counter keel inside will be built and the interior lining begins. Maybe some outside planks will be set. Just take a look.

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Now the stern is being set up. The two halves of the last frame are not yet glued together, as in the rear half of the spanner another component will still protrude and so I still have to remove material in this half. For the time being, I do not glue the other rear parts, I'll see how they fit together.

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Now the lower part of the rear is installed, glued and already a bit polished (I sanded over an hour, pear is very hard). Take a good cordless screwdriver with sanding attachments for sanding. So you can also sand curves on the hull very well.

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March 2018: I did not like the bow and so I have completely rebuilt the bow again. The old one had become thinner and thinner due to the grinding, it lacked some material inside and outside and I wasn't satisfied with its shape. For the new one, I have cut out the 2x10 frames of the bow larger from the wooden board to have more reserves inside and outside after sanding.
After Easter I first have to order new wood for the interior and planking, I will begin the next step of construction.

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Old one and new one :)

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June 2018: yes, that this new bow is much more better :)

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Three months have passed again. Above all, I sanded a lot. Many hours. Especially the bow, inside and out, as well as the rear inside.
Then I marked the cannon hatches and reinforced the surrounding gaps in the hull with filling wood. The hull is thus much more stable. The first two planks are also now attached. So far, I have always struggled with bending the timber. This time I put the individual bars in a pot for 45 minutes with slightly cooking water. The wood can then be bent without great effort in all directions without splintering. I noticed the 45 minutes in a film of a carpenter who bends wood for chairs.

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My steam-pot :)

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I also created the hatches for the lower cannon deck.

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November 2018: The cannon hatches are ready. Now it goes on with the interior. Wooden strips, that carry the deck beams, are set. The correct height of the load-bearing strips is important. First of all, I have marked the height according to plan in some places from the outside and transferred it inwards. Then I verified again the result by measuring the distance of the cannon hatch to the beam-carrying strip inside.

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December 2018: Now the lowest area inside is planked around the keelson. The planks rejuvenate towards the bow and the stern. The exact width of the planks on the respective chip can be taken very well from the plans. With a ruler, I draw the taper on the bar and then I sand the plank with the disc sander.

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The planking in the ship's floor continues. Now I start with the lateral reinforcements of the planks in the lower hull.

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I will show you soon the progress of 2019 with new pictures, but now it is already midnight :)
 
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