Oh my oh my! I'm really enjoying your build and as I go through your pics, have to remind myself I'm not looking at the real thing! Fantastic!
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I think that's a really sensible way to go, and is changing my mind on what I've done in the past. Rarely (never?) is the actual loading known, and filling the hold covers a lot of detail otherwise visible. I will definitely consider this in my coming build. If I want to be "realistic" about it, I'll just imagine they just started loading the ship, not that it just left port. ;-)I’m not going to do more barrels. I just want to hint that the hold contained barrels, but not fill it up as it would have been when at sea.





I think /most/ ships would have been packed to the rafters when leaving port. I'm just saying that I don't necessarily want to model it that way next time.Signet, I think smaller frigates like La Renommee might have had a crew of 150 to 250, so the ship must have been packed to the rafters when leaving port.










Awesome work!!Billy, thanks for your kind words. I’m trying believe me and I’m glad you’re enjoying following La Renommee.
Signet, I think smaller frigates like La Renommee might have had a crew of 150 to 250, so the ship must have been packed to the rafters when leaving port.
Paul, modelling is a pretty solitary pastime, so thank you for your support throughout this project.
I have been building the frame which sits over the mast well and the bilge pumps.
The mast wedges are CNC cut and are really nice, complete with curved inner surfaces:
View attachment 617913
The bilge pumps have a wooden body (elm?) with photo etch details, including what looks like a strainer at the bottom:
View attachment 617914
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The mast frame has a small lip on each long side and I chosen to sit it into the beams. The CAF plans suggest there is planking, but that it is somehow different to the rest of the deck. Boudroit shows a similar arrangement. In my mind, this would be consistent with having the deck slightly raised around the mast.
Kind regards
Salty

Beautiful work! Love it!And here is the rest of the framing for the lower deck:
View attachment 618974
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As you can see, the spare anchor is lashed to a post. It was a nice casting and needed only a little cleaning up. The shank had a slight curve, but that was easily fixed as well.
The anchor cables are also in place:
View attachment 618976
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The cable in the kit was quite nice, so decided to use it. Each one is about 1.2 meters long which seems like a lot, but it’s only about a quarter as long as would actually be needed in scale as cables on French ships were about 195 meters long!! I had to use quite a lot of white glue mixed with water to get the cables into the coils. I then mounted them on a base of plastic card so they hopefully won’t unravel. There still a lot of building left to do and no way of repairing the coil after the lower deck is in place.
Kind regards
Salty
The stories I have heard of WWII subs from both sides and how they load all spaces with canned foods as the fresh food is stored where its used first. I have heard guys say they walked on boxes of canned food for weeks in subs until the stuff get consumed.I think /most/ ships would have been packed to the rafters when leaving port. I'm just saying that I don't necessarily want to model it that way next time.

