Le Saint Philippe 1693 after Jean-Claude Lemineur (Ancre) in scale 1:48

[Steef66]

To quote a Russian proverb: the eyes are afraid, but the hands are doing.

Or like Benjamin Franklin said: "Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried with fewer tensions and more tolerance".

 

[RussF]

Thanks, Russ. Nothing past 220 at this point.

That's amazing. I expected you to say 600 or 800!

 

[dockattner]

That's amazing. I expected you to say 600 or 800!

With a light hand 220 does a pretty creditable job on hardwoods. There will need to be some additional sanding or scraping down the road...

 

[Bluemaxone]

Hello Friends!

After a bit of an internal struggle as to whether or not I wanted to create another build report, here I am back in a familiar spot (but on an unfamiliar side of the forum).

One of my particular flaws is I don’t like to do the same thing twice. My first ship model was a plank-on-bulkhead adaptation of the DeAgostini Vasa. Next, I was privileged to get my hands on the discontinued Lauck Street Shipyard plank-on-frame Kingfisher. If you are familiar with those build reports, you know I am very comfortable modifying/replacing/adding to the kit parts to make the model my very own – scratch building felt like a natural extension.

So that’s one fully rigged 17th century galleon, and one unrigged 18th century swan class admiralty model. Each of these are prominently displayed in my house and are summarily ignored by most everyone who enters . Good thing I build for the enjoyment of the process rather than the response I get to the final product .

This current project will be a stern section model of the French warship Saint Philippe – primarily in European pearwood. It will be fully finished on the exterior – and left in frames on the interior (that is, there will not be any planking or build-out on the open interior of the hull).

FAQ

Why a stern section model rather than the whole ship?

Several thoughts come to mind here. First, the entire ship is beyond my current level of experience and knowledge. Mr. Lemineur’s monograph is famously difficult to interpret. Michele Padoan is currently building this ship, and we all know that I am no Michele Padoan. Nigel Brook has started this model in 1:36 but has set it aside in favor of other projects (and we all know that I am no NMBrook). Concurrent with the development of the monograph two builders also completed this ship and a few photographs of those models accompany the monograph but there are no construction diaries. I am unaware of anyone else successfully completing the Saint Philippe in POF (though I am not on many international forums).

Second, I am not really wanting to take on an 8 to10 year project right now. There are other ships I want to build if God allows me to linger…


Why a stern section of the Saint Philippe?

This is a beautiful ship. As a flag-carrying vessel of King Louis XIV she sits alongside the Royal Louis and the Soleil Royal as representative of a special time in French ship-building history. The ornate stern will require my best work and the challenge appeals to me.


Why not simply build plank-on-bulkhead and finish out the interior?

I believe there is much to be gained by forcing myself to learn how to read plans and fabricate parts from scratch. Surely the experience will make future projects more approachable.


Why build to 1:48 scale?

In one sense, a 1:36 presentation would allow me to get the most out of the stern décor. At 1:48 there will be some compromises. But even at 1:48 this is still a fairly large model, and the space necessary to display it is a factor to be considered. Plus, the Kingfisher was built to 1:48 and I think this will be an effective comparison of relative ship size.

To be continued...

I get the same reaction from visitors...90% have no perception of the craft and details. They walk right on by. I think it has to do with the degree of artistic sensibility. At first this shocked me, but by now I have grown to expect it. It doesn't bother me any more.

 

[dockattner]

I get the same reaction from visitors...90% have no perception of the craft and details. They walk right on by. I think it has to do with the degree of artistic sensibility. At first this shocked me, but by now I have grown to expect it. It doesn't bother me any more.

Plus what we do is more than a little esoteric...

 

[Peter Voogt]

I had the day off today, so there was bonus time in the shipyard.

This now brings the previously aborted fabrication of rider frames and flat crotches to a satisfying conclusion (notwithstanding the part where I sanded off a little bit of my finger ).

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Everything is just sitting there loose and will now be removed to a safe place pending final installation.

Next up: back to the monograph to research stern planking along with the wales and hull planking.

Thanks for stopping by!

You obviously know how you can please us with you pictures of your build, Paul. It looks very very nice.
Regards, Peter

 

[dockattner]

You obviously know how you can please us with you pictures of your build, Paul. It looks very very nice.
Regards, Peter

Thanks, Peter. She is not camera shy...

 

[dockattner]

A rather small posting that represents quite a lot of work.

Veterans of this build report know that I am using European Pear on this model. I purchased full sized boards (8"-12" wide and 40"-48" inches long) that had been roughly planed to about 1" thickness (notably at great expense, but I wanted to use pear). I have never been much of a woodworker so processing billets suitable for building a ship model was quite a learning experience. When the boys who were destined to one day become real men were taking shop classes in school, I was dissecting frogs... Plus, I have an unhealthy fear of machines that can cut my fingers off faster than I can talk them out of it (this actually happened this past year to a local orthodontic colleague).

Anyway, at the outset of this little project, I processed three of those large boards and thought I had included billets for exterior planking. Alas, I must have talked myself out of that because they don't exist in my (dwindling) pile of wood billets.

All this to say that I spent the last two days in my garage processing an additional large board. Now I have more billets...and I have these strips of wood:



From the top down: planking destined for the upper half of the hull - specialty sizes that fit between certain pairs of wales - seven different sizes of wales (these are from steamed pear) - some thicker hull planks that will end up below the lowest wale - and the planks for the bottom of the ship.

I did my best to estimate how many of these strakes to make - I hope I got it right...



No, you may not ask me to process planks for you . It IS sort of fun, and quite satisfying - but I finished with the same number of fingers I started with and I'm not about to risk fate unless absolutely necessary.

I'm off to measure wale locations on plans - and I might just have a small glass of wine to celebrate my current finger count...

 

[Jack Sparrow]

I can't imagine what it must be like to do all that work. I too have a healthy fear of machine tools. but it is so darn fun to use them; especially the automated ones. lol

 

[kuba91nt]

It's good that wine is held with different fingers than a shot of vodka. There are always options, with or without one finger Good clean cuts, i like it.

 

[dockattner]

Thanks, Cap'n Jack. Well, I can tell you it took me about 8-9 hours because of the number of different machines involved and the cautious pace I use when around them.

 

[OlivierF]

I am using European Pear on this model.

Hi Paul, I went back through your build log to check and may have missed it, but will you share where you got the European Pear? How is it different from Swiss pear or for that matter domestic pear like Bradford pear? Thanks!

 

[dockattner]

Hi Paul, I went back through your build log to check and may have missed it, but will you share where you got the European Pear? How is it different from Swiss pear or for that matter domestic pear like Bradford pear? Thanks!

Hi Oliver. If you are talking about bulk European pear wood I found it domestically at Gilmer Woods and Rare Woods USA. I can also give you some international suppliers and even a few who will sell you billets or strips already processed.

Bradford pear is a softwood. European pear is a hardwood. I have always thought of European Pear and Swiss Pear as synonymous, but they may not be.

 

[rtwpsom2]

I just found this website (Hearne Hardwood) which is quoting 4/4 European Pear for $12 a board foot. I sent a request for a quote and we'll see how it goes.

 

[Daniel20]

Looking good Paul. Measure twice cut once applies to the wood not the fingers (unless you have too many fingers).

 

[dockattner]

I just found this website (Hearne Hardwood) which is quoting 4/4 European Pear for $12 a board foot. I sent a request for a quote and we'll see how it goes.

I remember looking at this place too, but I wasn't able to see what I was buying so I moved on with my research. You can see what you are buying at the two I mentioned and that was very helpful.

I'm eager to hear what you learn...

 

[dockattner]

Looking good Paul. Measure twice cut once applies to the wood not the fingers (unless you have too many fingers).

Nope. God provided me with his perfect number of fingers, and I don't want to question his wisdom by changing anything.

 

[rtwpsom2]

Well, God also sent you into the world butt nekkid and you double guessed him there. Much to our immense relief.

 

[dockattner]

Well, God also sent you into the world butt nekkid and you double guessed him there.

Who says I don't model nekkid... Oh my, what a visual ...