Ragusian Carrack by jack.aubrey - Marisstella - 1:59 scale [COMPLETED BUILD]

[jack.aubrey]

I made a compilation of posts spanning from May to September just to describe the events happened in this long period of time without modelling. Hoping you understand my thought, Jack.

Thursday 3 May 2018

In view of my return to Cinisello Balsamo, planned for Friday, May 11th after eight months in Tuscany, I packed all the necessary material for the Ragusian Carrack I have here in Pisa.

Thursday 10 May 2018

But, as a old italian proverb says, "the devil makes the pots but not the lids", and so a unplanned problem was born that forces me to postpone my return, probably until mid-June.

Consequence of this is that I am forced to keep the shipyard closed for longer than I thought, so do not expect further progress on this log for some time, at least until the second half of June.

Best regards, Jack.

Friday, September 14th, 2018

Hi friends,

After a long absence from this forum and shipmodeling in general I'm now, finally, free to restart the "Ragusian Carrack" shipyard.
I stopped shipmodelling beginning of May and I'm trying first to define a preliminary activity plan: I've forgotten a lot of issues and so I need to replan the next task of the project.

As soon as possible I'll resume posting on this forum.

Regards, Jack.Aubrey

Tuesday 18 September 2018

Finally, after months of total inactivity, on Monday, September 17 I started working again . .
The work is now aimed to prepare the hull to receive the second planking: there is to perform the final sanding of the hull but also many other minor tasks that must be started before applying the second layer.
I therefore focused on the prow and the foredeck, where there is still much to do.

To begin I refined all the details left rough on the foredeck.

01 Ragusian Carrack/19092018/IMG_20180919_102258.jpg

Then I started to prepare the grating at prow by assembling the elements supplied in the Marisstella kit and then joining them together to form a surface suitable for the required shape. In the picture below the composite of the grating and the template that will serve to shape the finished piece.

02 Ragusian Carrack/19092018/IMG_20180919_102221.jpg

Thursday 20 September 2018

Having in mind the latest photos of the central area of the model I took months ago, it is clear that the new details added and visible in the picture below should be applied now, so as to cover them with the second planking. The pre-cut pieces have been modified to adapt them to my model.

01 Ragusian Carrack/20092018/IMG_20180920_162148.jpg

I then finished the prow grating, shaped appropriately and finally I fixed it in position . . but there is still a lot to do, so the situation here is still evolving.

02 Ragusian Carrack/20092018/IMG_20180920_162310.jpg

03 Ragusian Carrack/20092018/IMG_20180920_162136.jpg

04 Ragusian Carrack/20092018/IMG_20180920_162121.jpg

That's all for now, though not much.
See you next time, Jack.Aubrey.

 

[jack.aubrey]

Saturday, September 22, 2018

Small update . .

01 Ragusian Carrack/22092018/IMG_20180922_082537.jpg

02 Ragusian Carrack/22092018/IMG_20180922_082552.jpg

 

[jack.aubrey]

Tuesday 25 September 2018

Last night, around 10:00 pm a fire broke out, most probably of malicious origin, on Monte Serra, north-east of Pisa, near the small town of Calci. The damages are huge and incalculable, it seems there are 700 people evacuated and the fire is still ongoing, thanks to a strong wind that hinders the operations of firefighters and firefighting aircrafts.

Calci is the country in Tuscany where I spent 9 months, before returning to Cinisello (Milan) at the end of June and where I plan to return the month of December to spend there winter and spring. It is the place where I started to build the Ragusian Carrack, the subject of this topic.

What a mess . . I have no words

01 IncendioDiCalci/incendio-monte-serra-4-1-640x564.jpg

02 IncendioDiCalci/incendio-monte-serra-27-640x480.jpg

03 IncendioDiCalci/2060_8f76e9f43f7733733dcef7e67e4997c0.JPG

04 IncendioDiCalci/IMG-20180925-WA0030.jpg

05 IncendioDiCalci/5b69b1be20c11.jpeg

 

[jack.aubrey]

Two days later, the damages seem huge: a thousand hectares of forest, vineyards and olive groves went up in smoke.
On September 26th another fire broke out about twenty kilometers from Calci, still in the Monti Pisani area.
It seems that it will take at least 5 years to restore the destroyed olive groves and vineyards and even 15 for the wooded area.
Not to forget homes, animals and flora and fauna biodiversity that will disappear.
When I'll come back there in early December it will be a sad day.

 

[Dicas]

Welcome to the reality of the fires with criminal origin.

Here in Portugal we are very familiar with that reality, unfortunately and with human victims. Last year was a catastrophe.

JL

 

[jack.aubrey]

Friday 28 September 2018

After the sadness for the great fire in Calci, luckily without any physical consequences for me (in this period I do not live there) and even for my house (apart from 1cm. of ash deposited on the terrace and shutters) I resumed work on the Carrack.

A first attempt of the second planking, in the area of the forecastle . .

01 Ragusian Carrack/28092018/IMG_20180927_181334.jpg

The lower supports of the foredeck . .

02 Ragusian Carrack/28092018/IMG_20180927_181342.jpg

Next activities will still be focused on the foredeck, where there is much to do and helps me to get familiar with the model . .

03 Ragusian Carrack/28092018/IMG_20180928_123951.jpg

Below three images of how the model looks like now . . including one of my four feline assistants.

04 Ragusian Carrack/28092018/IMG_20180928_124046.jpg

05 Ragusian Carrack/28092018/IMG_20180928_124054.jpg

06 Ragusian Carrack/28092018/IMG_20180928_124105.jpg

See you next time, Jack.

 

[jack.aubrey]

Friday 5 October 2018

With this new post in practice I've finished working on the foredeck . . . at least until I'll finish the second planking on the whole hull. Only then I will be able to resume works in this area and complete it.

Below are some pictures of the work done.

01 Ragusian Carrack/05102018/IMG_20181005_113703.jpg

02 Ragusian Carrack/05102018/IMG_20181005_113727.jpg

03 Ragusian Carrack/05102018/IMG_20181005_113733.jpg

Small columns made entirely by hand, and they are all of different height, although very little.

04 Ragusian Carrack/05102018/IMG_20181005_113740.jpg

05 Ragusian Carrack/05102018/IMG_20181005_113746.jpg

Now other tasks await me . . I'm spoiled for choice. Need a planning weekend and then I'll restart again next week.

Greetings, Jack.Aubrey

 

[jack.aubrey]

Tuesday, October 9th 2018

Another short update . .

Opening the gunports . . thank goodness they are few because it is a pretty boring activity. I strictly followed the dimensions of the drawing and they are 7mm. per side. Translated in full scale we are talking about openings of about 45 cm per side. Don't you feel them a little small?

01 Ragusian Carrack/09102018/IMG_20181009_175612.jpg


The same ports seen from the inside. Here the work has been longer because the stays and stanchions had to be applied before. I applied a tiny coat of wood oil to see the chromatic effect of the various wood essences.

02 Ragusian Carrack/09102018/IMG_20181009_175551.jpg


Even here I could not resist and I gave a coat of oil . . the wood color immediately appeared.

03 Ragusian Carrack/09102018/IMG_20181009_175559.jpg


See you next time, Jack.

 

[jack.aubrey]

Thursday 17 October 2018

At this point it's mandatory to finish to install the second planking on the external hull and, after, go further with new activities. But, before this, I should finish to refine the ground with a final and accurate sanding of the external hull. Unfortunately I do not want to dust everything and this leads me to delay. So I invented alternative tasks waiting for this will manifests itself.

Building of the ordnance trucks: job of complete rest even if each truck is composed of 9 individual pieces that must be assembled to resemble the finished piece. All the pieces, including the wheels, are obtained from a 2mm walnut board, laser cut. Very well done, it didn't cause any problems. For the moment, I have prepared all the guns planned for the main deck, although I will need only two in a short time.

01 Ragusian Carrack/16102018/IMG_20181016_170402.jpg

02 Ragusian Carrack/16102018/IMG_20181016_170300.jpg

03 Ragusian Carrack/16102018/IMG_20181016_170251.jpg

Then I started to prepare the beams for the next deck, immediately above the main deck. I installed the first two, not disturbing any future activity to see the result. Under this deck there will be two guns. They must be installed before building the deck itself. Plus a ladder and a supporting column between the first two beams.
The idea is to have all the pieces ready for when it will be time to install the deck.

04 Ragusian Carrack/16102018/IMG_20181013_174404.jpg

05 Ragusian Carrack/16102018/IMG_20181015_165535.jpg

06 Ragusian Carrack/16102018/IMG_20181013_174503.jpg

But now there are no more excuses: the next session will be dedicated to finishing the surface of the outer hull and then apply the second planking. Only at the end I will be able to resume work on the new deck.

See you soon, Jack.

 

[jack.aubrey]

Friday 26 October 2018 - the second planking

Having finished all preliminary works, finally, about ten days ago I started to apply the second planking to the hull.
Today the situation of the works is well highlighted in the following images: the whole part of the hull above the main wale are now covered with veneer strips of cherry wood.
There are two areas of joint of the planks, well highlighted in the part of the hull still to be covered.

01 Ragusian Carrack/26/10/2018/IMG_20181026_173115.jpg

02 Ragusian Carrack/26/10/2018/IMG_20181026_173423.jpg

On the right side of the hull I began to finish the gun openings for the four guns onboard. In this case it is only necessary to trim the part covered by the veneer and finish with a pre-cut laser frame included in the kit. In the next photo are visible three of these pieces already installed.

03 Ragusian Carrack/26/10/2018/IMG_20181026_173123.jpg

All the borders have already been finished, as evidenced by these stern details.

04 Ragusian Carrack/26/10/2018/IMG_20181026_173447.jpg

Cheers, Jack.

 

[jack.aubrey]

Friday 26 October 2018 - the second planking, continued . .

I'm adding some other images of the carrack model, nothing new with respect to my yesterday's post. Jack.

01 Ragusian Carrack/26/10/2018/IMG_20181026_173133.jpg

02 Ragusian Carrack/26/10/2018/IMG_20181026_173138.jpg

03 Ragusian Carrack/26/10/2018/IMG_20181026_173546.jpg

04 Ragusian Carrack/26/10/2018/IMG_20181026_173530.jpg

 

[jack.aubrey]

Friday 9 November 2018

The activities around the second planking are still ongoing, even if a bit slowly.
I had an incredible sequence of boring setbacks that didn't allow me to spend more time on this model.
However, the work seems to proceed very well.
See you soon. Jack.

01 Ragusian Carrack/09112018/IMG_20181109_151651.jpg

02 Ragusian Carrack/09112018/IMG_20181109_151727.jpg

03 Ragusian Carrack/09112018/IMG_20181109_151657.jpg

04 Ragusian Carrack/09112018/IMG_20181109_151735.jpg

05 Ragusian Carrack/09112018/IMG_20181109_151712.jpg

 

[jack.aubrey]

Thursday 22 November 2018

Finally I finished to apply the second planking . .

See you soon, Jack.

 

[jack.aubrey]

Friday 23 November 2018

Having finished the second planking, I propose you a nice feast of images.

01 Ragusian Carrack/23112018/IMG_20181123_180740.jpg

02 Ragusian Carrack/23112018/IMG_20181123_180750.jpg

03 Ragusian Carrack/23112018/IMG_20181123_180755.jpg

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07 Ragusian Carrack/23112018/IMG_20181123_180822.jpg

08 Ragusian Carrack/23112018/IMG_20181123_180831.jpg

Now the problem arises of what to do next.

There are several possibilities but I will have to choose the one that I can reasonably complete by December 15th, when I should leave Milan, move to Tuscany and stay there until next spring.

Unlike other times, I'm not going to continue working there, for reasons that are too long to explain here. So I will be forced to suspend work on this model for a few months. For this reason I have to find an activity that can be completed in a couple of weeks or so.

I have to think about it.

We'll see.
Greetings, Jack.

 

[jack.aubrey]

Thursday 6 December 2018

Latest updates: the work done may seem a small thing, but in terms of time the installation of the two guns has taken quite a bit. In short, I decided to proceed with the building of the quarterdeck, over the main deck at poop, and, in order to build it, I had to set up two guns under it. This because they will still be visible.

To avoid that subsequent activities on the outer hull can detach these two guns, I have set in place a series of defensive measures, including that of not protruding outside the barrel of the gun. That's why the two guns are presented in the fully retracted position.

Subsequently I proceeded to complete the installation of the beams above and now remains the application of the planks of the deck to complete the task. I'm thinking to close the deck matter within a week.

See you next time, Jack.

01 Ragusian Carrack/06122018/IMG_20181206_161036.jpg

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[jack.aubrey]

Friday 7 December 2018

The build of the quarterdeck is in progress.
This is the first 4x1.5mm wooden planking. Then the one in Tanganika will follow. The second layer will cover everything, including flaws, like the other decks already completed.

01 Ragusian Carrack/07122018/IMG_20181207_180703.jpg

02 Ragusian Carrack/07122018/IMG_20181207_180720.jpg

 

[jack.aubrey]

Monday 10 December 2018

Update: the deck has taken its definitive appearance, still missing only some details that will follow in the coming days (horizontal planking in tanganika veneer, as for the other decks, waterways, a central column, a ladder and little else).

01 Ragusian Carrack/10122018/IMG_20181210_121453.jpg

02 Ragusian Carrack/10122018/IMG_20181210_121535.jpg

03 Ragusian Carrack/10122018/IMG_20181210_121546.jpg

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05 Ragusian Carrack/10122018/IMG_20181210_121509.jpg

 

[jack.aubrey]

Thursday 13 December 2018

And this new deck is finished too: I applied the second planking and finished the whole with a fine sanding. The result is equivalent to the other three decks.

01 Ragusian Carrack/13122018/IMG_20181213_105343.jpg

I tried to build the ladders: in this model only two of them are visible, but the usual pre-worked elements were not included in the kit to set them up. Perhaps because the scale of the pieces on the marketplace was not suitable for this model. The fact is that I have achieved the result in complete scratch building mode. Yesterday I was able to prepare the pre-worked material needed for the assembly of the two ladders but I managed to finish only one ladder, that I show you in this post. I'll build the next one tomorrow, contingencies permitting.

Apart from some thoughs that allowed me to succeed in the enterprise, it was an interesting experience, further improvable.

02 Ragusian Carrack/13122018/IMG_20181213_174023.jpg

03 Ragusian Carrack/13122018/IMG_20181213_174034.jpg

04 Ragusian Carrack/13122018/IMG_20181213_174040.jpg

05 Ragusian Carrack/13122018/IMG_20181213_174323.jpg

 

[jack.aubrey]

Friday, December 14th 2018

More details have now been built and added to the decks, although some of them are not yet been fixed, as they would only bother for now. I have today reached a point of relative stability in the execution of the tasks: it is no longer necessary to insist on working on the decks but start now to finish the outer part of the hull, where many horizontal (wales) and vertical reinforcements must be installed, typical of the ships of the time. But time when I will leave Milan for Tuscany is approaching fast and, as I anticipated, this time I will close the shipyard.

01 Ragusian Carrack/14122018/IMG_20181214_173347.jpg

The ladder leading from the main deck to the quarterdeck . . Same technique used for the first ladder.

02 Ragusian Carrack/14122018/IMG_20181214_173416.jpg

The hatch to reach the hold, not yet completely finished but already at a good point of completeness . .

03 Ragusian Carrack/14122018/IMG_20181214_173402.jpg

And the same to access the forecastle, at the apex of an imaginary internal staircase . .

04 Ragusian Carrack/14122018/IMG_20181214_173352.jpg

 

[jack.aubrey]

Thursday 20 December 2018

Last updates: I finished the two hatchways by applying the missing rings, followed by a browning process, and then the permanent fixing in their position. The photo below shows these details.

01 Ragusian Carrack/20122018/IMG_20181220_143658.jpg

Then I applied the gunwales in the area of the quarterdeck plus its related external border.

02 Ragusian Carrack/20122018/IMG_20181220_182825.jpg

But the most important part were the works around the external vertical reinforcements, fosused now on the extreme poop area. But I am absolutely unsatisfied with the result, for two reasons:
1) The timber released for this purpose in the kit is in walnut and the chromatic effect does not satisfy me at all, too dark. A lighter wood would be better, such as beech. Unfortunately, now I have to continue with the walnut and it does not excite me, I hope that once all these elements are finished the overall situation will be better. We'll see.
2) I have mistaken the shape of these elements. But in this case I can still fix it. If I had checked the images of the finished model I probably would have avoided this error but I forgot the smartphone at home and so I could not check them before and I was wrong. We will see to remedy.

03 Ragusian Carrack/20122018/IMG_20181220_182920.jpg

Complete images of the model, the negative feeling towards vertical reinforcements is confirmed: at least in these photos the walnut too dark color hides these very spectacular details.

04 Ragusian Carrack/20122018/IMG_20181220_182757.jpg

05 Ragusian Carrack/20122018/IMG_20181220_182807.jpg

I take this opportunity to greet all the people who follow this diary and I wish them a Merry Christmas and a Happy 2019. Optimism is extremely necessary given the times. .
Jack.Aubrey.