"LE RENARD" 1/50 1812 French corsair cutter.

[Stuck]

Just lately i have got a bit fed up with planes and have had a strong inkling that i want to make a big galleon , but now in virtual retirement i have to be careful with the pennies, so 30odd euros or so for a reasonably sized kit is quite a lot for me to find. While sorting out the kitchen table this morning it suddenly hit me that why didnt I finish the model that i started over 10 years ago, staring me in the face gathering dust on the shelf.

So I thought that if I took a photo of it in its present shape warts and all, and put it up on here, then i will have committed myself to finishing the thing!!.

It is a bit of a departure from plastic. The kit is marketed by a French firm Soclaine and cost in todays money about 70€ , When originally opening the box i was a bit dismayed and daunted by what i saw in front of me, a few sheets of plywood a bundle of strips, a couple of little bags with a few bits and bobs in, and a bit of white metal; The wood was so crap that I made all the little deck fittings out of boxwood, and the stand out of walnut The hull is planked.

First thing that ive got to do is get all the dust off it and see if it needs repainting,(didnt have an airbrush at the time ) as soon as i have done that i will put some more pics up showing a bit more detail, and then start the daunting task of picking up from where I left off .

Hope you enjoy!! :shutup: :shutup: :shutup:

[longshanks]

Love it !!

Bring it on want to see more of this.....

Don't be "a bit dismayed and daunted "

I'm sure there is plenty of help available on here. Remember the only stupid question is the one you don't ask !!

longshanks

[Bengalensis]

Looks like she is well worth to be finished, especially with all the work you have already put into her so far. A build thread is a good way to get going again.

[foxy]

Well with all these oldie ships comeing out, its going to be a great build here.

Thats a fine Corsair you have there.

Look foreward to its progress what ever the scale. .

Cheers foxy

[Stuck]

Well thank you for your kind words of encouragement. I was going to go wild camping tonight, but instead have spent the day trying to clean off 10 years of dust and fly excrement off what had been made. After my delve into plastic over the last few years has learn t me quite a few new tricks, mainly all about paying attention to detail, and what can be done to enhance that . So after looking at these closeups ,I think I can improve the paintwork a bit more , and maybe do a few pin washes here and there . i am not quite sure what that will look like on real wood, so I am going to tread very carefully there.

The next big task is to make the masts, the kit supplied a few lengths of dowl which would need tapering , so hopefully on Monday I will be in the workshop sorting out some offcuts of walnut to turn some new ones .

For the time being here are some more pics of the model after being cleaned up a bit

Mike

[Billydick]

She's going to be beautiful .....

[surfsup]

She is looking superb. Will look even better when finished.....Cheers mark

[Stuck]

Hi there, While busy dusting and cleaning Le Renard got me thinking what had made me put the project down some 12 years earlier well the reason for this was two fold, firstly, although always having an avid interest in models I was fighting a losing battle to make my run down cottage habitable, and came to the grim realization that even if i finished the boat i would have nowhere to put it, so on one of those odd occasions in my life sensibility kicked in, and decided it would be best if I made a space for it first. Secondly, after spending the previous 12 years in the trues sense of out of it in the middle of nowhere, i went out and brought one of the most stupid things that i have brought in my life, a Computer, and that was that.

Anyway, after a day cleaning out the workshop i was able to find some walnut that had been put by long ago with the project in mind. I had in mind turning the masts on a little model making lathe that had been given to me some years ago . However when i got the plans out It was soon realized that some of the masts would be too long to go in between the centers, and although I have got a bigger lathe it would impossible to steady the work being so thin. So its times like that when you go make a cup of tea, go sit in the garden ,and take stock of the situation . While looking at a tall larch, it hit me that they never turned these masts when these ships were built, just adzed and drawknifed most probably from a tree just like the one i was looking at; So instead I tapered them using an upturned jack plane,

After a pleasant afternoon whittling in the late summer sunshine, i was so chuffed with my first ever couple of masts, like a big kid i couldnt wait to do the rest, and went back to refer to plans to see what was needed next and this is where the probs really started . There are 3 sets of full size plans with this kit ,1 printed on the back of the other , and also a very vague set of instructions with a few photos and written all in French, the problem is every drawing contradicts the other, and to cut a long story short makes reading a set of revell instructions like understanding the meaning of life. So with a little help from an old book i have found on model ships, im playing it by ear a bit.

So please correct me if i seem to be doing this wrong.

Fortunately, this boat is still in use today and sails out of the port of St Malo , being just an hours drive from here it might be a good idea to pop over there with my camera this weekend and try and sort things out.

All help welcome, very confused ,

Mike

[hendie]

I love your approach to the mast making and from my untrained eye... I think you've done a great job!