Good to hear you made it through all those things, and on into this year that has become a form of profanity.
Nice looking cat, too. We adopted a dog in February to then have 2020 hit. Now that we have convinced her to not 2020 on the floor, it’s gotten easier. Os as easy as anything can be of late.
Here she is unimpressed by the Blue Angels fly over
And, you are still doing a laudable job on a less-than easy kit.
Cathy,
I am finally able to log back into FSM. I have been unable to logi in for a few days this time, for months a month ago.
Anyway, you do fantastic work on these models! I am most impressed. I have a book that I would like to recommend on rigging. It is called “Rigging Period Ship Models” by Lennarth Petersson. It is very clear and is based around detailed srawings of each line. You should check it out.
Bill
You have had a Way Too Exciting Year. Glad to see you back.
First, outstanding work on the standing rigging using the kits masts.
Second, You have done real good following Hellers instructions.
Third, A cats view of a Heller sailing kit (You started it…)
Reading Hellers instructions.
Darn-Heller-instructions-each-part-has-a-number-a-letter-and-another-Number…
Heller rigging instructions…
And,
Sail plan.
Your Kitty is going to love the running rigging. Hope you can get a few sails on and photos done before any CATastrophes occur.
Nino.
HaHa Nino, I think a cat could probably interpret the Heller instructions.
Welcome back Cathy. If it will make you feel better, I started my Royal Louis when in undergrad school and after grad school, three moves, four jobs, and three cats, finished it 16 years later. My cat has been a good building buddy.
¿Écrit par des chats pour des chats, peut-être?
C’est logique.
Tie string here.
Play with string there.
Tease yarn.
Confuse hoomans
íPrécisément!
HRH The Splüüf approves
Well I just spent some quality time reading through your whole build. Wonderful paint and detail work. I especially like the wood grain you’ve done! Looking forward to more.
Thank you!! And oh no, the picture isn’t working!! I’d love to see her!
Thank you! And I actually have that one, it has been my constant companion for the past couple of weeks! It’s been totally beyond helpful.
Thanks!! And hahahaha those pictures are too funny! You’re not kidding though, the little guy has smacked poor Louis every chance he’s gotten!
Thank you! And truly that does make me feel better haha! I’ve felt very guilty dedicating my quarantine time to other activities these past few months D:
And yes, my last cat who passed back in October was a perfect modeling buddy, she just hung around and watched, sometimes would sniff at stuff but never touched! The new kitten is a little different; I’ve found I need to take the whole model and put it away in a cabinet if I need to get up for even a second haha.
Thanks! Hopefully it’ll be without a year long hiatus this time [;)]
Changed the permissions, so it may be visible now (shows up for me, but, I have permission–sigh)
Good afternoon everyone, hope you’re all enjoying the last weeks of summer! I can’t believe it’s almost September already D:
I have some progress to update with! When I posted last I had pictures I took right before my break; well it turns out I had gotten a little more done than that! I did the ratlines and painted the shrouds gray before I packed Louis up! So that was a nice surprise pulling him out of the cabinet lol.
I had started by actually tying the ratlines, which I thought looked great, but when I got further up the knots got so bulky looking that I ended up tying the first 2 or 3 lines on each and then just gluing the rest of them. I hate the look of the glue but it is what it is I guess!
And then I decided to try to make some makeshift gun carriage ropes because they looked kinda silly just sitting there on their own. I don’t know if what I ended up with looks any better though haha. But it took time to do them all so they’re staying this way!!
So for these pictures, basically all the white threads are what I have done since starting up again. I think I have all of the stays done, so next I’ll be attaching the yards and starting on the rigging for those!
I’ve been following “Rigging period ship models” by Lennarth Petersson and the Heller rigging diagram (which leaves a lot to be desired!).
I have some blocks and things left over from other models I’ve done so I’ve been making use of those as best I can, I know they’re not exactly accurate but I guess they get the job done!
So the very tip of the bowsprit, where the stays are attached (is that still called the bowsprit there, or does that have its own name?) it’s bending a little bit which you can see in this next picture. The lines aren’t taut at all, but it’s just too much on that thin little plastic 
So that’s all for Louis for now. I might get some more done in the next couple weeks, but both my internship and my classes start on Monday so I’ll probably be much slower!
I also did some painting on the “Barbary Pirate” ship as an experiment. I usually use enamel paints for the base and then use oils for the weathering, but of course the oils can lift up the enamel if I’m not careful. I bought a few acrylic paints and this cheap little model to see how I liked them, so I’ll throw a couple of pictures of that up as well as I go along.
The cover is definitely thinner than enamel, but it ended up okay. I just did the first wash oer it and it’s worked out quite well so far, so I think I’ll be sticking with an acrylic base from now on if all continues to go well! Don’t know what I’ll do with the 30 bottles of enamel paint I have though [*-)]
And then here is little Dexter on my first day of bringing Louis back out!
Taking over already!! [:P]
Oh yes, I can see her now!! She’s adorable, congratulations!!![ht]
I just caught up on this thread. Beautiful job. You have some serious talents. Outstanding work.
Cats have an affinity for cardboard that spans cats of all sizes.
The spar that is stood out over the bowsprit is the jib boom. In actual practice, it’s taken in when tied to a pier or the like. In English practice, there would be some lateral support to counter act the forestays. But, I have no idea how the French coped.
Royal Louis was during the transition from spritsail top masts, to fixed and flying spritsails, and the use of forward staysails and jibsails. Which created a lot of uplift on the jib boom.
So, the simple answer to get that curl out of the jib boom seems to not be available (stays back to the cap, or lifts to a flying spritsail).
Now, for future use, let me recommend something. Which is to get a cake of beeswax fro mthe craft store. Nothing large–I still have a 3x3x0.25 from thousands of years ago. Drawing the line through the wax melts a trace amount onto the line and cuts down on the fuzziness.
Looks great, especially for being the Heller kit, which is not easy.
Hi Cathy,
Nice work, your ratlines turned out much better than mine and you added the futtocks. I used the kit supplied jig and now the ratlines have developed a bad sag over the years.
I see you also have the problem I encounted with the bowsprit bending to the tension of the rigging. the upper spars will do the same thing. I glued some 1mm and 2mm steel wire to them and that helped. Since then, I swore off using plastic spars and upper mast works and started making my own from wood. Makes final rigging a lot less stressfull.
Scott
Hi Cathy:
I have followed your build this morning. I like what you’ve done for a first - timer! I think you will become a force to be reckoned with in the future. I used Heavier thread than that on my first one. It was a cheap clipper and the only thread around the house was crochet yarn for Crohchet projects.
Like you I learned. Oh! in the future if you have graining problems, here’s what someone taught me. 320 sandpaper( Wet) and a long sweep then another crossing the first a little and so on. Take an eraser guard and using the edge, Scrape the edges of the grooves on the surface, this will settle down the grain, making it unequal and natural looking.
Just don’t fill it with thick paint. A series of washes is Better. You must’ve done that to the decks, Looks spot on to me. My 10 yr old cat just looks at me and then settles in the model box top when I am not looking.
You’ve inspired me to start again with my Royal Louis, last attempted in about 1979 . . . .
