Le Courbet French battle cruiser from Modelik

[MikeBer]

I am a newbie to card modelling. I normally model wooden ships (Titanic & Bismarck partworks and Danmark & Victory kits). I will be starting the build on the COURBET hopefully this week. This is the ship that my father came over to England on with the free French navy at the beginning of WW11.

[Richard]

Great, finally a build-thread on the Courbet................. I expect mine to arrive this week but don't know when I will start on it.


Richard

[MikeBer]

I decided that as far as possible, I would use scanned copies for the construction and keep the originals. Here are some of the hull frame outlines mounted on card prior to cutting out. Due to the method of construction of the hull elements, I decided that it was unnecessary to fix a longitudinal wooden stringer to the keel section to keep it straight down its length.

[MikeBer]

Laminating frames

Let me start by saying that an Optivisor is a godsend for accurate cutting of the card frames.
Because of the exorbitant cost of spray adhesive, I decided to use a gluestick to stick the scanned copies of the frames to the card. I then roughly cut out the frames (A) and then trimmed them about 5mm oversize all round (B). This enabled the card to be cut much easier as there was less sideways pressure against the craft knife.
I used the craft knife to cut the straight sides (C) using an aluminium straight edge as a guide and the curved sides of the frames (D) were cut freehand, all with the assistance of the optivisor.


Once the framework is complete, I intend spraying it with an aerosol grey primer to seal the card, so another advantage of the glue stick is that the templates can be peeled off the card very easily.

After cutting out the frames, the slots were cut in them (1). Then, the dotted lines were slightly scored and the strip of paper removed (2). The card was then coloured with a highlighter to show the frame position (3) and then the rest of the paper template was removed, not forgetting to transfer the part No’s onto the card (4).

[jkrenzer]

I have not seen the Courbet form Modelik yet. I did just finish their model of Paris, photos are here on this site. Is the model of Courbet of WWI or WWII?

The Paris also sailed to British ports and Courbet and her were likely very similar in appearance at that time.

[bclemens]

Looking forward to this one! MikeBer, thanks for the very clear and detailed account so far. As an ex watchmaker over 50, I can relate to the appreciation of visual augmentation
Cheers!
Bruce

[lriera]

Thank you for such a great step by step building process.

[MikeBer]

Originally Posted by jkrenzer

Is the model of Courbet of WWI or WWII?

The Paris also sailed to British ports and Courbet and her were likely very similar in appearance at that time.

The Courbet was built in 1910, served in WW1 and was recommisioned for WW11.
My Dad says that he served on the Paris first, attaining his gunnery certificate and he then transferred to the Courbet on which he sailed to Portsmouth with the Free French and joined the British navy. This is the reason that I am building this model.
French battleship Courbet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mike

[MikeBer]

Lower hull

Tip:- a piece of glass is great when a flat surface is required for gluing the hull elements.

To make it easier to glue the lower hull elements, I cut some tongue depressors into 2mm strips for rib guides.



I then cut them to size and glued them onto the lower hull template card.





This will make it easier and simpler to assemble the framework.





Here is the completed lower hull.

[lriera]

Genial your explanations and the photographies. Thank you.

[Nemesis7485]

The standard of your work is even more amazing when you consider it's your first card model. This already has the makings of a great build.

[MikeBer]

Upper hull framework

The upper hull framework will be completed using the same method but instead of assembling the framework on the supplied paper template, I will transfer the frame positions of the upper hull paper template to the upper side of the card of the lower hull and glue 2mm alignment strips as before.









The frames were lightly glued in place so that they would dry quickly. When it was dry, I then ran a fillet of glue all around the frames and left them to dry fully.
The next day I glued the side strips onto the hull framework. Here is the completed hull with the side strips in place.

[lriera]

It looks incredible well done. And more considering it is your first hull. Congratulations.

[phlipmbirner]

MikeBer,

I am enjoying your build. Also I am very interested in the tools, supplies and methods you are employing to use those tools and supplies. Our craft supplies here all come out of South Africa and of course are just as expensive if not more so. Good job so far!
Phil

[MikeBer]

Thanks guys for the comments.
I must say, the main reason for the quality of the build so far is the superb fit of the card parts supplied.