Airfix St Louis Part 6 Cannons and Carts

[@nickbrough8335]

Looks better every time I watch.

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

You should see it in person. Brightens my day just to look at her.

[@nickbrough8335]

@@HarryHoudiniModels yes, I imagine the gold on blue with the white and wooden colour pops in sunlight.

[@tonyperez4791]

Holy crap Harry , your ship looks more than an Artesania Latina wooden ship than an Airfix kit ! 👍👍 Hope you have a great week , Tony

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

Thanks Tony, you too!

[@timlatham4618]

Well you taught me something new today, Harry! I never thought about using a wax pencil for picking up small parts like that! Draks

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

It’s a good trick. Works very well with photo etch as well. I have a small “How I do” video showing the method and some tricks when adding PE with a wax pencil.

[@MGB-learning]

Great video, build and presentation.

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

Thanks Matey

[@msee383]

It’s looking great Harry!

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

Thanks… I must get back to that build

[@gavinbooth]

She's really looking classy Harry very nice to see . Regards Gav.

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

Thanks Gav

[@marchenault7914]

Harry you are such an inspiration. I just love how you problem solve with great creativity. Bravo my freind

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

Thank you Marc. Cheers!

[@thomasdailey9280]

Wow , Harry , that was some awesome modeling skill on the cannon . Great work !

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

Thanks Thomas

[@aussiefrenchman-hobbytable9960]

Great fun Harry! 😊😊😊😊😊

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

Thank you 🤗 You can tell I am enjoying this one?

[@aussiefrenchman-hobbytable9960]

Call me weird, but I love doing this kind of stuff, my kind of fun

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

Mine too!

[@DutchDaveModels]

You really upgraded this lump of glue into a great looking french battle ship!

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

It has been a labor of love.

[@DutchDaveModels]

@@HarryHoudiniModels And it shows :) Heller made some fantastic historic ships in their range!

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

Yes along with Imai... but this kit is Airfix, completely different to the Heller Saint Louis

[@DutchDaveModels]

@@HarryHoudiniModels Ah no wonder I had them mixed up, Heller has the Royal Louis, not the Saint..That's Airfix indeed. :)

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

Heller made both, I have each kit. The Royal Louis is 1:200 and one of the nicest sailing ship moulds Heller ever made, but they also did a 1:200 Saint Louis, although it is out of production now and very hard to find. Heller’s Saint Louis was criticised for being just a copy of their La Couronne, which is similar but not a Dutch built ship, it was still a fine kit, although not much smaller than the Airfix 1:144 St Louis, so not really 1:200 scale as such.

[@claytonmcclain182]

Outstanding Harry 👍 those older ships are very interesting to me. I don't build them but really like-em.

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

They are unique.. early 17th century galleons were the first of the big rig multi deck gun ships.

[@medwaymodelrailway7129]

Enjoyed the new update with plenty of detail.

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

Glad to hear.. more to come

[@paulwheble3690]

Great stuff! The sticky-out bits on the side of the gun barrels are called trunnions.

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

Ah good. Thank you. When I detail the cannons I can now enunciate it correctly.

[@eduardodiasnunes941]

My dear inhabitant on the other side of the planet! This is from my perspective that I find myself in Brazil! In other words, below the equator! Lol I found out that the illustrious friend is in Australia. Some say that Australia is the Brazil that worked! KKKK But, in addition to age, we have many other things in common: model making, extreme acuity in the pieces we make, love for kittens, and I've practiced plastic modeling in the past. Then wooden modelling! Today the prodigal son returns to his home of origin! Just a suggestion! Depending on the scale, why not make the ovés by photocorrosion in brass? A hug!

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

Thanks Eduardo.. I have never made my own photo etch, but it is a thing I would like to try one day. For now I am happy working in wood and plastic.

[@basfinnis]

The fleur de lys on the blue strip look really nice. As does the the rest of the model so far.

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

Thanks Basil

[@guidor.4161]

Very nice indeed and some good modelling tips...

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@thomasdailey9280]

Get your bottom level , because flat bottom cannons make the rockin' world go round .

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

Get on your bike and ride.......

[@NCTarheel55]

Nice work on that old kit. The little arms are called trunnions. Why I know this I’m not sure. Keep up the great work.

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

Thanks for the info

[@vonholdinghausen6886]

The bulkheads creating some kind of "division" of the second gundeck looks rather improbable dont you think? Never seen anything like it... And no doors in them at all. Great build! As always :)

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

I talked a little about that at the end of the video. Those bulkheads Airfix have you put in are fictitious. The gun deck was open, running full length of the hull under the forecastle and quarter deck, with just arched supports where those incorrect bulkheads sit. There would also have been stairs running down from those upper decks both in companion ways hidden under central gratings, and also down from the midship railings at either end of the open gun deck. The plans for the French Couronne show it clearly, as it was a feature of Dutch warship design at the time, and the Dutch of course built the St Louis for the French.

[@usssaratogacv3lefevre978]

Nice save with those guns, of course the whole ship is nice! But what would had been the fix if you didn't have those extra guns? I know you had a plan!

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

My moulds were good, but Milliput was not the best medium to cast those cannons with. I will get some resin and try making more another day, to replace the ones I stole from the Wasa kit.

[@george_364]

Those guns look fine. It made me think, on old paintings one usually sees all the guns, but most likely in reality the gunports were closed except when in a fight.

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

True, except when on display to impress!

[@nickbrough8335]

I don't think most ships (all ?) had enough crew to man each side simultaneously

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

The British did, but the French ships were notoriously undermanned. Nelson used this to his advantage a number of times sneaking past the unmanned side of a French ship when they had the guns out on the other side. The St Louis had about 450 crew according to my book.

[@marchenault7914]

One other thing Harry, I have that same kit, but its the Heller original.

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

The Heller kit is completely different. Slightly smaller with a break down of the hull into more components, which would make it easier to paint, and the correct setup for the gun deck with the more accurate arched end supports under the forecastle and quarterdeck. It also has a slightly different officers quarters and very different ornamentation on the stern.

[@4ngu54110tt]

Cheers Harry. Another great save on the cannons. Are you almost down to the unbuilt parts of the kit now?

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

I have finally cut a few parts from the sprues. The larger 18 pounder cannons on the main gun deck with bigger trucks were cut off, and I got the rudder free as well, so it could be painted to match the stern. More of that next time. Lots to do.

[@richardgrahame5408]

Hi Harry, looking really brilliant it's a great looking model. Have you worked out how sailors etc got onto the aft decks?

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

I talked a little about that at the end of the video. Those bulkheads Airfix has you put in are fictitious. The gun deck was open running full length of the hull under the forecastle and quarter deck with just arched supports where those incorrect bulkheads sit. There would also have been stairs running down from those upper decks both in companion ways hidden under central gratings, and also down from the midship railings at either end of the open gun deck. The plans for the Couronne show it clearly, as it was a feature of Dutch warship design at the time, and the Dutch of course built the St Louis for the French.

[@captaincruise8796]

There were no carronades in the 17th century, but I’m not too much of an expert on French forecastle armament in the early years. I would think they would sit on trucks though.

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

You are right. I am yet to find out the correct name for them. Airfix has just based it’s armament on one of few cartoonish drawings we have of the St Louis. They would have been more like swivel cannons, but on wheel less truck beds, and most likely full of grape shot to repel boarders, hence the name murder cannons. I am reading a very detailed book on French warships of the 17th-19th centuries, so hopefully will come across the answer in there.

[@captaincruise8796]

@@HarryHoudiniModels feel free to fill us in on what you find out!

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

Seems in the early part of the 17th century French warships had a wide range of cannon size, over a dozen from 2 pounders to 36 pounders. They would even run mixed 36 to 18 pounders on the main gun decks, then 18, 12, 8, 4 and 2 pounders on the upper decks. No swivels, all in trucks. So those murder cannons may be 2 or 4 pounders and the trucks need wheels. Yay! More scratch building.

[@captaincruise8796]

@@HarryHoudiniModels I’ve heard of mixed gun decks and I don’t think it was just the French. Interesting time period, when what had evolved from medieval galleons was starting to look, act, and think like what would later be called a ship of the line.

[@neilhughes9310]

Great build so far. You're doing Airfix proud! Out of curiosity, where did you find a reference to the 'flying bridge'? I thought that section above the 'wine and cheese area' was the grating deck or grating roof (no, not for grating cheese).

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

After much research I was given a book about French warships in the age of sail. It describes the evolution from early ornate Dutch designs right up to the much cleaner Napoleonic area ships. In this book I found the explanation of the flying bridge and why it was used. I’ll explain further in the next video when I install the part and make some custom changes to the bulkheads so ladders can be added down to the gun deck.

[@ninus17]

did you not drill out the cannon muzzles on purpose, it looks good but it always makes guns look more realistic when the barrel is drilled, giving it more depth

[@HarryHoudiniModels]

Yes I drilled out all the barrels, but forgot to show that in the video. My free time was running out and I did not want to delay the release of this video for another week. There are photos on Facebook of the barrels drilled out.