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Charles Martel 1/200 scale French Pre Dreadnaught Battleship

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  • Member since
    January 2021
Charles Martel 1/200 scale French Pre Dreadnaught Battleship
Posted by JoeSMG on Thursday, November 10, 2022 6:47 PM

I started this bytes to battleship project well over a year ago after stumbling onto some online photos of Charles Martel. I instantly knew I wanted one!

I've been working up the courage to commit to this project post here for quite a while.   (On my website I can just delete the whole thing if it doesn't work out Smile)

When I started this, I was just getting dangerous at Blender and wanted a challenging "from scratch" project to sink my new 3d design fangs into. After spending many, many, "spare" hours on it over the past year, I was definitely getting better. I started reworking earlier sections with new modeling methods and finding new online pictures causing me to redo previous guess work. This could easily have gone on for another year but felt the need to call the design done and start carving Charles Martel up into printable sections.

Below are a couple screen shots of the Blender render:

The cutting of the design into printable sections for my Elegoo Saturn took another month or so but then the printing began! Below are a few of the printed parts:

These prints easily took 12 - 15 hours, fortunately I had zero print failures and was done initial printing in just over a week. I may need to reprint some parts if I mess them up too badly trying to put her together.

I've now separated all the supports from the printed parts, mostly without too much damage and that's where I am right now. I'll add one more picture of a mockup I put together of some of the larger parts.

Progress will likely be pretty slow but I hope to update this thread with new work periodically.

Wish me luck and thanks for looking!

PS: Forgot to mention at 1/200 she is almost exactly 2 feet long.

- Joe the SMG

  • Member since
    July 2011
  • From: Armpit of NY
Posted by MJames70 on Thursday, November 10, 2022 6:58 PM

Good luck with this ambitious project. If you aren't familiar with YouTuber Drachinifel, you should check out his video about the French pre-dreadnoughts - https://youtu.be/9ygXLnRAm-A

  • Member since
    January 2021
Posted by JoeSMG on Thursday, November 10, 2022 7:06 PM

Thank you, I'm very framilliar with that video and did many a screen grab from it!

It may even be what got me interested in the Charles Martel in the first place - Catchy Title: French Pre-Dreadnoughts - When Hotels go to War Big Smile

- Joe the SMG

  • Member since
    May 2009
  • From: Poland
Posted by Pawel on Thursday, November 10, 2022 7:10 PM

Hello!

Although French pre-dreadnoughts are not really my thing (though cool for sure), I'm impressed with the amount of skill and technology that went into this one so far... I wish I could use Blender this well. At the moment I just got a new computer at last where I can run Blender, now I have to learn it...

In Poland we have a modeller that took a paper model of a warship (ORP Piorun), built the hull out of paper, then filled and sanded it and then outfittet it with Blender-designed, 3D printed details - turned out very nice and he saved some resin :-)

Good luck with your build and have a nice day

Paweł

All comments and critique welcomed. Thanks for your honest opinions!

www.vietnam.net.pl

  • Member since
    March 2022
  • From: Twin cities, MN
Posted by missileman2000 on Friday, November 11, 2022 7:24 AM

Love the pre-Dreadnought era battleships!  I'd like a kit of that ship.

 

  • Member since
    January 2021
Posted by JoeSMG on Friday, November 11, 2022 8:03 AM

Pawel

... At the moment I just got a new computer at last where I can run Blender, now I have to learn it...

In Poland we have a modeller that took a paper model of a warship (ORP Piorun), built the hull out of paper, then filled and sanded it and then outfittet it with Blender-designed, 3D printed details..

 

 
For the price (free!) Blender is the Best! :)
 
I highly recommend youTube videos - they will get you going. Then try to recreate what you've seen and try to figure some new stuff out on your own for a few days, run into some snags, back to youTube when you're stuck and repeat. This worked for me. Also, if something your doing is unreasonably hard or time consuming - you may want to go to youTube to see if there is any easier way.
 
Your friend's method of using paper is very clever. It could also help get around the need to cut up the large hull sections into many pieces in order to print then with a smaller printer.

- Joe the SMG

  • Member since
    October 2019
  • From: New Braunfels, Texas
Posted by Tanker-Builder on Friday, November 11, 2022 8:03 AM

Hmmm: 

 I figured to see this kind of stuff. That looks like a doozy!

  • Member since
    January 2021
Posted by JoeSMG on Friday, November 11, 2022 8:07 AM

Don, That's exactly what I thought. When I saw none existed I figured it was a great opportunity to start that monster project I'd been looking for to test out my new Elegoo Saturn printer. :)

Currently at the 1 year mark - but haven't had too much free time to spend on this.

- Joe the SMG

  • Member since
    August 2007
  • From: back country of SO-CAL, at the birth place of Naval Aviation
Posted by DUSTER on Friday, November 11, 2022 9:27 PM

Super printing. Too bad about the pesky reality interfering with modeling time 

Steve

Building the perfect model---just not quite yet  Confused

  • Member since
    March 2009
  • From: brisbane australia
Posted by surfsup on Friday, November 11, 2022 10:50 PM

Very ambitious but a very cool subject. Love to watch this one c0ome together.....Cheers Mark

If i was your wife, i'd poison your tea! If Iwas your husband, I would drink it! WINSTON CHURCHILL

  • Member since
    January 2021
Posted by JoeSMG on Saturday, November 12, 2022 8:49 AM

Mark & Steve thanks for the comments, I'm eager to see how it shapes up too. Hope she's not my great white whale. Definetly have some warping issues to overcome, not to mention a ton of filling and sanding...

TB: I'll get you 3D printing yet!

 

- Joe the SMG

  • Member since
    February 2018
  • From: North Carolina, USA
Posted by Model Monkey on Sunday, November 27, 2022 6:32 PM

Wonderful!  Have popcorn.

  • Member since
    January 2021
Posted by JoeSMG on Saturday, December 24, 2022 10:01 AM

Can't believe a month has gone by already! i haven't had a lot of time to work on this project but the main hull sections were finally glued together and an initial attempt at filling and sanding joints made.

Then the repair work started on bits that didn't print well, broke while removing from their printed supports or that I broke while filling and sanding...

The above was taken just before a slightly rushed prime job.

Below are the initial results

And a close up showing off Saturn's ability to render finer details.

My fill work needs more work... Nothing like an even primer coat to highlight what was missed. Some defects will be hidden by the upper works and utility boats and I'll leave.
So far I'm pretty happy with it.

I think I'll concentrate on the hull this winter as I've found new pictures that are making me want to redesign and reprint her flying deck and that has to be a springtime task.

At this rate I should have plenty to keep me busy till then.

PS: One question I've wanted to ask you all: If you were building her, what paint schema would you go with? The gold top or light grey?

I'm ruling the battleship grey scheme out as her bridge was in a different configuration when she had those colors

PSS: Happy holidays everyone!

- Joe the SMG

  • Member since
    May 2022
Posted by Eugene Rowe on Saturday, December 24, 2022 11:46 AM

Amazing work and a testement to what can be accomplished with 3d printing!

  • Member since
    January 2021
Posted by PFJN2 on Saturday, December 24, 2022 6:09 PM

Hi,

Your build looks great.  If you don't mind me asjing, what are you using for glue?

Pat

  • Member since
    January 2021
Posted by JoeSMG on Sunday, December 25, 2022 8:22 AM

PFJN2

Hi,

Your build looks great.  If you don't mind me asjing, what are you using for glue?

Pat

 

 
Thank you!
As for glue, I use: Bob Smith Industies medium cyanoacrylate

I've been using it for years, on all my 3D printed models both filament and resin and when I combo the two. Not so much because it's the best darn glue ever (though I am happy with it) but because I was tired of grabbing a partially used or even new tube of CA only to discover it had solidified in its container So I bought 3 large 2 oz bottles from Amazon that happened to be at a good price and had good reviews. I've had them for about 2.5 years now and with all my 3D models only gone through 1.5 bottles and not a one was wasted due to curing in its container.

- Joe the SMG

  • Member since
    January 2021
Posted by JoeSMG on Sunday, December 25, 2022 9:37 AM

Thank you Eugene. The ability to build whatever captivates my imagination is almost worth the curse of all the technology and knowledge needed to do so!

(Kind'a) just kidding Geeked It really is a fun and gratifying hobby, to be able to design and then print and build these things.

- Joe the SMG

  • Member since
    January 2021
Posted by PFJN2 on Sunday, December 25, 2022 1:47 PM

Thanks,

I have been having a hard time finding a good glue to use for my 3D prints.

Pat

Smile

  • Member since
    January 2021
Posted by JoeSMG on Sunday, December 25, 2022 4:27 PM

PFJN2

Thanks,

I have been having a hard time finding a good glue to use for my 3D prints.

Pat

Smile

 

 
Are you just startiong out? Or do you have some builds to show or have shown? Smile

- Joe the SMG

  • Member since
    January 2021
Posted by JoeSMG on Monday, December 26, 2022 5:52 PM

Sometimes I'm my own worst enemy...

She shouldn't have got it yet but I'm too darn impulsive. Had a weather window and I took it without first making the filler/smoothing corrections I wanted to make. Oh well, ready or not, she got her first color today.

I'd been worried that the waterline pinstripe would be the death of this project (Don't laugh! it has been before! I hate them!) The bulging edge of the armored belt is right on the lower edge of the strip making the masking trickier than normal and normal with these stripes is plenty tricky for me. I think I just wanted to get past it, if I had totally messed this up I could care less that I didn't make the hull perfect first. Much to my relief, I pulled it off ok (bullet dodged). Some touch up is required but it's the type that I usually can pull off.

So yeah, now I wish I'd done some filler repairs first...

PS: the unpainted turrets are just there for looks Smile

- Joe the SMG

  • Member since
    January 2021
Posted by PFJN2 on Monday, December 26, 2022 6:13 PM

Hi,

I mostly just have some small stuff, including things that I have downloaded off the internet to print.

Here is a small model of a Fiat 126 that I downloaded off the internet and printed on my Creality LD002R resin printer.  I was having some issues getting the front and rear parts of the body to stick together, in part due to the "knife edge joint" between the two parts, and my glue not really sticking well.  So I have been messing around trying to find a good glue to use.

Fiat

Here also is a small "Smurf" house that I printed for my fiance' (she had Smurf dolls when she was young).  I had a lot of issues with it, in part because alot of the parts oprinted out warped, and in part because I had to cut the file into smaller pieces and ended up with a lot of "knife edge joints".   I think that maybe the warping may be due to not havng the correct printer settings for the resin that I am using, or maybe the screen has become dirty.  Eventually, I gave eveything a good coat of "spackle" to smooth out all the parts and joints. 

Smurf House

Here is an XM8 tank (in Black) that I 3D printed with my Creality LD002R Resin printed along side a small notional design that I tried to make myself (in Tan).  The turret on the tan tank was downloaded off the internet, but the wheels, treads, and hull were made up by me.

Tanks

Here also is a Covenanter Tank that I printed from a model off the internet.

Covenanter

Here is a yacht hull that was scratch built, but with some 3D printed parts, such as the windows, props, deck scuppers, and anchors.  I had to set it aside for awhile, while I try and figure out how best to construct, assemble and glue the superstructure (which I hope to mostly 3D print).

Yacht

Before I bought my Creality printer I used a Da Vinci Filament printer, and here are a cople small 1/700 scale ship models that I printed (in white) along side an LCS styrene kit model in gray.  I had a lot better luck gluing stuff from my filament printer, since I was just able to mix acetone with scraps from the prints to make a paste that held very well.  The big ship below is a DDG 51 model that I downloaded off the internet, while the other two white models are 3D models that I built myself.

Ships

I also have a 3D model of a small cruise shup that I made that I partially printed using my old Da Vinci printer, but put on hold while I tried to best figure out how to finish up the superstructure (I have some decals for the balcony doors and windows).

Cruise

Sorry for going a little off track from your thread Smile

Pat

PS.  I also came across a computer game on Steam a while ago that lets yiou design your own cars called "AutoMation" (based on some basic presets) and it also lets you export your designs to another "racing" game to let you play around with them.  As it turns out the file format that they use to transfer the geometry data is a Collada .DAE format file, so I hope to one day also try and print out some of the cars that I have "made" in that program Smile

Car

  • Member since
    January 2021
Posted by JoeSMG on Monday, December 26, 2022 7:02 PM

I have resin warping issues too, seemingly most often when the parts are thin. Seems like there is a Goldilocks value you want to hit with resin printed objects. Not too thick and not too thin... I got a curing light with turn table and it seems to help quite a bit, but it's still a problem.

I'm very impressed with the quality of the prints your da Vinci pulled off, what model printer is it? My first printer was the Da Vinci mini and it never produced output as nice as yours.

My second printer was the Creality Ender 3 Pro and it produced larger prints with much better quality (but still not good enough on smallish detail parts).

So my third printer was the resin printer you also have, the LD-002r. I really like it. Only issue it has is the small print area preventing large models.

So my fourth printer was the Elegoo Saturn, It has a large print volume but it's trickier to use than the LD-002r.

So my fifth printer.... OK - Just kidding I'm Good! (for now)

PS: Those DAE files the game you mentioned exports can be loaded into blender then edited and saved as STL files for slicing. Good info! I may look into that game Smile

PSS: The tanks and car parts your LD-002r made look great!

- Joe the SMG

  • Member since
    January 2021
Posted by PFJN2 on Monday, December 26, 2022 7:13 PM

Hi,

Thanks for the response.  I really like my LD-002R.  Its small but has great resolution.

Your build is looking great.  Can't wait to see more.

Pat

  • Member since
    October 2019
  • From: New Braunfels, Texas
Posted by Tanker-Builder on Tuesday, December 27, 2022 7:50 AM

Hi Joe:

       I noted that you mentioned"Bob Smith Industries C.A.. I have been using it since it hit the Market because of my many large Commissions. I have found that the refill bottles of all the thicknesses and the Quick-set last a long time. I have noticed that Once the Clarity is compromised the shelf life drops.

       This can happen purely due to age. My oldest refill bottle is now six years old!

  • Member since
    October 2019
  • From: New Braunfels, Texas
Posted by Tanker-Builder on Tuesday, December 27, 2022 7:59 AM

PFJN2;

       I surprisingly like your little yacht, With one exception. You have to much "Freeboard" ( structure above the waterline) Meaning in simple terms the hull is too tall for the volume of hull above the part of the hull in the water. She would be Top Heavy and Roll like a B^&*(> Otherwise a nice little design.) If you can, re-do her with a wee bit more presence below the waterline and you should be fine. The thing is, The total heighth of the vessel shall not exceed the total volume of the ships width times two.

      If you have a hull of equal proportions then your higher decks can be stacked like a wedding cake( or a pyramid in cross-section) The new cruise ships should give you an idea of, to me, a totally unsafe design. The Costa Concordia is my proof!

  • Member since
    March 2022
  • From: Twin cities, MN
Posted by missileman2000 on Tuesday, December 27, 2022 10:43 AM

JoeSMG

 

PS: One question I've wanted to ask you all: If you were building her, what paint schema would you go with? The gold top or light grey?

I'm ruling the battleship grey scheme out as her bridge was in a different configuration when she had those colors

PSS: Happy holidays everyone!

 

I really like the buff (gold) from that era.  Not all paint systems have buff.  If I can not find buff I mix some medium brown  into Yellow.

 

  • Member since
    January 2021
Posted by PFJN2 on Tuesday, December 27, 2022 1:39 PM

Tanker-Builder

PFJN2;

       I surprisingly like your little yacht, With one exception. You have to much "Freeboard" ...

Hi,

Thanks.  I noticed that when I was working on it.  I inadvertantly used my measurement for the top of the bulwark as the main deck height, so everything is about 3.5- 4ft too tall Tongue Tied

  • Member since
    January 2021
Posted by JoeSMG on Saturday, December 31, 2022 2:03 PM

Had time to get the first coat of deck paint down and do a mockup using the flying deck parts I'd already printed even though I'll likely not use them on the finished model.

 Still on the fence about the upper color: buff (thanks Donn!) gold or light gray.

I think the buff might be harder to pull off, though I do find it aesthetically appealing and very Victorian.

Then again, light gray may go better in the room she'll end up in...

- Joe the SMG

  • Member since
    March 2009
  • From: brisbane australia
Posted by surfsup on Saturday, December 31, 2022 9:50 PM

She is going to be a stunner. I love it.....Cheers mark

If i was your wife, i'd poison your tea! If Iwas your husband, I would drink it! WINSTON CHURCHILL

  • Member since
    January 2021
Posted by PFJN2 on Sunday, January 1, 2023 7:42 PM

Wow, that's tyrning out great.  Those old French ship were stunning, in their own way Stick out tongue

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