Hubac's Historian

I’m at a loss for words, Mark, but you know how I feel about the project. Just awesome!

So, your first question caused me to focus on the fact that you have, in many cases, metal rods cris-crossing behind the shields. As they are, if you simply tried to glue the trophies to the hull, they would invariably pivot unevenly on the lowest placed element. This would be a weak bond. My solution to this problem is essentially what you are proposing; behind and within the footprint of the shields, I would glue styrene pads in 2-3 places that then become my glue points to the hull. This ensures a strong bond, and that your shield ornaments would sit evenly on the hull. One thing you don’t want would be to have cris-crossed cannon barrels, for example, hanging freely above the hull planking. Portions of ornaments, such as these, should also be supported from behind and firmly attached to the hull. I also agree with you that you will want to glue down the upper port surrounds and frieze elements before painting. You could wait to affix these ornaments until after painting the upper works, however, it would be advise-able to scrape away a small paint patch for glue. For small things like fleur-de-lis, this is difficult to achieve within the small footprint of such an ornament. It is far easier to become practiced at detail painting, in place. Glue a small field of fleurs to a spare hull part and practice. I have found that the best way to achieve a sense of depth on the painted ornament is to continually adjust the angle of approach, so that I can always see exactly where the tip of my brush is. When looking at my model, for example, please keep in-mind that while I AM very good at this kind of detail painting - What you are looking at is the end result of numerous rounds of retouching. It looks very close to perfect because I kept revisiting this and that flaw over a long period of time. As for extending the bronzing protocol to the ornament and port surrounds above the main deck, this is something I would personally avoid. While it is absolutely true that gold leaf budgets were more closely adhered to in the 1680s and 90s, these first two capital ships of the new Navy, SR and the RL, were always intended to be spectacular realizations of the Monarch’s power and influence. Just as Versailles is blanketed in gold leaf, I think it likely that gold was used much more liberally on the first launchings of these two iconic ships. I think that, largely, because Hyatt’s description of the first RL in 1677, just before her first refit, paints a fairly vivid picture of her ornamental works. I have translated and tried to clarify some of the ship nomenclature, throughout: “The smooth dourdy [lower transom] is enriched outside laurel leaves with shells seashell on it, all of ore has perfection. Over there is a marine horse at each coast [side of the lower transom] and four large consoles that support the first baterie [lower stern balcony], above which there is a very beautiful cul de feu lamp [concealing the rudder head and stern post]. The first gallery, at the height of support is all dotted with fleurs-de-lys d'oreen [in gold], on which are affixed four sirens that serve as a support for the second gallery, and costez [along the side galleries] three tritons and two consoles with a frieze that runs all around, where are the arms of Monseigneur le Duc de Beaufort, supported also by two tritons holding an anchor with one hand; on the starboard side Neptune and Thetys on the left, with a babe at their feet, present[ing] in the divinity of the riches of the earth and the sea, which they then present to the figure of the king, who is in his throne of justice above the third gallery in relief and gold. as well as the whole stern, with a slave of each side and a cornice of gold which reigns all along the ship [sheer rail all in gold?], with trophies joining the said divinities. On each corner, from above, there is a renomee [fame] each holding a trumpet. On the second cornice at the coronation, which has the same effect as the other, are two affixed figures holding in their hands a crown of laurel on the head of the King, of one side, and on the other an olive branch. On the third floor [quarter deck level] there is a balcony, two feet high, where the king's arms are in a medal, on which there are four capitals, or four half-bodied figures, all of them representing the four parts of the world. All portals of ports [gunport lids] are adorned with fleurs-de-lis, figures of the King, lyres, and suns. All between the wales [from the quarter deck level to the sheer railing] there is a frieze in gold which reigns all along the ship, of fleurs-de-lis, also of gold. Between the ports of the second baterie there are trophies of the navy, all of them between lasses of peles [?indescipherable?] and anchors of the same. Those [ports] of the third gundeck are adorned with a frame of foliage with griffins on the sides, all of gold in perfection. At the highest wale [beneath the sheer rail at the poop deck level] there are consoles of space in space, with festoons between two, all in gold. The sides of the vessel with smooth are enriched with fleurs-de-lys golden with molures[?]. The whole mirror, in other words, the guardianship of the vessel is blue in color with golden fleur-de-lis [the stern/tafferal, I suppose]. THE BOW At the bow of the vessel there are two great escolats, two half-wives, whose bottom ends in foliage running along the precients. All precients of the bow are the same, with consoles from below the bows and florets gild space to space. The figurehead is a renowne [fame] holding the king's arms, with a little triton underneath, which has it to wear them, all of which is excellent. The crane carriers [cathead supports] are two big tritons of gold. At the face of the castle of Prou [beakhead bulkhead] there are two children in low relief of gold who carry one a laurel and the other a palm, are an escort or are the arms of the King. The whole bow is adorned, even the herpes [head rails] of fleur-de-lis and the figures of the King of the Golden Crown in perfection.

Okay, now you are getting to the fun part - bringing all of this to life! For your same stated reasons, I would steer away from bright gold or yellow ocher. The admiralty style model of the SP chose yellow ocher, but this can be a bit much: You could go the route of John Ott, and use a light sand color as a base, and then overlay that with a darker brown, translucent acrylic wash that will get into all the crevices and give the TsOW some depth. Personally, I would avoid anything too polychrome. You don’t want the ship to look like the U.N. However, if this were my model to paint, I would probably take one of the following approaches. First approach: Over a primer base (flat black), I would spray a uniform, matte acrylic dark bronze (almost black, but still brownish). Over that, I would selectively dry-brush either a bright bronze metallic acrylic, or I’d dry brush bright metallic bronze powders (later sprayed with a matte, clear fixative). These types of powders are available through the same outlets that supply railroad modelers. The idea is to merely catch the highlights, here and there; part of a shield edge, here, a spear shaft there, etc. You are trying to avoid any sense of gloppiness in the dry-brushing. There are endless dry-brushing tutorials on YT. The advantages of this approach are several. If there are any particular aspects of any given trophy that you wish to de-emphasize, then they will fade into the background of the darker base color. Overall, the TOW will show a strong contrasting silhouette against whatever color you choose to paint the planking of the hull. The bright bronze highlights draw attention to where you want it most. Second Approach: This is a slightly more advanced (read: more work) version of the above, which should yield an even greater sense of depth. Over a black primer, airbrush a matte acrylic dark brown that is not nearly as dark as the black bronze, but not too light either. Over that I would spray a clear acrylic dark brown wash (matte) that will get into all of the crevices. Finally, I’d dry-brush with either bright bronze acrylic paint or powders. As for prepping your hull to paint, here is what I would do - so far as the TsOW are concerned. First, clean both hull halves in light, soapy water. Once dry, I would place a patch of blue paiters’ masking tape, in each TOW position. Rub the tape down firmly with the pad of your finger. Sharpen a #2 pencil to a WICKED point. Holding each TOW in-place with light finger pressure, lightly trace its outline onto the blue tape. Be sure to stay as close to the border of the TOW as possible (the reason for that wicked point). For the trophies where there is a profusion of thin shafts, and flag staffs protruding outside of the shields, I would not concern myself with masking outside of the shield. Next, use a razor sharp EXACTO (#11) to cut a heavy 1/32” inside those lines. Doing so, will ensure that you have a good-sized glue area (mostly the shield area, but also cannon barrels, flags, etc), and that the shield will overlay the planking color completely. Finally, pull away the outer tape, and your hull is ready for primer and paint. I would also spare myself the difficulty of painting the TsOW on the model. I would simply follow one of the above paint protocols, off-model, and then you can attach them and have perfect borders. As you noted before, this also enables you to distress wash your hull planking without the encumbrance of the TsOW.

Better and better, for sure!

Those guns are pretty fabulous! And, agreed on use of mixed-media to get the results you’re after. Awesome trophy!

Exactly - there are no words left.

With every effort, your trophies get better and better, Eric. That was a clever idea to use the kit cannon barrels. It really adds a nice bit of detail with the fleur-de-lis that adorn the barrels.

Siggi, In my estimation, you can count yourself among the very best in the ship-modeling community. There is, simultaneously, precision of craft and the hand of the maker. Your tiller is a real treat! Best, M

Love it! Looks awesome, Eric!

Stunning work, as always, Dan. Portsmouth should build an annex to the Victory museum, and call it “Daniel’s Quarter Gallery”. You have done as much and more than the museum, itself, for understanding of the many iterations of Victory throughout her long life.

Your trophy looks truly fabulous, Eric!

Thank you very much, Kevin!

I think CAD design and printing are still craftsmanship because they require the same meticulous attention to detail that all good modeling requires. Whether making it by hand or printing it, the part is only going to be as good as the drawing that precedes it.

Oh, I see what you mean now, Bill. Honestly, I marvel at our modeling friends who are mastering CAD/resin printing. I’m pretty far away from tackling anything like that, although I do want to eventually learn drafting software. Your paint bottle experience is very relatable!

Hi Ian - yeah, all is okay here - apart from annoyingly and persistently high cholesterol (how much fiber and Omega3’s can a person reasonably consume?!), I’m doing okay. Life just sped up for me, is all. I was going to do some painting last night. I opened a new (but very old) bottle of what I assumed was ModelMaster acrylic last night. I was trying to thin the paint with water, but it was behaving strangely. It took me far too long to realize that what I actually had was a bottle of enamel. I am curious to see whether all of that water I added simply returns to the surface, overnight. Anyway, I’m at a sort of critical juncture with my 13-year old son, who needs me now more than ever, and my daughter, who will be off to college in a year. Nothing alarming, there, but guidance and support are really necessary, so that is where my energies go.

Hi Bill - I think maybe you intended to be in Daniel’s Victory log? With a lot of windows open all the time, that’s an easy mistake to make. 🙂

Hi Bill - actually, I’m not sure what you mean with regard to designing parts in CAD. I’m simply modifying what came with the kit.

..Alive and kicking - however, so softly. In the time that I have available, and am ALERT, I make what little progress I can. I’m working on deck furniture. A considerable amount of time was spent, as always, on de-plasticizing the appearance of these parts; flash removal, in-filling of injection mould marks, softening of sharp edges, and general detailing. I wish I were doing more, but life demands are limiting what’s possible. As always, I so appreciate all and anyone that continues to check in, or take a look at the project. Some day, I will finish this one!

You can see these sun emblems worked into the frieze of fleurs, along with alternating harps, on the Monarque:

Hi Eric - it is helpful to double-stick a piece of 150-grit paper to a sanding block, and then use your finger pad to press down lightly while sanding the backs of the castings. This will accomplish two things. It will neatly remove any flash, and it will give you a good mechanical bonding surface for the CA. I don’t think your upper bulwark frieze has to be terribly complicated. You could, however, add a little extra visual interest and a call-out to the name if the vessel, if you made sun castings with the dauphin at center. You can actually pull this detail from the stock quarter galleries, and make really nice moulds - perhaps extracting the sun emblem first, and reducing its perimeter a little, for the sake of scale. Just a thought.

Tile is a great idea.

These dolphins are much more proportional, and I think the placement works much better. You raise in interesting point about carving left/right masters. It is definitely important to do the work side by side, in order to see it properly. Definitely, you are going to want to glue the masters to a flat smooth surface, and after you do that you want to scrape away the glue “halo” (squeeze out), so that you get a sharp delineation between the carving and the ground. As for removing the carvings from the existing ground, acetone is the most effective release agent, but that will obviously melt your part. You could waste the wood away from behind with a Dremel sanding drum attachment. Or, you may have to chalk that up to experience and make new masters.

What I mean is that the dolphins make more visual sense as a framing for the port if their orientation is the opposite of what you are showing - whereby the tails contact the top corners of the port and the heads fan away from the port. Given the shape of your dolphins, you should still have clearance for the carriage tackle bolts.

Hi Eric - you might have an easier time of it, if you drill perforation holes all around your carvings, first. After extracting the carving blank, I find needle files indispensable for cleaning up the outline shapes of even small parts like this. Once you like the outline, you can mount the carving permanently to a wooden block and do the detail carving. Finally, you’ll be left with a master for making rubber moulds. It’s all very fiddly, but you’d be surprised what you can train your fingers to do. I like the dolphins. Will the tails abut the port openings?

As I say with all of this modification nitty gritty: Comme-ci, comme-ca. A little like this, a little like that. The important thing is to capture the essence of the thing in a fully coherent way, and you have more than achieved that. And, you have the distinction, now, of being the first to radically transform the kit head!