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Hubac's Historian

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  1. Hubac's Historian
    Thank you for explaining your process, Marc. All of that seems like a well-reasoned approach and the fairness of your hull and wales and ports is the proof.
  2. Hubac's Historian
    I've been slowly organising the bow structures. The hawser inserts have been glued in, re-inforced along the back edge, and faired with a little putty. That enabled me to layout and engrave the "hunting ports," simply copying the 1" spacing of the guns that preceed it. Honestly, I feel I may have engraved a little too deeply, but there will be several layers of paint and a series of washes that will minimize that to a degree. The hinge strops were cut from thin styrene sheet, and although it is not really visible in the following pictures, I was able to nicely simulate the hinge strap nail heads, by pressing the point of a common sewing pin into the back of each strap, three times. I still need to make small ring pulls for the port lid lifts, but I'll have to experiment to find a method and material that looks good in scale - they are so tiny! I'm learning a few things about tiny metal work on Popeye2Sea's SR build log, right now. The work he's doing, there, is really astounding! In the meantime, though, I am building up the anchor linings. These pictures don't show it, but there will be a filling piece between the lower main wales. After gluing in the first strake, parallel with the lower main wale, I realised that I would need to adjust and taper the second strake so that the following strakes aligned better with the planking and middle wales. Maybe I should have redone and made this adjustment on the first strake, but I think if it really bothers me, I can putty the joint between 1 and 2 and re-scribe; there-in lies the beauty of plastic. To finish, the anchor linings will he sanded flush and for texture with really coarse 50 or 60 grit paper. I will simulate their treenailing, just as I eventually will for the rest of the hull with the tip of a hypodermic syringe.
  3. Hubac's Historian
    Hello Henry, I've been reading through your build log with great interest and amazement at your scale rigging achievements. Your metal work (chandlery) is some of the best I've seen, and I am heartened by many of the suggestions for improving the appearance of the carriages. I know you have discussed the outboard to inboard leads of sheets and tacks - and all of the inherent problems the kit presents on that subject - but I wonder what your thoughts are on chesstrees. Since I won't be using my kit's quarter galleries, I am thinking about salvaging the greenman figures from the quarter deck windows and using them as chesstrees. I suppose a lion face would be more period appropriate, but a greenman is not un-precedented. What are yor thoughts on chesstrees? Kind regards, Marc
  4. Hubac's Historian
    I suppose I see, now that your wale locations are indicated on the bulkhead patterns, but what about the rest of the layout? Going that extra step will certainly assist your efforts to convincingly tree-nail the model, as is evident in other pictures I've seen of your exterior planking. And one more question for the evening! It would seem that the un-planked balsa/bulkhead hull would be fairly fragile, however, as your planking progresses, have you noticed that the model both seems and is substantially more solid/rigid?
  5. Hubac's Historian
    A few points of curiosity for me, Marc: With regard to your plywood bulkheads, it appears that the lower section of each bulkhead is a separate piece, before the filling of the balsa. It appears to coincide with a particular waterline. Just wondering why? Also, I'm wondering about the first layer of planking that comes up to just beneath the main wale. It seems that it is perfectly flush with the surface of the faired-in bulkheads and balsa, which would mean that you had to have first cut a rebate into the bulkhead frames before assembling anything. It's hard to see, but this appears to be the case. I'm just curious as to why you wouldn't lay down a first layer of planking over the entire hull. The rebate seems like an extra step, although I'm sure you had good reason for doing it this way. One more question: your layout of the wales and all of what would be the actual framing, onto the un-planked hull is all perfectly fair and straight and regular looking. How do you go about transferring curved lines onto a curved object and have it all look so neat? Also, I like your solution to shaping the headers of the quarter deck ports; very clean!
  6. Hubac's Historian
    I have taken many of my cues from both Marc and Michel because they are they only two I know of to fully immerse themselves in study of the ship. I am so glad that you are posting here, now, Marc! As I say to everyone who doesn't know your ship, your work is peerless, and this model I think, when it is complete, will become the grandest vision of what the ship once was. I am personally indebted to both you and Michel for freely sharing information and your passion for one of the least understood "Great" ships. I'll certainly be following with great interest!
  7. Hubac's Historian
    While I love this Bakhuizen portrait, I agree that he is to be taken with a grain of salt. The Van de Veldes are a different animal, though. They hold a much higher degree of credibility, in my book, because there is such good consistency among portraits of their better known English and Dutch subjects. From a construction standpoint, it would simply make more sense to have support at the extreme edges of what is already a lightly built, and vulnerable structure. But one can never go wrong to follow what is known, and that is Berain's intended decor. Ultimately, I will mock it up both ways, when the time comes for that, and see which makes more visual sense to me.
  8. Hubac's Historian
    For half a minute, I considered simply adding extra figures at the corners, as I will soon have extras from Popeye2Sea but that would spoil the thematic harmony of the decor; there are only four seasons, not six. Although, here in New York, it only seems as though we have two seasons.
  9. Hubac's Historian
    I also believe that this is what is intended by the stern and quarter drawings by Berain. Lately, though, I have been stuck on an idea about how exactly, that main deck (I had mistakenly written "quarter deck" balcony, above, but that is the top most, single window on the QG) gallery is to be supported, where the corner wraps to the QG. What I'm looking at and thinking about is an enlargement from this Van de Velde attributed painting of the Battle of Barfleur. I wonder whether you have seen this work before, Marc: Soleil Royal is facing off against Britannia, in the center of the painting. The painting, itself, is quite large: 4' x 8', which would mean that the section containing SR would, itself, be large enough to discern some sense of detail, if only one could view it in person. The trouble is that nobody seems to know where this painting currently resides. It is most likely in private collection. Anyway, when one enlarges SR, and focuses on the area where the corbel supports to the main deck stern balcony reside, it appears that the outer figures of Winter and Fall are placed a bit further outboard than shown in the Berain stern drawing - such that the arms of these figures appear to literally support the corners of the stern balcony where it wraps to the quarter galleries. You'll have to maximize the image in your home browser (is best to get a big enlargement) to even see the fuzzy detail that I'm referring to, but it seems possible (and practical, for that matter) that the builders might have made small variances from the intended ornament, in order to more reasonably support the stern balcony, at the vulnerable corners.
  10. Hubac's Historian
    Welcome, Marc. I'm so glad you decided to bring your model to MSW ! The forum is in for a real treat.
  11. Hubac's Historian
    Very interesting, Marc. The changes are subtle, but effective. Not only did you relieve dead space around the quarter deck guns, but you gave just enough breathing room to the frieze above that it does not look cramped. Most significantly, though, the acanthus escutcheons are better aligned with the gunports. Will your main deck stern balcony wrap to an open walk at the quarters, with the two-window amortissement set in low relief against the ship's side? Or will the quarter galleries be completely closed?
  12. Hubac's Historian
    Marc, what specific aspect(s) of the quarter gallery did you have to change? Can you show an original and revised drawing?
  13. Hubac's Historian
    Are you kidding?! If I think it would be "of some interest for you guys?" Marc, people need to see what you are doing. Your model is incredible and an interesting counter-point to Michel's equally impressive model. Of course, if it were up to me, this would be a site entirely devoted to Soleil Royal, but I am an obsessive fan of the ship . Please post pictures of your ship.
  14. Hubac's Historian
    Hello NekO, Great to hear from you! Yes, thank you for your kind comments. The protective sweep of planking that matches the thickness of the wales; this is a detail I will be adding, just after I scribe in the "hunting port". I wanted to get the placement of the port right before adding in the sweep of thicker planks between it and the next port aft. My decision to scribe the hunting port - as opposed to actually cutting it in - is based mostly on the fact that it wasn't an armed port. Also, this is one detail where I can allow myself to be a little lazy and not go the extra mile. What's new with the Royal Balsa, these days?
  15. Hubac's Historian
    With the continuous bolting of the wales complete, I turned my attention to the hawser insert pieces, and I think I've done a fairly Doogie Hawser job of surgically in-letting the port side hawser piece. The issue at hand is the dark ridge that you see, here, on the starboard side. The planking is moulded and intended to be a smooth continuum, but the piece does not fit flush, and this is unnatural. However, after using my fabulous Dremmel Micro to cut a diminishing rebate into the mounting edge of the piece, the aft edge sits flush with the rest of the planking. This is not at all difficult to do, it is simply a matter of holding the piece in place, as you scribe the lower edge of the upper wale into the plastic, and the upper edge of the lower wale, with a single edge razor blade. An emmory board cleans up the transition and the piece fits perfectly. A little work on the aft joint, where it meets the hull, is required in order to minimize the need for putty - a touch of Squadron, though, and a little judicious leveling should make that transition line completely disappear. I will have to do the same on the starboard side, obviously, and I will also have to fill and re-drill the hawse-holes, back closer to the stem, after I have performed my magically surgical widening of the hull, at the stem. Just as the prior example illustrates my desire to make this model look less like the plastic kit that it is, the next example strives for a greater verisimilitude with real practice. Here, I am showing the transom profile, which previously, I had trimmed back a generous 1/16", to the mounting ledge for the transom piece. That's why the hull thickness seems so exaggerated, below the main wale, because it includes the mounting ledge. The reason for doing this was so that I can model-in the round-up of the square-tuck stern. However, even after grinding away the existing mounting ledge, the side planking still is way out of scale. Ordinarily, with plastic models of this type, one would glue in the transom piece, and then fill-in any gaps - and then maybe, maybe scribe back in the partially filled plank lines. As I will be building up the transom and stern from scratch, on the other hand, I saw this as an opportunity to thin the hull wall at the transom edge to a more scale-realistic plank thickness. Into which, I then engraved the plank butt-ends This process also creates, on the inboard hull a new mounting ledge for the transom planking that will be installed later. Rinse, and then repeat on the starboard side! Following that, I will glue in the hawser pieces, and then scribe-in and detail the 15th "hunting port," at the bow of the lower battery. As this is already a fairly long build-log, and I've only just gotten started, I will periodically mention "the truth," or what "should be." What the first battery should consist of is 16 piercings (to be consistent with what is known of SR1), with 15 armed at all times; the 16th "hunting" port at the bow would only be armed by shifting the next gun, aft, into position when SR (and La Reyne, for that matter) were appropriately in pursuit of the enemy. For my purposes, even a vestigial scribed 15th port - while it's not 16 - is still closer than 14. Comme-ci, Comme-ca; a compromise of sorts.
  16. Hubac's Historian
    I certainly agree with you, Dan, about experimentation, and experiment I will! The results you achieved on the Sovereign are very good. I'm glad you mention the darkening effect around the boltheads of Herbert's models. I believe this effect is intended to represet the iron staining of the fasteners in the oak; a happy convergence of technique and intent. One of the things I will experiment with is lightly dry-brushing the through-bolt heads (at the scarfs and the transom knees, only) with some kind of dark grey, almost black color. I think that, along with the staining residue left from the opaque wash will create a nice effect. I will also probably use a more translucent wash coat, sparingly, to see what sort of depth that adds. Even though the period of time I am trying to represent is relatively brief (1689-1692), and the ship was newly re-built, her hull would already have darkened considerably, just being on the water. But then, a lighter sand base coat, would be another way of modulating the oxidation so that it is appropriate for the age of the new timber. The other thing that I find interesting about Herbert's model of Hollandia (last two pictures) is the darkened band of the two lower wales, which I suppose would represent a protective coat of creosote, or black stuff. On SR, this is always represented as being painted black, but might it be more realistic to indicate a darkened appearance? I have likewise been debating, for example, whether to paint the wales, up to and just below the main deck guns, a near black, in a matte finish. The argument for painting the wales is that, with so many through-bolt fasteners, the paint would effectively seal the area right around each bolt head. But, then again, would a darkened creosote color be more appropriate? All of these are points for debate! In other news, Henry (Popeye2Sea) has very graciously agreed to send me the extra parts I need for my splice and dice experiments into broadening and lengthening the hull. It is really heartening that this community is so supportive and helpful with their knowledge and advice, and spare parts! Without it, I'm not sure what the status of this project would be. Thank you, Henry! And thank you, Dan and everyone else who stops by, weighs in, and likes this or that. It is all greatly appreciated.
  17. Hubac's Historian
    So, without further delay, this is Herbert Tomesan's finish protocol, as related by Herbert himself: "I sand the plastic first by grain 80 or even sometimes 40. Were you can't reach it, the tip of a scalpel will also create wood structure. After that I spray everything with Humbroll 63. I have no experience with acrylics, but after spraying the primer and then applying something like acrylic dessert yellow you let it dry. After drying you paint everything with Winsor and Newton "van Dyck's brown". Use it as pure as possible. It will look like shoe polish. This you will have to remove directly after applying. Take most off with a piece of cloth (towel) after that taking more off by big brush (cheap one with tough hair, after that softer brush and at the end with Q-tips, or the tip of your finger. Do a test with a small shipmodel first (the rowing boat, or a santa maria.)" And here are a few examples of the results. All models are completely scratch-built-up upon vaccu-formed shells with an assortment of sheet and strip styrene. Herbert is amazing! And, in my opinion, his models really capture the essence of the Van de Veldes. Just look at Hollandia (last two pictures): TheT The Provincien, below (first pic only. Not sure what ship the following two pics are) Hollandia
  18. Hubac's Historian
    Cedric - regarding the Danish website: I had been methodically scanning through the list. I found the image you had referenced a while ago, which was a starboard broadside view of maybe the Foudroyant of 1693. Quarter galleries were indicated, but no ornamentation was shown. Are you thinking of a different image? Do you have an approximate idea where in the numbered list it can be found?
  19. Hubac's Historian
    No kidding, EJ! I maintain a Pinterest board that I call "Scale Realism". First of all, the water effects that some of these steel navy guys achieve are astounding - you would swear you're Gulliver staring down at these miniature worlds that are rendered with photographic realism. Then, there are the fire effects guys who are modeling planes exploding on runways with blast point, changing fire and smoke intensity; it is just not to be believed!
  20. Hubac's Historian
    You know, EJ, I haven't the heart to do it to the waterline model I'm making, right now, but a part of me thinks it would be really fun to do a diorama of a battle scarred SR, after the Battle of Barfleur, off the coast of Cherbourg, as the fire ship inches ever closer, off her starboard quarter. I'm going to give Henry full license to retract his offer, if he is having second thoughts, but it would be fun to poke a few cannon ball holes into his warped hull halves to experiment and try to see whether I could achieve a good splinter effect, at scale. Cedric, I also appreciate your offer, but I will wait and see, first, whether Henry and I can work something out. That is also a generous offer, on your end, Dan which I may take you up on in some way shape or form. At some point, when my ship starts becoming a thing, I'll need to say farewell to my first SR. A close friend of mine has always admired the ship, but his wife might have other ideas about the available real estate on their home. Maybe she (the ship, not his wife😜) can live in your storage locker until I find a home for her. Speaking to your advice on paint and finish Dan, I was quite delighted, yesterday, to hear from Herbert Tomesan, who's scratch work in plastic is largely the inspiration for this build. I had written to him, asking about his particular finish protocal, and he wrote back in very specific terms that he gave me permission to share. It is surprisingly simple, and the results are impeccable. I will publish a post, later, when I can also publish pictures of his diorama models of Hollandia and the Provincien. Thank you Herbert!
  21. Hubac's Historian
    No worries, Reklein! You know, Vic, that isn't a bad idea about taking the whole kit. I'm not sure how enthusiastic my father would be about my stashing yet another model in his basement, which he is forever trying to get me to consolidate. The Heller Victory, which truly is a fantastic model, is the crown of the fleet, and it is just waiting for me to own a home where it will have space to co-exist with SR. My thought with the Victory was to convert her from the 1805 appearance to her 1765 appearance, which I think would be highly feasible, so long as I were willing to re-build the stern and trim down the heightened sheerline to the vestigial, ornamental rail. But those are all musings for another decade in life. For the time being, I only keep with me in NYC the parts that I am working on (again, space issues), while the rest sits in the box in PA. The truth is, though, that the vast majority of what comes in the SR box will be better made from scratch, when the time comes for that.
  22. Hubac's Historian
    And the list grows... I suppose I could also do with 4 - 6 of the stern balcony corbel supports, since I'll be making the middle and upper balconies wider.
  23. Hubac's Historian
    Wow, Really?!! Henry, that would be incredible! There are a few very specific pieces that I am interested in and they are the following, in no particular order: The upper bulwark pieces (to cut out the arched port surrounds) The upper stern plate for the windows The bowsprit pieces (knees of the head) that support the figurehead and fit in behind the figurehead - these were particularly warped on mine and may only be salvageable with judicious use of heat The bulkhead plate that fronts the forecastle The figures of Europe and Asia (horse and camel) The lower stern gallery corbel figures of Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall (that Battle of Barfleur painting that I posted recently has me wondering about something, if I could ever see a closeup of SR) Perhaps, also, the middle and upper stern balconies, which I may be able to extend to the new stern width with a similar cutting and splicing effort - again, this was one of the kit details that was particularly nicely worked, and it would be hard to do better from scratch, especially considering that there is a pretty close fidelity, there, to the Berain drawing. Come to think of it - if you still have the warped lower hull pieces, I could salvage the aft 3/8" for my stern extension pieces (cutting the same dimension away from the upper bulwark pieces); these would then become the hull extensions I would have had to cast from resin. Likewise, my 1/4" bow widening pieces could also be cut from the warped hull halves and fixed to my modified hull halves. With that in mind, I would also need the bow hawser inserts, if you haven't already glued them in place. That would be ideal - saving me an enormous amount of time and effort. What would you like for your trouble and expense? I would be more than happy to pay your price for them, and of course, the shipping. But only so long as you don't see yourself doing anything with the kit now or ever.
  24. Hubac's Historian
    Hello Vic! Yes, the hull is being widened by a half inch, in order to accomodate the six-light stern that is shown in the Berain drawing. That is largely the reason why I am cutting the hull down to a waterline diorama - because doing so will enable me to cast resin bow extension pieces from the most bluff/flattest portion of the hull, near the stem. When I approximate the new hull width, by standing the hull halves, opposite each other, the impression of the model as a seaworthy craft is, in my opinion, greatly improved. I have been thinking for some time that I will recycle the kit's window frames for the stern, and simply make a resin casting for each missing sixth window. Lately, I've been thinking that I might just try and buy someone's abandoned, and partially built SR kit, so that I can salvage the missing sixth windows, as well as the main deck arched gunports that I want to place in a more correct, vertical plane. Right now, there is an early pressing of the kit, like the one I am working with, on EBAY for $36. The shipping is more than the highest bid. When one considers that I inherited this kit, a small cash outlay doesn't seem so bad. Also, if I had a second kit at my disposal, I have an idea that I could lengthen the reclining figures of Europe and Asia (atop the tafferal) by splicing in two seperate 1/8" slices, from the kit-bash box of spare parts, somewhere in the figures' legs and the bodies of the horse and camel. I could, then, re-shape the bottom edge of these figures to closely scribe to the new and altered cyma curve of the tafferal. Theoretically, it would be easier than re-modeling the figures in polymerized clay. I haven't, yet, given that idea a serious look to see exactly how and where that might be feasible. Does anyone out there want to sell a partially built or damaged beyond repair Heller kit?
  25. Hubac's Historian
    Welcome Ger!

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