Hubac's Historian
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Also, I might add, that this headrail arrangement is indicative of this later evolution in head construction in the 1680’s: And a dated (1692) drawing of Le Terrible, also by Berain: In contrast to the 1670’s:
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The Berain drawings date to the time of the refit. Berain does not officially become designer of ornament to the King’s arsenals until after Lebrun’s death in 1690, but his famous stern drawing is a re-working of the original design by Puget - the underlying conception for which was established by LeBrun. The quarter drawing, I have argued, is consistent with the evolution in QG design (closed lower bottle on middle deck level, wrapping main deck balcony, QD amortisement), in the 1680s. There is strong correlation in the design elements that make up the windows and decorative rails between quarter and stern drawings. What is somewhat confusing to me is that this quarter drawing lacks the flawless continuity of the stern drawing; there are design problems with the quarter drawing that would lead to an impractical construction, if taken literally. Also, this drawing shows the extremely pronounced aft sheer that would have been a feature of 1670 (see how the wales/precients are cut completely by the aft ports), yet the stern height is definitely not as high as that time period. Also baffling is the cropping of the image. At the right margin, the drawing ends in a soft line, but the angle of that line, relative to the digital right margin, makes it seem as though the ocean water is cascading downhill and that the ship is sinking, bow first. Rotate the drawing 15 degrees counterclockwise and one’s perception of the thing changes dramatically. All of this suggests that the heading, “Bouteille du Vaisseau…” is a later notation than the date of the drawing. It is the heading that has determined the modern cropping of the drawing. Why it is notated at such an odd angle to the original intent of the drawing is anyone’s guess.
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I think this looks truly incredible, Michael. The attention to scale and variation of wood tones really captures the salvaged original!
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It tends to wear through on any sharp corners just from the handling of painting the rest of it.
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The case I make for it, eventually, will qualify it for the permanent installation known around here (my home) as the “heirloom furniture project” in Marc’s Museum of Decorative Wooden (and some plastic) Objects.
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The yellow is so fragile, and it already needs re-touching. I will wait for that, though, until after the installation. As I have throughout the model, I use the darker gold Citadel Armor as a base coat, and then I highlight with the bright gold. It creates a nice, if subtle sense of depth: Next, I’ll do all the gilt work for the starboard side. I’m also ready to begin making the third tier of stern lights. Thank you for stopping by. More to follow..
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You can just cut the existing cables and shove them back into the model. Then, just run new rope in one hawsehole and out the next. This is what I will soon do on my model because the existing cables just aren’t good enough.
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Incredible!
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As you have it is the way that the kit is designed, yes.
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Hi Aurelien - yes, this is where the log originated. I posted an abbreviated version of it on SOS because it was too tedious to re-create in full.
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Michael and T_C - thank you very much! And, of course, thank you all for the likes and stopping by. Painting on the headrails continues. I’ve been through a round of re-touches and I’ve applied the distress wash. If I may so so, they look pretty good. The wash does a world of wonders. Pics to follow after gilding and grey-washing of the horses. I have also been busy drafting the third and final tier of stern lights. This was interesting, for me, as I had to remind myself of a few important design considerations. Firstly, I had increased the camber of the middle-tier of lights because the arc of the lower tier would have appeared too flat (in a shorter arc segment), if I had remained consistent. It seemed like an additional increase in camber, for the top tier would not pay dividends, so I maintained the middle arc of camber. I believe this will frame a nice upward sweep to the tafferal frieze for Apollo and his chariot. What I am aiming for is best expressed by the magnificent work of Olivier Gatine on his magnificent La Belle. There is an elegance of line, IMO, that really elevates this model above any other attempt I have seen of this subject - and there have been many really good ones. He really captures something, here. I can only dare to dream and attempt to emulate the finer points of his craft. Here is where my upper tier stands for now. I have to apply this drawing to a card template so that I can really see it on the model: The drawing is a bit muddled from previous camber lines that were flatter, and subsequently fixed under hairspray. As I have always said - this model is an amalgamation of compromises, and my process has yielded a few less desirable inconsistencies. Because I have had to draw each level of the stern, as the model has become a concretely measurable thing, there is not always perfect continuity of line: I missed my opportunity to make fine adjustments in that middle tier of drafting. Here, it is readily apparent that the pilasters don’t line up very well from one level to the next. Fortunately. the balcony rails help to soothe the visual dissonance. The Four Seasons figures are also giving me a big assist, here, in obscuring these alignment problems. Comme-ci, comme-ca. It is all still a vast upgrade over the stock kit.
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Yes, same rationale for the kevels. As you approach the upper bulwarks, I encourage you to take a little extra time to fill/level injection mould marks. It’s one of the shortcomings of the kit that it is loaded with tons of these moulding artifacts - not coincidentally, that is probably why the injection-moulded detail is so crisp on this kit.
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Yes, I glued-in the companionway supporting knees early because I wanted a strong plastic to plastic bond before paint. I also wanted really good alignment, and this was just easier to do off the model. Same with the eye bolts.
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This is really exciting and great for me, personally. I have been searching for what my transitional project might be, and I love David and Greg's model of this pretty little ship. I know that your kit will be first-rate. It'll be a while before I dive-in, but this is exactly what I was looking for to accelerate my learning curve of POF construction.
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I appreciate that you can hear me, without getting too ruffled about it. Always, with this kind of thing, I consider whether X, Y, or Z detail is a distraction to the model. In this case, I felt it took focus away from the model, where it should be.
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I agree with all of the above.
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The other consideration is that the brightness of the pedestals is at odds with the weathered appearance of the model. One approach might be to cut away the lobes of each knob so that there is a parallel center that runs closer to the keel. Then I might strip away the lacquer and use brass black to give them some patina.
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If I’m being honest, Michael, I don’t like the brass knobs. They come-off as too heavy for the scale of the model. I’m sorry to be so blunt, but they elicit a pretty visceral reaction for me.
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That is correct - I cut away the top-most sheer step and replaced it with a 1/2 height caprail that extended the full-length of the third sheer step. Ultimately, I am shortening the length of the poop royal deck a bit (maybe about 1/2”) to avoid this problem that Bill has encountered. Since I’m making all of the decks and bulkheads from scratch, I feel comfortable doing that. All that said, I may slant the poop royal deck so that it follows the sheer of the railing. I won’t really know for sure until I get there.
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