Hubac's Historian

Thanks, Mark! I will check this out.

Gaetan, thank you so much! This is all very helpfull

Gaetan, this is a work of spectacular complexity and execution. Your chaloupes are so elegantly constructed; they are ship models unto themselves. The ship stoves are of particular interest to me. Thank you for taking so many good photos of them. Would the basic structure of these stoves have been more or less the same in the 17th Century? For his St. Philippe, Lemineur shows two smaller stoves between the middle deck guns, at the bow. For my Soleil Royal, it only makes sense for there to be a larger stove, perhaps with two separate cooking bays, in the center of the main deck, beneath the forecastle deck. What you have constructed would work quite nicely, it seems to me. I just wonder whether it is reasonably appropriate for my time period. Also, presumably, the top of the stove would be some sort of iron hood funneling hot exhaust up the chimney? If you have some recommendations, here, I would really appreciate it. Thanks, Marc

Ingenious - I love it!

This is all very impressive, Mike.

Thank you for your thoughtful reply, Tom.

Great prep and early construction progress, Tom! In thinking about this method, I was wondering about grain selection for the various lifts - particularly the bottom lift. Most of the poplar stock you have shown appears to be rift-sawn. I wonder, though, whether it may he particularly advantageous to use quarter-sawn stock for the first lift because you won’t be cutting out the middle. Do you find that the relative stability of poplar negates this consideration?

CCoyle could not have said it better.

This is just some beautiful work you are doing, here, Ondras.

You know, I just marvel at the fact that even the parts of the model that aren’t to be seen - in the end - can be looked at freely.

I can see from your organization of thought and shop that this is going to be a good one. I love the lines of this ship, and really look forward to watching how you approach the build. Health, of course, is everything. I'm glad you are feeling more like yourself. Let's see what you are going to do!

WOW -really impressive scale work, Mike! I am always impressed when modelers go this small. I will be following with great interest. You are doing an amazing job, here!

Hi George - do you have a pic of the Paris model that shows the circumstance you describe? To have a working capstan on the forecastle deck does seem strange to me, as well, for a French ship of any rate or time. My knowledge base is limited, though. Any Boudriot references, anyone?

That is just pure magic! I have enjoyed watching every step of this project come together. And now, if I may propose a new project deserving of your particular talents: La Reine of 1668, as drawn here in 1672. Nobody can capture the elegant magnificence of French Baroque ornamentation quite like you. Just something to consider🙃😉

T_C, a great idea should always be acknowledged. This one, I shall not soon forget. I have to say that, while the making of window frames is labor intensive, it is an enjoyable process. One cause for satisfaction is that the original drawing is quite a mess, in this section: The reduction of windows from five to three just really de-clutters the whole design. Also, ensuring that the top and bottom rails of the windows are parallel improve the overall sense of balance. A brief montage: This is one approximate idea for doing a stylized false window. It isn’t exactly what I had in mind, but it is an idea worth playing around with a little. I’ll make some extra panes to experiment with a few different looks. By including the top-rail ornament, I ensure that there is consistency with the corresponding stern windows. If I had made simple frames, without these ornaments, the windows would appear too tall. Another nice thing is that, for a change, I have a really clear idea what the underlying structure of these windows will be. Constructing them should be relatively straight-forward. Anyway, it is a work in-process. I tried to get a decent zoom into this portrait of the Battle of Barfleur by Peter Monamy: The well-documented stern of HMS Britannia is easily recognizable. There is a strong likelihood that the French ship firing on her from the starboard broadside is Soleil Royal. Like all potentially credible portraits of SR (Monamy is in the upper echelon of period marine artists), these thumbs are too small to read for detail. This portrait may still exist in the Glasgow collection, though. I will have to send an inquiry. ’Twas a dark day for America, yesterday. Hopefully, more sane days are on their way. Thank you for your likes, comments and looking in!

Take your time, John. Straight out of the box, she’s a beast to build. Once you start modifying things, the time increases exponentially. You won’t regret the extra care taken, though.

That parquet floor rescue must have been nerve-wracking! I can feel it in my guts just imagining it. This is beautiful progress, Mike.

John, she's coming along beautifully, so far. I really like the additions and upgrades that you have made - particularly the guns; the scale of the Heller stock guns does not capture the heft of the real thing, although their detailing is very nice. I also like what you have done with the figurehead and appreciate your research into period artistic conventions of the 17th C. Really beautiful work. I'm sorry that I can't be much help about the rigging, as I haven't worked through many of those problems yet, myself, beyond the main deck sheet and tack leads. Popeye2Sea, though, is an excellent resource for really understanding the why and where-for of rigging practice. I will be very interested to see what you do with the upper bulwarks. Happy New Year, Marc

The shrouds look terrific, Joe! Whatever my carving talents may be, all bets are off when it comes to the rigging; that will be a huge learning curve for me, personally. I also like your treatment of painting the hull with the blue band between wales. She’s looking very good.

I’m very sorry to hear about the passing of your husband, Doris. This has been a very difficult year for you. In the face if these challenges, though, you have done a spectacular job with your Katherine - simply one of the best models I have ever seen.

Wow, Marsalv - what a talent you are! I'm just completely blown away by all of it. This is truly inspiring stuff! I particularly like your cut-aways. I have never seen anyone else approach it in quite this way; you seem to have maximized the long-view through the ship, in places, while adding a uniquely a-symmetrical artistic flair to the openings. It is all just so good. The lead-lined manger is just perfection, from my point of view.

Well, I won't miss out on this work of art! I'm a little late to the party, but there still seems to be plenty of build ahead. All of the smallest attention to detail is so lovely and perfectly rendered. You're giving ArchJofo a run for his money in the Chandlery.

This is truly a magnificent effort - well deserving of the gold it has won and the recognition it will garner, in the future. I'm sorry I missed this one!

As you should be EJ! The stern is coming along beautifully.

‘Just a quick update. Corbels are painted and in-place. Yes, I will fill and fair that joint at the top 😉: I have the port side and stern quarter windows drafted: One of the problems/complaints, concerning the Berain/Vary drawing is the sometimes confounding inconsistencies between the irrefutable Berain stern drawing and the quarter drawing. Because the, now, concrete reference points of the model enable me to make reliable drawings for this next phase of the build, I decided to address these inconsistencies. The reality of the kit meant that the actual space available for these windows is taller than what I initially drew: One way to effectively deal with that real height discrepancy, while also helping with consistency, was to include the same window ornament, along the top stile, as seen on the stern. The fact that I have reduced these QG windows, in number, from 5 to 3 helps with the overall width to height ratio. This is different from what Berain/Vary drew, but more consistent with better understood examples of the time (SP, 1693), while also paying respect to the hard realities of the kit. HAPPY NEW YEAR!