Hubac's Historian

Great observation, Dan, regarding the arched main deck ports.  This is how Heller has moulded them, so that the port sills run parallell with the wale strake just beneath them.
 
With regard to the cathead timbers, you have brought my attention to a bit of a design problem;  a problem, whereby the standard kit architecture isn't going to allow me to simply add this horsehead detail, as it's currently drawn.
 
Because I was planning to use the kit headrails (a nice detail of the Heller kit that would be difficult to improve upon, from scratch), I had not bothered to draw them in.  I have simply suggested the top edge of the headrail escutcheon, as it relates to the horsehead.
 
The Berain drawing/Compardel Painting of the bow, show the cathead timbers extending out, just forward of the bridge of the horse's snout.
 
The following link takes you to a nice waterline model of the Heller kit, which shows pretty clearly the standard relationship of the cathead timbers to the headrail:
 
http://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=G2K1cdzB&id=F0B0CE36616C3A6F325006FC8C3F0F2B17225E49&thid=OIP.G2K1cdzBhSy9N9CHzi3MpAEsDJ&q=heller+soleil+royal&simid=608024584384217243&selectedIndex=2
 
As I've drawn it, the cathead timber would want to run through the horse's snout, in order to be properly supported by the cathead knee.  I'll have to take some measurements to see what sort of clearance I have.  Perhaps, i can just re-scale the drawing of the horsehead a little bit, but more than likely I will have to redraw it altogether, if I want to keep this detail.

In the following series of pictures, you can see that the armament is now fully in place.  This enabled me to correct a few positional errors in the quarter deck cap rails.  There is some overlapping of detail on one of the ornamental end caps, as it overlays the plank scallop detail, but some of that scallop detail will remain visible, and as can be seen in Berain's black and white drawing - where certain details overlap, the dominant detail seems to prevail; in this case, the end cap ornament is the dominant detail and so it will not be reduced.
 
I still have not corrected the problem of overlapping lines, where paths intersect and certain path objects are intended for the foreground and others for the background.  I suspect this has something to do with the fact that I have not yet "stroked" the paths, but I am going to make a test copy of the document soon, in order to test out a few different ideas about how to solve this problem.
 

I drew in a lower port accent for the main deck ports, which will be affixed to the wale strake just beneath the ports.  I've omitted this new detail, in the areas reserved for where I am going to re-locate the main and fore channels.
 

The location of the waist ladder is one port aft of where it appears on the model.  This gives me better visual balance, relative to the vertical skid timbers that are evenly spaced, just forward of the ladder.  Also in place, now, are the scupper ports on the lower and middle deck levels.
 

Here, one can see the protective anchor sweep, and just forward of that on the lower battery, I've drawn in a 15th "hunting port."  The first  Soleil Royal was pierced (along with La Reyne, before her) with 16 ports on the first battery.  While my inclusion of this forward-most port still leaves me one shy of her actual first battery piercing, it is still one port closer to accuracy than the Tanneron model, which is pierced for 14.  I am told that, in practice, this forward most port would not - for the most part - have been armed, except when in chase, the next gun aft would be shifted to this forward pointing port.
 
Again, including this detail is a good example of an attempt on my part to create a better impression of accuracy; although, of course, if one counts the ports they will realize that one port is missing.  I haven't decided whether I will simply scribe in the port detail and add hinge strapping, hinge barrels and a ring bolt, or if I will actually cut in the port.
 
The spacing between the anchor sweep and the hawser detail is tight, but workable, and in reality, a little less congested than I've drawn it.  I'm just not good enough with the software to properly depict the foreshortening of the bows and how the hawse holes should appear in plan view.
 
Next, I'll fill in all the railing detail and then I'll start filling in the quarter galleries and the frieze details.  I realize that this is all incredibly tedious, on my part, but I find it helpful to see exactly how the arrangement of details falls in relation to each other.  I can now see, for example, that my window surround, just forward of the quarter gallery, will need to be simplified quite a bit.

Attention Marc. A few comments !
It is better to start from the original drawing of the prow drawn by Berain. That of Compardel is already a copy that includes notable deformations. Ex: proportions of the body of the naiad, the breasts in "washcloths", And the horse of prow too thinned, with a horrible tail.
The frieze of the spur must be of the same height from one end to the other .;
At the prow the gap between the first and second pairs of pre-wires must not shrink, but on the contrary widen. Same way to the stern.
On the other hand, it is an invention of Tanneron. Look in the work of Lemineur (The Ships of the King) and also on the Monarch, the flaps are much more flexible.
Big error for the ports of the third bridge, the sides must be vertical and not follow the sheer of the bridge.
The ports of the second bridge are too small and do not respect the dimensions of the time.
cordially

Hull construction and gunports placement:
 

Redesigning some bulkheads on the bow:
 

Great work on the interior, EJ!  One thought that occurs to me has to do with the "dreaded sanding phase".  Naturally, there will be a ton of dust.  What is your plan for making these interior compartments, at least temporarily airtight, so that they don't fill up with dust?

This will be my Derby themed entry:
 

The winner of my re-scaling derby is the red horse, on the outside track!  A copy of him has also been placed above the headrail escutcheon, where it is more apparent how the decreases in scaling affect the overall appearance and position of the horse carving.  The middle horse was an intermediate re-scaling effort, and the top horse is just a copy of my original path tracing.
 
It doesn't seem like much, but the heavy 1/32" I gained between the bridge of the horse's nose and where the cathead timber projects will probably be enough clearance to make the whole thing fit seamlessly, while providing (IMO) a better, more streamlined interpretation of the original Berain/Compardel rendering.  The reason this works is that there is actually a solid 1/8" of clear passage between the headrail escutcheon and the cathead timber.  That space is increased, slightly, by the longer-bias distance that the horse head carving can project from the escutcheon before it hits the cathead.  If need be, I can cheat the headrails back a good 1/32", without it being apparent.  Fortunately, I still have the first SR I built all those years ago - against which I can see these relationships and take measurements.
 
Here's a shot of the original drawing:
 

 
Here's a shot of the rendering without the background.  This doesn't show up so well, without the white background, but it is a little less cluttered without the black line drawing that is the original tracing layer. In any case, I think the lower profile horse is more in keeping with Berain's intent.  The headrail escutcheons are different, so necessarily, my horse is a little more elongated, but I can live with it.
 

 
Alright, one last picture that sucks a little less than the others:

I'll still need to edit the Roman tunic so that it re-connects with the angel figure, but I am tired and have had enough for the night.
 

Great observation, Dan, regarding the arched main deck ports.  This is how Heller has moulded them, so that the port sills run parallell with the wale strake just beneath them.
 
With regard to the cathead timbers, you have brought my attention to a bit of a design problem;  a problem, whereby the standard kit architecture isn't going to allow me to simply add this horsehead detail, as it's currently drawn.
 
Because I was planning to use the kit headrails (a nice detail of the Heller kit that would be difficult to improve upon, from scratch), I had not bothered to draw them in.  I have simply suggested the top edge of the headrail escutcheon, as it relates to the horsehead.
 
The Berain drawing/Compardel Painting of the bow, show the cathead timbers extending out, just forward of the bridge of the horse's snout.
 
The following link takes you to a nice waterline model of the Heller kit, which shows pretty clearly the standard relationship of the cathead timbers to the headrail:
 
http://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=G2K1cdzB&id=F0B0CE36616C3A6F325006FC8C3F0F2B17225E49&thid=OIP.G2K1cdzBhSy9N9CHzi3MpAEsDJ&q=heller+soleil+royal&simid=608024584384217243&selectedIndex=2
 
As I've drawn it, the cathead timber would want to run through the horse's snout, in order to be properly supported by the cathead knee.  I'll have to take some measurements to see what sort of clearance I have.  Perhaps, i can just re-scale the drawing of the horsehead a little bit, but more than likely I will have to redraw it altogether, if I want to keep this detail.

Hi Doris,
 
I've wanted to witness your process for some time!  I am so excited to see you build the Katherine, and I will definitely be following along.  Your work is really exceptional!
 
Regards,
 
Marc

This will be my Derby themed entry:
 

The winner of my re-scaling derby is the red horse, on the outside track!  A copy of him has also been placed above the headrail escutcheon, where it is more apparent how the decreases in scaling affect the overall appearance and position of the horse carving.  The middle horse was an intermediate re-scaling effort, and the top horse is just a copy of my original path tracing.
 
It doesn't seem like much, but the heavy 1/32" I gained between the bridge of the horse's nose and where the cathead timber projects will probably be enough clearance to make the whole thing fit seamlessly, while providing (IMO) a better, more streamlined interpretation of the original Berain/Compardel rendering.  The reason this works is that there is actually a solid 1/8" of clear passage between the headrail escutcheon and the cathead timber.  That space is increased, slightly, by the longer-bias distance that the horse head carving can project from the escutcheon before it hits the cathead.  If need be, I can cheat the headrails back a good 1/32", without it being apparent.  Fortunately, I still have the first SR I built all those years ago - against which I can see these relationships and take measurements.
 
Here's a shot of the original drawing:
 

 
Here's a shot of the rendering without the background.  This doesn't show up so well, without the white background, but it is a little less cluttered without the black line drawing that is the original tracing layer. In any case, I think the lower profile horse is more in keeping with Berain's intent.  The headrail escutcheons are different, so necessarily, my horse is a little more elongated, but I can live with it.
 

 
Alright, one last picture that sucks a little less than the others:

I'll still need to edit the Roman tunic so that it re-connects with the angel figure, but I am tired and have had enough for the night.
 

Great observation, Dan, regarding the arched main deck ports.  This is how Heller has moulded them, so that the port sills run parallell with the wale strake just beneath them.
 
With regard to the cathead timbers, you have brought my attention to a bit of a design problem;  a problem, whereby the standard kit architecture isn't going to allow me to simply add this horsehead detail, as it's currently drawn.
 
Because I was planning to use the kit headrails (a nice detail of the Heller kit that would be difficult to improve upon, from scratch), I had not bothered to draw them in.  I have simply suggested the top edge of the headrail escutcheon, as it relates to the horsehead.
 
The Berain drawing/Compardel Painting of the bow, show the cathead timbers extending out, just forward of the bridge of the horse's snout.
 
The following link takes you to a nice waterline model of the Heller kit, which shows pretty clearly the standard relationship of the cathead timbers to the headrail:
 
http://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=G2K1cdzB&id=F0B0CE36616C3A6F325006FC8C3F0F2B17225E49&thid=OIP.G2K1cdzBhSy9N9CHzi3MpAEsDJ&q=heller+soleil+royal&simid=608024584384217243&selectedIndex=2
 
As I've drawn it, the cathead timber would want to run through the horse's snout, in order to be properly supported by the cathead knee.  I'll have to take some measurements to see what sort of clearance I have.  Perhaps, i can just re-scale the drawing of the horsehead a little bit, but more than likely I will have to redraw it altogether, if I want to keep this detail.

This will be my Derby themed entry:
 

The winner of my re-scaling derby is the red horse, on the outside track!  A copy of him has also been placed above the headrail escutcheon, where it is more apparent how the decreases in scaling affect the overall appearance and position of the horse carving.  The middle horse was an intermediate re-scaling effort, and the top horse is just a copy of my original path tracing.
 
It doesn't seem like much, but the heavy 1/32" I gained between the bridge of the horse's nose and where the cathead timber projects will probably be enough clearance to make the whole thing fit seamlessly, while providing (IMO) a better, more streamlined interpretation of the original Berain/Compardel rendering.  The reason this works is that there is actually a solid 1/8" of clear passage between the headrail escutcheon and the cathead timber.  That space is increased, slightly, by the longer-bias distance that the horse head carving can project from the escutcheon before it hits the cathead.  If need be, I can cheat the headrails back a good 1/32", without it being apparent.  Fortunately, I still have the first SR I built all those years ago - against which I can see these relationships and take measurements.
 
Here's a shot of the original drawing:
 

 
Here's a shot of the rendering without the background.  This doesn't show up so well, without the white background, but it is a little less cluttered without the black line drawing that is the original tracing layer. In any case, I think the lower profile horse is more in keeping with Berain's intent.  The headrail escutcheons are different, so necessarily, my horse is a little more elongated, but I can live with it.
 

 
Alright, one last picture that sucks a little less than the others:

I'll still need to edit the Roman tunic so that it re-connects with the angel figure, but I am tired and have had enough for the night.
 

In the following series of pictures, you can see that the armament is now fully in place.  This enabled me to correct a few positional errors in the quarter deck cap rails.  There is some overlapping of detail on one of the ornamental end caps, as it overlays the plank scallop detail, but some of that scallop detail will remain visible, and as can be seen in Berain's black and white drawing - where certain details overlap, the dominant detail seems to prevail; in this case, the end cap ornament is the dominant detail and so it will not be reduced.
 
I still have not corrected the problem of overlapping lines, where paths intersect and certain path objects are intended for the foreground and others for the background.  I suspect this has something to do with the fact that I have not yet "stroked" the paths, but I am going to make a test copy of the document soon, in order to test out a few different ideas about how to solve this problem.
 

I drew in a lower port accent for the main deck ports, which will be affixed to the wale strake just beneath the ports.  I've omitted this new detail, in the areas reserved for where I am going to re-locate the main and fore channels.
 

The location of the waist ladder is one port aft of where it appears on the model.  This gives me better visual balance, relative to the vertical skid timbers that are evenly spaced, just forward of the ladder.  Also in place, now, are the scupper ports on the lower and middle deck levels.
 

Here, one can see the protective anchor sweep, and just forward of that on the lower battery, I've drawn in a 15th "hunting port."  The first  Soleil Royal was pierced (along with La Reyne, before her) with 16 ports on the first battery.  While my inclusion of this forward-most port still leaves me one shy of her actual first battery piercing, it is still one port closer to accuracy than the Tanneron model, which is pierced for 14.  I am told that, in practice, this forward most port would not - for the most part - have been armed, except when in chase, the next gun aft would be shifted to this forward pointing port.
 
Again, including this detail is a good example of an attempt on my part to create a better impression of accuracy; although, of course, if one counts the ports they will realize that one port is missing.  I haven't decided whether I will simply scribe in the port detail and add hinge strapping, hinge barrels and a ring bolt, or if I will actually cut in the port.
 
The spacing between the anchor sweep and the hawser detail is tight, but workable, and in reality, a little less congested than I've drawn it.  I'm just not good enough with the software to properly depict the foreshortening of the bows and how the hawse holes should appear in plan view.
 
Next, I'll fill in all the railing detail and then I'll start filling in the quarter galleries and the frieze details.  I realize that this is all incredibly tedious, on my part, but I find it helpful to see exactly how the arrangement of details falls in relation to each other.  I can now see, for example, that my window surround, just forward of the quarter gallery, will need to be simplified quite a bit.

Hi Marc - 
 
Love the way this is coming along.  You are certainly doing everything you can to make her accurate, according to the information you have.  
 
I don't envy your huge task in making all of the decorations and carved work.  The horse-headed catheads are particularly complicated, and I imagine that they will be difficult to work out how to add the decorations and still have a working anchor davit.
 
One quick question - the surrounds for the third deck gunports, the ones with the antler/acanthus decorations, are slanted at the fore and aft ends of the line.  They are the only gunports that are tipped this way.  Is this how they are on the ship or is this an artifact of the drawing process?
 
Looking forward to seeing her in person.
 
Dan
 

Great work on the interior, EJ!  One thought that occurs to me has to do with the "dreaded sanding phase".  Naturally, there will be a ton of dust.  What is your plan for making these interior compartments, at least temporarily airtight, so that they don't fill up with dust?

In the following series of pictures, you can see that the armament is now fully in place.  This enabled me to correct a few positional errors in the quarter deck cap rails.  There is some overlapping of detail on one of the ornamental end caps, as it overlays the plank scallop detail, but some of that scallop detail will remain visible, and as can be seen in Berain's black and white drawing - where certain details overlap, the dominant detail seems to prevail; in this case, the end cap ornament is the dominant detail and so it will not be reduced.
 
I still have not corrected the problem of overlapping lines, where paths intersect and certain path objects are intended for the foreground and others for the background.  I suspect this has something to do with the fact that I have not yet "stroked" the paths, but I am going to make a test copy of the document soon, in order to test out a few different ideas about how to solve this problem.
 

I drew in a lower port accent for the main deck ports, which will be affixed to the wale strake just beneath the ports.  I've omitted this new detail, in the areas reserved for where I am going to re-locate the main and fore channels.
 

The location of the waist ladder is one port aft of where it appears on the model.  This gives me better visual balance, relative to the vertical skid timbers that are evenly spaced, just forward of the ladder.  Also in place, now, are the scupper ports on the lower and middle deck levels.
 

Here, one can see the protective anchor sweep, and just forward of that on the lower battery, I've drawn in a 15th "hunting port."  The first  Soleil Royal was pierced (along with La Reyne, before her) with 16 ports on the first battery.  While my inclusion of this forward-most port still leaves me one shy of her actual first battery piercing, it is still one port closer to accuracy than the Tanneron model, which is pierced for 14.  I am told that, in practice, this forward most port would not - for the most part - have been armed, except when in chase, the next gun aft would be shifted to this forward pointing port.
 
Again, including this detail is a good example of an attempt on my part to create a better impression of accuracy; although, of course, if one counts the ports they will realize that one port is missing.  I haven't decided whether I will simply scribe in the port detail and add hinge strapping, hinge barrels and a ring bolt, or if I will actually cut in the port.
 
The spacing between the anchor sweep and the hawser detail is tight, but workable, and in reality, a little less congested than I've drawn it.  I'm just not good enough with the software to properly depict the foreshortening of the bows and how the hawse holes should appear in plan view.
 
Next, I'll fill in all the railing detail and then I'll start filling in the quarter galleries and the frieze details.  I realize that this is all incredibly tedious, on my part, but I find it helpful to see exactly how the arrangement of details falls in relation to each other.  I can now see, for example, that my window surround, just forward of the quarter gallery, will need to be simplified quite a bit.

Great work on the interior, EJ!  One thought that occurs to me has to do with the "dreaded sanding phase".  Naturally, there will be a ton of dust.  What is your plan for making these interior compartments, at least temporarily airtight, so that they don't fill up with dust?

Nice work E.J. Going to be a sweet addition when complete

Just a quick update/preview of the Captain's quarters. Bulkheads are going up, floor is planked and doors and furniture will be appearing soon.

I'm not looking forward to the sanding on this one either. La Couronne was bad enough at her size and S.R. is even bigger! I can already feel the sore elbows. Plus side is she is big enough that I should be able to use the power sander for some of the initial knock down sanding.
 
Correcting, improving or just general bashing model ship kits I have decided is just part of the hobby and what sets this type of modeling apart from others. This is not a follow the instructions step by step connecting part "A" which paints red to part "B" which paints black and adding that assembly to hull "C" and truthfully, I don't think I would like it if it was. When I buy kits I buy them mostly for the materials and a starting point with the hull. I know after building a few now that they will have problems and I will need to and want to change and add more to them. My goal is to be able to scratch a fully framed ship and so I want to have to push myself far beyond written instructions. I need to be able to think through the design and building processes and by being forced into bashing kits, I can learn a lot while still having a good starting point and guidance towards the completed ship. With each build I do a little more. Add in missing frames, furniture and interiors and all the while I cut out more and more of the pre-cut, and molded pieces. While I am still a kit or two away from that full scratch build, I am gaining that confidence to ate least try a cross section scratch build. That much I owe to having to improve kits. 
 
Thanks for the nice words and all the likes! More soon!  

In the following series of pictures, you can see that the armament is now fully in place.  This enabled me to correct a few positional errors in the quarter deck cap rails.  There is some overlapping of detail on one of the ornamental end caps, as it overlays the plank scallop detail, but some of that scallop detail will remain visible, and as can be seen in Berain's black and white drawing - where certain details overlap, the dominant detail seems to prevail; in this case, the end cap ornament is the dominant detail and so it will not be reduced.
 
I still have not corrected the problem of overlapping lines, where paths intersect and certain path objects are intended for the foreground and others for the background.  I suspect this has something to do with the fact that I have not yet "stroked" the paths, but I am going to make a test copy of the document soon, in order to test out a few different ideas about how to solve this problem.
 

I drew in a lower port accent for the main deck ports, which will be affixed to the wale strake just beneath the ports.  I've omitted this new detail, in the areas reserved for where I am going to re-locate the main and fore channels.
 

The location of the waist ladder is one port aft of where it appears on the model.  This gives me better visual balance, relative to the vertical skid timbers that are evenly spaced, just forward of the ladder.  Also in place, now, are the scupper ports on the lower and middle deck levels.
 

Here, one can see the protective anchor sweep, and just forward of that on the lower battery, I've drawn in a 15th "hunting port."  The first  Soleil Royal was pierced (along with La Reyne, before her) with 16 ports on the first battery.  While my inclusion of this forward-most port still leaves me one shy of her actual first battery piercing, it is still one port closer to accuracy than the Tanneron model, which is pierced for 14.  I am told that, in practice, this forward most port would not - for the most part - have been armed, except when in chase, the next gun aft would be shifted to this forward pointing port.
 
Again, including this detail is a good example of an attempt on my part to create a better impression of accuracy; although, of course, if one counts the ports they will realize that one port is missing.  I haven't decided whether I will simply scribe in the port detail and add hinge strapping, hinge barrels and a ring bolt, or if I will actually cut in the port.
 
The spacing between the anchor sweep and the hawser detail is tight, but workable, and in reality, a little less congested than I've drawn it.  I'm just not good enough with the software to properly depict the foreshortening of the bows and how the hawse holes should appear in plan view.
 
Next, I'll fill in all the railing detail and then I'll start filling in the quarter galleries and the frieze details.  I realize that this is all incredibly tedious, on my part, but I find it helpful to see exactly how the arrangement of details falls in relation to each other.  I can now see, for example, that my window surround, just forward of the quarter gallery, will need to be simplified quite a bit.

Wow - that's frustrating how un-reliable the kit plans are.  Good catch!

Ken,
Yes, Pete is smiling ... and in a happy way. You have finally been caught by the philosophy behind the Euromodel builds which is designed to encourage you to grab a succession of opportunities, explore different techniques and to make changes as you see fit. I agree whole heartedly with your comments re the windows and look forward to seeing the final outcome. A long task but a worthwhile one.
Pete

Hello Everyone.    The saga continues, but now I'm beginning to realize what I'm letting myself in for.
 
Next on the list was the cast facia under the quarter deck. I could play around with this as when it's in place it wouldn't be seen.  The castings were real meaty items with plenty of depth and a fair amount of detail, better in my opinion than the thin but crisp photo etch, there is more character in them. That is except for the window framing, I couldn't initially see a way of making these windows look good but I set out to see what I could do.  First I cleaned the casting up, primed then painted the frames white. I then dripped a black wash into the glazed area, this found its level in the castings leaving the white frames untouched which meant that I didn't have the almost impossible task of painting the frames neatly. I then painted the remaining facia. When the black wash dried it did so in a blotchy way and on the model looked like a normal window reflection, better I think than a solid colour.
 
BUT!!!!   
 
I couldn't stop thinking that with a bit of effort I could do better. I'd seen the results that others have achieved by opening the glazed areas up. I knew that if I didn't try I would find myself in a couple of years kicking myself knowing in my heart that I should have done it but by then it would be too late, every time I looked at the model I would feel regret.
 
I selected another casting and started. I drilled a pilot hole, fitted a large handle to my needle file so that I could hold it and began filling. It wasn't a very difficult task but it took a long time, the four pane panel shown took me one and a half hours and it was so mind numbing it felt much longer, but it could be done.
 
I've decided to set aside half an hour each day of my building time to the task, I shan't look forward to it but bit by bit they will get done. I feel like someone has given me a can of red paint and a brush and told me to paint the Golden Gate Bridge and I don't like painting.
 
This was defiantly not in my brief. I can see Pete smiling, he warned me that this would happen as I progressed but I doubted him. 
 
 
In the picture when the pile on the left is bigger than the pile in the right I'll be happier.
 
 
Ken
 
 

Yes. All three of my Couronne's masts have plates. That was a detail I picked up from looking at the Vasa and while I cannot confirm that Couronne had them, it makes sense that she would based on her size and size of the masts. I have used a lot of details from Vasa on this build as she is the best example of ship building practices of that time period. While I know there were many differences between Dutch and French practices, I feel safe to say that those plates were probably a common item.