Soleil Royal by Hubac's Historian - Heller - An Extensive Modification and Partial Scratch-Build

[Kevin-the-lubber]

I thought I'd give 1.5mm a go again, as I'll probably want to try using these myself shortly. It's worth saying that a 1.5mm block is close to half the size of a 2mm, in terms of surface area, i.e. it's not just a tad smaller, it is a LOT smaller! As expected I had to ream out the through hole and still couldn't get 0.1mm thread through, so I used some 34g beading wire (0.2mm) as a proof-of-concept proxy. I fear thread of the same diameter might look a bit too large for the block and the thinnest possible might be the way to go. My takeaway conclusion is that 1.5 is bordering on insanely small, but still doable so long as you have a bottomless well of determination 🙂and I know, by putting it next to a victory 12lb-er, that it just looks more 'right' than the 2mm. Maybe the solution (for me at least) is a compromise, 1.7mm or 1.8mm. 

 

[Hubac's Historian]

Gentlemen, thank you all for the likes and kind words.  It is all very much appreciated, coming from such an esteemed group as you all are.

 

Kevin, I don’t think there’d be any significant difference in time period for single and double blocks.  The larger, purpose-specific blocks of the yards are a different story.  I’m a ways away from those.

 

Wow! - you are absolutely right, what a scale difference it is to go down to 1.5mm.  I suspect that I could rig them with the same 100wt silk thread that Michael is using on his Sovereign.

[t_corret]

Bravo!

[Ian_Grant]

Marc, where did you find such tiny blocks? During my Victory build the smallest I saw was 2mm.

[Hubac's Historian]

Hi Ian - Those are actually blocks that Kevin is printing with his own equipment.  The smallest I found were also 2MM.

[72Nova]

Just a friendly remainder fellas that Dry Dock Models also sells those 1.5mm blocks in boxwood, those are what I use currently, but I would be willing try out Kevin's if he decides produce them?

 

Michael D.

[wefalck]

Not sure, why people continue using diluted white glue to stiffen ropes, perhaps because it is handy on most workdesks ... If you use a fast-drying organic-solvent based lacquer (zapon lacquer or old-fashioned nail-varnish, not the modern acrylic ones), you can soften the lacquer easily with a drop of acetone. That also takes care of any flash produced during the original stiffening.

 

And, why did you make the coils elongated, any particular reason? Naturally, as the rope has the same stiffness all along its length, it would coil up in more or less round coils. Of course, one can pull the coils long afterwards, but this would be extra work.

 

Otherwise, I would echo the comments of the others, that it continues to be an impressively well-done project 👍🏻

[Javelin]

3 hours ago, wefalck said:

 

And, why did you make the coils elongated, any particular reason? Naturally, as the rope has the same stiffness all along its length, it would coil up in more or less round coils. Of course, one can pull the coils long afterwards, but this would be extra work.

That's not a very true assumption, rope rarely, depending on the lay of it, has a tendency to coil up round. It generally depends on the lay, direction of coiling and simply the motion that is made during coiling that would define the shape of it. 

I must admit this is looking more like a coil that was made vertically, hanging and then laid down afterwards rather than a coil that was made straight on deck. But honestly... if that's the only question we can pose, he's doing a great job. And that's what this is! 

 

Great work all around, astonishing work and VERY Tiny blocks indeed!

[Kevin-the-lubber]

For what it’s worth, as a ex-mountaineer and caver I would often coil rope around an arm and lay it down on the ground, where it would look just like Marc’s coils. I agree that some very stiff rope, especially when new, can want to do it’s own thing but even hemp or bark/grass rope softens fairly quickly. (On the climbing and caving side, most of us would have paid more for a rope that did behave rather than continually kinking. We used to have to regularly drag 50 metres of rope along the ground to get the kinks out and stop it twisting during coiling).

[Hubac's Historian]

I would add, also, that I’ve coiled and flaked rope as a volunteer on South Street Seaport’s historic schooner Pioneer.  Coils have to run freely, so longer loops and fewer are better than smaller, stacked coils.  Mostly though, at scale, I just don’t like the appearance of perfectly round coils that instantly bring to mind the knitting needle they were formed on.

 

The varnish tip is a good one, but I would be reticent to apply acetone to an acrylic painted, plastic model.  This approach, it seems to me, is perfect for wooden modeling.  ‘Something I will definitely tuck away for the future.

 

I can tell you from my several mis-adventures of blemishing my ventre-de-biche hull that color-matching that distressed appearance is a real biche 😜

[wefalck]

My comments about coiling were actually not 'assumptions', but that is what happens to me, when I coil rope. Of course, it is also a question of the thickness of the rope relative to your arm movements when coiling.

 

I regularly use this lacquer/varnish and acetone method on models spray-painted with acrylics and did not experience any problems. Of course, when you create puddles of acetone and let it standing there, that may soften the paint. The point is to just brush enough onto the rope to soften it. It will evaporate in a few moments afterwards.

 

[Hubac's Historian]

Hi Guys - does anyone know what specifically these are?  They are part of the battle-station equipment for each gun. I think it is a cask, and perhaps the barrel swab is the long handle?

 

Edited Thursday at 02:09 AM by Hubac's Historian

[popeye2sea]

The instructions call those slow match tubs. The other tubs (part no. 160, two halves) are supposed to be a sponge tub.

In my opinion the slow match holder (linstock) is a very poor representation. There should be sort of a, curved, tee-shaped, iron bracket at the top to hold the slow match. What they have there looks like it comes straight out of Disney's "sorcerers apprentice."

 

Regards,

Henry

Edited Thursday at 12:23 PM by popeye2sea

[t_corret]

Based on absolutely no knowledge, I think slow match was stored in the barrel with the linstock upside down. During action, the linstock was pulled out, reversed, and the length of slow match was lit. I seriously doubt the butt of the linstock with lit match affixed was slid back into the barrel. When empty, it may have been filled with water for the sponge. Don't quote me on this!

[Baker]

When I built my SR, long ago.

I thought it was supposed to be a bucket with "something" in it.

 

Not really recommended to put this on your model 😉

[popeye2sea]

7 hours ago, t_corret said:

Based on absolutely no knowledge, I think slow match was stored in the barrel with the linstock upside down. During action, the linstock was pulled out, reversed, and the length of slow match was lit. I seriously doubt the butt of the linstock with lit match affixed was slid back into the barrel. When empty, it may have been filled with water for the sponge. Don't quote me on this!

Like all of the cannon implements, the linstocks were normally kept stowed away when not in action.  The tub is there to hold the lighted slow match, held in the linstock, from falling over and igniting anything inadvertently. The slow match is lit and remains smoldering throughout the battle.  That is why you so often read about the gunner blowing on the slow match to cause the match to flare prior to applying it to the touch hole. So, no, the linstock is not stored in the tub upside-down.

There is a separate tub provided for the sponge water.

 

Regards,

Henry

[Hubac's Historian]

Thank you, everyone, for your thoughts on this matter.  So, Henry, should the linstock barrel be depicted with simply a hole in its narrower diameter top, for where the linstock would be placed during battle?

 

I see some builders detail these tubs with coopered staves engraved, barrel bands applied, the linstock stick removed, and the centers bored out to look more like liquid carrying vessels.  They even attach ears to the rim, to accept a rope lanyard.

 

What you are suggesting, I think, is that this tapered cone barrel is wider at its base precisely to be a more stable support for the lit match.  In that case, the hole at the top should only be big enough for the linstock to be inserted.  I suppose that for the sake of expedient clearing of the decks, it still makes sense for the lanyard to be attached.

 

The more conventional buckets (narrow at bottom and flaring at top) are really the swab buckets for swabbing the bore between shots.  Heller only provides 10 of these and they instruct you to place them in non-sensical places along the decks, rather than as equipment specific to the battle stations.

 

Do I have this right, Henry?

[popeye2sea]

That is correct.  Although there may have been more than one linstock per barrel. Perhaps one tub per two guns would have worked? Or maybe one tub per division of guns?

I have also read of something called a halliard tub that would be placed to corral the length of the halliard after raising the yard. But, I do not know why, or how they might have been employed. Wouldn't you just coil the halliard on the belay point just like any other line?

 

Regards,

Henry

[Bill97]

Gentlemen I enjoy so much setting here reading through your conversation as it happens. I think this is evidence of the detail accuracy we experienced builders try to replicate in our models. This much thought and discussion about the accurate way to display these tiny features is impressive. With each of my builds I hope to improve my skills and determination to this level. 

[shipmodel]

Hi Marc - 

I agree with Henry that this is a tub for holding the butt end of the linstock staff during action stations.

I believe that I read, perhaps in one of the Hornblower or Aubrey/Maturin books, that the top was open and it was filled with sand.

You just had to ram the end of the staff into it and it would be held upright.

The upside down conic shape has the wider base to prevent tipping over, like using an upside down paper cup on my workbench. 

 

I also agree that they are pretty crude as is.  I wouldn't use them unless I was fitting out each gun station in detail.

If you do, you could scribe some stave joints and barrel rings into them.

 

Dan

 

 

[shipmodel]

Hi again Marc - 

 

I am away from my library, but I did an internet search and found this image of an earlier breech block naval cannon.

Note the bucket with two linstocks in it to the right of the picture.

 

Dan

 

https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.DCqIP8t7t0Um7Df-krV_egAAAA?rs=1&pid=ImgDetMain

[shipmodel]

Sorry, the picture did not come out last time.

I'm trying again.

If it doesn't work this time just put the URL into your browser and you should find it.

Dan

[Hubac's Historian]

Aaaah, okay - perfect!  Thank you, Dan. Sand makes perfect sense to me, as it would provide extra ballast, keeping the cask firmly planted upright.

 

So, with this in mind, I can cut away the linstock staffs, drill out the centers, scribe staves, add barrel bands and a lanyard.

 

The other thing I’ve been debating is the feasibility of the profusion of single knight-heads.  The French, at this time, do seem to like lashing blocks to an eye in the deck, as a fairlead to a cleat on the deck.  I could do that.  I could.  However, the single knights are sheaved, combining both functions into one.  I will probably use these knights, as I can’t find any argument against them.

 

For the fore and main braces, though, I will employ the block/cleat configuration to each side of the gratings.

[popeye2sea]

2 hours ago, Hubac's Historian said:

For the fore and main braces, though, I will employ the block/cleat configuration to each side of the gratings.

That will work for the fore braces, but the main brace standing end starts right aft on an eyebolt on the exterior bulkhead aft of the mizzen channels. The plan has the working end made fast to the flagstaff. Obviously that is incorrect, but I have not yet worked out where to belay it. Perhaps to one of the kevels in front of the half poop deck.

 

Regards,