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

[Waldemar]

 

Okay, thank you very much, I just wanted you to see it as it appears in the source iconography. And of course, you decide for yourself what to do with it. Incidentally, to be honest, I have serious issues with some aspects of Lemineur's reconstructions, and I'm not the only one. Boudriot's work is much more convincing, so to speak.

 

[Hubac's Historian]

Agreed - I am hearing from a number of friends who are interpreting the SP drawings, in particular, and there appear to be a number of inconsistencies.

 

As for the capstan, I’m not sure whether I will remake it.  Probably not, but if it gets under my skin, I will have to revisit that possibility.

[Hubac's Historian]

What are the other main issues you see with Lemineur’s reconstructions?

[Waldemar]

 

Admittedly, structural aspects are rather secondary to me, so they are not my main focus, but criticism of various solutions adopted in these reconstructions can be found on the website http://www.gerard-delacroix.fr/.

 

However, I have serious reservations about the design concepts used in the 17th-century reconstructions. But this is a broader topic, requiring a whole thread with explanations and examples...

 

[Hubac's Historian]

Well, as I well know - you have gone to great depths to reconstruct line drawings into more plausible outcomes.  Your insight on a wide array of vessels is invaluable.

 

I’ll take a look at the Delacroix forum, though.  Thanks for the reference!

[Waldemar]

 

Ah, line drawings are just a derivative; it's all about naval architecture and its evolution, the image of which is completely distorted today.

 

 

 

 

Edited Thursday at 05:32 AM by Waldemar

[AnobiumPunctatum]

@Waldemar

I couldn't give any input to such a discussion, but really interested to read such a thread and read about your opinions. I followed a lot of your drawing works and like it very much.

[Waldemar]

 

1 hour ago, AnobiumPunctatum said:

@Waldemar

I couldn't give any input to such a discussion, but really interested to read such a thread and read about your opinions. I followed a lot of your drawing works and like it very much.

 

Thank you. Quite recently, I even started a thread on this very issue on a French-language forum, but before I got to the details and the heart of the matter, circumstances led me to decide to continue on one of the English-language forums. The continuation was supposed to be immediate, but somehow Mary Rose 1511 and Dudley got in the way . But that's even better, because it all ties together, so chronologically it's more advantageous. Either way, it needs to be revisited, and now I plan to do so after Dudley.

 

 

[Hubac's Historian]

One last thought on Waldemar’s observation - a closer look at the L’Ambiteaux capstan does show a staggered 2-level series of sockets for the capstan bars, while Lemineur’s SP is a single level of sockets.  Really, I have no idea whether that represents an evolutionary timeline from 1680 to 1693, or whether it is merely a designer’s assumption that has the privilege of plausible deniability for the lack of primary source information.

 

As I have one more radiant fleur emblem at my disposal - I could grind off the existing emblem; fill every other socket on the existing level; add an upper level of alternating sockets; and re-cap with a new top and emblem.  That is a possibility that - so long as I don’t botch the emblem extraction, wouldn’t take too long to do.  What do you think guys?  Is it worth it?  I will weigh your responses, carefully.

 

Currently, I have begun designing the f’ocsle breast-rail and belfry.  I’m playing around with another ornamental extraction.  This time it is the garland-ensconced royal monogram that would be a fitting central panel beneath the belfry:

This whole process begins by fitting a card template (always soda boxes) to the exact camber of the f’ocsle deck beam.  Once my sanding stick brings the template to rest, I like to harden the card edge with CA, because this template is now a drawing tool for transferring that camber up the breast-rail.

 

The central belfry will rise up above the breast caprail by almost the same height as the breast-rail.

[72Nova]

Very nice work as always Marc, keep chipping away at it!

Michael D.

[druxey]

Qui savez, Marc? As master shipwright - it's your decision.