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

[CédricL]

Marc,

 

I just sent you the file (at your mail adress).

 

[michel saunier]

In front of these important works, the means of Brest were revealed
insufficient; and as early as October 20, the minister writes to. the steward
Le Havre: "Siem Caffieri (Philippe), but a secteur,
it is necessary in Brest, do not miss to order it from
go there anyway, anyway, the work he may have
begun at Le Havre would not be completed. But. at the beginning of November,
he writes to her that having sent from Paris a master sculptor
in Brest, it is useless to send Philippe Caffieri; and, I 10 of
same month, he informs Desclouzeaux, steward in Brest, in these
words: "The _Roy having charged the named Regnault, master sculptor
to serve in this capacity at the port of Brest and drive the
s ~ ulpt ~ r ~ Sun-Royal ,. His Majesty's intention is that you
l etabhss1ez. in the workshop of the arsenal intended for this work and
that you give me the means to do this work with all due diligence
possible and you have to pay 1,000 pounds
pa: month. On the same day, he gives Clairambault the directiYes
~ mv ~~ tts for the wax model expedition: "The Roy having
char, e names him Regnault, master sculptor as s. Mr. sent to
Brest, to bring to this port the relief model of the sculpture of the
Sun-Royal who is 1 to 1 year old, 1. is required that you take
the mother of the child and to have him accommodated in such a way that he
do not miss the path. So you have to examine
by which way it will be able to send it without being able to be gastcr, either
by the messenger _ taking a horse to carry it, if that is possible,
? ~ 1 • P ~ .: the rouhers of Orleans and make it go down by} a rivièrP
J squ a Nantes or in such a way that you consider suitable in
~ s.ervant ~ e take the fastest route of those who would be
. Moreover, it is necessary that this. arrivef model
at least, Brest. that you agree with those who
will take care of this transport of what will be paid to them q ~ ue
you give them in advance what you will learn about
you let me know what should be paved to them
returning to J a Brest in there
good condition so that I can order the Sieur des ~
15
nails (43). Four days later, on November 22, he sent
Berain: "They write to me from Brest. would need some
companions sculptors to finish the works of sculpture that there
has to do to the ships of the King in port. I beg you to seek
up to a dozen and have them go away · sooner than
will. You can assure them that they will not work
; but in case you can not solve them without
that they know what they will have to earn, you will have to agree
with them at best. market that it is possible and that you make me
find out what you promised them (44). "

[Hubac's Historian]

Michel, do you have this document in it's original form?  Sometimes the translators make a jumble of it.  I might have more success translating it directly.  Or is this included in the same PDF document that Cedric just referenced, in which case I will find the passage eventually.

Edited October 23, 2017 by Hubac'sHistorian

[Bill Morrison]

Hubac,

 

I just noticed that you are in NYC.  I live near New London, CT. Perhaps we can meet somewhere in between sometime and share ideas about LSR.  I find the level of research and the ensuing conversation here very enlightening. As a Ph.D. in history, and as a professor of history at UCONN, I am extremely impressed by the quality of discourse here.  I am learning from each of the contributors here.

 

Bill

[Hubac's Historian]

I would love to meet up, sometime, Bill.  As are you, I am learning quite a lot from our French contributors, as well as the rest of the MSW community, and am very happy to have so many avid enthusiasts of the ship, talking about her in one space, in multiple excellent build logs.  I will send you a PM.

Edited October 23, 2017 by Hubac'sHistorian

[michel saunier]

good morning Marc
Actually you can find this excerpt in Cedric's document
I had this document for a very long time and I had not exploited it, error on my part, it is a gold mine.

[Hubac's Historian]

Thanks, Michel!  The first two pages that I have read, so far, are certainly enlightenning.

Edited October 24, 2017 by Hubac'sHistorian

[Hubac's Historian]

Having finally completed the drilling of the nail holes in the lower hull, I decided it was time to start tackling the first major modification of my kit-bash program.

 

Rather than start with the widening of the bow, which presents a few tricky considerations, I thought I would first extend the stern by the 3/8" that I need to satisfactorily render Berain's quarter galleries, while simultaneously closing in the lower stern balcony, at the middle deck level.

 

The first step was to true up the outboard edges of the hull, just above the counter.  I did this on both the cut down hull that I am using, as well as the extra hull that Henry sent me:

 

For the hull that I am using, it was essential to sand the edge straight and square because this will be the mounting surface for the extension piece.  I applied the same care to Henry's hull, so that I could accurately mark out the 3/8" (+ an extra 1/64" for fitting loss) I needed with a try-square:

 

 

Then, I used a really sharp coping saw to cut within a heavy 1/64" of my marked line.  Here are the rough-cut blanks:

 

 

Then, I sanded those faces to my line - offering up to the joint frequently, in order to be sure that the extension wasn't skewing inboard or outboard, but remaining true to the run of the hull.  Here's a dry-fit extension piece:

 

As I had hoped, the extension is short enough that the run of plank lines and wales remains continuous, without any tell-tale steps.  Back here, it really won't matter as most of this will be completely covered by the quarter galleries, themselves, but this is encouraging for the bow.  The repeat of moulded grain detail is negligable and hardly worth worrying about.

 

The next step was to sketch in the new shape of the stern counter (which, previously would be an open, wrapping stern balcony on the stock kit).  The reverse curve, here, is so subtle that it is difficult to draw on the uneven surface with any fidelity:

 

Experience tells me, though, that I will have better success "drawing" with the tools.  The pencil line, here, is merely a guide.  I have decided, though, that I am too tired to give it the full focus that profiling requires, so I will postpone cutting these shapes until another night.  The Dremel is out of juice, anyway.

 

[Hubac's Historian]

Tonight, I managed to shape the upper stern counter profile into the starboard stern extension piece.  It took a little doing, and a lot of checking back to my digital drawing, but I was finally satisfied with the shape.

 

Before fixing it in place, I will thin the back edge and scribe in the plank butts, as I did for the lower transom.  Once the pieces are glued, I will re-enforce the back of the joint with sheet styrene and epoxy. 

Edited October 26, 2017 by Hubac'sHistorian

[Hubac's Historian]

Surfing through Pinterest today, I found this highly fascinating screen shot from Heller's 1974 catalogue, in which, they introduce the Soleil Royal kit, and outline a bit of what was involved in it's development.

 

Imperfect though it may be, Heller did go to some lengths to fill in the blanks left by Tanneron.  However, as anyone can well imagine - when it comes to a money making enterprise, one does have to draw the line somewhere.  I still think it is the best kit of it's epoch.  Anyway, I thought this was cool.

 

----

I'm still working on the stern extension pieces.  I've thinned the aft edge and scribed in the plank butts.  Next, I'll make a new mounting ledge for the transom/stern planking.  Finally, I'll mount them to the hull.  Pics to follow.

[Hubac's Historian]

I've finished making the backing cleats for the stern extension pieces, and I've glued them onto the extensions, themselves.  One difficulty of thinning the aft edge of the extension pieces - as was the case for the lower hull halves - is that it is difficult to control depth of cut in two directions.  The result is that, while I can guarantee a consistent plank thickness for my plank butts, I cannot simultaneously create a perfect ledge for gluing the transom plank ends to.  On straight runs, I could do both, but the arcs of the lower and upper counter were difficult to gauge.  I decided to kill two birds with one stone by making my joint-re-enforcement backer, also my plank ledge, which is set back from the aft edge of the stern extensions by the same thickness as the styrene strip that I will plank with.

The notches you see are to accommodate the existing deck ledges for the middle and main decks.  Depending upon how I decide to deck the model (it will be with actual wood strip or scribed sheet), these deck ledges may have to be lowered, or reduced.  Back here, at the stern, the location of the last quarter inch does not affect anything important, so I decided to scribe around their existing location.

 

These backers will make for a sturdy joint without altering the run of the hull in any way.  A little time consuming, but I consider it time well spent.

 

Following that, I could not resist a simple experiment to see whether my idea to widen the stern by the missing 6th stern window would work.  As you know, Henry (Popeye2Sea) sent me an additional stern plate from an old kit that was defective.  The whole build and modification of the stern revolves around widening the hull to accommodate this missing window.

 

The easiest thing to do was to make two photocopies of the stern plate, and then cut out three windows from one copy and three windows from the other - including the central access doors on both, and a missing pilaster on one.

 

Although it is certainly arguable that a home photocopier is not the most reliable reproducer, at scale, I was very pleased to see how neatly these cutouts fit within the parameters of my drawing.  The camber of the windows is not disturbed by adding the 6th window.

 

I may yet keep the double access doors on the middle and upper balconies, but they will have to disappear altogether on the lower level because this will no longer be an open stern balcony; thus the creation of the stern extension pieces, in the first place.  I'm sure that I will also be able to use the 7th and 8th windows, from the lower level, in my quarter galleries.  I won't need the outer windows, though, from the middle and upper tiers.

 

The plan is to carefully cut out the tiers of windows, and then heat bend them (with a curling iron, perhaps, or heated sand) to follow the new round-up of the framed stern.  Fortunately, I will have plenty of spare window frames with which to experiment with heat, so that I don't make a molten mess of my project.  I will then glue the three tiers of windows in place, along with their access doors, and then plank in between them with styrene strip.

 

The time savings this affords me - to be able to recycle the beautifully detailed Heller window frames - is enormous, and frees me to concentrate my artistic efforts into other aspects of the build that can't be kit-bashed, like the shortened tafferal carving of Apollo and his horse-drawn chariot, or the altered cyma curve of the tafferal, below the figures of Europe and Asia.

 

Edited November 2, 2017 by Hubac'sHistorian

[CédricL]

Hello Marc,

 

Quite a massive surgery but no doubt that the final result will be far better !

 

Have a nice day.

 

 

 

[Hubac's Historian]

Thank you, Cedric!  And thank you to everyone for your likes, comments or just stopping by.  It is all very encouraging and much appreciated.

 

I intend to follow the lead of Dafi, and his excellent Heller Victory build-log, in which he greatly improved the realism and appearance of his transom windows by very patiently filing the mullions to about half their moulded thickness.  Again, it's time consuming, but the results will never turn the effort expended into regret.

 

For anyone who hasn't visited Dafi's log, I highly recommend that they do so.  He is an enormously resourceful modeler, committed to his process, the results are extremely highly detailed, the work is truly impeccable, and his quirky humor and sensibility make for an excellent and entertaining read.

Edited November 2, 2017 by Hubac'sHistorian

[shipmodel]

Hi Marc - 

 

Nice ingenious solutions to the problems of lengthening and widening the stern.  They should work out well and the surgery should be invisible in the final model.  Well done, mi amigo.

 

I still have a problem with the outward flare at the top of the taffrail, but we have been through that and I respect your decision.

 

See you soon.

 

Dan

 

 

[Hubac's Historian]

Thank you, Dan.  I am with you on the flare, but it's just one of those inherent defects of the kit that aren't worth fixing.  My hope is that the quarter pieces that support the side lanterns will draw the eye away from this detail, so that it isn't very noticeable unless you're really looking for it.

[Hubac's Historian]

Okay, so the stern extensions are fixed in place, puttied to level any irregularities, re-enforced on their backside, and a uniform plank ledge has been cut into the aft edge of the hull.

 

Not to sound too self-satisfied about it, but this worked about as well as I had hoped.  I am encouraged, now, as I move toward the bow-widening pieces, which will involve carefully cutting away the stem piece from this model, so that I can glue in 5/16" extensions cut from Henry's model, before re-attaching the stem piece.

 

laying out the cuts is critical, and maintaining a uniform cut angle, as I go, is essential so that I won't have to waste away too much plastic, in fairing the mating surfaces back together again.  Possible, but tricky.

 

I guess we've reached the point where I've just gotta say:

 

"EFF it!  Let's do this thing!!"

 

Wish me luck.  I'll keep you posted.

 

Edited November 7, 2017 by Hubac'sHistorian

[Hubac's Historian]

Well, a little bit of a rough start.

 

I used the thinnest coping saw I own; blade thickness is less than a 1/32".  However, the cut was a little difficult to control, as minute twists of the saw handle end up re-directing the blade.  I'm sure that I sanded back a generous 1/16" to fair back these faces, but I have made allowance for that, so it should be fine.  I think the angle of the mating face is very close to what it needs to be, however, I will make fine adjustments only when I have the mating extension pieces in hand.

 

To scribe a cut line within a 1/32" of and parallel to the stem, I stacked sheet styrene with the stem flat against the table and then scribed a line with a single-edged carpet blade.

 

 

Then it was a test of my hand-steadiness with a coping saw, which could have been better.

 

 

Fairly terrible, actually.

 

A large, flat sanding block, a reliable straight edge, and patient checking and re-checking straigtenned things out pretty nicely.

 

Even if, in the end, I don't end up with the generous 1/2" width extension I am aiming for, at the bow, there is plenty of flexibility to set the aft edges where I need them on the model's new base-plate.

 

After the extension pieces are glued in place, I will fill the old hawse holes and re-drill them back closer to the stem. This will also afford me the opportunity to make better and more reslistic hawser bolsters beneath the hawse holes, themselves.

Edited November 7, 2017 by Hubac'sHistorian

[shipmodel]

I don't know if you will have to make any more cuts like those, but if you do, a razor saw with a wide blade is your friend here.

 

Dan

 

[Hubac's Historian]

No doubt that would be helpful, although one would have to account for the saw back in setting up for the cut.  I have one more critical cut to make, which is the opposite of what I just did here.  When it comes to cutting out the extension pieces from Henry's model, I will be able to make really approximate cuts that are way over size and just fair my way back to where I need to be.

 

I may try to square the stem, so that it is properly perpendicular to the table surface, along the ship's centerline;  ever since I cut away the lower hull halves, the inherent warping of the hull has resulted in my stem pulling sideways, and outboard, off center;  the error can be clamped out during the assembly process, but it would be nice if things lined up square and true, of their own accord.  There's an opportunity to correct that with the bow extension pieces.  I may just do so.

[CédricL]

Hello Marc,

 

Damn, I did'nt understood you would modifiy the forepart of the hull. It means that you'll have to fix the decks also. But that's a great job !!

Glad to see I'm not the only one to "destroy" my plastic kit

 

[Hubac's Historian]

Thank you everyone for stopping by and for your likes and comments.

 

Yes, Cedric, in order to add back the missing sixth window of Berain's design, it was necessary to increase the breadth of the hull, across her beam, by exactly 1/2" (the width of one stern window + one pilaster).

 

It seemed that the most practical way of doing this was by inserting material closest to the stem, where the bow is so bluff as to be nearly flat.  Now, as I get into the actual doing of the thing, I can see that it should work seemlessly from the top down to just below the hawser piece.  Below that, however, I may run into a little trouble with the compound curvature (both toward the centerline, and arcing around toward the stem) of the hull.

 

Further complicating the surgery is what Henry once joked as The Battle of Bar Floor.  While constructing his model, many years ago, he dropped one hull half with the hawser insert already glued in.  This cracked the thin stem piece (not important to me), but also spoiled the glue bond along the forward half of the hawser insert.  Right now, I'm debating whether to pry the hawser inserts loose and re-fit and glue them, before cutting out my 5/16" extension pieces, or alternatively, grinding away the un-needed stem piece and then cutting away the extension pieces into three loose segments.  The second approach may allow me to manipulate whatever adjustments I need to make on the lower segment more easily.  Or, it may just make the whole thing infinitely more complicated.  Decision TBD.

Edited November 8, 2017 by Hubac'sHistorian

[Hubac's Historian]

Ultimately, I decided to work in more manageable thirds.  This top-most segment is the most important one; It allows  me to gauge the angle of the joint, and the subsequent run of the bow line.  You can see, in these pictures, that there is a slight depression at the joint.  In black plastic, and from most angles, this is not apparent at all.  A little putty, though, to fair out the surface, and then it won't be apparent at all - even when painted.  Also, bear in mind, that all of this will be heavily overshadowed by the bowsprit and head timbers, etc.

I'll fit the middle, hawser segment, so that the stem edge neatly aligns with the stem edge of the top piece; when I have a straight edge, from one piece to the next, that's when I know to stop fairing and fitting (because, previously, when I ground away the stem - I then straightened the edge).

 

Once all three segments are glued in place, I'll flatten the interior back surface of the joint, and re-enforce the joint with sheet styrene.

 

Lastly, I will devise an angled sanding block to true-up the stem joint, so that the stem pieces - once re-attached - run  parallell with each other and perpendicular to the table, so that the hull halves glue together nicely and easily, at the stem.

 

 

[Hubac's Historian]

Alright, well, with just a little fudgery (Mirriam Webster: generous application of Squadron White putty, and re-scribing as needed, and a little reconcilliation of the wale edges) I think this is all going to work out just fine.

 

Interestingly, to me at least, the hull lines faired better below the lower main wale than expected.  The plank seams will need to be filled and re-scribed, but the run of the hull is pretty okay.  Definitely, working well over-size and in segments was the way to go; I was able to make micro-adjustments, along the way, without feeling the pressure of getting the joint angle and run of the hull correct in one go. Eighty grit paper works the plastic pretty quickly, so mistakes can happen before you know it, when you over-reach.  And, it seems, that there is ample extra material to plumb the stem without losing any of the width that I actually need.

 

Good day for the project.  The success of the whole thing was riding on this, so I am energized!

 

Edited November 11, 2017 by Hubac'sHistorian

[Chapman]

Congratulation on winnig this important point !

I can empathize with your feelings.

Edited November 11, 2017 by Chapman

[Hubac's Historian]

Thank you Chapman!  I always thought this idea should work, however up until now, this was a project of theoretical optimism.  I was prepared to fill-in the blank below the lower main wale, from scratch, if necessary, but I'm just really stoked that I won't have to do that.  Thanks for following the build.

 

Many thanks to Henry for donating the extra parts, in the first place.

Edited November 11, 2017 by Hubac'sHistorian

[popeye2sea]

Just glad to see they are working out.  Can't wait to see what's next.

[Hubac's Historian]

There is much to look forward to, Henry.  Once the bow pieces are in place, faired and the hawsers re-located, I'll fill in my bolt and nail details, where they are missing.

 

Then, the whole detailing/modification process begins all over again with the upper bulwarks where, thanks to you, I will plumb the run of main deck ports.  I'll extend the upper bukwarks, at the stern.  I will, then, scrape away most of the existing ornament, as well as the narrow sheer strakes, in preparation for the new ornamental frieze.  I'll lay in the lattice and carve casting masters for the three types of ornament that will adorn the frieze.  After, that, I'll make caprail ornaments and add the tops to the skids, where they connect with the lower hull.

 

following that, I will carve the lower finishing and upper amortissement of the quarter galleries from some species of close-grained, but relatively soft wood.  Maybe balsa, but I think something else that is a little more resilliant.  Once those are in place, they will need to be detailed.

 

And then, finally, I will begin assembling these parts into a model, building the stern and decks up from scratch, as I go.

 

It's a process.  I will get there, eventually.  To me, it seems to make the most sense to make most of the major modifications while everything is still un-assembled.

Edited November 12, 2017 by Hubac'sHistorian

[Hubac's Historian]

In answer to my own rhetorical question from the very beginning of this build-log: "What could possibly go wrong?!"

 

Well, as it turns out, quite a bit.  My failed assumption was that following the exact same proceedure for the port side, that seemed to work so swimmingly for the starboard side, would yeild the exact same result.  Well, it almost worked. Almost.

 

In these next few pictures, I've lined up the top of the bow so that the wales are in the same plane.  You can clearly see how the bottom of the port bow, at the waterline, flares forward by a solid 1/8".   This creates problems.

 

 

I suppose there were a few things in play here.  For example, in this next shot, you can see that the top two wale strakes of the top third of my bow extension, on the port side, seem to flare more vertically, at the stem, than the starboard side.  So far, I've patched in a little squadron white just above the hawser insert and leveled the top line of the beakhead, in an initial effort to help mitigate these differences.

 

You can also see, below, that I shimmed in a little white plastic along the bottom of the starboard hull half because I could not get the thing to sit down on a flat surface.  Ultimately, I want a good joint along the hull mounting plate and it's just bad model craft to force the hull to lay flat, hoping the glue will hold; that would only serve to distort the run of the hull, above the waterline.

 

The overlap problem originated, though, as I was sanding this top third extension piece to both the appropriate width and mating angle.  I suspect that I was applying just a little too much pressure to the upper end of the piece, tapering what were supposed to remain parallel edges of the extension piece.  Consequently, this changed the run of the wales quite enough to be distracting, and I hate these sorts of distractions!

 

For the middle, hawser segment of the port side, I was able to fair the run of the plank seams, and the extensions weren't flagging too far inboard or outboard, so I figured things were back on track.  I figured I'd simply add to or subtract from the wale edges to improve symetry from port to starboard.  No biggie!

 

Finally, I sanded the lower third to width and to an angle so that it rested neatly upon the hawser piece and seemed to show a fair run of the hull at the waterline.  And it was a fair run - more fair, in fact, than that of the starboard side.  MY TRAGIC ERROR WAS IN NOT PICKING UP THE STARBOARD SIDE TO MAKE A DIRECT COMPARISON BEFORE GLUING THE PIECE IN PLACE.

 

Had I done so, I would have noticed the discrepancy immediately.  So, what to do now?  As things stand - if I align the waterline, it pushes the port stern an 1/8" past the starboard side; it simply won't do to have a lop-sided stern!

 

I don't have enough material to cut off the port extensions, fair both mating faces and re-glue.  What I can do, though, is take steps to mitigate this difference.

 

One thing that I do have sufficuent material allowance to correct, is to plumb the bow edges at the stem.  You can see, at the moment, that the joint is open nearly a 1/4" at the top.  In order to do this, I will have to grind away 1/8" to nothing, from the waterline to the top, on the starboard side, and 3/32" to nothing on the port side.  This adjustment will still afford me the 1/2" extra, in the stern, that I need above the stern counter.

 

As far as fixing my problem at the bow, on the other hand, these reductions at the waterline cut back the hull towards the original hull - which at one time, in the recent past, mated together perfectly.  These tapering reductions to plumb the bow joint may effectively reduce the port side overlap, at the waterline by as much as 1/16".  I may, simply, be able to sand back the remaining 1/16" and scribe back in the plank lines, so that the bow curvature matches and the transom edges align with each other.  It's a theory.  I'm open to suggestions, here.

 

In these next two shots, I've set the hull halves at what will be the appropriate distance at the stern, in order to get a more accurate sense for the aspect of the thing.  The current gap at the stem would only be slightly reduced with the stem actually in place.

 

I think that, ultimately, these modifications will result in a more balanced looking model than the standard kit.  I like the rake of the tumblehome as it rises above the waterline.  I have held the upper stern bulwark in place and it, too, appears to rise at an appropriate angle to the ship's centerline.

 

There's hope, yet for this project!

[Hubac's Historian]

Okay, so I could really use a little advice, here.

 

Last night, I plumbed the hull halves at the stem joint.  In doing so, I realised that I will have to mimic the same shimming on the port side that I did on the starboard side, below the bow.  As I had hoped, plumbing the stem joint did make a positive reduction of my overlap problem.  I'm sorry that I have no new pictures at this time (phone capacity maxed out, at the moment), but the current overlap is a heavy 1/16".

 

Before I shim the lower edge on the port bow, it occurs to me that the highest risk/reward solution to his problem is to apply focused heat to the overlapping plastic and simply nudge it into correct position.  Fortunately, I have loads of plastic to practice on; Henry's hull, and my own lower hull halves.  Unfortunately, I have precious little experience applying heat to styrene for this purpose.

 

I think that a hair dryer is too diffuse a heat source and might warp a broader area and probably weaken the glue joint.  A sand heat sink might be a good solution, but it's difficult to guage what temperature to heat the sand and for how long to let the roughly 1/8" plastic sit in the sand; this technique would require quite a bit of experimentation to get a sense for it.

 

My inclination is to use a low flame, like a tea light, so that one hand could hold the piece, while the other could be in constant contact with the problem area, so as to gauge the exact point where the plastic becomes malleable, but before it melts into garbage.  It seems to me that the trick is to determine the correct distance between the plastic and the flame.

 

Does anyone have any experience and advice in this realm?  Is this just a terrible idea?  I could sand back and re-shape this area, but I would prefer not to, if I can avoid it.

[Jim Rogers]

I would be real careful with a low flame as a disaster would just be a micro second away. The hair dryer or heat gun is probably your best option. Time and distance is the key. You really only need just a smidgen of pliability to get the job done.