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

[druxey]

So many moving parts! If I may observe, your drafted row of lights look just a tad 'off' in the photos. The central mullion is vertical, as it should be, but the ones immediately to port and starboard seem to cant inward a little too much. Perhaps this is an optical illusion?

 

Every model involves a little compromise here and there, and you seem to have solved most of the problems that you identified really well.

[Hubac's Historian]

Thank you for the kind comments guys.  I see what you are saying Druxey.  Mostly, this is a function of the windows following the tumblehome, as in the original drawing:

 

 

One issue that may be exacerbating this perception is that the space my windows occupies is a little too tall.  I played with shortening the windows and increasing the height of the rails above.  In the end, that particular compromise was even less pleasing, so I went with the taller windows.

 

The top and final tier of lights will be the shortest and most vertically oriented.

 

[shipmodel]

Hi Marc - 

 

Beautiful work, and I appreciate how committed you are to the precise fit of all your interlocking pieces.

I agree with Kevin that any slight discrepancies will be impossible to notice in the finished model.

That said, I also agree with Druxey that the windows as drawn look a little off.

But I do not think that it is windows 2 and 5, but the outer ones, 1 and 6, which are a bit too wide and the mullions are a bit too upright.

I am sure the finished ones will match perfectly, as usual.

 

Great work.

 

Dan

[Roger Pellett]

Beautiful Work!!

[Hubac's Historian]

Roger and Dan, thank you very much!

 

Dan, I see what you are saying about the mullions, and I will adjust for that when I scribe the clear plastic.  The detail concerning windows 1 and 6 being wider - this actually reflects what Berain drew.  Windows 2 through 5 are equally sized, but the outer windows are wider:

 

 

This was also true of the tier below:

 

[Bill Morrison]

On 6/25/2021 at 5:20 PM, Bill Morrison said:

Marc,

I might take the occasional sabbatical. but I am always following this build!

Bill

I'm back!  My sabbatical amounted to several hospitalizations and periods in rehab facilities due to breaking my left leg, knee, and hip following several falls. Those were followed by a stroke with hospitalization and rehab.  2021 was a year of misery for me.  

 

Bill

[Hubac's Historian]

Bill - I am sincerely hoping for a much better 2022 for you and for all. It sounds as though you have been through the ringer!

[Bill Morrison]

I hate to say but you gentlemen have better eyesight than I!  The stern looked perfectly fine to me.  I saw no misalignment.

 

Bill

[Kevin-the-lubber]

I suspect Marc can still read an imperial vernier.

[druxey]

Clarification: I was only referring to the angles of the mullions between the lights (windows). I was not criticizing the width of the outer ones!

[Hubac's Historian]

Well, guys, it turns out that I ended up having to make those side lights closer in width to the other four.  After fitting of the window plate, I realized that there was not enough room left for the end pilasters.  I made some filling pieces and will re-profile after dinner:

 

 

 

 

 

[Ian_Grant]

Good God!! How do you work so precisely??!!  Colour me green..............

[Hubac's Historian]

Plastic is a wonderfully forgiving material, Ian.  Whatever dissatisfaction I currently have with my little squiggles will be veneered over with a top layer that I can shape to satisfaction.  

[Kevin-the-lubber]

7 hours ago, Ian_Grant said:

How do you work so precisely?

And so quickly! It would probably take me days to get that piece right in 3D printing and it wouldn’t be better.

[Landlubber Mike]

This is such an epic, incredible project.  Really nice job!

[Hubac's Historian]

Thank you, Mike!

 

Kevin - I am far from quick, but I certainly am committed.  I’m getting back some of my former momentum, now, and am excited to continue climbing the stern.

 

I can also appreciate that certain aspects of the build seem a little exaggerated, like the raking angles of the stern lights, but that is all part of designing within the pre-existing architecture.  For their part, Heller maintained a more or less vertical window framing for the stock stern plate.

 

If I had gone with my original plan to use the stock stern lights, it might have looked something like this photocopied mock-up:

 

 

Instead, I’ve chosen a closer approximation of Berain’s intent.  Here, I’ve corrected the clearance issue for the outer pilasters:

 

 

Comme-ci, comme-ca; my happy medium between what is and what should be.

 

 

Edited March 10, 2022 by Hubac's Historian

[72Nova]

Marc this is looking just fantastic!!👍 and I'm still in awe on your carvings. I racked my brains trying to figure out how I was going to sculpt Victory's figurehead and decided on Sculpey modeling clay, but the plastic gives so much more detail and as you work your way up the stern the figures appear to be more 3 dimensional and really looking forward to seeing those!.

 

Michael D.

[Hubac's Historian]

Thank you, Michael!  It’s interesting because, while I do need to re-draft the reverse cyma curve of the tafferal, I should be able to use the kit sculptures of “Europe” and “Asia” because the tafferal width turned out to be about the same as stock.  That’s a big help because those figures are very challenging to make well, from scratch.  I will, however, have to carve the Americas and Africa figure from scratch because I reduced the stern height, overall by a 1/4”, and Africa’s posture is all wrong.  Those will be difficult to do.

Edited March 14, 2022 by Hubac's Historian

[FriedClams]

Your detailing work is wonderful and inspirational Marc.  Very, very nice!

 

Gary 

[Hubac's Historian]

That is a high compliment, Gary - thank you very much!  As you know, I am likewise a fan of your super realism.

[Nek0]

It's an outstanding work you make, Marc. I love the way you proceed with the balcony architecture. Why did you paint it that way, personnal preference ? Historic reference just say "ventre de biche", blue and gold.

Congratulations !!

[Hubac's Historian]

Thank you, Marc!

 

My color choices come, in part, from Lemineur’s discussion in the St. Philippe monograph, where he discusses the likelihood that yellow ocher and red vermillion were much more likely paint choices for the deadworks.  Given the exorbitant cost associated with true ultra-marine, it would only have been used as a backdrop to ornament that makes specific reference to the crown.  I have been slightly more indulgent than that, but mostly, I have stuck to that premise.

 

It also seemed likely to me that the extensive use of gold leaf, that may have been used on the ship as she was launched in 1670, would have been severely reduced by the time of her refit - especially considering they were preparing the ship for war.

 

My lighter blue should probably be lighter still, and with a slightly greenish cast, in order to be fully faithful to the times, but I liked the way this cerulean blue relates to both the yellow and red ochers.

 

Also, and I may be mis-interpreting the faded color, but Berain’s stern drawing appears to be shaded in a faded red color.

 

 

As I had grown a little bored with always seeing SR as being tan, blue and gold, I wanted to present the possibility that a ship of SR’s importance would have used a polychromatic scheme to accentuate all of the ornamental work; this, much like the Vasa some 50 years earlier, would be an exuberant artistic expression in form, ornament and color.

 

Here is a contemporary watercolor of a ship that I have yet to identify:

 

 

My idea was to unify the red of the beakhead bulkhead to the stern, by painting the plank of the main deck battery in this same color.

 

All of this may not be exactly historically correct for SR at this time in her career, but I do believe these colors are historically plausible.

Edited March 15, 2022 by Hubac's Historian

[Nek0]

You may be right, your arguments are ok.

Concerning the ornaments, I don't remember where I read that the ships with royal names (such as Soleil royal, Royal Louis, Monarque, Reine, etc...) always benefited from the use of gold, when the ones with quality names (qualities that the king gave to himself of course ! such as Ambitieux, Téméraire, Agréable, etc...) benefited only from Naples yellow. I will try to find back this source. The faded red color is precisely "ventre de biche", and is mentionned to be used only on the stern. 

 

[Bill Morrison]

NekO,

 

It's important to understand that there were three French ships-of-the-line named Soleil Royal, and that the original was painted blue and gold.  The available model kits probably come closest to SR #2, as does the incomplete Tanneron model.  I know of no sources that show the second or third ships.  I would love to see any sources that you may have.

 

Thanks!

 

Bill Morrison

[Hubac's Historian]

My method for making the window plates is well-documented, earlier in the log, so I won’t go into great detail.  Some pictures:

 

 

I found it best to fit the rough blanks between the pilasters, first, before relieving the negative space panels.  This way, I could trace on the backside, the top and bottom edges of the top rail, thereby knowing just how thin to make the reliefs.

 

 

 

Once all of the panels were in, and I had also glued-in the central bell-flower ornament, I could begin modeling these reliefs:

 

 

It really doesn’t take much to give them a little shape and dimension.

 

I began framing in the bulkheads:

 

 

I like to glue-in positive stops, top and bottom, so that it is easier to glue-in the bulkheads and get them aligned exactly where they need to be.

 

Keen observers will note that the bulkheads do not align, neatly with the tops of the pilasters beneath them.  Instead, they fan out more towards the sides:

 

 

I considered whether to re-draw the plate, but determined that this would result in less pleasingly shaped and proportioned windows:

 

The discrepancy is a result of my decision to revise the tumblehome of the upper bulwarks.  The lower tier is based upon the more vertical tumblehome of my original drawing, so the pitch of the window stiles is less severe.

 

This middle tier simply follows the more pronounced pitch of the accentuated tumblehome.  In the end, the lower balcony railing will serve as a visual interrupter that minimizes this discrepancy.

 

I point all of this out to highlight just one of many imperfect compromises I have made, where I have deemed one aspect of the construction to carry more visual importance over another.  In this instance, the whole model is more ship-like with a more pinched tumblehome, and the windows have a pleasant shape and arc of camber.

 

Thank you for your likes and comments and continued interest in this project.  More to follow.

Edited March 17, 2022 by Hubac's Historian

[Bill Morrison]

It's interesting that I have said that my belief is that the Heller kit is of the second ship named Le Soleil Royal. The first ship was built between 1668 and 1671 and carried 110 guns. She is depicted in Berain's paintings as solid blue with gold wales and decor.

 

The second was built beginning in 1692 and carried 104 guns. There is no documentation of which I am aware for how she was painted.  The Heller model is pierced for 104 guns, so it appears that the Tanneron model on which she is based is of the second SR.

 

The third was an 80-gun ship and is not depicted by any model.

 

Since there is little documentation about SR #2, it stands to reason that the paint scheme is up to the whims of the modeler.  It seems reasonable to go with the practice of the times.

 

 

Bill

Edited March 19, 2022 by Bill Morrison
To add a comment.

[yancovitch]

i give up finding the proper adjectives to describe this build.... a relief to be checking back in....

[Hubac's Historian]

These window banks are incredibly labor-intensive, but the process of making them has been very enjoyable for me.  What I am doing, here, essentially mirrors what Tanneron did for the sterns of his models.  The damaged stern of L’Agreable illustrates how his windows are all pierced into one plate, as seen with the lower bank of windows:

 

 

Considering the density of detail in such a small space, this method seems far easier than framing each individual window.  Getting all of the elements (window frames and pilasters to flow harmoniously would, otherwise be quite difficult.

 

As I have done previously, I add window backstops to the bulkheads as added insurance that the windows can’t drop out of their frames, if the CA bonds should ever fail:

 

 

I remain indebted to Druxey for showing me how to make really good acetate windows by simply scribing the mullions into the acetate, and then filling those engravings with medium grey acrylic paint:

 

 

It really is simple and it just looks so much better than anything else, at scale.

 

Of course, I will next plank-in beneath the windows, but I am pleased with how the stern is rising:

 

 

One detail that isn’t so apparent now, but will become so after planking, is the chamfer I filed into the door sides; this chamfer will create a shadow relief that will more clearly delineate the door opening.  For the door handles, I recycled a pair of my frieze scrolls, which had the right shape and were sized closely enough.

 

The round-up really helps to minimize the warped geometry of my stern:

 

 

At this stage, it is becoming more apparent how the increase in hull-width has established a more ship-like impression of a stable gun platform:

 

 

This is quite a difference from the stock kit.

 

So, I will plank and paint beneath the windows, install the balcony bulwark, and create the cap-rail for the balcony bulwarks. I will then take a break from the stern so that I can focus on finishing certain details.

 

I need to paint and install the starboard spirketting on the main deck.  The f’ocsle beam needs re-touching, where I installed the moulding.  The starboard bulwark joint needs to be puttied and painted.  I need to fit, paint and install the quarter deck beam.  Then, I need to retouch the exterior joint for the starboard aft bulwark.  Finally, I need to install the starboard channels and fit all of the buttressing knees.

 

When all of that is ship-shape, I will return to the stern.  One fun thing to make are the pass-through archways that support the figures of Africa and the Americas:

 

 

On the back-burner of my mind, I’ve been thinking about how best to make up this piece so that I can represent the delicate acanthus carvings.  I think I know what to do now.  The most important thing is getting the scale and shape of the opening right.

 

Following that, I’ll tackle the third level of stern lights.

 

Thank you for your interest, your likes and comments, and for looking in!

[Kevin-the-lubber]

That's a good tip about the leadwork for the windows, I'll try to remember that.

[druxey]

Looking great, HH!