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

[Kevin-the-lubber]

I sometimes get the email notification but can’t find the post itself, and just assume the poster deleted it. Regarding the natural light photos, it makes it look even more like timber, though I still love the riot of colour in the lit shots.

[Hubac's Historian]

In a couple of days, I will embark upon my first honest-to-goodness vacation in about 12 years.  Sure, we’ve taken family trips, but we have never been to any place quite as breathtaking as Hawaii.  To say that we are excited is an understatement for all-time!

 

I’ve taken things with the model to a nice break-point, to walk away and not obsess about it for a little while.  I finished up the paint re-touches on the starboard side.  While I will continue to modulate the walnut wash, right up to the clearcoat stage, I’m pretty happy with the ship’s sea-legs appearance.

 

I have both headrails to the point where I need to induce a series of curves, before I fit them to the ship and then go whole-hog on the decorative detailing.  I’ve decided that the best approach would be to set these up in mirrored forms, and allow them to sit in my Eastern exposure window, while I’m away.  The sheet plastic these are made from is relatively supple, and I think they should relax into these shapes fairly well, with the ability to tweak their final shape by hand.

Per David’s suggestion, I performed a light rhinoplasty on my horseheads, and think that these now look much better.  I appreciate the heads’up!

 

My plan for the head is pretty ambitious😜 as I will attempt to create a properly framed and cambered head-grating that also follows the upward sweep of the headrails.  What I’m aiming for is pretty well illustrated in Marc Yeu’s photo of Frolich’s L’Ambiteaux:

I will add additional seats of ease, just forward of the turrets.

 

While I don’t need them anytime immediately soon, I thought it might be nice to complete the detailing and begin painting the gun carriages for the main deck guns.

 

I attempted, in vain, to create these open hooks the French used for the haul-in tackles.  I just couldn’t get the scale or shape right, and I could not manage to get them to set properly without making a mess of CA glue:

I thought that if I flattened the back face with a file, I’d have enough of a glue surface to set these onto the carriages.

In the end, I just didn’t think they looked good, so I  abandoned them for the English practice of eye-bolts, which I found much easier to keep neat and in-scale:

I have only bothered to super-detail the sixteen waist guns that you have any possibility of seeing.  These will be the only guns that I rig on the main deck.

I have made a few more carriages than I need here, but I may mount a pair of carriages (sans barrels) behind the first vestigial main deck “windows” of the amortisement, as this would likely have been an additional space for adding artillery, when needed.  No one will ever see it, but I will know they are there.

 

After walnut wash and blacking the iron bits, they look like this:

I’ve blacked-out the styrene under mounts that are really my attachment point to the deck.  On the ship:

 

You may recall (way too long of a build log!) that these carriages are really the stock middle deck carriages.  After manually scaling-up the lower and middle deck batteries with 1/32” inserts, I realized I could just bump the remaining calibers up a deck and achieve a satisfying increase in scale without too much of a hassle.

 

As always many thanks to my benefactors on this build who have supplied me with a wealth of spare parts from which to draw upon.  The way this has all come together would not be possible without your generous contributions!

 

As ever, thank you for your continued interest, and I will see you all soon.  More to follow..

Edited July 1, 2022 by Hubac's Historian

[mtaylor]

I hope you have a great vacation, Marc.  SR is looking great and we and her will await your return.

[yancovitch]

good shew....and please be safe......cheers to you....................

[Ian_Grant]

Marc, hope you have a great time! We're booked for Hawaii in September. Already worried about airport fiascos especially here in Canada. Praying there isn't another wave in the fall, although I finally got covid last week so my immunity should be pretty good.

[Hubac's Historian]

Thank you guys very much!  Ian, I feel your trepidation.  Hopefully, all goes well for all of us; fingers crossed emoji.

[druxey]

Safe trip and have a great time, Marc.

[No Idea]

Fantastic work there HH - Enjoy your well earned holiday.

[John Clements]

Have a great trip. Having just come back from a month away myself, I can see that some time away from the work bench really helps to de-clutter the mind so that one can focus on what's important when you return to work and hobbies (or just hobbies in my case).

And leaving the plastic to set itself in the light whilst you are away is just genius.

[Hubac's Historian]

While this is not directly connected to 17th C. ship ornamentation, it is nonetheless a fascinating exploration of the role of color in original Greco-Roman sculpture work.  I believe Bill Morrison mentioned this very subject, earlier in the thread.  The embedded video is particularly fascinating for the use of technology to re-create the specific earth pigments that would have been used to color this Sphinx sculpture.  The results are quite remarkably vivid: 

 

https://apple.news/AiERjAV0wTgSTSpC9R-26ag

 

This husband and wife team of color archeologists make an interesting argument for the essential role of color in illuminating the allegorical narrative of important sculpture works and building facades.

 

Soleil Royal’s continental figures are classically influenced, and I will color them accordingly, as I did the Four Seasons figures.  This may or may not have been the historic reality of 1689, but I think it will make for a more thought-provoking presentation, with at least a plausible connection to classical traditions.  I’m still a ways away from it, but it will require some research to think more specifically about what SR’s allegory is conveying and how those ideas might inform specific color choices in the classic tradition. The Uber Den Wellen exploration of the Royal Louis will be particularly helpful, in this regard, as it explores 17th C. French classicism in court painting.

 

Now, all of that aside, there is of course support for the more conventionally accepted appearance of SR.  This is the clearest resolution I have yet found for one of a series of portraits by Peter Monamy, depicting the Destruction of Soleil Royal.  The portrait is attributed to the first decade of the 18th C.:

On a separate note, it has been pointed out to me by several members that the gun carriage wheels would not have been banded in iron, as the metal would have torn the deck to shreds.  This is a simple enough fix to scrape away the black bands and re-touch with red.

 

A particularly knowledgeable contributor also noted that the headrails I am making would not have had these induced bends that I am forming.  The fact that the headrails would have been flat is well established, and I do not refute that.  Unfortunately, reverse engineering to the pre-established Heller architecture sometimes means perpetuating certain errors of the kit.

 

In this instance, Heller situated the turret seats of ease so far outboard that straight headrails can not make a reasonable connection to the f’ocsle sheer rail.  My relatively flat cardboard template illustrates this problem pretty clearly:

Interestingly, this esteemed person pointed out that the winged figure carving, just aft of the headrails, would have concealed any smaller gaps that would have existed in this area.  I will explore the possibility of moving these turrets in-board, but the curves I induced really just mimicked what Heller had produced, in the first place:

I would also like to point out that the name badging that I included on the quarters would not have been a feature of French practice:

While I am copying the color gouache by Pierre Vary, which shows the name, the original Berain draft does not:

I think it is important to note when my artistic interpretation of this vessel diverges from known practices.

 

As I write all of this, I am waiting for my flight to New York from Honolulu to board.  This has been an incredible vacation and bonding time for my family:

 

 

Our trip to the Mighty Mo was particularly fascinating.  All-in-all, we saw so much in 10 days, and I can only hope that we make it back to this magical place some day.

 

On the way through the airport, my daughter noted that this glass-art backdrop evokes the lava flows that Hawaii is famous for:

And just like that - I had the inspiration for the  Art Nouveau writing desk that I have been wanting to design for the past four years; I will use the idea of these pyro-plastic flows to create my “magma” desk in varied hues of bubinga, teak, and koa.  I don’t quite have the shape of the thing in mind yet, but the drawer console, bordering the writing surface, will in some way evoke the mountainous topography of the islands.

 

That’s a project for another time, though.  For now, I look forward to pressing-on with Soleil Royal. Thank you for your time, your interest and for looking in!

Edited July 13, 2022 by Hubac's Historian

[yancovitch]

wow...thanks for all that!!....so nice to put the humanity behind the mastery 😃

[mtaylor]

Great photos of the family and Hawaii, Marc.

 

It might be worthwhile to check the Vasa museum.  I vaguely remember something about they developed a color sheet of the various colors for the Vasa carvings after they found out it wasn't all one color but had variety of colors on the figures and trim pieces..

[druxey]

Nice photos and looks like a great trip, Marc.

 

Hopefully you can move those pesky heads inboard a bit!

[Keith Black]

14 hours ago, Hubac's Historian said:

it has been pointed out to me by several members that the gun carriage wheels would not have been banded in iron, as the metal would have torn the deck to shreds.

 

Marc, nice to see you having a great time/trip with your family.

 

 In regards to the above quote. If you'll note in the photo below, there are no gun tracks for the Parrott rifle (on the right as you're viewing the photo) to move across and into position. If it's a 60 LB rifle the weight is a little over 2.5 tons, if it's a 100 LB rifle (which is my guess because of the size) the weigh is almost 5 tons. If a deck was going to get ripped to shreds this lump would be the one to do it. 

  

 Gun carriage trucks (wheels) could have been iron banded. Sea battles were intense but its not like they were happening on a daily basis. Deck plank repair is a simple task and could have been carried out by the carpenter's apprentice with the aid of a couple of crew members if needed. 

 

Edited July 13, 2022 by Keith Black

[Hubac's Historian]

I appreciate your argument, here, Keith.  I will say though that the quoted advice comes to me directly from the leading living authority on French naval architecture, and I have no reason to doubt him on it.

 

Yes, Mark, you are correct about the Vasa.  Tenuous a connection, though it may be, the Vasa is the underlying rationale for my more vivid color scheme.

 

Druxey, we’ll have to see about the head;  there isn’t much room for them to move before they encroach upon the beakhead bulkhead ladders, and that may not be enough for the exercise to be worthwhile.  

 

Measurements to follow..

Edited July 13, 2022 by Hubac's Historian

[druxey]

Certainly British Naval gun carriages were not iron shod: only land-based guns were. Whether the French did the same, I do not know.

[Keith Black]

5 hours ago, druxey said:

Certainly British Naval gun carriages were not iron shod: only land-based guns were. Whether the French did the same, I do not know.

 Please see page 16 of the below, maybe I'm misinterpreting what I'm reading. 

 

Edited July 14, 2022 by Keith Black

[Ian_Grant]

15 hours ago, Hubac's Historian said:

I appreciate your argument, here, Keith.  I will say though that the quoted advice comes to me directly from the leading living authority on French naval architecture, and I have no reason to doubt him on it.

 

Yes, Mark, you are correct about the Vasa.  Tenuous a connection, though it may be, the Vasa is the underlying rationale for my more vivid color scheme.

 

Druxey, we’ll have to see about the head;  there isn’t much room for them to move before they encroach upon the beakhead bulkhead ladders, and that may not be enough for the exercise to be worthwhile.  

 

Measurements to follow..

Yet another new note on my SR instructions, along with the recently mentioned bowsprit steeve.........for when I get there.

[Baker]

On 7/13/2022 at 3:04 AM, mtaylor said:

It might be worthwhile to check the Vasa museum.  I vaguely remember something about they developed a color sheet of the various colors for the Vasa carvings after they found out it wasn't all one color but had variety of colors on the figures and trim pieces..

Have a look at this site.
The figures in color and also information about the gun carriages of the Vasa.

 

http://www.wasadream.com/Index/indexenglish.html

 

[Hubac's Historian]

I took some time today to read the first 50 pages and other pertinent sections of this dissertation on the development of the naval carriage.

 

It does appear to be true that, in the early days of arming ships, navies sometimes employed a mixture of field carriages and purpose-built naval carriages.  These field pieces, as noted by Druxey would be shod in Iron.

 

By the 17th C., however, this practice had ceased and the trucks were made from alternating grain layers.  I sometimes wonder whether the authors of these dissertations ever imagine their research making the rounds on modeling forums.  I imagine they’d be heartened to know that someone other than the dissertation committee is paying attention.

 

In other news, while fitting my port headrail last night, I have come to the conclusion that the only way forward is to remove these roundhouses.  I guess we’ll see how sound a welded bond is, after all.

Edited July 14, 2022 by Hubac's Historian

[Keith Black]

1 hour ago, Hubac's Historian said:

 I sometimes wonder whether the authors of these dissertations ever imagine their research making the rounds on modeling forums.

 Marc, I guarantee they're not seeing the light of day over at Ships of Scale. I want to continue this discussion but not here, I've highjacked Marc's build log enough, I'm moving further discussion on this to the "Gun Carriages" link. Marc, thank you for your patience.

[Hubac's Historian]

No worries, Keith - it is all of interest to me.  As far as I’m concerned the discussion is pertinent to what is happening on this build page.

[Hubac's Historian]

In answer to my own question: a welded bond can be quite difficult to break free.  Honestly, I expected that the turrets would pry loose fairly easily.  It soon became clear that wasn’t going to happen without something breaking where I didn’t want it to.

 

So, I used a series of implements to winnow away the problem:

 

It will only require a little putty to come flush with the plank surface of the beakhead deck; engrave a plank line, paint and it will all disappear.

 

With the turret out of the way, I could now get the headrail to seat where I want it:

Because of the angle of entry, behind the wings of the figurehead, I still will not get away with flat headrails.  I am okay with this concession, though, as I have at least corrected the problematic turret placement.

 

Edited July 15, 2022 by Hubac's Historian

[druxey]

Good for you doing that surgery, Marc.

 

If you make an angled  bend at the corner of the beakhead bulkhead, would that not give a straight run to the back of the figure?

[Hubac's Historian]

Well, I've had to make that angled bend that you're suggesting, but the available space behind the figure head is just too tight for a flat entry; without modifying the figurehead, itself, it's a choice between concave entry of the headrails, or inducing the reverse-curve that I've pictured.  It's just one of those things, where the kit was designed a certain way, and one has to decide what degree of plastic surgery they are comfortable with.  I like my figurehead and don't want to start messing around with those delicate bits.

[Ian_Grant]

Hands of a surgeon....missed your calling..,.

[Hubac's Historian]

Well, Ian, thank you!  I have been known to practice a little home dentistry, when necessary, so I suppose those abilities see some light of day.

 

There hasn’t been a whole lot of time to put into the ship this past week, as a dear friend from Sweden has been visiting.  It has been an extremely social and active time for me.

 

I have managed to continue detailing the port headrails.  This is very time consuming because all of these fine border mouldings have to be cut and fit by hand.  I decided that the best course for the middle rail was to affix the top moulding and leave the bottom moulding off until I had fit and secured each section of the bellflower garland:

 

The forward end of the headrails gets an inside bevel so that I will have some glue surface to attach to the upper knee of the head, just behind the figurehead:

As it stands, I am modeling the bellflower garland.  This is, naturally, time-consuming, but the effort is always worthwhile:

After that is complete, I will make the inside lamination for the horse carving from 1/16” styrene.  Most of this figure, as you will see in a minute, rests above the f’ocsle sheer rail.  As with the drift-rail serpent ornaments, I want a more 3-D appearance for this carving.  It will make a tremendous difference, in the end.

 

So, at this point, I wanted to really suss-out what my exact headrail positioning will be.  It is complicated by numerous considerations and hard realities of the kit.  It is impossible to do this perfectly, and according to actual practice of the times.  What I can do, however, is prioritize those aspects of the construction that I most want to improve upon.

 

To that end, I have already lowered the forward scroll below the level of the sprit-mast.  Next in importance are the transverse support timbers for the headrails:  I wanted to create enough open space for elegantly arching supports, instead of something that  was more flatly aligned with the horizon.  I think that this spacing provides for that:

The fundamental problem with the kit architecture is that the forward sheer of the lower main wales rises too dramatically.  The whole knee structure of the head should, in fact, be a good bit lower.  Consequently, I am having to choose to position the horse carving a little higher on the f’ocsle sheer rail than I would ideally like.  I can live with this.  There is another important implication concerning the run of the beakhead grating that I will discuss in a moment.

 

On the plus side, the lowest point of the headrails does not dip below the level of the middle main wales.  I also really like the harmonic sweep of the knees and the headrails:

Really keen observers will note that the Berain/Vary drawings show the forward and aft headrail medallions in the same plane:

However, super-keen observers will note that both of these drawings mysteriously and completely ignore the presence of the f’ocsle deck, which would have raised the f’ocsle sheer a step.  So, I don’t think I am wrong to represent the aft medallion as being in a higher plane.

 

Although, as discussed, I still find it necessary to incorporate some shape to these headrails, I do not find it to be terribly exaggerated or noticeable:

And, finally - the second complication of the abruptly rising sheer of the lower main wales; the beakhead grating on French ships of the period should run behind and follow the curve of the upper headrail.  I, on the other hand, have chosen to prioritize the sweep of the headrail support timbers.  Consequently, I will run the beakhead grating in-line with the middle headrail:

 

It isn’t exactly correct, but it will make it easy to tuck my new seats of ease between the beakhead deck and the headrails, as Michel Saunier did here:

Photo, courtesy of Marc Yeu

 

Next, I have to pierce the beakhead bulkhead for the cathead timbers, so that I can figure out the ideal placement for the cathead support carvings.

 

None of this is exactly right or perfect, but considered in its entirely it will be better and closer to the truth than what Heller has presented out-of-box.  As always, thank you for stopping by.  More to follow…

[shipmodel]

Marc - 

 

I think that you have perfectly illustrated the many puzzles that we all have to solve to achieve a fully realized ship model.  In your case you are even more limited by the basic structure of the kit.  There is only so much kit-bashing that can be done, and you are doing it extremely well.  I was worried that you would not be able to justify the various levels, heights, and angles of the headrails, but your solutions are elegant and beautiful.

 

Looking forward to seeing more great work.

 

Be well

 

Dan

[allanyed]

You have provided an extremely well done treatise on what can be done even starting with the limitations provided by a number of kit makers.  Kudos!!!

Allan

[druxey]

A lot of moving parts to keep track of and to coordinate!

 

Devil's advocate here: Could you cut off the aft end decorative scroll and horse's head and reattach it slightly further down the head rails? Then it would not rise quite as high as at present. Feel free to ignore me, Marc!