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

[shipmodel]

Marc -

Most importantly, Joyce and I send our heartfelt wishes to you and your family.

Health and love, my friend.  

 

On a much less important note - my method for setting lifelike ropes is to wet them first with just water.

You can do this repeatedly until you have the look your want.  There is no time limit with glue drying out.

Then paint the wet ropes with dilute PVA, which will penetrate the fibers better and not lay on the surface.

 

Hope that works for you.

 

Dan

[Hubac's Historian]

David, Bill, Dan, and all who have visited recently - thank you for your well-wishes!  We are all an aging crew, and I know that so many of you have tread the path I am walking now.  It is so appreciated, on my end.

 

My Dad is going to be okay.  His scans all came out clean; no internal bleeding or broken bones.  He isn’t happy to be there, but he will remain in-hospital for a few days to monitor his UTI and kidney function.

 

Dan - as always, your advice is TIMELY!  This was exactly what I needed to know.  Thank you, again, my friend!

[Bill97]

Marc I am hoping all is going well with your dad. Best wishes my brother.

[yancovitch]

yea....me too........vc

[Hubac's Historian]

Thank you, guys!  The hospital cleared him to go home yesterday.  His kidney function returned to normal, and he’s no worse for the wear.  Thank you for asking.

[yancovitch]

🙂

[GrandpaPhil]

That is excellent news!

[Hubac's Historian]

As life muddles along, on my end, I am happy to use this space to highlight the outstanding work of my fellow Heller modification enthusiasts.

 

Today, John Ott was the first person to actually finish his magnificent representation of Soleil Royal 1693, carrying sail as represented on the Velez Malaga scroll.  A few screen shots:

I joke with John that he’s already created the box art for the Heller re-release of this Prestige Series classic, in a more historically accurate representation:

A few overall perspective shots:

There are many more finely detailed shots of the decks, rig and stern on his build page, here:

 

As you all have gathered by now, I hold John and his many talents in very high regard.  I hope you will all find a little time to take a closer look.  Congratulations, John, on a magnificent piece of work!

 

___
 

This past week, I had a few hours to start playing around with and manipulating the breeching lines.  I did as Dan suggested and saturated the ropes with water.  This, alone, does little to make them more compliant.  What it does do, though, is make it easier for the dilute Elmer’s glue to wick into the polyester yarns:

While I haven’t yet had a chance to see whether these shapes will hold when I undo the tapes, this is intended to be a two-step process; next, I’ll tack the loops down to the deck with a less dilute Elmer’s solution.  Then, I can move-on to the haul-out tackles.

 

Thank you all for looking-in!

[druxey]

I find polyester a rather intractable fiber to use for line. Have you tried high quality cotton?

[Hubac's Historian]

I have not.  I was concerned about the ways in which cotton reacts to humidity changes.  Is this an overblown concern?

[shipmodel]

Marc - 

 

Yes, working with poly in these scales is like trying to work steel cables.

I have had no issues with cotton/poly blends.

 

 

[mtaylor]

I'm sorry to hear of all that happened over the holidays.   I hope this is a better year.

 

As for the cotton line.....  painting it with the glue does seem to keep the humidity from affecting the ropes.   It also makes them easier to "clean" off the dust on a finished model... a bit of blown dry air from a can does the trick.

[HAIIAPHNK]

I apologize for the flooding. But what happened? You had me worried. Did something happen to Mark? Is he okay?

[Hubac's Historian]

Hi Aleksandr,

 

I am perfectly okay.  For a variety of reasons, it was a challenging end to 2024, but most of those issues have been resolved.  I’m just hoping for a less hectic 2025.

 

Thank you for your concern.

 

All the best,

 

Marc

[yancovitch]

wonderful!!   good shew.....(ed sulivan🙃)

[HAIIAPHNK]

I'm glad to hear that, Mark. I sincerely wish you are doing well. 
There's one thing: I haven't watched much television in years. I listen to audiobooks more often than not, and I watch movies. At best, it can be some podcasts on history or science. 
It may look strange, but I've gotten used to it. The only downside to this situation is that when I suddenly want to see what's going on in the world, it shocks me. Yesterday, after Mark's words I also decided to see what was being said on the news and again I was discouraged. The world seems to be going crazy. 
I quickly run to my cave, push the huge rock behind me again, look at the fire and try to catch my breath and come to my senses. 
Once again, I sincerely wish you, Mark, and everyone else too, that you are okay. This forum for me has remained one of the islands where everything is calm and people are calmly doing things that bring positive emotions. May it continue to be so. Peace and goodness to all! Amen.

 

[yancovitch]

man is born, then leaves the world and is mostly forgotten, but brilliant modelers and artists, like mark, create legacies which defy time, and uplift and inspire mankind to continue to pursue that dream, where peace and harmony prevail....