HMS Spartiate by Admiral Beez - Heller - 1/150 - PLASTIC - kit-bashing the Heller Le Superbe

[Admiral Beez]

After an 18 year paternity leave I am returning to model ships with Heller's 1/150 scale Le Superbe.  I am a British-born Canuck who spent many days in the 1980s at the https://www.historicdockyard.co.uk/ waiting for the ferry to my grandparents on the Isle of Wight, and am a fan of all things RN/RCN.

 

I will be completing the kit as HMS Spartiate as I imagine she may have looked at Trafalgar.    For colours I plan to use this excellent model of HMS Vanguard, as I like the blue side railings, red on the stern, and the yellow ochre sides (rather than the orange used until recently on HMS Victory).

 

 

 

The instructions are in French, but they have an English list at the back.  Still, as a good Canadian I have a smattering of French language buried away from my university days that may prove useful.

 

 

 

I've chosen HMS Spartiate as my goal as she was one of the approx. twenty French Téméraire-class captured by the British, but one of only two that served with Nelson at Trafalgar.  She then went on to serve as British flagship to the South Atlantic squadron well into the 1830s.   A good, long history of service, unlike the actual Le Superbe.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Resource materials I will be using include the British plans for HMS Spartiate plus the French marine museum's plans for Superbe, printed to the exact 1/150 scale as my model, see below.   

 

Notice how the plans show that the copper comes up too far on the model kit.  A more experienced builder than me may try to sand down the excess rows of copper but but this is not something I'm going to try on my first build in years.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 16, 2021 by Admiral Beez

[Admiral Beez]

Other resources include a loaner book on HMS Bellona, mostly to assist with rigging and ships boats.   I may try to mock up some cannonades as shown in the book.

 

 

 

Edited October 16, 2021 by Admiral Beez

[Admiral Beez]

I'll also be referring to other builds of Heller's 1/150 Le Superbe here on Model Ship World, including:

 

https://modelshipworld.com/topic/7347-le-superbe-by-algeciras1801-heller-plastic-1150-converted-to-hms-belleisle/

https://modelshipworld.com/topic/5836-le-superbe-by-lukasvdb-plastic-heller-1150-first-ship-of-the-line-ever-built/

https://modelshipworld.com/topic/152-le-superbe-by-blue-ensign-finished-heller-plastic-built-as-le-praetorian-after-boudriot/

 

And that's as far as I've got to date.  Today we head to the hobby shop for Tamiya's spray primer and Vallejo acrylics.   Except for the primer this will be a brush only project.  A very experienced builder friend has provided paint swatches from his own RN ship-of-the-line builds and Vallejo codes, plus guidance on thinners, washes, brushes, fillers, internal mast reinforcement (a necessity with Heller kits), etc. etc. (it's a long list) plus several plastic parts from his old kits to practice and swatch test painting with; so I have a good starting point after my 18 years off.

 

 

Edited October 16, 2021 by Admiral Beez

[Admiral Beez]

Painting guide from The Anatomy of Nelson’s Ships.

 

I’ll be using this, plus the model of HMS Vanguard linked above as my guides as I make my paint list.

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by Admiral Beez

[Admiral Beez]

We now have the supplies.  Many thanks to the guys at https://wheelswingshobbies.com

 

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by Admiral Beez

[Admiral Beez]

Check out these pics against the plans.  Clearly I need to sand down two rows of copper below the lower wale.   If I just paint these rows black it’ll be too noticeable.   In addition to this I sand down the hull between each gun port and with strips of styrene as a guide I’ll scribe four or five planks from fore to aft.  
 

What the heck was Heller thinking when they made the tooling for this kit?  Presumably they had access to the same plans from the Musse De La Marine that I’m using here.

 

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by Admiral Beez

[Admiral Beez]

A friend who’s an expert builder rigged up this jig so we could score the exact waterline, showing the copper we need to sand away.  We’re also scribing plank lines between the wales.

 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by Admiral Beez

[Admiral Beez]

I’ve figured out a means to align the vertical panels on the carriages for gluing using reverse grip tweezers.   There will be putty filling and sanding to do before we prime.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by Admiral Beez

[Ian_Grant]

Great start!  I too returned to models after the kids got old enough to ignore me 😃.

Look forward to more progress.

 

Blue Ensign built this model and also scribed plank lines and changed the copper I think.

[Admiral Beez]

@Ian_Grant Thanks.  What’s really helped me getting started was joining the local boat building club, https://metromarine.org/static-division/. These old timers have been a godsend on this project, for example helping me to scribe the waterline for copper removal and providing the styrene strips and loaner hooked scriber for marking the planks, see below.   First twenty 32 pdr carriages now together, cannon just placed for fun, will glue the cannons on separately after the carriages are filled, sanded, primed and painted.   The club also loaned me tiny drill bits to drill out the gun barrels (I may leave a few with their red tompions in).  The injection moulded cannons are terribly finished, with holes above the breaches (visible below) that need to be filled and sanded before priming.  Heller was smart to have the 32 pdr cannons as the first step in the instructions, as you can practice on these and make your mistakes because only the barrel is visible.  

 

Here’s my work station.  The standing desk from IKEA is a great help as you can adjust the height to suit how your back feels and if you’re sitting or standing, and it’s hand crank so no motor to break down.  And the magnifier lamp is a must have for my 50 year old eyes.  You can see my DragonForce DF65 r/c sailboat to the left, which was my introduction to the model boat club, and their racing division and the national association https://crya.ca/df65/.  Of course the ponds will be frozen soon, so that’s one reason I returned to model kits, to stay active in the club and to keep my renewed interest in boat models.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by Admiral Beez

[Ian_Grant]

Admiral we have some things in common. I used to RC sail in the 70's/early 80's then not for years as I got a real sailboat. I revived the model to try to interest my son and his cousins when they were 10 or so without result. Then a few years ago I decided to sail it at the cottage for my pleasure. She was reaching directly away from me out on the lake when I realized I was seeing the white deck - how could that be? Answer - she was sinking by the stern!!

 

Fortunately I was able to locate her by snorkeling. The RC set was ok after being packed in rice but the battery was not happy. It turned out that the little balsa block (poor choice of wood by my young self) I epoxied inside the hull to locate the rudder tube had become unglued from the hull after 35 years. Since I had to cut a hole in the deck to get at this I decided to revamp the whole thing from a simple rectangular hatch amidships to something flashier. I also replaced the white deck with some laminate from a counter place and painted the orange hull blue. Here she is...Never got around to painting the black/white camera targets on the crash test dummy 😄.

 

 

 

 

[Admiral Beez]

@Ian_Grant I like the wooden dummy.  
 

I’ve just finished the first step on the 32 pounder cannons.  I noticed that the cannon pins were too narrow to sit well onto the carriage side panels.  So I looked at my HMS Belona book, and it’s clear Heller dropped the ball on the design of their gun carriages, as the vertical panels are supposed to be closer together at the front of the gun.  But no matter, we’ll do our best with what we have.
 

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by Admiral Beez

[Admiral Beez]

Thirty 32 pdr cannons puttied and sanded, now drilling out muzzles.  Carriages sanded and now primed (thanks to bathroom fan ventilation).  Once I have these all done I’ll do the same for the 24 pdr and 18 pdr cannons.  A friend (building the same kit) is also vacuum forming me some cannonades, since the French didn’t use them.  

 

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by Admiral Beez

[Admiral Beez]

Now scraping the excess copper above the waterline down with a curved blade.  Once done I’ll be sanding the hull between the gun ports so that I can scribe the plank lines, as we want to see them under the ochre paint.  

 

 

I’ll also be drilling the holes for the gun port lid ropes, this includes drilling through the wales (the reinforcing fore/aft planks), as shown in this book of plans for HMS Bellona.

 

I also noticed after priming that my 18 pounders need more sanding of the raised circles on the upper sides of the barrels.  The 24 and 32 pounders look fine.   That’s the upside of priming as it reveals imperfections that you’ll want to fix before final paint.

 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by Admiral Beez

[Admiral Beez]

Plank lines scribed between gun ports.  Copper above waterline now scraped away.  Hull below waterline now coppered.  I’m learning not to over dilute the paints as it takes many coats otherwise.  

 

Yellow ochre is more yellow than the Nelson orange I was expecting, but that’s fine, we’re not changing it now, and it will look sharp once I add black.  Yellow ochre side strakes now painted, plus the hull sides of the interior of the lower and middle gun decks, like done on HMS Victory where the interior walls and carriages match the external strakes, like here https://c8.alamy.com/comp/F80MNG/lower-gun-deck-of-hms-victory-at-the-portsmouth-historic-dockyard-F80MNG.jpg 

 

The upper gun deck interiors will be black, maybe red, I’ll decide.  The 32 pdr cannons are on toothpicks for painting.  I’ll have to sharpen them for the small guns.

 

The next step is the complete the lower gun deck.  Unlike the upper decks, Heller omitted the plank lines.  I may scribe these with a metal ruler, but I think this deck may not be visible.

 

 

 

Edited November 10, 2023 by Admiral Beez

[Admiral Beez]

Either my abilities with the Tamiya tape are wanting or my black paint was mixed too thin but I suffered some black incursion into my ochre stripes and copper. But it’s okay, fixed it with some free hand ochre and copper, and now it looks like a true wooden, weather worn ship.  

 

 

 

The lower gun deck cannons turned out nicely.  I think the ochre carriages are a little too close in colour to the unpainted wheels (same colour as the deck), but we’ll see, maybe I’ll paint the wheels of the upper deck and quarter deck guns (they’re unpainted on HMS Victory).

Next steps is to use a thin brush to touch up the black edges above and below the ochre stripes, finish painting and install the lower gun deck, install ropes through the drilled holes for the gun port lids.   I left the upper hull unpainted as I was planning to paint some thin blue decorative trim lines (like here on HMS Vanguard, https://www.modelships.de/Vanguard/Photos-HMS-Vanguard_detail-views.htm), but I’ve decided to paint it black right to the upper edge and decorate it later.

 

 

Edited November 10, 2023 by Admiral Beez

[Admiral Beez]

Hull sides now completely painted.  I realize I’ll need to cut out some ports on the poop deck for the carronades, but that’s a future worry.

 

 

Edit, carronades aren’t on the poop, only the forecastle, so no port cuts needed.  I’ll just swap out a few of the 12 pounders.   Here’s the carronade my friend made for me on his vacuum former.

 

 

Edited November 10, 2023 by Admiral Beez

[Admiral Beez]

I’ve drilled out one side and installed ropes for the gun port lids.  I’ve omitted ropes (and lids) on the upper deck gun ports between the quarter deck and forecastle, as this matches what I see in models and paintings, but I may decided to put lids across all.  

 

 

Edited November 10, 2023 by Admiral Beez

[Admiral Beez]

I’m installing the lower deck cannons onto the deck.  This required me scrape away paint and primer on both the deck and carriage wheels to ensure good glue adhesion (otherwise the bond is only as good as the paint’s bond to the primer, and the primer’s bond to the plastic).  I realized after I affixed the first three cannons that I needed to clear coat seal the cannons, as the acrylic paint was coming off the barrels through my handling of the guns.

 

Edited November 10, 2023 by Admiral Beez

[Admiral Beez]

Bows closed in and painted, anchor cables fitted, 18 pdr cannons puttied, painted and clear coated.  Upper deck assembly now underway.   
 

Edited November 10, 2023 by Admiral Beez

[Admiral Beez]

Resin cast 64 pdr cannonades have arrived!

Edited November 10, 2023 by Admiral Beez

[Admiral Beez]

I’ve now primed, painted and weather stained the upper gun deck.  It’s a mix of AK’s Buff and Deck Tan for the deck, straight dark brown for the columns and deck eyes, then all covered in a clear satin spray topcoat, and finished with a very thin wash of straight black.  I’m pleased with it and it will be sad to scrape it off to glue down the cannons.  Since this deck is mostly not visible I used this as training for the quarterdeck and poop.  

Edited November 10, 2023 by Admiral Beez

[Admiral Beez]

Upper gundeck CA glued.  This Heller kit is poorly made in many respects, and the thin rail the deck sits on is definitely insufficient to mate up with the deck undersides.   I’ve clamped it to make it work.

Edited November 10, 2023 by Admiral Beez

[Admiral Beez]

Upper deck guns installed.  I’ll add some tackle ropes to those guns that are visible once the quarterdeck and forecastle deck are in place.  I also now need to decide what colour to paint the interior of the hull on those two final decks.

 

 

 

Edited November 10, 2023 by Admiral Beez

[Admiral Beez]

There are thirty-eight tiny rings per side that need to be clipped from the sprue and shaved down to a round profile.  After have a few fly away from my tweezers and exhaustive sweeping to searching to recover them I devised the following.  Using scrap sprue cuttings I ran a line through all seventy-six rings and then tied off the other end.  This allowed me to trim and sand without fear and then prime all at once.  In hindsight I should have used fishing line that wouldn’t fray but this seems fine.

 

 

Edited November 10, 2023 by Admiral Beez

[Admiral Beez]

I need some help.  These notorious Heller instructions make no sense.  I’m trying to assemble the beginnings of the bowsprit, with parts 50 and 51 making the main spar (I’ll be reinforcing these with toothpicks before I glue together) and then these smaller parts someone attached.  But I don’t understand how part 105 works, it appears to go between the two halves but there’s no notch to prevent part 105 causing a gap between 50 and 51.   
 

And now does 77 go on.  Its diamond hole for the end of the 50/51 spare forces part 77 to go to the side.  Can this be right?

 

@Lukasvdb and @Blue Ensign do you remember this from your Le Superbe builds?  Cheers.

 

Edited November 10, 2023 by Admiral Beez

[Bill Morrison]

You were mentioning earlier about the copper plating being too high. Given that the model does not have planking detail, you could consider planking the sides, using planks to cover the requisite copper plates. There is little to no sanding required.

Bill

[Admiral Beez]

On 5/9/2022 at 11:16 AM, Bill Morrison said:

You were mentioning earlier about the copper plating being too high. Given that the model does not have planking detail, you could consider planking the sides, using planks to cover the requisite copper plates. There is little to no sanding required.

Bill

I used a curved razor blade to scrape the copper down smooth above the true water line.  I'm happy with the results.

[Admiral Beez]

Now that the Canadian autumn/winter is approaching it's time to return to my grotto and the build.   I didn't understand that the stern gallery had to be installed BEFORE the rudder, so I had to saw off the rudder.  This turned out for the best since I found that the pintles left too much space between the rudder and sternpost.    I've put the bowsprit aside for now and have been painting the stern gallery.  See below, where it's just pressure fit in place for viewing.  The two side galleries are just lightly glued to the stern gallery so will be detached and properly glued in place later.

 

For the stern gallery paint scheme I'm using HMS Vanguard as a guide.  https://www.modelships.de/Vanguard/Photos-HMS-Vanguard_detail-views.htm

 

I'm not sure if I'll paint the columns between the stern windows gold or black.   I've begun to paint the window frames gold, but my paint was too thin, so I may go over them again, or switch to red.  Any recommendations?

I've also placed the upper deck for placement only.

 

 

Edited November 10, 2023 by Admiral Beez