Le Superbe by greenskin - Heller - 1/150 - PLASTIC

[greenskin]

Some time ago I received the Le Superbe kit in 1:150 scale from Heller. Since shipbuilding modeling has always intrigued me a lot, I decided to take a shot and assemble this model as best I could. 

While I have some experience with plastic models, I've never built a sailing ship, so I don't plan on doing a lot of modifications. 

This will be a very long report, assuming I have enough persistence to complete the build. As someone who lives a busy life and always in a hurry, I try to build slowly and carefully, getting as much enjoyment as possible from the process itself. Since I only build when the family is already asleep, I have a lot of quiet 🙂 However, this also causes a difficulty: I can't afford to tinker with the model as often as I would like. 

The man who writes the instructions for Heller should probably change profession, although just deciphering the diagrams is fun in itself. 

So far I'm terrified of the rigging stage, but I'm trying to solve one problem at a time.

Wish me luck and persistence. I also thank you in advance for all your advice and tips.

Regards, Piotr

[Henke]

Hi Piotr,

Thanks for starting a build log on Heller's Le Superbe. According to Scalemates.com the kit dates back to 1977 so the man who wrote the instructions for Heller in 1977 has probably retired or sailed over to the other side 😌. I have a suggestion for the rigging. Unless you already have a basic understanding of rigging I suggest you get hold of  "Rigging Period Ship Models" by Lennarth Petersson. This book gives a basic understanding of rigging of a frigate of the same period as your Le Superbe. I suppose rigging in 1:150 scale has to be simplified a lot but the most prominent details of the rigging can probably be replicated.

 

Anyhow, welcome to MSW and happy modelling Piotr!

 

Best regards

 

Henrik

[greenskin]

Another free evening (or night, one might say) with the model.

I've been struggling whether to post an update today or wait for more things to show. I figured that you should be the judges of that.

Nothing spectacular really, just tedious work with cannons (30 of them this time), added bowsprit mount (apologies, I have no idea how to call that), 78 line holders (again, I have no idea what is the correct name) and other minor improvements. But I'm happy that I keep moving forward.

Regards,

Piotr

[greenskin]

Hi everyone,

I had several nights when I could dance on my model. I restrained myself from posting updates, as (at least in my opinion) there were no significant changes. 

So, here you go. Bow is mounted with the ornaments and gallion. Upper deck is glued. The "front wall" - where the chase gun ports are didn't fit at all, so I had to improvise and carve the door out. Looks pretty neat in my opinion. Bowsprit is glued and then tied, but honestly I don't like how it came out. Sh*t happens, I guess.

All in all, I hope you like my progress and how the model looks so far.

Edited June 20, 2023 by greenskin

[greenskin]

Another short update. I'm working on fitting the upper deck.

[Henke]

Hi Piotr,

Could you please explain your technique used for the wooden deck. It looks so nice!

 

Best regards

 

Henrik

[greenskin]

Hi Henrik,

Apologies for not answering to your post - for some reason I didn't receive notification about your reply. And thank you for complimenting my painting 🙂. Here's my approach to the subject.

I use Vallejo paints only. Knowing that you'll be able to check the colors by the paint name. I basecoated the deck with Leather Brown. Next, I do a heavy dry brush with Beige Brown, paying attention to not spill the paint into crevices. Then I do a lighter dry brush with Iraqi Sand. After that, the most important step is to  dilute black paint havily to consistency of ink and place the paint into the crevices between planks. Before the black paint dries, I wipe it off gently with my finger. Using finger has two effects. One: I remove excess paint from the crevices between planks. Two: I smudge the black paint over that planks. The key is to make it sloppy and uneven. The final touch is to perform gentle drybrush with Iraqi Sand after filling all crevices between planks with black paint.

 

Also, I apologize for not posting any updates for so long. That doesn't mean I wasn't busy - on the contrary. Here are some photos to prove it. 

There is one mistake that I made - I followed original instructions too blindly and glued the rudder (is it correct word?) before gluing the aft transom. I had to deal with that and modify the rudder, as I didn't want to cut it off.

 

 

Edited July 21, 2023 by greenskin

[greenskin]

Hello fellow modellers, short update.

 

I bought a telephone cable, stripped it from it's latex cover and used it as chain plates (is it correct wording?). Deadeyes were bought in the modellers store (2mm size, but in practice they have 3 mm in diameter).

Not the prettiest, but definitely the best I can do in this scale and in my humble opinion not bad for a first timer.

 

Please let me know what you guys think.

[greenskin]

Hi,

don't worry, I didn't give up on assembling the model. I ordered the "Period Ships Rigging" book by Lenart Petersson and trying to learn as much as I can before the book arrives. I don't want to make rigging following the instructions from Heller, but would like to try to go beyond that.

I started assembly of masts, but stumbled upon a following problem: holes in the deck for the fore mast and main mast are too big (see pictures)!

Is there anyone who assembled this kit and/or is able to help me with some advice?

Another question I have is: do you know if there is somewhere a full build log of the fantastic model made by Mr Blue Ensign? I tried to Google for it, but the only things I found are some loose posts/photos and shortened version of it on this forum. All old links targeting the original log are dead. I'd really like to take a look at some of the details to make my build as best as it can be.

I don't want to mess this kit up - my wife already told me that it goes to the living room :).

Edited September 10, 2023 by greenskin

[Jack-in-the-Blue]

1 hour ago, greenskin said:

my wife already told me that it goes to the living room :).

 

Well she's a keeper. 😉

[greenskin]

Hah, she definitely is!

[Henke]

Hi Piotr,

you are a very lucky man to have such a supporting wife. My admiral always asks me in a rather derogatory tone where I am going to do with my models when they finished. "I do not want see them in our living room".

 

Then when it comes to the holes in the deck my suggestion is that you add some kind of circular "seal" with a inner diameter close to the mast diameter and an outer diameter slightly bigger than the hole in the like it is done on my Agamemnon model.

 

Best regards

 

Henrik

[greenskin]

Thank you Henrik for your kind words. 

 

I will also follow your advice on the fitting of the masts - went to a hardware store and bought some washers for the screws and will try to figure something out with them.

My books came! I'm planning to study them thoroughly during my vacation and start working on rigging in October.

I can also say that I officially hate deadeyes. Mounting them ona plastic model is pain in the butt. I figured that it will be best if I do as much of rigging work on masts as I can before mounting them on a model. So I started with deadeyes for topmasts shrouds. You can see the final effect on picture below (I have to repaint crow's nest after fighting with deadeyes).

 

Do you think it would be wise to mount yards and blocks on unmounted masts as well? Or should I glue the masts and then start playing with yards, blocks and rigging?

Edited September 16, 2023 by greenskin

[Henke]

Without knowing any details about the Heller kit of yours, I suggest that you fix the masts and do the detailing of the rigging with the level of details according to your ambitions before you do the yards with their blocks but blocks on the masts are probably better to attach to the masts before you glue the masts in place.

 

She looks very nice!

 

Best regards

 

Henrik

[greenskin]

Thank you Henrik for your reply. I'm very happy that you like the model. I also think that fixing the masts as much as I can before mounting them will be a good idea. I'm going through the documentation and forum to figure out the details, so it will probably be long before I post any photos here.

[greenskin]

Hi guys,

I had a longer break from modelling because of vacation. I used this free time to study books about rigging. Now, back from my vacation, I begun working on yards and topmasts shrouds. 

Plastic is very bendy, so I try to mount as many parts on masts as I can before gluing them to the hull. 

It's not 100% ideal, but I'm totally satisfied with the result.

Let me know what you think.

[Henke]

It looks very nice! Where did you get the blocks and dead-eyes from? The model is 1:150. Mine, in scale 1:64 are tiny for my aging, soon 58 years old eyes 😊.

 

Best regards

 

Henrik

[greenskin]

Hi Henrik,

Thanks for your kind words.

I found deadeyes and blocks from Amati in my local hobby store and decided to use them, even if they will be out of scale. (Although, when I measured plastic deadeyes provided by Heller in the kit, it appeared that they have similar size) All dimensions enlisted below are from producer, but in fact they are 1mm bigger, so keep that in mind. Holes are perfect for 0.25mm ropes.

 

Deadeyes 2mm AM 404902

Blocks 1 hole 2mm AM 407002

Blocks 2 holes 4mm AM 408004

Blocks 3 holes 5mm AM 408305A

 

Below you can find photos of them. I also added photo of boom and gaff prepared and awaiting to be fit on mizzen mast. These blocks are a bit bigger than the yards, but it doesn't bother me much and I think it will stress out detailing of the rigging. I call it a "modellers choice".

 

I hope that helps.

[greenskin]

I'm slowly pushing forward. Seems not much, but I made all the blocks and Burton pendants on all three masts and on all yards from mizzen mast and main mast. I'll post photo of all of them once I finish blocks on all yards for the fore mast. And add foot ropes on all yards (although I have no idea yet on how to accomplish that in this scale 😂).

 

As always, bunch of photos:

[greenskin]

Working on footropes...

[greenskin]

Back to work with masts. Currently rigging the shrouds on topgallant.

 

In the meantime, I finished the anchors.

[greenskin]

Family affairs made me keep away from the desk for a long time, but I finally found some time to tinker. Currently working on gun ports. I had to convert them a bit, as Heller didn't assume having lifting ropes in final build. I've made eye bolts from 0.5 mm copper wire taken from old alarm cable.

For now, I gave starboard side finished. And I decided to change ropes in the gun ports to thinner ones.

 

I still can't decide whether I want to finish everything I can before mounting the masts or if I'm simply scared of it 😉.

 

In the meantime, I'm trying to continue research. Running rigging of jib and flying jib is a mystery for me. Any advice?

 

Regards,

Piotr

Edited February 24 by greenskin

[greenskin]

The port side is finished. I thought it would be harder, but actually turned out ok (at least to my standards).

 

The time seemed right to mount the hull on the stand. Apologies for not posting images from the painting process - I failed to make them. I wanted to have a brassy look of it. I painted entire stand black, than drybrushed it with Vallejo Tinny Tin. Then, I made a light drybrush with Vallejo Glorious Gold. Last step was to cover it with satin varnish to get some additional smooth shininess. Turned out pretty neat 🙂.

 

Next step: masts 😨

Edited February 26 by greenskin

[greenskin]

I failed to make photos of the base, so remembered about it when painting plate with ship name. 

Here it is painted black:

 

Here it is drybrushed with Tiny Tin:

 

Drybrushed with gold:

 

I emphasized letters with additional gold paint and covered it all with satin varnish:

 

The chain is in place. It required a bit of tinkering, but turned ot ok:

 

And the masts are mounted!

[greenskin]

Shrouds are finished. I couldn't level the deadeyes. The plastic masts are too bendy, I lack the experience and the scale didn't make it any easier. But hey - it's my first ship model, so I'm very excited about the general outcome.

 

I also started working on ratlines. The clove hitch appeared to be much easier than it seemed to be, thanks to RJ Scaleships & Repllicas, who put on YouTube fantastic tutorial:

 

 

 

[Thunder]

Hi,

 

when the masts are tending to bend i would rig temporary stays, pulling forwards to the correct tension to stop the mast pulling backwards as you progress with the shrouds. Below is my Superbe, she has suffered a little with thread shrinkage over the years but is still on show after 25 years.

 

[greenskin]

Thank you @Thunder for the advice - I'll give it a try. The bendy plastic, the scale - if you want to make the rigging as accurate as possible, Le Superbe is very challenging model in its own way. I can't wait to be pass the shrouds stage. I'd like to start working on yards and sails already :).

 

Your model is very beautiful. I hope to finish mine before autumn.