by wefalck » Wed Dec 01, 2021 3:45 am
The Heller kit is presumably based, as so many of their kits, on the model plans published by the Association des Amis du Mus�e de la Marine (AAMM) in Paris:
https://boutique.aamm.fr/monographies/plan-belle-poule.
The plans in turn are presumably based on the model preserved in the museum. Some years ago I undertook an extensive pictorial survey of the model:
https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/m ... poule.html. Not an easy task due to the rather dimmed light conditions in the gallery at the time. Currently all models are in storage due to the refurbishment and restructuring the museum is undergoing.
The model probably was constructed in the context of the operation in which the remains of Napoleon I were brought back to France. It is shown in the black-all-over paint scheme that was adopted for this sombre occassion. This was probably also the reason, why such a high-quality model was built for such a relatively minor ship.
I also obtained the kit some years ago second-hand, but upon closer inspection decided to not proceed with it. Although I had envisage to used her for a hull model only, I found that the kit is not up to 21st century standard anymore and would have required extensive reworking. I remember the rather obtrusive wood-graining overall, the incomplete copper-plating that is wrong anyway, and various other details in comparison with the museum model and the AAMM plans that I do not remember now. One thinks to save time and effort by starting with a kit, but in fact it would be easier to start from scratch ...
Whether the kit could be used for other ships of her class, I would not know. This presumably would require some research in the French archives, the museum and the Service Historique de la D�fense (SHD), and in the literature, e.g. Atlas du G�nie Maritime.
The Heller kit is presumably based, as so many of their kits, on the model plans published by the Association des Amis du Mus�e de la Marine (AAMM) in Paris: [url]https://boutique.aamm.fr/monographies/plan-belle-poule[/url].
The plans in turn are presumably based on the model preserved in the museum. Some years ago I undertook an extensive pictorial survey of the model: [url]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/bellepoule/bellepoule.html[/url]. Not an easy task due to the rather dimmed light conditions in the gallery at the time. Currently all models are in storage due to the refurbishment and restructuring the museum is undergoing.
The model probably was constructed in the context of the operation in which the remains of Napoleon I were brought back to France. It is shown in the black-all-over paint scheme that was adopted for this sombre occassion. This was probably also the reason, why such a high-quality model was built for such a relatively minor ship.
I also obtained the kit some years ago second-hand, but upon closer inspection decided to not proceed with it. Although I had envisage to used her for a hull model only, I found that the kit is not up to 21st century standard anymore and would have required extensive reworking. I remember the rather obtrusive wood-graining overall, the incomplete copper-plating that is wrong anyway, and various other details in comparison with the museum model and the AAMM plans that I do not remember now. One thinks to save time and effort by starting with a kit, but in fact it would be easier to start from scratch ...
Whether the kit could be used for other ships of her class, I would not know. This presumably would require some research in the French archives, the museum and the Service Historique de la D�fense (SHD), and in the literature, e.g. Atlas du G�nie Maritime.