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I have copies of all the existing plans for Hoche and copies of all the photos from three Museums in Paris. And of three different models - only the one from the Museum being of real value since the others are derived from it. I think that my resource base is pretty good! It has been a labor of love for Renaud and me to try to make this model as good as possible. And he continues to scour Museums and other resources (private parties with original glass plate negatives! I have those too.) to make the best collection of materials.
My goal is to make this the BEST model that I ever design. There are difficulties in that goal because the desire to include detail butts up against realities of paper (the need for frames gets in the way of modeling the gun deck completely realistically) and scale. Some things are just too small even at 1:200.
I just recently got from Renaud a series of very clear images of the nameplate over the stern so that I can model that perfectly. I know what every exposed surface of the ship looks like through most of its modifications over time with the exception of one small area ahead of the forward funnel and behind the forward structure. I know what is there in terms of doors, ports, etc. but don't have all the little details.
The plans from the Museum actually don't represent Hoche at any actual stage. The early ones predate the eventual form that the ship would take at launching and the later ones don't includes some of the detail sections and such that I would like. By using all the resources together and verifying carefully with multiple sources I can build a very accurate model.
Carl
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