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  1. While I’m new to MSW I am not new to model ship building. In my earlier life, I built two period sailing ships: Heller 1/200 L'indomptable and the Revell 1/96 Elizabethan Man ‘O War. Sadly, these did not survive the decades since I built them. My current project is the Heller 1/100 HMS Victory. While I say ‘current’ my story is similar to that of others in this forum. I bought my kit around about 1984 but a busy career and family life meant the project became an on-again off-again proposition. Clearly, more off than on. I am now retired and motivated to push this project to completion. The hull of my model is mostly complete but the rigging is a whole other challenge and I will need help. And lots of it. Ian Grant, who completed a fabulous rendition of this model has already been immensely helpful to me. A few pictures follow: . I’m told this is a 1st generation kit, C1979. I believe Heller is now into its 3rd iteration. Hard to believe but in 1984 this kit was $CDN180! I am re-doing the bowsprit standing and running rigging since I originally rigged it per the kit instructions. That is simply no longer acceptable 😊 I’m glad I completed most of the finicky painting - aft gingerbreads, balusters, coats of arms, etc. (quoting Billy Joel) “when I wore a younger man’s clothes” 😉 Good news is, while my eyesight isn’t as sharp as it once was, my hand is still pretty steady. I built this temporary enclosure to protect the model while also helping to keep it dust free. It still managed to collect dust! My main work area (I have another for sub-assemblies) looks quite ‘proper’ with the Brown Bess musket on the wall (I fashioned a whole new forestock for it), the contemporary picture of Victory in Portsmouth Harbour and the Victory crest. My wife says it looks like a shrine…and I’m ok with that too 😁 You can tell by this picture of my bar area that I’m all things ‘Nelson’ - the Britannia Triumphant poster, the rum ration cup with Nelson’s image, Nelson’s portrait (I also have a same sized portrait of Lady Hamilton) and the battle line serving tray. Since I was a very young lad, Horatio Nelson has always been my #1 hero. In my adult life I can honestly say I have never missed recognising Trafalgar Day (Oct 21st). Whether in quiet contemplation or a raised glass. Or both 😁
  2. Not my first kit, but first in 40 years! I started building this model that long ago, but 2 kids, and life interfered. I always told myself, "Tomorrow, tomorrow". Well. tomorrow has arrived. Now, if I can live long enough, I WILL finish her. These pictures are a start. Funny, I was having trouble taking good pics with my old camera(a Sony dslr), but picked up an older Nikon Coolpix, and man, what a difference! This is one beautiful camera. Only one problem. It shows warts and all. Looking at the pictures, I see every little flaw. Lots of paint touch-ups to do. I know I am not up to the standards of some (read any) of you, but I will give it my best!
  3. SOLEIL ROYAL - HELLER 1/100 (side project) At the moment I am refurbishing part of the house including my humble workroom. So atm I haven't technically been doing any major construction work regards to my kit. This is a big project but A SIDE ONE for me as when my workroom and other refurbish are bk to normal I will be starting a main project in wood. I actually started this a few weeks ago but didn't want to start a build log for obvious reasons, plus the fact even now I still don't have a true picture of where I will go with this, other than the fact I will be to a certain extent heavily improvising on her, which I have started. I wanted to have wooden decks throughout so I meaured the sizes of the planking on the decks, calculated how much I needed and bought in 80 x1metre lengths 3mm x 0.5mm lime wood. The planking has gone really well and I have now finished it all, I also stained this with a Dark oak stainer. The Hulls I was unsure about but went with the kit instructions using Humbrol brown yellow and a lot of drybrushing, this came out darker than expected but realising this was because the mouldings of my kit Hulls are solid black(I used the same brown yellow on my complete Royal Louis but since that mould was in white hence the colour originally close to what it should be). That said I was quite pleased with the darker finish and it gave it more of a weathered look. I thought the bottom of the Hull needed to be slightly darker though so I used a Humbrol Dark brown wash over the brown yellow and it really came up to what I wanted. I have also drilled holes in the hull sides for the addition of pulleys for the Gunport Hatches. Atm I am now just building and painting the guns. I've finished the 24lb(x24) and have just started the 18lbers. I was originally thinking to replace them all after sales but found it well nigh impossible to get the correct type of gun and in 4 different correct sizes, so I've had to stay with the kit supplied ones. I have also bought in relevant wooden Deadeyes(triangular), cloth flags and rigging thread. Looking a bit further forward I want to replace all the masts and yards with wood other than that I don't know exactly where I will go with her, other than keep painting and weathering parts, I may well add other things like metal anchors and Rudder chain etc... Apologies for the long intro and in hindsight I probably should have posted earlier, but this will be a long drawn out build a bit like this post lol... On to the photos.....
  4. I'm new to MSW and ship building. I have done a lot of modeling over the years. And I have found out that ship building is the 'meat and potatoes', if you will, of modeling. I have lost a lot of my earlier photos of the cannon being built and the hull construction. I followed pete coleman example and others to get ideas for details. Books are needed to build these ship models if you want to even try to be accurate. I'll be submitting a lot of my photos. Many of which will be rather boring but I want to preserve them somewhere other than Facebook. All comments and tips are welcome!
  5. Hello, Model Ship World! My name is Marc and I hail from NYC. While I am new to the site, I am not a novice to the hobby. Owing to the early growth of my two children, and the development of my career in woodworking, it has been some time since I built a ship model. About sixteen years, in fact! Most of my hobby time, in the evenings, has been devoted to a series of woodworking and furniture projects, which fall under the umbrella of something I refer to as the Heirloom Furniture Project - a legacy project for my kids to inherit sometime far down the road, I hope! Despite my interest in that, and my role as an active and involved Dad, I never stopped reading and acquiring books about my particular interest in ships and ship modeling: the 17th C. ship-of-the-line, and particularly French naval architecture of that period. My recent discovery of Pinterest has really accelerated my understanding of the unique design differences in the stern architecture of the French first and second rates. For anyone who's curious, my Pinterest page titled French Vaisseaus can be found under my member name Tafferal. The imagery I have been able to compile, there, has made it possible for me to begin designing a build that I have long been grappling with. Here's the link: https://www.pinterest.com/tafferal/french-vaisseaus/ This will not be a fully-framed scratch build, but rather an extensive modification of Heller's Soleil Royal. I plan to test out my "Theory of the Ship," in plastic, so that I might re-create the ship, in wood, with all the scratch-built bells and whistles, when I eventually retire. This will be my second build of the Heller kit. The first was begun at the age of eight; very cautiously, I proceeded to the main deck level where I stopped the build, understandably, until I had developed enough skill to competently complete the upper works. As a teenager, I completed everything up to the masting and rigging. After college, I finally finished the model and had a very nice case made to house it. I have been transporting it from apartment to apartment for the past twenty years. It is, in my opinion, a very carefully fit and assembled model (no injection marks, gaps or flash lines) that is impeccably painted. It is not, however, a realistic depiction of the ship, or of a sailing ship, in general. That notwithstanding, I, like many others before me have become completely captivated by the conjectural splendor of what the actual vessel must have been like. The short-comings of the Heller kit have been thoroughly documented on a number of forums. I'm assuming that most who come to read this thread are already well acquainted with the inherent omissions and short-comings of the plastic kit. Unlike so many others, though, I believe that there lies within the kit, great potential to build an accurate scale model of a French first-rate ship from the 1660s. Now, it bears mentioning that I have read the forum moderator's post on overly ambitious build threads, and I can certainly appreciate and agree with the thinking, there. This is going to be an ambitious build! I expect it to go on for quite a number of years. This is not, however, a passing fancy. I am a devotee of incremental progress: whatever little can be accomplished, most evenings of the week, gradually adds up to a thing taking shape. My main obstacle, until now, had been the difficulty in fully visualizing what I believe the original intent of Jean Berain's well known drafts of the SR's stern and quarter galleries to be. I will expound on my theory of the ship in a moment, however, I'd like to say a word or two about why this project has legs for me. The kit I am using for this build is one of the early pressings from the 70's, by Heller. It, initially, belonged to my next door neighbor who was a kind of mentor to me when I was young. Mark Hansen was an outstanding modeler of all kinds of military craft, but he especially loved the sailing ships. He gave me a pretty solid foundation on what was and was not appropriate to incorporate on a sailing ship model. It was his SR that I first spied on the top shelf of his hobby room. I was instantly captivated, and from that point forward perennially obsessed with this single vessel, in a way that I still don't fully comprehend. Mark helped me build my first SR. He intended to tackle the kit in his retirement, but he never made it. Cancer took him in his late 50s. I have never known a person to be more generous with his time, and his memory remains dear. I'm dedicating this build to him, as it is quite possible I would never have found fulfillment in the trades, if not for his influence. MY THEORY OF THE SHIP Soleil Royal's keel was laid down at Brest shipyards in 1666, as part of Minister to the Navy, Colbert's, aggressive reconstruction and restructuring of Louis XIV's navy. She was launched in 1668, and completed a year later in 1669. Her length on deck is listed as 164.5 antiquated French pieds, with a breadth of 44.5 FP. Using a conversion factor of 1.066, this translates to 175 modern, English feet by 47' 5" in breadth, at the main beam. She displaced 2,400 tons, and her draft measured 23.5 FP, or 25 EF. As a side note, I must mention that I am in the process of establishing a point person at the Musee de la Marine, so that I might ask specific questions about my source material. So far, I have not received any reply to my inquiries. For the moment, though, I'm assuming that these L.O.D. dimensions I am giving are, indeed, the L.O.D., and not some other specific measurement. This will, for the sake of scholarship and my future build in wood, be clarified. However, for the purpose of this build, it doesn't really matter; the kit hull halves are what they are, and in fact, the kit L.O.D. pretty exactly corresponds with 175 EF. In the end, though, the requirements of this particular build will necessitate a certain degree of fudgery to create the impression I am after. There will be small additions and subtractions - all to be explained in the next few posts. Her designer and builder was Laurent Hubac, and her initial armament is listed as 120 guns. As a shipwright, Monsieur Hubac was noted for building warships that were considerably wider than those of his contemporaries. This owed to his belief that the added width improved the handling characteristics of these large ships. Soleil Royal was, indeed, said to he a good sailing ship. One year earlier, another ship by M. Hubac was launched at Brest, and initially christened Le Royal Duc. With the establishment of the French rating system, in 1671, the ship was re-named La Reyne. Her listed dimensions are as follows: L.O.D., 155 FP, by 42 FP on the main beam. Using the above metric, this translates to a L.O.D. of 165' 3" in English feet and a maximum beam of a hair under 44' 9". She displaced 2,000 tons and her draft is listed as 22' 10" FP, or 24' 4" EF. Her initial armament was listed as 104 guns. The two ships are of a similar size, displacement and rating. However, unlike SR, there exist two highly detailed Van De Velde portraits of La Reyne, showing her from the starboard stern quarter, as well as, the port bow, broadside. It is immediately apparent that the design of La Reyne's stern and quarter galleries is markedly different from SR. Also, as is to be expected, the arrangement of her gunports is significantly different from what is known about SR, and the arrangement of her guns. The value of these Van De Velde portraits, for me, has to do with the wealth of hull detail that is apparent (and glaringly omitted in the Heller, and vis-a-vis, the incomplete Tanneron model upon which it is directly based), as well as the ship's sheer line and presence on the water. In pen and wash, one can see a significantly more stout vessel, in La Reyne, with a notably lower sheer line, as compared to Tanneron's interpretation of Berain's designs for SR. As a side note, there is a Belgian on another site who has outlined his build plans for converting Heller's SR into La Reyne of 1671. What he is proposing is absolutely attainable, as the VDV drawings are remarkably clear, especially when combined with another period drawing of La Reyne's stern that shows the ornament for what it is - if not, remotely, to scale. Like me, this gentleman sees the potential in Heller's kit for a sound scale model, although his build will necessitate re-configuring the armament. As am I, he is still in the research stage, but I will be following his build and posting links, as appropriate. I want to say, from the outset, that the question of SR's armament - whether 120 guns upon launching, or 104 at the time of her demise - is not one that I plan to resolve with this build. I will be using the moulded kit hull halves and upper bulwarks. I will be making extensive modifications to those parts, and completely scratch-building the entire stern and beakhead bulkhead. Heller's kit, like Tanneron's model, is pierced for 110 guns. I suppose I could omit the two lower bow chase ports, but that would only bring me down to 108. Leaving them out would be a largely arbitrary decision without any clear basis in fact. In the end, my ship will carry 110 guns. There are just certain constraints of working with the pre-established port locations of the plastic hull that I am not willing to overcome. This is the first and most glaring. I am recycling what I can of the kit because the essential lines of the hull and tumblehome are fairly representative of period practice, and of course, it is an enormous time saver to avoid the complete scratch-building of a hull. Ultimately, what I am aiming to achieve, is what I believe to be the correct interpretation of Berain's stern and quarter galleries, as well as the decorative frieze of the upper bulwarks. In the course of the build, I will also add correct period detail - correctly scaled - to the hull, head, decks and guns, while completely re-masting and rigging the ship, according to the guidance of Lees and Anderson. A few gunports, give or take, will not detract from the impression of a ship that sits slightly lower in the water, on a notably broader beam, with noticeably lower sheer; in other words, a ship that won't capsize from the recoil of her own broadside. My ship model will bear a resemblance to the Heller kit, but I hope to far exceed it in ornamental magnificence and correct period detail. What I'm going for is essentially this: This is a work from a twentieth century artist, I believe from the 1950's, who must have been similarly infatuated with SR. I believe that he correctly depicts the configuration of SR's stern. Although, I must say that even if it were the case that she were almost completely painted blue above the lower, main wales - I will not be depicting her, as such. More on that later. In future posts, I will outline what exactly my theory of the ship entails, as well as, my supporting documentary evidence. I will then discuss exactly what I intend to do with the Heller kit, in order to bring all of this about, and then I will share with you the drawings that I have been working on, that will serve as the basis of my modification plan. I've been corresponding with Dan Pariser quite a bit lately, and he has prevailed upon me that I would be much better served digitizing my hand-drawn images so that I could more easily develop them in Corel Draw, for example. He is right, and I will. After not hearing from me for such a long time, I have to credit Dan for being so generous with his knowledge and resources. He and Mark Hansen are two of a kind! So, I must first create a scale "field" - as opposed to a line and body plan (not necessary because I'm not framing) - upon which I can layer all of the new detail. There will be some learning there, naturally, but I will share what I've arrived at, so far, in future posts. Thank you all for taking an interest in this thread and I look forward to hearing whatever you might have to say on the subject. I have also read the moderator's post on forum etiquette, when commenting on a thread or post; I am not nearly as brittle as the plastic I will be working with, so please don't labor too much in your replies. Just tell me what's on your mind. All the best, Marc
  6. 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
  7. Ok all my MSW friends that were there with me, and for me, during my HMS Victory build. I will soon be pulling the plastic off my next adventure the Heller 1/100 Le Soleli Royal. Both of these Heller models grabbed my attention when I first saw them. I had an incredible experience building the Victory. I could not have done it without all my friends here on MSW. Please feel free to begin filling this blog with your suggestions and advice. It will probably be a couple weeks before I start it. I must first build the display case for my Victory.
  8. This will be the first time in more than 60 years that I will be building a model of a ship NOT built in the 1800s. It comes about because I am just finishing up a 1:15 radio-controlled model of the Norwegian designer/builder Colin Archer's prototype rescue vessel notably called 'Colin Archer' (a Billings Boat kit). In looking forward to my next project, I told my wife that I was thinking of a radio-controlled paddle wheeler. She said, "Why not do Columbus' ships and we'll put them on top of the book case - all lined up." A most interesting idea since it sort of implies long term display and I have never kept any model for more than 2 or 3 years. So I thought about it and decided that it was a great idea with two conditions. 1-- I would use a plastic kit as a starting point because I do not want to commit a huge amount of time to this project and 2-- I would use the 1966 book Columbus' Ships by Jose Maria Martinez-Hidalgo and edited by Howard I. Chapelle as my exclusive source. My intention is to modify the kit to match Hidalgo's informtion where-ever practical and use the kit's intrinsic information everywhere else. The second posting will describe how well the three hulls in Heller's kit match the hulls described by Hidalgo.
  9. 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.
  10. Late summer 1805, the sun is burning inexorably from above, the wind is completely asleep, the sea is smooth as glass. The dispatches have already been exchanged. The master of the small cutter has just returned to his tiny vessel. Behind it there is towering the enormously massiv silhouette of the huge black and ocher striped three decker. Through the open gunports the lashed up guns can be seen. Also the officers' cabins ports are wide opened by the order of the Captain's to ensure an optimal ventilation of the hot and steamy lower decks. Clatter of activity on some guns being ran out cuts through the silence. The rumble of the heavy guns rolling over the decks and the trampling of countless bare feet and the short shouted commands supported by a multitude of hand signs originate from the ordered gundrill for new gun crews and their officers. In competition between the three decks they are fighting for the fastest rate of firing. The rest of the ships crew is occupied with cleaning and mending duties. The holystone are scratching on the decks. Above all the sails hang slack in their yards. No breath of wind moves them. They are nestled heavily over stays and fighting tops. The captain took advantage of the hot calm to put up all the canvas possible for airing. One of the studdingsails is taken in, the spar tied up with its inner end against the shrouds, in order to mend something on its fittings. Sitting on a swing seat pendent from the fore top, a crew member just is finishing painting over with ocher the originally black coloured mast loops. On the poop Captain Hardy monitors the young cadets´ training in navigation, supported by Lord Nelson, who uses the opportunity to entertain the cadets with stories of his actions and the ideas of his tactical concepts. But in the back of everybodys mind there is just one question - When will there be wind again ...
  11. I've finally found the time to reconstruct my build log after the great crash of 2013 Some of the pictures are lost so the log does not start at the beginning. This is my first serious foray into ship modeling. I say first serious attempt because 30+ years ago I built a Revell USS Constitution. But I was still in High School and not very concerned with accuracy or craftsmanship. I just wanted to finish the kit and display it. This kit of Soleil Royal was given to me as a gift way back then and I am just getting around to continuing building it. I am very much looking forward to a build that I can be proud of. Even though I know that my skills are not up to par with some of you I am trying to incorporate as much research and accuracy as I can muster in a plastic kit. Here are some of the pictures of what has been done. I'll try to summarize what I've done so far to catch everyone up. I decided to display the ship with all gunports closed to starboard and opened on the port side. Eventually I plan on setting just the fighting sails (topsails, mizzen, and perhaps the spritsail topsail) with the courses clewed up. I did not like the look of the eyebolts supplied with the kit so I replaced them with brass. The holes for them were drilled and the eyebolts pass completely through the upper wale. The ends will be trimmed and bent over to lay alongside the inner bulkhead. The ends will lay inside the gap between the hull and the upper bulwarks, in an area that needs to be filled anyway. Doing the eyebolts this way should also prevent any pullout cause by strain from rigging. I am leaving the lower hull unpainted for now until a proper cradle/base is finished. I don't want to ruin the paint job. It will be painted a dirty white to represent white stuff. I also drilled a hole through the bottom of the keel, roughly amidships, and fastened a threaded nut inside the hull over it prior to fitting the decks. This will take a bolt from the base to fasten the model down to it. I don't know how other people secure their models to the display bases so I just improvised with what I had on hand. The head grating in the bow has been noted by others to be a problem with this kit. It has no supporting structure to it and seems to be just floating there. I do not know how this would have looked with respect to ornamentations and design, so I have not decided what to do with this area yet. [/size] The decks went in easily. The kit has a series of stanchions along the centerline of the first battery deck to support the 2nd battery deck. There are none for between the 2nd and 3rd battery. As a result there is a lot of flex in the 3rd battery deck. Since there will be quite a bit of rigging fastened here that will produce an upward strain on the deck I added some extra support. I trimmed some sprue to length to make stanchions for the centerline to hold the deck up. And I added a boot (coat?) to the base of the mainmast to hold the deck down. The mast coat was fashioned from sheet styrene and quarter round molding. The masts are dry fit at this point. I do not think I will cement them to the step. I'm going to let the rigging hold them in. I added some shims beneath the hatch gratings to raise the gratings above the deck level to give the appearance of a coaming. All of the eyebolts for the decks were replaced with brass. .
  12. OK my MSW friends. I am going to need a kick to get me started on my Heller 1/100 HMS Victory. I know it is going to be a long and enjoyable process so I have to eventually get started. I got the kit a good while ago but have only removed the plastic wrapper and peeked inside. Meanwhile I continue working on a previous build but see the box containing that beauty setting there in my peripheral vision. I have spent countless hours reading the build log of other Victory builders. That may be part of my reason for delay. Each time I have my mind set on how I want to proceed once I start I see an idea or technique someone has used and think “Wow that is what I want to do!” So I guess my concern is doing something a certain way then later seeing a better way and being disappointed. My initial internal debate is the process used to paint the hull, especially the stern? I think by far the design of the stern and the paint scheme is so distinctive on the Victory. You see it you know it is the Victory! So beautiful! If you are now building, or did in the past, what was your method to apply the black and yellow ochre.
  13. Hello Everyone, While I’m new to MSW I am not new to model ship building. In my earlier life, I built two period sailing ships: Heller 1/200 L'indomptable and the Revell 1/96 Elizabethan Man ‘O War. Sadly, these did not survive the decades since I built them. My current project is the Heller 1/100 HMS Victory. While I say ‘current’ my story is similar to that of others in this forum. I bought my kit around about 1984 but a busy career and family life meant the project became an on-again off-again proposition. Clearly, more off than on. I am now retired and motivated to push this project to completion. I have poured through the building logs of several of the MSW members and am mind blown - while also a tad bit intimidated - by the quality of the builds and the amount of knowledge out there. I will need help. And lots of it. Many thanks in advance! Cheers, Malcolm
  14. 20th February 2020 I started this build almost exactly 7 years ago (February 2013) but parked it after perhaps 2 or 3 months for a variety of reasons. Every once in a while I’d half-heartedly take another look but, with no end of other calls on my time – a house renovation, a large garden, a family – it was always easier to justify further procrastination. I finally got going again this January 2020 and am enjoying it immensely this time. One of the reasons I parked it, to be honest, was demoralisation - I hadn’t really appreciated what building a 1:100 Victory would entail and there are some very tedious, repetitive tasks from the outset. I think I was probably expecting it to be something like building planes as a child just with more and different parts. Also, the poor Heller instructions had me scouring the web straight away and landing on Pete Coleman’s site, which was both a blessing and a bane. For those who didn’t ever see it, it was like this site, full of examples of truly extraordinary skill and craftsmanship. The trouble was, having seen what I should do, I couldn’t possibly just whack this together straight out of the box, as intended, and that meant hours and hours on small modifications lay ahead. However, it was always parked, not abandoned! I should say from the outset that this is my first go at high quality model-making. Other than helping my progeny with the odd bit of model-based homework I haven’t touched a model kit in perhaps 45 years. I chose the Victory for sentimental reasons, inspired by the books of Patrick O'Brian, not realising that this is probably the Everest of plastic sailing ship models. In fact the intention was that this would be the only kit I’d ever build, it was a project for one wet and miserable winter rather than a hobby. Who knows, that may change by the time I’ve finished the Victory (assuming I ever do). So, the object of this build log is two-fold; it’s partly to share my learning with anyone else in the same position, novice’s taking on this huge challenge; and partly to seek advice, as I go along, from the many experienced, expert modellers on this forum. It may help if I say what I’m aiming for. I’m not too bothered about true historical or nautical accuracy, just want a really nice looking ship at the end of the day. I’m unlikely to spend much if any time adding features below decks that can’t be seen, but I am making the ‘usual’ modifications like hull thickening, the admirals’ entry and altered side steps. It almost goes without saying that I’m constantly looking at the fantastic work of Dafi, Foxy, Bishophobbies and a few others, though I’m expecting my results to be more modest. That's enough of the intro - in a moment I'll start adding build content.
  15. As I move into retirement (and the peasants rejoiced) I had wanted to spend some time focusing on rigging. Well, I was given this Heller Victory with the hull pretty much done. The backstory was the gentleman had passed away and this was picked up in an estate sale for next to nothing. His work was superior and once I saw the hull I decided this was a good subject for my goal. There was the inevitable broken components but that was largely confined to the royal masts and (of course) the jibboom. The accompanying box of parts was incomplete but I have another 1.5 of these in the stash (bit of a story there). I would have done some things differently (like the deck isn't painted) but for what I was going to use if for and for actual looks that was fine. I have a friend that already has asked to have it upon completion for his library at home, which is perfect. I have dissected the plans and have defined each and every line so am over that hump. I did notice some differences to actual practice. I have a set of the plans that Longridge uses in his book (thank you Uncle Leo) and have defaulted to that presentation where practical. For example the foremast stays did not include the Breast Backstay so I am adding that. Not going crazy or over the top but where it makes sense will make those changes (for example, will use the supplied plastic blocks). I looked through my stash of 'rigging' line and have chosen to use 6 types. The Heller supplied line is white and didn't want to dye. So this morning after getting the remnants of the broken pieces removed and things prepped, went ahead and primed the necessary replacements. I am using Vallejo acrylics. It will be interesting to see how close I can get to the existing yellow shade. I should be working on this at least 2 days a week at a minimum. My first task is to scratch some open and closed hearts for the fore and main mast stays. These seem pretty iconic and need to be there but aren't included in the kit. Stay Building My Friends, Mark
  16. Another Heller Soleil Royal in 1/100 scale... but I started this 45 years ago as a freshman in high school. After 2 years, I had much of the hull assembled.. and then the model sat... I was too busy with sports and school, and then I went off to college in 1980. The hull sat as a "prison ship" in my parent's basement, and then my basement. Over the years, gun lids and other small parts fell off; I don't know why I never threw the model away. About a month ago, I somehow stumbled on this website and marveled at what people were doing with this kit! However, after not having done any modeling for 45 years, I decided that if I were to start with a new kit, I would start with the Heller HMS Victory. I told myself that HMS Victory would be my gift to me in the summer of 2024.... until one night last week, I took the Soleil Royal "hulk" down from storage. The thought occurred "what if??"... and I slowly manged to pull the poop deck free from the hull with no damage. Within two hours, I had broken the hull and the decks and - you name it - apart with basically no damage. Now what? I knew that I had to get the old enamal paint off, so a soft plastic brush and lengthy soakings in isopropyl alcohol got almost all of the paint off. In the last week, after studying what other people had done, I realized that I needed to create fenders, drill rope holes for gun port lids, etc. That's it... I devour the build logs of other people and realized the possibilties were practically endless. I am actually really excited - as if I feel like a kid again! The HMS Victory may have to wait a bit, as the Soleil Royal will help me develop some much needed skills.
  17. I guess we’ll find out if this forum has the patience for another Heller 1/100 Soleil Royal build log. This one will be focusing on changes, mods, upgrades, additions, styrene-bashing, and general mess-making in pursuit of something just a little different from the boxtop. Hello modelers—my name is John. I’m a lifelong plastic model kit enthusiast who never builds anything according to instructions. I first saw Heller’s 1/100 Soleil Royal when, as a commercial art student, I worked for a short time at Revell in Venice, CA, airbrushing backgrounds for box cover art. It was around 1978–79. One of the big shots had the unbuilt Heller kit opened on his desk. I was gobsmacked, and vowed to build the kit one day. Unfortunately, display space at home was scarce, and I knew that the model wouldn’t survive the irregularities and frequent moves of a twentysomething punk’s lifestyle. I kept putting off getting the kit until things got settled a bit. Now, 45 years later, I figure it’s now or never. In the half-century the kit’s been in production, it’s been controversial, an inspiration for a lot of palaver and condemnation. For a supposed “scale” model, there’s a lot that’s questionable about it, and if you aren’t familiar with the shortcomings, it’s because you haven’t read the other Soleil Royal build logs yet. However, the more I read and the more knowledge I picked up, the better this kit looked. I decided I could build an attractive representation of one of Louis XIV’s premier rang (first rate) ships-of-the-line from this kit. It would be impressive, if not wholly accurate. Many features would be exaggerated, but I’ve never had a problem with a certain degree of caricature modeling in small scales. I’m not a fine-scale modeler. I’m familiar with all the compromises accepted in other categories of modeling. Why not ships? Besides, I had decided my Soleil Royal would look different from the usual. I love to add stuff and change the detailing on kits. I haven’t found a kit yet I couldn’t customize. Here’s what I started with in November, 2022. The kit is beautiful, well-detailed and nearly free of flash and mold lines. State of the art when it was released in 1974. Parts fit well and the few large pieces that were slightly warped (no kit is perfect) were fixable with a little work. The box was delivered in November. I stared at the pieces for a while and then started reading reference books, websites, and build logs. I learned a lot from other Soleil Royal build logs on this forum and others. I am continually delighted, amazed, and entertained by the work of Marc LaGuardia (Hubac’s Historian) and his correspondents. The work I’ll be showing off here is the direct result of the knowledge they have generously shared. I’m a metaphorical fig newton, standing on the shoulders of giants, or however it goes. I didn’t clip a sprue or squeeze a glue tube until February, but here’s what my project looked like in August, after six months work—finally ready for masts and rigging. (More beauty shots at the end of the post.) I propose to show how I got to this point in weekly posts that will also contain some hopefully-interesting-slash-useful history and background of the ship. There’s a lot of stray information (and disinformation) about this ship floating around, and I’m going to try and assemble all the important bits in one place. The prototype was a remarkable work of Baroque art as well as a weapon of war. A floating castle of death-dealing artillery decorated by the same artistes who built and filigreed the palace of Versailles. The dichotomy is delicious. SO WHAT IS BEHIND HELLER’S KIT? The model is patterned after an 1837 wooden ship model in Paris’s Musée National de la Marine, made by the skilled ship modelmaker Jean-Baptiste Tanneron. You’ll be hearing about the Tanneron model a lot. Copying it was a logical thing for the Heller mold-crafters to do, since it was the only well-known detailed representation of the Soleil Royal from historic times. One of the first things I did was tape together half the hull and propped it up to make a comparison photo. But copying the Tanneron model brought Heller problems. The first is the true identity of the ship. There were three ships built in Louis XIV’s time named Soleil Royal. The first was built in 1668–70. Hereafter, I’ll call that one Soleil Royal I. The second was a from-the-keel-up rebuild of the first ship in 1688–90. That’s Soleil Royal I(a). The third was a new ship built in 1692–93, Soleil Royal II. All three were 100+-gun premier rang three-decker royal flagships, extravagantly ornamented to reflect the glory of Louis XIV, le Roi Soleil, the Sun King. The Musée de la Marine is noncommittal about which ship Tanneron’s model represents. According to Heller’s literature, the kit represents the first two ships (considered as one), which met its fate in an encounter with an English fire ship in 1692. I’ve come to believe this is the wrong ship. Heller is partially to blame for the confusion, but in their defense, the Heller die-makers working in the early 1970s didn’t have the instant access to books and internet information we enjoy today, and the museum authorities they consulted were apparently not very helpful. The second major problem with the model is that the hull has too shallow a draft. According to surviving records, the 2400-ton 170-foot ship should have a draft of 24 feet. The Tanneron and Heller models—nope! Third, to compound the problem, the above-the-waterline dimensions are exaggerated. The gundecks have lots of headroom—eight feet, compared to the six feet on actual 3-decker warships. There would be very few cases of concussion by clumsy gunners going bonk on overhead beams if they sailed on a ship with Tanneron’s dimensions. Here’s the Heller model with a scale line drawing of another ship from the same time period, the Foudroyant: Aaaand… let’s quit there. Let’s not even discuss the height and width of the stern. What was Jean-Baptiste Tanneron thinking? Unfortunately, we can’t ask without a ouija board. It should be noted, however, that before the invention of photography, representations of historical objects in artwork (or sculpture, or modelmaking) weren’t anywhere near modern standards of accuracy. Living in an information-and-photography-saturated society, our attitudes about fidelity to prototypes have evolved a lot. For myself—I think the impression of a tall, castle-like warship is enhanced by Tanneron’s exaggeration of the proportions. And this is no modern interpretation. Have a look at the only eyewitness sketch of one of the Soleil Royals in action. Look how high the exaggerated sheer is in the drawing and compare that to the Tanneron model. Oh yeah! Both artists made this ship big, and high, and a true seagoing fortress. That should be the biggest takeaway from seeing artwork or a model of this leviathan. I think the Tanneron model (and the Heller kit) gets the point across nicely. So in the end, if you choose to build the Heller Soleil Royal, you’re really building a model of a 19th-century model, and it’s a caricature model anyway. For complete intellectual honesty, you should get out your wood-colored paints and wood-grain-duplicating techniques and make the model look as if it were carved from fine hardwoods; a model of Tanneron’s model. That would be a commonsensical approach. Fortunately for me, I have no common sense when it comes to models. I want have fun detailing, painting, and rigging a plastic model ship. Here are more photos of my progress up to August, 2023. Not much gold leaf on my version of the ship. After some reading, I don’t believe there was a great deal of gilding on the prototype. Figuring out what to paint the ship, based on surviving descriptions, old artwork, historical painting practices, and antique models, was a major part of the research. Paint choices and decorations will be discussed in later posts. Deck furniture got changed. Many trips to Ikea. Much time was pi—ah, productively spent—rigging tiny guns and rebuilding tiny boats. Guns were either replaced or rearranged and drilled out to the right calibre. Colorful gunport lids will be installed as soon as I finish the channels and shrouds. 104 guns were mounted, same as the ship had in the period I’m trying to model (very early 1700s). The waterline got raised to squeeze in a few more feet of draft. Quarter galleries got entirely rebuilt to better resemble a surviving historical drawing. I believe that the enclosed “bottle” quarter galleries on late 17th-century French warships had removable panels—whether for weather or for war. I left the upper gundeck balcony open to demonstrate this. Most of the ship’s gilding is up high—out of the way of waves and wear. Wasn’t happy with the too-big kit-supplied figures, plus, I needed a few new ones to match the drawing of the quarter galleries I was referencing, so I sourced new figures from the Shapeways 3D-print marketplace. Figuring out all the ship’s iconography was a deep research rabbit-hole, but a rewarding one. For the curious, the figures on the forward edges of the quarter galleries are Kronos, “father time,” (starboard), and his consort Rhea, mother of the Olympian gods (port). The other two figures are replacements for the kit’s too-large allegorical figures of America (port, with feathers) and Africa (starboard, with elephant-head headdress). The figures were “dressed” with additional sheet styrene. Next week we’ll get the project going by seeing what mods and additions were made to the hull, plus background on the three Soleil Royals and the whys behind which one I’m modeling. I invite discussion in the meantime. Happy modeling 'till then!
  18. Having completed my first model ship (Airfix's HMS Victory) in 2013 I was eager to build a second, 74 gun ship as they were the mainstay of the Royal Navy. However it soon became apparent that none are available in the form of a plastic kit. But, after a bit of digging around i discovered that Heller do two versions of the French 74 gun ship, quite a few of which were captured in battle and re-commissioned into the Royal Navy. This meant i could build a British 74, but i would have to do quite a bit of kit bashing. Now all i had to do was decide what ship to base my model on. THE SHIP Launched at Rochefort on 29 April 1794 Lion was a 74-gun, third rate ship of the line -a member of the Téméraire class designed for the French Navy by Jacques-Noël Sané. In May 1795 the ship was renamed Formidable. Captained by Charles Alexandre Linois Formidable sailed as part of the fleet commanded by Admiral Villaret Joyeuse that fought against the British at the Battle of Groix on 3 June 1795. During the battle Formidable came under the sustained fire of two British ships. Her hull, masts, sails and rigging were badly cut up and a fire soon broke out on her poop. When her mizen mast fell over the side Linois finally hauled down his colours. Over 320 of his crew of 700 had either been killed or wounded in the action. Linois had lost an eye and all his lieutenants had been injured. The ship was taken to Portsmouth where Linois was exchanged. The Royal Navy already had a 90 gun second rate named Formidable and as it was mistakenly believed that the ship had been captured off Belle Ile, rather than the Ile de Groix, she was renamed Belleisle. In August 1798 Belleisle began fitting out at Portsmouth. Her hull was strengthened and much of her internal layout was altered to suit British tastes. The refit took fourteen months and cost £35842.0.0d (roughly two million pounds in todays money) In February 1803 she sailed for the Mediterranean, joining a fleet that would soon fall under the command of Admiral Horatio Nelson. Captained by William Hargood, (her longest serving captain) she was the second ship in the British lee column at Trafalgar, sailing into battle astern of Collingwood’s flag-ship Royal Sovereign. She soon lost all her masts, her bowsprit, her anchors, even her figurehead in her bruising encounter with Fougueux and eight other ships of the combined fleet. The only place left to raise her ensign was at the end of a pike which she managed to keep flying until the ships following behind her in the British line finally came to her rescue. By the end of the battle thirty-three of her people had been killed and a further ninety-four injured. The next day the battered British ships and their French and Spanish prizes were hit by a terrifying storm which did not let go for four whole days. Sails were shredded, fragile masts brought crashing down. When the storm hit Belleisle was under the tow of the frigate Naiad. The tow had broken and as desperate attempts were made to reconnect the line in the heaving swells the two ships crashed into one another, staving in Naiad’s stern. Moments later Naiad’s topsail ripped apart in the howling wind and had to be hacked free; then she lost one of her staysails. By the time Naiad’s sails had been sorted out Belleisle had disappeared from view in the heaving seas and driving rain. Left to fend for themselves Hargood now attempted to take his ship around Cape Trafalgar and into the Straits of Gibraltar under a hastily lashed together jury rig. Around midnight Hargood summoned his officers and told them the ship was about to be wrecked and that they should prepare for the worst. Belleisle’s people, cold and exhausted, waited through the night for the end, but thankfully it never came. By the next morning, using the smallest scrap of sail, they had managed to turn the ship away from the dangerous shore. Naiad returned and as the wind eased was finally able to get a line across to Belleisle and tow her into Gibraltar. Belleisle returned to Portsmouth for a refit which took four months and cost £16384.0.0d. In September 1806 she took part in the capture and destruction of a crippled French 74, Impetueux. After almost four years in command Hargood left the ship a year later. Belleisle was present at the capture of Martinique in January 1809 and later that year she took part in expeditions to the Scheldt and Walcheren. She was finally laid up in ordinary in September 1809. In July 1814 she began a large repair at Portsmouth but a month later the decision was taken to have her broken up instead. THE KIT Copyright Heller The donor kit for this conversion will be Heller’s Le Superbe (80895), a Téméraire class 74 launched in 1784 but wrecked in a storm eleven years later. Here are some sprue shots. These white sprues are the fixtures and fittings for Superbe. Heller's other 74, Glorieux, has a different set of sprues The sprues on the right are for the long guns and carriages. There are five of each provided in the kit The kit also comes with three sheets of vacuformed sails, a chain for the rudder and a rigging machine. No rigging thread though (any provided with the kit would probably have needed replacing anyway.) The instructions are all in French but a page of translations is provided. Parts are both numbered and given a description i.e. 77 bowsprit cap THE BUILD I started things off by sanding down the hull and decks which all have a quite pronounced wood grain effect. I then attached the parts containing the hawse holes to the hull, filling and sanding the gap. As you can see the copper plates continue up to the lower wale rather than finishing at the waterline. This will need to be sorted out. Another area requiring attention are the rather poorly moulded gratings. These need tackling anyway as British and French 74's had different deck layouts.
  19. Hi I joined this forum a few months ago and after reading other ship builds I decided to do one myself. This is my first time doing this and would like any help from other members will be appreciated. I've already stated and I know it is going to take along time.
  20. Hello fellow shipwrights, i have, since i built my San Gabriel, wanted to build a Portuguese caravel. The kit should be here by Monday, so this is, for now, just a research log. My goal is to impress Woodrat and Steven (and myself) by only using firsthand, contemporary (or near-contemporary) sources for this theoretical reconstruction of a Portuguese caravel. This ship is based on the Heller Nina kit, which leaves a lot to be desired OOB, and this gives me a huge canvas for introducing historically accurate features into the build. My first order of business is to obtain a reliable feed of information. Or, i could just wait until Steven is done with his San Marco ship, and steal whatever rig he decides to use. This is what the ship should look like when it's finished:
  21. There's quite the story behind this one. This is a model I have walked past for years at my local hobby shop, before this event took place. I have a great uncle who lives in Reno Nevada that i rarely get to see. Well, my dad and his girlfriend went to see him yesterday, and i got to talk to him on the phone. He said he wanted me to build a ship for him to display at his house, and this is the story thereof. I was able to go to the model shop a few hours ago and pick this up. Another comment: The stated scale of the ship (1/150) is laughably inaccurate. This replica of a ~100 foot ship builds to around 19 inches. A 1/150 model of said ship would build to about 9 inches. The math computes to a scale of about 1/64, and to back that up, this is actually the same mold as the 1/64 Revell mayflower. I am impressed by the size, which i consider purely a canvas for extra detail that's impossible to put onto a smaller scale ship. As for painting, I will likely base the majority of the paintwork, especially the upper paintwork, on the box art as well as my Golden Hinde. Ready? Here we go!
  22. Greetings to everyone! This kit needs no introductions, as it is an old Heller, with many issues. In fact I have made, and/or attempted to kitbash this kit many times in the past. So basically the simple plan is this: repeat all the methods I used on the bomb ketch, with the experience and skill I got from that kit to the Royal Louis. The main issue this kit has, which had to be addressed is the horrendous wood grain that covers the entire side of the ship. It is off scale, and actually shouldn't exist at all. Plus the over the top wales that had to be trimmed down as well. With these out of the way, some modifications are needed on the bow, like re positioning the holes of the anchor lines to a more conventional place, better staircases, knees to hold the upperdecks up etc. Trying to match the model in the Musee de la Marine perfectly is not my intend, chiefly because I don't like its color scheme. Here you can see the first difficult step: The entire ship has been sanded down, and every surface smoothed down. The wales were reduced as well. When planks need to show up, I'll draw them with pencil just like in the Bomb ketch.
  23. Hello fellow builders and lurkers, Though not quite new in modelbuilding, this is my first ever 18th century sailing ship. I am using Boudriot's 74 gunship as reference but I mainly try to get a feeling for the technics used for the scale and what I can and can't do. The build will be slow because I will try to not burn myself out on it. First of all, I used to colours that Heller suggested, but I am open to suggestions! The carriages are in the red that Heller sugests I cleaned the gunbarrels after I painted them, Maybe next time I'll do it before. I decided to divert from Heller's sugestion and painted the guns black and add a bit of gunmetal with drybrushing, still not sure if it looks okay Guns, Guns, Guns And Carriages The guns completed, only the small caliber has no drybrush In Boudriot's work I found the way the cannons are rigged. I think that on this scale the small blocks, tacks and cables are maybe not realy necessary but I did try to do some fitting for the heavy ropes. Not sure if this is the way to go. Again I am open to suggestion Cannon with rigging Next, I tried my hand on etching some planks in the lower deck. I am thinking of adding some interior instead of only the heavy guns. It is absolutly not my best work, but it was my first try on a place that is not clearly visible in my final work. I also braided the cables for the anchors, just to do something different. Etched deck and dryfit So, this is all I did last month, just to give you an idea about how slowly I am going . Tips and sugestions are more than welcome! Kind regards
  24. This set of build pictures took place over 15 years. I originally started the build back in 2006 and it kept getting shoved aside for other customer models. I'd get some free time and take her off the shelf, do a little work, stick her back on the shelf. I broke out the pictures by album: Hull, Deck, Cannons, etc. The model was completed this past spring, and she took a first place in the regional IPMS contest. The model was donated at a Silent Auction for Safe Harbor Battered Womens Clinic this past fall. As some of you may know, I lived in South Louisiana in Chalmette and was hit by Katrina, Although, I have over 800 pics of the damage from our old city, I'll post just a few of my home and old Model shop. Although I was above sea-level you can still see the water reach 7'5" on the wall, the workshop went completely underwater. I dug through the mud and salvaged as many model kits as possible, the Heller Chebec being one. I lost many fully rigged ships and many other models as well. 22ft of muddy water washed into our Parish (County to the rest of you). These are the pictures of the house after gutting and model workshop which I had custom built 16x10. After the storm we moved North by 30 miles to Lacombe, LA. into a new home, where I rebuilt a 10x20 model shop.
  25. Some background: I started this build a year and two months ago. I did some modeling when I was a kid, but discovered other joys of life when I reached puberty 🙂 In the meantime I settled down and decided to take it up again (I'm 30 years old). I decided to go for a challenge and went for the Heller Victory. I wanted to try all the new and exciting tools & techniques I did not have the money for when I was a kid. I started out using acrylics by brush, but invested in a good compressor and airbrush a couple of months ago. Too bad I did not have this at the start of my build! The finish is so much nicer! The goal is not to make a true to life representation of the actual ship, but a nice looking model in warm colours with lot's of detail that looks good under glass in the living room. Enough background, here are the pictures: You can clearly see half of the hull bee lines haven't received the sepia wash yet I use to give it more depth and a warmer tone. I also need to rework the figurehead a little bit. The white crown is a bit to big and the white horse needs some TLC as well. Otherwise, I'm very happy with the look of the ship! I used some styrene sheet to make the gun port thicker. I like that look even though it's out of scale. After a lot of trial and error, I finally settled on a style of gun carriage lashing. I used 2mm single blocks and Morope rigging chords. The most difficult part was making the two holes in the top blocks. I ruined quite a lot of blocks just to get these guns finished 🙂 Will need to order lot's more! I was not completely happy with my decks. The colour was a bit to pale, it missed some 'life', and some parts were damaged a bit. So, in a moment of temporary insanity, I went out and got a second Heller Victory kit. Maybe a bit drastic, but now I have spare parts for everything and this allows me to experiment a bit more. I tore out the old deck. This meant I also had to take out the four guns I tackled already, unfortunately. I redid the decks using the same technique, but this time I added two coats of MIG brown filter. This added a nice weathered wood tone. I'm very happy with the result, but judge for yourselves (the foto does not do it justice, though): The stanchions were made using 2mm eyelets and 0.1mm Morope rigging chord.
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