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I'm running out of ways to say how awesome she is looking! Also, I don't think there can ever be too many pictures of an area so no worries there. As always great job! Your willingness to go slow and check, double check, undo, redo, scrap and rebuild it again has paid off in dividends. Regardless of historical accuracy when (if) Vasa II ever graces us with it's presence, you have made a truly impressive model.

Those tree nails will be a long and tedious venture but it looks like it will be well worth the effort. Looking good!!

Ratlines are almost everyone's least favorite part of rigging. They are simply a pain no matter how experienced you are. They are also exhausting due to the sheer number of them. What kind of knot are you using to tie them? If you are not already doing so, a clove hitch knot is great to use for ratlines. They allow for easy adjustments when needed and are really quick to tie once you get the hang of it. The other advantage is that they tend to do a better job of keeping the lines straight instead of pulling upward. Regardless of how you are doing it, it looks like you are getting the hang of them. Just keep pushing through and I promise they will end! In fact, finishing ratline is one of the biggest sighs of relief that you will feel! Good job, keep it up!

Michael, I do plan on attempting sails on this one. You build has inspired me to just go for it. I've never done cloth sails before so it will be a huge learning experience but, I need to start sometime! I will be referring back to your build a lot I'm sure and not only for the sails.

Beautifully done Don!

Welcome to MSW! Best of luck on round 2 with your Victory!

Welcome back Ron!

Thanks! It's good to have another landlocked sailor with us!

Completed one side of the first blue band tonight. It sure feels good to be making forward progress again!

Thanks everyone for looking in and the nice compliments and likes! John, there is no stain. That is the natural color of the mahogany and walnut with a clear satin urethane finish.

I'm back and healthy(ish) again! Better still, I have updates on the build! I managed to get the hull sanded and coated with a satin urethane. I also spent some time painting the planks that will be used on the upper bulwarks. While I know there will still be touch up paint needed after they are installed, this will eliminate a lot of the painting needed later which will decrease the risk of getting paint where I do not want it. Now I can continue onward and upward with the hull construction. Once all the bulwarks are topped out, I will give the entire hull another coat or two of finish to complete it. Enjoy!

I was curious about that same detail that Marc mentioned. Given the size of and space limits, I was curious if this was a texture added before the carving of the leaves or how it was done. Beautifully done!

Hi Morgan! I'm a little late but you have not gotten too far ahead yet. Off to a great start on your build! I too am building Soliel Royal but not by DeAgostini. Always fun and educational to see the many variations of similar models that get built. Even when you are just starting out and following the instructions, every builder is unique and therefore every model is as well. Plus you never know who may give you that inspiration for something you have never thought of doing. Plus you are lucky to have Martyn building just ahead of you on his model. It is turning out to be a beautiful build and you will have some great guidance to help you on yours. Good luck and I'm looking forward to an enjoyable build!

Hey Robin! I was wondering if you were gonna have any time between builds but I guess not! I never do either. I've got my chair pulled up and am ready to watch and enjoy. Good luck!

Beautiful work indeed Don! Well done!

Well, I may be finally out of the woods so to speak health wise. Doctors said I had a type of pneumonia but as of this morning things are looking up and hopefully I am on my way to recovery. With some luck I may even get in some shipyard time later this week. So so thanks for all the well wishes! I am looking forward to having some actual ship updates again!

Beautiful model Robin! This was a very fun build to follow along with. Take some time to savor the moment and admire what you have created. I'll be looking for the next build!

Looking good Robin! I feel your pain with the sickness issue. Get well!

Scale issues are well known in model building no matter the subject. I too would have thought that Rattlesnake would have been a bit larger. No expert on either ship but a 20 gun three master would, to me, be larger than a 14 gun 2 master. Maybe not by much but a few feet in length, breadth and height. Any case, you have a couple of very beautiful models to proudly display!

Haha! Robin, Michael thanks for the encouragement. This is by far the most intensive build I have done to date. I'm someone that learns best by doing and I have learned a great deal so far on this build. Maybe not exactly how to do it right but I'm learning ways not to do things in a hurry! Still, a lot of fun and with plenty more to do, I will get on with the build. Progress update, I have taken some time to clean up the ship yard as it was needing it after months of saw dust flying. I was planning on starting to do some hull sanding this weekend but I've not been in the best of health the past few days so I think that is on hold till I can breath a bit better. I did start painting the planks the ultramarine blue for the upper hull. I'll try to get some pictures up in the next day or so. Thanks for looking in!

Excellent work! Inspiring and intimidating also as a fellow S.R. builder.

Very nice solution! I never would have thought about leather sleeves for water tightness but not only does that make sense it gives you a great way to install the oars. Well done!

Haha! Honestly I hadn't thought of a display stand out of Legos but now I am! That wale has been bothering me also. It is one of dozens of issues that are annoying me. I made a bad decision early on and that was to trust in the false keel and bulkheads to be where I needed them to for the kit bashing I wanted to do. I found out quickly that there were going to be problems and I worked them out one at a time in small picture views, (one row of gun ports or stern view etc.) instead of the entire ship. Had I really stepped back and looked more fully at the overall project I would have made the decision to do away with the bulkheads as they were given to me and instead I would have cut them out to resemble actual framing. I also would have done the same to the false keel so that the entire interior of the ship would have been hollow. This would have forced me to design my own framing for the decks but, it would have allowed the decks to sit where they are supposed to be. I'm not saying the kit is no good. On the contrary, this kit can be made into a great model. What went wrong was when I started to detail out the interior cabins. The kit was never designed with actual interior decks in mind. Therefore the gun port layout and the wales positioning were not as important. When I designed the interiors it forced the exterior of the model to conform to actual interior spacing. This wouldn't have been such a big problem except that the false keel and bulkheads restricted where my decks could be placed which in turn has caused the gun ports to be re-positioned many times as well as the wales adjusted again and again. Hind sight being what it is, in order to build the ship the way I wanted to, I should have simply used the kit for materials and not relied on it for structure. This should have been basically a scratch build more than a kit build. I'm trying to fix these bad spots that have developed. Some will happen others, it may be too late. It will come down to how much I am willing to spend on materials to make it right. In any event, this is definitely the end of using plank on bulkhead kit framing as is. I like detailing the interiors and it has now firmly set in that in order to do that, I will need to build the interior decking and framing myself. Whether that means I take the leap fully into scratch building or if my kit bashing becomes more intensive is yet to be seen.

Very nice case for an even nicer ship! I'm too busy looking at the model to notice the bolts.

Hi Matt! Looks like you are off to a great start! My first model ship was that same model kit. I've built it twice now as I gave one to my dad and kept the other for myself. It is a good kit and you will indeed learn a lot. While it does not do a lot to teach you the wood skills of a wooden build, it is great for painting and learning your way around a ship. Also the lessons from the rigging are invaluable. I'll pull up a seat and follow along on your build. I always enjoy watching this kit come together and see all the different ways people build it. Looking forward to sharing in your journey!