EricWiberg

And Marc... I would be remiss if I didn't say that your build is also one of the builds that I have bookmarked and constantly review. Your work is amazing, and is not only aspirational, but also quite insprirational!

Marc. thanks for the observations/recommendations! I started to gently sand the port side fenders down using a sanding block that straddled all 3 fenders. It may be hard to see in the photo comparing both hulls, but the fenders on the left (the port side) have been sanded down almost 1mm. I will now work on gently rounding the bottoms of the fenders. I just bought a used Paasche air brush/compressor, so I am getting close to being able to prime the hull and see what I have. In the meantime, I have been going off in several other directions. I will need 3 eye/eyebolt combinations for all 56 gun ports, and I finally figured out an "assembly line" process to my liking, where I can make the eyes and eye bolts and then blacken them.. the rope is a 0.012" rope from Syren that I will use as my gun port lid ropes. The last picture is a resin mold of a clam shell on the hull... I will need a clam shell or fleur de lis for the inside of every gun port lid... I am surprised at how easy the molding process was and am very happy with the resin pieces. I keep reminding myself that this "rebuild" is a chance to hone and develop skills for my next model and not get too carried away on this one. I was thinking that would be HMS Victory, but maybe it would be another stab at Soleil Royal??

Ian, you have a very good eye. I have a bunch of Soleil Royal builds bookmarked... I looked through some, and found a comment on John Ott's build. He started that "Goodwin" said the fenders stuck out 14-16" from the hull, and were 4-5" wide. So my fenders by scale are 10" proud from the wales, but are almost 8" wide by scale... NOT the aforementioned 4-5". So they are wide by about 1mm... and I really don't think I will replace them as they are puttied in with Apoxie Scuplt. And I think trying to sand them down will result in making it far worse, so I will chalk this up as a learning experience.

Thank you, Ian, and by all means... please keep any and all comments coming (any comment will help me learn)! I am not trying to make a museum piece for my first attempt, but I am trying to be very aware of scale. I had read that the fenders could stick out 12-15", so I used 2.5x2.0 Evergreen stock (i.e. 2mm wide, and 2.5mm sticking out from the hull). If my calculations were correct, 2.5mm is about 10" in real life on 1/100 scale. If they are too proud, I could easily sand them down. I am including another photo to see if that helps clarify. Is there an actual/official number on how far the fenders stock out? We hace fenders that hang from ropes on our pontoon boat, and they are 6" diameter... so I figured 10-12" on wooden fenders on Soleil Royal would be logical.

Well, after getting 2.5X magnification lenses 10 days ago... I ripped everything apart! But after redoing scuppers and anchor linings, I drilled one hole for each of the gunport lids - not two. I also remade the fenders. The biggest issue was the hull ladders. The rectangular little nubs just didn't look realistic to me. I first tried putting on a simple step on the existing nubs, but ended up cutting off all of the nubs and building my own steps from three pieces. I also drilled a hole in the center of each step to run a rope down. At this point, I am mulling over any possible work to the hull that I might be missing (drilling additionsal holes, etc). However, I think I am very close to scribing a new waterline and getting to work painting the hull.

Whew! Actually got a lot done today, primarily because I got some nice Donegan "glasses" with 2.5X magnification... it has totally changed things for me. Am finally happy with the scuppers, and the fenders are done (well, the bottom ends need to be shaped) but not glued. And I drilled all of the gun port lid holes as I decided to go with ONE rope per gun port lid. You can see the 0.5mm brass tube (will be blackened and inserted after hull painting) that will stick out very slightly from the hull that the black rope runs out of; the black thread was the only 0.25mm thrad that I had on hand to take a photo of. My big "I hope this works out OK" was to trim the ladder steps molded into the hull, and add my own steps onto them with a hole bored for a rope to go down the middle of the steps. that just makes so much more sernse to me. I will also add some quarter rounds under the steps and use Apoxie to fill in any gaps.

Sigh.. time today to start installing scuppers. After looking at many illustrations/prints, I decided that I wanted the frames very slightly proud, as opposed to flush. I also made an assumption that the holes were 6" in diameter, or 1.5MM on 1/100 scale. I have some 1.5MM brass tubes that I will blacken and install after painting, though I took a photo with an unblackened insert popped in. I now realize that very few people will ever see these dumb tubes, but as a woodworker friend told me once "I know it's there". And I know I really need those 2.5X magnifying lenses to come in from Amazon! And I have decided that the gun port lids will have one rope...

Ian, thank you for the observation! I just went downstairs and scraped/sanded that waterline off. I may have read that comment before, but there are so many blogs and so many observations that I need to start a detailed list of "what to do" before I go any further.

Thank you for the welcome! I managed to get some time yesterday to do a few simple things, like thickening the gun port walls, adding anchoe linings, filling in the butt joints on the wales, etc. But two things are making me think before I start addiitonal work. I was an engineer for 35 years, and while I am not necessarily a stickler for precise historical accuracy, I think what often happens in life/history is that "the simplest solution"usually is the result 1) gun port lid rope holes. There seems to be a debate between 1 rope vs 2 ropes for the gun port lids. It's curious that the 1977 box art clearly shows 1 rope, and yet the gun port lids in the kit have two tiny little rings engraved, indicating 2 ropes! The box art also shows the single rope hole in the plank directly above the gun port, while there are other pictures/models that show the rope(s) coming out of the hull higher up, in the plank above the first wale over the gun port (which is much closer to the ceiling of the deck above). I also think that I should put a tiny tube in the rope hole(s), ala what I see in HMS Victory photos, as I can't imagine that the rope(s) would be allowed to run back/forth over wood? 2) ladder railings. I can't imagine how I would clamber up the wooden steps while gripping a wooden railing that is completely affixed to the side of the hull along its entire length. I could only grip the railing with my thumb and index finger. If the railing stood away from the hull several inches, I could at least wrap my fingers around the back of the railing, which seems a lot simpler to me. I did see a photo of a beautiful 74 gun Fench model ship that simply had a rope coming down through the center of every step with no railing... that seems to me the simplest solution, as you could simply wrap both hands around the rope and rapidly clamber up the wooden ladder. I don't want to overthink - too much! - but I am curious as to what others think. I like the rope running through the steps concept, as that is so simple (perhaps not as simple to create on this kit, but I would be game)!

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.