Le Soleil Royal by EJ_L - FINISHED - Sergal - Scale 1:77 - 1669 Version

[EJ_L]

Back in the S.R. ship yard for a while. Planning on installing some furniture, canons and railings. First up are the catheads. Here are the start of the supports for them that extend down to the headrails. The catheads themselves have already been built so once these are carved and painted, I can assemble them and start on the forecastle railings. 

 

Good to be be back here for a while! Much more to follow! 😀

 

 

[popeye the sailor]

I think you've become Doris's understudy...........awesomely good work!  

[EJ_L]

Far too kind! Doris is definitely someone to aspire to as her work is beautiful pieces of art. 

 

The catheads and their supporting posts posts are in place. I also fitted, though not secured, the bow sprit. 

 

Next up are a bunch of small assemblies. Bitts, railings, knight heads, ladders and more canons. The decks will be coming alive over the next weeks. 

 

Thanks you all for the very kind words, likes and following along on this long journey. 

[Hubac's Historian]

These cathead supports reslly came out nicely, EJ.  The head is really coming together now.  Great work!

[popeye the sailor]

another hull frame?..........what one is that?  really nice work on the carvings.......look good on the ship  

[EJ_L]

Marc, Popeye, thank you for the compliments!

 

That other hull in the background is the Royal Louis, my other insanely large build. There is a link in my signature below to it. Come on over and pull up a chair, though make sure it is a comfortable one as that will be another very long build. 

 

Speaking of long builds, just this past weekend Soleil Royal completed her 2nd trip around the sun in the shipyard and last night I marked 1,330 man hours of work to date. I'm hopeful that she might get completed in 2019 but, with Royal Louis going on as well.... only time will tell. I'm in no rush and I keep getting tempted by some of the really awesome looking smaller projects that have been popping up lately. NRG's Oyster Sharpie and Syren's Medway Longboat and Queen Anne Barge have all been calling my name loudly for a different type of build as well as practice with full frame construction. I've also started to plan out some cross section builds of La Couronne and Soleil Royal to go with the completed full ship.

 

So many ideas, only so many hours.

 

[popeye the sailor]

...calls a voice from the rabbit hole...........come and play        one of these days I'll update my dry dock signature......it will amaze you     

Edited November 28, 2018 by popeye the sailor
added text

[EJ_L]

Quick update, cannon building this weekend. Ordered some blocks and rope to rig them which I should have by next weekend. Getting the remaining carriages built and will start installing the dummy guns soon. 

[Old Collingwood]

18 minutes ago, EJ_L said:

Quick update, cannon building this weekend. Ordered some blocks and rope to rig them which I should have by next weekend. Getting the remaining carriages built and will start installing the dummy guns soon. 

"Snap"   Im  canon  building at the moment also,    but havn't as many to build as your good self.

 

OC.

[EJ_L]

Cannon building continues. I did get some new blocks and rope from Syren to help out. Step by step they are coming together! 

[Old Collingwood]

Fine work going on there  - those canons look superb.

 

OC.

[EJ_L]

The eight remaining guns for the waist and the sixteen for the forecastle and quarter decks are  ready with their blocks attached. Now to make the breech ropes and the other half of the tackle and they will be ready to install. 

[Hubac's Historian]

What are your impressions of the Syren line, EJ?  I've read nothing but good things about it.  In my living situation, space comes at a premium, so I'm less inclined to build a rope walk and make my own line, but maybe...

 

I was thinking Syren's line would be my big splurge.

[EJ_L]

I love their ropes. I replaced most of the rigging on la Couronne with it and was very glad I did. They are clean with tight and uniform twists. Plenty of sizes to choose from so they fit nearly any scale and three different colors. You will need to recoil them when you get them. They are packaged in a nice coil but, in order to avoid tangles, you should rewind them around a bobbin or tube. 

 

The ropes work well. They are not overly stiff with coils that want to defy gravity and act like rope should. Not overly slick so they tie and hold knots well. All of those factors add up to create a rope that allows for beautiful and realistic details in very small scale rigging. 

 

I dont think they are unreasonably priced. For the larger builds like these first rates, you will need a lot of line but, to set up a rope walk, buy the materials and take the time to make all of that rigging yourself, in my opinion, the price is well worth it. I have enough tedious micro builds that I don’t want to worry about making rope. Plus he has very fast delivery as long as the materials are in stock. Even when not, they are good at getting the orders filled and out in a timely manner. 

 

I will recommend the serving machine though as it is a great tool for serving the lines that need it. You can also use some of the junk line from the kits to serve over. 

 

Here is is how I recoil my ropes. I take the cool from the shipping package and carefully spread it out between two binder clips. Then I unwind it from the clips to a blank plastic bobbin. I bought a 25 pack of them at JoAnn’s (any store that sells sewing/knitting products will have them) years ago for $1 and have yet to go through them all as I can reuse them when they run empty. 

The rope in these pictures is the .012 (.30mm) rope which is one of the smaller sizes. I will be using it initially for the tackle on the guns. 

Edited December 9, 2018 by EJ_L

[Hubac's Historian]

Excellent info, EJ.   Thanks for taking the time to explain all of that.  And, yeah, I was thinking about a serving machine.

[EJ_L]

Time to install the guns! 

[EJ_L]

Finished rigging the guns on the upper gun deck. With those installed I can install the bitts and the cradles for the ship’s boats. Also with the work on the gun decks wrapping up I can start building the railings for the forecastle, quarter and poop decks without as much fear of them being damaged. 

[CDW]

Very nice EJ. 

Ship looks huge.

[EJ_L]

She is indeed massive. 36 inches long, 15inches tall and 8 inches wide without any masts. Will grow significantly in all directions once masted. I have no idea yet where she will make berth once completed!

[Fright]

Wow !!! The rigging on your cannons are amazing. Are the hooks that you used on ropes scratch built?  Magnificent work   "GooD HoLiDaYs" to you and loved ones!

[BLACK VIKING]

Magnificent work Elj she is certainly a beast. Happy holidays m8 

Martyn

[popeye the sailor]

nice job on the cannons.....they look really nice on deck!    very nice progress!

[EJ_L]

Thanks to everyone for the kind words and likes!

 

As for the hooks, yes, they are scratch made. I found some 20gauge wire in the jewelry department at Hobby Lobby that has been working great for hooks and eyebolts.

Also found this loop tool there as well that makes this process very easy.

 

Simply insert the wire, squeeze and release and then cut to length and you have an eyebolt.

 

 

To make the hook, I use a pair of needle nose pliers that have rounded prongs instead of flat.

Grip the stem of the eyebolt and roll it around the prongs of the pliers in the same direction as the eye loop and you now have a hook.

 

Sometimes you have to do a little trimming or straightening and the black coating is also prone to come off. I don't worry too much about that until after they are installed. A tiny paint brush with some flat black paint cleans those marks up. Usually I will spend an hour making eyebolts and hooks. I have a small drawer that I store them in and in an hour I can have a couple hundred made so I don't have to do it often. It is an easy way of stocking up on much needed pieces while taking a break from the actual build.

 

Also, the looper tool, even the smallest one can make the eyes a bit large for some scales. Simply trim the end of the looped wire where it returns back to the stem and crimp it back tight to the stem with a pair of needle nose pliers and you have a smaller eye. If you do that in tiny bites, you can easily adjust the eyebolt sizes as needed. I make all of mine the "stock" size when mass producing and then resize as needed.  

 

[Fright]

E.J. - many thanks for this tip on the loop tool and showing the process for making the hooks! 

[EJ_L]

Added the main mast bitts and knight. Since the knight sits under a deck, I went ahead and rigged up the lower portion of the lift rigging to make it easier later on. 

[Old Collingwood]

Looking superb - very busy and attractive.

 

OC.

[yancovitch]

ha...i've Never done such a nice job rigging the cannons....in case i missed it, what's you technique for the coils?

Edited December 22, 2018 by yancovitch

[EJ_L]

Vic, I will try to remember to post some pictures of how I make the coils soon. I meant to do it this weekend but, it slipped my mind till just now. The process is very simple but, worth showing multiple times for anyone who doesn’t know. 

 

I did get quite a bit done over the last few days. Walkways are installed across the waist, ladders have been built and set and the first of he side rails have gone in. Now I am fabricating the remaining bitts for the fore and mizzenmast masts as well as the remaining knights which brings me to my next major challenge, deciphering the rigging plans. 

 

I spent several hours hours yesterday with colored pencils tracing out the lines to deck locations as shown on the plans and have come to the conclusion that the person who created these drawings did not double check the design. Many lines foul each other, several lines connect to nothing and others share the same point of termination in ways gay I know would not have been done. 

 

So, that means I will turn to much more useful books, particularly Anderson’s great works as I did for La Couronne and make the best out of that source.

 

 No, I am not yet ready for rigging but, in order to make sure that I have all the deck fittings I need ready and correct, I must start looking and figuring things out now.  Reality is, once I finish up with the deck pieces, dummy guns and port lids are next followed by channels and any other miscellaneous parts I have forgotten. Then the masting will start. 

[popeye the sailor]

looking great EJ.............those deck railings with the sheave holes look especially good!   simply awesome!    merry belated Christmas!

[Heinrich der Seefahrer]

Hello EJ, 

 

Thanks a lot for sharing your SR-build. I found a lot of interesting inventions you did - as colouring the blue planks before adding. My own SR is stil on her shipping way to me (coming from GB)  and will be rebuild as Sankt Philippe. So a very similar thing you do - pimping the decoration. 

Hoping you stay in this manner of quality till you finish the last flag knob.

 

For the ordonance's detailing there is the well known book of Wolfram Mondfeld „ Schiffsgeschütze 1380 - 1850 “ ) it is part one of a twin series where the second never appeared. Perhaps you can get in by your local libary from the Smithmodian or so. It is very helpful for barrels, carriage and rigg.

 

 

Edited December 28, 2018 by Heinrich der Seefahrer
Resizing my bad English