SOLEIL ROYAL 1669 by michel saunier

[michel saunier]

I present here the latest photos of my Royal Sun. It is not finished and if it interests you I would put you following as work progresses.
Excuse me but not speaking English I use the Google translator

[WackoWolf]

Beautiful

[BLACK VIKING]

Wow absolutely stunning 

 

BV 

[ccoyle]

I have moved this to the scratch builds section because it does not appear to be un maquette, no?

[Dilbert55]

Incredible work! 

[dvm27]

Magnifique, Michel. Would love to see your build log here. The work translates itself!

[popeye2sea]

Wow!  Beautiful work.  Looking forward to seeing more.

 

Regards,

[Hubac's Historian]

Stunning ship Michel!  You should post some pics of the framing and interior bulkheads, so that everyone can get a sense for the amount of research and effort that have gone into her, so far.

[michel saunier]

Thank you for your nice comments.
I introduce myself: I am an engineer of Arts and Crafts and I have always done a little modeling during my life parallel to my job. I am married, I have three children and six grandchildren. I'm 76 years old.
In retirement since 1998 I accidentally fell on the drawing of the stern of the Royal Sun, drawing by Jean Berain.
Immediately I was seduced and I decided to build this ship in Arsenal.
I started my research in 2008 by browsing the historical backgrounds in search of exact documents on the Royal Sun. My object was to compile all these documents in order to have enough to draw up the plans of this ship as well as possible.
This was done in 2009. It was a first approach that was to guide the construction while allowing the retouching as and when.
The axial framework with more than 90 frames and the stern and stern frame will be presented at an exhibition in January 2010.
Photos of this period:

[michel saunier]

Some details on this structure of the framework.
Each chord or "couple" has 7 pieces: a veranda on the keel, two knees, two first elongates, two second elongates. These pieces are assembled in staggered form and are of decreasing thickness to lighten as much as possible the tops of the vessel ..Sa nearly 700 pieces to carve in the respect of the dimensions of the time and the 1 / 48th.
Preparations are done on the table with templates from the plan.
It is therefore a very very long and somewhat tedious work, but necessary. Some "fillings" are necessary between the meshes at the places where it will be necessary to pierce the ports of the three main batteries.
All the "bottoms" of the aisseau are equipped with false bridges, floors, partitions of the various equipments as in the real ship.

[Hubac's Historian]

The interior structure is quite spectacular, Michel.  The framing is done in pear?  Is your plan to eventually do a full masting and rigging, or will she be an admiralty style model?

[michel saunier]

good morning Marc
I took more than four years to complete all the internal structures and the first bridges. As will be seen in other photographs, the bridges with notched dovetail leases against the walls are as numerous as the pairs and each one carries numerous assembly notches.
This framework, for the time, was very astute and admirable resistance. Everything was nailed, pegged, no glue or screws or bolts.
What is also remarkable is that the construction of the ship required only a little less than two years.
5000 workers of all the trades animated this site.
More than 3000 very large oaks were necessary without counting the woods needed for the mature.
Yes, I think to do all the rigging if by then the great author of the cosmos gives me time. That is to say a little more than 4 years to see 5.
Good day Marc

[michel saunier]

I continue my description:
The cannons:
15 guns of 36 on each edge in first battery
15 guns of 18 on each edge of second battery
15 guns of 12 on each edge of third battery
5 guns of 8 on each edge of the aft deck
3 guns of 8 on the castle of before

2 guns of 4 on the poop on each edge
A total of 110 canons all in Bronze.
I remind you that the portholes of retreat and hunting ports were not armed as well as the first port of the first battery.

These cannons were decorated with the arms of the Count de Vermandois, the baton of King Louis XIV. They also featured a wildlife head with a breech button.

Not finding in France a competent workshop and a reasonable price to melt them, I turned to Alexey Baranov, an engineer from Ukraine who accepted the challenge.
Only Tribord will be armed, Port being not decorated to let the work of framing.

These guns were modeled on a 3D milling machine and then cast by the process of lost wax. Then trimmed and polished. I applied a treatment later to give them the appearance of verdigris.
All are mounted on their hooks and rigged with maneuvers hoists and fixed against their respective ports.

This picture shows one of these 24 guns that equip the Royal Sun No. 2 of 1693, sunk at the Battle of the Cardinals

[michel saunier]

Look at this document that shows life on board these large vessels.

http://www.musee-marine.fr/programmes_multimedia/vieabord/

[MEDDO]

 Absolutely wonderful. 

[Hubac's Historian]

Your cannons look incredible!  As for completing your SR, I think you will certainly get there, and that there's another ship in you, yet.

[michel saunier]

Thank you Mark and good Sunday
You know, doing the rigging with the cargoed sails for part will be a very long adventure. I think it will take me at least two years if I believe my friends of the Forum of Gérard Delacroix. Besides I have big fingers at times not very skilled.
When to do another boat, why not but then which one?

Are the translations good? I try to express myself in simple words.

I will continue my story if it interests you and your friends.
Have a good day
cordially
Michel

[Hubac's Historian]

Your translations are perfectly clear and well understood.  Although, I can empathize with the feeling that one loses the subtlety of their intended meaning when they rely on things like Google Translate to express their thoughts.  I have to say, though, that GT does a pretty good job.  Mostly, it is the differences in ship nomenclature that cause most of the problems; precients/wales - comme-ci, comme-ca!

 

When it comes to new subjects, particularly French first and second marine, there are almost too many beautiful and interesting vessels to choose from.  There is a modeler on the Arsenal site who has done a model of La Belle that is so extraordinary, he has opened my eyes to the possibilities of this pretty little ship.

 

[Hubac's Historian]

And by all means, please continue!  Cedric will soon be posting on MSW with his La Reine conversion project, and this is becoming a very fertile conversation about SR and her contemporaries.

[michel saunier]

Let's continue the construction detail

On this view we distinguish:
The bread oven
The main mast
The passages of the bilge pumps and a pump
The puit aux boulets and its entrance by a sliding trapdoor
The great sep of halyard

 

On the second picture the three pairs of ebony loudspeakers are positioned before gluing

Next picture the pecks are glued in place. The rounded parts at the bow are cut in the ebony mass because this wood breaks with the cambering.

[michel saunier]

You are right, the Beautiful is a beautiful little frigate as well as Fame.

Let's make a small break by the sculpture of the elements of the prow

The jottereaux are in place on the spur and the frieze is carved.
Then a few steps of the sculpture of the marine horse, it was my first sculpture and I have to make touching soon.
The frieze, which is very fragile, required three weeks of work

The following coltis border was quite complex to make.

The doors are functional and the brass sheaves at the top of the pediment are also functional

Thank you and later.

[druxey]

Cher Michel,

 

C'est magnifique! Thank you for sharing your work with us. Your workmanship is superb.  If you continue and rig the model, it will be even more impressive.

[michel saunier]

Some details of the internal structures before going over the bridges.
On this view, we can clearly see the pumps at the pumps, the mast-gauge stand with the holds to regulate the quest, and the ladders to access it. On the right the well with balls

Then a view of the large halyard and the large wall. At the bottom the porques, alternate members which consolidate the hull by the interior

Another view of the rear part of the bulkheads, floor of the master-valet, the Commandant's provisions. Left the stern of the large capstan.

[michel saunier]

The curbing of the hull or lively work is a long and meticulous exercise. The slats are calculated in width and length to respect certain principles:
None of the curbs should end in whistle or tip.
No joints on chords should be on the same chord with less than three gaps.
The edges are skewed on edge to stick well to the bottom .... but you know that of course.
Operation of more than one month. The same will apply to the felling of dead works

[michel saunier]

et's go to the first bridge or first battery.
The main structure is finished with: leases, beams, reinforcement curves, bolsters, hatches stacked masts ...

In this detail, we can distinguish the leases and barracks, the corbes, the portico extensions, the ceiling of the wall, the sills of the next bridge and their seals, the bolsters which keep the gaps between the leases and the notches on the leases To accommodate future curling coamings.

Then the small capstan with single bell and the large capstan with double bell.

Then at the prow is the Gatte, a compartment in the form of a bin pushed back in lead sheets to receive the waters resulting from the retraction of the anchor cables. Scuppers on both sides allow the flow to the sea.
In the foreground the vertical bolster of the bowsprit mast

The curbing of the first bridge is short. The coamings are in pear tree as well as the central part, the rest of the bridge in sycamore (French maple). Aesthetic reason, but also because during the scratching of the oak bridges with sea water the salt in the long time bleached the wood. Operation called "Briquettage" because one scratched with bricks of terracotta.
In the foreground one sees the sheep park followed by the large hatch.

The curbing of the bridge is completed on the starboard side, the port side is left open to see the structural work.
The equipment is in place and we make a first presentation of the guns of 36.

[WBlakeny]

Bravo! Just another example of where this is no longer a shipmodel but a work of art!  

I'd better stop fooling around and choose another hobby 

 

[michel saunier]

Let us go back in detail to this back part of the funds.
On this view you can see:
The "Manual" which served the helmsman to orient the rudder according to the orders. This device of use in the XVIIth century will be replaced by the double wheel better known. This vertical lever was articulated in a nut and moving it from right and left pushing it made the helm of the rudder visible.

A double partition supposed to insulate this rear compartment or "Sainte-Barbe" includes supports where were hung the powder gargoyes. A table and benches for cannoniers and one also sees the traps giving access to the powder tanks.

 

A section of this section provides a better understanding of these developments.

It is a piece of the plans of the Ambitious of Monsieur Jean Boudriot. This ship built at the same time as the SR and like him in Brest undoubtedly had the same facilities

[CédricL]

23 hours ago, Hubac'sHistorian said:

And by all means, please continue!  Cedric will soon be posting on MSW with his La Reine conversion project, and this is becoming a very fertile conversation about SR and her contemporaries.

Hello Marc,

 

As soon as possible !

 

I must admit I'm quite too busy: it's nearly the end of the schoolyear and my childrens are quite under pressure ! That doesn't help.

 

It's really nice to see here the first steps of Mr Saunier's Soleil Royal, I deeply regret that first part of his project is now unreadable for non-membres of Mr Delacroix's forum. It's clearly a masterpiece (in french: chef d'œuvre") !

 

Yes, indeed we will have things to discuss about La Reine; among others the proportions of first rate ships given in L'Anonyme du Havre de Grâce manuscript.

 

Have a nice day.

[Hubac's Historian]

Yes, Michel's ship is indeed a masterpiece - a timber for timber re-construction of the real thing.

 

I can relate to the end-of-year shool shuffle, as we are all quite busy with the same.  Progress continues, albeit at an even slower pace.

 

I am so looking forward to your contributions, Cedric, as I continue to watch Michel's ship rise from the stocks.

[michel saunier]

Let us now turn to the second and third bridges. We will always find the same basic structure of the framework. The arrangements differ as we shall see by their wealth.
The third bridge will be visible in part because it is masked by the front and back fellows.
It has a peculiarity that are the flats of the Admiral. The latter contained an unprecedented luxury for the period of painted decors, precious furniture, carpets and a parquet flooring plated on the edges of the bridge.

The structure includes a series of gratings to allow ventilation of previous bridges (such as the second bridge). Indeed during the battles, the firing of the guns emitted an intense smoke that it was necessary to be able to evacuate.
The leases you see above this bridge are those sketched out by the fellows and the poop.

The guns are set up and equipped with their hoists, tacks, braches. Through the partial opening of the bridge one can see the arms of the great capstan. The masts are fictitious at the moment.
Photos of details show these guns to post.

 

Here are the amenities of the Admiral's apartments on starboard
Entrance wall from the bridge with its wrought doors
Front view
Rear top view
The large room (14m x 9m) with its walls worked, the chests, the paintings (I did not reproduce those original!)