Le Soleil Royal by popeye2sea - Heller - PLASTIC - 1:100

[lambsbk]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Henry. And many more. Have fun my friend.

[texxn5]

Hello Henry, ......Happy  Birthday, my friend, may you have many more, and I hope you have a good one! Iposted this earlier, and I forgot to look at the date as I thought it was yesterday...gettin' old I guess----see what you have to look forward to....lol

Edited November 9, 2013 by texxn5

[popeye2sea]

Thank you all for the birthday wishes.

 

The build was a big hit at the Shipwright Guild meeting.  I got some good tips on soldering techniques for the upcoming deadeyes and chainplates project. The cannon rigging continues....a long and tedious project.  But, it is progress none the less.  Of course it is taking longer because I keep refining my methods as I go along.  The first cannon in place is a test piece.  Here are some pics of it as it is today.  I may still change some things.  I think I will make the breeching thicker.

 

 

 

Thanks for looking in.

 

Regards,

[usedtosail]

Nice looking cannon Henry. And have a Happy Birthday.

[popeye the sailor]

Happy birthday Henry .......looks as though you spent your day........like I would have,  if it were my birthday.  very nice 2 sea 

[WackoWolf]

Happy Birthday Henry, and may there be a thousand more.

[dafi]

All the best from me too!!!

 

The thicker breeching line will do a good job. Also for these guns just one training tackle was used. The double one was only used for french 36 an 48 pounders. Makes things easier on the deck :-)

 

Cheers, Daniel

[popeye2sea]

Thanks all,

 

Joe, a thousand more?  Woo Hoo....think of all the builds I could finish by then

 

Dan, Thanks for the tip.  A lot less work for me.  Time to start ripping out all the ringbolts in the deck and filling holes  

 

Regards,

[egkb]

Have only just found this build log as a result of your post to a now almost 'notorious' General Discussion Post! you know the one so I guess some more good has come out of it.

I read your piece about how nobody dropped by for a month or so and decided to take a looksee.. Wow, how did I miss this little gem? and then after all your hard work she takes a bit of a knock.. This build has everything including 'drama' !

Am looking forward to your progress.

 

Eamonn

[popeye2sea]

Hello all,

I got tired of making bolts for my cannon carriages so I decided to put the riggers to work starting to prepare the rigging.

 

Decided to start with the main stay:  Here is a summary of the process

The line I am using is Morope.  An eye is turned in on the end with a circumference just large enough for the stay to pass through.  Morope is tricky to unlay for splicing because it is nylon.  When cut it will just fall apart  I separated the strands with a toothpick and touched a drop of CA to each before cutting so that the strands would not unravel.  The eye was then serviced with sewing thread with the serving continued over the splice.  The stay was then wormed for one third of its length from the eye.  I did not bother with parcelling.  The mouse was then raised on the stay to it's proper shape and size with sewing thread then pointed over to finish.  The mouse is several hours worth of work with the needle and thread

 

I hope you enjoy

 

 

 

 

Edited March 4, 2018 by popeye2sea

[popeye the sailor]

looks very good Henry......a little rigging prep is a good change of pace,  from rigging all those cannons.........oh,  but think of the detail your putting into that gun deck  ......love to see what you've done so far     I have never tried any rope prep like this,  but with a larger build,  I hope to try it one day.    is it coated with anything to keep it from unraveling ......diluted white glue....or something?

[texxn5]

Hello Henry.  This will make such a great improvement to the plastic kit.  Looks great my friend, good to see your progress....

[popeye2sea]

My general principle with the rigging is to try and do all of it without resorting to glue.  That means rigging as close as possible to the real thing:  whippings, seizings, ends tucked into or under strands, etc.  That mouse will never come apart, it's woven together.  The ends of the serving lines are pushed through the strands of the stay with a needle.  Tension on the stay will just hold it tighter.

[texxn5]

Hi Henry, wanted to wish you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and Prosperous New Year.  Thank you for that wonderful tour and for taking the time to show the Conny to us......it was the highlight of our entire trip.  Take care my friend, and have a good one...

[popeye2sea]

Thanks John.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours also.  May it be healthy and prosperous.

[popeye2sea]

Lest anyone think that the shipyard has closed, let me assure you that after a brief time off for the holidays the laborers have been put back to work diligently forging iron and stropping blocks for the cannons.  Unfortunately, I only get a couple of hours of work a week on the ship.  Progress has been slow!   ( I do hope that his royal highness King Louis does not object!   Thirty plus years is a long time to wait for completion of a ship  )

 

Progress thus far:

 

All cannons mounted on the full gun deck.  These are pinned in place through the bottom of the carriage and the deck so that I did not have to scrape the paint under each wheel and glue.  The breeching ropes are seized to the ring bolts prior to gluing the ring bolts to the hull through holes I drilled near the base of each gun port. Additional holes were drilled and eye bolts installed at the sides of each port for the gun tackles.  Ring bolts were also installed in the deck for the train tackles.

 

 

One cannon has been fully rigged so far.  I still have to coil the ropes.  The cannons on this side are run in and the coiled ropes will be layed over the top of the gun.  On the other side, where the cannons are run out for firing, the tackle falls will be faked down on the deck.

 

 

One thing I noticed with the way that the kevels are placed is that it would be extremely difficult to work the lines belayed here.  The lines that go to these kevels are the sheets and tacks for the courses and the sprit sail.  Another problem... the main sheets come inboard well aft near the quarter galleries and then belay amidships on one of the kevels.  Do I run the sheet over the tops of the cannon barrels or down on the deck beneath the barrels.  Either way it looks like they would foul on the cannons when worked.

 

Perhaps this is the reason why the sails set for battle did not include the lower courses?

 

Still to come...16 more cannons on the fo'c'sle, quarter deck and cabin deck( not sure what the deck between the quarter deck and poop deck was called).

 

Enjoy

Edited March 17, 2014 by popeye2sea

[lambsbk]

Looks good Henry. I really know what a labor of love those little canon are. Very nice.

[texxn5]

Looks good Henry. Glad I'm not in Boston. In the 80's here today. Sat outside on the veranda, had a cold one and a good Cigar. Hope you're surviving the winter.

[popeye2sea]

It has been a particularly cold and snowy one.  I'm getting tired of shoveling snow and I'm looking forward to the warmer weather. The predictions are for more cold and snow/rain through July.....um....I mean, tonight.

[popeye the sailor]

with the way things are going Henry.......you might be right!   this winter is really a bummer!  nice work on the cannons

[NAZGÛL]

Very nice build, love the look and those cannons are brilliantly rigged!

 

 

/Matti

[AvesP]

i am highly interested on a video ofsome sort that would should a techinique for the fine painting you did on the model.  I am quite jealous of your mastery the fine details and wonder if at all you could possibly share ideas, links or thoughts on the subject

[Force9]

Henry -

 

She's looking very fine.  I hope the weather Gods will ease up on your winter - just skip spring and go directly to summer!

 

Cheers

Evan

[RGH]

I was wondering, please say this outstanding build is still progressing.

[popeye2sea]

The building slows to a crawl during the summer.  I am kept busy impersonating a marine from the war of 1812 aboard the USS Constitution.  You can see some of our pictures in various places on MSW.  Some of them are in the museums and clubs forum.  My avatar is a pic of me in uniform aboard the ship.

Edited July 30, 2014 by popeye2sea

[lambsbk]

...that's got to be fun, and it certainly is better than my excuse for not progressing on my build  - although probably not by too much.

[texxn5]

Ahoy Henry, what's going on with the Conny? Do you still have a job? Glad that you and Lester met up, he had a ball. Are tourists still allowed onboard? Take care my friend, we may be back next year.

[testazyk]

I'm glad your log came up and I got to see it!  Beautiful craftsmanship and some really creative ideas.  I'm doing the wooden version now and you're log has given me some great ideas for improvement.

[davidk]

Hi Popeye2Sea-

I'm very glad to have found this build log of yours!  I'm just finishing up my build of the Imai Golden Hind, and I'm planning to begin an attempt at the Soleil Royal in January...I can only hope to get as good a result as you've shown so far...thanks for the inspiration!

And I hope I can trouble you for a little advice and guidance along the way?

Thanks,

David

[popeye2sea]

I'll be happy to help in any way I can.  But, at the rate I am going you will probably be overtaking my progress within a couple of months.