Le Soleil Royal by john_weiman - Sergal - 1:77 Scale

[john_weiman]

Kit from Sergal. Ready to start the masts, and rigging

[Keith_W]

You have done a beautiful job! Any pictures taken prior to this point? 

[Louie da fly]

Wow!

 

Steven

[md1400cs]

John,

 

Gorgeous!! Well done. A real beauty.

 

Michael

[ronald305]

nice ship john 

   where is the beginning of your build log 

                          Ronald

[john_weiman]

It has been several years since I put a halt on my project. I have now started back up on this kit, wanting to finish it. I forgot just how heavy this kit is! I am always viewing posts from time to time envious of seeing all those finished builds so I thought it was time to dedicate the time to finish this project. I had never started a diary from the start of the build since these types of forums were new to me at the time. I will surely do such as I begin to complete this kit, and with some kits in waiting, but for now I want to finish this beautiful kit ( next project either Euromodel's Friedrich Wilhem Zu Pferde, or Sergal's Amerigo Vespucci). Now it is time to work on the masts, and spars. I had purchased separately the sails from Sergal so I will incorporate them into the finished kit.

[Dan Vadas]

Nice work John. I've Merged this topic into your old build log. You can add to it by Replying in the box at the bottom of the page rather than starting a new Topic for each update.

 

  Danny

[john_weiman]

[john_weiman]

Starting to rig the ship. This will be one tedious job. Next photos I hope to post will be of the spars with folded sails. I think having sails brings more life to the ship, but folded. For the rigging lines that are over 1mm diameter I could only find in beige color so I used SAMAN wood stain to color the rigging black. Saman is a water based stain. I soaked the lines in the stain overnight, and then rinsed it in water. I then repeated this and got a good color out of it. 

[john_weiman]

[Snoepert]

It looks absolutely fantastic.

I am wondering how do you keep asteady arm when tying the rat line across.

I actually laid the lines on a jig and tied them on the flat before hanging them onto the vessel.

Not surewhich is the best way.

cheers

[Kevin]

1 hour ago, Snoepert said:

It looks absolutely fantastic.

I am wondering how do you keep asteady arm when tying the rat line across.

I actually laid the lines on a jig and tied them on the flat before hanging them onto the vessel.

Not surewhich is the best way.

cheers

the jigs are fine is thats the way you want to go, but when securing to the deadeyes it could create a problem in getting the tension right, or ratlines that are no longer horizontal, i have found the above way gives a decent result, and the only way i know,

The lines on the card, ensure they are straight, and the card also allows the eye to focus on the job, rather than be distracted 

[john_weiman]

Dear Kevin,

I use tweezers, and the hard white carboard which adds a support to my hands when tying those clover hitch knots. Also doing the ratlines at about eye level helps to balance. Being in a comfortable balance between arm position, and work makes a world of difference, because it will be tedious work.

Regards, John

[md1400cs]

John,

 

Catching up - I had forgotten how superb of a build she is.   And yes if you could back fill this build log that would be great.

 

Regards,

[john_weiman]

Dear Kevin,

Snoepert is correct. The white cardboard that you can get at an art supply store helps you focus on the work. It would be far more difficult to work with the background, and you would not be able to gage the accuracy of the lines. Also, working each line on the ship allows you to adjust the tension of the lines, and makes the build more realistic. I found a wonderful tweezer at Walmart for just $5. It does not damage, or risk scarring the lines.

[john_weiman]

The rigging is underway. This is the first time that I have used the drawn lines on a cardboard to guide the lines. I like the way the rat lines are coming along. It makes it so much easier to get them straight, and with the white background you can focus on the quality of work.

[md1400cs]

John,

 

Regarding all that gilded metal work are all of those bits "right out of the box" or did you do some filing and extra detailing before attaching to the ship?

 

Regards,

[john_weiman]

Michael most are from the kit, but the transom was cut out for the window pains, and a thin sheet of clear acrylic was used for the window pains. The back detailing required a lot of extra work in cutting out the windows, and forming the transom. What was great about the fittings was that it is solid bronze so one could do a lot of filing, and bending into shape to fit using heat to soften the bronze.

[john_weiman]

[john_weiman]

Rat lines are coming along, but is a slow process

[Katsumoto]

Beautiful ship she is! Very wel done. I noticed difference in colour of the hull and the planks between the Wales, these are much lighter. Is that the same wood (walnut) or did you use woodstains?

 

great build!

 

Peter

[john_weiman]

Peter, I managed to obtain different color grades in walnut, and used stain to get the final colors. The blue is a mix of Saman water based stains to get the right shade I wanted. I never use paint on wood. The top coat is oil based from Minwax (Natural). Golden Oak, Ebony was used for the hull sides, and mix of Dark Walnut & Provincial & a touch of Mahogany to get the lower hull shade.

Regards, John

Edited December 8, 2018 by john_weiman

[vossiewulf]

13 hours ago, john_weiman said:

Peter, I managed to obtain different color grades in walnut, and used stain to get the final colors. The blue is a mix of Saman water based stains to get the right shade I wanted. I never use paint on wood. The top coat is oil based from Minwax (Natural). Golden Oak, Ebony was used for the hull sides, and mix of Dark Walnut & Provincial & a touch of Mahogany to get the lower hull shade.

Regards, John

If you're using stains to avoid the grain obscuration of paint, you might want to try aniline dyes for their much improved clarity over pigment-based stains, and with a kit of the basic primary colors you can make any shade you need. I use alcohol-based so grain isn't raised.

 

And by the way, your ship is stunning

 

[john_weiman]

Thanks I will look into it. Yes I always want to keep the grain structure of the wood. It brings out the beauty of the wood, and the natural texture. Thanks again. 

[vossiewulf]

Then you'll definitely fall in love with aniline dyes, it's what guitar companies use to dye their guitars because it doesn't obscure the pretty grain of their quilted tops at all. Another thing I like is that although it looks like it penetrates, it doesn't- the color is right there on the surface. So if you dye something and you don't like the output, a couple of minutes with sandpaper and it's all gone and you can try again. If nothing else it saves on test pieces.

 

I generally apply with a rag, wait for 30 seconds or so (with alcohol solvent things move quickly), and then wipe excess, I find you can get some weird surface effects if you just spread and leave it on. Repeat until you get the tone you want. You can even generally go back lighter by wetting the surface again and rubbing it immediately and if you do get some undesired effect it's also solved by rewetting and wiping.

 

Below is a neck radius sander on which I used aniline dye.

Edited December 11, 2018 by vossiewulf

[john_weiman]

Thank you so much, the coloring, and effect is beautiful,

 for my next build I will try these dyes.

Regards, JW

[john_weiman]

[Jim Rogers]

Stunningly Beautiful.

[EJ_L]

Beautiful work! Well done!!

[john_weiman]

Thanks E.J, I see we are working, and have worked on the same ships. Your Le Soleil Royal, and La Couronne look great as well. Also, what do you know one kit that I also have in waiting is The Royal Louis.