Le Soleil Royal by having-fun - Heller

[having-fun]

I have started the build of a Heller Le Solei Royal, my level of expertise in building models is of an advanced beginner (LOL). I know I am unable to turn out some build at the level of some of the very well done ships I have seen in this blog, but I will do my best and build the ship as good as I can.

Attached are some photos of the hull, I am still in the process of double checking the hull in an attempt to find and correct any errors, and also to fix any paint details, once I am done with this process I will start installing the masts.

I intent to do my own shrouds and rat line (I may not have an option about this because the kit does not comes with preformed shrouds ) I am also thinking of doing my own paper sails.

Attached are some photos of the progress, also a photo of a sail I made as a training exercise to see how it came out.

Joe

 

 

[ccoyle]

Looks pretty good so far. Is it your intention to add updates to this topic? If so, then I can move it to the build logs section for you.

 

Cheers!

[Sea Hoss]

From what I can see, you are certainly at least "an advanced beginner".  Looks great so far!

[having-fun]

46 minutes ago, ccoyle said:

Looks pretty good so far. Is it your intention to add updates to this topic? If so, then I can move it to the build logs section for you.

 

Cheers!

Please do! but, also please tell me were is the build log section is located within the blog. Thanks

Joe

[ccoyle]

It will be in the third section down on the home page, Member's Build Logs, in the 1501-1750 kits section.

[having-fun]

Thanks, I found it.

I went ahead and look at the rendition of the Royal by Hobac's Historian, He did a magnificent work on the ship, I am afraid that my ship is not going to be as good as his, but, due to my level of expertise, I do not believe that I can duplicate the works that he has done. Maybe, after I have done a few more models and in another 2 years or so, I may be able do something closer to Hobac's Historian work.

Joe

[having-fun]

Hello there! It has some time since I updated this blog, reason being that I reached a point were, due to the confusing French instructions and rigging schematics, I did not understand what I needed to do next. Luckily, a friend of my that is also into modeling ships, had a set of Japanese instructions for the same ship that are outstanding in how clear the rigging instruction are, together with the French instruction and the English translation I now able to make sense of what and how things are to be done.

As can be seen in the attached photo, I am getting ready to start the first phase of doing the shrouds, I hope I able to handle the very small deadeyes when it is considered that they do not have channels on them to lock the rope in place. So far I have been working on the ship for 2 months, I expect the I still be working on it 3 or 4 months from now. Will see

Joe

[Baker]

Great work.

I made this model years ago and still have it.
was fun to build.

[having-fun]

The building of this ship has been a slow process, I have run into several problems, including mistakes made due to the hard to follow French instructions, another modeler provided me with the Japanese version of the same instructions that, being a lot clearer, allowed me to continue with the build. Then, when I started to do the shrouds, I got very frustrated due to having to work with such small parts, to the point that I almost abandon the project, but, I rested for a couple of days plus did some research in the Internet, that allowed me to find the solutions to my problems.

Attached is a photo that shows the completed shrouds together with its rat  lines of one of the masts, that came out fairly decent. you may also notice that I am adding ropes to the doors of the cannons windows. This is not part of the kit, is my attempt to start doing some customization.

It has been a slow progress, but I am learning a lot and preparing myself to do one of the very detailed fancy wood model.

 

Until next ime

Joe

Following is the latest photo:

[having-fun]

Here is an update. I have completed the lower shrouds for the lower parts of the 3 masts and added the rat lines, I also completed adding the ropes to the gun ports, installed the anchor and added all the parts that contain most of the bright gold color. In addition I added a small piece of plastic part to the area behind the figurehead, painted it black and added some hand painted gold figurines. My next step is adding the shrouds lines to the second mast level. Following are some photos to illustrate my progress, If I can say so myself, the ship is coming better that I expected.

Today, November 3rd, makes 4 months that I have been working on this ship.

Joe

 

[Kelp]

Hello Joe. 

Nice job working on this model!  I really like how you painted the gold.  What is your technique for painting the gold (what size brush, method, etc.)?

 

Don

[having-fun]

18 hours ago, Kelp said:

Hello Joe. 

Nice job working on this model!  I really like how you painted the gold.  What is your technique for painting the gold (what size brush, method, etc.)?

 

Don

Thanks for your comments, in regard to my technique for painting the small details, here they are:

Nice strong light

Reading glasses

A very small brush

And finally,  lots, lots of patience.

 

I did the painting over 3 or 4 days, and took my sweet time, I do not know the number on the brush, but I used the smaller size on my collection and one of good quality. I would only dip the end of it just to get it wet then very careful I painted the surface. It helped that the areas to be painted are raised.

I did the gold painting before I started to build the ship, I found  that it was easier to paint before mounting it, then just go after it was mounted and them did any needed retouching.

The paint I used is the Tamiya Gold Leaf straight, not diluted, it went in easy but, you need to keep it mixed by mixing it with a toothpick every so often. Hope this helps.
Joe

[Hubac's Historian]

Joe, you are doing a fantastic job with the Heller kit; it is difficult to build, without modification, as few parts fit together easily.

 

I really appreciate your kind compliments, and would like you to know that my project is the beneficiary of time; I have almost a life-long obsession with this vessel and my patience in building her knows (almost) no bounds.  The main thing about any of this hobby, in my opinion, is to take your sweet time - as you have, so far.

 

Keep on going!  Don’t be discouraged by the ambiguities and fit problems of this kit.  You will get there!

[having-fun]

On 11/27/2020 at 8:32 PM, Hubac's Historian said:

Joe, you are doing a fantastic job with the Heller kit; it is difficult to build, without modification, as few parts fit together easily.

 

I really appreciate your kind compliments, and would like you to know that my project is the beneficiary of time; I have almost a life-long obsession with this vessel and my patience in building her knows (almost) no bounds.  The main thing about any of this hobby, in my opinion, is to take your sweet time - as you have, so far.

 

Keep on going!  Don’t be discouraged by the ambiguities and fit problems of this kit.  You will get there!

Thank you sir for your encouragement, coming from some one with your expertise, is very valuable to me.

I have finally completed all the shrouds and rat lines, it took me over a month to complete them, although I fully aware that they could have been done better, taking into consideration that is the first time I do this type of work, I think they came out quite decent.

Attached are 3 new photos of how the ship looks after completing the shrouds, my next step is to start working on the cross members and their installation.

Well, until next time, were I hope to have gotten closer to the finish line.

Joe

 

[Hubac's Historian]

The shrouds look terrific, Joe!  Whatever my carving talents may be, all bets are off when it comes to the rigging; that will be a huge learning curve for me, personally.

 

I also like your treatment of painting the hull with the blue band between wales.

 

She’s looking very good.

[having-fun]

On 1/5/2021 at 5:31 PM, Hubac's Historian said:

The shrouds look terrific, Joe!  Whatever my carving talents may be, all bets are off when it comes to the rigging; that will be a huge learning curve for me, personally.

 

I also like your treatment of painting the hull with the blue band between wales.

 

She’s looking very good.

Thank you sir. On the topic of the shrouds and rat lines, be prepare to expend quit of bit of time doing them, they took me over a month because, due to the work been so tedious, I only could work on them for maybe an hour a day. I am a hipper individual, so having to so such a tedious work is very difficult for me.

The work on your ship is magnificent, but, I do not think that I would have the patient to do what you are doing. I do not think that I could expend several months or years doing the model the way you are doing it. Wright now, I am hoping to finish this model in 3 or 4 moths,

I saw another modeler who had painted those areas in blue, I liked it, so I went ahead and painted them also in blue.

Thanks again

Joe

[having-fun]

Ok, I have completed the preliminary rigging of the ship and getting ready to add the sails, as I previously stated, I am planning to use parchment paper for the sails, ( see a example of a sail made with this material on this tread) as to the color for the sails, I am playing with the idea of leaving them unpainted since this paper has a light shade of brown that looks like the color of a real sail.  Will check with the Admiral to see if she agreed.

Following is a photo ( not a very good one, sorry ) of the ship as it stands today.

Until next time

Joe

 

[kriszmesz]

It all looks wonderful. The patience was a good investment.  Keep up!

[having-fun]

I have started to add the sails to the ship, I originally stated that I was going to use my own hand made sails, but, after I painting them, they did not look very real and the look and texture of them were off. I had a high level meeting with the Admiral about the subject, and, after a review of my sails and the plastic ones that came with the ship, we decided that the plastic ones looked more real that my own, so I painted them then I did a wash and they came out pretty good, not having anything else to use, we decided that I will use the plastic ones. The color I used for the sails is deck paint, from Tamiya, heavily mixed with white for the base color, then, wash the highlights with the same undiluted color

Attached I have a photo of some of the sails mounted on the ship, they look decent so I have decided to use them.

In my next build, I will take more time to properly research a better material for sails. will see.

Until next time

Joe

 

[Jeff T]

Your “weathering” of the sails is great — it makes the plastic sails look more realistic, which I understand can be a difficult thing to achieve.👍

[having-fun]

Well, It is finally finished!!! I have completed the build, I had to use 3 different sets of documentation: the original French version, a Japanese.  and an English version. I will think twice before buying another Heller model!

I am fully aware that the ship is not to the standards of the more experience modelers of this blog, but, this is only my 5th old ship model, and the biggest and more complex one, I started on Aug 8 of 2020, today is February 15th of 2021, so it took me 6 months and some days. I have learn a lot, now I am looking for another challenger. Will see

Attached are some photos of the completed ship (without the flags, in my rush to take the photos I forgot to put in the flags)

Thanks to all of you who offered guidance, provide hits and guidelines, and motivation on this build.

Joe

I seem to be having a problem uploading the photos, I will try again later.

 

[having-fun]

I am going to make another attempt to upload the photos, here it goes:

Well, this time it worked. Hope you like them.

 

[Hubac's Historian]

Congratulations on a job well done!

[Baker]

very well done!

Congrats

[kirill4]

On 2/19/2021 at 10:36 PM, Hubac's Historian said:

Congratulations on a job well done!

Yes, My Congratulations as well!!!

[Heinrich der Seefahrer]

Great job you did... It is allways a great moment lookingbat a colleague finishing his SR kit with all its obstacles to the builder. Aaaand as after the model is before the model what will be your next project? 

 

Something like using your deep knowledge of the Heller's SR-hull and its tricky nature so you are able to do some part scratchbuilding by getting her transferred into an other "vaisseau primeure rang"? 

There is ROYAL DUC later rebaptisted ans REYNE/REINE? There were two drawings offered by van de Veldes a  typical and very detailled

 

starboards aft portrait giving you a good idea of the transom ang side gallery... 

and the fantastic bow side view for the "rest" 😁. But Cedetic is still doing the very same project in Belgium. 

 

So you. may long for something different. 

...by doing the job into a completly "new kid on the block" to all of us:  ROYAL THERESE or TERRIBLE? 

 

Building the ship as a hullmodel without masts and rigging will save a lot of time (as I have been told it is a complet other kind of model) and as you do like special and individually made models to work on - this may be the right temptation for you, may not? 

Edited February 23, 2021 by Heinrich der Seefahrer

[Chilliard]

Joe,

You did an awesome job on the ship.  I'm looking forward to your build of the Black Pearl.

[GrandpaPhil]

Congratulations!  Very nicely done!

[Bill Morrison]

On 2/19/2021 at 2:36 PM, Hubac's Historian said:

Congratulations on a job well done!

I second that!  Well done!

 

Bill