Le Soleil Royal by Bill97 - FINISHED - Heller - 1/100

[Bill97]

Kirill4 yes she is just going to sculpt one to the exact shape we want than I will make a mold of it from which I will cast numerous copies. 

[kirill4]

 Oh! Bill! while I was trying to make readable text in google translator , You already answered my questions!!! :))) ... look at my modified previous message - about reproductions...It will very interesting to know your opinion about if we could to use that stuff which Doris use for making her decorations , for making sample for further reproduction copies  in resin ?

[Bill97]

Kirill4 I use these two products I purchase online. Both use two separate components mixed together. One forms a clay like mixture I press the carved piece into to make the mold. The other product makes a resin like substance I pour into the mold. It sets up in 24 hours. Then I remove it from the mold and trim off any remaining excess. Then they are ready to attach to model. 

[kirill4]

Thanks Bill ,

It looks as they are what I need as well !   need to buy them 

[Bill97]

You guys are a bad influence on me, or probably more honestly a good influence.  As I continue to look at your work it encourages me to do my best work. Either because I am impressed with your work and want to emulate it, or I expect a scolding from you guys if I half step task and don’t do it to the standard you know I can. 😀

At any rate the more I looked at the enhancement I cast and put on the beakhead bulkhead the less satisfied I was with it. So I removed the unsatisfactory piece, sanded and repainted the area under it, cast a better new one, and attached it, and added gold leaf. I think it looks better than the first go round. Also added tiny fluer-de-leies above the middle rail and above the doors. 

 

Edited January 22, 2023 by Bill97

[Ian_Grant]

Mon Dieu!  Bravo mon ami!

[Hubac's Historian]

This is a vast improvement.  Completely eliminating the background is critically important to a good presentation.

[Bill97]

Thanks my friends. I knew I could do better. My first cast was just too thick. 

[Veszett Roka]

On 1/20/2023 at 10:50 PM, Bill97 said:

University art student granddaughter working on my hatch enhancement prototypes

I'd marry her! 😊

[Bill97]

Veszett I don’t know if she would move to Budapest but I will check with her 😀.

[popeye2sea]

Really nice job on the casting!

 

Regards,

Henry

[Bill97]

Thanks Henry. That Easy Mold works great. Glad I saw it in your build. 

[Bill97]

Guys does this enhancement look to big by scale?  This is our first close to being there prototype.  I, and granddaughter, did not make wider than the opening because I did not want it to blend in with the molded enhancements already between the hatches. Marc I have no idea how you got yours so small. I am thinking this still may be a bit heavy. Or would you be almost satisfied?

[kirill4]

Good day Bill,

What do You use for gilding of your figures ? 

All The Best!

Kirill

[Hubac's Historian]

I think what I would try and do here is cope a closer fit between the rounded top of the port framing, and the underside of the ornament.  Then, I would refine the cyma curves to either side of the central cartouche, making them a little thinner at the top curve, reducing gently into the lower reverse curve.  You could also probably reduce the central cartouche a little bit as well, making sure to maintain a nice crease where the arcs fold into it, if that makes sense.  Maybe give that a go and see where you end up.  I agree that they look a little heavy.

[Bill97]

Kirill4 I use gold leaf. 

[Bill97]

Thanks Marc for your advice. Don’t tell anyone but I had to google what cyma curves and cartouche are 🤔.

[kirill4]

Thanks Bill for reply , clear - gold leaf.

All the Best!

Kirill

[Bill97]

Kirill4 any of these will work. 

[kirill4]

Thanks Bill ! I see , now is clear, must be good stuff!

[Bill97]

Next, I decided to thicken the cap rail by a heavy 1/32”, in order to give the rails better scale.  As they are, they only scale up to about 6-7”, without including the rounded exterior moulding. 
 

Marc reading way back in your build in the section about making thickening the cap rails you say by a heavy 1/32”. In the photos you included in the comments the white styrene looks about twice that thickness, maybe 1/16”?

Edited January 26, 2023 by Bill97

[Hubac's Historian]

Nope.  The thickness of the material I used is actually .030 - so, a shy 1/32”.

 

1/16” would be too heavy seeming.  I thought you had already made this modification, Bill.  Am I confusing something, here?

Edited January 26, 2023 by Hubac's Historian

[Bill97]

No Marc I have already done it but when I was reading through your build again to pick up other thoughts I ran across that section again and wondered if I made mine to thick. I checked back and in my comment #280 you do clearly say the thickness you used and I am confident I followed your advice. Will need to stop by the “ship yard” and measure mine again this morning. I seem to remember gluing a .020 and a .010 together since I did not have .030. I think I am good. 
I was thinking the other day you should publish your blog with an index once you finish. Would be a valuable asset. 😊

[Hubac's Historian]

.030 is good.  I looked back on post #292, and what you did looked picture-perfect to my eyes.

 

At some point in the future, I will write a book about SR, but not the about the Heller kit, in particular.

 

It is my belief that from the Album de Colbert, Dassie’s Architecture Navale (1677), as well as the Le Have du Grace survey of Soleil Royal (prior to her refit), and also the detailed accounting of the re-build estimate, that one can re-construct a credible hull form and interior configuration for SR as she first was in 1670.  I am busily translating Dassie, at the moment, in an effort to better understand how, exactly, shipwrights of the time arrived at the proportions for all the various elements of a ship.  It is slow-going, but many things become clearer to me each day.

 

This book would include much of my research and observations about surviving contemporary documents and portraiture.  It is a big project that will engage me for decades to come.

[Bill97]

That will be an impressive read Marc. Currently I find myself thinking “what was it I remember Marc did there?”, and then scrolling through your 70 pages until I find it. I have started making notes of particular pages  I want to be able to refer back to for specific tasks. 

[Bill97]

Marc speaking of the cap rail, what did you do in the section I am pointing to in the picture?  I had evergreen there. But when I put the rigging apparatus (sure it has a nautical name) in it pressed up against the added evergreen. Had to remove that short piece to get a good fit. 

[Hubac's Historian]

I used a sanding stick on the backside of the Kevel ears to make a little extra space for the lines to belay.

[Bill97]

Ok so kept the evergreen there and just sanded it thinner to make a little extra room for lines?  I had the full .030 width there and just now cut it out. I think I will now return a piece of .020 in place and blend it smoothly to .030 next to it. Or should I replace it with a piece of .010?  Hummm, will have to see which offers the best option for rigging the lines. 
Thanks again Marc. 
 

Biill

[popeye2sea]

Bill, 

Please consider how thick the line is that will belay there.  I do not recall which line this kevel belongs too, but the kevels are used for the larger running rigging and you will need to put at least two turns of rope around each ear of the kevel.

 

Regards,

Henry

[Bill97]

Thanks Henry. I will refer to the rigging instructions to see if I can determine how much space I need.