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

[Bill97]

As my shift at the “shipyard” came to a close today I thought I would peek at the stern plate before I clocked out. A good day today finishing the UBs and installing them to the hull. Finished up adding a bit of gold to the stern. 

[Hubac's Historian]

4 hours ago, Bill97 said:

Thanks Marc. Once I feel sure the glue weld is solid I will start the process of fine tuning everything. A little touch up here, a little gap filling there, etc. I feel pretty sure I am going to make hatch enhancements to go below the hatches as you did and I keep going back and forth on the skids. I know you did them as two separate pieces (the hull section and the UB section). If I do make them they will obviously just be one complete piece. Still not sure. Don’t know if I can get them to look as good as your’s. I would rather not add skids to the sides of the ship that look real amateur both in design and fit. Would rather maybe just add some rope or other idea going up the sides of the steps as I have seen other builders do. Will maybe tinker with some prototypes to see how good of a fit I can get. 

Hi Bill,

 

When I was making the skids, I used one of these to give me the profile of the hull at any given point:

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=carpenter’s moukding gauge&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1-m

 

In my case, though, the hull wasn’t yet painted and these pins would probably mar your paint.

[Bill97]

Yeah Marc I saw that in your build. I have the exact one you have (same brand). Had it for years using it in my furniture construction. Fantastic little tool. As far as maring my paint, I would probably need to scratch a fine line off anyway to get good bare plastic for the skid to stick to. Just can’t decide. 

Edited March 7, 2023 by Bill97

[Hubac's Historian]

That is a good point about having to scrape paint away, anyway, for glue.  You could also place a strip of thin blue tape over each skid location and then take a profile.  These days, I like to make patterns out of thin soda box cardboard.  Here’s one I made last night:

Once I cut my initial pattern in the cardboard, I saturate the cut edge with thin CA, then I can sand and file the fit-edge more like thin plastic that won’t disintegrate, until I have a good fit.  Maybe go through that process, once, to see how close a pattern you can make.  It might give you the confidence you need to go for it.

 

Be careful not to use a tape that’s too aggressive.  You don’t want to pull paint. Also keep in mind that, while I was accustomed to making patterns for furniture, I had never done anything like this on a scale model before this project. But, I gave it a shot, and it wasn’t as difficult as I imagined.  It’s really just about taking whatever time is necessary to work your patterns until you are happy with the fit.  One last tip: after you cut your pattern and transfer that profile to your skid plastic - leave the plastic oversize until you get the fit you want.  Only then do you scribe a parallel outside edge.  I just run a compass along the inner edge to transfer the shape, sans wale notches, of course.

Edited March 7, 2023 by Hubac's Historian

[Bill97]

Spent some time fine tuning the UB seam inboard and outboard. The inboard seam took a bead of putty I will sand and repaint. Dry fitted all my deck sections which appear to fit snugly and with out issue. Plan to fabricate knees and beams to support each. Also continued adding gold paint to the stern plate. I am painting everything with a gold enamel that will be gold when the build is finished. The decorations will later be covered with gold leaf. The reason for painting gold first is to hide any chipping or flaws in the gold leaf application. Also made additional barrel hatch enhancements that I will add to the bottom of a number of the hatches in the UB. Will need to see which hatches will have the bottom edge blocked by the channels. 

[Bill97]

Had some trouble getting a satisfactory puttied and sanded UB seam on the inside. If I had it to do over I probably would not have installed four belay rack (non nautical term) things in each side before gluing the UB in place. On one hand it was good to have a plastic to plastic glue weld, but on the other hand it made it virtually impossible to putty and satisfactorily sand the seam. I added additional strips of Evergreen between the cannon hatches in the sections that will not be seen because of decks above. In the center section that will be exposed I ultimately decided to cover the seam with a basic Evergreen baseboard like you would find in your home. A 4mm strip covers the seam and provides some additional glue surface. It will result in the cannon trucks being set inboard just a slight extra bit. In the photo the pieces are dry fitted. I will take them out, paint them red and then glue them in. That way I do not need to mask my deck. 

[Hubac's Historian]

The so-called “spirketting” or baseboard, was also my way of getting around this ugly gap.  The added benefit is that it is a correct detail.

[Bill97]

Marc you mean I am actually starting to think like you? 😊

You are finally starting to rub off on “Grasshopper”!  Karate Kid reference. 

[popeye2sea]

The waterway was a necessary feature to avoid exposing the end grain of the planking to standing water which helps to minimize rot.

 

Regards,

Henry

[Bill97]

👍 Who would have thought I would start thinking and reacting like a real model ship builder? 😀

[Ian_Grant]

11 hours ago, Bill97 said:

Marc you mean I am actually starting to think like you? 😊

You are finally starting to rub off on “Grasshopper”!  Karate Kid reference. 

Bill,  Actually "grasshopper" is originally from "Kung Fu" starring David Carradine in the 70's.  Loved that show as a teen. Maybe you didn't get it in the 'States....

[Bill97]

You are right Ian. Karate Kid was Daniel and Mr. Miyagi. Wax on and wax off. I do remember Kung Fu. That is where Grasshopper came from. Boy! You are taking us back a few years 😀.  I am just a bit older than you. You said you were in your teens in the 70s. I was in my 20s and just started wearing my Army uniform. 
 

 

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  There was a 7-up Kung Fu parody commercial in the 70s - Cola nuts - Uncola nuts ... can you choose wisely? (Kid grabs 7-up) ... Well done Weed Hopper.

[Bill97]

The spirketting us definitely the way to cover the ugly seam. 

[Hubac's Historian]

Yeah, Bill - it looks way better!

[Bill97]

Marc as time goes by you will notice ideas I took from you for additions. Hopefully you consider it, as I surly intend, as a compliment. Not Plagiarism! 🤭

Today, along with the spirketting, I also fabricated out of Evergreen the corner braces at the beakhead bulkhead as you did and added the bolt heads though you can barely see them in the photo. I have slowly rotated my turntable around and around searching for  any tiny paint touchups needed. I think I have found them all. Now to spend serious time on the stern. 
Marc I am still contemplating the skids!

 

Edited March 10, 2023 by Bill97

[Bill97]

Have a curiosity you guys may be able to answer. This is not important in my overall build, but is more of a sequence question. In my Heller instructions the next piece I add is the stern plate (correct nautical term?) once I finish painting it. After that I have many pages of other parts before I am to return to the stern to add the side galleries and the walk ways on the back. It is almost the last thing before I start going vertical with masts. I have studied the instructions to see if there may be a reason why I should not just work my way through the stern construction before going somewhere else. Since I cut open the side galleries I will be making small decking inside.  Do you guys have insight why one would not complete this area before moving on. 

Edited March 11, 2023 by Bill97

[Ian_Grant]

The risk of knocking the statuary??

[Bill97]

Ian that was the only reason I was coming up with as well. That and just the overall wear and tear on the beautifully finished stern. I will be adding a lot of gold leaf. 

[Hubac's Historian]

That would be my guess as well

[popeye2sea]

I ignored the instructions and completed the stern with all the decorations except for the lanterns at the top of the taffrail.

It makes no difference in the build order.

 

Regards,

Henry

[Bill97]

Thanks Henry. It does not appear to make a difference in the build order. Just if I want to risk messing up any of my finish on the side galleries. 

[Bill97]

Finished painting the stern plate. Tomorrow I will begin adding gold leaf to the decorations and giving a second coat of gold to the areas not gold leafed. I used Testors gold enamel over the Vellajo blue acrylic. As many have noted painting gold can be trying. Applying gold acrylic over the blue acrylic 

[Bill97]

FIVE MONTH mark in this incredible journey!  Loving building and bashing this beautiful ship. With all the knowledge I gained from you guys during my Victory build I am able to move along and make educated decisions with confidence. Thanks guys for your help, patience, advice, and friendship. I find myself waking up early each morning thinking about what I need to get accomplished today so I can get to my “shipyard”.

[Bill97]

Added gold leaf to the stern. Really like the way it is looking. 

[Hubac's Historian]

It really pops with the gold leaf, Bill!

[Bill97]

Thanks guys. I am looking at painting and adding gold leaf to the 3 porches (lack of better word) and gluing them to the stern plate before I attach it to the hull. I know I will need to carefully scratch a paint free line for each so I get a good plastic to plastic glue weld for each. That and getting a perfect placement of each will surely be easier with the stern plate flat on my work table.

[Hubac's Historian]

My advice would be not to do this.  Sure - scratch away your paint, first, before attaching stern plate to the model.  However, it is critical that the ends of the lower and middle balconies align with the quarter galleries, and you are far better off attaching the QGs first, so that you know exactly where the balconies need to be placed.  I know the QGs fit around the outside edges of the SP, but that is a joint that may require a little finessing.

[Bill97]

Great advice Marc. See, that is why I still need you looking over my shoulder. 😊

[popeye2sea]

I agree wholeheartedly with Marc. The join between the stern balconies and the quarter gallery is very tricky. It is best to mount the quarter galleries first and then match the balconies up to that. You can achieve a much better alignment. Once the outside edges are glued up, flow a line of plastic cement along the inside edge where the balcony meets the stern plate with a small brush to complete the join.

 

Regards,

Henry