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

[Bill97]

My mad scientist base design worked!  Look how minutely precise I had to drill through the stern end of the keel!  I could not afford to break through the edge of the keel or bottom of the hull since it would show above the pedestal. Drilling a hole through the keel at the bow end was not as critical since the entire keel is hidden down in the pedestal. A trying part of mounting the ship to the base was getting the hull level to the base. I had to add pieces of black felt to the port side of the cradle to make the hull tilt more to starboard.  At the height of the edge of the hull being out of level would not have been real obvious. However once I got up to the height of the topgallant yards out of level would have been painfully obvious. 

Edited November 20, 2022 by Bill97

[Bill97]

Any of you guys know what this part #266 is far?  I found it in the parts but can not tell from the instructions what to do with it. Is it just some kind of seam brace?  

[Hubac's Historian]

This is your main mast step.  There is a corresponding rectangle moulded into the hull interior, where this piece is glued-in.

 

Nice work, on the pedestal drilling, BTW.

[Ian_Grant]

Yes, it's weird that only the main mast extends to the keel while the others stop on decks. Not like their Victory.

 

Bill, your stand is beautiful. And the hull painting looks great. Looks like SR may eclipse even "Victory". 😄

Edited November 21, 2022 by Ian_Grant

[Bill97]

Oh my gosh Marc!  I had to really search for that rectangle. Thanks. 
 

One thing I can already tell I preferred about the Victory instructions over the SR instructions is the Victory instructions had a page showing you what sprul number each piece could be found on. If I needed part #52 the instruction page said it is on sprull #11 as an example. The SR instruction book does not have such a page. When I needed above part #266 I needed to search every piece on every sprull before finally locating it. This could be very time consuming in the future, especially when looking for a very small unrecognizable piece. I wish there was an online source to find such a list. 

[Hubac's Historian]

I am your online source, Bill.  I have the benefit of building the kit (or, at least starting to build the first one) some 36 years ago.  I moved really slow on that one!  This current kit build sat in my parents’ basement for some 20+ years, before I figured out what to do with it.  I spent plenty of time, over the years, looking at kit sprues.  There is almost nothing in this kit that I won’t immediately recognize - excepting for the kit-supplied blocks, which are numerous, confusing, and mostly best thrown-away.

[Bill97]

Great Marc. So that is how you spell sprues 😊

Not sure how I was trying to spell it. 

[Hubac's Historian]

‘Not sure I’m right about that either. Spell-check had issues with it, but I didn’t like the alternatives.

[popeye2sea]

Bill, make sure that part 266 is well secured in the hull.  Your main mast angle will be determined in part by its alignment with the holes in the decks.  I took some extra time to make sure the mating surfaces actually made good contact before glue up. I don't think the hull halves meet at a flat angle at that point.

 

Regards,

Henry

[Bill97]

Thanks guys. Ian I was surprised to when I was putting the bottom deck halves together and discovered there is only a hole for the main mast to go through to the keel. We will see as I go along if it eclipses my Victory. 
Henry I appreciate your advice on securing the part 266. I will confirm it is secure before I  cover it with the deck. While I have you guys here check this out for me. In the instructions it shows two capstains are to be placed forward of the main mast hole on the bottom deck. However the molded knobs on the deck that the two capstains will set on are to rear of the main mast hole. I don’t think that it makes a difference since they will not be seen but curious which is correct?  You will notice I have reinforced the seam with Evergreen. Hope that is what you mean. 

[Ian_Grant]

Neither is correct. As far as I know no ship had capstans paired across the centreline. Dafi had a post about this Hellerism too, advocating correcting to two capstans on the centreline.

 

But they will never be seen, or even used if you follow the usual practice of looping an anchor cable in one hawse hole and out the other. Don't waste any worry on them.

[Bill97]

Part 266 epoxied in place with a little piece of tooth pick to get it level. 
 

Will skip capstains and just loop anchor through hawse holes. 

[popeye2sea]

I agree with Marc. Heller does this to give an attachment point to each anchor cable. They are totally unnecessary.

 

Regards,

Henry

[Bill97]

Bottom deck installed. That is always a battle of wills. I say it is going on and it says it is not! We had a pretty good battle but in the end I prevailed.

 

 

[Bill97]

Would this be the best time to drill holes for the cannon hatch ropes?  Should I drill a pair of holes above each hatch and put a thread through each with a knot on the inside for later attaching to the hatch cover? If so I would need to do it before I add the next deck. How do you guys do it?  Got the cannons installed on the bottom deck. I sanded a flat spot on the wheels where they make contact with the deck to improve glue contact. 

Edited November 23, 2022 by Bill97

[popeye2sea]

My plan, I have not done it yet, is to not drill all the way through but to make small dimples or partial holes from the outside and then use short lengths of rope or small painted wire glued between the gun port cover and the hole.

 

Regards,

Henry

[Ian_Grant]

Bill, better check on gunport lid tackles - not sure if 17th century French ships had two lanyards or just one. Someone here will know better than I do.

[Bill97]

Marc surly knows. I will look at the lids in the kit to see if they have one or two lanyard indentations. 

[Hubac's Historian]

The kit shows two lanyards.  Girardon’s drawing if the RD1668 shows two:

Puget’s drawing of the DR1681 shows two:

Puget’s drawing of the Monarque shows two:

Two seems like a likely number for the lifting ropes.

[Bill97]

Well two it will be then. Thanks Marc. I knew you would know. 

[Hubac's Historian]

To be honest, I’m not sure what I really know - I can only draw inferences from the best primary sources I’ve found.  I like Henry’s idea about half-drilling holes and using stiffened thread or wire for the lifts.  If I were going to show my lids in the more realistic 1/2 or 3/4 open view, this would be my approach.

 

Personally, I’m going for the less realistic fully open view because I spent too much effort detailing the inner lids to hide them.  I’m only doing a single-lanyard haul-down, which is also, apparently, less realistic.

Edited November 24, 2022 by Hubac's Historian

[Bill97]

Marc I will need to get a better understanding of what you’re planning to do. Seems interesting. 

[Bill97]

Happy Thanksgiving to all my MSW friends who celebrate it. I am definitely thankful for all your help and support this past year. 

 

I noticed in the photos of the design I am somewhat following this builder went with one lanyard. This does not look bad or completely inaccurate. Marc do I understand you plan to display the lids fully open with the outside flush to the hull and one single haul-down lanyard mounted in the center?  Do you just place the end of the lanyard into the open hatch out of the way of a he barrel?

Edited November 24, 2022 by Bill97

[Hubac's Historian]

Yes, Bill, that is basically my plan.  I’ve secured the in-board end of the haul-down to an eye-bolt at the top of my dummy carriage blocks.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!  There is much to be thankful for, here on MSW, and I appreciate everyone’s unique contributions to the forum.

 

All the best,

 

Marc

[Bill97]

Marc tell me about the carriage blocks you have over each gun. It also looks as if you have made a means to fortify the bottom of your fore and mizzenmast?  
 

I completed installation of the stern section and rudder today. Required a little bit of putty and sanding of the seam but surprisingly fit pretty good. A little paint touch and it is good. 

[Hubac's Historian]

The blocks are dummy carriages that enable me to install the middle and lower deck guns at the end of the build; less opportunity for breakage and it saved me from having to make all of those extra carriages that can’t be seen, anyway.

 

Because I cut away the lower hull, I had to make mast steps for the fore and mizzen masts on the lower deck.  These steps enabled me to adjust the height of the fore and mizzen, relative to the main mast, which I raised by about a 1/2” higher than the stock kit.

[Bill97]

Oh ok I understand. Those are a lot of unseen carriages! 

[popeye2sea]

I might add that if you look at the gun port lids from the kit there are two rings molded on each for the ropes. They are at the extreme end of each hinge.

 

Regards,

Henry

[Bill97]

Yes Henry, I looked at them after our conversation and saw the two molded rings. There are also two on the reverse side I assume to represent the pull down. When the time comes to work on the lids (a year or two from now 😀) I will make my final decision. And if I use your idea I adding the rope later I don’t need to bother with that now. 

[Bill97]

The instructions interesting recommend doing particular task in an odd order, but oh well. Right away it has me building the top deck which will be installed obviously later. The majority is pretty straight forward. I have a question I wonder if someone could help me with. I have attached two pictures. The first is the full page. The second is the step I need help with. Step 10 shows a part #162. In all the other steps on the page an arrow shows where the part goes. In step #10 there is not an arrow showing where part #162 is to be glued. Can anyone help?