Soleil Royal 1693 by John Ott - FINISHED - Heller - 1:100 - PLASTIC

[John Ott]

One handy source is HISmodel, https://www.hismodel.com/. They have complete accessory sets for the Heller Soleil Royal, including Amati rope sets. This is a good place to start. Check around the internet for other model ship suppliers. The ropes you need will depend on how many changes and re-dos you decide to make with your rigging.

Edited June 15 by John Ott

[Kevin-the-lubber]

Gorgeous build and mind-blowing log. I haven't even reached the end of page 1 yet but feel like I've just sat through one of the best ever model-making tutorials. I made a silent promise to myself, a few days ago, that I wouldn't do too much reading as I find with model-making I am prone to paralysis by analysis, or worse, to thinking 'oh, that looks like a good idea, I think I'll just throw away the next year of my life trying to copy that'. But I'm certainly glad to have followed the signposting in Marc's log. At the very, very least, it's saved me from doing bolts and trenails 🙂. But it also sounds like there's a heck of a lot of scope for different ornaments etc - music to the ears here.

[Hubac's Historian]

Yes, Kevin - you are in for a treat, here.  I have found John’s research to be on a par with Guy Maher’s, and his info-graphic presentations are second-to-none.  Railroad modelers are also particularly sensitive to nuance and realism.  For all of these reasons, this is one of my absolute favorite builds.

[Kevin-the-lubber]

A treat indeed. Having read it all now I know I'll need to go through again and make notes of so many things. Off the top of my head the choices and application of paints and colouring is so knowledgeable. Very dark brown rather than black, decals over mouldings, I don't think either of these would have ever occurred to me, even though I've dipped a toe in the decals pond (without much success) earlier this year. While I thoroughly enjoy the extraordinarily deep discourse around the detail and history, this if of a considerably higher order than my level and I'll be content to simply steal ideas and learn a bit more.  

[John Ott]

 

Two different ways of visualizing history: Above, "La Hougue" (1692), painted by a contemporary, Adriaen van Diest (1655-1704). And here's ...

 

"La Hougue," by Benjamin West (1738–1820), painted almost a century later. All things considered, give me a good Dutch marine artist any day.
 

The subject is the British attack in which the first Soleil Royal was burnt to charcoal. I think it's a good illustration (pun intended) of how, when reading about historical events, the focus of the narrative changes over time—from what was more or less news reporting soon after the incident, to breathless tales of jingoist heroism in the decades afterward. It makes researching Baroque marine adventures both entertaining and frustrating. 

But we were talking about chains and channels ...

 

 

Being a novice at building large sailing ship models, I was stumped for a long time about how to make chains. Here's how they looked in one of my main references, Jean Boudriot's The Three-decker of the Chevalier de Tourville:



Unfortunately, I had mounted my channels and installed all my shrouds BEFORE worrying about chains.  In hindsight, I should have made the chains and attached them to the strops of the lower shroud deadeyes before tying on the shrouds. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I was now faced with making the long chain loop (and the lower loop with the mounts) and somehow attaching it to the lower deadeyes. Bending and soldering loops of wire was contemplated, but I thought it was a terrible idea to bring a hot soldering iron anywhere near my styrene model. 

 

I finished the shrouds soon after the start of the year. Another couple months were spent finishing the standing rigging while I wondered how to do the chains. Another couple months went by devoted to another hobby project. I got re-inspired to tackle the chains by reading Marc LaGuardia's (Hubac's Historian) ever-helpful build log and finding out he made his large chains out of thread, tied with surreptitious knots. Now that was an idea to emulate! Or so I thought.  

My model had sat on a high shelf for several months. I took it down and started examining it to make plans for the chains... but something else was immediately apparent and troubling. My starboard main channel had a noticeable bow in it, the center a few scale feet higher than the ends. The channels had been epoxied to brass posts for (I thought) durability, but apparently the tension from the shrouds had popped the epoxy joints in the middle. This was doubleplus ungood. My port-side main channels were bowing too, though not as bad.

I managed to (more or less) level out the main channels again with epoxy and wire-tie reinforcements, but thoughts of using thread for chains went out the window. My chains were not going to be window dressing. They were going to have to be functional. I didn't know if the remaining glue joints were going to pop with age.

This decision cast the die. Each long chain was going to have to be 24-gauge soft steel wire, measured and bent to length. No shortcuts.

I had a package of brass eyes, around the right size for the lower chain loops. Their posts got bent to 45 degrees and fit— sans glue— into holes drilled on the upper edge of the upper middle wale. The chain mounts were assembled from black styrene sheet, small washers I had on hand, and Tichy NBW castings, also on hand. The mounts were painted black and glued up against the bottoms of the brass eyes.

 

I used a pair of dividers and carefully measured the distance between the strap loops on the channel deadeyes and the brass eyes, then bent the big chains to match. Each was open at one end, with the two wire ends overlapping. I took out each brass eye (not yet glued, remember), attached the big loop, then held the open end open enough to fit through the deadeye strop. With the chain complete, I glued the brass eye into its hole. I think I got the large loop right-sized the first time maybe 30% of the time.

With everything painted black, I hoped the open ends of the large loop wouldn't be noticeable. From a foot or more of distance, I was right.

I still don't know what the rings mounted on the plank between the middle wales were used for. There was one for every chain, plus a few extra, spaced out along the ship. I made them with some tiny styrene eyes from Tichy and rings made from stretched sprue. They should be painted black but I'm trying to rationalize leaving them light-colored. 

Before putting on the chains, I figured this was the time to mount the gunport doors. I had them finished and painted for a year, waiting for this opportunity. The shells and fleur-de-lis on the interiors were both brass and leftover castings from the upper decks. The ropes were more soft steel wire.



It took about five or six evenings to do each side. But—chains!

 

 

 

Port and starboard aren't symmetrical. Never read where they had to be. At any rate, only one side at a time can be seen, so pffffft.

 

The mizzen chains are thread. Not much tension from shrouds there. Marc's idea got used after all. 

 

 

Now I can go on to mounting yards and sails. And reading more—trying to put together a good narrative for the battles of Barfleur and La Hougue.

By the way, I really, really hate that Benjamin West painting at the start of this post. 

 

 

In this country it is good to lampoon a marine artist from time to time, in order to encourage the others. ("Dans ce pays là, il est bon se moquer de temps en temps un artiste marin pour encourager les autres.")

De Tourville did not say that.

Stay dry.

JO

Edited August 12 by John Ott

[Hubac's Historian]

Excellent problem-solving and technique, John.  The chains look excellent.  At this scale, one has to do their best to find something that works for them.

 

Now, I could very well be mis-remembering this, but I believe all of those extra rings, interspersed between the chains and along the length of the ship, are there to assist the carpenters as they scale the sides of the ship plugging battle damage.

 

As always, John, it is a pleasure to catch-up on your log.  You always seem to have an innovative approach to vexing problems.

[John Ott]

 

L'ENVOI— Soleil Royal 1693.

It took me 25 months. I had originally figured it would take a year. Little did I know... but it was my first large ship model. 

When last I posted (August), I had finished the standing rigging and just figured out how to do channels and chains. What followed was four intense months of evenings and weekends dealing with yards, sails, blocks, and miles of thread. I wouldn't know where to start in describing it all. I took photos of the process periodically, but lost many of them when I tried to update the OS on my old phone... I needed the memory space and I thought I had safely transferred the photos... but oh, well.
 

It's not like I had anything revelatory to share. There are plenty of outstanding rigging jobs very well explained on this forum. Mine wouldn't have competed. So enjoy looking at some photos for awhile. We'll talk later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So how did I get here? If I had possessed any sense, I would have stopped the model at the point of having bare masts, but modeling a fully-rigged sailing ship was on my bucket list. It was all about experiencing the process, not the final result, that motivated me.

I set aside the Heller kit instructions because they were extraordinarily confusing and complex, used no explanatory nautical terminology, and were suspected of being overly-simplified. Instead, I made up my own sail plan loosely based on the Jérôme Hélyot drawing on his Malaga Battle scroll— topsails bent, mainsails gathered, topgallants furled. This was maybe the appropriate set for keeping in line with the other ships in the squadron.
 

 

 

I had help in figuring out the lines and blocks from my old friends Anderson, Boudriot, Petersson, and Marquardt. Those books were never shut.
 

 

Also very helpful was Admiral Paris's La Souvenirs de Marine and the plans for the 1690 Royal Louis.

 

 

 

I had gotten a set of sails, scale rope, and supply of walnut blocks from HISmodel (Hismodel.com), with more ropes and blocks in a variety of sizes from Dry Dock Models (drydockmodelsandparts.com) and Modelers Central (modelerscentral.com). I also had a supply of Revell 1/100 blocks left over from—believe it or not— a pair of Revell ship models damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake and subsequently stripped for usable parts. These made good approximations of hearts.

I did my best to keep everything organized and find-able when I needed it.



The deck furniture on the ship had been simplified, based on what I saw on Boudriot's deck diagrams. Also—as discussed several posts ago—I had decided to install pin rails. This gave me the opportunity to belay lines to the pins before I started to hang yardarms. I was afraid that as things progressed and lines multiplied, I wouldn't be able to get my clumsy hands and tweezers where I needed to belay lines coming from the tops down. So my ship quickly grew a ZZ Top beard. This turned out to be about 80% of the running rig.

 

The HISmodel sails were beautiful. I trimmed the main and foresails from the bottom for a slightly better fit. I first tried sewing on the bolt-ropes, but the additional thread made the edges look clumsy. I ended up gluing on the bolt-ropes with white glue. Likewise, I glued on earrings and cringles. Robands and reef points were sewn in. I used thin acrylic paint to stain some old sheet material with a high thread count to match the HISmodel sails, then cut out short lengths to tie to the topgallant yards (and sprit topsail yard) as furled sails.
 

 

The same fear of my own rampant clumsiness made me prepare all the yardarms with sails already bent before attempting to place them on the masts. I tied and glued on ties, brace pendants, horses, sheet and lift blocks, and yard tackles. Also clewline, buntline, and leechline blocks. Sails got clewgarnet and sheet blocks at their clews. All at my desk. 

The Heller kit didn't come with parrels. HISmodel makes a photo-etched set that works out perfectly. All the yardarms except the crossjack and the spritsail yard got parrels. There was plenty for all in the set.

 

 

I bent the sails starting with the mizzenmast and working forward. All those lines in the ship's "beard" got separated and routed through the appropriate blocks to their points of attachment, yard rigging first, then sails. Ties—lifts—tackles (if any)—clewlines—buntlines—leechlines and reeflines. Then came braces and bowlines. Finally, sheets and tacks. The mizzensail got brails. The studdingsail booms on the fore, mainsail, and topsail yards got outhaul and inhaul lines. Anything that had a knot was only loosely tied, so I could go back and adjust the tension later. When everything was the way I wanted it, the knots got a spot of white glue and the "tails" were cut off.

 

 

Unfortunately, when it came to routing lines and their belaying points, Anderson, Boudriot, and Marquardt could never agree with each other. Sometimes the routing made no sense on the model anyway. So my rigging plan takes a little from each and simplifies a lot. The biggest influence comes from Boudriot's diagrams and Admiral Paris. 
 

Lastly came the flags and banners. I copied Jérôme Hélyot's drawing again, and the national flags are the pure white of the French. Boudriot makes the point in his article on the flags of the Battle of Malaga: "It is important once again to underline the fact that the white flag decorated with fleur-de-lis with the arms of the king, which we see abounding in iconography, and in particular in most of the paintings retracing the great battles, has absolutely no historical reality." The flag on the mainmast is blue, indicating that the Soleil Royal is the flagship of the rear squadron. 

At first, thanks to adjustments in the clewlines, leechlines, and bowlines, I got the sails looking like they were catching a light wind, but the banners and flags still hung limp. I needed something to stiffen them. A coat of diluted acrylic matt medium did the job. After the medium was dry, the banners could be bent into appropriate wind-ripply shapes. I left the big stern flag un-stiffened because I want to be able to move it from side to side, always keeping it out of the way so that the quarter galleries aren't hidden behind it, no matter which side of the ship I decide to face outward.

 

 

So this is my last post for this project. Aside from a few touch-ups, I think my Heller Soleil Royal is done. I learned a lot in the process— a lot about how old ships were put together, a lot about Baroque history and the attitudes of that time toward war and art, and a lot about having the patience to complete a lengthy, complex, and demanding model job in an area of expertise I didn't know much about. Also got to discuss things with some very skilled and knowledgeable modelers who continue to amaze and delight me. You know who you are.

Will I be back with another ship project? Not soon. I usually get around to building one model ship every ten years. I think I'm good for this decade.

Thanks much for reading my log. I hope my misadventures have somehow either inspired you or warned you about which paths to avoid. In previous posts, I warned you all to stay dry— not this time. The water's fine. Get wet.

Au revoir. Dieu soit toujours avec toi.
 

Edited Saturday at 09:36 AM by John Ott

[Ian_Grant]

John, clicking on "Wow" just doesn't do her justice. She is stunning! Magnificent! Superb! If and when I ever get around to my SR I plan to copy your paint scheme tho' it won't be up to your standard. The modified galleries are especially gorgeous. Sorry to hear you won't be carrying on with another; I would have followed for sure.

 

 

[Kevin-the-lubber]

Beautifully done, John, and I hope you'll keep notifications switched on for when some of us want to ask questions.

[Hubac's Historian]

Well, John, what a fabulous and innovative journey this has been to follow your project.  I am as awestruck with this being your first complicated ship model, as I am with Marc Yeu’s Soleil Royal, in wood - also a first attempt in that medium.

 

You are a true artist, colorist, engaged and engaging historian and an extremely resourceful problem-solver.  Your execution is superb!  I often wonder whether Heller representatives look-in on these kit-bash projects and ever consider a re-issue of the kit in a more historically accurate edition.  If they do, you have created a prototype that the world-over would scramble to get their hands on.  In typical John Ott style, you have even created the box art for them.

 

I love your model for many reasons, but the totality of it, I think, conveys a strong sense of the magnificence that the actual ship must have embodied.

 

I sincerely hope it won’t be another 10 years before your next ship model.  I have really enjoyed getting to know you, a bit, and hope that you will stick around!

 

Fair winds mon ami!

 

- Marc

[ccoyle]

Wow! This model is incredible in every way. The painting is exceptional. A very good result indeed!

[Kevin]

Fantastic

[kirill4]

John ,

Your work just great !!! Fantastic !!!

Beautiful results!!!

All the best and another great models!!!