La Reale de France by Ferrus Manus - Heller - 1/75 - the Sun King's finest ship

[Ferrus Manus]

I went and looked at multiple other renditions of this model, and no one nailed down the paintwork on these two pieces. 

Anyway...

This subassembly makes no sense to me. 

I am used to making galleons, caravels, and other sailing vessels. It seems to me as though this deck should be flush with the hull, but the instructions clearly show this assembly the way I have it. More than that, there seems to be another deck that goes directly on top of this one. If so, why is this deck textured, or even there in the first place? 

[Ferrus Manus]

Don't let the deep blue and gold ornamentation fool you. You could almost always smell a galley before you saw it. If you ever caught the distinctive scent of human feces on the high seas, there was probably a galley nearby. This was because galley slaves and convict rowers were kept permanently chained to their benches- that includes to use the bathroom. Free crew members simply went over the side of the ship, as there were no heads on a galley. Even a large galley could only go four days without resupply, meaning long voyages were out of the question. A third of all galley rowers died within three years, mostly from disease. 

 

For that reason, I made the midships area of the Reale look especially disgusting. 

If King Louis was ever transported in a galley, which I'm sure he was, he would have been travelling in the disease-ridden maritime equivalent of an outdoor toilet. 

Edited July 26 by Ferrus Manus

[Ferrus Manus]

I put in the first quarter of the supports for the outriggers/oar benches. There are about 100 in total. 

They look to be straight, but some of them are not perfectly level with each other at the ends. I guarantee I'll have issues fitting the long strakes onto the supports. 

[Ferrus Manus]

The painting shows one support per oar, but the number of supports on this model suggest almost two supports to an oar. The overall lack of locator pins in such a complex model (where every single step massively affects all subsequent steps) has made me very disappointed in Heller. It wouldn't have taken them much more effort to mold everything in the stronger tan plastic, or design parts like the hundred outrigger supports with two locator pins instead of one.

The supports each have a square pin that goes into the round hole in the deck. Their HMS Victory and Soleil Royal kits, both of whose constructions are far simpler than this, are better designed. 

Edited July 26 by Ferrus Manus

[Baker]

This kit was designed 50 years ago.

back then there were no computers, no 3D printers. everything was designed and drawn manually first with pencil and then with ink.

 

each pin in your model means drilling an extra hole in the mold

each hole in your model is an extra pin or "ejector" in the mold.

 

in those days. And for this model count at least a year to design and build the mold, with a whole team of experts.

[Ferrus Manus]

True, but when I built my Cutty Sark model (1959) I had none of these issues. That being said, the quality of the molding is exquisite, and the wood grain approaches that of Imai standards. The golden parts are detailed very well, and overall, there has not been very much flash to worry about. If you can get around the Hellerisms of this model, you can make something that looks magnificent. What I do appreciate about Heller is that they have designed large-scale kits of subjects that other model companies like Revell have not attempted. 

Edited July 26 by Ferrus Manus

[Ferrus Manus]

The port side supports are complete. 

[Hubac's Historian]

My sense, Ferrus, is that you are a young person.  It is inspiring to the future of the hobby that people like yourself are taking an interest.  I've been paying attention to your builds, and your skills are, indeed, quickly improving.  I think you are off to a great start with this Reale.

 

Given the stated objective of the project - to produce a work worthy of sale - I would offer the following advice: you are correct that the filigree detail of those bulkheads could be a little bit better.  They're not bad by any stretch of reality, but they could be even a little bit better.

 

Please keep in mind that I am aware that MOST people would absolutely struggle to even approach what you have done, here.  It is only because you have EXPRESSED that nagging thought, that I am encouraging you to act on it.  When a young person, myself, this was a pretty gradual realization of what I had to do to achieve the results I wanted.  I have never regretted whatever extra investment of time, thought and effort that I have put into any given project, though.

 

My advice would be to scotch-bright away (the grey pads are great for this) most of the paint on these bulkheads and try again.  On this model.  On the next attempt at painting the bulkheads, maybe consider your brush selection.  Buy a fine-pointed sable brush, and practice your dry-brushing techniques for the raised gold-work.  It just looks to me as though your brush is a little too saturated, and that it's bleeding down into the ground.

Edited July 26 by Hubac's Historian

[Ferrus Manus]

Marc, you are absolutely correct in your assessment on the bulkheads. However, they are glued into place as they are, and I am not aware of a way I could orient/flip/rotate the model (nearly 3 feet) to accommodate repainting. I genuinely appreciate your comment and will repaint if I can figure out a way to do so. Perhaps laying under it like Michelangelo painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel? Hiring a mini-me at 1/75 scale? To repaint, I will probably go over the entire thing again in red and go for round 2. 

Either way, the supports are done. 

The figurehead is the head of a charging golden unicorn. 

 

The rudder is my favorite piece so far in terms of the ornamentation. I learned to come at the raised detail at a more perpendicular angle. 

 

 

Edited July 27 by Ferrus Manus

[Baker]

neatly painted 👍

Take your time and be patiënt. And you will build a great model. 

 

Some examples about mold making old scool.

Drawings.

a airfix spitfire.

a mold , the cutty sark from revell 

The large brush is the extractor plate of the mold. These extractors are sometimes used for the little holes in models. 

and sometimes cause the annoying round holes in the parts that need to be filled in

i went to school to be a mold maker.

and when i graduated in the early 80's there was a global economic crisis and i ended up at GM building Opels.

And so i started making plastic models 😉

[Hubac's Historian]

Admittedly, it would be quite awkward and difficult to repaint these details on-hull.  It is probably best left as it is, which is plenty good enough.  I’m sorry that I wasn’t thinking of that reality when I made the original comment.

Edited July 27 by Hubac's Historian

[Ferrus Manus]

Now, this is where the build starts to get intense. 

I built the entirety of the upper works subassembly off-ship, and it's currently resting on the stern. It will be glued on before progress continues. The massive timbers at the stern are intended to offset the weight of the humongous bronze cannons at the fore. 

Anyone who has built a Reale knows what comes next. Most modelers paint the filigree pieces at the stern solid gold, as was likely on the real ship. However, I plan on doing something different. I will paint the interior of the piece light blue, and paint the raised detail gold. This will be done solely to show off. 

Edited July 27 by Ferrus Manus

[Ferrus Manus]

This panel took me almost an hour to paint, but I completed it in one sitting. 

[Ferrus Manus]

The second panel took me a significantly smaller amount of time to paint. 

By the end of the 17th century, galleys had transformed from fighting vessels to splendidly decorated royal yachts. By this time, the galley had become a completely ineffective warship owing to its flimsy construction and small number of guns. Even a moderately sized man o' war could rip a dozen or more galleys to shreds, and they did on numerous occasions. It seems like everyone knew this in some regard- that is, everyone except for Louis himself. The last major galley battle had taken place over a hundred years prior, and since the widespread development of broadside gun batteries, sail versus galley duels almost always went in the sailing ship's favor. 

 

[Ian_Grant]

Unless the galley(s) caught ships becalmed.....in which case it(they) could hammer them from ahead or astern.

 

Like in "Mr Midshipman Hornblower"; a great book if you haven't read it.

 

Nice build so far!

Edited July 27 by Ian_Grant

[Ferrus Manus]

The stern ornamentation piece: 

 

[Ferrus Manus]

Looking at the pictures, I see a section of both quarter pieces that need to be painted. 

[Ferrus Manus]

The filigree piece at the very back is fully painted and resting on the aft timbers. The arch assembly is glued together and is resting on the timbers as well. 

All that's left to do on the stern is that, the figures on the back, the other, smaller decorative piece on the extreme aft, the golden screen at the break of the deck, and the supports for the awning. I will not include the awning, as I would like the detail to all be clearly visible. Immediately forward of the aft section is another deck with railings and the ship's ladders. 

The piece has a globe on the bottom, interestingly enough showing the Americas instead of Eurasia. James Cook made the first European discovery of Hawaii in 1788. That means the islands shown in the Pacific would have to be islands that were theorized to exist. This is the real piece: 

 

It depicts California as an island, as well as several supposed islands in the Pacific. It's clear they didn't know how far northwest North America extended, or what really any of Southeast/East Asia looks like. This is to be expected from 1694, and is obviously a product of an age before French colonies in East Asia existed. Overall, Heller has done a great job taking data from what's left of the real ship to inform their design of the aft detail pieces. 

 

Edited July 29 by Ferrus Manus

[Ferrus Manus]

For this next fiasco, I had to remove the port and starboard forward footrest supports, as I had installed them incorrectly. I had to tear them up from the frames, turn them around, and re-glue them in. Thankfully, I had used CA glue for the quick cure time, or this would have been legitimately impossible. Internet literature is conflicting as to whether or not 70% isopropyl alcohol is effective at melting CA glue. Tearing up the starboard section was extremely difficult, but achievable without significant damage, even after application of the alcohol.

But then I had an idea: what if the rubbing alcohol was the reason why this stunt was even possible in the first place? To test the difference, I added far more rubbing alcohol to the port side piece. It ended up coming up with ease in about a third of the time of the first one. 

I guess that's one way to prove a theory. 

 

 

[Ferrus Manus]

Here is the finished stern timber assembly: 

There are four figures that go on the stern of the ship: two angels blowing trumpets, and two figures of Triton blowing into seashells. I can either...

A. paint them gold, or...

B. paint them realistic colors. 

Which would be better? They would have been gold on the real ship, but then again, I have deviated from the historical paint scheme in several ways on just the stern. 

[Ferrus Manus]

I was blissfully unaware when choosing the paint scheme for the stern, that the extreme aft of the ship would end up being mostly light blue: 

[Ferrus Manus]

The painting at the beginning of this build log depicts multiple other figures, plus Triton and the angels, all of which are painted gold. 

[Baker]

9 hours ago, Ferrus Manus said:

Internet literature is conflicting as to whether or not 70% isopropyl alcohol is effective at melting CA glue

After working at a glue factory (3M) for 38 years.

Heated acetone has the best chance. Isopropyl alcohol certainly not.

 

But DONT use this heated aceton on your model.

Very flammable and very bad for the model 🧐😉

Edited July 30 by Baker

[Ferrus Manus]

The alcohol certainly helped weaken the CA on the model. 

[Baker]

Good job,

if you ever want to start working at 3M.

I will provide good references for you 😉

[Ferrus Manus]

That is, unless I had just glued the one side more poorly than the other. Either way, the problem was solved. I learned that most things that weaken CA also melt polystyrene (including acetone) but there was no visible damage. 

3M makes industrial chemical products, right? 

 

Edited July 30 by Ferrus Manus

[Louie da fly]

2 hours ago, Ferrus Manus said:

I was blissfully unaware when choosing the paint scheme for the stern, that the extreme aft of the ship would end up being mostly light blue: 

Ah, but the écusson de flèche and the écussons du bandinet turned out well . . . https://modelshipworld.com/topic/29846-help-with-terminology-écusson-de-flèche-and-écusson-de-bandinet/ 

 

Steven

 

[Baker]

3 hours ago, Ferrus Manus said:

3M makes industrial chemical products, right? 

 

Yes.

And

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/

 

[Wawona59]

Hi Ferrus, I've been following your build and your paint job on the gold decorations. You are doing a great job on the gold painting.  There are other options for doing the gold other than brush painting.  There are other options for doing the gold other than brush painting.  Have you considered using a metalic pen to do the gold?  

 

Several modelers I know use metalic  Sharpie marking pens for detail work

https://www.sharpie.com/markers/permanent-markers/sharpie-metallic-permanent-markers-fine-point/SAP_2029678.html

 

 

Art supply stores also sell chrome permanent marker pens.  There appear be several brands.  I found some on Amazon.  You could do a google search like Liquid Chrome marker pens to find more. 

 

Molotow is another brand of chrome marker pens.  I've used these and highly recommend them.  They offer various sized tips in gold, bronze and chrome.  These are permanent alcohol based paint.

 

Molotow Liquid Chrome Alcohol-Based Pump Marker, 2mm, 1 Each - Walmart.com

 

Amazon.com: ZOET 3PK Gold Chrome Marker Chrome Pen | Gold Paint for Any Surface | Gold Chrome Marker Paint Pen for Repairing, Model Painting, Marking or DIY Art Projects| Permanent Liquid Mirror : Arts, Crafts & Sewing

 

I hope this is useful to you.  

Edited July 30 by Wawona59

[Ferrus Manus]

I have considered the idea, but gave it up as it wouldn't look the same as paint in other places, and would likely run down to the bottom, ruining the paint job. The pictures show several errors that can't be seen in real life.