Conclusion and intentions;
Firstly let's look at the date on the box,1669.This is not Soleil Royal 1669 as built.The reasoning is that prior to 1670, French ships were built with maximum breadth (the start of the Tumblehome) in line with the stern counter. Post 1670 maximum breadth occurred (as it does in this model) below the lowest gunports.
Is this the first or second Soleil Royal? Initially I convinced myself this was the second version but this is where it gets a little murky.In 1689-92 the first Soleil Royal (launched 1669) was rebuilt from the keel up due to extensive rot.Is it feasible that that they altered the hull form to comply with the max breadth rule of 1670? In 1693 the second Soleil Royal was launched with many carving details carried over from the rebuilt original. You start to get a picture of how indecisive this starts to become.
The scale on the box 1/72.When the marketing video was release it said 1/65 but the scale on the box is 1/72?? Now given the planned alterations to my model, the only way to have a starting point is the height between decks dictated by the kits stern decoration which I plan to use as supplied. Working from this, the scale does work out at 1/65, exactly.Normally you would measure the length of the model to determine this, but in this case for either scale, the model is far too short.
The overall hull form is correct for the 1690ish period but for whatever reason Artesania decided to "condense" the length of the model but the cross sections ( deck sheer line aside) are correct for 1/65. Without going in to too much detail as I will be doing a build log, it is my intention to replace the kits false keel and stretch the model 121mm to bring the gun deck to the correct length.
So why I bought the kit? Well most kit bashes start with the kit hull and alter/improve the decorations.This is the opposite, the kits decor is nicely done, it is the hull form along with the decks sheer and gunport positions that will be corrected. In essence the kit's bow and stern will remain, everything in-between will be reverse engineered.
One final thing, built out of the box, all the decks are boxed in, not open as believed to be in the case of the original and certainly the case with other vessels of the period. This will be addressed in my build.
Kind regards
Nigel