Build Log - Heller 1:100 Scale Le Soleil Royal

[Murph]

She's arrived at 8:30 this morning couldn't believe the size of the box ,, Jesus it's huge !!!! Made wooden base for stand from an old shelf , made up the kit stand and attached it to base with wood screws , painted wood base matt black and kit stand gold , looks superb , not swore once all day whilst making hull up , which is unusual for me when I'm modelling. Made up figurehead and amazed meself at the grand paint job I made of it , paid €22 for a 10 set of quality brushes and they do make a difference , squirrel hair apparently , poor squirrels Very pleased with progress so far , drank far too much tea and ordered correct paint from a very good model shop in Dublin who does overnight delivery , watch this space

 

[Uwek]

Happy to see, that you started the building log - I will follow with big interest
So let the descriptions and photos coming - as often as possible

 

[GuyM]

Hi; will you be building it as the kit is or will you go into the crazy world of modifying it?))))))))))

 

[rick robbins]

Can't wait to see this!! I've been debating whether or not to purchase & build it myself! For 6 years now! haha

Rick1011

 

[Murph]

GuyM probably will do some bits n pieces extra , I have loads of stuff to do something. One thing I've decided on though is to install lighting including some flickering candle lights from Artesania Latina.

 

[Murph]

Rick , Just do it , only had it a few days and hooked already , really well made and a dream to put together , also comes with rigging tool. Think some of the older ones had different coloured frets but this one has all the same colour , so everything needs painting. ( Irish accent .... Ahh gawan ye know ye want ta )

 

[Murph]

OK , lessons learned since starting the build

1. Don't remove ANY parts from frets until painted and dried , specially the small ones.
2. A burnt umber coloured wash over a beige colour paint looks superb ( Pics soon I promise)
3. If it can be dropped on the floor it will be.
4. 3 hours to paint 4 frets of cannons , cannon carriages , wheels , and cannon mounts was worth the effort.
5. Don't put pieces in a "Safe Place" you'll never find them
6. Never , repeat never , let your cat any where near the modelling tools, our Paddy took off with tube of acrylic paint , now has red teeth !!

 

[GuyM]

I went a little far in terms of modifications....And I'm not the only one who did something different to it)))))))))))
I'm just curious what is your view on what it should look like from your plan)))

 

[Murph]

GuyM not all that much in the way of modifications apart from lighting , probably just get ideas from youtube videos and the like. One other thing I'll be adding a few figures and changing her name to "Grace O'Malley" just because I can lol. There's a girl in America runs a sideline called Callie Graphics , callie@callie-graphics.com , send her the scale , dimensions , font required and a few pics and leave her to it. Had stuff sone by her before and she does an amazing job. Grace O' Malley was a notorious Irish Pirate who asked Englands Queen Victoria for a meeting and was refused , so she got her crew together , set sail for England and sailed right up the River Thames to ask why.

 

[GuyM]

Hmmm... That will be very interesting)) What kind of figurehead will you have made?

 

[Kloosterbroeder]

I am doubting two years to build this kit. Especially the painting seems very difficult. Is that true?

 

[GuyM]

If you have never built any kit, yes it can be challenging in some areas of it, but if you have built some kits, whether cars or planes or ships, and if you take the required time to be careful, it isn't any worse than other kits. What is nice about it is since there is no truely documented
exact version of it, it is possible to do your own version. I have made much research into the ship, and made a document from which I am making mine, but there is still a lot of possibilities from heavy modifications, to a much closer ''out of the box'' version and all versions in between))

 

[Kloosterbroeder]

If you have never built any kit, yes it can be challenging in some areas of it, but if you have built some kits, whether cars or planes or ships, and if you take the required time to be careful, it isn't any worse than other kits. What is nice about it is since there is no truely documented
exact version of it, it is possible to do your own version. I have made much research into the ship, and made a document from which I am making mine, but there is still a lot of possibilities from heavy modifications, to a much closer ''out of the box'' version and all versions in between))

Thanks for the encouraging words.

 

[Murph]

Hope these get through ????

 

[Murph]

Having problems with importing photos from mobile phone , bear with me !!!

 

[GuyM]

Hi; So, why are the cannons red?

 

[Murph]

 

[Murph]

GuyM they're not red its acrylic brass , must be the flash off the camera lol

 

[GuyM]

Ah; but you are the one who said you wanted them red))) anyway) are you planning on adding some ''greenish'' corrosion on them?

 

[Murph]

A few more , really pleased with the gold detail on the upper sides thanks to a 0.07mm fine acrylic paint pen. Bottom of hull done with a thin wash of cocoa brown then a wash of burnt umber , really shows up the planking , all decks now on and detail work ongoing , cannons were a pain in the a**e coming unstuck with liquid poly so they had the precision superglue treatment , that'll teach 'em to play me up. Really enjoying the build so far. Sláinté ..... Murph