That's greatI don't speak a word of French, but I took the time to translate this as best I could using a translator because it is such a great document. Thanks GuyM!
It took me a while to understand that "herpes" in French means "headrails" in English, not that particularly nasty venereal disease. . .
)) It took me a while also to find the English word for that French word))))))) Maybe it is because I was too fixated on that medical term)))Of course you can
) The more the information gets around, the less wrong things are said
Hi GuyHi
You'need to be careful when you get to the gun port because it is slightly curved and you'll need to separate the port molding from the sculpting around it; it would be better if you had an extra side to cut out a regular gun port molding which would be complet and straight...
If you need that, I might have two of my extras..
Guy - your ship is looking amazing. I was not, initially, sold on the idea of Royal Louis-style white gunwales, but you have made a very convincing argument with your color palate. I also love the overall impression that the mid-battery ornamental badges make. As many have said before, your research has been completely eye-opening for me, and I continue to spread the word.Why lion heads?
I only managed to finish one side through all that time because I kept looking for information on what that ship could have looked like in 1671; I ende up making a 105 page document onthe research...I had begun wit the idea of making a 10 page summary
This is what one side looks like...The document is in French, if you can read French I'll send it to you....
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so the Soleil Royal will become ''just another ship'' without all the false mystique which has been built over the years....It won't remove its beautiful look though...
I want to give this some thought and dig into my picture archives before I respond. I’ll be back.Great
By the way, I have a question which maybe you can be of some help; I noticed that during the mid 1660's and very early 1670's that the main deck (upper deck) gunports were square and all had covers, where if you look at any French ship from 1680's and after they all were ''D'' shped at the top with no visible lids. I have a very hard time beieving that they were letting gail winds and rain come in without anything covering them.....I have a theory, but it's only that, so Ill let you give me your view on that
Hi: yes, it is what I noticed too; I believe though that those ''D'' shaped ports came as early as 1680, as the the ''Ambitieux, a design made by Pangialo for Tourville, which was not built, had the top battery as well as the few quarter deck openings round without lids. Knowing that the Ambitieux, as designed was to be a long 80 gun ship with 8 or 6 lbs at the top battery, round ports were presented, but maybe not the first ones. on the royal ships, the top row being 12 lbs, the ports would be a bit bigger and maybe rounded at the top and squared at the bottom.The purpose, I think, may have been their change in the strategy while confronting the opposing fleet. I have read in one of the English officerS journal, when he served on the Royal Sovereign during Trafalgar, that they knew the French crews would aim their rigging as a way to remove the ability to manoeuver and being able to go around to find the weaker places. But that's 130 years later..... That led me to think that the strategy of aiming at the rigging and masts may have been born at around the very late 1670's and since a 12 pounder leaning against the ship wall ready to fire could be aimed at a higher angle than straight, what about the recoil? Would it make the end of the cannon already aimed high hit the top of the port? and therefore the rounded top part would solve that problem? but then the lids couldn't be located right above, and there is very limited room for positioning them in other ways, or even inside........With the rebuilt Soleil Royal we find round portholes.......And I still can't bring myself to think that the ship's ports would be exposed to the elements of the weather......
)))))
Hi; yes, but now I'm pondering on whether I will modify my ship
)))) I have a couple of avenues, but I need to look for certain things....And do the work without crapping up what I've done......
maybe it's because of the angle of the rear....In the straightened drawing, they seem to look ok....
Hallo @aurélien wolffHello, I don't have the kit (or material to modify it) yet, but since it's confirmed, I'm preparing the thread. My plan is to do my interpretation of the initial SR using the heller kit by modifying it quite a bit. The modification are based on the multiple thread/document I found while doing research on the ship, both in english and in french. They include adding 2 canon on the stern post, windows on the stern facade (3 on each side with a space between as royal louis description from gallica), ornaments like fleurs de lys on the stern, beakhead bulkhead and lid, replacement of the figurehead by another corresponding with description of the time (will be done partly in milliput and bits from the kit sculpture reproduce in resin), enlarging the rear to fit the windows, opening the quarter galleries (keeping the heller one since it's fine for a initial SR too).
For the colors, I'm planning on doing the hull white as a whole with blue on the stern and forecastle (I intend to have the beakhead bulkhead in white and blue to have continuity with the hull colors, what do you think?). Black will be used for the waterline and the ornaments/sculpture will be a mix of ocre and gold using what Guy M said in his 104 pages document. I'll add touches of red too.
This one will take quite some time, I'm a slow builder but I still intend to ahve a (at least) decent result with this kit. When I'll got it, I'll do Hubac drawing approach (on paper) and use paint to schelatize my modification and colors.
Edit: I forgot to add thanks to everyone who answered my questions in other soleil royal related threads, the answers will help me do mine.
