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Latest Acquisitions Revisited!
- Thread starter tomwes
- Start date
The Soleil Royale kit came in today.
A surprise! It wasn't the Heller box. It is apparently the Heller kit, (I'm certain of that), but it is not the French packaging. I guess the Aurora model company repackaged the Heller kit in a different box with the Aurora/Heller name. I may have bit off more than I can chew. The molding is good for a kit that old, (Had to be from the 1960s or even earlier), the first thing I noticed were the rat lines, all 26 of them, must be made of thread from scratch!!!! They give you a jig that, supposedly helps you make them, (We'll see), but, it looks challenging as hell to me! I wonder what else is in store for me when I start it?
Here is a photo of the box, it looks nothing like the Heller box and I can tell it is really, really old, it's faded and even smells musty!
Note the manufacturer's name on the bottom right. The artwork is different as well from the original Heller box. Just think, when this was sold, I was in my 20s! I wonder how many stashes this has been in over the years and where they were? They also used the English version of the French word Royale. Soleil means Sun in French. The Royal Sun, I'm assuming named after King Louis XIV, AKA Louis Le Grand, (Louis the Great), or the Sun King, who was the reigning king of France during the era of this ship. (1643 to 1715).
Here are the parts, thousands of them! Looking at them took the wind out of my sails! There are several sprues with hundreds of the same parts. This box is about three feet by 30 inches! and 10 inches deep! You can see the molded black plastic hull at the bottom. It comes with vacuum formed sails but, they are so old, several are cracked. I intended to use aftermarket sails anyway.
I may start making the ratlines soon. I have an idea they will be very time consuming and I can do them while projects on Logistics dry of paint or glue.
Bob
A surprise! It wasn't the Heller box. It is apparently the Heller kit, (I'm certain of that), but it is not the French packaging. I guess the Aurora model company repackaged the Heller kit in a different box with the Aurora/Heller name. I may have bit off more than I can chew. The molding is good for a kit that old, (Had to be from the 1960s or even earlier), the first thing I noticed were the rat lines, all 26 of them, must be made of thread from scratch!!!! They give you a jig that, supposedly helps you make them, (We'll see), but, it looks challenging as hell to me! I wonder what else is in store for me when I start it?
Here is a photo of the box, it looks nothing like the Heller box and I can tell it is really, really old, it's faded and even smells musty!
Note the manufacturer's name on the bottom right. The artwork is different as well from the original Heller box. Just think, when this was sold, I was in my 20s! I wonder how many stashes this has been in over the years and where they were? They also used the English version of the French word Royale. Soleil means Sun in French. The Royal Sun, I'm assuming named after King Louis XIV, AKA Louis Le Grand, (Louis the Great), or the Sun King, who was the reigning king of France during the era of this ship. (1643 to 1715).Here are the parts, thousands of them! Looking at them took the wind out of my sails!
There are several sprues with hundreds of the same parts. This box is about three feet by 30 inches! and 10 inches deep! You can see the molded black plastic hull at the bottom. It comes with vacuum formed sails but, they are so old, several are cracked. I intended to use aftermarket sails anyway.I may start making the ratlines soon. I have an idea they will be very time consuming and I can do them while projects on Logistics dry of paint or glue.
Bob
Duke Maddog
Well-known member
Actually, that is the Swedish ship the Vasa, which capsized right after launch. Your Soleil Royal looks like quite the kit; that is an impressive number of parts! I have several sailing ships started; looks like I'll have to join you in a co-build Bob!
Talk about a challenge!
Sherman 18
Master at Arms
Is there any color photos of the Soleil Royale? 
Fantastic project Bob.
Fantastic project Bob.
yeah but they were polaroids so the color spectrum is totally hosed.
Heavens Eagle
Well-known member
I saw the kit you received Bob and it is going to be an excellent project for you! I built two Constitution kits from Revell, The first was the smaller scale kit which you mentioned. I also built the Cutty Sark in that scale and the Yacht America. Then there was the Kearsarge in a little larger scale and the Spanish Galleon which was the best of the bunch at the time.
Later some friends of my parents had me build the large scale Constitution with full sails and outriggers (extra sails to each side of the main sails). It was huge! Easily the largest ship I ever built. I believe that kit is right at about 3 feet long, over 2 feet high, and with the outrigger sails, something like 16 inches wide.
I will be looking forward to watching this build when you get it started!
Well, I hope so. I will finish Logistics before I start another kit.
Yeah! Scary isn't it?
No, it was built about 400 years ago so no cameras. There are debates going on about every single aspect to it. I believe, (Not positive), the kit was made from the length, height, width from old maritime records and paintings of it.Is there any color photos of the Soleil Royale?
Fantastic project Bob.
Hey Paul!
I was never aware that Revell made two scales. I was only into the tall ships for a year or so and then switched to military. I only remember both The Constitution and the Cutty Sark were large that I built, in fact, they seemed the same scale as this one. What scales are the larger Revell tall ships. Maybe they were the ones I built. I do have a Constitution in my stash. I just went down and checked the scale. It is 1/96th, similar to the Royale. No idea why I thought they were 1/196th??? Old you know!
Bob
Heavens Eagle
Well-known member
The 1/96th scale is the larger scale Bob. I later on picked the kit up again, but they reworked the vac sails to look like burlap, UGH! The original smooth sails looked good, but the burlap texture was horrid. There was a smaller scale for both the Constitution and Cutty Sark though they were still decently sized.Hey Paul!
I was never aware that Revell made two scales. I was only into the tall ships for a year or so and then switched to military. I only remember both The Constitution and the Cutty Sark were large that I built, in fact, they seemed the same scale as this one. What scales are the larger Revell tall ships. Maybe they were the ones I built. I do have a Constitution in my stash. I just went down and checked the scale. It is 1/96th, similar to the Royale. No idea why I thought they were 1/196th??? Old you know!
Bob
I found semi-cloth sails with tiny stitching to replace the kit vacuum formed sails. They sell them on EBAY and they are made in the Czech Republic. They also sell all the flags and wooden decks.
Duke Maddog
Well-known member
Nice scores guys. Way to go.
This is something I pre-ordered way back when I actually had some money. That was about eight months ago and it finally came in. This is the academy 1/600 scale USS Enterprise. I originally ordered it hoping it had the beehive tower, but this is the later refit. No big deal; I'm still gonna enjoy building this:
I got this from Hobbylink Japan. Once I requested it to be shipped; it took a total of three days to get to my door. Fantastic service!
This is something I pre-ordered way back when I actually had some money. That was about eight months ago and it finally came in. This is the academy 1/600 scale USS Enterprise. I originally ordered it hoping it had the beehive tower, but this is the later refit. No big deal; I'm still gonna enjoy building this:
I got this from Hobbylink Japan. Once I requested it to be shipped; it took a total of three days to get to my door. Fantastic service!
