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Latest Acquisitions Revisited!

Bob,

That looks like quite the ship. I'm certain that if anyone can build it at 29+ you will be able to! I have never enjoyed building ships, but do admire a good build.

So, Build That Ship!

:capsmiley::capsmiley::capsmiley:
 
New stuff.....

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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).

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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.

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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
 
I have built the Revell constitution with and without sails, I did the same with the Cutty Sark many years ago, back in the 1960s. I believe those kits were 1/196th scale. about half the scale of the Heller kits which are 1/100th. I know exactly what you are saying about the sails. I experienced that as well, but, I plan on making these sails at an angle opposed to straight on. I also want to make thenm a stained beige/brown color with the stitching. They sell the aftermarket sails for it and they have the real stitching on them. Because I want it in water, rough seas, the sails would have to have been unfurled. Something as in this photo except with rougher seas and stronger winds. My thoughts are to stain the sails with hot tea, then use Elmer's white glue to dry them on a large compound curved surface like a smooth ball to acquire the shape I want. I believe this photo is an English ship?

View attachment 129624

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!
 
I have built the Revell constitution with and without sails, I did the same with the Cutty Sark many years ago, back in the 1960s. I believe those kits were 1/196th scale. about half the scale of the Heller kits which are 1/100th. I know exactly what you are saying about the sails. I experienced that as well, but, I plan on making these sails at an angle opposed to straight on. I also want to make thenm a stained beige/brown color with the stitching. They sell the aftermarket sails for it and they have the real stitching on them. Because I want it in water, rough seas, the sails would have to have been unfurled. Something as in this photo except with rougher seas and stronger winds. My thoughts are to stain the sails with hot tea, then use Elmer's white glue to dry them on a large compound curved surface like a smooth ball to acquire the shape I want. I believe this photo is an English ship?

View attachment 129624
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!
 
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!
Well, I hope so. I will finish Logistics before I start another kit.
 
Is there any color photos of the Soleil Royale? :silly:

Fantastic project Bob.
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.
 
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!
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
 
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
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.
 
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.

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.
 
Looking at those I should have picked up the 88, Kreigsmarine, and Luftwaffe books also. I thought I had them but I guess not. Oh well.
James
 
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:

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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!
 
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