The vision is rounding nicely into form, Eric. What you have done there on the interior planking is to joggle half-plank ends into hooked scarfs.
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Soleil Royal 1671 by EDub (Heller 1/100)
- Thread starter EricWiberg
- Start date
- Watchers 7
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- Tags
- heller soleil royal
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2023
- Messages
- 15
- Points
- 58
My intent last night was to finish planking the inner hull of the port side... but there was a temporary lack of 0.5mm x 4.0mm finished planks. A trip to the hobby store today will fill the inventory.
I decided to add the anchor linings. I created a template that I taped to the hull. I used more 0.5mm x 4.0mm planks, glueing three planks thogether and four planks together forming two small squares of planks that I placed in between the wales. I then used the template to pencil trace the curves onto the squares (glueing the planks together in advance meant I didn't have to trace and fit individual planks).
The anchor lining is substantially thicker than on SR1671.1, and that is because the wales protrude more from the hull. The lower wales protrude 1.5mm from the hull, the middle wales protrude 1.0mm from the hull, etc.
As I look at these photos, I am not liking the very wide plank seam at the first plank below the bottom upper wale. I am not sure why that appears to be so thick, but I will lightly sand and fill the gap, then use a Tamiya scribe tool to etch a thin line in.
I decided to add the anchor linings. I created a template that I taped to the hull. I used more 0.5mm x 4.0mm planks, glueing three planks thogether and four planks together forming two small squares of planks that I placed in between the wales. I then used the template to pencil trace the curves onto the squares (glueing the planks together in advance meant I didn't have to trace and fit individual planks).
The anchor lining is substantially thicker than on SR1671.1, and that is because the wales protrude more from the hull. The lower wales protrude 1.5mm from the hull, the middle wales protrude 1.0mm from the hull, etc.
As I look at these photos, I am not liking the very wide plank seam at the first plank below the bottom upper wale. I am not sure why that appears to be so thick, but I will lightly sand and fill the gap, then use a Tamiya scribe tool to etch a thin line in.
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It's a shame the MSW site crashed, for a whole host of reasons, but among them is the ability to look back at your early work, when you first decided to start upgrading the stock hull with things like skids, for example. The difference in scaling, attention to detail, and workmanship is literally night and day. It's as though this model has been a kind of apprenticeship into scratch-building, and you are now a journeyman.
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2023
- Messages
- 15
- Points
- 58
Thank you, Marc. This is my third iteration, and it certainly has given me ample time to try and improve my skills! But the best teacher for me, has been poring over the magnificent build logs, whether on MSW or on this website!
My MSW build log may be gone, but I still have the pix... it shouldn't be too difficult to decide which photo is SR1671.0, and which one is SR1671.1!
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2023
- Messages
- 15
- Points
- 58
A milestone, of sorts... but there are many more to go. The inner hull planking and anchor linings are completed.
So, next on the list is to do the sills and stops for the Upper Gun Deck gun ports and the QD gun ports. I think I will leave the hull fenders/ladders for thr last step, as they are delicate. I need to drill a lot of holes around every gun port.... about seven holes for any gun port that has a lid. One hole for the lanyard for the lid, two holes for anchoring the lids to the hull (via fine wire), and four holes for gun carriage tackle.
I made jigs for SR1671.1 for these items, so perhaps they will carry over to SR1671.2.. otherwise it is simple to fabricate jigs.
Then... before the fender work begins, my thought process is to get all of the drilling and sanding and cleaning glue squeeze out and scribing touch ups and... ANYTHING that creates dust done and finished. Then I will give both hulls a bath in warm, soapy water and attach the fenders and ladders.
After that, I am thinking I am actually done with hull modifications!
EXCEPT.... as I think about it, since I will be fabbing the Quarter Galleries from scratch, I need to think how they will look and be anchored before I do any painting and glue the hull halves together. SR1671.2 started in December 2025... it's been almost six months to get to this point, and I really can't complain.
So, next on the list is to do the sills and stops for the Upper Gun Deck gun ports and the QD gun ports. I think I will leave the hull fenders/ladders for thr last step, as they are delicate. I need to drill a lot of holes around every gun port.... about seven holes for any gun port that has a lid. One hole for the lanyard for the lid, two holes for anchoring the lids to the hull (via fine wire), and four holes for gun carriage tackle.
I made jigs for SR1671.1 for these items, so perhaps they will carry over to SR1671.2.. otherwise it is simple to fabricate jigs.
Then... before the fender work begins, my thought process is to get all of the drilling and sanding and cleaning glue squeeze out and scribing touch ups and... ANYTHING that creates dust done and finished. Then I will give both hulls a bath in warm, soapy water and attach the fenders and ladders.
After that, I am thinking I am actually done with hull modifications!
EXCEPT.... as I think about it, since I will be fabbing the Quarter Galleries from scratch, I need to think how they will look and be anchored before I do any painting and glue the hull halves together. SR1671.2 started in December 2025... it's been almost six months to get to this point, and I really can't complain.