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Soleil Royal by Artesania Latina

koedec

koedec

Joined
Oct 15, 2024
Messages
36
Points
48

Location
Genk (Belgium)
I’ve recently started working on the Soleil Royal, a model ship project I’ve been looking forward to for quite some time. One of the reasons I chose this particular project is because of the incredible detail and beauty of the design—it truly stands out. They made a nice video on youtube presenting the model. Additionally, the kit is well-documented, providing clear guidance that makes the intricate work both manageable and enjoyable. I ordered online through the website of Artesania and was not disappointed when the box arrived. They provide a very detailed instruction with a lot of pictures explaining step by step how to build the model. I would prefer to also have some plans of the ship ... I guess there is a reason they don't provide these. Here is the result of 3 days work:

Day 3.jpeg
 
Artesania Latina's Soleil Royal is indeed a great kit, but there are many things you can do to make it better. If you are new to ship building, building a kit straight out of the box is very important in order to learn the basics in construction, but research and study will show you how to change things to make the model more historically correct and add detail which are often missing in kits. Just gathering books and research material to learn in detail the construction features of Soleil Royal is a hobby itself. Other modeler's build logs are the easiest way of learning ways of making the kit more detailed. You can ask the builder about details and why they were added. All of the forum members here are very helpful in this regard.

Happy Building!
 
A bit more progress made: finished the deck of the ship and now started with the planking of the hull.

Day 15.jpg

I’ve decided not to follow the instructions for planking the hull and instead took inspiration from the following video (link). My first step was to shape the ribs as accurately as possible. I understand how crucial this step is, but I’m still uncertain if I’ve achieved the desired result.
 
That’s a beautifully laid deck. Nice and even like a ballroom floor used to be.

It’s lovely looking wood. Do you happen to know what type it is? Maple?
 
Smithy said:
That’s a beautifully laid deck. Nice and even like a ballroom floor used to be.

It’s lovely looking wood. Do you happen to know what type it is? Maple?
Click to expand...
Not that difficult, the deck is made of plywood covered with veneer strips of 0.5 x 5 cut to size to get the planking effect (used a 0.3 pencil to make the planks stand out). I think the veneer is basswood but I'm not 100% sure.
 
koedec said:
Not that difficult, the deck is made of plywood covered with veneer strips of 0.5 x 5 cut to size to get the planking effect (used a 0.3 pencil to make the planks stand out). I think the veneer is basswood but I'm not 100% sure.
Click to expand...

Well, whatever it is, you made it look gorgeous.
 
I’ve made some solid progress on planking the hull of the Soleil Royal. The upper part is now complete, which feels like a great milestone! However, I’m not entirely satisfied with the section around the aftercastle—it didn’t turn out as smooth as I’d hoped. Thankfully, I think a good round of sanding will address most of the issues, and the second layer of planking should hide any remaining imperfections.

As for the lower part of the hull, it looks like it will be more challenging. After some consideration, I’ve decided to deviate from the kit instructions and take a more standard approach to ensure better results. It’s always a bit of a leap to stray from the manual, but I feel confident this will work out for the best.

Day 20.jpg
 
As long as the first planks are thick enough, sanding the ridges and waves out of the stern castle should not prove to be a problem. The first layer of planking is where you can make repairs and modifications with very little consequences. So, sand, fill, and sand the first layer until it is appears smooth when looking along the surface, removing all flat spots, hard linear bends, and bumps in the hull. The more work you do here, the better hull shape after final planking will appear.

You may want to use balse filler blocks at the bow to provide more area for the planks to grip to with glue. Securely anchoring the plank ends on a filler block near the stem, then bending and gluing the plank around the bow toward midships will make planking much easier. They don't teach you that trick in the instructions.
 
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DARIVS ARCHITECTVS said:
As long as the first planks are thick enough, sanding the ridges and waves out of the stern castle should not prove to be a problem. The first layer of planking is where you can make repairs and modifications with very little consequences. So, sand, fill, and sand the first layer until it is appears smooth when looking along the surface, removing all flat spots, hard linear bends, and bumps in the hull. The more work you do here, the better hull shape after final planking will appear.

You may want to use balse filler blocks at the bow to provide more area for the planks to grip to with glue. Securely anchoring the plank ends on a filler block near the stem, then bending and gluing the plank around the bow toward midships will make planking much easier. They don't teach you that trick in the instructions.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tips Kurt! :)
 
Almost finished planking the hull—always a satisfying milestone, but the last part is proving to be the trickiest. I’ve struggled to get the planks to lay flush against the bulkheads at the bow. The angle I ended up with in this area seems too sharp to avoid some slight warping.

I’m not quite sure how to handle this better in future builds, so if anyone has tips or techniques for avoiding these issues, I’d love to hear them!

Day 40.jpg
 
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