ZHL Le Soleil Royal

Say--I thought I would pass something on which many of you might find useful. When it comes to deck planking I use white carpenter's glue. However--when it comes to planking the hull I use DAP brand weldwood contact cement. It's a slow process, but well worth it. You apply the contact cement to the plank and the bulkheads/frames (plank edges included). Wait 15 to 20 minutes. Then you carefully line up the plank to the bulkheads/frames and press it home. Once it touches--it's on there for good. I hope this info can help in your hull planking experience.

Andy from Kenosha
 
Finished the gun ports on the port side and started on the starboard side trying to maintain the dimensions from the instructions. I made a temporary jig out of styrofoam for both types of full cannons just so I would know that they fit well with the gun ports on the main deck. I also added the doors and planking for the wall that goes under the deck at the front of the ship as it seemed easier than trying to do after the deck had been installed. I also installed part 51 at the front of the ship. One thing I am wondering about is that there are 6 full cannons that go under deck number 30 and I don’t see any mention of them being installed before the deck is installed. Seems that they should be installed as it would be mighty tough to do once the deck is attached. 53BEABF5-3F1B-41B7-BABC-6BA5D0216D1B.jpeg877D936C-FF5B-49B8-A932-F2354DA0E712.jpegC6718BDB-A8A5-46E0-80FD-C93FE5F0CACE.jpeg0FF683ED-3AE4-4CB6-9FE7-ABC515DD9618.jpeg2D7C137F-778C-423E-B004-8E456D33CFEA.jpeg159FC0EF-90BB-4ED8-9B8C-EB1FCA4689DC.jpeg
 
I've reached the point on the Le Soleil Royal where I dry-fitted the bulkheads on the keel. The next step is to dry-fit the middle gun deck to the keel and the bulkheads--but how?!? I know where it goes, but I do not know the best way to go about fitting it in--I sure would appreciate any and all advice on how to do this--Oooouuuch!--I'm confused (must be early senality). I'm not working right now on the Le soleil Royal--I'm working on Caldercraft's HMS Victory. Same problem though--how to get that middle gun deck fitted to the bulkheads and keel. Oh--seeing this forum is about the Le Soleil Royal I hope I'm not out of line referring to the Victory.

Andy from Kenosha
 
Last edited by a moderator:
A.L. Thorsen said:
I've reached the point on the Le Soleil Royal where I dry-fitted the bulkheads on the keel. The next step is to dry-fit the middle gun deck to the keel and the bulkheads--but how?!? I know where it goes, but I do not know the best way to go about fitting it in--I sure would appreciate any and all advice on how to do this--Oooouuuch!--I'm confused (must be early senality). I'm not working right now on the Le soleil Royal--I'm working on Caldercraft's HMS Victory. Same problem though--how to get that middle gun deck fitted to the bulkheads and keel. Oh--seeing this forum is about the Le Soleil Royal I hope I'm not out of line referring to the Victory.

Andy from Kenosha
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You may have to widen the slots on the deck but your best bet is to do a build log where everyone can input information on your questions. Also you need to take pictures so folks can see exactly what you are talking about.
 
Jay said:
You may have to widen the slots on the deck but your best bet is to do a build log where everyone can input information on your questions. Also you need to take pictures so folks can see exactly what you are talking about.
Click to expand...
Thanks Jay--it did occur to me (after posting my situation) that making the deck slots bigger is probably the only way to take care of the problem. I'm somewhat new at this so I'll probably be reaching out for help often--I hope I can be a blessing to my fellow ship modelers as well. I'm not sure though how to do a build log. Does one keep track of the complete process and post it on a regular basis? When I can afford it, I'll purchase a computer-friendly camera. My son-in-law has one, but I would rather not rely on him every time I want to take pictures--I'll get my own instead. Thanks again for you insight.
 
A.L. Thorsen said:
Thanks Jay--it did occur to me (after posting my situation) that making the deck slots bigger is probably the only way to take care of the problem. I'm somewhat new at this so I'll probably be reaching out for help often--I hope I can be a blessing to my fellow ship modelers as well. I'm not sure though how to do a build log. Does one keep track of the complete process and post it on a regular basis? When I can afford it, I'll purchase a computer-friendly camera. My son-in-law has one, but I would rather not rely on him every time I want to take pictures--I'll get my own instead. Thanks again for you insight.
Click to expand...
Andy, you can start a build log at any phase. If your build is a wood ship go to the wood ship forum, at the top right it should say post thread. Go to that title it, example would be caldercraft victory, then just type away. As far as pictures, I don’t even have a computer so I just use the phone camera or the iPad camera.
 
Hi Jay I've been watching your builds for a while now always good to see your progress the Soleil Royal looks really impressive. BTY reading the BP logs last year inspired me to start my own build. Thanks
Tony
 
Tony H said:
Hi Jay I've been watching your builds for a while now always good to see your progress the Soleil Royal looks really impressive. BTY reading the BP logs last year inspired me to start my own build. Thanks
Tony
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Thanks Tony. You’re doing a fantastic job on your Pearl which I’m sure is going to inspire many others.
 
It’s been awhile since I have been able to work on the SR. Unfortunately real life got in the way and taking care of my wife is my priority now.
I attached the first plank on the port side.
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Next thing I did was to experiment with the color of the cannon carriages. There are 4 carriages that I believe won’t show so I wanted to see if I wanted natural wood or red paint. I was leaning towards the natural wood but the more I thought about it I am going to use red paint. I will experiment with the wheels next.

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I added more planking to the port side and dry fitted the two rear decks to see if they looked ok. I was satisfied that they did so I went ahead and secured them.
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On the doors I added hinges and door handles, also I finished planking all the decks.
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Although I am not finished with the planking on the port side of the ship I decided to go ahead and plank some of the starboard side. I will try to post more when I can.
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Looks good Jay...by the way, when you’re done with the “weights”, will that be the ammo for the cannons?
 
Nice progress always good to see your posts, one day I would like to build a first rate ship not sure which one but I'm not ready yet. I hope everything works out OK for you, you've got your priorities right.
Tony
 
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