| | | Soleil Royal Museum Quality Replica Ship | Named in honor of the
Sun King, Louis XIV,
Le Soleil Royal was
one of the most
powerful ships of her
day. As flagship of
the revitalized
French Navy brought
into being by
Minister of Marine
Jean-Baptiste
Colbert, she was
sumptuously decorated
with wooden carvings
depicting a variety
of motifs emblematic
of the French
monarch. The taffrail
was embellished with
a rendering of the
sun god drawn across
the sky by a team of
horses, while the
ornate figurehead
showed a seahorse
flanked by winged
maidens.
On May 29, 1692, the
Soleil Royal achieved
its hour of glory.
With a formation of
45 ships, she
defeated the English
and Dutch fleets,
which boasted a
combined strength of
97 vessels.
32" L x 16" W x 32 "
H (1:115 scale)
Requires hundreds of
hours to build from
scratch (not from a
model kit).
Hollow hull/plank on
frame construction (a
painstaking process
where each individual
plank is added to the
hull one at a time).
Built with rare, high
quality woods such as
cherry, walnut, birch
and maple.
Amazing details –
planked deck with
nail holes, tied down
cannons, cannon ball
racks, authentic
lifeboats, 4 cannons
shooting out the
back, lainards
(connects the
gunports to the hull)
and more.
Handpainted the
colors of the actual
Soleil Royal.
The model rests
perfectly on a large
wood base between
four arched metal
dolphins.
Masterfully stitched
thick canvass sails
that hold their shape
and do not wrinkle
Metal anchors and
machine turned
cannons.
To build this ship,
extensive research
was done using
various sources such
as museums, drawings
and copies of
original plans.
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