Bishop Hobbies

4/13/2020  The COVID 19 pandemic is on and my wife and I are sequestered at home for the last 33 days now.  Tough times, but we are doing well.A rather longer build log of my Soleil Royal can be found HERE.

I have created a 12 minute video of my build HERE
Go to PAGE 1

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The finished pictures are HERE.

A few days ago I received this very nice wood ship model kit from China of the Soleil Royal in 1/70 scale.  It's advertised at 1/90 but that's incorrect based on the length of the model (41.4 in) vs the actual ship length (200 ft). This will take in the neighborhood of 2 years to complete.  Here are some pictures of my completed model:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some pics of the box contents:

Just an insert here.  The model is marked as 1/90 scale, but by my calculations it is closer to about 1/70 scale.

SOLEIL ROYAL SCALE
	FULL SCALE	MODEL	SCALE	MODEL SCALE
	FEET	IN	FEET
TOP GUN DECK		28	2.33	74.68
UPPER GUN DECK LENGTH		26	2.17
LOWER GUN DECK LENGTH		25.5	2.13
GUN DECK	174.25
LENGTH OF KEEL	151.25	25.75	2.15	70.49
BREADTH	47.00	8	0.67	70.50
RATIOS
TOP GUN DECK/BREADTH			3.5
UPPER GUN DECK/BREADTH	3.71		3.25
LOWER GUN DECK/BREADTH			3.1875
GUN DECK LENGTH SHOULD BE		29.66	2.47	70.50
LENGTH OF KEEL/BREADTH	3.22		3.22
KEEL LENGTH SHOULD BE		25.74	2.15	70.50
GUN DECK/KEEL	1.15
GUN DECK LENGTH SHOULD BE		29.67	2.47
MODEL SCALE=	1/71
LENGTH
		CANNON LENGTH	LENGTH
SHOT WEIGHT	CALIBER	MODEL SCALE, MM	FULL SCALE, FT
4 LB
6 LB			6.00
12 LB
18 LB		43.00	20.31
26 LB

 

Here are photos of significant tools I used:

Here is information and photos of aftermarket items I used:

These sails worked out perfectly. I ordered them from HiSModel

Hatches, rope, blocks,cannon barrels and cannon carriages I ordered from Syren.

The display case came from Houston Display Furnature – I can no longer find him on the web so he may have gone out of business.

Cannon barrels and carriages from Syren.

Ships boats from HiSModel

Flags printed on both sides from HiSModel

4 Atlas ship supports from Ebay

I got the 3-d printed laterns from Shapeways:

https://www.shapeways.com/product/FBPDDK5AS/1-24-scale-age-of-sail-stern-lantern?productConfiguration=69158618&etId=199020953&utm_source=automated-contact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=order-shipped&utm_content=2

Here is where the build is presently (4/13/2020):

4/15/2020 Adding the teak decking.

4/17/2020A few more photos from today.  I'm modifying the two poop decks to look more like the museum model. The two aft poop decks look just too inclined to me (rather too steep for the crew to stand on and function), so I've decided to make them more parallel to the main deck. The museum model also shows these two decks roughly parallel to the main deck too.

 

4/21/2020

I have been working on this and have made some progress….

5/3/2020 Current state of the build…

5/13/2020

More pics…

5/24/2020

I've now added the gun port frames, done some finish work on the stern, and planked the lower hull.  I next will do a finish sanding on the lower hull, paint the gunport frames red then proceed to plank the upper hull.

5/31/2020  I made a little more progress, the lower hull was finished with Gilders Asphaltum.  The wales have bolts sumulated with beechwood toothpicks.

   

6/14/2020 Some more photos to update…

A few more pictures.  I have finished planking both sides, but I still have a few upper wales to add.  I've shortened the keel height by half and done some more work on the stern.  I have replicated bolts in the wales by using IC-2000 carbon and rubber toughened CA and Aleenes Original Tacky Glue.

7-19-2020. Here are pics to show my current status on the build.

Go to Page 2 – HERE.

9/21/2025 This article will cover my build of the Kotare 1/32 Spitfire Mk.1a "Brian Lane".  I recently read the book Spitfire which was written and published from Brian Lane's notes while he served in the RAF during WW2.  It is a great read and leaves you with a real appreciation of those who were willing to give their all (which Brian did), to preserve the life and liberties that we enjoy today.  I am excited to build this as a tribute to him, besides which I love Spitfires – they are so beautiful.  The only extra's I purchased was the Eduard mask set.  Kotare is a new company and this is their frist offering. They are in Australia and are composed (for the most part) of talent that gave us so many fantastic WW1 aircraft – Wingnut Wings.

Here is a short history of Brian Lane, who flew this plane…

Brian John Edward "Sandy" Lane DFC (18 June 1917 – 13 December 1942) was a fighter pilot and flying ace of the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. He also wrote the book Spitfire!, an account of his experiences as a fighter pilot during the Battle of Britain.

Born in Harrogate, Lane joined the RAF in 1936 and was posted to No. 66 Squadron when his training was completed. Days after the Second World War broke out, he was transferred to No. 19 Squadron as a flight commander. Flying the Supermarine Spitfire fighter, he shot down a number of German aircraft during sorties to support the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk during the period late May to early June 1940. He also briefly commanded the squadron during this time. Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in July, he became the squadron's permanent commander two months later, by which time it was engaged in the Battle of Britain. He claimed further aerial victories during the aerial campaign over England. He was on staff duties for a year from mid-1941 during which time he wrote Spitfire!, published under a pseudonym in 1942. He returned to operations with command of No. 167 Squadron in late 1942. He went missing on a sortie to Holland on 13 December. Wikipedia

A permanent memorial plaque, organised by local resident Paul Baderman, was unveiled on Lane's childhood home in Pinner on 25 September 2011, 69 years after his presumed death. Wikipedia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The above photo was taken by Flying Officer Stanley Devon, an award-winning press photographer on September 21, 1940. This was at the height of the Battle of Britian. Visibly exhausted 23 year old RAF pilot Brian Lane (center), after nearly 30 hours of dogfighting.

So here we go.  This will be the first model I photograph using my new photobooth. 

10/5/2025 Further down you will notice that I've painted the brown camo first. I realized that this was too light (at least to me) and I needed to redo it a little darker – heavy sigh. This ment that I had to remask the green this time to redo the tan in a darker shade.  I am using the Vallejo Raf Colors Special Battle of Britan "Air War Color Series" for the exterior paint job. I had initially used BS 450, but since that's too light I've resprayed it with BS241.

10/13/2025 I've added the photos of the finished model.

 

 

 

 

 

9-25-2025 Here are a few more photos of the cockpit…