Click on any images to see a larger picture. Courtesy of Bruce Bollenbach, I have the following historical notes about the Royal Louis:

The Royal Louis, from the book A History of the French Navy by E. H. Jenkins, was an Admiralty ship of the French navy, and she was attached to the Americans where she put in an appearance on what is now our east coast for a show of support. She did not actually see action in this operation.

The Royal Louis took part in the attack on Gibraltar in September 1782. She was renamed the Sans-Culottes, for a while then renamed again to the Republicain during the American Revolution.

As the Republicain, she took part in the battle of the Thirteenth Prairail (Glorious First of June) in 1794. She was ultimately wrecked in the Brest roadstead owing to faulty gear.

The model is a heavily modified Mamoli kit, made in Italy, and is based on the scant historical information available about the vessel. She was known to have been a first rate of 120 guns, and she carried an Admiral on board. The model is an attempt to be consistent with the usual appearance of a French warship, of her size and armament, of that era.

The construction of the model is “plank on bulkhead,” which is a series of plywood bulkheads glued to a “keel piece,” also of plywood, which is then planked and finished off to appear as the real ship. The bulkheads were not accurately cut in the kit, and were corrected after fillers of hard wood were glued between them for increased stability. The hull is doubly planked, first with inexpensive wood, and finally with walnut. The walnut planking is pegged with “tree nails” (trennels) made of 0.020" walnut. The yellow planking between her many gun ports is probably lemonwood (referred to as “boxwood” and supplied in the kit).

The decks are planked in gumwood, and tree nailed with bamboo. This replaces the “Tanganyika,” which was in the kit, and far out of scale. The poop deck has beneath it several metal bulkheads from the kit are installed in the stern after glazing with 0.005" celluloid and painting. The balconies of the stern and quarter galleries are of similar materials. The painting was modified after it was in place by using artist’s oils in dark colors (burnt umber and variants) in very thin dilution as an aging wash. This accentuates detail and softens the otherwise overly bright colors. The arch, which forms the aft and upper extent of the stern structure, was scratch-built, replacing the castings in the kit. The decorative figures were carved in boxwood with small burrs, and the figurehead was carved as well, replacing the castings in the kit.

All of the deck structures area scratch-built, mostly from cherry. The hatches in the kit were completely out of scale, and were replaced by scratch-built cherry ones. The ships boats, the three dories, are made similarly from scratch, by emulating actual boat construction, plank on frames. The rails were scratch-built, replacing the metal castings in the kit. The head rails were completely redesigned and made from beech, steam-bent and laminated, as well as pegged with bamboo trennels to the hull. The redesign was done to more closely emulate the prevailing construction of French ships of the time, and this, as well as many other features are patterned after the work of Boudriot, Karl-Heinz Marquardt and Bernard Frölich, departing from the kit, which I felt was inaccurate in many instances.

The masts were made from lemon wood (degame), shaped with a thumb file from square stock. The tops replaced those in the kit (which were 1/16" plywood) and were made from half-lapped 1/16” beech, patterned after those made in the day, and using material from Lees’ Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War. The dimensions of the tops were taken from the plans in the kit.

The standing rigging, most of which is in place, has been made from linen and Egyptian cotton rope made on a ropewalk, and was colored with Minwax Jacobean Stain, which emulates the color of Stockholm tar, commonly used to protect standing rigging. The few pieces of running rigging now in place were colored with Minwax Fruitwood Stain to appear similar to hemp. The ratlines are black quilting thread, and are in progress.

The pendants, which are many, will be rigged following completion of the ratlines, and the installation of the yards and their associated rigging will follow. Although I do not plan to add sails, the sail rigging, where possible, will be present. Once the model is rigged, the anchors and their rigging, the gun port lids and flags will complete the model. The case is in African mahogany, and can be disassembled, for ease of transportation.