Couronne 1:200

Product detailed description

Plans of the ship HERE
Complete offer of accessories HERE
History on Wikipedia HERE

MINI Model - Heller sells this ship as a mini in 1:600 scale. The model is on the last three pictures.

Another beautiful model of French war sailing ship. This is truly a rarity among these models as it is sold a few times a year! The ship was commissioned by Cardinal Richelieu. The ship itself was built at La Rochel docks by the builder Cherles Morieum and completed in 1636. She was armed with 68 heavy guns and 8 guns fore and aft. According to the information I have received, she was built very expensively, presentable as she was to serve as the flagship of the French Navy. However, they used young unseasoned wood in her construction, did almost no waterproofing, and the expensive hull soon simply rotted away. In the Books link I also have a link to a book about La Couronne, including plans and a description of how to build a wooden model of this ship. Too bad it's in Italian, but the pictures suggest a lot.

The build quality of the mouldings is excellent. The masts and booms are also excellently done - including various construction details, and not just plain rods as is often the case. However, I think that the gunports and guns are too big for this scale - see photo. Also Heller simplified the appearance of the stern, where the side extensions were designed a bit differently, see the ship plan and the photo of the large model. Overall, however, the impression is perfect.