Ottoman SoL Selimieh - a conversion possibility for interested modelers

Hello Folks !

Tuncay Zorlu, one of the most promising young Turkish history scholars, has showed me the kindness of giving a copy of his doctorate thesis. It is about the navy of Sultan Selim III (1798-1807) and the first of his kind, being a result of exhaustive research in ottoman archives and comparative study with the technology of other contemporary prominent mediterranean navies. It will be published as a book in USA but it needs to be refined a lot, said Tuncay, at least one and a half a year's work. However, I'd like to share my happiness for Tuncay's thesis oficially justified one of my greatest suspicions about the genesis of Selimian navy's flagship, the 122 gun Selimieh. Long before I knew anything about Tuncay's research; I'd come up with the idea that Selimieh's lines were copied from that of a french 1st rate as a result of my observations upon a crude half hull contemporary model of her now preserved in the Turkish Naval Museum. Tuncay discovered from her builder's reports that she was indeed copied from the "Royal Louis" of 1759. Guess which ship is that ? Yes, it's Heller's 1/200 Royal Louis ! Selimieh had an additional improvement over her "mother": her hull was coppered. Other than that, She had a billet head and a rather plain "ivy and leaves" decorations on her taffarel, where the lavish sculptures of Royal Louis stood. If you are interested with building a sailing warship of a country other than spain, britain, france and holland; here is your chance. I'll do mine in the first opportunity