Pavel Nikitin - Santa Maria

[otsoa]

Pedí mi San Bartolomé el 4 de octubre del año pasado. Lo recibí el 20 de diciembre, pero faltaban algunos artículos y otros eran incorrectos, como el soporte y el entablado de la cubierta. No culpo en absoluto a Pavel ni a Denis. Las condiciones en las que trabajan deben ser intolerables. Hoy mismo he recibido una actualización del seguimiento que indica que las piezas han llegado al centro de clasificación de Melbourne (Australia), a unos 100 km de mi casa. Inicialmente no compré las velas pintadas para el kit, pero como gesto de buena voluntad, Pavel me las regaló con un descuento de aproximadamente el 30% sobre el precio de venta. Sin duda, volveré a comprarles maquetas.

Eso es precisamente lo que me dolió. Hice el pedido el 16 de septiembre de 2025 y lo enviaron el 17 de marzo de 2026, seis meses después, mientras que otros que hicieron pedidos más tarde lo recibieron mucho antes. Es evidente que esta empresa prioriza a sus clientes. Justo antes de recibir el pedido, me transfirieron a otra región y ahora me quedé sin la Santa María y sin mi dinero. Jamás volveré a comprarle a Pavel Nikitin. In my case, it was the third kit I'd bought from them, in addition to various other accessories.

 

[Pathfinder65]

I'm in them middle of a sanding/gluing marathon, removing char and gluing plank halves together. I've finished the Starboard side pieces starting with the first Wale and lower the planks.

The top bundle are the Starboard pieces.



I did find one piece not labeled correctly. Plank #15 "70-15R1" didn't have a corresponding second piece, but plank "70-15L1" had two "70-15 L" on the flat. So things worked out "OK"



On another note, several builders mentioned missing planking pieces for the upper stern. I used scraps to complete that part and now am embarrassed by finding those pieces on other flats.

Flat #19 has two pieces (71-7/1 and 71-7/2)
Flat 18 has piece (71-14)
Flay #16 has pieces (71-12 and 71-13)

Also on Flats #15, #12 there are pieces labeled with large numbers that I think might be pieces for the waterway for the main deck.




Oh well the finds are to late for me, but maybe the info will help other builders.

Jan

 

[GrantTyler]

embarrassed by finding those pieces on other flats.

Been there done that Jan….. I think one of the biggest contributors to me ever building scratch is chaff removal - almost as bad as rigging cannons . Cheers Grant

 

[Pathfinder65]

Progress update:

The start of planking , I think I'm going to need more clamps.



Found imagineering is a good standby for trying to hold odd angle bits while the glue sets.





I did purchase Pavel's bending jig kit. Those jigs and a low wattage heatgun make plank bending much easier.



Getting there one plank at a time.



Jan

 

[dockattner]

Looks very promising, Jan!

 

[Pathfinder65]

Looks very promising, Jan!

Yup, starting to look like a ship.

 

[Pathfinder65]

This step adds the bottom Wale while I can still clamp it in place. I can now plank up or down and not worry about the bottom two Wales.



The three inch spring clamps were just right for this part of the project.

Jan

 

[oldflyer]

Nice even work - she will look great

 

[Pathfinder65]

And without all the clamps.



The bottom Wale consists of three planks. That one was a bit of fiddly work.

Jan

 

[Kurt Konrath]

The main deck build continued:

I spent a great amount of time watching Pavel's videos for this step, looking at the build instructions, re-watching the video, etc.

After a lot of diddling, fiddling and procrastinating I got to this part.

View attachment 584273

The first three deck planks set to the center line of the keel. I'm happy with the alignment and will start the gluing process tomorrow.

I also managed to cobble together two small jigs while avoiding working on the above project.

View attachment 584282
View attachment 584283

Their function will be revealed when I get to that build step.

Jan

Pavel does in fact provide lots of jigs for the assembly work.

 

[Pathfinder65]

Nice even work - she will look great

Thanks for looking in. Lot of planking left.

 

[Kurt Konrath]

And without all the clamps.

View attachment 594254

The bottom Wale consists of three planks. That one was a bit of fiddly work.

Jan

On these models is there any other kind of work besides the fiddly work? I have his Viking ship on order and have been watching all the fiddly work he does not listed in instructions.

 

[GrantTyler]

And without all the clamps.

View attachment 594254

The bottom Wale consists of three planks. That one was a bit of fiddly work.

Jan

Good morning Jan. You ingenious clamp engineering has resulted in some fine planking. Cheers Grant

 

[Daniel20]

The three inch spring clamps were just right for this part of the project.

Makes the wood do what you want it to do not what it wants to do. She's already looking like a fine ship Jan; I love the scarf joints.

 

[AllanKP69]

Don't forget to reduce the thickness of the wales at the stem. They were "thinned" as they approached the bow so they could seat in the rabbet. They were reduced in thickness to match the adjacent planking to accomplish this.
Allan

 

[Pathfinder65]

Don't forget to reduce the thickness of the wales at the stem. They were "thinned" as they approached the bow so they could seat in the rabbet. They were reduced in thickness to match the adjacent planking to accomplish this.
Allan
View attachment 594298
View attachment 594302

Interesting, thank you for that bit of information.

Jan

 

[Kurt Konrath]

This step adds the bottom Wale while I can still clamp it in place. I can now plank up or down and not worry about the bottom two Wales.

View attachment 594100

The three inch spring clamps were just right for this part of the project.

Jan

Where did y ou get these nice 3" spring clamps, even on my low side Philly Gunboat, the clamps I have won't reach all the way down hardly.

 

[Pathfinder65]

Pavel does in fact provide lots of jigs for the assembly work.

That he does, but some of those are also a bit fiddly. His videos make it look easy.

On these models is there any other kind of work besides the fiddly work? I have his Viking ship on order and have been watching all the fiddly work he does not listed in instructions.

My Viking ship odessy was remove char, dry fit, sand, dry fit, glue and a lot of " Ro-Oh " moments. It was great tutorial and a fun build.

Good morning Jan. You ingenious clamp engineering has resulted in some fine planking. Cheers Grant

Hi Grant, ingenious translates to " OMG how am I gonna do this bit". At this stage of the game my "Brain Power" seems to be fading.

Makes the wood do what you want it to do not what it wants to do. She's already looking like a fine ship Jan; I love the scarf joints.

Yup, the three bending jigs are a tremendous help. That and the passes with the heat gun. I soak the planks ends in hot water (carefully avoinding the glued scarf section), place them in the jigs and use the heat gun to help form them. Depending on the planks final location, it gets formed via jig #1, jig#2 and jig#3.

 

[Pathfinder65]

Where did y ou get these nice 3" spring clamps, even on my low side Philly Gunboat, the clamps I have won't reach all the way down hardly.

The company is EQUIPTZ, I have both of their 3 and 4 inch clamps.

3 inch Spring Clamps