Pavel Nikitin - Santa Maria

Pathfinder65 · Mar 31, 2026

dockattner said:
Looks good, Jan!

Thanks Paul, just a tiny bit of imagineering.

Jan

Daniel20 · Mar 31, 2026

Pathfinder65 said:
Lower Transom planking Port side:

I started by being a bit more agressive "fairing" this part of the frame.

View attachment 588652

The next step was to remove the char, lightly sand and glue the planks together as one piece.

View attachment 588654

Then a few dry fits to get a good fit.

View attachment 588666

Followed by a final check for a bit of overlap.

View attachment 588656

With a "filler" piece added the plank assembly was glued in place.

View attachment 588657

Today is a repeat for the Starboard side.

Jan

That's great instruction for those who are considering this as a build.

Pathfinder65 · Mar 31, 2026

Daniel20 said:
That's great instruction for those who are considering this as a build.

Yup, I had to think about it, I could not get a good fit with my initial fairing of that frame.

Jan

Pathfinder65 · Apr 1, 2026

Lower Transom planking completed:

Next step is a minor sanding marathon to finish the edges.

Jan

dockattner · Apr 1, 2026

Nice symmetry, Jan! You're getting good at this thing!

Pathfinder65 · Apr 1, 2026

dockattner said:
Nice symmetry, Jan! You're getting good at this thing!

I'm having a great time withn this build. Still a long way to go.

Jan

Pathfinder65 · Apr 2, 2026

Working on odd bits while waiting for a shipment from Pavel's store.

I found a minor problem with assembling this part.

The plan:

The Parts aren't all cut the same

The problem:

Two parts fit but the third part is a bit of a problem.

Jan

RussF · Apr 2, 2026

Interesting ... the drawing of the flat shows the parts in the correct orientation - it appears that between there and the laser, one part got flipped over. Does the odd section have the rectangular laser marks on the reverse side?

Pathfinder65 · Apr 2, 2026

RussF said:
Interesting ... the drawing of the flat shows the parts in the correct orientation - it appears that between there and the laser, one part got flipped over. Does the odd section have the rectangular laser marks on the reverse side?

Yup, that section has the laser marks on the reverse side. It doesn't matter how I try to fit them, one side winds up odd.

Jan

dockattner · Apr 2, 2026

Is there only one on the main mast? Nothing on the foremast?

Pathfinder65 · Apr 2, 2026

dockattner said:
Is there only one on the main mast? Nothing on the foremast?

Hi Paul,
There is just that one. I don't know if any of the other "Santa Maria" builders have run into this problem.

Jan

Pathfinder65 · Apr 3, 2026

Hmm, since I could not work on the crows nest I moved on to do some deck planking.

Another "Gotcha" moment.

The instruction manual page showing the deck pieces.

The pieces from the kit, sanded and shaped.

A screen shot of Pavel's YouTube video showing the same pieces.

Screenshot 2026-04-03 at 11.14.10 AM.jpeg

The problem:
The bottom left hand corner (Blue arrow) is filled in on the YouTube video, but missing in the kit instructions and actual pieces. Looks to be a Laser programing error.

I'm going to go with the video version and fill in the small gap.

Jan

Pathfinder65 · Apr 5, 2026

The rear deck "fixed" and glued in place.

After several dry fittings of the planks I chose to glue the deck planks together and then gluen the whole assembly in place.

Jan

Heinrich · Apr 6, 2026

She looks lovely, Jan. You are becoming an expert in building Pavel's kits.

Pathfinder65 · Apr 6, 2026

Heinrich said:
She looks lovely, Jan. You are becoming an expert in building Pavel's kits.

Thank you Heinrich, I just putz along.

Jan

Pathfinder65 · Tuesday at 4:13 PM

Hmm, very interesting difference.

I received this photo from Pavel's shop today.

Flat 46, top of the the Crows nest.

Flat 46 in my kit.

The laser cuts (Blue Arrows) are different.

Jan

dockattner · Tuesday at 4:23 PM

In the immortal words of Scooby Doo: ruh roh.

Stjoedreamer · 2026-04-12T08:55:39-0500

RussF said:
Please keep in mind that Ukraine is in the middle of a horrible war. They depend on electricity to make parts and to read emails. Sometimes they have no power for hours or even days at a time. They also depend on others to supply their materials. Shipping in and out of Ukraine can be interrupted. Pavel Nikitin has been making model kits for a long time. It is not in his best interest to start scamming people. I have never heard of anyone not getting their order. These are trying times for the Ukrainians - please understand and be patient.

Tengan en cuenta que Ucrania está en medio de una guerra terrible. Dependen de la electricidad para fabricar piezas y leer correos electrónicos. A veces no tienen electricidad durante horas o incluso días. También dependen de otros para el suministro de materiales. Los envíos dentro y fuera de Ucrania pueden verse interrumpidos. Pavel Nikitin lleva mucho tiempo fabricando maquetas. No le conviene empezar a estafar a la gente. Nunca he sabido de nadie que no haya recibido su pedido. Son tiempos difíciles para los ucranianos; por favor, comprendan y tengan paciencia.

Stjoedreamer · 2026-04-12T09:04:24-0500

RussF said:
Please keep in mind that Ukraine is in the middle of a horrible war. They depend on electricity to make parts and to read emails. Sometimes they have no power for hours or even days at a time. They also depend on others to supply their materials. Shipping in and out of Ukraine can be interrupted. Pavel Nikitin has been making model kits for a long time. It is not in his best interest to start scamming people. I have never heard of anyone not getting their order. These are trying times for the Ukrainians - please understand and be patient.

Tengan en cuenta que Ucrania está en medio de una guerra terrible. Dependen de la electricidad para fabricar piezas y leer correos electrónicos. A veces no tienen electricidad durante horas o incluso días. También dependen de otros para el suministro de materiales. Los envíos dentro y fuera de Ucrania pueden verse interrumpidos. Pavel Nikitin lleva mucho tiempo fabricando maquetas. No le conviene empezar a estafar a la gente. Nunca he sabido de nadie que no haya recibido su pedido. Son tiempos difíciles para los ucranianos; por favor, comprendan y tengan paciencia.

I ordered the Nef in September 2025 and received it 29 December 2025. I previously ordered and received the San Bartolome in 2023 and it also took about 3 to four months to receive. I also just ordered the Oseberg last month (March 2026) and I honestly don’t expect to receive it til July or later. I stay in contact with Denis and Pavel Nikitin very frequently, both of which are doing everything they can to continue this business in spite of the war. Pavel told me that all their wood needs to be kiln dried to prevent warping and as they only have a few hours a day with electricity it does present a big problem with being speedy in their production process. Just be patient, everyone will receive their kit- eventually!

vossy · 2026-04-13T01:15:03-0500

Stjoedreamer said:
I ordered the Nef in September 2025 and received it 29 December 2025. I previously ordered and received the San Bartolome in 2023 and it also took about 3 to four months to receive. I also just ordered the Oseberg last month (March 2026) and I honestly don’t expect to receive it til July or later. I stay in contact with Denis and Pavel Nikitin very frequently, both of which are doing everything they can to continue this business in spite of the war. Pavel told me that all their wood needs to be kiln dried to prevent warping and as they only have a few hours a day with electricity it does present a big problem with being speedy in their production process. Just be patient, everyone will receive their kit- eventually!

I ordered my San Bartolome on 4 October last year. Received it on 20 December however some items were not present and others were incorrect. Stand and deck planking. I do not in any way put blame on Pavel or Denis. The conditions they are under must be intolerable. Just today I have received a tracking update to say the parts have arrived at the Melbourne (Australia) sorting facility. So about 100 km's away from my home. Initially I didn't purchase the painted sails for the kit, but as a gesture of goodwill Pavel gave them to me at about 30% of the store price. I will have no hesitation in purchasing more models from these guys.