Adriatic Trabaccolo by Amati

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Dec 21, 2019
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Visalia, California
Hello folks!

I introduced myself in the appropriate part of the forum the other day and promised to begin a thread documenting the trabaccolo I am building, which is a beginner skill level kit by Amati in Italy. This is not only my first attempt at a wooden model, but also my first attempt at a boat. My modeling experience is mostly limited to WWII aircraft from plastic or cardstock.

The trabaccolo is an Adriatic cargo vessel with a rich local history, as there are several seaworthy as well as preserved examples, and apparently they are a bit of a favorite among model shipwrights living within the Adriatic sphere. I was personally inclined towards it because my mother's family is Croatian and I spent the better part of two months touring Croatia and particularly Dalmatia in 2015, and fell in love with the Adriatic isles and towns.

I began the kit last spring and set it aside after assembling the frame and putting the decking on. That is, at the point when I had to start bending planks!

I dug it out again recently and made a little plank warmer by putting candles in a mounted tin can, but I ended up letting most of the planks I've applied so far be air dried, though the tool definitely works.

To start with I've attached photos of the current view of the little boat, which has a ~31cm hull length and would roughly come to about 1/75 scale. I have all of the planking done on one side. I attached the top most planks with the railing slightly higher than they should have been so I needed an extra plank to take a sliver out of along the bottom edge. Thankfully I believe there is extra material from the decking, one of which I used to get this done and another of which I'll need for the other side!

The crude method I used to fit and dry the planks onto the frame was to stick paint brushes into the paper clamps, and then use bits of a cut up plank and some other things as spacers to hold the planks in place... It got messy at times, but it worked.

The construction method for the kit involves a single layer of planking, but I'm not worried about the gaps I've got since the hull will be painted, as on most of the surviving trabaccolos!

So here's where things stand now... I won't use any filler until the wood on the other side is done to make sure things remain rather even, and also to see if I can do any better on the next go! This will probably sit as it is until I return from a business trip in early February. Until then, cheers, and happy holidays!

-Gregory

(P.S. I plan to make several modifications from the basic kit, but will extrapolate about that after further updates, especially since nothing is set in stone.)

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Hallo Gregoy,
Many thanks for starting the building log of the trabacul. I like this boats very much, due to the fact, that I was living in the beautiful country of Croatia for several years and was able to see such original vessels in the Adriatic Sea.....I will follow with big interest
 
Hello folks!

I introduced myself in the appropriate part of the forum the other day and promised to begin a thread documenting the trabaccolo I am building, which is a beginner skill level kit by Amati in Italy. This is not only my first attempt at a wooden model, but also my first attempt at a boat. My modeling experience is mostly limited to WWII aircraft from plastic or cardstock.

The trabaccolo is an Adriatic cargo vessel with a rich local history, as there are several seaworthy as well as preserved examples, and apparently they are a bit of a favorite among model shipwrights living within the Adriatic sphere. I was personally inclined towards it because my mother's family is Croatian and I spent the better part of two months touring Croatia and particularly Dalmatia in 2015, and fell in love with the Adriatic isles and towns.

I began the kit last spring and set it aside after assembling the frame and putting the decking on. That is, at the point when I had to start bending planks!

I dug it out again recently and made a little plank warmer by putting candles in a mounted tin can, but I ended up letting most of the planks I've applied so far be air dried, though the tool definitely works.

To start with I've attached photos of the current view of the little boat, which has a ~31cm hull length and would roughly come to about 1/75 scale. I have all of the planking done on one side. I attached the top most planks with the railing slightly higher than they should have been so I needed an extra plank to take a sliver out of along the bottom edge. Thankfully I believe there is extra material from the decking, one of which I used to get this done and another of which I'll need for the other side!

The crude method I used to fit and dry the planks onto the frame was to stick paint brushes into the paper clamps, and then use bits of a cut up plank and some other things as spacers to hold the planks in place... It got messy at times, but it worked.

The construction method for the kit involves a single layer of planking, but I'm not worried about the gaps I've got since the hull will be painted, as on most of the surviving trabaccolos!

So here's where things stand now... I won't use any filler until the wood on the other side is done to make sure things remain rather even, and also to see if I can do any better on the next go! This will probably sit as it is until I return from a business trip in early February. Until then, cheers, and happy holidays!

-Gregory

(P.S. I plan to make several modifications from the basic kit, but will extrapolate about that after further updates, especially since nothing is set in stone.)

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Hallo Gregory alias @Kilroy1988 ,
we wish you all the BEST and a HAPPY BIRTHDQAY
Birthday-Cake
Are you still working on this model or even finished it?
 
Hello all,

I wanted to return to this space to state that I abandoned the project as I found the model kit to be uninspiring. Clearly the flat shape of the hull is not as complicated as almost all surviving plans and boats of this sort can attest. It has been nearly two years but I have returned to make a second attempt at a ship model and am in the process of choosing which I will build.

Personally, I am happy with the idea of working in card and may begin another trabaccolo from scratch based on the detailed plans for such a vessel from the 19th century publication Souvenier de Marine, volume II.

I hope to begin sharing a new adventure soon. I am very inspired by all of the current and recent activity among the members here that I am still catching up with. Cheers!

-Gregory
 
Hello all,

I wanted to return to this space to state that I abandoned the project as I found the model kit to be uninspiring. Clearly the flat shape of the hull is not as complicated as almost all surviving plans and boats of this sort can attest. It has been nearly two years but I have returned to make a second attempt at a ship model and am in the process of choosing which I will build.

Personally, I am happy with the idea of working in card and may begin another trabaccolo from scratch based on the detailed plans for such a vessel from the 19th century publication Souvenier de Marine, volume II.

I hope to begin sharing a new adventure soon. I am very inspired by all of the current and recent activity among the members here that I am still catching up with. Cheers!

-Gregory
Fully understood.
Maybe you would be much more happy with another Trabakul kit from Marisstella from Croatia - very good quality and much more details.
It is worth to take a look into their program

 
...Maybe you would be much more happy with another Trabakul kit from Marisstella from Croatia - very good quality and much more details.
It is worth to take a look into their program...

Thank you for your response, Uwe! I am very aware of the excellent quality models that Marisstella produces, and am actually on their website this morning.

I have a university degree in European history and focused on the medieval and renaissance era. I used to be involved in historical reenactment and crafting reproductions of clothing and accessories and am very tempted to try my hand at something more elaborate such as the "old seller" Nava of Ragusa.

The size of the Marisstella trabaccolo (and even the bracera) is prohibitive for me... 80cm is a lot of model to build and display in an apartment such as that which my wife and I currently reside in. Cheers!

-Gregory
 
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