Columbus ships, Santa Maria and Pinta, kit by Amati... [COMPLETED BUILD]

moreplovac · Jan 26, 2023

Rings and hooks blackened...

... and polished a bit with a brush..

Testing the positions ...

Preparing a pilot holes for hooks ...

Holes drilled, and rings attached. On the back of lids, few drops of CA to secure wires, excess wire was cut and sanded flush with the lid board.

A bit of a carpenter' glue added to secure lids and lids were positioned with a small space between them so the darkness of the ship hull can be seen.

Happy modelling..

moreplovac · Jan 28, 2023

Have completed the windlass; out of the box it was damaged but I have decided not to build one from scratch; instead I will hide damaged area by assembling it with that part on the bottom. So don't tell anyone but Amati be careful...

But I replaced kit provided carrick bitts with new one made out of cherry 3mm board.

Assembled. Bitts also have a simulating nails, matching the work on Santa Maria.. Since windlass does not fit all the way to the end of the bitts and it has marks most likely made during its production, I covered that area with small amount of glue and cherry sand dust.. Once dried, it will be sanded flush.
Bitts were sanded slightly to follow deck curvature at the position where they will be installed.

The work continues with making two boat crutches, 2x5mm, made out of old cherry channels built for Santa Maria which were not ended nicely.
Two holes for nail simulations are also drilled.

Two holes on each side were drilled to accommodate hook and ring.

And assembly...

Testing with a ship boat..

Now, just a layer of tung oil will be needed on both finished details.

Happy modelling..

moreplovac · Jan 29, 2023

Few more deck elements have been added...

3x3mm plank cut in 17mm length and notches created.

Windlass was added to the deck..

Few more rigging boards are also added. Nail simulations were applied using 5mm brass wire, pushed into predrilled holes and sanded flash with the wood. Soaking in water for a few minutes helped to gain required curvature on bulwarks..

Clip to keep it in the form. These clips are strong so I have to add some protection on the hull to prevent hull damage while using them. But they do keep the wood in the correct shape...

Happy modelling.

moreplovac · Feb 1, 2023

Work on rudder for Pinta is next. Decided to replace kit provided rudder with cherry made, by using some left over piece of wood and channel I made for SM that I was not happy with. Rudder shape was transferred to cherry and cut with the saw.

Final shape was done by file and a sanding paper.

Rudder handle was carved out of old channel board, following dimension from kit one.

The nail was simulated using 6mm brass wire, inserted and sanded flash with the handle.

And the layer of tung oils was applied..

Happy modelling..

moreplovac · Feb 5, 2023

A bit more work on Pinta' details.. Holes for a anchor ropes are done and house eyes glued to the hull.. Kit provided parts, no starch build this time..

Poop deck railing boards are also installed; after drying I will sand them and put a layer of tung oil...

Happy modelling..

Jack Sparrow · Feb 5, 2023

nice and clean. good job!
On another note. Can you imagine being the poor buggers that had to sail on those ships in the middle of the Atlantic?

moreplovac · Feb 5, 2023

Jack Sparrow said:
nice and clean. good job!
On another note. Can you imagine being the poor buggers that had to sail on those ships in the middle of the Atlantic?

Thanks.

Actually when I started this series (Santa Maria and Pinta) I looked for a some sort of diary or documents about the life on those ships and what I found was not quite appealing when it comes to circumstances those sailors have to go thru during sailing times...

Just Anatomy of the ship series covering SM and Pinta, shows enough details to appreciate today's time...

But on the other hand, they had to discover new lands and enjoy whatever that discovery brought to them.

moreplovac · Feb 6, 2023

Work on kit provided anchors started by polishing/sanding them with #0000 steel wool, just to remove some of a new-look from it.

The anchor' complete parts.. and some steel wool particles from sanding..

The stock holes for shanks are rounded but the shank is actually rectangular so I had to make a room a bit more to a correct shape.

hoops from the kit are bit too big for my taste so I ended up using a black electrical tape, cut in 2mm strips and wrapped around the stock.

The strips are ending up at the bottom of the stock, and a touch of a CA glue was added to the end of them to prevent pilling off... but in case it does pill off I will replace then with a paper strips coloured in flat black.. Rings are also added, no chances there.

Rudder braces are painted in flat black, only from the outside since I am planning to glue them to the rudder.

Ladders were added to the ship and a layer of tung oil was applied.

Happy modelling...

GrantTyler · Feb 7, 2023

moreplovac said:
Work on kit provided anchors started by polishing/sanding them with #0000 steel wool, just to remove some of a new-look from it.

View attachment 355944

The anchor' complete parts.. and some steel wool particles from sanding..

View attachment 355943

The stock holes for shanks are rounded but the shank is actually rectangular so I had to make a room a bit more to a correct shape.

View attachment 355942

View attachment 355941

View attachment 355940

View attachment 355939

hoops from the kit are bit too big for my taste so I ended up using a black electrical tape, cut in 2mm strips and wrapped around the stock.

View attachment 355938

View attachment 355937

The strips are ending up at the bottom of the stock, and a touch of a CA glue was added to the end of them to prevent pilling off... but in case it does pill off I will replace then with a paper strips coloured in flat black.. Rings are also added, no chances there.

View attachment 355936

Rudder braces are painted in flat black, only from the outside since I am planning to glue them to the rudder.

View attachment 355935

Ladders were added to the ship and a layer of tung oil was applied.

View attachment 355934

View attachment 355933

View attachment 355932

View attachment 355931

Happy modelling...

Good morning. You are owning this ship. Cheers Grant

moreplovac · Feb 7, 2023

GrantTyler said:
Good morning. You are owning this ship. Cheers Grant

Yeah, little buger ask for an attention

moreplovac · Feb 7, 2023

Yesterday I have added few more details to the deck; guns were ridged as well, mast coats were just painted in flat black and assembled, I did not want to make a new one out of a wood.

The water pump was assembled next with a little work on a barrel so it will accept forked pivot flat...

The position of an outlet looks a bit weird but was not able to repositioning it and not to disturb other deck parts.

Testing the fitting of a ship boat...

The harpoon top is very delicate and can break easily; already re-glued it once..

To have gripes securing a ship' boat on the boat crutches, I decided to just use simple seizing, three loops, ....

.. with a simple knot.

In a real life, four seizing will no be used to secure these gripes, different way is used, but I just made four seizings at the each ring..

A touch of CA is applied to each seizing and excess rope is cut afterwards..

Happy modelling.

moreplovac · Feb 11, 2023

Masts for Pinta are build, partially...

First I use lathe to get them to a correct thickness. For this process, I start taking measurement form plan for top and bottom thickness, and mark it in the wood using old calliper. This is done on three areas, top, bottom and middle. Caliper is set for 3mm (for top) and while lathe turning, I slowly pushing calliper down to make a cut in the rod. This will give me the orientation how much a need to sand..

Then using various sanding blocks, do the dirty work..

Then I start working on caps. Kit provided are good but the wood they are made off is different that mast rods so the end look does not quite work for me, so I made three caps out of scratch, using extra part of mast rod. First mease middle of the rod and drill holes for masts.

Various bits are used for hole..

One part of the mast is attached and glued to the cap.

Then cap is cut to 10mm length as per plan.

The second end of the mast is also glued on top of cap.

Then a bit of a carving and sanding is done to get correct shape.

Then the hole is drilled in the middle. This is for rigging. The hole has a slight leaning down shape so the rope will naturally flow into hole and out..

After all sanding and cleaning, the layer of natural stain was applied to the whole mast.

Happy modelling..

moreplovac · Feb 13, 2023

I decided to replace kit provided mast coats with custom build one; have some cherry planks around, and made a pair out of cherry and out of some birch dowel rod, and choose cherry for an installation.

Then I worked on masts, adding base reinforcement for a main mast, out of 1x3mm planks.

Longer edges of each plank were sanded in an angle so it will fit better on the round mast. The top of those planks were sanded on angle when all are installed but the mast was protected with a piece of a electric tape first.

Once completed, the mast was attached to the newly built coat.

Then I have added a top on the main yard (not sure if I can call it a top), attached with three set of ropes, around the mast. To keep it in place, I glued top to the mast and secure it with small clamp.

In addition to this work, I started to work on yards. Yards are made of two different pieces of wood, lashed together, various thickness and 1/3 of a mast is cut lengthwise in half so the other piece of a yard can sit in. This is the way I made yards for my greek bireme and it was interesting to see that the same technology was used several centuries after greek' ocean power disappears.

The process is simple; first make yards in correct shape by sanding, so the end points of yards are smaller in diameter than the mid parts. Then, measurements are taken from the plan and transferred to the one part of a yard...

Then with a help of a scalper, the yard was trimmed. I was using a proxxon bench wise in the hope it will grow up to a proxxon bench mill which will do the job easier and more precise...

Then two pieces are glued first, glue dried and lashed with a black rope.

....

moreplovac · Feb 13, 2023

Here is a process for lashing; if more clarity is needed I can provide it...

Rope ends were frozen with a CA glue and cut flush.

....

moreplovac · Feb 13, 2023

Then some rigging was added to the masts in the form of single blocks attached to the correct positions and in correct number..

At the back of the mast, simple knot was done and since I am using polyester rope, it will stay until I put some CA to freeze the knot. The excess rope is cut away.

Happy modelling..

moreplovac · Feb 13, 2023

All yards have been assembled and now I wanted to start working on rigging by adding a single block on each end of a yard. Main yard will need 6 single blocks.

OK, that is total of at least 12 single blocks. Unfortunately in my Amati kit I have only 4 left...

So, it appears that final product control was on a break when my kit was assembled.. Oh well, lets go to the stash..

Have enough to start... in the mean time I started to work on parral for each yard. 15 trucks, 5 per yard.. 0.4mm rope and lets start.

The end of a rope was frozen with few drops of CA to accommodate easier entry thru a hole with one run of rope occupying half of available space..

Mounting on a yard...

All done.. not completely fixed since they need small adjustments when added to the masts.

Happy modelling..

moreplovac · Feb 18, 2023

Continuing work on Pinta by mounting a foremast and bowsprit.. Slight angle was cut and sanded in bowsprit..

.. and foremast was attached to the ship, glued and secured for correct angle with rubber band, which actually left some marks on a mast which will need a little repair..

With rigging attached..

Then I worked on anchors, by adding a rope to both and driving the rope thru, around and in..

s are aslo positioned in their final spot, and secured with two ropes each, to the ship. A bit of a load was added to anchor rope making sure it will hang naturally..

And from the bow side..

Happy modelling..

Jack Sparrow · Feb 18, 2023

Interesting how the bowsprit is attached to the Foremast.

moreplovac · Feb 18, 2023

Jack Sparrow said:
Interesting how the bowsprit is attached to the Foremast.

Yes, not sure if it is historically accurate, but the kit instructions are showing it...

moreplovac · Feb 20, 2023

Foremast shrouds.... but first, lets rig all blocks... Measured all rope length that are needed for all masts shrouds.. then around the block, with a drop of CA to keep rope in place and tight til seizing do the work..