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

[moreplovac]

It is time to add few more details to the ship boats; this time it is a boat hook. Going thru some book, was able to locate the way boat hook should look alike in that period. I had two approaches: one to carve it completely in one piece and second was to carve the top and the handle separately, then to assemble them together.. Carving first... Mark it on the piece of left over planking.. the carving piece should be strong enough to hold delicate details and easy on carving at the same time..








Not that bad after all, with one broken attempt...



The second is to carve a top and handle separately...



Drill a hole for a handle...



Handle was made out of a toothpick, sanded to the desire thickness.



Both hooks completed..





The oars are placed to the boat, and secured... Process of stretching the rope used to secure oars.. this will allow me to cut the rope easily in this tight space..





With hooks... and rudder...



Resting to the final positioning... dust free...



....

 

[moreplovac]

.. the deck planking started. This time, combination of one by one planks and few planks held together with a piece of scotch tape and drop on the deck as a bunch..







Drying time..





The places for a fake butts was also marked.

The top of the bulkheads have been removed with no issue, using piece of scotch tape to prevent the issues with glued outer planks.. Scotch tape visible behind the tops..





The upper deck was also installed...





Will need to adjust the upper deck a bit so the deck planks are put in place smoothly, with no bumps...

The inner hull planking was started...



Few deck planks dropped to test the water... Will need to adjust the upper deck, some of the frames are sanded too much so the upper deck looks a bit saggy from the side...



Also, continue covering the plywood with a veneer..



Happy modelling..

 

[moreplovac]

I had to resolve the issue with deck being a bit warped, so i used few pieces of paper to bring up the shape...
Deck planking started....





Then i realized that i will be running out of planks for decks; kit provided a bunch of deck planks for both upper deck and quarterdeck but it appears not to be enough; or maybe i missed something. Anyhow, will need to get some more planks from some other resources...

These are all planks i have left to finish up inner hull planking and upper deck since quarterdeck is already done...



Will see what i will be doing...

In the meantime, i continue covering Santa Maria's keel with veneer and preparing a place for few planks in the bow area, where anchor ropes will pass thru. That area is open and good place to put some lights...









Happy modelling..

 

[moreplovac]

Managed to complete deck planking; not quite happy with end result but hopefully there will be more other details in the area...







Have worked on the door; the door planks were slightly sanded on the edges to they shows a bit more contour... Planks were glued to the paper at the back. Paper will hold planks together. Also the door and window frames were painted in mat black. Once paint is dry, i will remove black paint from edges, leaving the inner contours in black and outer contours in goldish colour...







Also, continue planking bow area of Santa Maria; here i will drop two lights as well..



Happy modelling....

 

[Ptèr]

Wow, you are doing a nice job! I just love these smaller types of ships. I had great fun building my Santa Maria. You are building Pinta as well.
Love your details on the little boats like the shipshook and all. The oars look great too.
Keep it up!

Pter

 

[moreplovac]

Wow, you are doing a nice job! I just love these smaller types of ships. I had great fun building my Santa Maria. You are building Pinta as well.
Love your details on the little boats like the shipshook and all. The oars look great too.
Keep it up!

Pter

Thanks Pter. Don't tell anyone, i am using your SM blog as a reference point ..

Cheers

 

[moreplovac]

A bit of a work has been completed on doors; frames are all painted in matt black and the colour was scraped just to bring up details.



Then door have been shaped to fit into door frame. Had to make two sets, how they say measure twice, cut once... Well, i measured and cut once...





The door hinges are included in the model; i tested the way making them out of paper, coloured in black and glued. Not that bad after all..





And the testing of a full assembly on the ship...



Looking into my deck, noticed that i completely forgot to simulate the caulking of the planks... Will see if i can re-do it somehow..

Happy modelling..

 

[moreplovac]

Continue adding fake deck on Santa Maria' bow, and was able to add two LEDs that will be providing some nice lighting in this area. Have not installed any lights on my previous models so this will be the first time and hardly waiting for end results...









Two LEDs were dropped in after all holes are drilled. Had to re-drill all holes in frames since i put few balsa blocks covering already drilled holes...











Then i left SM resting for a bit... Pinta needed stringers installed but first they have to be twisted following the deck shape... dipping them into water bath for about 30min, and twisting was not that hard..




Once drying process (and twisting) was completed, stringers were put in place..



I have traced the position of poppets from the plan to the model..



... and started installing them, in no apparent order..







Then i marked and cut the curve on the deck..



Now i will start planking of Pinta... from the stern.. this time i added a tiny pencil line to the edges of planks, simulating caulking...






Happy modelling..

 

[moreplovac]

The first planking area completed..



The first hull plank installed.. this one will be the starting point for rest of the planking work.



Then i made a tool to assist me in faking the plankheads and treenails. I will just use tiny holes to simulate treenails.



First mark it all up with a pencil..



Then use the tool to simulate... Tool is sharp but not too sharp so it will not break the planks, it will just leave a small line.



Treenails holes are done with metal hole marker.





Then i transfer the position for openings, both windows and gratings.







Drilling to assist with wood removal..



And the opening is there..



Not worried much about visible frame; gratings will cover it and only lights will be showing up. Will also paint the frame in black with a hope that no one will notice it..



Testing the lights, just in case. I spend lots of time cutting, pulling, etc in the area so was a bit concerned that accidentally i have cut the wires. But, all is good.



With a bit of a black paper i will cover the hull so lights will not pass thru, like now in the picture...

Happy modelling..

 

[Kramer]

How did you remove the wood to make the opening? Electric jigsaw? Or sawed by hand?

 

[moreplovac]

How did you remove the wood to make the opening? Electric jigsaw? Or sawed by hand?

Started by drilling the pilot holes with 0.7mm drill, then run several runs with #10 scalpel; when i went thru the planks (which was a soft part), i use a small hand saw (got one from Tamiya) and saw thru plywood. There is a frame that can be on the way...
Was a bit cautious since i have all those LED cables running in it but all went well..

 

[Jack Sparrow]

I made a copy of kit plans (blueprints) so i can keep the originals and have a working copy to write on. This is my usual practice when building kit.

Few figures i am planing to put on models are mostly done. I have 5 more figures if i decide to crew the ships a bit more..

This fellow is in the process of painting and will be cleaning the floor in Columbus' chamber.. We will call him Pedro de Soria (thank you Jaime for all crew names)

View attachment 282085

This dude will hold the famous flag, getting ready to jump on the New World, Juan de la Cosa.

View attachment 282083

The flag is with another arm..

This is Martin Alonso Pinzon, commander of Pinta during the voyage. Pinta had to reroute a bit to a Lanzarote, Spanish ruled port in Canary Island, because of a problem with her rudder.

View attachment 282084

This fellow apparently was the first one who saw the land, Juan Rodriguez Bermejo aka Rodrigo de Triana, member of a Pinta crew.

View attachment 282086

And, the great, Christopher Columbus...

View attachment 282087

All figures received a layer of protective coat, since the paint was starting to chip off on parts that are exposed to touches.

Happy modelling..

Love the attention to detail. looks great.

 

[moreplovac]

During the process of making holes for windows, i damaged planking in that area beyond repair so i had to re-plank it. This time i pre-glued several planks with a paper at the back and put them on the deck.









After this i worked on gratings. Kit provides gratings that are in my opinion too big for this model scale and they are not in enough number of pieces to cover both openings. Not sure what is about this kit.... So i used some gratings i have left from other models that are in adequate quantity and in more appropriate scale..

Here are original gratings, and total number of them, assembled and covering upper deck opening... clearly not enough number included for both openings...





So, the new gratings set compared with one included in the kit..



And assembled..



Happy modelling...

 

[moreplovac]

Gratings completed..



Hull planking continues... i am using a CA glue for this since the planks are very small and hard to keep in place for longer time..



Deck received a tiny layer of natural finish stain, excess removed with a rug and just light sanding is left to be done before layer of protective oil...



Continue with planking...





Don't have wider plank in the same colour so needed to combined two planks into one wider plank, glued together on the back with CA and scotch tape..









Layer of matt black colour for the place where gratings in the main deck will be resting...



Gratings also received a light layer of natural stain colour, then i tested the lights again.... turned off all lights except from the computer monitor and tried LEDs...





Happy modelling..

 

[moreplovac]

Vicente Yáñez Pinzón: "¿Qué está pasando con mi nave? ¿Cuándo estará listo para el viaje?
- Señor Pinzón, estamos trabajando duro en el entarimado del casco.."









Happy modelling...

 

[moreplovac]

Planking continues....





Dont have wider planks available for stealers so i have to glue two together, with a little help of a piece of paper at the back, to hold them tight..







At the stern...





Off course, sanding and small fixing will be done after all planking is completed..

While i am in planking mode, may as well continue with Santa Maria planking job... Need to add a bit of a wood to make planking running at the bow as smooth as possible. Dont feel that bad since the Amati plan shows usage of similar parts...





The broken part will be replaced...

Happy modelling..

 

[moreplovac]

First layer of planking continue on Santa Maria. For port side i am going to test different planking techniques using steelers since it is going to be covered with second planking layer and if i make a booboo, not be that visible..



Pinta had hull planking completed, a bit of sanding and final touches are required, then a protective layer will be applied. Not quite sure what to use for this stage but i do have few extra hull planks and will be testing different protective layers, oils, etc..



Also, the veneer was applied to the keel..





Cutting the openings for ropes that will hold the anchors in place..





Veneer on the keel will be corrected so those opening will not be visible...

Noticed that my upperdeck gunwales are not fitting precisely, i can blame myself for this and not the kit all the time -)), so will be tracing and making a new set...



Glued to the piece of wood and waiting to be cut...



Happy modelling..

 

[Philski]

First layer of planking continue on Santa Maria. For port side i am going to test different planking techniques using steelers since it is going to be covered with second planking layer and if i make a booboo, not be that visible..

View attachment 295970

Pinta had hull planking completed, a bit of sanding and final touches are required, then a protective layer will be applied. Not quite sure what to use for this stage but i do have few extra hull planks and will be testing different protective layers, oils, etc..

View attachment 295969

Also, the veneer was applied to the keel..

View attachment 295968

View attachment 295967

Cutting the openings for ropes that will hold the anchors in place..

View attachment 295966

View attachment 295965

Veneer on the keel will be corrected so those opening will not be visible...

Noticed that my upperdeck gunwales are not fitting precisely, i can blame myself for this and not the kit all the time -)), so will be tracing and making a new set...

View attachment 295964

Glued to the piece of wood and waiting to be cut...

View attachment 295963

Happy modelling..

Consider using a contour gauge to copy the arc.

 

[moreplovac]

Consider using a contour gauge to copy the arc.

Thank Phil,
for this task, i just place the ship up side down and traced the hull curvature on the paper. Found it easier that using contour gouge. I am big fan of contour gouge when it comes to tracing the hull curvature while making ship stands..

 

[moreplovac]

Quarterdeck stringers were added next. I have created a new "stringers", out of two left over hull planks, just because the kit provided stringers are not quite appealing for my taste... The stringers do stick above the hull a bit...









Then i worked on decorations; two for each side were glued together and i also added a plank on the outside, so it will fit nicely, matching the hull planking...





Happy modelling..