- Joined
- Nov 24, 2022
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Hello. Thought I'd share with you all my current project: the Manila galleon Santisima Trinidad (1751) - not to be confused with the later, and much more famous 4-decker first rate of the same name.
This one was built in the Philippines to ply the Manila-Acapulco galleon route across the Pacific in 1751. She managed nearly a dozen round trips and was eventually captured in 1762 by the British in the Seven Years' War. She was then taken to Britain and most likely scrapped. The ship is called a galleon, but by this point in time, the galleon referred to the ships plying the route regardless of its actual design - some were no more than brigs of about 200 tons burthen. This one being the largest ever built in the islands is similar to a second rate of about 2000 tons burthen, just with 60 relatively lighter guns (12 and 18 pounders) on two gundecks.
The only thing I have to go on for the ship are the recorded dimensions, this drawing from the Mexican Archives (1st pic), as well as written accounts from historians and the Royal Navy officers that captured her.
The model itself will be 1:200 scale and I am using a cheap Chinese kit of HMS Victory as a base. The 3rd picture shows the skeleton with my completed Victory build. I have been making modifications as I go along such as shortening the gundeck length to reflect the records (51m as opposed to Victory's 57m), and planking over what is supposed to be the lower gundeck.
As for the paint scheme, decorations, and overall look of the ship, I am planning on using models of different ships of the same time period as inspiration including: HMS Bellona, Glorioso, other Manila galleons like Nra. Sra. del Pilar (Occre has a model), the fictional HMS Unicorn, and the Real Felipe.
Here's what I have so far
This one was built in the Philippines to ply the Manila-Acapulco galleon route across the Pacific in 1751. She managed nearly a dozen round trips and was eventually captured in 1762 by the British in the Seven Years' War. She was then taken to Britain and most likely scrapped. The ship is called a galleon, but by this point in time, the galleon referred to the ships plying the route regardless of its actual design - some were no more than brigs of about 200 tons burthen. This one being the largest ever built in the islands is similar to a second rate of about 2000 tons burthen, just with 60 relatively lighter guns (12 and 18 pounders) on two gundecks.
The only thing I have to go on for the ship are the recorded dimensions, this drawing from the Mexican Archives (1st pic), as well as written accounts from historians and the Royal Navy officers that captured her.
The model itself will be 1:200 scale and I am using a cheap Chinese kit of HMS Victory as a base. The 3rd picture shows the skeleton with my completed Victory build. I have been making modifications as I go along such as shortening the gundeck length to reflect the records (51m as opposed to Victory's 57m), and planking over what is supposed to be the lower gundeck.
As for the paint scheme, decorations, and overall look of the ship, I am planning on using models of different ships of the same time period as inspiration including: HMS Bellona, Glorioso, other Manila galleons like Nra. Sra. del Pilar (Occre has a model), the fictional HMS Unicorn, and the Real Felipe.
Here's what I have so far