Grants Xebec 1:60 (using Jabeque Cazador Occre1:60 kit) [COMPLETED BUILD]

[GrantTyler]

I guess sexy is in the eyes of the beholder ...

….OH boy Paul wants more sexy

When I built mine, it was my first time to complete a ship model, and I just wanted to make a good model. I soon started making changes per my personal taste as confidence grew throughout the build. If I built one now, I would definitely convert it into Dean's Xebec!
So enjoy this opportunity, because I think the kit is a great foundation to start with.

Good morning Dean. Dean’s Xebec would have been something to behold. Your wood working and carving skills would have made something special for sure. I will have to keep it simple and build in Grants “untidy” style but thus far thinking of what to do to make it something worthwhile is so much fun.
Cheers Grant

 

[GrantTyler]

Good morning. Grants first attempt:
Treenails: As mentioned I want these to be non distinct. At this scale this is difficult and perhaps a simulation may be better than actual wood. But I wanted to give it a go.

My process:
I do not mark the deck or make a stencil for these. This is my preference as I’m not wanting that perfect, immaculate model finish on my Xebec.

Used a small center punch to mark the position. This may be my first error. I did not see this with natural eye, but this distorted the wood. I should have use less pressure in this application- Indicated.


I used a 0.4mm drill to try and get these as small as possible.

Used Bamboo toothpicks - very thin ones. Some of the tips where still too thick and I have gone through plenty packets so far.

WIP -


This is what they look like after a little bit of sanding. Once all the treenails are done a final sand or scrap will be done.

Oh the red circle. On my dividing strake metal nails are used. I was a clown inserting these before finalizing my deck finish- going to cause some problems .



Whilst I am happy with them (colour perfect) the distortion of the wood from the center punch is visible in close up photos. Plenty finishing and sanding to be done so may still improve.
Cheers Grant

 

[Heinrich]

Hi Grant. Maybe it's something worthwhile for a next build. When Maarten did the treenailing for the Royal Caroline's hull, he dipped the ends of the toothpicks in black ink. That made the effect slightly more pronounced. Also, when "caulking" deck planking, I see most modelers score both planks with pencil or ink which, in my opinion, creates too prominent a line. I would only score one plank which results in a much more subtle effect. On the WB I left one side of the char of the pear planks intact and then placed it next to one from which side the char had been removed - again very subtle, but very consistent.

 

[GrantTyler]

Hi Grant. Maybe it's something worthwhile for a next build. When Maarten did the treenailing for the Royal Caroline's hull, he dipped the ends of the toothpicks in black ink. That made the effect slightly more pronounced. Also, when "caulking" deck planking, I see most modelers score both planks with pencil or ink which, in my opinion, creates too prominent a line. I would only score one plank which results in a much more subtle effect. On the WB I left one side of the char of the pear planks intact and then placed it next to one from which side the char had been removed - again very subtle, but very consistent.

Hi Heinrich. I want very subtle treenails so I deliberately avoided the ink pencil on the treenails. I rather like the natural colour. I know when I treat the deck they will show up more, in fact I'm worried that they may come up a little dark for the effect I am looking for. I did pencil both sides for the caulking and at the moment like the look. You may be quite correct that once I have scrapped the deck and apply clear Shellac or a matt poly (not sure I can get Shellac here) they may also be a little prominent. Working with Lime wood for decking is not ideal. It is incredibly soft and porous and one needs to be far more gentle than Grant is. My main disappointment was the initial center punch distortion and to be honest with 3mm planking, even the 0.4mm treenails are a little large. Non the less I am very happy thus far. Lets see how it looks after scrapping the deck.
Cheers Grant

 

[Martin555.]

Good morning. Grants first attempt:
Treenails: As mentioned I want these to be non distinct. At this scale this is difficult and perhaps a simulation may be better than actual wood. But I wanted to give it a go.

My process:
I do not mark the deck or make a stencil for these. This is my preference as I’m not wanting that perfect, immaculate model finish on my Xebec.

Used a small center punch to mark the position. This may be my first error. I did not see this with natural eye, but this distorted the wood. I should have use less pressure in this application- Indicated.
View attachment 354864

I used a 0.4mm drill to try and get these as small as possible.

Used Bamboo toothpicks - very thin ones. Some of the tips where still too thick and I have gone through plenty packets so far.
View attachment 354867
WIP -
View attachment 354866

This is what they look like after a little bit of sanding. Once all the treenails are done a final sand or scrap will be done.

Oh the red circle. On my dividing strake metal nails are used. I was a clown inserting these before finalizing my deck finish- going to cause some problems .

View attachment 354868

Whilst I am happy with them (colour perfect) the distortion of the wood from the center punch is visible in close up photos. Plenty finishing and sanding to be done so may still improve.
Cheers Grant

Hi Grant,
I hope this dose not upset anyone as I do not wish to offend, but a lot of model makers try to make there ships look absolutely perfect but in real life and with the tools and skills of the day they were far from perfect.
And when a ship was put to sea they were more worried about the ship leaking.
After a short time the joints of the ship ether opens up or closed, and a lot of the wood started splitting and had to be sealed with Tar, so Grant a few marks from the centre punch will add a bit more realism to your ship.

 

[Ptèr]

Good morning. Grants first attempt:
Treenails: As mentioned I want these to be non distinct. At this scale this is difficult and perhaps a simulation may be better than actual wood. But I wanted to give it a go.

My process:
I do not mark the deck or make a stencil for these. This is my preference as I’m not wanting that perfect, immaculate model finish on my Xebec.

Used a small center punch to mark the position. This may be my first error. I did not see this with natural eye, but this distorted the wood. I should have use less pressure in this application- Indicated.
View attachment 354864

I used a 0.4mm drill to try and get these as small as possible.

Used Bamboo toothpicks - very thin ones. Some of the tips where still too thick and I have gone through plenty packets so far.
View attachment 354867
WIP -
View attachment 354866

This is what they look like after a little bit of sanding. Once all the treenails are done a final sand or scrap will be done.

Oh the red circle. On my dividing strake metal nails are used. I was a clown inserting these before finalizing my deck finish- going to cause some problems .

View attachment 354868

Whilst I am happy with them (colour perfect) the distortion of the wood from the center punch is visible in close up photos. Plenty finishing and sanding to be done so may still improve.
Cheers Grant

Hi Grant, do not worry about the extra hole. Just a bit of glue mixed with some sanddust will do the trick to fill the hole...

 

[RDN1954]

My main disappointment was the initial center punch distortion and to be honest with 3mm planking, even the 0.4mm treenails are a little large.

This is the exact same reason why I withheld from adding treenails to deck- and hull planks. This, coupled with some pictures from Batavia's deck, led to my decision not to add them.
Granted, there are those gifted among us, who can pull this off very convincingly, but, unfortunately, I'm not one of them.
This also extends to chaulking, The smaller the scale, the more difficult it becomes to get a consistent, realistic result. Again, there are those who master the craft, but it's a very tricky balancing act.
Having said that, so far your treenails look terrific, wonder how they look after scraping and applying some finish.

 

[Pathfinder65]

Wow, looking at your fiddly work from the top of the world I‘m impressed by your technique. Nice start on those whatyamacallit things.

 

[Vfordyce]

Grant, I just used pencil dots to suggest treenails on my deck. On the hull I drilled holes and filled them with darker putty. That also worked for caulking. Then I sanded the putty off the surfaces of the planks. That was the lazy man’s out, but it gave me the subtle look I wanted.

 

[gibby_74]

Hello grant.
I used one of my micro drill bits to drill a hole in one of my blades to act as a small draw plate. I would insert the tips in to the hole in the blade and then go a use the same size drill bit for the treenails for the decking. This is how I did it on my independence that I put to the side. Pics at the end are after it has been stained with Danish oil and satin poly has been applied.

 

[RogerD]

I like that you went with a GM3BSS (Grants Modified 3 Butt Shift System) for the deck . No matter how many photos, images or actual ship plans I’ve looked at and compared there seems to be no fixed pattern common to all vessels. So some model makers leeway makes sense to me. Those curved planks look good and give your deck character too.

Your thoughts about the treenails has me re-thinking the value of applying them for the deck at the smaller scales. I admire you attempting it though because I think I’m too chicken to risk it on my deck .

 

[GrantTyler]

Hi Grant,
I hope this dose not upset anyone as I do not wish to offend, but a lot of model makers try to make there ships look absolutely perfect but in real life and with the tools and skills of the day they were far from perfect.
And when a ship was put to sea they were more worried about the ship leaking.
After a short time the joints of the ship ether opens up or closed, and a lot of the wood started splitting and had to be sealed with Tar, so Grant a few marks from the centre punch will add a bit more realism to your ship.

Good morning Martin. Music to my ears .My modeling style and my wood working skill is rather untidy. Even if I tried and redid everything a 100 time I would not achieve the perfection many guys achieve. I am actually extremely pleased how my Xebec deck is coming out thus far. Thanks Grant

Hi Grant, do not worry about the extra hole. Just a bit of glue mixed with some sanddust will do the trick to fill the hole...

Good morning Peter. Thanks for this. There are one or two spots where I will do this. I will have plenty of saw dust for this for sure. Cheers Grant

This is the exact same reason why I withheld from adding treenails to deck- and hull planks. This, coupled with some pictures from Batavia's deck, led to my decision not to add them.
Granted, there are those gifted among us, who can pull this off very convincingly, but, unfortunately, I'm not one of them.
This also extends to chaulking, The smaller the scale, the more difficult it becomes to get a consistent, realistic result. Again, there are those who master the craft, but it's a very tricky balancing act.
Having said that, so far your treenails look terrific, wonder how they look after scraping and applying some finish.

Good morning Johan. I am very happy with my deck thus far. It is in Grants imperfect style but the more I work it the more I’m enjoying it. I am always in awe of those guys who pull off everything just so. I mean I can’t even cut a strake at 90 degrees .

Wow, looking at your fiddly work from the top of the world I‘m impressed by your technique. Nice start on those whatyamacallit things.

Good morning Jan. Thanks. I am attempting to give this Xebec a good amount of detail from the start. I have to try and keep the balance tho as at this scale it will look silly with too much. Ahh it’s fun and I have a blank canvas.

Grant, I just used pencil dots to suggest treenails on my deck. On the hull I drilled holes and filled them with darker putty. That also worked for caulking. Then I sanded the putty off the surfaces of the planks. That was the lazy man’s out, but it gave me the subtle look I wanted.

Good morning Vic. I’m always looking for the Lazy man’s out . I tested the pencil but even that was a little dark for what I am trying to achieve. It does work way neater tho and more easy. I really like the subtlety
as it stand’s however I’m sure it will all darken when I poly to finish it- this is of concern as I don’t know what else I can apply. We don’t get Shellac here. Cheers Grant

Hello grant.
I used one of my micro drill bits to drill a hole in one of my blades to act as a small draw plate. I would insert the tips in to the hole in the blade and then go a use the same size drill bit for the treenails for the decking. This is how I did it on my independence that I put to the side. Pics at the end are after it has been stained with Danish oil and satin poly has been applied. View attachment 354919View attachment 354920View attachment 354921View attachment 354922View attachment 354923

Good morning Derek. That is a good idea. It would have made the toothpicks hold a better shape and insert into the holes way better. I did think of Danish oil but I am very keen to maintain the light composition of my decks. Subtle caulking and treenail is a definitive objective of mine for my decks. Not sure if I will achieve this…..Thanks for the advice tho I will certainly keep this in mind.

I like that you went with a GM3BSS (Grants Modified 3 Butt Shift System) for the deck . No matter how many photos, images or actual ship plans I’ve looked at and compared there seems to be no fixed pattern common to all vessels. So some model makers leeway makes sense to me. Those curved planks look good and give your deck character too.

Your thoughts about the treenails has me re-thinking the value of applying them for the deck at the smaller scales. I admire you attempting it though because I think I’m too chicken to risk it on my deck .

Good morning Roger. Thanks for this. I have enjoyed coming up with my deck pattern. The main decks of Xebecs vary significantly so I did have a license to play :
E.g. French Boberach (many Arabian Xebecs have the same ):

French Le Requin (I am doing my decks in this pattern)

The Spanish more traditional deck patterns.

And it is common thought (although not confirmed) that the Barbary Pirates had a very haphazard deck pattern similar to the Dutch vessels of the time.

As for treenails in small scale- yep I would not do toothpicks again- difficult to make them small enough. I think if one had to calculate the actual size of a treenail at scales smaller than1:60, that it would probably be a pin prick or smaller.

Cheers Grant

 

[RogerD]

Hi Grant, it’s my pleasure to wish you a very happy birthday. Have a great day my friend.

 

[Heinrich]

Oh Wow! A very happy, good ole South African birthday my friend! I know that it will be a very special day during summer in Cape Town! Enjoy the outdoors, family and friends - I am sure you will have a blast!

 

[Walterone]

Happy birthday! Best wishes! Seven feet under the keel to all your models

 

[Pathfinder65]

Happy Birthday, Have a good time with a barbecue and enjoy the day.

 

[Vfordyce]

The best to you on this special day for a special person!

 

[dockattner]

Awesome! I hope you have a wonderful birthday celebrating with family and friends!

 

[Jimsky]

Happy Birthday, Grant! Enjoy your special day!

 

[dThomas]

Happy birthday, and a lot of fun working on your new model!