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San Felipe 1690 by ZHL

I finally got around to painting the gun barrels I had 3D printed.
I built a paint booth out of scrap materials. I used a kitchen hood, left over from a renovation. I almost threw it away, but it came in handy. The rotating platform is a sports disc my daughter used when she was younger. And some corrugated cardboard from some household appliance. Figuratively speaking, I "assembled it from scratch." First, I primed it with Tamiya primer from an aerosol can. I airbrushed it with Tamiya F 34 acrylic, but thinned it out a bit with black paint. After everything dried, I sealed it with Tamiya semi-gloss acrylic varnish. Painting a hundred guns is a bit tiring, after all.


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I spent almost the entire day on what seemed like a simple job. Also, due to asthma, I have to wear a respirator when using an airbrush. My bronchi are very sensitive to isopropyl alcohol, which is the base for acrylic paint thinner.
 
Considering how much work remains to be done with the gun carriages and assembly, it is likely that the guns will not be in their places on the deck for at least two weeks.


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I was just thinking about how much humanity wastes on war. Just one manowar consumed so much cast iron, metal, hemp, canvas, and human labor worthy of better use. But in reality, it all decays... and nothing changes in this world, alas.
 
Considering how much work remains to be done with the gun carriages and assembly, it is likely that the guns will not be in their places on the deck for at least two weeks.


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I was just thinking about how much humanity wastes on war. Just one manowar consumed so much cast iron, metal, hemp, canvas, and human labor worthy of better use. But in reality, it all decays... and nothing changes in this world, alas.
Well... the big, tough leaders of the world simply have to show how powerful they are...
A lot of human suffering and major economic damage.
But anyway, let's not pay any attention to that here, as it will probably only lead to heated discussions....
 
Considering how much work remains to be done with the gun carriages and assembly, it is likely that the guns will not be in their places on the deck for at least two weeks.


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I was just thinking about how much humanity wastes on war. Just one manowar consumed so much cast iron, metal, hemp, canvas, and human labor worthy of better use. But in reality, it all decays... and nothing changes in this world, alas.
It is the very nature of war and conflict. It consumes.
 
The most tedious and annoying part of the job: tying thousands of knots. You really wish you could grow a couple of extra hands for a while. It makes you wonder—why don't octopuses take up ship modeling? :)
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And that’s just for a single gun’s breeching rope. There are still the gun tackles to go, of course—which means making and rigging the blocks for them. And there are 34 guns in total. The only saving grace is that the remaining 70 are demi-cannons.
 
Your ¨San Felipe¨ is magnificent; I really like it.
However, I find it hard to picture it with that flag. Let me show you the evolution of the Spanish flag throughout history.

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Your ¨San Felipe¨ is magnificent; I really like it.
However, I find it hard to picture it with that flag. Let me show you the evolution of the Spanish flag throughout history.

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You are certainly right. For now, I just used one of the options available on online marketplaces. But ultimately, I settled on the Gasburg Cross design. It’s also easier to make yourself using stencils. Of course, I could have just printed it on paper, but I really wanted a flag made of fabric.
 
Naturally, I had to throw the rigging thread from the kit straight into the trash. I set about making my own ropes. To start, I built a vertical rope-making machine using Lego parts; it’s convenient to operate remotely. The motor and the battery-powered control unit are Chinese-made Lego-compatible versions. Their motors are about one and a half times more powerful than genuine Lego ones, and the rechargeable battery pack is much more convenient than standard batteries.
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For the rigging lines, I used Russian-made thread and German Gütermann (size 240, color 722, light beige). I am quite pleased with the result. For the standing rigging, I also purchased Gütermann 240 in color 682 (brown-black); I will likely use the same thread to make the anchor cables. The only requirement there will be to twist the finished lines together while reversing the direction of the twist.
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Naturally, I had to throw the rigging thread from the kit straight into the trash. I set about making my own ropes. To start, I built a vertical rope-making machine using Lego parts; it’s convenient to operate remotely. The motor and the battery-powered control unit are Chinese-made Lego-compatible versions. Their motors are about one and a half times more powerful than genuine Lego ones, and the rechargeable battery pack is much more convenient than standard batteries.
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For the rigging lines, I used Russian-made thread and German Gütermann (size 240, color 722, light beige). I am quite pleased with the result. For the standing rigging, I also purchased Gütermann 240 in color 682 (brown-black); I will likely use the same thread to make the anchor cables. The only requirement there will be to twist the finished lines together while reversing the direction of the twist.
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Gorgeous ropes and a brilliant invention! It's definitely worth publishing a build plan.
 
The anchor rope is plaited from three strands. Naturally, the plaiting was done in the direction opposite to the twist of the strands. Each strand, in turn, is laid up from three yarns. The weight of the rope-making machine's weight has been increased from 200 grams to 500 grams.



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I ordered photo-etched gun port hinges from the ubiquitous Chinese suppliers. Making the hinges is, of course, a very painstaking task—especially considering I need 120 of them, plus the tiny nails to fasten them in place. photo_2026-07-14_22-19-10.jpg
To avoid having to paint them, I made the inner sides of the gun ports out of padauk wood, which is practically red.

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And of course, later on, once everything is ready, the cables for raising the gun ports will need to be rigged.
 
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