San Felipe 1690 from ZHL

Scott Shilling

Scott Shilling

Joined
Nov 29, 2020
Messages
186
Points
213

Location
Westminster, Colorado
Hello everyone, I'm back. This time with a ZHL San Felipe. I finished up the Montanes (I'll post some closing photos). That was a massive learning experience for sure. I know my mistakes and how to avoid them for this next build.

The model is in transit, arriving mid September, so I have time to prep. Here is a list of things I have in mind:

1. I plan on single planking the hull instead of doble planking. I am thinking Mahogany for the below water line and Cherry for everything above the water line. Does anyone out there have any thoughts about using Cherry for planking (too soft, too hard, too grainy etc). This weekend I plan on purchasing a couple of boards that I can rip down to 5mm X 2mm planks

2. I am not even going to open the provided rigging - it's going straight into the trash. I'll be ordering from Ropes of Scale. This was my biggest mistake on the Montanes, fuzzy, messy rigging. Since then I have purchased a book on rigging and will follow that pretty closely. Going to up my game here.

3. For the floor planking. Instead of using a pencil and just marking the nails I plan on drilling holes and putting in the tips of some tooth pics. I've been lookin around for some walnut tooth pics but no success. So instead I'll soak some in walnut stain and give that a test. Anyone have alternate suggestions.

4. The kit does not come with sails. My better half wants sails. That is a year away so we'll make that decision when the time comes. Although, I'll need to add extra belay pins during the hull build.

The Cherry wood decision needs to be made by Saturday. I'll be going down to the south side of Denver to the Modelers club meeting. The best exotic wood store is near by so I'll do my purchases there. If not cherry wood what other wood would you suggest. Pear maybe? hard to find though.

Have a great day. I look forward to any suggestions.

Scott
 
This will be interesting to follow - and very good, that you already started the preparation of your project.

In my opinion Cherry is a good choice, pearwood woulkd be slightly better, but Cherry is a very good choice. Most of the Chinese POF-kits are made out of Cherry wood (small grain so it fits to the scale, hard enough that you will get sharp edges, smooth surface after fine sanding etc.)
Take a look at my building log of the actual Granado or my Le Coureur - they are build in cherry wood

The treenailing of the decks - you have enough time to make decisions - first I would see which type of wood you will use for the planking - and based on this you can make the decision about the material and also the technique of making treenails (and maybe caulking)
 
Uwek,

I just reviewed the build log of your HMS Granado. Insane!!! Absolutely incredible, beautiful, and on and on. I'll stick to my simpleton San Felipe :).

Cherry seems like the way to go. I'll pick up the wood this weekend then do some experimenting with various stains and tree nailing. (I knew there was a term for it). I'll be posting the results.

Scott
 
I agree that Cherry is a good choice (and also that pear would be better). Most Mahogany has a very open, coarse grain, which I personally don't care for. Cherry can have a very visible grain pattern in larger pieces, but that disappears, usually, for model-size pieces, so the grain can be subtle. While I like the color of walnut, it too has a pretty open grain (on most pieces I've seen - some seem exceptionally smooth, and I don't know why the difference, probably source). Personally, I consider Cherry second only to Pear, and a whole lot more available and less expensive.

Looking forward to seeing your project.
 
Home made planks are done. Signet, I am aware of the coarser grain so I spent a bunch of time looking through my available choices at the store. I picked a couple of boards that seemed pretty tight. Even so after ripping everything the grain is indeed pretty prevalent. I could not find pear so settled on a couple of nice cherry boards. I purchased two quarter inch by 4 inch by 4 feet of mahogany and the same for cherry.

I grabbed up an old plank from my Montanes to see what the difference was. I am pretty much dead on thick wise and about 0.30mm wider.

The mahogany is a ton lighter than the sapele which comes with most kits. I'll tinker with stains to determine what looks good.

Still a couple weeks away from receiving the kit in the mail. So I'll lay low for a bit. I might post some shots of stains and maybe some of my trials with tree nailing. 08-20-2023 home made planks.jpg08-20-2023 hope I made enough planks.jpg08-20-2023 Measurements four.jpg08-20-2023 Measurements One.jpg08-20-2023 Measurements Three.jpg08-20-2023 Measurements Two.jpg08-20-2023 Ripping new planks pic one.jpg08-20-2023 Ripping new planks pic two.jpg
 
I rip on the opposite side from the images I see. Ripping on the side in the above images just feels wrong to me. Guess it must be because I'm left handed. ROTF
 
Last edited:
ok -- Where to start. Here are my initial thoughts.

Lets start with the good bits. The internal frame is 5mm thick plywood that seems pretty solid. So no worries about nailing into it.
Everything appears to be included. I did not spot any missing pieces or parts.
The only plywood is the internal frame and the decks. Everything else is solid wood (of some sort). Looks like it is easy to sand and should take stain.
The decretive components look to be 3D printed resign and well done. should be easy to paint and work with.
Deadeyes look ok. Plus the wires for the bottom deadeyes and the chain plates look workable.
The walnut bits are walnut! On the Montanes a lot of the walnut was just stained plywood.
A pleasant surprise is the yard arms and masts. They are pre shaped.

I'm glad I made my own planks.

Now for the wobbly bits.

As expected the rigging looks to be problematic. It's headed for the bin for sure.
Blocks and pulleys will need to be replaced. They are the wrong scale and low quality.
Not enough nails, not enough eyebolts,
The belay pins are made of pewter and seem to be the wrong shape. I'll order some wooden ones.

The instructions suck!! Everything is in Chinese, pictures are small, and there are plenty of gaps. Unless you've done one of these before you'd be in deep trouble.
圣飞利浦z9.jpg圣飞利浦z5.jpg
Above are a couple of examples.
 
Here are a couple more pics. The lines look like something from the inside of an animal.

All in all I am pretty pleased. It beat my (rather low) expectations. The laser cut parts look great. I am looking forward to getting the project started. AND believe it or not figuring out the instructions and sequences. The two large charts will be helpful and of course the pictures help as well. The parts list is in Chinese (oh man).

Gluing and cutting and chopping and swearing and bleeding will begin right after the labor day weekend.

08-25-2023 Parts Pic 1.jpg08-25-2023 Parts Pic 2.jpg08-25-2023 Parts Pic 3.jpg
 
Thanks Mike. I'm looking forward to the project as well.

I spent more time this morning reviewing the instructions, What a crack up. Looking from one step to the next, miraculously parts are glued on and no mention of what part they are. Oh well. Good news is that I have plenty of Chinese friends (in China) that can translate for me. I'll have them call ZHL to see if they have an English version of the parts list.

I am running for City Counsel here in Westminster, so signing off for a bit to attend our campaign kickoff. Should be fun.

Have a great day everyone.
 
hi scott just wandering if you pictures on the doors and windows for your ship. i am looking to find some that are used on your model of the san felipe. thanks terry
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top