san felipe (yuanqing)+pear carvings

naaaaaaaaa.........was seduced by the pearwood sculptures...kit is weird....would not have done it.......roughing things out yet..1:50 scale?..eg...deck to ceiling is 28mm.......door is 22mm.....you can see the proportions.....even reduced the capstan 3mm......how tall is a man....lifesize maybe 5'6''.....few good things about the kit, but all in all.....nada........06mm planking is a no no for me.....you'd have to buy your own planking....and stanchions..at least in the yuanqing version .....and using different kinds of wood is too much contrast.......like the black walnut gratings...........and should they be so high?........i already bought lighter wood for the deck.
still lots of finishing to do, and i'll go ahead and do my best to make it look acceptable and at least i should get back my money spent, which is too much in this case....i think the caroline would be a much better kit....anyways, no more china stuff....communications too difficult.........oh....also....the wood was so light in color that i had to use polyshades stained pecan.....i don't like stains....always uneven and blotchy....again, i should have bought proper wood.
now i take a deep breath, and jump back in.........is a good learning experience though...like doing a difficult jigsaw puzzle.........i think the zhl version made some improvements, but maybe just a few....
cheers............vc

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just an update......this is may be the most tooth grinding ship i've done......and i still hadn't got everything straight...nice to modify something but there's a price to pay, and like i said...a real trial and error project.....although the carvings are really nice, i don't think the original ones would have made the ship less impressive and i probably wasted a lot of money buying them.......online, the carvings were shown made in boxwood which contrasted the blue beautifully, and are color consistant........but pearwood...no...as they were the only ones they produced, which also had different colorings and the wood carvings are cut steeply, and many of them don't show up well when painted gold, which like i said, i had to do......
anyways, had i known what i know now....i wouldn't have purchased the kit, or i would have found the cheapest price, then bought my own wood, guns, stanchions and rigging including blocks and deadeyes......although the deadeyes are useable.....would have to do research on the relative scale of different areas of the ship...something is just not right.....enough griping for now and forever...i'll just do the best with what i've got, boat wise and body wise.....getting old.....
.well here's where i'm at now....i just splattered gold everywhere, to attract a consumer, as i just couldn't take this ship seriously anymore......
oh....are the yards up or down if the sails are furled?......or ;does ;it matter......cheers.....

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yancovitch said:
just an update......this is may be the most tooth grinding ship i've done......and i still hadn't got everything straight...nice to modify something but there's a price to pay, and like i said...a real trial and error project.....although the carvings are really nice, i don't think the original ones would have made the ship less impressive and i probably wasted a lot of money buying them.......online, the carvings were shown made in boxwood which contrasted the blue beautifully, and are color consistant........but pearwood...no...as they were the only ones they produced, which also had different colorings and the wood carvings are cut steeply, and many of them don't show up well when painted gold, which like i said, i had to do......
anyways, had i known what i know now....i wouldn't have purchased the kit, or i would have found the cheapest price, then bought my own wood, guns, stanchions and rigging including blocks and deadeyes......although the deadeyes are useable.....would have to do research on the relative scale of different areas of the ship...something is just not right.....enough griping for now and forever...i'll just do the best with what i've got, boat wise and body wise.....getting old.....
.well here's where i'm at now....i just splattered gold everywhere, to attract a consumer, as i just couldn't take this ship seriously anymore......
oh....are the yards up or down if the sails are furled?......or ;does ;it matter......cheers.....

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Well, the overall impression I have is that the ship is splendid in gold. It is easy to see why the San Felipe has become so popular among modelers. The color of the gold is consistent and convincing. By the way, yardarms are always lowered when the sailed are removed for storage. You mentioned this ship was being made for a sale to a customer?
 
thanks for your response, and gads no :) ...where i live in a little town in bc canada, no one would be interested in purchasing this......most would not even notice it..........if i can get back what i spent, i'll be satisfied, as i didn't do it the way i really wanted...i may be able to put it in the store window in a mall here in the summer, and hope that a tourist might pick it up....sold one like that before.....84 on saturday and too old now to do any more building....like i mentioned......my 10x 15foot bedroom is my workshop, in a small retirement center....
 
yancovitch said:
thanks for your response, and gads no :) ...where i live in a little town in bc canada, no one would be interested in purchasing this......most would not even notice it..........if i can get back what i spent, i'll be satisfied, as i didn't do it the way i really wanted...i may be able to put it in the store window in a mall here in the summer, and hope that a tourist might pick it up....sold one like that before.....84 on saturday and too old now to do any more building....like i mentioned......my 10x 15foot bedroom is my workshop, in a small retirement center....
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Hi Vic,

Heared you say that before. Sure you will not be tempted again to build a small ship like the Alert?
 
hmmmmm.....funny, i seem to have a passion only for certain ships.....all about the lines and the shape etc.....the one i was tempted to do is the ragusian carrack from croatia.....sure got character.......with that i could do a good job

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yancovitch said:
although the carvings are really nice, i don't think the original ones would have made the ship less impressive and i probably wasted a lot of money buying them.......online, the carvings were shown made in boxwood which contrasted the blue beautifully, and are color consistant........but pearwood...no...as they were the only ones they produced, which also had different colorings and the wood carvings are cut steeply, and many of them don't show up well when painted gold
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Hello,

I totally agree with you when you say that sculptures are very expensive, even too expensive, I think the same thing. What I find to be a shame is that the sculptures are totally different from the standard models. In my humble opinion, I much prefer the details of the sculptures you have chosen.

Building this ship in your bedroom at the retirement home is quite an accomplishment. You can be very proud of it, congratulations, you are doing an exceptional job, I love seeing your progress.
 
well i do thank you for the encouragement, especially since i'm really getting too old for this, proven since i've been making so many mistakes.....and yes maarten...i don't think i can build any more, as this is my last butcher build :).....i just realized that i put the side entrance ports in the wrong place, and moving them will really be a chore, since i will find it very difficult to match the color of the hull on the patch i'll have to make....i consider this a very humble pie post.......funny, my piano playing is getting better and building worse...go figure......i kick myself fo using those polyshade urethanes.....i put the opening right in the middle of those rub rails or what ever they are called on the side, for lowering the ship's boats...........so i guess i varnish some planking and try to match the color first......leaving all as is would be a big no no.........welllllll...here i go........
 
and yep.............i made the patch and it is hardly noticeable.....whew!!......now what am i gonna goof up next :D
 
oh by the way, in case of any misunderstanding, the sculptures i'm using are the expensive ones...and are not the same size, which is one of the reasons i had to do so many modifications, aside from my basic re-design.......
in a nut shell....the good things about the kit providing you build as is...it's big ......tapered mast and yards............the skeleton was excellent....hardly any sanding on the bulkheads......some deadeys good...full size drawings....the included plastic sculptures ok.... .....the rest.. useable or useless.......and something wrong with the scale in different areas like i mentioned before.....
anyways, it cost me too much, but i've enjoyed the challenge....and i've learned much....so all in all, it was worth it for the experience....and it may look somewhat impressive when finished......
found this model supply store in plymouth in uk....called modelnet..excellent service..........not much luck with cornwall..........
(sure wish the script was darker here.....so hard to see....)
 
very kind sir.....just a shot to show the size of it......weighs 16lbs......last shot for now...will throw in a few when completed......like i mentioned, i mainly posted enlighten any potential builder a bit.....cheers.......vc

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