After seeing Docidle’s beautiful work I got an urge to do all 3 in small scale. I had just finished the Black Swan & Imai Santa Maria. I built a lot of full rigged wooden sailing ship models but that has been years ago whem my hands worked better. Plastic ships have been a ball.
I wanted to build the 3 Columbus ships with the sails & the big red Crosses as a display. Here is my first the Pinta. It doesn’t compare with Steve’s (Docidle) but I wanted to get them done quicker.
You can see in the last picture I used a fine brass wire thru the mast to push the sail out to give it good shape. I also cheated on the shrouds as they didn’t give me enough blocks to do the shrouds. I just tied the lines off of a single block,
I use a lot of brass wire in a lot of places to strengthen small parts. I most always prime with Dupli Color lacquer primer. I have used it for years on all sorts of plastic models. It is very fine & works great. I spray it from the can thru a short straw into my airbrush bottle. Lacquer primer works fine on plastic . Don’t use lacquer paint tho on plastic.
I will be back & show more pictures as I finish them. I am over 1/2 done with the Heller Nina. It is not as nice a kit as the Revell Pinta but is slightly smaller & different. It does have recessed deck lines & that is good. the casting’s are not as nice as Revells. The Nina & Pinta in Revell are of more recent production than the old Santa Maria.
My one problem with ship building is I can’t tie knots. Even on my old really nice wooden ships & riverboats I had a fit with knots.
For any skill I am having a hard time with, I often set up a “practice” jig and keep doing the task till my fingers learn the ropes. I also have a couple of tools I made that helps: a hook and a fork, both made from plastic knitting needles. The fork has half the eye ground off- the hook as a quarter of the eye ground off. Knitting rigging also demands several really good tweezers of different styles.
Thank you guys for all the nice words. Don, I want to get back with you on knots. I think with me it is more age because I once did a lot better.
But that was 30 years ago. I will try again, but right now I am taking theasy way out. 85 year old parts just don’t work as well, but the doctor at the VA today said everything was fine. Here’s another of the Constitution that I cleaned up.
Thanks again & I am putting the sails on the Nina. They are really fun models in the smaller scale. My Constitution is about 36" & has about a 1000 copper plates on the bottom. The trouble I think with ship models is once you finish one side, you have another just like it to do.
Thanks Bill. I went thru & cleaned up a lot of pictures & they do look better. I was a lot better years ago, but it is still just as much fun no matter how old yo get. I am in heat right now over plastic ship kits of all sizes.
Baron, my Constitution is a Mamoli wood plank on frame kit. I really like Mamoli as they go together nicely & their rigging instructions are the best. I put black thread between each deck plank. Tapering the planking to match on each side is pretty hard.
I don’t know where this dark printing came from because I just lost this post & am re writing it. I used some real copper plates on the hull at the bottom & antiqued them with green paint mix. I did this model in 1983 & it is still perfect. Rigging is still all intact. I did bees wax all the lines.
I did a lot of mamoli kits, the Golden Hind & others. I am just putting the sails on the Nina. I put a piece of fine wire at the bottom of the sails so they would hold their curve. Clover House is s good place to get wire. I use a bunch of it. I rigged all my 1930 planes with it. Hey Don, I don’t have to tie knots in the wire.Maybe I will try to rig a ship with it.
Hardest aircraft model I ever rigged was a 1:48 scale DH2. The aft fuselage and tail section was so flexible the rigging was very much structural! Problem was, it was so floppy without the rigging, it was hard to hold the tail section in the right place and alignment while getting the first few pieces of rigging done.
Gene, Are there any plastic kits that you are looking for? I have most of those produced over the years, including many extras. My only real concern with the POB kits is that the European manufacturers are not careful about providing kits of historic ships. Many are simply fantasy ships that never existed. However, I do recognize that the most prolific of plastic manufacturers have done the same. Simply look at the Heller and the Revell kits. Most are quite accurate; several are ridiculous. Some of us on this forum have also expressed concern about the relatively poor materials in POB kits. But, the kits would be far more expensive if marketed with better materials; I adapt my POB kits by using the plywood parts as templates from which to make my own quality parts. (Yes, I also build POB!) Anyway, please let me know about the plastic kits. Bill
Bill, Thanks, that is a great offer, but at 85 I don’t want to get too many. If I find myself in heat for something I will sure email you. I have the big Imai Golden Hind & Pirate ship & 2 small Mayflowers & I just got a Revell small Golden Hind.
After I had my new knee put in, for some reason I stopped building models. I have 2 hips & a Knee now & 25 years ago a 4 way bi pass plus all the other little things that go wrong. Everything is great now according to my doc at the VA Tuesday.
I started building again with a little Ryan PT 22 similar to Harrison Fords plane. That was about 6 months ago & since then I built 18 1/32 fighters, A 1/32 Gunze SS100 (beautiful ) The Black Swan, the Imai 1/60 Santa Maria, & now the 1/90 Nina Pinta, & Santa Maria. My problem is I have run out of glass cabinets & plastic cases.
Well I just took some pictures of the Nina & will put them on now.
The Heller Nina was a fair kit,but not as good as the Nina or Pinta. I might have to build a Revell Nina too. I am confused as to how the large sail goes, in or out of the shrouds. If it were inside the sail could not billow at all. Also I put wire at the bottom of each sail so they would hold the shape of a billowed sail. I will put them on an oak base as soon as I can get some made. These really don’t compare to Docidle’s (Steve ) Nina but they were fun to build. Now I will do the Santa Maria.
Oh my God - I hope that you’re kidding!! These are gorgeous! I love the wood look, and the sails are great along with the rigging, weathering, etc. I do this for a living, but you Sir, have the the great skill that few do truly have! I use guitar strings, and sewing pins bent to my specs for tying off rigging easily. I just make a big loop, then tie, then I loop again, then tighten down. I’m used to making surgical type stitches so it’s easy for me to do, but I keep these from coming off with Aileens’ STOP FRAYING from Jo-Ann fabrics, or Michaels. It’s made for fabric so that it remains supple, and soft without discolouration, or stiffness.
Cobra, That sure is a nice post, thanks. You & Don Stauffer are going to have to teach me to tie knots. I’ve been building models for 75 years & I still can’t tie knots . Those are the plastic sails that came with the kit. That main sail does look too big to me.
One thing I meant to mention was on flags. I have some paper thin brass sheets that I cut up & put inside a flag folded over. I use another type of fabric glue to glue the flag together & paint the edge of the flag a matching color. Then you can bend & curl the flag & it looks pretty real.
Well I let my pea sized brain decide where to put the sail & I was wrong. I have already cut it loose & wil re rig it today. It won/t have the extreme curve tho. Thay is why I put it outside the shrouds.
With all the rigged ships i have built, I have never built one with only Lanteen sails. See, even when you’re old you still learn. I will repost pictures of it done right. Also I will put pictures of my big 1/60 Santa Maria.
I had put a small brass rod thru the mast to hold the sail & it was long enough to just cut off & it still is good for the yard to attach to. The rigging I just cut.
