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Cristiano

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About Cristiano

  • Birthday 04/18/1970

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Bologna - Italy
  • Interests
    Wood ship modelling, miniatures painting, history, and reading novels of various type

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  1. This happened to me in minor ways with others models. It is possible that this model project is rather old and they never upgraded it. Now the stern costruction is solved by manufacturers with laser cut multiple metal pieces instead of a single cast piece. The original stamp of your model is old and clearly deformed by wearing. Below my suggestions: Stern modification The front of the stern panel must be leaved as it is. You cannot bend with heat, since is fragile metal and not ductile one, so get broken. The rear of the stern can be carved in order to let have a more deep bending in the central part, using a hobby electric drill (the ones with small grinding wheels that can be attached). then you must glue it to the ship (after priming the piece). After is firmly glued, you can use modelling paste like the Kneadatite (called also green stuff) to fill the gaps with the hull and give continuity to the surface. Otherwise the wood filler, but usually it doesn't adhere properly to metal surface. The Kneadatite adhere best to metal. The Kneadatite is a common paste sold in the models shops. is a very common product in the model fields. Stern painting After you have modified it, but before glueing to the hull, cover with black matte primer, better to use a spray one. you can eventually paint with related colors the details internal parts of the stern, leaving only primered the external frame, too. I suggest to use acrylic paint for decoupage, since they contain big pigments and have a better covering capability. After you have glued to the hull and successully filled the gaps with the hull, you can paint the external frame. The paint needs fixing of course. So you must cover with plastic the area surrounding the stern and spray a matte transparent paint. if you have some doubts, feel free to ask. I am Italian, so english is not my mother language. so sorry is something is not explained well.
  2. I suggest the following kits, by Amati. https://www.amatimodel.com/en/models-amati-classic/product-robert-e-lee-assembly-box-2024-edition-b1439.html?_gl=1*1y7f76j*_up*MQ..&gclid=CjwKCAjw17qvBhBrEiwA1rU9w_ycr4hf1YAwInKylBzFOnaL2uVCYrfPsHXfh41Hk42oM-V6KYhXPBoCfKgQAvD_BwE Classical steam boat Robert E. Lee. the problem of the hull planking is solved, since there is no hull planking at all. otherwise: Pirate chinese junk. https://www.amatimodel.com/en/models-amati-classic/product-chinese-pirate-junk-b1421.html?_gl=1*1xcnvvq*_up*MQ..&gclid=CjwKCAjw17qvBhBrEiwA1rU9w_ycr4hf1YAwInKylBzFOnaL2uVCYrfPsHXfh41Hk42oM-V6KYhXPBoCfKgQAvD_BwE the problem of hull planking is solved here too, since the bow and stern are cut stright due to the specific shape of this ship.
  3. Interesting, but the price is very low. I wonder what you get for that price. The professional kit producers for that price give you only barely a very beginner kit... In anycase, in another page they write that ropes and sail are absent in the kit.
  4. Of course Joachim, but sometimes there are "small artistic deviations" that I prefer to take to maintain the nice look of the model. Some observers may interpret certain choices (metal parts completely white) as a lack of artistic ability on painting. The black metal parts of the rudder are more nice to the eye...
  5. Regarding the mordant, probably is also knew also as "wood stain", available as ready to use or in powder to be blended with water, and so on. the various type of wood colors can be easily found in all the hobby stores. Regarding the white, I usually use the "acrilic paint for decoupage". it appears an odd choice, but it is a type of color that is very efficient in terms of result. The acrilic paint for decoupage contains very big pigments (the opposite of the acrilic paint for plastic modelling), so the covering efficiency is very very high. you cover the wood without the risk to soaking it with the water present in the color. Below is an example of a mine model present in my gallery: All the colored parts are made with acrilic paint for decoupage (whyte, ocra yellow, yellow and black). The masts and bowsprit are "colored" with wood stain (walnut light color) or mordant, the original wood was lime wood. The pedestal, again was lime wood, "colored" with cherry wood stain Unfortunately I am from Italy, so I cannot suggest specifically a label of acrilic paint available in your market, but more or less the equivalent in your country of mine should be the following (Amazon USA link): https://www.amazon.com/Apple-Barrel-Acrylic-PROMOABI-Assorted/dp/B00ATJSD8I/ref=sr_1_10_sspa?crid=2ISXK4FQ4P330&keywords=allegro+paint&qid=1705880135&sprefix=allegro+paint%2Caps%2C163&sr=8-10-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9idGY&psc=1 Regarding wood stain, the best that I have used are solvent based, so cannot be shipped by Amazon, due to the solvent presence. But browsing with the web you can find many wood stain manufacturers in your Country.
  6. you can eventually paint the wood with mordant. I know that you don't want to paint your model, but using mordant is not like painting a model. There are various colors available on market. I used extensively mordaunt in the past for coloring the base of my models, accessories and some hull. I converted lime wood in cherry wood or walnut wood. The level of color darkness and saturation of the final result depends by the layers of mordant that you lay on wood. You can make some experiment on spare stripes. the mordant exalts the wood grain, but it must be made attention to the traces of glue on wood. The traces of glue let the mordant be absorbed with a resulting different colour.
  7. Have you considered to create them using the "green stuff" (technical name is kneadtite)? I too, was not satisfied of the stern of the Corel kit, so I modified it heavily using the green stuff. Check my result: It was rather easy, since the green stuff can be modified for various hours before becoming hard. It is rather cheap too. Of the original stern, I saved only the windows...
  8. Of course, probably is correct, but it is not easy to find some additional and sound informations. I saw that in many Italian archeological articles related to roman wreckage found in the sea, there are often reconstructions of the merchant ships like the one below, but I never dig further on the argument (the below one is related to the discovery of the "Nave di Marausa")
  9. Since it is a "minor detail" regarding the daily life of a Roman sailor, it is hard to find informations. In anycase generally I agree with allanyed: the service boats were towed. regarding the possibility to use a mast like a crane, it was documented as a way to unload goods from the big Roman merchant ships, using the foremast. Vitruvius wrote of this. In the Roman paintings and mosaics the service boat has always been shown towed (or not shown at all). (The famous Nave Europa from Pompei)
  10. in the below link other photos of the wreck. The article is one year old... I am interested too in the legal battle, since as it was written in an article that I posted some weeks ago: Spain reclaim all its royal galleons (and related content) that are in the sea bottom as of its property, but here Colombia and Bolivia reclain the property too..... for different reasons. https://www.dw.com/es/tesoro-en-el-mar-nuevas-imágenes-del-galeón-san-josé/a-62065756
  11. I add to the forum this sequence of four articles written by an Italian expert of Spanish naval history (he defines himself a treasure hunter), which has written a book about historical shipwrecks: CLAUDIO BONIFACIO. The author lives in Spain and has explored for various years the Spanish archives related to the Spanish fleets and the goods transported. The matter is interesting since the Spain consider their ancient ship wrecks (related to governative military ships) still as their property, so their content is theoretically still their. The author make an analysis of the various shipwrecks and the amount of gold/money lost and transported... The overall quantity still under the sea is impressive. The overall economical balance is in the fourth article, but each article has a partial one. UNFORTUNATELY (or luckily, it depends) the articles are all Italian written....but Google translate can make miracles. The order of the articles are from the first to the last. https://www.lastampa.it/mare/2023/03/09/news/laltra_banca_di_spagna_che_sta_in_fondo_al_mare-12684974/ https://www.lastampa.it/mare/2023/03/19/news/laltra_banca_di_spagna_la_lista_dei_naufragi_apre_la_via_alloro-12703246/ https://www.lastampa.it/mare/2023/04/22/news/laltra_banca_di_spagna_loro_mancante_della_san_pedro_alcantara-12768605/ https://www.lastampa.it/mare/2023/09/05/news/laltra_banca_di_spagna_quelle_750_tonnellate_doro_che_riposano_sui_fondali-13027885/ If someone is interested, other articles about shiprecks written by the same author: https://www.lastampa.it/mare/2023/05/14/news/alla_ricerca_delle_fortune_sommerse_lungo_la_costa_dorata_delluruguay-12805340/ https://www.lastampa.it/mare/2023/02/09/news/nelle_acque_delle_bahamas_ci_sono_tesori_milionari-12633036/
  12. The matter related to the Nemi ships has always been fascinating, but it seems that the purpouse of the ships was less "legendary". Caligola was deeply devoted to the goddes Diana and Isis, so these two ships it seems were two big ceremonial ships dedicated to them. A big temple of Diana was present on the shores of the lake Nemi. They could be moved, for ceremonial purposes, since they had rudders and oars, but they didn't pretend to be "seaworthy". When Calicola was killed, the "damnatio memoriae" was proclaimed, so everything related to him was canceled or destroyed. The two ships were spoiled from all the serviceable material and sunk in the lake intentionally, since representative of Caligola power. Therefore we must consider that already at the time of the Romans the ships were stripped of largest part of their beauties and decorations and reduced to two empty hulls, before sinking them. However their value for the study of the ancient Roman construction technique was enormous and it is a pity that they have been lost. fortunately their construction technique was studied for at least ten years before the destruction.
  13. The matter related to the latin sails as used in big vessels is more complex. The latin sails ships like xebec, polacre, pinco, galleys and so on were widely used in all the Mediterranean sea, by Spain, France, Italy and all the north African Countries, which composed later the Ottoman Empire. Since the latin sails were the main source of propulsion, they needed to be big and to be "arranged" in any position possible, in order to use at their best the wind. So they were placed not inside the shrouds. Even the mizzen mast latin sail was not placed inside the shrouds, since it contribuited in a more relevant percentage to the propulsion of the ship. Later when the squared sail arrangement become relevant, the mizzen mast latin sail become less important and become smaller and placed inside the shrouds. The model I made is an hybrid, a polacre, but belonging to a period when the squared sail was already the most used main ship arrangment, so the latin sail of the mizzen mast is small and within the shrouds. In addition, since the main mast is provided with squared sails, it can be adopted a big latin sail for the mizzen mast, due to interference. Below some images that can show how were arranged the sails. As you can see there are many ways to arrange the latin sails, using always the same rigging. As you can see in the last painting ("L'Aquila" a galley of the Savoia family), a contemporary one of the ship, the mizzen mast sail act a more relevant role than in the typical squared sails ships. If you check my thread related to the construction of the polacre you will find some painting of the same period of the ship. Regarding the sources: I have many books, in addition I am lucky and I had the opportunity to visit the naval museum of Venezia, which still has various rigged galleys models, built in the same period of the galleys, very big and provided with rigging details. If you want there is this book, too, which is full of explantions and complete plans and rigging details: https://www.amazon.com/Vele-italiane-della-costa-occidentale/dp/8820348330/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=vele+costa+occidentale&qid=1615933520&s=books&sr=1-1 I wrote of it there: A small detail...is completely written in Italian...but an interesting source of informations, even without knowing the language. The thread of the polacre is there: Regarding the position of the foremast: the canted forward position I think has the only purpose to enlarge the distance between tha main mast and foremast, in order to lower the interference between the sails. In these latin sails, since the only point of the latin sail attached to the mast is near the top of it, you obtain big benefits just moving the top of the mast forward. Hope that the provided informations can be useful.
  14. When I built a Polacre, I made some research on the subject, since was a scratch build model. Below there is a scheme that explain better than many words how where managed the latin sails. Hope it clarified all of your doubts! 😀
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