mtdoramike

I had often thought of building the Confederacy as a donation model. But after talking to a few people, I realize that my efforts would probably be in vein to even get an organization to even accept it especially with the racial tensions swirling in the US lately and the fact that every place is either taking down the stars and bars flags or contemplating it in the Southern states. 

What a shame, it's such a magnificent ship and deserves it's place in history no matter how rocky that history may have been.

mike     

For starters, if you can find the Latina version, it's well worth the money. I heard that Artesania Latina discontinued this kit, which is why you can usually pick it up on Ebay for under $150.00. I personally built this kit several years ago and it makes into a very nice model. But the OcCre version, which I did not build, but saw one freshly built and there was no comparision as far as fit and finish. The OcCre Miss has quite a bit more detailings than the cheaper Latina version. OcCre even includes tables and chairs, I think hey bales and barrels as well as other nice finishers. The Latina kit, I had to make all of those things myself. But if it's your first build, you can't go wrong with the Latina version of the King. You just have to realize that in order to go from a good kit build to a great kit build, you will have to do a bit of research on paddle wheelers and add some finishers of your own in order to step it up a notch. But you would be happy with either one.

mike 

I spent a little time working on the Highlander figure head. Not completely sold on the colorations yet, but it's starting to grow on me.

mike

I hope so, at $38.00 shipped, it wasn't all that cheap.

mike

Here is the piece of Black Walnut that I will use to make the display base for the Montanes. I do love black walnut. I also just started planking the lower false decking.

mike

Absolutely beautiful work. WOW!

mike

Used kit whether opened and started or not usually will only fetch about 50 percent OR LESS than the original retail price. Ebay is a fickle market place and timing is everything. Most people will buy their hobby stuff towards the summer and fall seasons to give them something to do during those long winter months. Also even during the day of the week has it's benefits such as always try and list your items where they will end late in the morning or afternoon during the weekend rather than during the week unless it's in the evening. I might also add here that even though you have done a bit of work to the model, it's really not looked at as that much of a benefit to the buyer because they don't know your skill level and assume they may have to re-do some of your work.

mike

The aging look of the buckets and barrels is fantastic.

mike

If parts are missing, it's usually due to the manufacture not including it in the box. It seems that is the practice as of late, I guess it's hard to get good help. But I would in no way blame the store. By the way, most of the ship model kits that I have received from retail stores weren't sealed with shrink wrap, which I'm sure that is the way they received them from the Manufacture.

mike

That is Beautiful work Richard, if I were more computer literate I would try it myself.

mike

While glancing at the pictorial illustrations, it shows that they recommend planking the false decks before installing them. I never do this and I will not do it on this model either. Yes, it might be easier planking the deck on a flat surface but and here are a few big buts: Most false decks never fit well right out of the box and must be coaxed and adjusted and even twisted a little to fit, secondly most ships have a slight arch to the deck from side to side and not flat, three I can get a much better and closer fit with the planking boards once the false deck is mounted, fourth most plank on frame or bulkhead kits actually require you to mount the bulk heads to the false keel and then place the deck on before securing the bulk heads with glue and this kit is no exception to this.

So I glued and nailed the decking down and then mixed up a fairly thin mixture of wood glue and water and then using a stiff paint brush, I covered the joints with the glue mixture which is thin enough to whisk into the joints for a better glue job.      

Mike, just tagging along as this model has always appealed to me but at this point it is out of my price range.  I will wait till my skills improve before I lay down that kind of cash.  Good luck with your build and whomever receives this donation will be quite lucky.  I saw the pics of the one you donated to the library... beautiful piece of work.

Tom

Thank you for the kind words Tom, I have to admit it turned out quite nice indeed.

mike

Thanks for the link Mark, actually I have seen his build log quite a while back and his work on this model is amazing to say the least. I will be using this link and his build as references for my build. I'm going to do the same with mine where he used quite a bit of filler blocks between the frames, which will aid in fairing the hull planking since the frames are quite thin for a model of this size in my opinion.

mike

Here is a little progress on the Montanes. The frames went into the keel slots with ease and a nice tight fit, unlike the Latina Victory, which was quite sloppy and loose. Also, the decking went in rather easily, and I have to say out of all the models that I have built, the decking just slipped in with very little trimming and filing. To me, most deckings on models were always way off and needed all kinds of trimming to get it to fit decent. Now this model has a white cast metal stern plate, which I always hate on ship models and I usually opt to replace and build up my own out of wood. But I will see how this one looks before passing judgement on it since I have seen a few videos of the construction of this model on Youtube and thought the stern section looked rather good. But we'll see, I'm not even close to worrying about that part yet.

Also the parts list is posing a tad bit of a problem since it doesn't offer English translation, but I'm muddling along with it and  have only had to check out some translation issues a few time on the computer. I'm curious to know if OcCre every really intended for a western release of this kit and a few others because of the lack of English translation in the kit information.

mike

Or much easier and less work involved which I love, I order the lettering and waterline markings from Cornwall models in England. Yep, takes a few weeks to get to the U.S., but if I have a few ships in the wings at different scales, I can order most in one order and the shipping isn't that bad.

mike 

Mike,

Short answer... nope!

(I have done a scratch build boat)

I fear I may not live long enough to complete the only ship I want to do, so, I dive into the deep end and if I should go "to the place of truth" before it is done I will have at least been working on it.

I could not have summed it up better, nicely put and I agree. Some scratchers I have known spent decades on a model before finishing it and some never finished. But the ones that did finish had what I would say justifies as a TRUE museum quality ship model worthy of being in any museum.

mike

Good morning Mike

 

Yes it has been a long time, no one knows it better than me

I had a false start building a year ago but approached it wrong and I didn't like what I had done

I have had at least three starts at modelling, this last being a switch from SolidWorks to Inventor.

 

Besides having caught many errors, learned many things about the ship, I also learned about 3D modelling which has been quite valuable for work.

Although I do not draw at work anymore (I do not model) my co-workers do, and the mystery surrounding the process is gone.

 

I expect it will take me a few weeks to complete my templates and have two sets printed... then I start.

It takes time to clear your head and then the mistakes leap off the screen/sheet and they can be addressed

I've been going slower this last attempt at modeling and will be taking my time with the build.

 

This will be my first scratch build "ship" and I am learning so much.... including patience; not something that comes naturally to me

It is also the first time I've made my own templates

Many firsts happening here

It is as much about the journey as it will be the completion.

 

Alan

I can't wait to see the temps. Yep I agree, I love the research aspect as well, but after two years, I better be cutting some wood or I've done lost the passion for it. Have you considered trying out a less complicated model for a first scratch build, which should build up your skills even further before attacking this beast?

mike

I'm curious here, you have spent better than two years researching the model. When do you intend to start construction? The reason why I ask is that I have known modellers in the past that spent so much time researching their subject that they got burnt out and never got around to the building portion. I just took it that they really enjoyed the research more than the actual application.

mike 

Outstanding planking job.

mike

To you as well JP.

mike

Well I'm getting about ready to start the Montanes Build after a nice break from building the Victory. Now this was not a new kit when I purchased it, which was from a forum member last year hence the tape all over it to secure it while shipping. I went through and did a inventory and all parts seem to be present along with 7 sheets of plans. Now this would not be a beginner kit especially for someone in the United States unless you speak Spanish, which I don't because the instruction booklet is written in Spanish only. I'm sure this kit was for the Overseas market and was purchased in Spain. This little issue doesn't phase me though because I rarely ever follow instructions and mainly build by plans. Now the construction booklet is great with colored photos, which will help during the build if needed. I assume if you can find a Montanes kit in the U.S. it would have English translated instruction, if you can find one. I love a good challenge and this will add to the challenge.

I noticed while unpacking the kit contents that the keel and frames seem to be made with a thin plywood of like 1/8" thick, which I thought was a bit thin for this size model because the Victory keel and frames were twice as thick, but it also made the final product quite heavy. 

To you as well.

I never start the coppering process from the keel up, only from the waterline down to the keel so if there is any problems, it will be on the bottom of the ship and a lot less noticeable. 

mike

The most asked question I ever got was "will the copper plating stay shiney like that"? I tell them no, it will tarnish with time or you can speed up the process. They actually seemed upset that I would even mention such a thing and to not touch the copper plating any further. These were customers and like I explained to them that the copper would not remain like new on the real ship, it would get tarnished quickly in the salt water. They didn't care. I even had one client who asked me to take off the copper plating and replace it after I took before and after tarnishing or aging took place.He was paying me so his wish was my command. So after that, I used those same two photos to clients and asked which did they prefer and hands down they chose the untarnished version every time.

mike 

WOW, absolutely stunning work. What a beauty she will be when finished.

mike