RKurczewski

I beg to disagree with mr. Nenad M. Ship modeling is building models of ship. Period. Be it wood, plastic, metal, bone- it is all ship modeling.

Main goal of historical model building is to get as close to historical original as possible. It is not about MEANS- it is about final results. Are models covered in exotic wood  strips resembling even remotely painted and weathered oak age of sail ships ? Models that are not touched by paint at all ? Ones with nails clearly visible all over the hull on 1:96 scale ?  Shiny brass cannons ? Tinted and vaxed wood that looks like old credenza ? Visible, beautiful (and totally not scale correct) grain of wood ? Those are but a few - by no means "small" concessions that ship modelers are commonly accepting. Are they any "better" or "worse" then fact that part of model was created using this or that method ?

And when it comes to technology- let us be clear on one thing: more then 90% of modelers will NOT be able to model realistic 3d parts (save for simplest ones) because it calls for years of training, very specific skill set so yes, we do have a new tool and no, it will not be any more accessible and common then sculpting beautiful ornaments using all those great micro tools that are widely available.

NMBrook: Nah, I do not think kidney would be a thing . One roll of material for makerbot costs like 50$ and I honestly doubt it would use entire one even for 1:64. The only trick is- to have it printed, really. My company has two such printers and they are not very busy so I bet it can be done.

Mangaroca: I have it for 1/96 at the moment but advantage with 3d models is- you can scale them to any dimensions and results will hardly change.

...and just because I can: 3d print ready hull.

Dgbot- any parts you want. In my case it is just always balance between price and purpose of print. If something is to be invisible anyway (like structural parts of hull)- I go for cheapest option like Makerbot (printer costs around 1-2 K $). With details- much much better printers or services. Below is a sample of medium quality print that costs 2 Euro. For my purpose- it is good enough. At high quality it would be significantly more precise- but at cost of 6 Euro so... balance and calculation of what you want/can pay for. As in any other part of our life .

I did a hull of Renommee recently. Cheapest of cheap printer, heated polystyrene. Cost ? Eeee... about 5$ ? Not really sure. Here are results. 

Now- of course it is by no means something to be used "as is", BUT after polishing surface is even and true (basically- like in plastic kit) and more then ready to have "planks" glued onto it. Quite good (and precise) base if you ask me. 

I hope you will find this one amusing. Spanish 6 pounder in 1/96 scale (made for Santa Leocadia)

I have ordered proof prints of mortar and 8 pounder, should have them on March 4th latest (although I am not sure I will have my model here by then-  it is in my old house, another city you know). Anyway- for sure I will keep you updated.

Nigel: To be honest I took data regarding cannons from "Santissima Trinidad- Escorial de los mares" and from plans on which kit was based. Now: model I am working on is a diorama of a ship under full sail (with all gunports closed) so I care only about open decks (which makes things MUCH easier). 

Rpeteru: I would suspect they will work for all models in same scale but I will not guarantee it. In other words: personally- I would use them, but that's just me. I would hate you to loose money on something that's useless.

Great piece. What kind of software is it ? 

Thank you very much. If you want it (file I mean)- just let me know.

Not sure if any of you guys will be interested but does not harm to share. Some time ago I did a sculpture for CNC machine for La Venus. Here is how it looks like:

Of course lilys are missing (on central, round shield) but model is print-able, CNC-able and what not. If any of you gents would like to grab the file for your personal use- please, let me know (sorry, I can not attach it here- it is just too large), it is free,  "for taking"

Yeah, they are very useful. The only disadvantage is a price of better materials (ultra detail an such) but I hope with progress of technology that will get better, too.

Scale. One is twice the size of the other (somebody asked me for different scale version). I am going to upgrade this one, too, as hind legs are too close together (space between them is too narrow). You can see that in 3d view (blue box icon).

Beauty of Shapeways lies in fact that you order as many parts as you want, so I do not have to plan ahead or "bind" anybody to buy this or that much. If one wants to equip all his decks with "my" cannons- he can order any configuration he wants. If just for a top deck- same. Person buying from them orders prints, that's it, I do not have to set up anything (and that's how I like it). I am just happy to design parts that can come handy, since it helps me, too.

If I were you I'd wait till you see photos of prints- after all they can be worthless (I do not think so but you loose nothing by playing it safe). Now dummy cannons is an interesting subject. It was very uncommon for ship to sail with all gunports open, so for my own build I am just going to have all of them sealed (I want it to be a diorama of Santissima on anchor) BUT if you (or anybody else for that matter) want to do "dummies"- I can make a fake, "closed" gunport with a part of gun (or even entire one), to be glued from inside. That way you would have a clean solution, probably better then what's proposed by kit designer and still not requiring extensive modification or creation of additional decks.

Thank you very much for wishes and all the best to you and your family. May your sea be calm and your shores smooth.

So... I have made a full set of cannons for Santissima. 8 pounder, 12, 18 and 24/36 (same barrell lenght). THEORETICALLY they should print with all hooks and pieces.

To my knowledge Santissima carried maximum 14 mortars ("Santissima Trinidad- A Giant of the Seas"), all of them on uppermost deck of course. Under Trafalgar- probably just 4, but sources differ  on it (plans widely available on net say there were 10 of them). In any case- since ship was equipped with very mixed artilery (as most of ships of era) and what is provided in set are just uniform, badly cast cannons, I will probably work on artilery as well.

"In the 1805 stat report she appeared with 134 cannons, which may be because the 6 very

To have some rest (and fun) I did a mortar for Santissima. It is 1/90, 24 lbs, 2.7 cm long little thingie. Hope you will like it. 

Since I am greedy, I added 3E to price of each piece- you can get it here: http://shpws.me/qfXa

Nigel- thank you, I am glad you like it. Hope finished stern will be appealing to you, too. The build you mentioned- yep, I am in touch with a person who did it (after all there are not so many modelers of that grade in any given country). Very impressive work.

Mark- o yes, you are certainly right- it is a beautifull piece of art. My only problem with that painting is that it is modern and- although based on all researches we have- we can not say it is based on first or even second hand relations (that's why painting by Lt. RST is- of course- personal opinion- so valuable, although fo course also not to be believed 100%)

... and here goes basic structure. Door and two pairs of windows missing.

Well- bulkhead is rather generic I am afraid (it is just a typical, regulatory lion)- I am planning to build a new one, just still unsure if it should be a figure of Trinity or archangel Michael with shield of Trinity. I am leaning towards first option (mostly because of this painting) but I still have not really made my mind. In any case- I am rather sure sculpting all figures as shown on "prototype" model will take enough time to let me think which path should I choose.

Sorry for picture quality- if any of you is in London you might get better photos. Painted by Ltd. Robert Strickland Thomas- a painter AND a sailor, with good understanding of sea and (unless I am mistaken) a man who gathered a lot of resources befor painting this one

You are very kind, thank you, but I am not really doing it for profit (probably should... ). If my own model will look good with it- I will be more then happy, and if there will be ANY other person that will think alike- that will be undeserved bonus.

It's hard for me to believe it but... it seems I am ALMOST done with most mudane part. Today I should finish "lacework" on upper balcony and then... it is sculpting time !

Re-designed bottom balcony columns. Now it becomes obvious that upper rail is perpendicular to bottom (and IF all lines are to follow one scheme- that's not good) so it is to be re- done AGAIN:

that's where it is clearly visible what has to be changed (red elipse- compare how upper rail flows in totally different way columns would suggest) :

Lacework railing surface added, before cutting.

...and after