egkb

Well done for getting this far so quickly! Clinker planking is more difficult to do than the carvel type. I am sure you enjoyed working out the solution to your problem.
 
If you want to see the effect on another Sherbourne, have a look at Stockholm Tar's at http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/2918-sherbourne-by-stockholm-tar-moved-by-moderator/?p=83995. You'll see the concentric effect there as well.
 
Good luck on the other side!
 
Tony

Thanks Eamonn,
 
Here's the next one.
Back then by far the fastest boat in the world.
Steam powered.
 
 
 

Charles Parson's Turbinia of 1894! Her original power plant is in the Science Museum, South Kensington

Popeye, thanks for putting 'moveable features' into perspective. The centerboard is done and I was only off by 1/128", but it works and I'm happy. 
 
The planking is done and all excess material has been removed.  The third bulkhead and the transom are the only two kit parts that remain as the original kit part, everything else has been removed or changed per info found in Chapelle's book and other reliable sources on the web. 
 
These boats had a relatively long life due to numerous reasons, one being the sheer timbers and the keel structure were much stronger than necessary.  In these photos, you will see how the keel has been built up and runs the full length of the hull.    
 
The first two photos show the mast shoe and the keel.  I am making the assumption that the mast was square at the shoe due to the way the sails were set while fishing.   It is a tight fit left to right, but there was room to adjust the rake.  The mast rake is fixed with "T" shaped spacer blocks that drop into the shoe.  When I install the fish well covers, I will go into more detail and sources. 
 
The first bulkhead was completely removed.  I'll add a false frame to hide the glue residue and support the planking and a cross brace for the mast. 

 
HULL PLANKING  
I started planking with 3/32" x 1/4" planking, after prepping, the planks measured between 3/64" and 1/16".  Mathematically, I only needed to use 11 planks total.  But I went with 13 planks total.  Reason being is the planking makes a hard turn around the fourth bulkhead and on the transom.  With the additional planks, I narrowed the planks to make the turn and still have enough wood left to sand the hull smooth.
 
The fourth bulkhead has been removed.  This was easy since only the garboard plank and the first three planks were glued to this bulkhead.  .  I will replace this with a false frame and also to support the planking.    

 
Bow planking turned out good.  I might have to add a wood splice onto the garboard plank when I add the cutwater, but that will be easy. 
The top plank was the final plank to be added and was tough due to the sheer.  I did the right side three times and the left twice.  I ended up doing it in two pieces, but it turns out the sheer plank was made in short lengths and joined with scarph joints.   
 

 
Next up is flooring in the cabin and cockpit and other small parts. 
 
Thoughts, suggestions and comments are welcome. 
 
Dee Dee
 
Edited to change "Cockpit Planking" to "Hull Planking"
Edited 11/24/2014 to add back photos that went missing

I prefer to build small boats, as these boats tell the history and life of the people that plied the waters in small towns and cities along the water ways. 
 
I went with Plan B and temporarily tacked on the deck to straighten out the keel.  After I had three planks on each side, I removed the deck, temporary spacers and a lot more of the false keel.  When I'm done planking, I'll remove most of the first bulkhead, part of the second bulkhead and the balance of the fourth bulkhead. 
 
This is the my fourth build I've planked.  This build is a single planking, using 1/16" x 1/4" walnut.  With four planks done on each side, I am happy with the results.  
 
It's been cloudy and snowing the past few days, the next sunny day I'll add a better photo.
 

 

 
In the cabin, the centerboard trunk has been finished.  After the bulkhead is removed, I'll plank the top of the keel and add one floor board on each side of the keel. 
 
Before I started planking, I used some Minwax gel stain to even up the color of the various walnut planks.  Three days later, I had to scrape it off because it was still 'sticky' and 'gummy'.  THAT was a mess and that can of stain is on it's way to the recycling center.  
 
The mast shoe is sized to use a 6mm square blank for the mast.  I'm making the shoe similar to the one on a friends old "E" class sail boat that was built in the 1930's.  It's was rectangle in shape and "T" shape blocks were used to get the desired mast rake. 
 
The excess false keel between the 1st and 2nd bulkheads has been removed. After the planking is complete, the remaining false keel and most of the first bulkhead will be removed.
 
The center board trunk is finished.  When the bulkhead is removed, I'll finish the keel, mast shoe and add one floor board on each side of the keel.   
 
The interior of the 2nd bulkhead has been planked with walnut veneer.  When planking is completed, part of this bulkhead will be removed to make space for the port side berth and storage.  The distance from cabin floor boards up to the top of the fish wells is close to four feet.  Will add a 'step' on each side of the centerboard trunk and one more on the bulkhead along with a brass handle.  
 

 
I painted the inside of the fish wells and transom to match the walnut color.   
 
The bulk of the fourth bulkhead has been removed, after planking, I'll remove the balance and replace with something more in scale.    The top of the keel will be finished and will add floor boards.  
 

 
I have the 18th Century Longboat on the shelf and I this planking has given me more confidence to start that build.
 
Thanks for stopping by
 
Dee Dee  
 
Edited 11/24/2014 to add back photos that went missing....

The three layers of the keel have been glued up and the keel is stiff and straight.    
 
I used wood blocks to keep the bulkheads square while gluing, however a bow and a twist developed in the keel.  Spacers between the bulkheads fixed the bow, but the F4 bulkhead is still slightly twisted.  I'll fix this by planking both sides simultaneously and the first plank will be 1/16" x 1/4".  The spacer between F3 and F4 will be removed before planking and all spacers will be removed after planking.
LOOKING FOR ALL PHOTOS...................................................................................... 

 
I have already removed a lot of the keel and added a lot of strength in the keel.  After the first two planks are on, I'll remove the balance of the keel between the first and second bulkheads (and refine the shape of the centerboard trunk.)  When the planking is completely done, I'll remove most of the first bulkhead and parts of the second bulkhead so I can add the port side berth. 
 
The centerboard pivot pin is in the false keel and is about 2" (scale) from the bottom planks of the hull.  This is going to be a tight fit, so I will hold off adding the CB until most of the planking is done, then use some wax paper to keep it from getting glued.
 
I also added a peg to hold the rudder and secured it with two pins.  It's final length will be ~1/8" or 3" in scale.
 
Planks will be laid on the frames and planks to make a 'floor' in the cockpit.  At the lowest point, the cockpit will be 24" below the deck and ~27" below the combing. 
 
In the forward section of the cabin, I've added a shoe for the mast.

 
The framing for the fish wells is from Chapelle's drawings and answers half of the question of "where" were they located.  In this photo, I've added the kit fish well lid and it fits right on the edges of the framing.  At scale, the lids measure 15" x 21".

 
Next, I'll start the planking, remove more of the keel, add veneers and framing to the centerboard trunk, install centerboard, add the garboard, finish the planking.   
 
Comments, suggestions are welcome.
 
Thanks for stopping by
 
Dee Dee
 
(Edited 11/26/2014 to add back photos......)
PHOTOS HAVE GONE MISSING AGAIN, IF I ADD THEM BACK, THEY'LL JUST GO MISSING AGAIN!

I finally came back a little bit earlier than foreseen (aniway, the weather in the South of France was not so nice...) and that's a good news for my Aggie.
I first planked the stern gallery deck.
And that's not such an obvious job. As the deck is curved, I decided to plank it curved too to avoid distortion of the planking once in place.

And then, I glued it very carefully in position.
You will notice that (inspird by Mobbsie) I made a little checker after the wall. I don't know if it is useful or not.
I think that it will be completely invisible from outside...

Once completely dried, I made a first attempt to temporarily fix the stern fascia.
Here, a lot of chamfering is required to have it right in place. It's very important but it works well.

Now serious things can begin, such as fixing the edges.
Pictures will come later.
Pierre

finish work with hull

I finally got my sailmaker to complate the topsail. I must say, anyone who has done sails for a full square rigged ship, my hats off to you!
I'm overall happy with the results, but it was certainly challenging.
I shaped the sail, then stiched it to the topsail yard and then loosly rigged it to the spreader yard.
I then hung this assembly with the topsail yard halyard and attached the yard parrels.
Next the spreader yard jeers.
Then I did the sheets, clewlines, and lifts.
I then added two buntlines which I cleated at the spare shroud cleats #3.
Finally I did the Braces for both yards.
 
I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel, just 3 foresails, rope coils, swivels and final clean/touchup.
 
Ken

So, here I go!
 
The kit keel was replaced with a three ply sandwich of two 1/32" birch plywood and one 1/16" basswood.  These were hand cut slightly oversized and will be sanded to print when all three pieces are glued together.   
 
To build the center board trunk, some of the 1/16" basswood was removed.  After the bulkheads are added, I will remove the shaded areas on the keel. Then, when the planking is completed, I'll remove the area with the 'squiggly' lines.  The final keel will then look similar to the keel as shown in this photo on the Apprenticing Land and Sea website:  http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/ag122/Arista81/Muscongus%20Bay%20Sloop/38054afa-85ab-4c2b-9186-226e151813d1_zps2509a6bb.jpg
 

 

 
The centerboard was made from 3/64" stock and has 1/64" clearance.  At scale, this is 3/8" clearance, a little tight for a wood centerboard, but more than enough for an iron centerboard.  I'm going to remake this centerboard, so the extended centerboard will be 6" longer.  Then I'll paint the inside of the trunk brown, add the hinge pin and glue all three pieces of the keel together.  Then, I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope I don't accidentally glue the centerboard while planking!
 
You can see the opening for the rudder post.  This will be reinforced with another layer of wood on both sides. 
 
Again, this build will be quicker than my first MBLS.   
 
Questions, comments, suggestions are welcome. 
 
Thanks!
 
 
Edited 11/24/2014 to add photos that went missing....

Thanks, Jan. It's catching, this model ship building thing, isn't it!
 
You're doing a great job on that clinker planking. Reading how people do things is exactly what I am doing all the time.
 
With regard to the hull planking, I am not clear from your log whether you are already doing this, but one piece of advice that people give is that it is a good idea to work on both sides of the hull -- lay a few strakes of planking on one side, then do the same number on the other. The reason they give is, firstly, that it is then easier to establish symmetry of planking on both sides, and secondly that it avoids creation of strain on one side. I don't think it will make much difference in terms of the strain on the small boats we are doing, especially if we have filled between the bulkheads, but it is a good idea in terms of symmetry.
 
Don't worry about your English -- you're communicating well and that's what matters.
 
Tony

Galway Hookers! Sometimes they showed up in Holland and I always was very impressed by them. They are so.... whats the right word here... sturdy!
 
Nice choice Eamonn.

I've finally got the chain plates,deadeyes and belaying pins in place on the hull. Now the fun starts I can start building and installing the deck furniture.

Finished up the after cabin tonight except for the ship's bell. I will install the bell just before rigging so I don't have to worry about knocking it off or bending it.
 
It's kind of hard to see but the skylight is cut out and I installed a piece of blackened wood covered in packing tape to simulate the glass. I was originally going to use a window from an envelope and let you see into the skylight a bit but that didn't look very good as I made the skylights too close to the frame and there wasn't enough glue area to attach the clear plastic
 
All that's left for the after cabin is to coat it in wipe on poly and glue it to the deck. It's pretty exciting to see parts being attached to the deck after so much work!
 

Doing a little bit of work and watching the NFL Playoffs. I'm a pretty crazy 49ers fan, so I'll be setting the SM aside when that came comes on...

 



 

Like anything else with the Santa Maria there seems to be a variety of speculation regarding pinrails, cleats and the like.  I've had to scan the rigging over and over to try and figure out where these fixtures would have been.  

 

I've also been trying to speculate whether or not the belaying pins are more traditional looking (as they are with more modern ships) or whether they may have been more primitive in nature like some of the cleats appear to be. 

 

So, like the rest of the model I've looked at many of the builds and references that are our there and then pressed on with what I think works best while maintaining a credible level of accuracy.

 

   

 

 

   

 

I used a 4mm x 4mm piece of walnut and bevelled the top edges. I've stayed away from much ornamentation on this build because I truly believe the Santa Maria had very little. However, I wanted to include a little bit of craftsmanship that I think every vessel would have likely had. So, I used one of my mini pin-files (which sounds redundant) to notch out the top of the posts.

 

 

   

 

I  used a 1mm thick 5mm wide piece of walnut and sanded it at a curve for the rail portion of the piece. I then notched out both the posts and rail to give them a nice tight fit. After staining the entire thing in "Kona" colored stain (to match the weathering I've done on the rest of the ship) I put them all together with the belaying pins.

 

 



 

Although it's not clearly seen here, I mounted the entire piece in the same method that I've done railings and stanchions - which is to drill and mount pins in the bottom of the posts, drill corresponding holes in the deck, then mount the piece with a touch of CVA glue.  It's always a challenge come rigging time to get these pieces to hold well once the running rigging is attached and pulled tight. 

The rigging of the bombards is very basic and was relatively easy to accomplish. However, it drives me crazy when the ropes and rigging stick up further and flare more than looks realistic. Obviously this is a natural byproduct of using tiny little string instead of actual heavy rope that would lie naturally. So I tried to simulate the effect by using a couple small dabs of CA glue and positioning the rigging to look as though it has fallen naturally to the deck and along the bombard base.

 

Here is a before and after.

 

      

Like most kits, the cannons included in the AL Santa Maria fell very short of authentic. Although the die-cast brass cannons themselves were pretty close, the base on which they were to rest were woefully inadequate. So, once again, I turned to Pastor's reference material.
 
 
 
 
    
 
 
 
 
However, this was also an area where I didn't mind shifting slightly from authenticity. I also like the cannons created by Garik Grigoryan used in his rendition of the Santa Maria. Although much of his Santa Maria is a little too elaborate for my taste, I really enjoy his miniature deck fixtures.
 
I started with my cannons by letting them soak to create a patina coating.  I then drilled out places to attached fixtures to the cannons. 
 
    
 
    
 
The handles and loops are shaped brass wiring. I then re-soaked the entire fixture to build up the patina once again. Unfortunately the patina didn't build up as nicely as I would have liked, so I added some paint and other methods for aging as well - which I will get to. 
 
    
 
I carved the base pieces out of solid blocks of wood using both hand tools and a dremel. After the bases were carved out to hold the cannon barrels, the feet and backing are added, each is stained. The metal strips are cut and molded brass strips. The rivets are straight pins cut short and inserted into pre-drilled holes through both the brass strips and wood. 
 
I then used this fantastic product I came across by Tamiya.
 
 

 
The trick is to add the fake soot and/or rust to a slightly damp product. In my case, I sprayed each piece with a thin coat of polyurethane then added the weathering product. Additionally, I painted the brass fittings that would not patina properly, then coated the entire fixture with the soot just before the paint dried entirely.  
 
    
 
I was very pleased with the final product. 

To ease the tension of the rigging, the lines go through holes in the foredeck and around pulleys called reeving sheaves. To create these sheaves, I first drilled holes into the foredeck clinker planking.
 
  
 
 Then I created the pulley by cutting off the end of a dowel and grooving it.
 
The ladders are created exactly how one would expect - each piece is cut then glued together. It takes a great deal of patience and persistence to glue the ladders with all of the "steps" even and secure.
 
  
 
To ensure the ladders are held in place adequately, each ladder is fitted with a pin in the base. A corresponding hole is then drilled in the ship. This extra step dramatically increases the stability when the ladder is mounted between decks. 
 
  
 
Although some reference material shows only one set of steps from the poop deck, Xavier Pastor's reference shows two ladders. The final detail to the ladder is the chain guide running from the top stanchion to the bottom stanchion.

Although most of the research I've read indicates that the Santa Maria was by all accounts a very basic vessel, many of the models being manufactured and displayed have an overwhelming amount of embellishments and accouterments common to Spanish vessels.  However, many of these details were not evident until decades or even centuries later.  I have chosen to keep this version of the Santa Maria realistic, but I am taking some small liberties that have not been well documented. For instance, I wanted to include more decorative windows on the rear of the captain's cabin that were likely present.

 

 

  

 

 

 I framed the windows with 2mm X 2mm strips cut and glued. Then I covered them with "glass" made from the plastic container that held some screws. I scored the glass carefully with an older, dull Xacto blade being careful not to pierce all the way through the glass.

 



 

I then stained and mounted the windows to the rear of the captain's cabin trying my best to match the coloring as closely as possible on the outside, while maintaining a mahogany color on the inside of the cabin, a location which would most likely have been more decorative.

 

A very tedious task that I had been putting off was the deck railings. Like the bow of the ship, the poop deck railing consists of stanchions, railings, then wooden slats.

  

 

Each stanchion needs to be cut precisely then notched, rounded and sanded. Each stanchion mounted on the sides of the poop deck are the same absent the rounded top. More stanchions are then cut and prepared for the quarterdeck railings.

 



 

Rather than just gluing each stanchion to the deck (which would be terribly unstable),  I followed the same protocol as the bow and fitted the poles with a pin to hold them in place.

Chair & Desk

I had some pretty specific ideas in mind for the chair and desk and was happy I was able to pull off something close to what I envisioned. The chair is started from a strip of 1.5 X 3 mm walnut and modeled after a combination of some 1400s research and the chairs we have in our dining room. Our dining room chairs are Amish made from oak.

 

  

 

The original walnut piece was sanded to fit the shape of the seat.  The legs were sanded from a 2 mm diameter walnut dowel. This sanding was so delicate, that I went through several inches of the dowel just to get the four legs as well as the cross pieces.

 

  

 



 

Finally, the back was sanded down to include a small curvature emulating an actual chair.  I used my dremel tool with the smallest possible tip I could find to create the slats in the back.  The entire chair was then left unstained, but coated in Tung oil to bring out the natural colors of the walnut.

 

The desk is a really unique piece for me. Out of sheer coincidence, I was given a set of wooden pens. Each pen came in it's own case. The sides of the case were these beautiful little pieces of polished mahogany that fit absolutely perfectly with what I was trying to accomplish!  The only drawback, they were extremely difficult to cut, sand, and polish.

 

  

 

 The legs of the desk were made from a 3mm diameter dowel that I inserted into my drill (same trick I often use) to create a make-shift lathe. I then used a variety of pin files to get the patter that I wanted. Once again, I went through many cases of the legs breaking off before I ended up with four good pieces. It was also very, very difficult to get four legs whose patterns looked close enough to one another to be acceptable.

 

  

 

 

 Finally, I sanded (600-1000 grit sandpaper) and polish all the pieces, stained the legs, and coated the entire combination with another coat of Tung oil.

 

Chess Set:

 I am a huge fan of chess.  In my home I have a collection of 14 different chess sets from 13 difference countries. I realize that actually have a chess set and table on board a ship the size of the Santa Maria is completely and utterly unrealistic. However, because I love the game, and it's not too much of a stretch to think the Ship's Captain would be a player, I decided to add the chess board. I'd also seen another builder create one out of card stock, and I admired the effort so much I had to give it a shot.

 

  

 

The board is made from a soft piece of pine.  Each set of squares is a mm wide, and the entire thing is boarded by 1.5 mm x 1.5 mm mahogany.  Coloring the squares was obviously a huge challenge.  I scored the wood at 1 mm intervals with a razor blade, then I used wood stain and a size 0 brush. Each drop of stain fell and spread within the square, but was successfully contained by the cuts in the wood!

 

At first I tried to have some detail in the pieces, but that failed miserably.  Instead I just distinguished them by size. I also realized that trying to have all 32 pieces was going to make it pretty crowded - so we'll have to consider it mid-game with a few pieces missing.

 

 

  

 

Here are a couple of shots of the final pieces and how the desk will ultimately be arranged within the cabin.

Finally for the cabin is a bed, at least one chest, a toilet facility and a couple of other small items.

 

Pictures & Frames:

Each picture was selected from the time period, but it's a complete guess on what a devout member of the church and essentially an employee of the monarchy would have brought along.The first frame is built with 2 X 2 mm strips of mahogany sanded down and mitered and the corners.  I mounted the strips onto a piece of printer paper to stabilize them. I used a sharpie to darken the back and mask any irregularities since the margin for error here was so slim.

 

  

 



 

I stained the frame a dark stain, then painted it with a thin layer of gold paint. This coloring ended up very similar to many of the frames I've seen over the years while living in Europe and visiting museums. This first picture is one of the many, many versions of Mary and child.

 

  

 

The second frame is made from sapella with two layers of mitered pieces. The two layers gives it a little depth and gives the appearance of a slightly more elaborate piece. The final product is stained a red oak. 

 

Books:

 Three books are all made from balsa wood and a layer of cardstock with a printed coloring. 

 

  

 

 The balsa wood is sanded to shape with pin files and 600 - 1000 grain sand paper. No matter how fine the sand paper is, the balsa wood is not going to be perfectly smooth. This is an added bonus in this situation and gives the appearance of texture for the book.  The wood is then painted white and the edges are repeatedly scored with an x-acto knife to give the impression of several pages.

 



 

For the open book - a red marker and some red highlights are added to give the overall impression that this book is a Bible, which would have most certainly been carried by Columbus.

 

The Sword:

  The sword is based on some light research on what a typical 15th century Spanish blade may have looked like. 

 

The blade is made from a 1.5 x 3 mm piece of walnut.  I chose walnut because I've had more success with the wood holding together while I sand it very small.  Nonetheless, the sword still took a couple of tries before I managed a successful blade.  Even still, the handled snapped at one point and I had to superglue it back together. The good news is, that was covered by the paint.

 

  

 

  

 

The brass protective / decorative piece is made from a strip of brass. I had to sand the corners to get it to bend in the directions that I wanted.  Once I had it successfully shaped, I added the knuckle shield. Gluing each of those pieces ended up being the biggest challenge in making the sword.

You may remember, my initial desire to build the ship was instigated by my teenage daughters' lack of knowledge of the Santa Maria - which I found quite disconcerting.  That's why, as I laid out in the previous post - a big part of my vision for this project was being able to see inside the captain's cabin and to have some items within that cabin that illustrate the time of the voyage of Columbus.

 

Granted, there is quite a bit of editorializing and guessing when it comes to the items that I've started to build here. That's mostly because there is so little documentation regarding that voyage, and Columbus' own notes with regard to basic amenities are sparse at best.  However, I did base the look of the cabin on actual items from the same time frame, and with a Spanish and sometimes Italian slant.

 

First, I had to finish constructing the cabin itself:

 

  

 



 

I started by cutting a sized template of two-layer thin plywood.  I planked the inside with the same mahogany  strips I used for the rest of the cabin.  The outside of the cabin is stripped with the walnut planks used on the rest of the hull - which is important because I plan on using the same stain pattern and color.

 

  

 



 

The door itself it cut, then fitted with brass hinges pinned down with brass pins. The pins have been cut to less than a millimeter, but the head is still showing. Then hinges and door are then aged with blackening patina. Also notice that there is crowning all around the inside and outside of the cabin wall. 

 

  

 

Finally, the door and hinges are fitted to the wall.  The hinges on the wall and doorframe needed to be inset slightly to allow the door to fit smoothly.  The door is mounted with two small pins that are inserted into pre-drilled holes into the frame. 

 

Once the cabin was pieced together, I was able to draw out a plan of what I wanted inside. I'll touch on each item individually to illustrate how it was made.

A big part of this build for me is the ability to see the Captain's cabin and the accouterments that are inside.  I've mulled over how I wanted to accomplish that tricky feat, and have decided to come up with a hinged poop deck.  I want to be able to open the deck and see the cabin, but still have as much accuracy as possible regarding the rigging along the stern and transom.

 

I started by carefully measuring the poop deck and then cutting the outline of the section that will hinge upward. Although they are obviously a complete flight of fancy, I wanted the hinges themselves to be effective, but to also remain representative of the time period. My concept was to attach small dowels to the underside of the deck, then mount them to the deck edges with brass loops and pins.

 

 

  

 

The brass strips were drilled with the small bit then aligned with the dowel and the deck.  The thickness of the deck became and issue and needed to be trimmed so that when the deck opens it is not obstructed.  The dowels and hinges also needed to be separated enough from the edges so that they too were not obstructed.

 

  

 

After the pieces were put together, the entire deck was then dry mounted to the stern of the ship. It was during this time that I discovered that somewhere along the line my measurements were off!  The Port side of the stern of the ship was 3mm longer than the starboard side!

 

  

 

My guess is that at some point during cutting and measuring I didn't take into account the thickness of the outside planking.  At any rate, not the deck did not fit properly on the stern of the ship and needed to be repaired.  My plan was to cut off a portion of the bulwarks where the lines intersected, then attach a new piece that was the additional 3mm longer. My hope was the if I made the cuts in the right place I could come very close to patching and staining the area to get it to look very close to the existing bulwarks.

 

    

 

 

 

Since the area I needed to replace was very thin, I suspected it wouldn't hold properly with just glue. I drilled and inserted metal pins into the bulwark on which to mount the new piece.

 

  

 

After gluing and mounting, I re-paneled the inside planks with mahogany, then the outside with walnut and stain. I then re-positioned the vertical strake so it evened up with the starboard side of the ship.

 

  

 

Finally, I soaked, steamed, and molded the walnut railings from 1.5 X 4mm strips and mounted them as well.  Ultimately, the repair turned out well and I think the mistake will not be very noticeable in the finished product.

 

After mounting the foredeck, and getting pretty much all I could out of the main deck and working the hull, I decided it was time to finally mount the second deck. I sanded around the edges to get it to fit as smoothly as possible along the bulwarks of the ship. There's a small gap between the deck and the bulwarks, but that will be covered with a very thin strip mounted where the deck meets the rest of the ship.

 

  

 

As you can see, it took a little bit of creativity to hold the deck in place while the glue dries. It's pretty common practice for me to use whatever is available to lodge, lean, mount, or clamp parts together while they dry in place.

I also carved and sanded my own version of deck mounts to the port and starboard sides of the ship, once again based on the illustrations from my reference materials.

 



 

Another major distinguishing difference between this kit and many of the reference materials for the Santa Maria is the existence of a "head beam" at the bow of the ship. According to the famous "Mataro Model" studied at the Rotterdam Maritime Museum, a beam at the bow was in Spanish vessels of the time to help hold the anchor(s). The Mataro model is the only actual model in existence that closely represents Spanish vessels of the 12th and 13th century timeframe. Many of Xavier Pastor's references in the book to which I refer are taken from the Mataro model as well.

 

  

 

For these reasons I decided to also include the head beam on my ship. It definitely creates a tight spacing issue at the bow of the ship, but I think increases the accuracy of the model by quite a bit!

 

  

 

I took a 5mm X 5mm piece of walnut and soaked it overnight. Then I steamed and heated it to get a mild bend. It took a lot of patience and slow manipulations. I then drilled then sanded the square holes in the bow to accomodate the beam. I had to sand the holes at the same angle that the beam would sit, which essentially meant mitering the edges instead of just cutting them straight out.

 

  

 

The hard work paid off with the beam in place and sitting snuggly. It took several gentle taps with the small hammer to get it in place without damaging the hull around it. I actually didn't even glue it in place because it fit so tightly.

After aging the hull and piecing the keel together, I felt it was time to finally mount the ruddder.

The first step was to prep the stern and the keel.  First I measured where the brackets would line up and notched out those areas.  Notice I also marked off where I would need to carve out a few areas.

 

  

 

 A uniquely shaped hole in just above the rudder holds the steering handle, or "tiller".  Unlike later ships where a helmsman used a wheel attached to the rudder with ropes and pulleys, very early vessels had a more direct way of steering the ship - a very large tiller.

 

 

At any rate, I first drilled out the outline of the tiller hole or "helm port", then delicately carved and sanded out the proper shape.  The two holes to either side were used to tie off the rudder to the tiller and limit its movement.

 



 

I then molded and cut small strips of brass where the "gudgeons" and "pintles" would match up.  Essentially these are the hinges that allow the rudder to move freely back and forth. After they were mounted I aged them and used black touch up paint to fill in any gaps while letting a small amount of brass show through.

 



 

I flirted with the idea of actually hinging the rudder to the rear of the keel and actually allow movement. It didn't take long to figure out that was a very difficult proposition so I relented to mounted the rudder stationary.  I used pins inside the pintles to mount them to the keel and keep them aligned.

 

  

 

Finally, I carved and mounted the tiller itself then attached the entire rudder to the keel at the stern.