DavidG
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Coca by DavidG - FINISHED - Amati - 1:60
DavidG replied to DavidG's topic in - Kit subjects built Up to and including 1500 AD
time for an update - I post some before/ after pictures of sanding the first planking. The picture of the finished raw planking is horrible, in real life it was much more acceptable, I even decided not to post it last time: I left the hull on my terrace table, and I did some sanding whenever I was out. For several days, progressively finer sandpaper. The hull took shape nicely, I had to stop myself at the end, remembering this is only a first planking and doesn't need the finest polish. The hull after sanding shows a striking difference: The last photo shows the arched lining of the forecastle, which continues as railing over the bulwark. The last task before the second planking is to fit the rear rails, as precut plywood pieces.
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Coca by DavidG - FINISHED - Amati - 1:60
DavidG replied to DavidG's topic in - Kit subjects built Up to and including 1500 AD
great pictures Jan, thank you. Vivian, you're welcomed, I read your story in another post and happy to see you back. Geoffrey, good luck for your build. I'm not a pro modeler by any means, but please ask if I can be any help of you. This is a well made kit, the hull shape requires some time to get over, but once you got the rhythm of it, it goes smoothly. -
Coca by DavidG - FINISHED - Amati - 1:60
DavidG replied to DavidG's topic in - Kit subjects built Up to and including 1500 AD
while the instructions call for finishing the upper part (build the railings and second plank the bulwarks) I decided to do the hull planking first. I divided the hull into 3 belts, the middle one was the trickiest due to the pronounced round shape. The kit supplies 2x4 mm basswood strips for the job, good quality and well cut. The soft wood easily bends after soaking for ~10 minutes. The only watch out is the planking around the false deck beams. They are perpendicular to the bulkheads, and do not follow the deck line. The 4 mm strip is not the best choice to plank around 5 mm beams, fortunately I had some 5mm spares. The small triangular gaps are fine at this stage, but I have to do a better job during the second planking. But for now I will sand the hull, and make the railings.
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Coca by DavidG - FINISHED - Amati - 1:60
DavidG replied to DavidG's topic in - Kit subjects built Up to and including 1500 AD
then planked the bulwarks. as the bulkhead extensions stay as they are, each segment must be planked individually. this takes some time. in the bow area I used a paper template to get the angles right.
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Coca by DavidG - FINISHED - Amati - 1:60
DavidG replied to DavidG's topic in - Kit subjects built Up to and including 1500 AD
thank you for the warm welcome and likes. after planking the bulwarks, I fitted the upper deck. the plywood templates needed some minor adjustment. this the raw planking of the deck. I will try to be more subtle with the weathering, but still keep some consistency in the look. I have to experiment on this.
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Coca by DavidG - FINISHED - Amati - 1:60
DavidG replied to DavidG's topic in - Kit subjects built Up to and including 1500 AD
the inner bulwarks to be planked next with 1mm strips. Now, that's a fiddly job between the bulkheads. There are 14 segments to do. Some MDF parts stay visible (like the two short bulwark posts ) - at this stage probably they can be cut off without the risk of distortion, I just chose to leave them as they are. In the last days I made some progress on bulwark planking, but this is close to the actual stage. Next task will be fitting the rear deck. So far, this is three weeks of evening work, 1 -1,5 hours, ~4 times a week.
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Coca by DavidG - FINISHED - Amati - 1:60
DavidG replied to DavidG's topic in - Kit subjects built Up to and including 1500 AD
then on to the deck planking. 0,5x8 mm, unusually wide strips used, very similar the Occre second planking material. The upper beams on the frames make some areas difficult to reach. I liked the aged look of the deck in the instruction pictures, and applied a coat of stain to the deck, to be sanded back later. While I like the result in general, I overdid it. Should have diluted the stain, as it was pretty thick. I gave the deck a thorough sanding on the visible areas, and left the covered part as they are - will not be visible and sanding below the beams is an awkward job anyway.
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Coca by DavidG - FINISHED - Amati - 1:60
DavidG replied to DavidG's topic in - Kit subjects built Up to and including 1500 AD
two bulwark panels fit each side. the unusual proportions of the ship,short, but high and wide, become visible. the rectangular openings are for further deck beams.
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Coca by DavidG - FINISHED - Amati - 1:60
DavidG replied to DavidG's topic in - Kit subjects built Up to and including 1500 AD
as it is not unusual these days, MDF parts used for the frame. The fit of the part is prefect, the result is pretty rigid. And heavy, compared to the size. two formers lock the frames on both sides of the keel, they also set the alignment for the false deck beams. These beams will stick out from the ship's sides. I used toothpicks to hold the plywood deck in place, they worked pretty well.
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I decided to get back to ship modeling. In a 10+ years period I always had something to build on my desk (namely a Billings Mayflower, Corel Prins Willem and the Occre Diana), while the birth of my older son in 2009 brought the end of the woodworking. Kids, time, space, work, other priorities.. probably you know. But the time has came, and I looked for something really simple. No guns. No painting. Not too big, to be able to finish in reasonable time. Visible progress even in an hour. Not aiming for the perfect model. Just to work with the wood, and have some relaxing time. The Amati Coca, a relatively new offering, advertised as a beginner kit just fits the bill. The kit is based on the famous Mataro ship, and will look like as the Amati picture shows:
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Hi Snow, I started the Occre Diana 10 yrs ago, but the work stopped with the birth of my children. This is how it looks at the moment: During the build I deconstructed the model several times as I updated/ replaced the kit parts with aftermarket or scratch build ones. Apart from the basic hull very few of the original kit remained. If you are not too critical about the historical accuracy this is an entertaining build. Wish you good luck and ask, if you feel I can be of any help. best David
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that's good work, Jan. the rails, the scroll and the lion blend together nicely
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a note on the paint scheme. While there are many different interpretations I chose to follow the replica. I know it was more a theme park attraction than a real ship but looked shipshape nevertheless. It caught fire couple of years ago.
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this completes the construction of the hull in October, 2006. Another year will be spent on the rigging.
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the last step is the installation of the guns. i built them as the kit supplied, they come in two sizes. the barrels are already blackened and have a nice finish. The guns rigged with the breeching rope, later glued down to the deck.
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the channels are precut ply parts, the slots were too big, I filled them and cut them again. The chainplates also preformed from a single piece of wire, soldered along the vertical edge. Some of them came loose, and I had to solder them. The joint must withstand drilling a hole, where they are fixed to the hull.
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and all these on the hull. These Dutch ships were really attractive.Would have been nice to have some face details on the figures, but I was not up to the task. By the way, 18 months into the build so far, reasonably constant work.
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Guys, thank you for the nice comments and likes. The basic hull structure is done, let's paint. A ton of shiny stuff waits to be glued on. They are mixed quality, these two guys are some better pieces. In size they match the drawings, fit quite well, with no or minimal adjustment. I underestimated the time needed to paint them.
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finally the framing filled with gratings cut to size. This is a scary picture to look at. By now I don't like the scale of the gratings, and can't recall why didn't I sand it properly. Anyway, it is painted black at a later stage, which hides most of the unevenness. Neither it was a good idea to paint the grating on the model, pretty difficult to cover all the holes, in and out, up and down. But the construction of the head is ready, huhh... Next, the decorations and painting and painting.
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Hi Jan, thanks for looking in. You certainly set the standard how to build this kit. You are right, the scroll ended up too high, and later in the build I had to lower it. The overall headrail assembly should be at a lower position, on the other hand the lower posts (which connect the lower edge of the rail to the stem) must maintain the upward angle, which restricts the downward positioning. Nevertheless, everything could be fine if I had my figurehead level with the upper edge of the scroll, but it was too late to adjust.
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the next step is to make a frame to fit inside. I made it off the model, over the plan drawing, and glued in. It fitted surprisingly well.
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this is how it looks at this stage:
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now let's see a major mistake in the construction. I tried to illustrate it on the picture below - my black piece above the scroll is too short. I can't recall why. Could be a bad piece supplied, or I just screwed it up. As a result, my figurehead (of which the position is guided by the scroll cover piece) is too low, and I had to insert a filler piece to connect the yellow decorative element end the scroll cover.
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the headrails glued to the hull, vertical post glued to the inside, and they are connected with the stem piece.
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the head rails come next. it is built over a PE brass piece by planking it over with a flexible strip. These strips are really flexible. With a few drops of water a knot can be tied of them.
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