Santa Maria by mrcc - FINISHED - Mamoli MV42 - 1:50

[mrcc]

I am at the stage where adding the futtock riders are required. (I believe that is what they are called)

 

The Mamoli kit had the following details in which I had to cut 1.5x5 mm strips, creating them in pieces and then covering them with a second layer in one piece. The top half was in one base strip, the middle strip and very bottom strips were with two strips laminated - and then covered with a solid strip. You can see in the images below the amount of sanding required to attain a nice smooth profile in order to cover them in a nice smooth fashion.

[mrcc]

This is what it looked like just prior to covering with the top strip of 1.5x5 mm walnut.

This was quite a bit of fiddly work...

[mrcc]

At this stage per Mamoli's instruction, I trimmed off the bulkhead extensions using my heavy duty Milwaukee plunge cutter, all without any drama (piercing through the hull).

[mrcc]

In terms of the futtock riders, this past weekend had me finishing up the outer profile pieces.

I found the best fit was to sand the ends and then bend the ends with a flat iron after a quick soak.

[mrcc]

And here is the finished look... having stained the edges prior to gluing down the inside layer(s), it was a simple swipe of the brush to the outside surface to attain the present look.

[mtbediz]

She looks great Julian.

 

Mustafa

[popeye the sailor]

amazing job on the hull Julian....the trim looks great  

[mrcc]

Thanks for the kind comments and likes...

I am just now finding the skill level getting to a standard to my liking from my previous builds to date. 

[mrcc]

This past weekend, I worked on some of the exterior hull details...

 

Mamoli's plans indicate brass pins installed through out the sheer strakes and futtock riders.

 

I drilled 0.7mm holes with a pin vise and then glued in with CA the brass pins with the following results.

[mrcc]

This is the image of  the bulkhead extensions sanded back to the deck and inside surface of the hull...

 

A fair amount of fiddly work given Mamoli's design of the kit is that you plank to the bulkhead extensions on an earlier stage of the build and then plank to the inside hull at a later stage, which is now. My inexperience though in that I did not completely understand the instructions and did not foresee that the bulkheads needed to be flush to the deck and my mistake in that some of my planks were notched to the extensions which does not look great when you fill in the voids with planks.

[mrcc]

And here is the results of the above mentioned work and preparation...

 

The planking came out very nice compared to my previous builds that I have done.

 

I did a 2 butt joint pattern and used blank archival ink (from a pen) to simulate the caulking which turned out very nicely in my opinion.

 

The mistakes in planking on the main deck (at the earlier stage) will need some strategically placed barrels to hide them...

[popeye the sailor]

my Sergal Thermopylae was the first model where I've ever had to remove the bulwark posts....I found it to be a problem,  because the bulwarks becoming cracked was an issue.   so it was probably good that you waited.   knowing that I would have to do this,  I didn't cement the planking to the posts,  but rather I did between the planking that would not touch the posts.  I'm also doing the Billing's Half Moon.......it is similar to the Santa Maria.   on that one I had to add posts.....not enough with just the bulkhead posts.   I noticed you made an adjustment to fit the brass decoration on the stern bulwarks.   now that you've added the futtock riders,  did you leave enough room for the decoration?   your last picture looks like you did     looks great Julian....you've done a superb job so far  

[cole]

Julian, 

 

Great work!! Looking very good. If you needed some walnut you should have asked me! I could have cut you up a piece. 

 

Hope all is well,

 

Cheers, Grant 

[mrcc]

Thanks Popeye, thanks Grant for the compliments...

 

[mrcc]

Just a small update with regards to the addition of railings onto the inner bulwarks...

[mrcc]

And completed some of the stern deck railings as well...

 

This is all work completed last weekend so hopefully I will be able to provide an update into next week again.

[zappto]

I like this era of ships too, so many discovery. This is well looking ship, nice job, what wood is the ship hull planking? it looks so light.

[mrcc]

Thanks Zappto for your compliments...

the hull is planked with walnut, a light shade certainly. The kit supplied planking wood has been excellent in this old Mamoli kit, very tight dimensions and clean edges. My only critique is how Mamoli was cheap with the quantities of supplied wood. I have run out a few times of the required strips, making do as need be. 

[mrcc]

More progress to report from the weekend past...

 

Able to get the stern railing framed out and unfortunately again with this Mamoli kit they were short in the 1x1mm supplied boxwood...

I basically laminated 2 strips of the deck planking which I believe is 0.5mm Tanganyika to get my 1mm and then cut a strip of 1mm as you seen in the picture and the variation in color.

[mrcc]

At this point I glued down the Beechwood top railing with the finished look below.

I have to yet wood fill and finish some of the outside corners as they are not looking great.

I would like to blame the instructions given how vague they are and are never preparing you for the finished appearance as you go through the steps of construction.

Edited August 14, 2017 by mrcc

[mrcc]

The ship, the kit has two cannons that are partially hidden under the fore deck.

I have to give Mamoli credit with this old kit as the cast and metal kit parts are absolutely perfect in appearance.

 

Unfortunately I have used some old Admiral flat metal black paint for the brass cannons and it was quite thick on application and the appearance is less than ideal...

but again they are barely visible under the deck. I will dilute this acrylic paint with some water to get a better result in the future. I left the cast pieces unpainted as they look quite good without paint.

[mrcc]

Last weekend I also started working on the rudder by laminating 4 5x5mm walnut pieces and then tracing and sanding/cutting out the profile. Again Mamoli was short in its supply of 5x5mm walnut and I do know that in future I will be short again in supplied wood. Oh well... once again.

[popeye the sailor]

getting caught up with your build Julian........you've done a super job!   the aft railings and moldings look great,  as well as the cannons!  the inner bulwarks are filled out  wonderfully with the railing strips    

[mrcc]

Thanks for all the likes and of course, Popeye, your kind comments...

 

[Seventynet]

I just read through your log. Nice job! 

 

Ian 

[mtbediz]

Beautiful kit, beautiful model and beautiful, clean work Julian. Congratulations.

 

Mustafa

Edited August 23, 2017 by mtbediz

[mrcc]

Thanks Ian , thanks Mustafa... always a good feeling to get compliments...

And Ian, yes, I have read your Victory log many times, wonderful craftsmanship!

 

With this post, I also have some progress to report from last weekend...

Notched out the voids for the rudder hinges and pins to sit and I set them with a light coat of CA, priming and painting prior of course .

[mrcc]

And here is where all the problems starts... Mamoli in the instructions says simply separate the paired rudder/hinge ends (soft metal) and push onto the hull/keel.

Sounds simple until you realize the inside diameter of the hinge is about 3mm and the plywood keel it attaches to is 5mm plus the walnut strip lamination of 0.5mm on each side for a total of 6mm...

 

From the picture below you can see my hack job of getting the rudder attached...

[popeye the sailor]

I've noted that with smaller kits I've built......they use 3/16 plywood,  when they could have gotten away with thinner stuff.  some kit have you thin down the stern stem as well.   are those plastic pintles? {I think it's the pintle side of the rudder hinge assembly that is attached to the stem}.   Billings uses these parts as well......I don't use them........I make them from thin strip brass.  it's flexible enough so I can adjust for the thickness difference.  you may find that you'll need to widen the gap in the stem's face,  to decrease the gap between the rudder and the stem.

 

ah....yes........you said they are of a soft metal.  I saw them and I thought of the Billing's crap right away.......pardon

[mrcc]

Hi Popeye,

 

Pintles are of a soft metal... the problem of course is the instructions did not provide the "heads up" on an earlier step with regards to tapering the stern board in advance... I found that is the common theme of the Mamoli instructions... Nonetheless with the attachment, it does not look too too bad. I will provide a photo of the finished rudder perhaps tomorrow.