Nuestra Senora del Pilar de Zaragoza by marktiedens - FINISHED - OcCre - scale 1:46

[puckotred]

Agree, The plans for the masts in 1:1 are wonderful, then come the rigging plans, a couple of pages at the end of the instructions...

[marktiedens]

Working on the masts - the dowels were tapered & stained with walnut stain. Square sections were filed where the tops fit - not too difficult as the dowels are a wood called koto,which is fairly soft. The tops are laser cut ,so all I needed to do was add the border strip & battens. The border strip was supposed to be 1x4mm sapelli,but I couldn`t bend them to fit the curve of the tops without snapping - even after soaking & using my plank bender- so I used a piece of 1x4 walnut. The cheeks for the lower top are provided as laser cut parts,but none were provided for the topmast crosstrees so I made some from scrap wood.  The topmast crosstrees are made of metal,which is ok because they are painted black along with the tops of the mast sections. Some bolsters were also added to the crosstrees for the shrouds to sit on - not shown on the plans,but they must surely would have had them. Railings will go across the back edge of the tops,but will not be installed until later - too easy to knock them loose.  Rope wooldings were added & "iron"bands were made from black cartridge paper.  There are also 2 cleats on the foremast near the deck. Not sure what they are for,as I could not find them in the rigging diagrams.  The lower mast caps are a little different - they are metal with a groove molded on the outside edge & a laser cut piece of wood is glued to the side,making a groove for a rigging rope. Once it is all painted black it doesn`t look too bad.  That completes the foremast - 2 more to go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mark

[marktiedens]

Hi - all masts are now done except for attaching all the blocks. Construction was basically the same for all of them other than different sizes. They are really tall,so I set them in their respective holes in the deck to take pictures.  Please pardon the dust in the close-ups.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mark

 

 

 

 

[puckotred]

👍👍👍

[Richmond]

Mark,

 

Looking at this and your other builds, your eye for colour is superb.

 

Richmond.

[marktiedens]

Thanks Richmond - I appreciate your thoughts. I`m  not that crazy about the light blue,but that`s what the kit shows to be used.  I did find one small painting of this ship during an internet search & it appears the blue is pretty close to the correct color as depicted in the painting.

 

I`ll be watching your paper model come together  - very interesting build.

 

Mark  

[marktiedens]

Hi everyone

A little more progress - all the yards are now done. Using the kit supplied dowels,they were tapered with a small plane,a little filing & LOTS of sanding. They were then painted black & rubbed down with some 1500 grit sandpaper to knock down the sheen.  Next will be putting all the blocks on the masts & yards. I am going to use the kit blocks,which are not too bad.  The only real issue is they only supply blocks in 2 sizes,so I will add some different sizes from my stash.  I would use Chuck`s blocks,but I don`t think this model is worthy of them.

 

 

Mark

[Old Collingwood]

Really impressive work on the masts  - how do you hide the ends of your mast rope  wrap arounds?

 

OC.

[marktiedens]

Thanks OC - I found a method to make them in someone`s log(can`t remember who at the moment,but many thanks to him).  The illustration shows to use 12 turns of rope,but I thought that was too many for my application,so I used 8 turns of .5mm black thread. I also used thinned white glue instead of super glue to keep the ropes from loosening or sliding down.  This method is the best I have found & really works well. You may be able to find this by typing "wooldings" into the search box.

 

 

Mark 

[Old Collingwood]

Sounds and looks complicated.

 

OC.

[marktiedens]

It looks harder than it really is - once you do a couple it only takes a couple of minutes for each one.

 

Mark

[marktiedens]

Hi all - a small update .  The masts are now permanently in place with all the appropriate blocks(I hope). The bowsprit will not be installed until the shrouds are done due to having to turn the ship around numerous times. The masts are so tall it`s hard to get them all in the picture. The foremast leans back very slightly - actually less than what it looks like in the picture due to the camera angle. Should be able to correct it with the stays.

 

 

Mark

[zappto]

Looks just wonderful, all is so tidy an clean! 

[marktiedens]

Thanks zappto.  Also thanks to everyone looking in.   There`s actually a fine layer of dust on the ship which I need to clean off before I go much further.

 

 

Mark

[goetzi73]

Just amazing what you created. My wife just mentioned that "this would look nice between all this british warships".

I like the way you worked over all the issues of the kit.

 

 

Götz

Edited November 11, 2018 by goetzi73

[marktiedens]

Thanks very much - I appreciate your comments!  Hopefully the kit issues are behind me now except for one - trying to read the tiny rigging diagrams.  Seems so odd that  the hull plans are full size,the mast plans are full size - and very well done, then turn to the rigging plans &  - what were they thinking!

 

Mark

[marktiedens]

Hi all - been a while since I posted anything.  I decided to by-pass the standing rigging & get all the blocks & ropes attached to the yards.  A couple more issues - the kit only supplies 2 sizes of blocks(big & bigger),so I substituted some different sizes from my stash. The plans also show the studding sail booms just tied to the yards with some rope,so I made some mountings from a combination of brass tube & black cartridge paper - they will not be permanently glued in place until after the sails are attached.  The yards look kind of like a rat`s nest right now,but the footropes & stirrups will be straightened out also after the sails are attached. 

 

 

 

 

 

Another thing - the peak halyard of the lateen yard is shown in the plans as some sort of netting. After some discussion with some knowledgeable members it was determined that it is totally wrong for ANY ship so I made a crowsfeet arrangement  instead. It may or may not be totally correct for this particular ship,but it`s better than the impossible setup in the plans.

 

  Note - the supplied rigging rope is only provided in 2 sizes,so once again I used some from my stash. Regarding the yards themselves,they are not near as shiny as the pictures show(lighting can do some funny things).

 

 

 

I will set these aside for now & start on the standing rigging.

 

Mark

 

 

 

 

[marktiedens]

Correction to my last post - there are 3  sizes of rope provided in the kit,not 2 .

 

Mark

[fmodajr]

Nice job Mark!

 

Did you make the sails or did they come with the kit?

If they came with the kit, are you happy with the scale of the cloth?

 

Thanks,

 

Frank

[marktiedens]

Thanks Frank!  The sails are pre-made & included in the kit - otherwise I would probably not add them(don`t have a sewing machine).  As far as the cloth goes,it`s way too  coarse but since they are pre-sewn & ready to mount,I will use them. I may try some spray starch to make them billow a bit.  There are not any bolt ropes on them,but that`s ok since  a whole lot of other things in this kit are not very authentic either.

 

Mark

[marktiedens]

Hi - a little more progress. The fore lower shrouds are now finished.  The rope provided is a reddish brown with almost no fuzz. The only bad part is the rope is somewhat shiny & slick,so it`s a little tricky to work with.  The deadeyes are not lined up perfect,but good enough for this ship.

 

 

 

 

Mark

[Old Collingwood]

Very fine work  - you make difficult things look possible.

 

OC.

[marktiedens]

Thanks O.C..  Rigging is not my favorite thing to do & I tend to be a little sloppy with it as those brutal close-ups show.

 

Mark

[marktiedens]

Update - all lower shrouds done!  Also,I went ahead and fixed the bowsprit in place & added the bobstays & gammoning.  The plans don`t show any catharpins,so I don`t know if I will add them or not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mark

Edited December 10, 2018 by marktiedens

[Katsumoto]

She’s turning into a real beauty! Love the bow section a lot. Very neat work so far Mark!

[marktiedens]

Thanks Katsumoto!  The rigging plans are testing my patience,but so far,so good.  There are a few blocks & cleats on the decks which are not shown on the belaying plan,so I will just make a  'best guess" at what goes to them.

 

Mark

[fmodajr]

Nice work Mark!

 

Now come the dance to make sure the bowsprit doesn't get knocked when you rotate the ship

(One time my wife tried to surprise me by cleaning my work room and buying me new lamps for the room for my birthday. She accidentally snapped the bowsprit. She was horrified and has never set foot in my work room since!!!)

 

Frank

 

[marktiedens]

Thanks Frank!  Yes, I need to be careful now.  I have snapped off the jib on my Victory twice just moving it around the house.  Gotta be more careful around doorways.

 

Mark

[marktiedens]

Hi everyone - just thought I would get the lower stays done before continuing with the shrouds(while I can still get my hands in close to the mast tops).

 

 

 

Thanks for looking in.

 

 

Mark

[Old Collingwood]

Looking excellent.

 

OC.