Coca by DavidG - FINISHED - Amati - 1:60

[DavidG]

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:

[DavidG]

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.

 

[DavidG]

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.

[DavidG]

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.

[DavidG]

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.

 

[Kevin]

Welcome back to the best hobby, and a nice looking build

[tarbrush]

welcome back to ship modeling David.  I am really happy to see you are doing Coco,  I love this period and have been thinking of giving this kit a try myself, looking forward to following your progress,  by the way you did a great job on Prins Willem.

[DavidG]

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.

[DavidG]

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.

Edited March 19, 2018 by DavidG

[DavidG]

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.

[Vivian Galad]

Nice kit u got, there! Getting front row. 😊

 

Edited March 19, 2018 by Vivian Galad

[amateur]

I like the weathering

Actually, it is not too far of from looks and feel the Mataro-model itself

.

 

 

 

Jan

[Geoffrey]

Really looking good. I have ordered one of these kits myself hoping to use it as a first build so I will be watching you progress closely.

[DavidG]

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.

Edited April 9, 2018 by DavidG

[DavidG]

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.

[DavidG]

.. which do not fit at all. I don't know why. Either a build or design flaw, I need a workaround. Nothing too complicated though, on one side I salvaged some part of the kit piece and used a planking strip to extend it. On the other side, I edge bent some 2 and 1 mm strips from my reserves (2x2mm + 1x1mm, to be precise), glued them side by side, forming the rail. This is glued into place finally.

The picture also shows the weathering of the upper deck, much lighter and more subtle than the lower one, while it doesn't really come through on the image.

The second planking is the next task on hand. I will follow a similar, 3 belts approach like I did for the first one. Already made some progress, yet to take a picture.

best,

David

[Geoffrey]

The decks look great - love the weathered appearance.

[DavidG]

here is the progress I made in April on the second planking. The second belt is almost done on one side, and started on the other one.

despite the small size of the hull, planking goes very slow (as usual). This is my first try on scale planking, but the severe bends on both ends would make it too difficult to shape the plank precisely anyway. Each plank segment needs to be pre-bent. This slows down the process considerably, I can do 1-2 planks per day.

The 1x5 mm planks provided have a lot of room for later sanding, but they are a bit too massive for this size of the hull. My planks are clamped to a former overnight, than use PVA with spots of CA to hold the plank in place.

 

The above picture shows my process, I place the tapered, bent planks to either sides of the row, than fill in the middle with full width segments. The second planking of this middle belt seems to be the most demanding part of the build, I hope to finish on this weekend, and than move on to the upper parts.

 

Edited May 3, 2018 by DavidG

[DavidG]

not a major update, just a status on planking. slow, but continuous progress in the last month. the most challenging part is over, the end is visible. probably needs another month to finish.

[DavidG]

a long overdue update to log.. works slowed down a bit last year behind buying and extensively renovating a house, but the model is not abandoned. I finished the planking last summer, and I was able to do some small-scale work, like carving stanchions and other bits. Now I have a dedicated space to work, still not a full workshop but a craft desk in my working room, so works can catch up and I think I can finish the model before summer.

 

a couple of (not so good) pictures of the current status, with the planking is done (if I ever choose to plank a ball, I feel prepared..)

the rudder assembly next, shold be done for the end of the week.

 

Edited March 4, 2019 by DavidG

[DavidG]

the parts for the rudder are made. the giant rudder is a planked mdf precut piece. The pintles and gudgeons are soldered. I still have to varnish the hull first, at least around the sternpost, than I can fit it to the ship. In the background, the silver soldering paste I used. It sticks to the surface and makes the task easily managable.

 

 

Edited March 20, 2019 by DavidG

[DavidG]

had some time last week to work on the model. first, attached the rudder.

then built the deck superstructure. there is some detail carved to the posts, but they become almost invisible after the rails are attached.

currently assembling the forward rail structure. I lay down the bottom rail first, glue it to the deck to provide some gluing area for the posts.

finally an overall picture of the hull as it's current state

 

actually there is not much work left on the hull. But will have to spend some time with smoothing out the details, fill the cracks and sand the edges smooth before applying the finish. I also have to make a new stand instead of the temporary cardboard one, as I lost the original in a recent house move.

[DavidG]

I had some spare evenings recently and finished the model.

So, a quick summary of my overall thoughts.

A nice little ship, not too difficult to build. Not having a lot of time, I wanted to build something which shows reasonable progress in even a couple of hours work, and this kit definitely met this demand. The model itself is quite simple, not too much of anything, but sufficiently maintains interest. For most of the time it is an excercise in planking. Plank the bulwark, plank two hull, plank the deck - most of the build is done. The only watch out is the hull shape - while the whole construction is really suitable to beginners, the severe bends are challenging at times.

The kit supplies ramin dowels for the mast and spars, they are fine, but I changed them to walnut to maintain a uniform colour. Apart of it, I built everything out of the box. Here goes some pictures of the finished model:

 

[DavidG]

...and the ultimate question at last, what to build next.?

I have a couple of options.. An unstarted Vanguard kit, from the first production batch. While it's the ultimate project, and finally I have the space to build it, still not sure to take a 5+ years commitment. Probably I could build the Coca over the same time needed to frame the gunports on the 74.

Other option is to finish my half built Occre Diana, which is so heavily modified, I can not call it Diana any more. I have the hull almost ready, however have some details which now I don't like and needs change. Then to mast and rig the ship, a year long project to say.

Or start another quick build.. there are some nice little kits out there..

 

[Louie da fly]

Very nice work, David. I don't know how I missed this one - I love carracks and would normally have followed the build. But you've done an excellent job and she looks just like the Mataro ship (well, maybe a little newer 😉)

 

Steven 

[DavidG]

Hi Steven, thank you for the nice words.

[RickyGene]

I have this kit and have as of yet started it.  Yours turned out most excellent.  I have a old Ships of Scale mag's, that covers this vessel with scale drawings and scratch building it.   Amati did a wonderful job designing this kit that they market as a beginners kit.  We all know what that means, as long as you have a few under your belt.  The hull shape as you have pointed out is not so easy to plank.  But you just got to love the pot belly shape.  Amati did their home work on this one, but there is a interesting detail they did not do, the upper main deck on my plans of the vessel show a hearing bone lay out of the planking.  Research showed the idea for this as practiced was to add strength to the upper deck area, or so as I understand it.  Anyway, will catalogue your build to refer to when I decide to build this wonderful little cargo ship.

Rick 

[DavidG]

thank you Rick. while I built this out of the box, there are several great examples of builders supporting their build with proper research, and correct the simplifications of the kit (like the upper bow planking, correct mast top, etc). Woody Joe makes a bit more elaborate version of the same ship (link) The kit is pretty straightforward to build, the only thing I would change is the installation of the deck beams, which are added in a very early stage in the build. The protruding beam ends are very difficult to nicely plank around. I see no reason to do that, the beams could be added once the second planking finished, with the rectangular openings left open during the planking.

good luck to your build.