San Francisco by greyhawk - Artesania Latina - 1:50 - cross-section

[greyhawk]

I swore I wouldn't start building another kit before at least one of my other multi-year projects was finished, but I'm remodeling and so much more space opened up in my apartment for ship models, welp, we all know how that goes.

 

Artesania Latinas Cross Section of the San Francisco in 1:50 scale is one of their older kits, meant to supplement the discontinued first edition of the San Francisco full model kit. Comparing the cross section to the new full model re-release, there's some noticeable differences between the ships, mainly regarding the placement of the gun ports. Side by side they don't even look like the same ship anymore. 

The kit is unsusal in that it does something I've not seen with any other cross section kit and that is replicating sheer. There's a noticable height difference height wise along frames not only on the bulwark but also along the middle and upper deck. On the other hand, there's no visible camber to the decks. You win some, you lose some I guess. 

The kit came out about the time that Artesania Latina realised instructions should probably be a bit more detailed than a list of parts and "Glue all of these things together, good luck, mate.". We get some nice booklets, one for the hull and one for the masts and rigging both weighing in at about 20-30 pages.

Construction starts with the framework. The frames are preformed and not built up like in other kits, which makes things easy, but a bit basic looking and unrealistic. This is a recurring theme throughout the kit. Ease of the build takes preference before realism.

The lower deck is glued in and planked. Again things are simplified, there's no keelson, no drains, no pumps, nothing, just a hole in the ground for the mast.

[greyhawk]

Braces and deck beams for the middle deck installed. Now as I mentioned this kit models sheer so each of the braces has to be specifically custom fitted height wise. Also each brace is thinned out in the middle from the original 3 mm round to 2mm. Luckily I am not stupid enough anymore to follow keep following my old mantra of "no electrical tools" so these are easily made by just sticking them into the Dremel and turning it into an impromptu lathe.

[AntonyUK]

Hi Greyhawk.

A interesting build.

Will you be modifying the model or building as per instructions ?.

Looking forward to your next instalment. 

 

Regards Antony.

[greyhawk]

Thanks for looking in Anthony.

Realistically speaking, there's so much wrong/simplified/abstracted with this kit, modifying it to be more accourate would ultimately require an entire rebuild from scratch. So I'm just going to build it as per instructions as a fun breather exercise between my more serious builds.

 

Middle deck installed and planked, also the upper deck beams are in place.  The sheer is so extreme the deck will only lay down on the outer deck beams even after fairing the beams a bit. The deck is  kinda hovering over the inner beams, a phenomenon other builders have also experienced with this kit. Luckily sheer on the upper deck is not as pronounced.