Nina by knightyo (Alan) - Mini-Mamoli - 1:106

[knightyo]

I've decided to pretty drastically update this log, as all of the early construction posts were eventually rendered obsolete as I changed my mind and started the model over a few times in order to attempt to make it a little more accurate.  The model currently doesn't resemble the mini-mamoli kit a lot, although the original core of wood is still in the center of the ship in most places. I'll probably also stay with the early lateen sail plan, although I'm toying with the idea of alterning the masts to reflect the voyage across the Atlantic.  

 

Alan

 

Edited March 26, 2023 by knightyo
Updated Information

[Glenns_TX]

Your Nina is coming along very nice. Although Corel’s 1:130 scale HMS Bounty has been at times frustrating, I am considering Mamoli’s Little Girl in the future. As well as perhaps their 1:100 Flying fish. Not sure I would want to plank something so small.

[knightyo]

Still fiddling with the finish on the main model.  This morning I applied a 50/50 mixture of tung/mineral spirits to the "virgin" sections.  We'll see how it goes.  I also began cutting out my pre-soaked/bent "side ribs" to place next to the "ribs" on the bottom of the boat.  Once the ribs have been installed, I'll cut the tops off of them on each side, as another plank will be running along the top of the inside of the boat under the rail.  I'll also sand all of the ribs smooth and uniform.  However... This morning when I began dry placing a few side ribs in the boat, I realized that all the ribs were far, far too wide!  There's a part of me which wants to go ahead and install the rest of them, but the part that will win out is the part which knows that overly wide ribs will drive me nuts.   Now the question is how to thin them.  The bottom ribs have already been glued.  It actually might be easiest to install them all, and sand them in place as opposed to trying to sand the remainder before installing.. They are so small, they are pretty hard to handle.

 

Alan

 

[hof00]

Hi Alan,

Looking good!!

 

Just thinking about the "Shiny" stuff, you could try rubbing with a bit of 000 Steel Wool.

(That's what I use to give my Decks a bit of a Matt finish after the Clear coat.)

 

Cheers....HOF.

[Glenns_TX]

If you wanted to expose under this kits quaterdeck, could you saw it off. Route out the underside and reattach it?

[knightyo]

Well, a silver lining of this pandemic is that I have to telework from home, which means that I'm getting around 2 hours of driving time "back" every single day, as well as uninterrupted lunches which can be used for modeling.  One of my buddies is a permanent teleworker; I knew he had it pretty good, but man the time savings are incredible.

More of this little guy.  I spent an immense amount of time shaping the little internal ribs, which should not have been done.  The seats and eventual oars will make them almost impossible to see.  I can’t even figure out a way to properly photograph them. Lol.  I guess I’ll just chalk that up to carving/shaping practice.

At any rate, the bench supports, benches and railing were shaped from small remnants of wood from the kit.

 

Maybe a racing boat instead?   I decided it would be easier to install the “wales?” as thick pieces, opting to shape the internal sides of them and then sanding the outsides when the glue had dried.

 

 

 

Now they look a little better.  They were made from the same black walnut as the rest of the main ship.  It will be fun to see what it looks like after the oil is applied.

 

 

 

The oarlocks just need a little more work to ensure they are all uniform, and then I’ll drill the little holes into the top centers of them.  These things are tiny! The boat is around 3 cm in length.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 26, 2023 by knightyo

[knightyo]

Ok, I'm declaring the ship's boat as complete.  I'll glue that to the hull after the stairs and rudder have been installed, since it's a fragile little thing.

 

Alan

 

 

[knightyo]

On 11/20/2018 at 10:00 PM, Glenns_TX said:

If you wanted to expose under this kits quaterdeck, could you saw it off. Route out the underside and reattach it?

This is Glenns fault. 😄

 

I think what tipped the scale was the fact that I'd already drilled into the quarterdeck under the grating so it would look more realistic as the viewer looked down through the quarterdeck grating.  I then realized that it would look really cool to see the square patterns of light on the floor underneath the deck in the steering area if the entire section was developed.  I've ordered additional decking material and will now try to extend the deck back into the steering area after leveling off the flooring.  Of course this area will now need to have a dim flickering LED in the steering area and under the main deck grating as well.  

 

The second photo is what I'm now going to emulate. It's the "large" replica of the Nina.  I do intend to frame out the inside of the quarterdeck in order to allow for the "missing" plank on each side, which will let additional light into the steering area.

 

Alan

 

 

[Louie da fly]

Glutton for punishment, aren't you? 

[knightyo]

7 hours ago, Louie da fly said:

Glutton for punishment, aren't you? 

Yes! I'd always felt like I was taking the easy way out with this model, and realized that if I didn't take this step, it would bug me forever.  The only concern I have is whether or not the new decking I've ordered (tanganika) will be a different hue than the tanganika used many years ago. Hopefully not, but we'll see. 

[Louie da fly]

8 hours ago, knightyo said:

I didn't take this step, it would bug me forever. 

Oh, I know that feeling . . . it's like that quiet little voice in your head that is so annoying and will never let you rest if you ignore it . . .

[knightyo]

Even though the model is currently a dusty mess, I'm absolutely ecstatic about this photo because it's showing the faint flickering light under the main deck grating which I just received from Evan Designs.  The photo does also show the progress I've made so far in removing all of the wood from the cabin area.  Now I just need to make the planking run uniformly from fore/aft, and build up the quarterdeck structure.  This was a nice lunch break today.

 

(I've copied/pasted what was ordered below.  I have zero electronics experience, and for 11.19 USD, I was able to emulate a flickering light, and it was incredibly easy.  I'm going to purchase another light for the cabin area.)

  

 

 

[Louie da fly]

Nice. Worth the extra effort.

[liteflight]

Good effect!  
It’s sobering to realise how little light people worked by in bygone days.  Little or none!

[Louie da fly]

Depending on who and what you were. Certainly below decks was pretty dark. The Texas A&M University, which is a centre of excellence in maritime archaeology, publishes Masters' theses by its students ( https://nautarch.tamu.edu/academic/alum.htm )one of which was all about the history of lighting on board ship (an environment very prone to fire), called Shipboard Lighting: A.D. 400-1900. Of course eyes do adjust to low light levels, but there is a limit to how much.

 

Interestingly, the mediaeval craft guilds had a rule that nobody was to work after dark - artificial (candle) light was just not sufficient for quality work.

 

If you want to see what it's like in a candle-lit environment (unless you go to an intimate restaurant or are a mediaeval re-enactor) see if you can get a look at interior clips from the movie Barry Lyndon, which was filmed only by candle-light because the director (the great Stanley Kubrik) decided it was the only way to convey the true atmosphere of the time. They had to develop special cameras to do so, and as far as I'm aware it's the only movie where it was ever done.

[knightyo]

Thanks guys!  In addition to the lack of light, I can't even imagine how hard life would have been in general, especially on a ship at sea.  I think I'd last a couple of weeks, tops. lol

 

Alan

[knightyo]

I'm at a good stopping point in my "real" work today, so am taking an early lunch in order to post a few updates.   Below is the start of my new deck planking.  The deck of the kit had zero camber, and was a straight line fore/aft.  I've remedied both items with a lot of sanding.  Then graph paper was glued to the deck to ensure the planking was installed evenly, and planking commenced below.  It really was satisfying to plank the entire deck from front to back.  I'm glad I made the decision to take the plunge in cutting off the quarterdeck.  

 

 

 

 

 

Below is the finished main deck planking, with sawdust included.  Sorry for such stark lighting in the photo.  The lighting in my den was too dark, so I thought I'd head to the kitchen for brighter, natural light.  You can tell that I'm not a very competent photographer. Anyway, now I just need to plank the very front piece in the bow, and of course re-make the quarterdeck.

 

 

 

 

But not so fast!  So here's my dilemma.   As I was cleaning up the deck and getting ready to shape the waterways, I was viewing my stock of photos of the replica of the Nina..  To my consternation (extreme consternation), I realized that the replica has scuppers (below) all the way down the hull, and not only did my version NOT have scuppers since I re-shaped the deck, if I cut scuppers out at the new deck level, they'd no longer match the wales of the ship on the outside; they'd go right through them.  So guess who made the insane decision to remove the wales and all associated "bumpers" in preparation for scupper installation?  Yea, I know.. But it's yet another thing which would have really bugged me now that I knew about it.  For giggles, since the exterior hull is now "clean", I'm also going to very carefully scribe down the middle of each plank as well, as the initial planks were far too wide to be in scale.   I might also take the opportunity to add more "meat" to the bow section, as it has quite a sharp rise at the bow, which my version does not.  Might as well add that to the list; we'll see on that point. 

 

I think I might need to re-name this model "Pandora's Box", because I've certainly opened said box a long time ago when I thought "wouldn't it be cool if I did X to the model before I apply the finishing touches".   It pains me to know how much I could have gotten done on my Syren/Triton by now if I'd just finished the model a long time ago, but I'm in it, so am moving forward.  I have to admit it is fun to be putting this much detail into such a tiny model, but fully acknowledge the insanity of "upgrading" a model which was never meant to be very accurate.  It would have been FAR better to have built from plans, or to have started with a more accurate kit.

 

 

 

[knightyo]

 

Ok, so working at my usual pace, but incremental progress is better than none, I suppose. The entirety of the hull inside and out is now planked with pear.  It's dusty in this photo, but compressed air and brushes should remedy that before any finishes are applied.  I'm considering applying tung oil and/or shellac, and will be experimenting quite a bit with both. 

 

The replica Pinta had a unique looking capstan which caught my eye, and which I wished to replicate on the Nina.  Who is to say that the original Nina didn't have this type capstan as well?  

Below is a start, but will need to be "skinnier" to match the replica; especially the center "X" sections.  Not pictured are a few more brass parts  I've cobbled together which will need to be blackened.  

 

 

Time to start working on these little guys. Making these at this scale is quite a challenge, and I'm having to make these under magnification. It's still a satisfying exercise, however. 

 

 

 

[knightyo]

 

 

 

 

Ok, still plugging away on this one.  The below parts have been burnished a bit to see what the final look might approximate.  They are still a bit thick however, so will be thinned out a bit, and the recessed areas near the tops will also be thinned down more.  Then they'll receive trennails along with the adjacent knees.    I'm still building up the back quarterdeck area, so not really affixing anything to the deck yet which could be knocked away.

 

 

Binnacle!  I've been building up the binnacle, which I'll be able to install after the masts have been installed, and the quarterdeck complete.  Below is the drawer, and a little knob which was almost impossible for me to make.  They are resting on my drawplate next to the smallest hole.  I couldn't see what I was doing with these pieces unless working on them under magnification, but I'm happy with them now that they are done.

Below is the main body of the binnacle with the drawer hanging out.  If my printer will do it, I'm going to print a scroll with my name and build date, and will then place in the binnacle drawer which I'll leave slightly ajar.  The "pegs" sticking out of the sides will be clipped off and sanded down; they are just trennails which have just been glued in and are drying.  There will actually be 4 more attached lower on the legs.  Once that's done, I'm going to be cutting a circle in the top of the binnacle for a light to hang down into it, which will illuminate a very small compass, providing my printer can print it small enough.  Since the backside of this binnacle will be resting against a mast, I'm thinking of installing a very small led up through the deck and between the binnacle/mast, and into the back of the binnacle, which can then provide light.  Hard to explain, but I'll post pics. 

 

 

[knightyo]

 

The trennails are about done in the bow area.  I'm now leaning towards shellacking the model after it's been cleaned up.

The inboard parts of the bow are about complete now as well.  Now it's time to start trennailing the decks, knees, etc.

 

 

[knightyo]

One of my longstanding and fairly irritating quirks is to jump into a project, get so focused upon what I’m doing, and ending up doing something exactly wrong because I’ve forgotten the big picture.  That quirk has shown itself again; at some point, I’d forgotten that the drawer in the binnacle is actually what the compass itself sits within; it’s not a separate stand-alone drawer for maps, etc.  The below photo from “The ships of Christopher Columbus” shows how that drawer is supposed to be used, which I’d completely forgotten about once I started to cut wood.  

That shouldn’t be impossible to fix however, and it will actually allow me to create a little more elaborate compass than I’d originally intended.  I think I’ll cut a piece of brass round-stock to shape, insert a small printed compass image within, with perhaps a coating of something over the top replicating glass.  I’ll unfortunately have to get rid of the scroll/map in the drawer with my name/build date, which is disappointing.  I guess the scroll/map turned out to be slightly oversized anyway.

 

 

 

 

[Montaigne]

38 minutes ago, knightyo said:

One of my longstanding and fairly irritating quirks is to jump into a project, get so focused upon what I’m doing, and ending up doing something exactly wrong because I’ve forgotten the big picture.

That’s my middle name. I know, it’s kind of long, but I’ve earned it. 

Impressive little build, that binnacle. Too bad about the scroll with name and build date. Hopefully you can find another solution for that, since it’s a fun idea!

 

 

[knightyo]

1 hour ago, Montaigne said:

That’s my middle name. I know, it’s kind of long, but I’ve earned it. 

Impressive little build, that binnacle. Too bad about the scroll with name and build date. Hopefully you can find another solution for that, since it’s a fun idea!

It looks like we share the same long middle name .   Maybe the scroll can be placed into a small sea-chest somewhere on deck.  I do know that there are a few flaws on the deck in the cabin area that should probably be covered, so it should work out pretty well. 

[Montaigne]

A sea chest sounds like a good idea. 
A friend of mine always hides notes inside his model ships with info about the ship and him and some funny stuff, and I’ve decided I must do so too. Models like these can last for hundreds of years, and then one day someone accidentally drops it, it breaks apart and a note falls out. It has to be included!

[Louie da fly]

Sounds like a great idea. Maybe I'll try it too.

 

PS: Looking really good.

 

Steven

[knightyo]

Thanks Steven!  Montaigne  has made me think about adding perhaps two chests or maybe even a small side table.  One with a scroll of my name/build date, but perhaps the other with a scroll with a funny/inappropriate limerick or such.   That would sure be a surprise to a future viewer.  It would destroy whatever thoughts they had about the builder, however. lol  Decisions, decisions......

 

Alan

[Ferrus Manus]

Welcome to the club! My nasty quirk is that i do the research and find out something is "correct", put all my eggs in that "correct" basket, and then refuse to accept the fact that my primary source was wrong, and that only happens AFTER i have made a critical error on a ship due solely to faulty research. 

[knightyo]

On 4/26/2023 at 10:26 AM, Ferrus Manus said:

Welcome to the club! My nasty quirk is that i do the research and find out something is "correct", put all my eggs in that "correct" basket, and then refuse to accept the fact that my primary source was wrong, and that only happens AFTER i have made a critical error on a ship due solely to faulty research. 

I can already feel myself doing the same thing on this build.  I've made a lot of fairly sketchy assumptions on this build, and instead of "Nina", I should probably call it "Fanciful Representation of a Ship and Hypothetical Components from the 1400's, 1500's, 1600's and 1700's".

 

I'm still working on the binnacle section of the model.  The drawer and actually entire front of the binnacle have been remade in order to accommodate a compass.   The compass still needs to be filed down a bit more in order to allow the drawer to close; that little piece of brass round stock is hard to handle.  It's too small to be able to be held between finger/thumb, so I've been holding it as tightly as possible on the tips of tweezers while gently running my smoothest file along the bottom to reduce its height. I'm shocked it hasn't fallen prey to the carpet monster yet. I'm still planning to print a very tiny compass rose to insert into the housing, with a drop of acrylic over the top to mimic a slightly convex glass top.  We'll see how that goes.  

 

I've also been able to file a piece of brass square stock into the shape of the lantern which will illuminate the surface of the compass via the mini light below at the end of the wire.  I'm planning to cut small slivers of clear acrylic, securing them to the inside of each "window" in the lantern with super glue and leaving the back of the lantern windowless, as that's where the light is going to be coming into the lantern from the back side. My plan is to fill the lantern with hot glue and then to  insert the light from the back which will hopefully secure the light permanently into the lantern.  The wires for the light will extend through the back of the binnacle to the mast directly behind and down through the deck right down through the keel and out through one of the hollow round brass stand tubes to the light switch.  My hope is that the wire will be completely invisible to the viewer no matter what angle they are viewing from.

 

That's the theory of this section, at any rate.  I have to admit that the little brass pieces are just unbelievably hard for me to work with, even under magnification.  At least I'm about done with each piece now, and just need to create a top for the lantern from which it can then hang from a chain coming down through the top of the binnacle.  In looking at the photo,  I see that I also still need to make another handle for the new binnacle drawer, and probably enlarge the front window a touch more as well.  I'm really looking forward to seeing what this little piece looks like after it's been cleaned up and layers of shellac applied.
 

[Montaigne]

I hadn’t realized how tiny this build actually is, only yesterday reading about the Mini Mamoli series for the first time. Very impressive work indeed, hats off!

[knightyo]

 

Still working on the binnacle project.  The below is a contraption I've basically carved out of pewter which I figured could plausibly pass as a lantern base.  

the "bolts" loosely resting in each end are just pieces of wire that have been rounded off/compressed to simulate round bolt heads.   Once the piece is finished, I'll blacken everything.  As I'm looking at the photos however, it feels like the piece might be too thick, and overpowering the cabinet.  I might work on reducing the thickness of the piece as a whole. 

 

The lantern hook is just small gauge wire.  I have a little concern about the strength of this hook over time, however; it feels like something should be added before final installation.  The lantern shouldn't actually be pulling the hook down a lot however, as the lantern will also be supported by it's own wires coming in from the backside of the cabinet. 

 

The last photo shows the fairly complete lantern.  I just need to snip some excess wire off on the handle/chain.   The light itself looked like a supernova emanating through the panes when activated; to try and remedy this, I've applied some back acrylic to the panes which will hopefully dim the light quite a bit and maybe make the light look more authentic; sort of a candle-blackened look.

 

Alan