Santa Maria by josh44 - FINISHED - 1/70 scale - RESTORATION

[josh44]

Its been about a year since my last post; I've been taking some time off.  I had gone full throttle on the SIBs for over a year, and neglected the Ship that launched them all for me. So I eventually decided to complete the restoration on the old Santa Maria.

 

The true provenance of this model isn't fully known: My father, born in 1936, once told me that he built the kit as a boy, but he doesn't rememeber how old he was, or how old the kit was, for that matter.  Having survived many moves long before I arrived, I remember the ship presented herself to me only in states of worsening decrepitude. As a boy I remember the tangle of fallen masts and sails, and a big dead moth that resided within that mess for years.  She sat like that for decades, with most, but not all, parts junked on the deck.

 

Finally, in preparation for a move in the summer of 2017, we were given an ultimatum: Restore the Ship or let's throw her out!  

 

These next shots of her, cleaned up as much as possible, prior to work.

 

 

The Stern has seen better days.

 

 

Since this restoration took place over many months - and years in fact- and since part of it took place prior to my membership in MSW, I didn't photograph the restoration in an ongoing manner.  In fact, half way through I decided to just   show the finished product.  Eliminating the need to capture every moment of improvement  was much easier for me; and quite franky, since my techniques were largely crude, impulsive, and totally uninformed by any nautical wisdom, I don't think I am depriving anyone of any great techniques.  I would be happy to respond to any questions about the hows and whys, and most answers will include: balsa wood, bass wood, cyanoacrylate, acrylic paint, waxed thread, hand drills, and more cyanoacrylate.  

 

 

I started with the hull and all the ribbing - all the easy stuff - just to see how it went.

 

After a few months of hull work. Fortunatley, all masts and spars were present and intact! 

Many vertical ribs were replaced.   

 

 

 

Painting the stern windows and gilding.

 

Quarterdeck cleaned and restored as much as possible.

 

Rebuilding the poop deck was what intimidated me the most, and it was unease with this next step that made me take a 2 year break and switch gears towards SIBs in 2018.  

 

 

I wanted to respect the original design: It looked like a wire railing, so I tried to replicated that even though most renditions suggests an all wooden rail. Who knows?!?

 

 

Shileds on the wire poop deck rail were largely destroyed, so I had to be very creative.

 

At this point in the photos I really skip forward all the way to the sails.  

Suffice it is to say, I reworked the shrouds and ratlines first.

 

For the sails, I bought some muslin of pleasing color, texture and heft.

 

I extrapolated the design from online pictures.

I wish I took more pictures after all the sails were up. They hung there flat and dull.

 

It wasnt literally untill the last 2 days, when I chose to fills the sails with wind, that the model came alive!

Dont mind the doll's head, my daughter uses it for braiding practice!

 

Thank you for reading! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 9, 2020 by josh44
fix errors

[HGRaff]

Beautiful, a sight to behold!

I truly admire your perspicacity

on the restoration and it came out great!

 

[Louie da fly]

A very nice restoration of a model which I'm sure has - and can now continue to have for a long time - a lot of sentimental value to you.

 

It's certainly a very dramatic and impressive transformation from the original condition to the finished product.

 

Steven

[josh44]

18 hours ago, HGRaff said:

Beautiful, a sight to behold!

I truly admire your perspicacity

on the restoration and it came out great!

 

Thanks! and now i'm learning new words too!

[josh44]

12 hours ago, Louie da fly said:

A very nice restoration of a model which I'm sure has - and can now continue to have for a long time - a lot of sentimental value to you.

 

It's certainly a very dramatic and impressive transformation from the original condition to the finished product.

 

Steven

Thank you! Yes, am excited to present it to the family!