Coca by Rodolfo Bigoni - FINISHED - Amati - Scale 1:60 - XV century Spanish cargo vessel

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

Many thanks, Backer.

Your pictures solved some doubts I had about rigging.

The work on the Coca has continued, ending the planking:

 

 

After that, a bit of varnish:

 

 

 

Under the deck I added a crossbar:

 

 

Next step will be the anchor crossbar...

 

See you soon!

 

Rodolfo

 

[Baker]

Well done, Looks great 👍

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

Many thanks, Patrick!

The work is proceeding slowly; I didn't like the davit as described in the instructions:

 

Really it could be straight or curved upwards (like the Matarò model):

 

(pictures are in "Le navi di Colombo" - Heinrich Winter - Ed. MURSIA) and then I decided to make it curvilinear:

 

 

After that, the rail above stern board had to be built and instruction shows only three supports. Because the model of Matarò has five, I did so:

 

 

Now I've to plank the main deck bulwark edges, a slow and tedious work ...

 

See you soon!

 

Rodolfo

[Louie da fly]

Very good work, Rodolfo. It's good to see that you're not just accepting what the kit manufacturer tells you, but changing the model where it doesn't agree with historical evidence.

 

It's looking very good. Nice crisp work.

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

Thanks, Steven. Being my first work, I try to do a bit better than instructions say, but I also know there are a lot of things out of my knowledge and therefore I've to study much more...

The last step has been planking main deck bulwark edges using walnut strips 4x1 mm, like illustrated in the AMATI's instructions:

 

 

It has been a difficult work, and I had to build some tools using abrasive paper and wood silhouettes:

 

 

 

        

 

       

 

 

 

Perhaps, using shapes cut out of veneer instead of strips, it would have come a better job ...

Now we've to build the external reinforcements (fenders) for the hull...

 

See you soon...

 

Rodolfo

 

 

 

 

 

[Louie da fly]

Looks very good from here, Rodolfo. Keep up the good work.

[bigpetr]

It is beautifuly chuby 🙂. Great work

[Baker]

A beautiful little model.

Great work Rodolfo

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

Thank you, dear friends, for your positive comments about the model!

Next step will be the three reinforcements on the sides. Instructions suggest to cut strips 5x5 mm, 55 mm in length, and to drill a 1.2 mm hole in the upper end for fixing the shrouds:

 

I never saw such a disposition of the rigging and then i cut only 45 mm in length without drilling the holes. I worked the strips in series:

 

 

Attention: the strips can exfoliate:

 

 

I carried out a test without glue and a squareness control:

 

 

After that, glue and painting:

 

 

 

The next step will be the rudder.

See you soon!

 

Rodolfo

 

[Louie da fly]

You're doing a beautiful job on this, Rodolfo.

 

I've never seen a shroud fixing like that either. On the original Mataro Ship in the Maritime Museum in Barcelona the shrouds are fixed to the hull by pairs of blocks. But I realise you're not doing a precise copy of that model - this is your build, and you make the decisions.

[Clark Griswold]

Great build!  I’m just about embark on the same journey.  You’ve given me quite a bit to ponder, thank you.

[Chuck Seiler]

Rodolfo,

 

    The model is looking great!  Keep up the good work.

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

Dear friends, thank you very much for your kind words and encouragement.

 

Hi Louie, I had some doubts about the three external reinforcements of the sides, because I saw they usually were longer. But at the end I thought the aesthetic result would have been worse (maybe). I must say the historical and constructive work you are doing on the Byzantine Dromon is truly extraordinary.

 

Hi Clark, welcome!  I saw your post and I must say you've made a great start! Keep going!

 

Many thanks, Chuck! Very interesting your works, also historically. By my side, I hope to continue so.

 

One month ago I finished the rudder. I limited myself to follow the instructions of the "AMATI":

 

 

Unfortunately the rudder hinges have created many problems for me, which I will describe in the next post.

 

See you soon!

 

Rodolfo

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

Hallo everybody!

As I wrote, rudder hinges were a big problem for me. Seeing the plan and instructions, they seem to have certain dimensions:

   

 

Actually the ones I found in the box are:

- shorter,

- perhaps narrower,

- the  holes are more distant,

- the diameter of holes smaller than the diameter of tacks.

From the photos you can clearly see the original holes in the hinges have a larger distance, which prevents the fastening of the tacks closer to the keel:

 

Moreover the length, as you can see for the first hinge, does not reach the rudder edge, as it would seem from AMATI documentation:

 

 

At this point I had to drill some intermediate holes to the existing ones and then enlarge them:

 

 

Pivots and their locations have been glued with cyanoacrylate; but after I had completed this work, I've thought it would have been better to fix them with tinning:

                                                                                 

 

Next post the photos about fixing of the rudder to the keel.

 

See you later!

 

Rodolfo

 

 

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

Sorry, I've forgotten to delete remaining pictures and now I don't know how to do...

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

 

Good morning to everybody,

Another problem is the nails are longer than the thickness of the keel and rudder, so they either have to be cut in about half, or they must be inserted alternately (one hole yes and one no) or we have to create sloping holes or hopefully offset by themselves by hammering. I used the first two solutions.

                                                                                   

Once the hinges are inserted on the rudder, we take the position of the nails on the keel and make the first narrow holes. It seemed more comfortable to me to gluing tiller on the rudder before fixing the hinges to the keel:

                                                                                              

 

After fixing the hinges to the keel, the excess holes are masked with a drop of Vinavil:

                                  

 

For painting I used black opaque solvent enamel, given with a very thin brush.

At the end, despite all the problems, I'm quite satisfied about the whole result:

 

 

 

See you next post and good work to everyone!

Rodolfo.

[Louie da fly]

Very clean work, Rodolfo. A pleasure to see.

[Baker]

Very nice work Rodolfo

[bruce d]

Very good looking model Rodolfo, I especially like the choice of woods.

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

 

 

Dear friends,

thank you all very much  for your kind comments and encouragement to continue.

Hi Bruce, the hull strips are made of lime wood and walnut, treated with fine sandpaper and painted with impregnating Oak (for lime) and National Walnut (Italian) for those in walnut.

 

As you all certainly know, the rails of the Nao of Matarò' are not just straight boards, as described in the Building Instructions:                                                                    

                                                           
For my laziness I simply followed instructions, but in the end I couldn't resist and I made some changes that seem to add something to the model.  The photos were taken at the end of the file work, before finishing with fine sandpaper and paint:

I'm aware that I've given myself the hoe on the feet, because I will have to do the same for the rails of the bow castle and the central one...
Good work to everyone,

 

Rodolfo

[Louie da fly]

1 hour ago, Rodolfo Bigoni said:

I've given myself the hoe on the feet

 

What a wonderful description - is that a common Italian saying? In English we'd probably say "I've shot myself in the foot", or perhaps "I've made a rod for my own back" - which mean pretty much the same thing.

 

And I do like what you've done with the rails. That's very impressive.

[Baker]

"the hoe on the feet" and "I've shot myself in the foot"...   

I just do   🤣

 

These rails are going to be more work
But in the end you will be more satisfied with your model

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

Thanks Louie;

you're right, it's an Italian common saying. I knew "I've shot myself in the foot", but I ignored completely the second...

Hi Backer, I totally agree with you.

Rodolfo

 

[Louie da fly]

10 hours ago, Rodolfo Bigoni said:

I knew "I've shot myself in the foot", but I ignored completely the second...

 

A hoe on the feet - that's very graphic. I can almost feel the pain.

 

The second doesn't mean quite exactly the same thing, but quite close. It means that you've done something that will cause you trouble later. I often think this about parents who want to avoid trouble so they give in when their children act badly, instead of insisting on reasonable behaviour. They're making a rod for their own backs because now the child knows he or she can manipulate the parents, and the way to get what they want in future is to misbehave.

 

Shooting yourself in the foot means you made a mistake that's causing you trouble - usually now.

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

Hi Louie, thanks for the explanation; I learned something new to teach my daughter...🙂

 

As far as the quarterdeck rail is concerned, the AMATI's illustrations propose three simple straight strips leaning against nine small columns: 

 

The nao of Matarò had more columns and also denotes a certain stylistic refinement.  I tried to find a compromise by bending the strips and shaping them together with the columns.

 

First of all the strips are temporarily fixed with very little glue:                                                                  

 

and between them you place the columns; then with a pencil we can mark the positions where to file and shape the supports:

 

The columns are placed in position and glued only at the base !

 

 

Now you can mark the points where you want to shape the strips:

 

The three frontal laths are shaped:

 

 

The same work has to be done on the back, but only with two strips, because the central one  is absent on the Nao of Matarò:

 

 

 

At this point the strips are glued to the columns taking care of their alignment.

 

With the next post we'll finish the quarterdeck rail.
See you soon!

Rodolfo

 

 

[Louie da fly]

You've done a beautiful job with this, Rodolfo. It's so much better than what the model recommends.

[Baker]

More work than prescribed by the manufacturer.

But so much nicer and more accurately executed.

congrats to you Rodolfo

[J11]

Outstanding craftsmanship!! Love the colors of the wood you have used for contrasting. Looking forward to following this build!

 

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

I thank you all for the kind comments that help me to continue the work.

 

Now the quarterdeck rail has been ended and painted:

 

See you soon with the little stern castle.

 

Rodolfo 

 

 

[Louie da fly]

Beautiful work, Rodolfo!

 

By the way I see this picture is from the book "Le navi di Colombo" - Heinrich Winter - Ed. MURSIA, but does the book tell what is the original source?