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

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

Thank Louie,

the illustration is taken from a Catalan treaty of maritime law,  printed in Barcelona in 1502:

"Libre de Consolat dels fets maritims".

Bye

 

[Louie da fly]

Thank you.

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

Greetings to all!

I continued with the construction of the stern castle.

The model proposed by the supplier is quite simple: 

 

Having it a trapezoidal plan, I filed the corners of the supports to create the seats for the strips: 

An alternative could be gluing triangular wedges on which to lay their ends.
Obviously, the remaining work is equal to the one already used for the rails:

See you later!

Rodolfo

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

 

Hello, everyone, finally the little stern castle has been finished. Long time ago, I added some reinforcement beams on the bottom side, otherwise the structure seemed too fragile:

 

Here are some pictures of the completed and painted structure:

 

Good work to everyone and see you next post.

 

Rodolfo

 

[bigpetr]

I can not see the pictures. Anyone have same problem?

[Louie da fly]

Same for me. Can you re-post the pictures? I'd love to see them.

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

Bye,
it's very strange: in my screenshot I can see the photos. Immediately I'll put them on again.

The model proposed by the supplier: 

 

 

Having it a trapezoidal plan, I filed the corners of the supports to create the seats for the strips: 

An alternative could be gluing triangular wedges on which to lay their ends.
Obviously, the remaining work is equal to the one already used for the rails:

 

 Long time ago, I added some reinforcement beams on the bottom side, otherwise the structure seemed too fragile:

 

 

Here are some pictures of the completed and painted structure:

 

 

Now, a light passage of sandpaper and the work can be considered completed.

 

See you later next post!

 

Rodolfo

 

[Louie da fly]

Ah, now I see it! VERY nice!

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

Thanks Louie,

now it's time for the main deckhouse. I made it at the beginning of the building.

AMATI suggests a simple object, very similar to the Coca of Matarò:

But I'm not sure about the holes in the roof. In Pinterest I saw a very nice ship and i tried to copy it:

 

Next works: rack with cleat, mast hound, pole and bracket.

See you later!

Rodolfo

 

[Chuck Seiler]

1 hour ago, Rodolfo Bigoni said:

But I'm not sure about the holes in the roof. In Pinterest I saw a very nice ship and i tried to copy it:

Could the "holes" have been for bolts (03) and eyebolts (10)?

 

Deckhouse looks great!

Edited November 14, 2020 by Chuck Seiler
added info.

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

 

20 hours ago, Chuck Seiler said:

Could the "holes" have been for bolts (03) and eyebolts (10)?

 

Thanks, Chuck.

 

in my opinion, reading instructions and looking at the figures, it seems that the holes are just simple holes: 

 

The two major ones have been made for the passage of the anchors ropes and the others (maybe) for ventilation:

 

 

 

 But the Nao of Matarò has no hole on the roof of the deckhouse.

 Moreover, the hole with a diameter of 10 mm clearly seems to me a mistake: it would be too big, as shown in the photos with a 10 mm drill bit:

 

 

 

They seem to me having a diameter about 4 or 5 mm.

 

Rodolfo

[Chuck Seiler]

Rodolfo,

 

    I missed where those were the size of the holes.  I thought they were a reference number.  The 03 holes appear to be right over the top of the fore and aft bulkhead of the deckhouse.

[Clark Griswold]

I agree.  The placement of the "vents" are curiously close to where you'd bolt or nail the slats to the hatch cover frame.  Amati has made a few interesting design decisions in their interpretation that I have yet to figure out if it was to match a skill level or a kit price; likely a mix of both.

 

Keep up the good work Rodolfo.

[Baker]

Beautiful work Rodolfo.

 

A practical question (it can also be a stupid question)
If we put bolts here
Then it looks like these planks are bolted permanent to the opening in the deck.
How do we then open this hatch when we have to be in the hold?

 

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

Thanks to all of you for your comments and remarks always welcome!

 

@ Backer: You're absolutely right! I hadn't thought about it: I saw this beautiful model:

 

 

and then I copied it without thinking.

 

After all, I'm just a railway modeler...and my commissioners (my family, which doesn't distinguish Bismarck from Titanic) just want a nice ornament, they have no idea of the historical fidelity.

Nevertheless, since the piece is not yet in position, I think I will modify it in order to make it more plausible. I am sure that if I don't do it now, in the future I will be in pain...

 

Rodolfo

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

Hi Backer,

I have examined the arrangement of the nails and, fortunately, it seems to me that there are no problems.

If I had to modify it, maybe I could have damaged it and then rebuilt it.

Examining the object sideways, you will see that the rows of nails are not above the side walls:

 

They are shifted inwards; they are assumed to be planted on a support located underneath that holds the boards of the flaps together.

I also remembered that the nails on the hinges were reproduced using drops of Vinavil, as I didn't have any so thin. Now, with my conscience in place, I can sleep peacefully and go back to work at my Coca.

 

Rodolfo

[Louie da fly]

Yes, those nails are to hold the hatch doors together (the doors obviously have a wooden support structure the planks are nailed to), not to the sides of the hatch itself.

[Baker]

Seen from this angle it is indeed correct.

Sorry I kept you awake 🥺

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

Hi Patrick,

I've always slept like a hibernating bear! 🙂

 

 

Before continuing with the superstructures, it's better to secure the load; indeed, it is already late because now it has become difficult to get the ropes through the rings.
With hindsight, I recommend fixing the barrels before covering the upper deck.

I preferred a certain asymmetry, as if the operations were not finished yet.

 

See you soon!

Rodolfo

[Louie da fly]

Nice work with the cargo. It looks very realistic.

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

Thanks, Louie!

Building the rack, instructions indicate a height of 74 mm:

; 

 

It's clearly a mistake, because a man 1m and 70 cm high in 1/60 scale is about 28 mm. I thought a printing error and then 74 was a 24. It also indicates two 2.7 mm slots; but in this way you DO NOT get the perception that the rope passes through the sheaves:

 

 

Considering that the sheaves are generally not much smaller in diameter than the width of the case (here 8 mm) I preferred to make two slots of about 8 mm in length with holes above and below and an excavation to simulate the sheaves:

 

     

 

The rack is associated with a cleat. Being the gluing area very small, it may be feared that it will not withstand stress.  For this reason I made two small holes on the rack and on the cleat and I inserted two pieces of brass before gluing:

 

 

For the mast hound I did the same work as for the rack, with the hollows and the fake sheaves inside:

 

 

 Here, too, the illustrations in the manual do not give the perception of ropes running over sheaves:

 

 

Finally, the pole with its bracket (in this case a bracket for the mast, as I will not use any on this model): 

 

 

See you soon!

Rodolfo

[Louie da fly]

Your approach, making two holes instead of a slot is better than the method they recommend in the instructions. Yours will look much more realistic.

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

Thanks Louie and welcome you all!
The anchors according to AMATI should have four square metal rings to keep the sections that make up the stock together:

After covering the stock with walnut veneer, I preferred ligatures with ropes. At the anchor ring I preferred to tie a knot that I found on Luciano Santoro's manual "Il modellista navale" Ed. HOEPLI:

 

Next we will try to guess the path of the anchor's ropes, since it's difficult to understand examining contemporary documents.

Have a nice weekend!

Rodolfo.

 

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

Welcome everybody!

The construction of masting immediately presents the first problem, which is the size of the blocks. I think there is a disproportion (first photo) between the rack and the block of the halyard:

 

In commerce I have not found blocks with the particular shape in medieval ships and so I decided to build it with pieces of wood, slices of wood rod and pin heads:

 

The four pins serve as spacers between pulleys and edges during gluing:

A through hole at the top, a countersink for the openings, a light scraping and a walnut impregnating paint complete the work:

 

The head of the pin will be painted in matt black, of course.

Final dimensions are 11x7x5 mm, (last photo).
Of course this implies having to build from scratch all the blocks that I will need...
Good job to everybody!
Rodolfo

 

 

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

Greetings to all!
In the meantime I have put on the hawse eyes, not foreseen in the AMATI plans and not always visible in contemporary illustrations. The 10 mm rod for the main mast is exceeding in length; I made a central hole with a diameter of 4 mm, cut two slices of 4 mm thickness and shaped them.       Outside with file, round cutter and sandpaper; about the side that needs to be glued, I shaped it in situ placing a piece of sandpaper on the hull where it should have gone and rubbing until it acquired enough curvature. At the end, the thickness of the hawse eyes  became 1.5 mm.  The diameter of the internal hole obviously has to be brought to the size of the one on the hull with round file, once the glue has taken hold.

Having used an impregnating agent for the wood of the hull, it follows that Vinavil makes a very poor grip; for this reason I used a two-component epoxy glue.

Have a good job at your shipyards!

 

Rodolfo

[bigpetr]

Beautifull model and great depiction of waves in last picture

[Louie da fly]

Very nice work, Rodolfo. Unfortunately commercial suppliers don't really think much about making equipment for mediaeval and Renaissance ships, and the only option seems to be to make one's own. But I've noticed more and more people are getting interested in these periods, so perhaps the suppliers will eventually start making stuff for them.

 

You're doing a beautiful job with your model.

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

Greetings to all and Thanks to Bigpetr and Steven for the encouragement!

Hi Steve, about the equipment for medieval ships, maybe searching with patience something can be found, like these blocks of a small Polish manufacturer: Unfortunately they are temporarily out-of-stock and so I have to build them myself. 

Returning to our Cocca, at this point AMATI suggests to assemble the stern castle, the rack with the cleat, the pole and its bracket, the figurehead and the rails at bow:   .

 

This procedure is correct if we build the shrouds according to the project AMATI, according to which they are fixed with rings on top of the vertical reinforcements: .

 

This solution is also possible because a painting from before 1489 ("Reliquary of St. Ursula" by Hans Memling) shows a similar solution, although with blocks instead of deadeyes:

        

 

However, the Nao di Matarò clearly has the shrouds fixed on the inside, so it remains to be decided whether to fix them to the deck or to the bulwark stanchions.  Examining the photos of the Nao, I thought I saw a block fixed with a ring to the deck, but others seem to be fixed to the side.  For this reason I decided to follow the solution shown in this picture,  with the shrouds attached to a ring planted on a stanchion above a horizontal beam.

In order to do this, it is necessary to postpone the positioning of the castle and the rails, which would interfere with the laying of the shrouds and the stay.

In addition, eyebolts and rings are needed, which are not included in the AMATI package. Fortunately, they are easy to make, with steel, iron, brass or annealed copper wire: 

 

Be careful with the harmonic steel wire, it can injure your fingertips!   The only one that came out right I'll put in the bow, where I will tie the stay;  .

 

The last photo shows the final layout of the horizontal beam and shroud attachment points (eyebolts plus rings):

 

 

The three fixed cables per side proposed by AMATI seem to me a bit 'little ... I think I will put at least four.
At this point we need to think about the blocks...
Have a nice evening!
Rodolfo

 

 

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

Greetings to all,

As for the mast, I will not follow the instructions:  here the shrouds pass through the hole in the bottom of mast top.

Contra, I will tie the shrouds under the mast top, as in fig. 1, 6 or 8:

from: "Sartie, stile mediterraneo" written by Pino dall'Orco.

 

To provide a support for them, I shaped a slight dent. I also squared off the top for the mast hound support, and a little further down I filed the mast to create the supports for trestletrees and transoms:

 

Since I did not prepare a suitable seat for the mast at first (like wisely did Clark Griswold in its Coca), I inserted the tip of a nail into the center of the mast and then pressed it onto the false keel.

All in all, the mast is now already quite straight without the use of glue. Then with the shrouds we could do the final correction. The mast was painted dark walnut color.

The manufacturer does not provide bindings around the mast. Since they are often represented in the images of that time, I thought to put them because I think they enrich the model, even if the tree is not composite:

I also added some details to the base of the mast itself: 

And that's all for now; good work everyone!

 

Rodolfo

[Rodolfo Bigoni]

Merry Christmas to all the friends of the forum!

 

The work has continued with rigging of the shrouds, according to fig.8 among the typical arrangements of that time, previously illustrated  by Pino dall'Orco in "Sartie, stile mediterraneo":   

 

I made four pairs of shrouds, alternating them at the top and then wrapping the whole with rope:

 

 

 

Next steps will be quite problematic: regarding the crosstree, there are some incongruences between drawings and figures in the instructions.
Moreover we must consider that we've to place the stay, the rope ladder running from quarterdeck till to the top, the halyard and the ties for the blocks of main mast lift. And with all these things we need to leave a free passage for one person from the ladder inside the top.

We'll see what can be done.

Have a nice evening,

 

Rodolfo