Spanish Galleon by Jeff T - Revell - 1:96 - PLASTIC - with modifications

[Jeff T]

6 hours ago, Wintergreen said:

That are some very neat lanterns!

Fascinating (for me at least, since I don't do plastics, yet.)

Thank you!

[Baker]

Indeed, great lanterns.

Nice work. 

[72Nova]

Great work jeff!, I would imagine you'd do the same for the stern lantern?. Couple of questions, how long does that paint glow for and how would you charge them once the model is cased?. The chevrons look great by the way, nice crisp lines!.

Michael D.

[Jeff T]

2 hours ago, 72Nova said:

Great work jeff!, I would imagine you'd do the same for the stern lantern?. Couple of questions, how long does that paint glow for and how would you charge them once the model is cased?. The chevrons look great by the way, nice crisp lines!.

Michael D.

Thank you, Michael!

The neutral orange glow-in-the dark paint is unfortunately weaker than the green paint, so it does not glow as brightly, but I chose it because it is a more natural color for lanterns.  Earlier on in my build log, there is a picture of a test casting for the main stern lantern where the central portion is filled with coats of the neutral orange glow-in-the-dark paint backed by white acrylic paint to aid in reflection and make it brighter.  The duration of the glow of the neutral orange paint unfortunately is also not as long as the green paint.  It dies away rather quickly — only after a few minutes.  When the model is cased, I plan to use a very strong LED with enough sharp focus to shine as strong of a light as possible through both the glass and the stern windows.  It won’t be perfect, but there should be some glow seen from within when the room lights are turned down.  The stern lanterns should be easier to light up because they are on the exterior.

The chevrons were like a labor of love for me — multiple steps involved and sequential masking, with touch-up trimming by painting over and/or lightly scraping off bleed-through.

[Ferrus Manus]

Your gun carriages are far superior to the original pieces, and your lanterns will make wonderful additions to the galleon. Should you decide to remake the stern lantern, i would recommend it. 

[Jeff T]

 

Thank you!

 

For the three stern lanterns, I will not be using the pieces the way they were supplied in the kit.  Instead, the shades have been replaced with pieces that I cast from clear epoxy, with brass verticals.  I will use the crowns and bases from the kit, but I needed  to make their diameters larger, as described below (focusing on the central lantern) in a couple of excerpts from entries in my build log from June 2020:

 

I wanted to make the stern lanterns look more like lanterns, since the way they were supplied meant that you had to paint the glass panes some color (which color?):

 

So I decided to remove the tops and bottoms of the lanterns and replace the middle portion, which I call the "glass housing", with transparent material, in the center of which would be a glowing candle "flame".

 

I made latex rubber molds:

 

Poured ArtResin clear epoxy into the molds:

 

I made spares in case that some didn't turn out.

 

And here are the cast pieces:

 

• 5   

The lantern "glass housings" have central "cores" into which I painted a glow in the dark orange acrylic paint (and white acrylic paint behind it) so that they glow in the dark after being charged with a strong LED light.  Here is a "test piece" in the dark after being charged:

 

I needed to make the diameters of the tops and bottoms of the stern lanterns larger in order to fit the new housings, so I glued polyester buttons to them and painted them up (including dirty "weathering" with a wash):

 

Eventually, they will be glued together with the "glass housings". 

 

[Jeff T]

I think I may need to clarify something about the photo of two cast pieces from the excerpts that I pasted above:

 

They are not complete in this photo.  The longer piece on the left was actually cut down into two smaller pieces, and the centers of them were drilled

and filled with neutral orange glow in the dark paint backed by white acrylic.  These two smaller pieces will be used in the two smaller stern lanterns.  The bigger piece on the left, which was also filled with the glow paint backed with white acrylic, will be used for the large central lantern.  This piece was also trimmed down at the top and bottom after this photo was taken.

[72Nova]

Excellent work Jeff!👍

[Jeff T]

I realize that I did not previously have any photos of the stern lantern housings after making the modifications to the castings  described above, so I took some photos today:

 

I had applied some “dirty weathering” to the brass verticals so that it will better match the crowns and bases and the rest of the sterncastle.

 

I also took a photo that shows the crowns and bases that will go with the two smaller stern lanterns:

 

Each of these pieces is still attached to the temporary support pedestal that I used to hold it while painting it.  The piece that you see in the center, slightly to the left, is a belfry that I also painted in the ornamental gilded style.

 

 

[Jeff T]

I am continuing to work on furnishings for the two cabins.  Soon after I started the build a few years ago, I ordered some some generic pieces for the cabin interiors, including beds, from a company in Massachusetts.  I was thinking of beds because the captain's cabin and pilot's house, aside from places to meet and plan and navigate, were also living quarters.  At the time, I thought the scale of the ship was 1/96 as indicated on the box.  I only later learned that it is closer to 1/64, so unfortunately, I cannot use most of the pieces.  The primarily tin alloy white metal beds, however, could be modified.

 

This is an example of what I started with:

I used Milliput to lengthen two beds so that they could fit more with the scale:

 

Styrene strips were cut, glued, puttied and sanded to make pieces for the frames:

 

Assembled bedframes:

 

The beds were mounted in the frames using thin cyanoacrylate to set them, then 30 minute epoxy to secure them:

 

Testor's Model Master Wood enamel paint (small amount) was mixed with Testor's Flat White enamel to achieve an off-white color simulating natural linen, which was used for the linen bedsheets:

 

A base color of Flat Brown enamel was used for the frames:

 

A brown acrylic paint mixture was streaked over the dried flat brown enamel to simulate wood grain, and it was "fine tuned" by brushing over it with 91% isopropyl alcohol, which caused the streaks to "bunch" and "clump" and look less like brush strokes and more like weathered grain:

After touching them up, this is how they looked:

 

Here is a crewmember next to them showing that the scale is okay:

 

 

[Archi]

Excellent work !

Is it possible that the scale is closer to 1/72 ?

[Jeff T]

5 minutes ago, Archi said:

Excellent work !

Is it possible that the scale is closer to 1/72 ?

Thank you, Archi!

 

Actually, the scale really is 1/64 or 1/65.  I know this because of the size of the included figures, which I think may be the only true way to know because this ship is not based on an actual ship that can be measured, such as HMS Victory or U.S.S. Constitution.  The size of the figures seems right for the scale of the cabins, etc., which have doors that one can imagine the crewmen entering.  Also, I am currently working with chairs for the tables in the cabins (more on this later), and these chairs that I ordered, which match nearly perfectly with the figure size, are 1/64 scale.  The beds that I made are not spacious, but I imagine that they wouldn’t have needed to be.  On the galleon replica in San Diego, for example, the captain’s bed is small and is crammed behind an  inner side wall of the cabin. 

[Jeff T]

I have been doing some thinking about the scale.  I remembered that I had originally ordered some 1/72 scale photo etch chair kits to use with the model because I thought that 1/72 would be “close enough” to 1/64 when it came to chairs, but it turns out that they ended up being a bit small (one chair is seen here next to a figure who is missing an arm and a leg because I needed them for another figure):

 

So 1/72 may be a little small.   It is possible that the actual scale may not be exactly 1/64, but is probably closer to that than to 1/72.  The figure is almost 1” tall, but I do not think it likely that the average height of a person in the  17th century was 6 feet (72”).  5’3”-5’4” (63-64”) could fit into the realm of possibility.

 

[caddmann05]

This is a wonderful log of your Galleon. I am also in the process of starting my build of the Revell Spanish Galleon in 1/65 scale and I would like to use your build log for my inspiration. I hope you will post more about your build as you complete each phase, or have you come to a halt it your progress? Say it isn't so. I hope all is well with you, and in the future post what you have.

 

[Jeff T]

Thank you very much!  And welcome aboard the Spanish Galleon!  When I first set out to build the kit, I imagined that I would build it “out of the box”, but the more I ventured forward with it, the more modifications I decided to make, and now it has become a multi-year project that will undoubtedly continue over the next few years.  My progress is slow, as I have time limitations due to work and family commitments. Also, you can see that I don’t necessarily follow the order of the instructions.  I have ideas in mind and my completed phases will eventually all fall together into the finished whole.  I am still working on it, and will post again when I have completed the next little bit.  If you have any questions or need insight, please let me know.  

[caddmann05]

I know exactly about multi-year projects. It took me 9 plus years to finish Revell's P-51D Mustang, and that was only in 1/48th scale. I appreciate the offer for help on my journey with my Galleon and believe me, I will ask questions. Like you I am a slow builder due to my work schedule and other of life's issue, so I am at the bench sparingly. I consider this build my last one, due to bad eyes and a wandering mind as well as the inability to want to spend more than 2 or 3 hours modeling per session. Anyways, I have been looking for reference material for the Galleon from books, websites or FB groups, and let me tell you, it is not easy to find. What did you use for your references? Looking forward to seeing the continuation of your Galleon.

[Jeff T]

These are two of the books that I purchased during the first 4 years of the build and I read them through.  Both have been very helpful.

 

The book by Peter Kirsch is out of print, but it likely can be found  on ebay or Abe books (where I found mine).  Angus Konstam’s book gives a lot of background about Spanish Galleons in particular and has reproductions of some contemporary paintings, but most of them are unfortunately in black-and-white.  There is a nice cross-sectional illustration of what they think Nuestra Senora de Atocha looked like.  Kirsch’s book focuses on a 17th century galleon (not Spanish) that was recreated in drawings and models based on a contemporary votive model from 1610.  It has a nice rigging plan for a galleon of that time frame.  

 

I am now building my galleon as if it were an early-mid 17th century galleon from around 1630 or so, rather than a galleon from the time of the Spanish Armada of 1588, which is referenced in the historical summary at the beginning of the instructions.  In my first post in this log, I mentioned that Armada time period, but I have since learned in my research that topgallant masts/sails and belaying pins may be more appropriate for the 17th century.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Oh fantastic work!

We are cut from the same cloth doing mods to plastic kits 👍🏻

Following along for sure….now I have finally found how to maneuver around here better

Cheers!

[Jeff T]

The work on cabin furnishings continues...

 

Tables and chairs for both the captain's cabin and the pilot's house:

 

The captain's cabin, on the main deck in the sterncastle, is the larger of the two rooms.  I decided that it would also have the larger of the two tables.

 

The table tops were cut down from 1 mm thick sheet styrene using a paper cutter and edges were sanded smooth, giving right angle corners.  The legs, 11 mm long, were cut and sanded from a 1.6 mm round styrene rod:

 

1 mm masking tape was used to space the legs at the corners and they were glued in place:

 

Testors light tan enamel paint was used as the base color:

 

As I had done with the beds, I painted a brown acrylic mixture over the base color, and then brushed over it strategically with 91% isopropyl alcohol (and added a little near-dry brushing) to arrive at a weathered wood grain look:

 

 

The legs can bee seen better in this photo with the flash:

 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had obtained photo etch 1/72 scale chair kits that I intended to use in the cabins, hoping that there would not be a noticeably big size difference with the 1/64 scale of the kit.  When I went to assemble them, I realized that I could not bend the angles of the chairs' legs with equipment that I had.

Also, they seemed rather flimsy, and a little small.  If I had tried to scratch build the ten chairs that I planned to have, it would have been rather time consuming, and possibly difficult to make them detailed and consistent, so I decided to buy new chairs.  I searched several sites for 1/64 scale chairs and found a few, but some were just too rough (laser cut wood), too expensive per chair (resin), or too modern-looking.  I settled on cast white metal chair kits in S scale (a 1/64 model railroading scale) from Wiseman Model Services in Kentucky.  These chairs are high back chairs with a ladder back style in the backrest.  My research indicates that there were high back chairs in the 17th century.  Ladder back style, which apparently started in the Middle Ages, was also in use during that century.

 

I ordered five kits, each containing two chairs:

One of the pouches was partially open and a seat was missing, so I made one out of styrene. 

 

There was a lot of flash to remove, and the horizontal brace supports between the legs, in the front and the back, had to be cut to size from narrow metal rods.  Also, there were a few filling defects in the slats on the backrests that needed to be filled.  I used Milliput Superfine White epoxy putty for that.  After a lot of trimming and sanding, the parts were assembled in stages using cyanoacrylate glue (thick, for the most part) and 30 minute epoxy:

The metal alloy is mostly tin, with lead and small percentages of a couple of other metals.   It is fairly soft, but fortunately, not too soft that it doesn't hold its shape as long as nothing is applying force to it.  However, it was sometimes hard not to bend it while handling it.  Unlike styrene, which can sometimes "bounce back" into shape, this metal stays bent.  So I had to keep checking it and bending it back if it needed it.

 

The chairs were also painted first with Testors tan enamel paint:

 

Here is how they ended up with the brown acrylic paint, followed by brushed isopropyl alcohol and near-dry brushing treatment for weathering:

In San Diego, the captain's cabin of the San Salvador (16th century Spanish galleon replica) is rather small.  The ship itself is less than 100 feet in length.  So personally, that is all that I have seen -- a tiny room with a tiny table, a tiny bench behind it, and a berth crammed to the side:

 

My model has a spacious captain's cabin, like the one seen in a replica of a 17th century Spanish galleon made in Spain called El Galeon Andalucia.  These links have information about the galleon (first link) and a photo of the cabin (second link):

 

https://www.fundacionnaovictoria.org/el-galeon/

https://www.33-bordeaux.com/voillers-vieux-greements/el-galeon-espagne/el-galeon-bordeaux-04.htm

 

I like the idea of a large table with a few surrounding chairs, so the captain may pore over maps, meet with officers and perhaps share a meal with them.

 

I have arranged the table and chairs in a configuration for the captain's cabin in this photo:

 

The remaining chairs will be used with the table in the pilot's house on the half deck:

 

Next, I will finish painting some figures for the cabins and the helm.

[72Nova]

The table and chairs look fantastic Jeff. The wife and I took the 4 hour tour on the San Salvador earlier this year and as excited as I was, I did have some anxiety about going out in the open water, but lucky for me they stopped doing that due to too many people getting really sick, that would be me for sure.  It was pretty tight quarters with about 40 or so people on board and couldn't imagine what it would be like in 1542 with probably double the crew and a 100 livestock.

 

Michael D.

[Jeff T]

51 minutes ago, 72Nova said:

The table and chairs look fantastic Jeff. The wife and I took the 4 hour tour on the San Salvador earlier this year and as excited as I was, I did have some anxiety about going out in the open water, but lucky for me they stopped doing that due to too many people getting really sick, that would be me for sure.  It was pretty tight quarters with about 40 or so people on board and couldn't imagine what it would be like in 1542 with probably double the crew and a 100 livestock.

 

Michael D.

Thanks, Michael!  

I also took the 4 hour tour a few years ago.  We actually did go out onto open water after we left the bay  and they turned off the motor and used only the sails at

that point, but the ship did roll a bit on the waves.  I can see where it may have been difficult — I don’t get seasick easily, but I remember that my wife had a hard time with it.  But the experience was marvelous — as we came toward Point Loma on the way back under full sail, I imagined how it must have looked to Cabrillo almost 500 years ago as he sailed into what was later renamed San Diego for the first time in the original ship.

[Jeff T]

There may be some difficulty with the link to the picture of the captain’s cabin of El Galeon Andalucia in my post from yesterday, so I am including it again:

 

https://www.33-bordeaux.com/voiliers-vieux-greements/el-galeon-espagne/el-galeon-bordeaux-04.htm

[72Nova]

I was getting nauseous just watching the Galleon video on the other link, thanks Jeff 😁

 

Michael D.

[Twokidsnosleep]

This is fantastic work. The cabins will be excellent

How about a globe, did they have those at this period???

[Jeff T]

21 hours ago, Twokidsnosleep said:

This is fantastic work. The cabins will be excellent

How about a globe, did they have those at this period???

Thanks, Scott!

I am not sure if they had globes at that time, but anyways, I am planning on putting in a wall map, and another map on the larger table.

[Ferrus Manus]

Where have you been? 

[Jeff T]

I am working on it, but things are going slowly for me as usual.  I will have more soon, hopefully in the next week or so.

[Jeff T]

I have finally finished modifying and painting five figures to be included in the stern cabins and the helm.

 

Revell included 40 figures with the kit, but there is a lot of repetition, since there are only 5 different varieties.

 

I chose these two figures for the captain and the pilot:

 

In his book Spanish Galleon:  1530-1690 (Oxford/New York, Osprey Publishing, 2004), Angus Konstam includes reproductions of two contemporary paintings from the 1620s-1630s, one of which, on page 20, shows a Spanish military commander wearing large, almost balloon-like, short Spanish breeches (called greguescos), and half-armor, but without the classic morion helmet (instead, he carries a wide-brimmed hat):

 

On page 40, we see a painting with Spanish admiral Don Fadrique de Toledo y Osorio, who is wearing half armor, has longer, but still balloon-like, Spanish breeches, and a wide-brimmed hat (not morion helmet):

 

I wanted the captain of my ship to to look something like these two gentlemen, and since the pilot is also important enough to have his own cabin and guide the route of the ship, I thought he should also have the same basic attire.

 

The captain would sit at the table in the captain's cabin, and the pilot would sit at his table in the pilot's house.

 

To make them seated required heavy modification.

 

First, I sectioned each of them:

 

Next, I used styrene from sprues of the kit that I had dissolved in liquid cement to fill the gaps and join the knees and waists in a seated position:

 

I left them like that for over a month, because it takes a long time for the dissolved styrene to harden.

 

After releasing them, temporarily seated them on chairs to see how it would look.  The chairs may be a little big when compared with the figures, but I would rather they be too big than too small.

 

I trimmed down the styrene and used a hobby knife and sanding sponge to scrape and sand off their morion helmets:

 

Milliput Superfine White epoxy putty was used to apply hair, ears, and fill out the Spanish breeches and the knees:

Here they are after "fine-tuning" with Bondo 907 Glazing & Spot Putty (red) and lots of sanding and shaping:

Both of these figures are very fragile with the modifications, and I had to re-glue legs when they came loose or came off, and I actually had to replace one of the pilot's legs and one of his arms (using an arm and a leg from another similar figure that I would sacrifice).  Also, in order to allow the left arm to come above the plane of the table (captain) or below it (pilot), I removed the arm and glued it (or a similar one) back on in a different position, using putty at the shoulder to make the joint look smooth.  As usual with styrene injection-molded pieces, there were a lot of seam lines that needed to be scraped and sanded and ejector pin marks that had to be filled and smoothed.

 

What about the other figures?

 

The kit comes with a rowle molded into the main deck just forward of the captain's cabin.

So there is a helm, but no whipstaff is included for it in the kit.

Eventually, I plan to make a whipstaff from a styrene rod, but I think a helmsman should handle it.

The most likely prospect for a helmsman from the supplied figures was this guy:

He appears to be gripping and pulling on a short length of rope, as if he were singing "haul away the bowline" (in Spanish).

 

To handle the whipstaff, he would have to extend his arms in front of his body, rather than to the side, as they are in the figure.  Also, his hands would need to be open to come around the whipstaff, rather than be tightly closed around a short length of rope. 

 

I found that the hands of one of the crewmen meant to climb the ratlines might work for the helmsman:

 

 

So I sectioned the first figure at the waist, removed his hands, and also removed the hands of the second figure (which I can sacrifice).

I glued the open hands from the second figure onto the first figure (helmsman) and glued the helmsman's torso perpendicular to his waist, so now, by rotating his spine, he can reach out in front of him to handle the whipstaff:

 

I chose two other figures to hang out in the captain's cabin -- this one,

and one of this type:

But I did not really want the first one to be saluting.  Rather, I think he will be standing behind the captain's chair as the captain is looking at a map on the table.  I removed his saluting arm and glued it so that it comes in front of his chest as a kind of animated gesture:

I did not want the two crewman in the captain's cabin to be wearing head coverings, so I scraped or sanded them off and used Milliput to make hair and ears, and also to fill in the shoulder defect of the former saluting crewman, fill in ejector pin marks and other defects.  I also used it to round out the waist of the helmsman and reinforce his wrists:

Here they are with "fine tuned" puttying and sanding:

 

The figures have been temporarily mounted on wooden pedestals so I could handle them better while painting them.

 

Before painting:

 

 

After I brushed on Testors flat black enamel paint for a primer:

 

I used mainly enamel paints for the figures, but sometimes I used acrylic when I needed certain colors that I didn't have with the enamels.  With the exception of the heads, necks and hands (and forearms of the helmsman and breastplate of the captain), I primarily used a dry brushing technique (or close to it) to apply the colors.  In doing so, I intentionally let the black primer show through in places, to simulate shadows, or grime on the clothes.

 

Here are the final results.

 

For the captain, I painted his torso metallic to simulate a breastplate.  For the pilot, I opted for a green doublet.

I included a No. 2 pencil in the photos for size reference:

 

At that time in history (circa 1630), long waxed mustaches were popular, as well as goatees.  Ruffs were less common by then, but some men still wore them.

 

 

And I think that the helmsman will be able to hold his whipstaff:

I am leaving them attached to their painting pedestals for now so that I can store them upright before bringing them into the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ferrus Manus]

Amazing!!

[Twokidsnosleep]

Nice mods on the figures

You are like Frankenstein...an arm from here a leg from there, different head et voila a new sailor!