Black Pearl by P.Raveneau - Zvezda - 1:72 Scale - PLASTIC

[P.Raveneau]

Hi everyone , new newbie here

As i mentioned in my introduction , i am pretty new to the hobby , the only model i did was an AT-ST from starwars a year ago . 

I really fell in love with tallship during the confinement and wanted to give it a try . 

Most videos , and ressources i checked were about wooden ship , and , i know myself , i would give up at planking , also i don't have the proper space and tool for that .

So i decided to start slow and take a plastic model . 

So far so good , i am liking it , and who know one day i may find the courage to get into wooden build

 

So i am a bit advanced in the project , that is when i realize i may need advice and help in the futur .

 

Anyway , here is a retrospective on my build so far  ( sorry for the lack of ship vocabulary , i am learning little by little)

 

1: my first thing was to take the statues from the base and stick those on the side of the captain door , to get a bit closer to the original look ( and also because the vanilla model was boring) also doing a frame to the door with some metal wire

  

2: was to get some algua/seashells on the hull , i know most ship builder like clean versions , but i do enjoy when it feels it has been used , i don't know it's like there is story telling in the model

 

 

3: almost died of boredom with those canons , god that is boring T_T , but the result is satisfying

Also i didn't wanted to go full black , i like to play with texture and paint , color variations etc , so i went with wood texture .

I had to sand the hull  and deck as the texture overall was too strong for my liking.

 

4: Sanding the ..erhh wheel axis {?} to replace the plastic rope by a real one , also piercing some holes to let the rope goes down . Adding some small metal rings here and there to get a more "detailed" feel

  

 

5: Replacing the plastic folded sail of the ..erh..small boat  by a custom one . adding some ropes too.

 

6: trying to bring a contrast in the colors with a darker upper part .

 

7: i was like a kid here *_* start to looks like a ship indeed

 

 

7: i wanted to remove the handrails that goes down into the hull by something custom ( a bit proud of this)

 

 

new vs original , not perfect but i did fixed it later ( also i added some metal hoops on the grid thingy where the lifeboat will be attached later) 

 Final

 

8: added some 3d printed barrels ( that a kind friend printed for me )

9: mounted the upper deck canons captain quarters

 

 

 

And that is where i am at .

I have been at it for 3 weeks i think , after work at night ( when kiddo i asleep) so i am pretty satisfied with the overall velocity .

 

Do you guys happen to know the name of this rope thing on the bowsprit so i can look up how it's made/rigged, couldn't find any info on how it's called . Not sure if it's a 8 figure or else.

 

That was a long post

 

Thanks 

 

 

[Jeff T]

The bit of rigging on the bowsprit to which you are pointing in the last picture is called gammoning.  Here is a link that has some information on how to do it:

 

 

I am not sure of the reason, but all of the other pictures that you placed in your post are not visible to me (they are just blank).  What technique did you use to place them in the post (e.g. drag and drop, or copy and paste)?  Maybe some of the other people viewing the post can see them?

[Old Collingwood]

I can't see most of them also  - just lots of  picture code.

 

OC.

[lmagna]

Only the last picture came up for me.

[Ryland Craze]

I am having the same problem.

[P.Raveneau]

13 hours ago, Jeff T said:

The bit of rigging on the bowsprit to which you are pointing in the last picture is called gammoning.  Here is a link that has some information on how to do it:

 

 

I am not sure of the reason, but all of the other pictures that you placed in your post are not visible to me (they are just blank).  What technique did you use to place them in the post (e.g. drag and drop, or copy and paste)?  Maybe some of the other people viewing the post can see them?

Thanks so much !!

13 hours ago, Old Collingwood said:

I can't see most of them also  - just lots of  picture code.

 

OC.

Sorry about that , hope it's fixed now

9 hours ago, lmagna said:

Only the last picture came up for me.

Sorry , hopefully it is fixed

1 hour ago, Ryland Craze said:

I am having the same problem.

Sorry , hope it's better now .

[Old Collingwood]

I also built this  for my Admiral  - have a look  as I did some different things with the build.

 

OC.

 

 

[Ryland Craze]

Nice work on the weathering.  Everything looks so realistic.

[P.Raveneau]

15 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

I also built this  for my Admiral  - have a look  as I did some different things with the build.

 

OC.

 

 

Oh i recognize your build !! seen it before . Such a great custom , i am thinking following your footsteps with the canons ropes  as i am not sure i can pull off the small ropes and pulley ( god i miss vocabulary ) originally in the kit ... Also you had the guts to custom the main stairs to the pilot deck , i was thinking on how to bend those but i don't think i will , too scared to break those. I don't have much equipment and certainly none to work with wood sadly ( one day , one day ) . Such an inspiration i will check at your thread once more !

[P.Raveneau]

3 minutes ago, Ryland Craze said:

Nice work on the weathering.  Everything looks so realistic.

Thanks so much , i am trying to make up with paint my lack of building skills haha 

[lmagna]

Paint is a building skill as well PR.

 

Your painting is truly top notch! Using only the pictures it is hard to tell that the model you are building is not wood, a sometimes difficult effect to achieve.

Thanks for fixing the pictures. It shows that you are building a very impressive model. It is hard to believe you have only been at it for a few weeks.

[Old Collingwood]

1 minute ago, lmagna said:

Paint is a building skill as well PR.

 

Your painting is truly top notch! Using only the pictures it is hard to tell that the model you are building is not wood, a sometimes difficult effect to achieve.

Thanks for fixing the pictures. It shows that you are building a very impressive model. It is hard to believe you have only been at it for a few weeks.

Well said Lou,   its a hard kit to make look  realistic  and needs  work to get there, but as I found out also a thoroughly  enjoyable kit to work on  - and good quality also.

 

OC.

[Jeff T]

I can see your photos now and I would like to congratulate you on a great job (especially for your first sailing ship)!  I love the weathering — including the barnacles — and your attention to detail.  Bravo!

[P.Raveneau]

19 hours ago, lmagna said:

Paint is a building skill as well PR.

 

Your painting is truly top notch! Using only the pictures it is hard to tell that the model you are building is not wood, a sometimes difficult effect to achieve.

Thanks for fixing the pictures. It shows that you are building a very impressive model. It is hard to believe you have only been at it for a few weeks.

 

19 hours ago, Old Collingwood said:

Well said Lou,   its a hard kit to make look  realistic  and needs  work to get there, but as I found out also a thoroughly  enjoyable kit to work on  - and good quality also.

 

OC.

 

15 hours ago, Jeff T said:

I can see your photos now and I would like to congratulate you on a great job (especially for your first sailing ship)!  I love the weathering — including the barnacles — and your attention to detail.  Bravo!

 

 

 

Thanks a lot guys  i am humbled really, it means a lot thanks !!!

[P.Raveneau]

result of 2-3 nights 

I built and painted the ratlines base ( not sure about the name )

 

Rigged the canons to the boat, doing what sir @Old Collingwood did on his own rig because that was easier and better looking ( thank you )

 

 

I did the Gammoning as best as i could .

 

And added rope handrail on the front deck and pilot deck 

 

next will be finding a easy way to build a rack for the canon balls .

[Jeff T]

1 hour ago, P.Raveneau said:

I built and painted the ratlines base ( not sure about the name )

They are called channels or chain-wales.

 

Looking great 👍🏻!

[P.Raveneau]

36 minutes ago, Jeff T said:

They are called channels or chain-wales.

 

Looking great 👍🏻!

excellent , i need to improve my vocabulary so don't hesitate to correct me or tell me the proper term if you see that i could use it somewhere .

Omg the thing i was calling the pilot deck is in fact called the poop deck😱 ... the more you learn 😁

[Old Collingwood]

Have you any wood stock - dowels?    I shaped some to go inside the plastic masts  and even made the masts  yard arms  out of wood, to help the strength  for when the  ropes go on.

 

OC.

[P.Raveneau]

13 hours ago, Old Collingwood said:

Have you any wood stock - dowels?    I shaped some to go inside the plastic masts  and even made the masts  yard arms  out of wood, to help the strength  for when the  ropes go on.

 

OC.

 

I may have some wood sticks ( BBQ , dollar store stuff) .
That is actually a good idea , i have not remove the mast from the sprues but i can totally imagine those being flimsy so yep i will totally see into it , thanks as usual :).

 

 

Last night progress

finally find out a way to do canon racks , popsicles sticks yay !! 

 

the steps from popsicles to canonball rack

end result

 

Installed the chain-whales/channels  ( feels good to put some legit words ) 
Also don't mind the mess hehe

 

and that is it 

 

Bonus: spooky deck

[Old Collingwood]

Looking very very nice   - and how you have done the mist is Amazing,      you should  put some pirate figures on  aswel.😉

 

OC.

[P.Raveneau]

12 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

Looking very very nice   - and how you have done the mist is Amazing,      you should  put some pirate figures on  aswel.😉

 

OC.

Thanks a lot OC, i have no plan to add figurines for now, i found those lacking details at this scale but i do have plans for a new base using those embedded into it. 

Still thinking on how to build it with my limited tools. 

[Old Collingwood]

6 minutes ago, P.Raveneau said:

Thanks a lot OC, i have no plan to add figurines for now, i found those lacking details at this scale but i do have plans for a new base using those embedded into it. 

Still thinking on how to build it with my limited tools. 

That will look Superb with washes and highlighting  to bring the bones out  - could you not  remove the base from the bottom of the Pearl  and use the Two legs  pushed into Two gaps on the  above skeleton bases  - it would look Amazing  (Totally like Nothing else that anyone has done)    keep up the great work.

 

OC.

[P.Raveneau]

23 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

That will look Superb with washes and highlighting  to bring the bones out  - could you not  remove the base from the bottom of the Pearl  and use the Two legs  pushed into Two gaps on the  above skeleton bases  - it would look Amazing  (Totally like Nothing else that anyone has done)    keep up the great work.

 

OC.

That's more or less the goal but the skull and bones base is too flimsy to hold anything , it was made to be snapped and cut , so pretty fragile overall.
The 2 support legs, i probably will do custom ones , that i will send to some friends owning 3d printer .

Here is more or less what i am thinking off .

 

I probably will end up buying a wood base and trying to dig a place to install those skull and bones plates .

I am not looking too much into it for now , still thinking for different ways of doing it , but it's useful to get external inputs on it  thank you ! 
 

[Old Collingwood]

Your welcome,  keep up the great work  you are doing.

 

OC.

[P.Raveneau]

Haven't posted in quite a while , been a busy last few weeks , but progress was made

Front of the ship

back figures

Did all the canons port holes traps ( tedious)

And dry fit the masts

I redid all the ropes around the masts , it was a learning process to get clean ones , wish i could go back in time to redo the first ones sob* still , better than the plastic ones

 

Best

 

[Tyguy35]

Hey, I know this is an old topic but I love your paint job. Is it possible for you to tell me how you achieved this look. I am new to modelling and really would appreciate an explanation. Thank you 

[P.Raveneau]

4 years ... wow that is necromancy haha

So i am back at it , my black pearl will probably change a bit , i am aiming to do a bit my own thing with the ship ( probably will change also the front figure to reflect that , i do have a bit of a scenario in mind for this ship but still need to be fleshed out.

 

Here are some progress after 4 years of hiatus.

I did not had the courage to do the ratlines , i tried and it was too much for me ( thats also when I did quit, not sure if related) so i did decide to use the plastic one sadly ... it pains me because as much as i tried to make those looks realistic (and it kinda work from far away) it's still plastic and look like plastic ... but i would rather move forward and being able to finish this build rather than give up for another few years.

 

At least i made the sails from real fabric , i wouldn't have been able to live with myself with those ugly plastic molded sails.

 

Thanks to everyone who gave me advices and sorry for my lack of updates , i am hoping this time i will reach the finish line with a minimum of sacrifice ( arg those ratlines are haunting me ).

[Old Collingwood]

Glad  to  see  you  back  on this  -  its  going to  be  a  really nice  display piece when finished  -  keep   up  the  momentum.

 

OC.