Pinta by Andyrew - Amati - 1:65 Scale

[Andyrew]

Many years ago I built the Revell ships Pinta, Nina and Santa Maria, they had small plastic rigging Blocks, it was the first time I had rigged a plastic ship with Blocks and it led me onto building wooden ship kits. I have always liked the shape of the Pinta, a Caravel with a Square Main Sail, and this Amati version arrived here a few weeks ago. I will be building this following the Amati instructions but I do have access to the AOTS Ships of Columbus which I will use to help with the rigging. Whenever I read someone else's build I like to see what's in the box rather than having to look through other builds so here's what you get for your ....... (insert here your currency of choice, in my case £'s)

Cheers Andy

[Ryland Craze]

Looks like a nice kit.  Good luck on your build.

[Andyrew]

11 hours ago, Ryland Craze said:

Looks like a nice kit.  Good luck on your build.

Thanks Ryland.

The first thing that I noticed about this kit is you get 3 sets of "instructions," an A5 sized photographic booklet, an A4 double sided sheet of written instructions and a large sheet with various stages of the build, this could prove to be interesting as I try to remember to cross reference all 3. I started by removing the false Keel and Bulkheads from the wooden "fret," this Plywood and pretty much straight with a very slight curve on the Keel. I dry fitted the Bulkheads and they are a little bit of a loose fit so I drew some parallel lines up from the Bulkhead slots to help me to get them straight. I don't have any Lego anymore having sold it years ago so I used Bulldog clips to make sure the Bulkheads were straight when they were glued, the 2 Decks don't have any slots cut in them so I couldn't use the Decks. After the Bulkheads were glued in place I then fitted the 2 Plank Termination pieces at the Bow. I'll leave this for a couple of days to let the glue harden before I fair the Bulkheads.

Cheers Andy

[Andyrew]

I can't believe it's taken me so long to fair the Hull ready for planking. I've been really busy at work, I'm a Copier Service Technician and the Schools and Colleges where I do most of my work are all opening again plus we still have a couple of Technicians off on Furlough. There is a pre-shaped piece that had to be fitted to the Stern which supports the rear of the upper Deck. It was longer than the width of the Deck and needed cutting to the correct size, I left it a few millimetres over size and then having spent a while trying to work out which way round it fitted, one edge is longer than the other, it was glued in place. 

 

I didn't glue the Deck rear support in the correct place which meant when I fitted the Deck there was a gap at the rear so I used a few pieces of scrap wood to fill the gap which will be hidden by the planking.

 

After spending ages shaping the Bulkheads and Deck sides I then laid the upper Deck planks, once this was all done I trimmed the edges of the planks and sanded them down to get a nice even finish.

 

Cheers Andy

[Andyrew]

I have now finally finished the first layer of planking, it's taken a while but there again what's the rush. The planks are 4mm by 1mm Lime, the top 3 or 4 needed soaking at the Bow, these were clamped in place and left to dry before being glued in place. As I fitted planks further down the Hull I had to use pins to hold the planks and I found I had to drill pilot holes in the Bulkheads to get the pins to fit. I decided to invest in an Amati Pin Pusher but using it for the first time the Hull slipped and I broke off the top of the Stem. 

 

 

I managed to glue it back on and used some filler to tidy up the join, I must be more careful in future. I have got used to the Pin Pusher now and the rest of the first planking was completed. It needed some filler here and there and then it was smoothed down using various files and sand paper.

 

Whilst waiting for the glue on the planks to dry I thought I would colour in the red cross on the main sail. I got a red permanent red marker but then discovered the cross on the sail is not in the middle of the sail.

 

I'm not sure what to do about this does anyone have any ideas?

Cheers Andy

[Andyrew]

I decided to look on the Fountain of all Knowledge (Google) to see if there was anything I could do about the Main Sail. There were several suggestions that I decided to try. I first tried some Isopropyl on some Kitchen Paper which removed some of the red dye but took ages so i then moved onto Spirit Vinegar, this worked better than the Iso but it was still slow progress. I had a look through the Kitchen Cupboard that has all the household cleaning products and found a tub of Vanish Stain Remover. I diluted the powder in hot water and soaked the Sail in the liquid, left it for a while and then rubbed the dye with a cloth. This worked a treat, there is still a feint red line but once I put the cross in the correct place and colour it in it will look ok. I just need to wash the Sail and iron out all the creases.

 

The second layer of planks are 3mm wide Walnut, nicely cut with no rough edges. The Stern has to be planked first and I put the first plank on full width along the bottom of the Tiller opening to ensure that it was straight.

 

I then worked my way up the Stern to the upper Deck, using wood glue to stick the planks on. Once that was done I trimmed the edges flush with the Hull sides and then started on the diagonal planking on the lower part of the Stern. I did this at 45 degrees and using the squares on my cutting mat, I placed a plank across several corners of the squares to get the correct angle.

 

I'll trim the edges of these planks and then make a start on the second Hull planking,

 

Cheers Andy

[Lapinas]

Keep up the good work!

[Knocklouder]

Hello Andrew, very nice work , this will be my next model after I finish the Santa M.

  Lol take lots of pictures I'll be watching.

Great work!!!!

[Knocklouder]

2 minutes ago, Bob M said:

Hello Andrew, very nice work , this will be my next model after I finish the Santa M.

  Lol take lots of pictures I'll be watching.

Great work!!!!

Sorry Andyrew