Calella - Bot De Llum by ObviousNewbie - FINISHED - Occre - Scale 1/15

[ObviousNewbie]

While waiting for the sail of the Bireme to finish so she can be finalised, I turned my eyes towards two boxes I had bought some time ago. As Calella was a gift to the Admiral for her Summer 2022 diorama, I started working on Amati's Bluenose (1/100), but a bent keel quickly put a stop to any progress (more info on that in a dedicated build log).

 

While pondering my options for Bluenose, I started working on this little mediterranean fishing boat, with a couple of goals: try to go for single plank ( although satellite veneer is provided) and start getting used to using electrical tools such as a plank bender and the Dremel.

 

Bulkheads and keel fitted perfectly, remember to clean the central bulkheads from laser char though as these will be visible:

 

Next up, the flooring. Occre specified a distance between the planks of 1mm, so using some surplus wood I could easily keep that distancing, only to find out not all planks would fit that way... As these planks are at the sides, decided to forego placing them. Here's the result:

 

 

After that the plank bender finally came out of its box for bending the seats. Tried doing this the manual way, but I could not get the angle of the edges correct. Stank a bit (first-time use), but after some warming up and some trials on scrap wood, managed to install the seats:

 

 

I tend to varnish ay finalise surface as soon as it is finished, just to protect the wood, and after that, the deck came on, soaked for a couple of hours and then bent into shape on the hull

 

 

Fastened with nails and rubbernecked bands, after drying fixed with both CA and PVA. Then came planking...

 

Top tip: smaller does not mean easier! Had an interesting time with planking, taking my lessons from the Bireme, using CA gel as nails while PVA went in between the strips.

 

 

 

And here's the result:

 

 

Some sanding still needed, but I think I succeeded in my single plank challenge 🙂 . What I did in this case was to sand immediately after the planks were set, that gave me the space to work on individual fitting and the sawdust that got caught in the gaps stayed there. Planning to paint the hull white with blue highlights, so will be a shame to see this disappear under a layer of paint though....

 

When that was done (and after a celebratory coffee), started planking the deck:

 

 

And that's where we are today. Next up: bending the bulwarks. A bit more of a challenge than usual, as I didn't follow Occre's instructions on keeping a 7mm distance between top of the first plank and the deck at the bow and stern. Tried it out, but the plank was all warped and didn't fall naturally. Will measure and cut part of the bulwarks in order to make them fit and then the bender comes out again...

 

Stay safe!

[yvesvidal]

Wonderful work and very nice planking.

 

Yves

[ObviousNewbie]

Hi all, thnx for checking in. It's been a while, but then again, I find myself working on two hulls simultaneously 🙂

 

Calella is coming along nicely. First I tackled the bulwarks, using my plank bender in anger for the first time. As said before I had to improvise with the bow and stern sections as these were not as high as the 7mm listed in Occre's instructions. After a lot of measuring and trial and error, they went on:

 

 

Some small gaps were present, but as there will be a 2mm square piece on the inside of the corners, didn't worry too much about it. 

 

Had to fiddle around a bit with the stern part of the bulwarks, as installing it at the edges would not leave enough space for the lamp base. Mounted the piece from the inside, sanded and filled as I went:

 

 

Installing the keel went OK, found some warpage in the center pice, but could correct.

 

After that: painting! Used Vallejo white primer and two coats of white. Not completely covering it, so thought about the second coat, untill the Admiral saw and asked to keep it that way:"It looks a bit weathered, I love it".

 

 

I'm a bit stuck here, as I'm trying to figure out where the waterline need to go. No mention in the instructions, so I sent a message to Occre for clarification.  Will share when they reply.

 

Take care!

Edited December 2, 2021 by ObviousNewbie
Typo

[ObviousNewbie]

Hi all, quick update: managed to sort out the waterline:

 

 

Realised this was my first waterline, so quite happy with it. Decided to prepaint the rubbing strakes after bending, seems to make more sense, but perhaps that's just the old plastic modeller in me 🙂

 

 

After that, installing the rubbing strakes, the inner decorations and painting blue/white. Here's the result so far:

 

 

Two more pieces to install and paint, and then the hull should be finished, and then we get to work on the lights. Or finally start on the build log for the Bluenose from Amati, because there's been some developments there.

 

Stay safe!

[yvesvidal]

Beautiful! Good thing you painted the strakes separately....

 

Yves

[ObviousNewbie]

OK, this was a long time coming, apologies for the lateness, but as Calella was in hibernation for most of the winter (focussing on making sails for Bluenose), the was not much happening.

 

After finishing the hull I proceeded with the light fixture. Starting with the attachment, which was a piece of metal. Thought I could drill through the part to ensure the pole for the lights went through, but the metal thought otherwise... I did manage to pierce the supports of the piece so I could at least attach it to the deck with some well placed nails.

 

Then the fixture... Weight is an issue here, the complete construction weighs nearly as much as Calella itself!

 

Aligned the lights without glueing, allowing for some corrections after assembly. Struggled a bit finding the correct colour for the lights, painted hem silver first, but that was a bit of a mistake. Switched to gunmetal grey, with a more subtle result.

 

After that, I added a bit of 1mm brass wie to the foot of the pole, manage to pierce the metal support with a 1mm drill, so I'd have a little bit of support.

 

Then, created the rest of the accessories and there she is:

 

As this was another gift for the Admiral, she integrated it into her display of Ephialtes:

 

Pretty straightforward build, good quality kit, but the size was something I needed to get used to. She's about a third of Diana's length but I think she still shines in he own little way. Wanted to try some weathering on the hull, but that was vetoed: "It looks so pretty now, why do you want to dirty it??".