Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes by Sonny Skipper - OcCre - 1:85

[Sonny Skipper]

Hello, I’m new to this forum and would like to share my build of the Spanish frigate Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes.  I’ve put a short history from the actual ship below which I’ve found on the Occre website.  
This is my second wooden model build (my first being the Amati Nina) and I am very much liking it. I’ve started with the model in august 2020 and it is now almost nearing completion.  I hope you’ll enjoy this thread as much as I have been building it.

 

Kind regards, Jason (aka Sonny Skipper)

 

The frigate "Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes" was built in 1788 in Havana owned by the Spanish Royal Navy and equipped with 34 cannons.
Having left Montevideo on August 9, 1804 he was loaded with gold, silver, copper, tin, wool vicuna, Peruvian bark and cinnamon.

On October 5, 1804 takes place the Battle of Cape Santa Maria, where a projectile of the English fleet, hit the Santa Barbara, causing their tragic and fast sinking.

The company Odyssey, using a modern and sensitive sonar discovered in May 2007 in the Gulf of Cadiz, the wreck of the frigate.

Using an underwater robot controlled from the surface and operating at about 1,100 meters deep recover the sunken treasure of Mercedes.

500,000 silver coins and gold. (Pieces of eight and escudos minted in Lima, Peru in 1803) is the largest sunken treasure has been recovered to date.

Currently, the National Archaeological Museum in Cartagena, displays some of the recovered patrimony of the frigate.

Enjoy the historical spanish frigate, with the assembling the ship model of the Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes.
The kit is ready to mount with a high quality of assembling pieces.

[bruce d]

Hello Sonny Skipper, and welcome to MSW.

Nice looking model, and it is good to see this subject.

May I suggest you also post in the 'new member introductions' thread? 

 

Glad to have you aboard.

 

Regards,

Bruce 

[Sonny Skipper]

Thank you Bruce D, glad to be aboard MSW.

I will look into the new member thread.  Kind regards.

[dancooper]

Hello fellow countryman, welcome on board.

Very nice work you've put into the Mercedes, I love it.

Just last week there was documentary about the finding of the wreck on History channel, well actually it was a bit more about the legal fight over the ownership of it.

[Sonny Skipper]

Thank you, Dan Cooper. I think I have seen something similar on NatGeo Channel’s Drain the Oceans.

Also thank you for liking the model.

[dancooper]

Ah, yes indeed I was wrong about the channel, it was indeed in the "Drain the Oceans"-series.

[BobG]

She looks gorgeous, Jason! It looks like you've got a nice friend lying on the couch to keep you company too. 

Edited November 16, 2021 by BobG

[Sonny Skipper]

Thank you BobG.  Yeah, our dog really loves the couch.  I think the build of my model ship goes too slow for him and he’s having trouble keeping his eyes open. 😉

[Baker]

Very nice work. 

Congrats 👍

[Sonny Skipper]

Thank you Backer. I see you have built the Wasa. Will have a look at your building log.

[Sonny Skipper]

So, a little update on the NS Mercedes.  I have finished the backstays on all three masts.  Not a whole lot of work, but a very slow progress.

I was looking forward to the rigging when I was building this ship, but I must confess that I will be happy when the riggings are over. 🙂

The ropes from the Occre kit are not the best in its class, to say the least.  I've used Beeswax to stop the fraying of the ropes.

It will have to do for now, maybe in the future I will have to look for another brand of ropes.

 

Kind regards,

 

[Sonny Skipper]

Just a couple more pictures of NS Mercedes and Nina.

[Sonny Skipper]

So, i have been working some more on the fore-mast and installed the yards.  Progress is slow, but then again, this isn’t a race.  Hope you enjoy the photos.

 

 

[challenger86]

Great build! Love the progress. Quick question, I noticed you have a finished base and stand for the ship. Was this something you purchased as extra? 

[challenger86]

Sonny, another quick question…from the Photo instruction #95, part #139, did you have to make your own or was this a specific supplied part? My kit doesn’t seem to have this part, as in the photo, the middle of this part has a hole in it. Written instructions do not indicate to use a brass wire to make up this part. Also my kit came with wooden belaying pins whereas the instructions mention it to be metal pins.

 

Other observations, you have applied copper strips to the hull, my kit did not come with copper.

Edited February 6, 2022 by challenger86

[Sonny Skipper]

Hello Challenger 86,

The base and stand was ordered as an extra from Occre.  I believe it was originally made for their Santisima Trinidad model.

I just bought some extra brass stands to put on the base.

 

kind regards,

Sonny Skipper

[Sonny Skipper]

[Sonny Skipper]

Finished the ship. Decided to leave the sails of so to be able to admire the rigging.

Kind regards.

[Sonny Skipper]

Hello Challenger86,

 

I decided to make the copper hull myself.  I think it enhance the appearance of the model.  I made the copper tiles from 5 mm copper tape using a pouncing wheel to recreate the copper tiles.

B41EE86F-8D32-45C6-B6F7-D59CE2E27DA6.heic

7D9D7C4E-1E51-41A1-A977-4BF0284D375A.heic

66041DDE-5FD3-4E0B-9062-66A01CEC699D.heic

[Sonny Skipper]

[allanyed]

Hi Sonny,

Have you checked out the tutorial on copper sheathing?     https://thenrg.org/resources/Documents/articles/CopperSheathingaHull.pdf

The plates would have had nail dents about 0.005" diameter at your scale, thus barely visible, rather than huge raised bumps.  Keep in mind the plates should be overlapping about 1.5" (full scale) on both the short and long edges.  

Allan 

Edited February 14, 2022 by allanyed

[Sonny Skipper]

Hello Allanyed,

 

Thanks for the info. I didn’t know about the tutorial on MSG. It’s my first time doing copper tiles on a model and I got the idea on YouTube from a guy named John Builds Iconic Models.

 

Kind regards,

Sonny

[allanyed]

Hi Sonny

Thanks for that lead for the videos.   I did some searching and found his episode 60 on HMS Victory  which has him making the sheathing.  I cannot speak for the rest of his videos, but this particular episode really is a disservice to those trying to research how the coppering really looked.  He makes the incorrect huge pimples like most kit plates have rather than tiny dents which would have been correct.  

 

Cheers

Allan

 

 

 

[DavidG]

Hi Sonny, you did a great job on the model, I particularly like your work on the head and the shrouds. Very neat.

I build the same ship for a long time, it is interesting, mine is sold under the Occre Diana name, but the model itself seems exactly the same.

[Sonny Skipper]

Hello DavidG,

 

Thank you for your comment.  I believe the Diana and the NS Mercedes where of the same class of frigates.  They do look very similar indeed, although I believe the Diana has some more cannons on board.

 

Kind regards,

Sonny

[GrandpaPhil]

Well done!

[damaartenman]

Thank you for sharing the photo's. I am building this as a second kit as well 🙂

Just started the build, so it great to see some examples on how it can be build.