San Francisco II Galleon by Draque - Artesania Latina

[Draque]

Hi all,

 

I originally bought this kit a long time ago, built it up to the point that the hull was about half planked, then put it aside for the usual reasons (work, house moves, life stuff).

I’ve wanted to get back into it a few times over the years, but there were two obstacles: first, I was struggling to get the 2mm thick planks to bend around the bow – it was doable, but fiddly, inconsistent and slow.

 

The second problem was that I’m not very impressed with the kit. I knew when I bought it that it wasn’t perfectly accurate representation of a Spanish galleon, but figured I could tweak it slightly with a bit of research. The more I look at it, though, the bigger the problems seem.

 

The scale is wrong. The kit claims 1/90, but at that scale the sailors would need step ladders to peer over the bulwark.

 

The hull seems very wide for its length, with very little tumblehome, so the main and quarterdecks look enormous to me. And the hatches look too small.

 

The deck planking is yellow (it doesn't really show in the photos, but it's pretty ugly to my eye) and the grain is too coarse. And the planks are too wide.

 

Lastly (for now, at least), I don’t like the bulwarks. They seem too high and the way they step up towards the stern doesn't look like the ships in any painting I've seen from around this time period.

 

This kit wasn't based on a real ship so I think the best thing I could do is build a generic Spanish galleon based on an accurate depiction by an artist from around the time these ships were active. So I might set the scale at 1/60 or 1/75 and remake everything from the deck upwards based on a painting or engraving - if I can find one. The most suitable one I've been able to find so far is below, but if anyone can suggest something better I'd be grateful.

Michael

 

[Baker]

Nice work. 

I can find some info in my books.

[Draque]

Thanks, Patrick. I'd be very grateful for any guidance that can help me make this thing more realistic.

 

I didn't have time to do any work on it over the weekend, but this evening I intend to cut up some new deck planking from some better coloured and finer grained wood and add another strake or two.

 

A question came to me while I was thinking about this: were the decks of Spanish galleons (or any ship of that time) holystoned? If not, then the wood should have a grey, weathered appearance, shouldn't it?

 

It doesn't really matter to me, I'm planning to use a pale blonde coloured wood regardless; I've just never seen that discussed anywhere before.

 

Michael

 

 

[Baker]

I am now building an English galleon.

post 1 contains an index. maybe you can find some info there. see link in signature

 

And

you have a pm  👍

Edited December 12, 2022 by Baker

[kirill4]

Good day Michael,

Same design( Spanish galleon 1607 was original created by Vincenzo Lusci in 197x...th ) was used for the plastic kit, which I assembled recently...in my build log You could find some info...

All the best!

Kirill

[Draque]

Thanks, guys.

 

I got your pm, Patrick, thank you.

 

Kirill, I skimmed through your build log - it's beautiful, detailed work. Early on you said it was hard to find pictures of galleons by Spanish artists and that you were mostly finding works by Dutch painters. That's exactly the position I'm in. I've found two by Juan de la Corte. Did you eventually find anything especially good?

 

This is the best I've found to base my model on so far:

The ship is about the right size and shape. They seem to be fishing for horses, I'm surprised to learn that's where they come from.

[Baker]

No fishing...

 

This painting is about the armada.

When it turned out that the planned invasion of England was not going to happen. The horses needed for the land war became obsolete.

The solution was to throw the horses overboard...

cruel time, the 16th century...

[kirill4]

On 12/13/2022 at 12:11 PM, Draque said:

Thanks, guys.

 

I got your pm, Patrick, thank you.

 

Kirill, I skimmed through your build log - it's beautiful, detailed work. Early on you said it was hard to find pictures of galleons by Spanish artists and that you were mostly finding works by Dutch painters. That's exactly the position I'm in. I've found two by Juan de la Corte. Did you eventually find anything especially good?

 

This is the best I've found to base my model on so far:

The ship is about the right size and shape. They seem to be fishing for horses, I'm surprised to learn that's where they come from.

Good day,

I will give link to my spanish galleons "archive"( what did I find in internet) on a days...

[Draque]

Thanks, Kirill.

 

I've more or less decided to model my ship after the one in the armada painting in my previous post (unless anyone can point me to a more suitable candidate).

 

Also, those horses aren't drowning, they're... frolicking. Look how happy they are:

It must have been a leisure day for the armada.

 

Anyway, to help me see the details, I've made some adjustments to the painting:

Based on this painting, this is what my remodeled sheer line and upper decks should look like:

The background is from the rigging plan from the kit. The blue lines show the revised outline of the hull as well as the wales. The orange lines are the new deck and bulkhead layout.

 

I used the little stick men to find the deck level, based on the height of the people in the painting relative to the rails (assuming their average height was about 1.6m or so). For example, the men near the stern have the rail at about their elbows, while further forward the rails is at about their thighs.

 

Of course, I'm assuming that the painter has represented the people accurately.

 

I'm not sure I have the scale quite right, at the very least it looks like my ship is a bit shorter, but I think I can make it work with some minor adjustments. I know I'll have to make some compromises somewhere.

 

As always, I'd be grateful for feedback, especially if you think I'm wrong.

 

Michael

Edited December 16, 2022 by Draque
Forgot to include something

[kirill4]

Good day,

as promised , some links for info about galleons

https://cloud.mail.ru/public/LGLC/nc68cBXhS

https://cloud.mail.ru/public/HPTb/2rVXTwYAE

https://cloud.mail.ru/public/BKZZ/qtohZkAH3

https://cloud.mail.ru/public/BShH/REu2hoxci

https://cloud.mail.ru/public/C7SS/6x6zYvVk7

 

[Draque]

Thank you for taking the time to do this, Kirill.

 

It looks like a useful collection.

[Draque]

After more years than I want to think about the hull is finally, finally planked. 
 

Finally. 
 

It isn’t perfect, but the worst crimes are below the waterline where I can hide them with paint. All in all I’m pretty happy with it. Some scraping and sanding will clean it up nicely and it shouldn’t need much filling. 
 

Next up is the rubbing strakes then I can start remodeling the deck.