Spanish Galleon 1607 by Ferrus Manus - FINISHED - Imai - 1/100 - with modified rigging

[Ferrus Manus]

The flag i designed for Habsburg Spain, which will go on the mainmast:

[Ferrus Manus]

The ship so far:

[JacquesCousteau]

On 8/17/2023 at 1:51 AM, Ferrus Manus said:

Now, i have gotten to designing flags ahead of time. This will be the one that goes on the stern flagpole:

The build looks great! Quick question about the flag, though: were the Spanish putting the Virgin of Guadalupe on flags as early as 1607? My impression was that the earliest firm, written evidence of the Guadalupan devotion was in the late 1640s, so an appearance on flags earlier would be very interesting. But I could be wrong, though.

[Ferrus Manus]

The Spanish had been putting Guadalupe imagery on their ships since at least the Armada, i believe. The Guadalupe apparition took place in 1531.

Edited August 20, 2023 by Ferrus Manus

[JacquesCousteau]

You may want to double check if the Armada had specifically Guadalupan imagery, though. While the apparition is dated to 1531, all sources on it come from decades later. The earliest, very scattered written sources are in Nahuatl, not Spanish, and it isn't until the late 1640s that the first Spanish account of it appears (apparently transcribing what had been mostly an oral tradition until then). It's not until the second half of the 1600s that the image started to be more widely promoted, and even then, the Virgin of Guadalupe was strongly associated with Mexico City, specifically, without much wider spread until the 1700s. Not trying to be nitpicky, but you seem to be working hard on accuracy so I thought I'd bring it up.

[Ferrus Manus]

These are all Armada era ships:

All of which have Guadalupan imagery on their sterns. 

[Ferrus Manus]

Thank you very much for bringing it up. If i had been committing a blatant anachronism, i would have liked to know. Please stick around and keep providing your services, they are extremely helpful. 

 

Better than having to rip a flag off the model and redesign it. 

[Ferrus Manus]

However, it could very well be that these vessels aren't displaying Guadalupan inagery, but something very similar, in which case i would like to know what it is so i can put it on the flag instead. 

[Ferrus Manus]

The first written account comes from 1548, and the first Spanish account comes from i believe the later half of the 1500s. However, it is true that the apparition did not become extremely popular until the 1640's, when it was published in a pamphlet.

Edited August 20, 2023 by Ferrus Manus

[JacquesCousteau]

The images are very interesting, and many do indeed look similar to the Guadalupe! I have to confess my ignorance of Spain's many, many images of the Virgin, but given the Guadalupe's very limited spread even within Mexico by early 1600s, I would suspect that they were different images. Perhaps something like Nuestra Señora del Rosario from Seville? It also has a radiant glow (not sure what the technical term is) surrounding it.

 

On the limits to Guadalupan devotion in the colonial era, William Taylor has a very good and accessible essay, "Our Lady of Guadalupe and Friends," available here: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9nn001h8

Among other things, he notes that the Guadalupe was one of many local holy images in the 1600s, it took until the 1740s for the Guadalupan devotion to really move much beyond Mexico City itself, and even in the later War of Independence, many rebels (who did not come from Mexico City) preferred their local Virgin Marias, seeing the Guadalupe as still too closely associated with the royalist capital.

 

Anyway, food for thought! It could be interesting to figure out which Virgin Marias were venerated in whichever Spanish city you want the galleon to come from, and model it after that?

[Ferrus Manus]

After some quick research, Guadalupe was the only thing i could come up with. 

[Ferrus Manus]

Here are all the flags that will go on the galleon, in no particular order:

I want to find a way to sneak a flag of the City of Mataro onto the ship. Any ideas? I was thinking of having it on the fore or main top. 

[Ferrus Manus]

I experimented with an unusual technique with the flags. First, i folded the two sides over to form the flag itself. Then, i glued a piece of rigging line in the fold, and glued the whole flag together. I proceeded to punch the holes in the flags right in front of where the line was, for them to be lashed to the mast. Then, i deviated from the normal procedure. I glued the flag to the flagpole with a small line of super glue along the back ridge of the flag. Then i did up the lashing of the flag to the mast, and rigged the halyard and downhaul. I repeated this process on the other flag. Two down, three (or four, maybe) to go. Here is the result:

 

[Ferrus Manus]

The next two flags are on the ship. Notice how the streamer is on a pigstick. This is to prevent the flag from fouling against the mizzen lateen sail's peak, by raising the flag above the mast truck. 

The "Alpha and Omega" flag is my personal favorite, owing to my strongly held Christian beliefs. 

[Ferrus Manus]

Today, i finally managed to get to the model shop. So, now i can finally work on the topgallant sails, the first of which is currently drying out. 

Edited August 23, 2023 by Ferrus Manus

[Louie da fly]

On 8/22/2023 at 1:09 PM, Ferrus Manus said:

Notice how the streamer is on a pigstick. This is to prevent the flag from fouling against the mizzen lateen sail's peak, by raising the flag above the mast truck. 

Good idea.

 

Steven

[Ferrus Manus]

The halyard for the fore topgallant is progressing to the point that i just have to do the rest of the crowsfeet. The braces are next, and after that, all the rest of the normal stuff. Pictures will be provided when the sail is done, hopefully tonight. In the absence of cleats, i fitted some crude timberheads to the fore top, to belay the lines to. The same process will be repeated on the main. 

 

After the sails have been taken care of, i have some further ideas for details to add to various points on the ship. 

Edited August 23, 2023 by Ferrus Manus

[Ferrus Manus]

The fore topgallant sail is complete. 

[Ferrus Manus]

Can anyone, preferably Steven or Kirill, find me some actual evidence as to whether or not gads were actually used on Spanish ships as late as 1607? Thanks. 

Kirill used gads on his galleon (Those javelin things in medieval fighting tops that Google knows NOTHING about), and i wondered if the mindset of "hucking pointy sticks at each other" had fully transitioned to naval artillery. Kirill's research indicated that the use of gads persisted into the beginning of the galleon age, but by 1607, they could have been completely phased out. 

Edited August 25, 2023 by Ferrus Manus

[Ferrus Manus]

This is "The Santa Maria at Anchor", painted in 1628 by a man with an absolutely horrific understanding of history. Yes, this is a 1620's dutch galleon. Yes, the artist was attempting to depict the famous Spanish nao. 

Either way, this painting proves that by 1628, bowsprit grapnels were still in use, although the rigging for this one is depicted incorrectly. 

 

As such, i will need to add one to the galleon. 

 

[Ferrus Manus]

Also, even more important, is a name for the galleon. I need name ideas. However, i can come up with my own if i don't get any. 

[Ferrus Manus]

I took a staple and cut it in two. Then, i bent the two halves of the staple into a more obtuse angle, and glued one half on top of the other with super glue. Then, i got the thinnest piece of plastic i could find, and glued it on top of the staple halves-turned-anchor flukes. Then, i glued an eyebolt on top of that. I proceeded to paint the entire thing wrought-iron black. It's about a 15mm long, about the height of a man at scale. 

 

Why did i do this? Well, i did it because i couldn't find a model ship grapnel short enough. The shortest one i could find was 20mm, which is far too large for its purpose, as a bowsprit grapnel. The one thing i like about this, other than the fact that i built it instead of spending money, is that due to the fact that the flukes aren't curved, it kind of looks like a Spanish-style anchor. 

 

I got the idea to use a staple from Steven's Great Harry build. 

Edited August 25, 2023 by Ferrus Manus

[Louie da fly]

On 8/25/2023 at 12:31 PM, Ferrus Manus said:

actual evidence as to whether or not gads were actually used on Spanish ships as late as 1607?

Sorry, can't help you there. I have no information either way. You might try looking at https://www.pinterest.com.au/lowe1847/galleons/ to see if there's any evidence of them in those  contemporary pics. But to be honest, I doubt that they'd have continued in use that late. Once heavy ship-killing cannon became common, the previous tactic of defeating the enemy by boarding his ship would have been largely replaced by cannon duels, so getting close enough to use gads would have been less a part of the scene. However, that's just my opinion, and maybe I'm wrong - maybe close-range combat and boarding were still a large part of common sea warfare, which would perhaps mean that gads still had a place. OTOH, use of fairly efficient anti-personnel firearms night also have replaced them by this time.

 

On 8/25/2023 at 1:06 PM, Ferrus Manus said:

a name for the galleon

Probably a saint's name would be good. Or, there was a ship called Cacafuego (sh*t fire) to indicate how well armed she was. Or perhaps "Neustra Senora de ("Our Lady of . . .something or other). Check reports of Francis Drake's fights with the Spanish for ships' names you might like - also Grenville's battle with them in the Revenge.

 

On 8/25/2023 at 2:37 PM, Ferrus Manus said:

I got the idea to use a staple from Steven's Great Harry build. 

(Blush).

 

Steven

 

[Jeff T]

I agree with Steven about maybe picking a saint’s name.  Based on what I’ve read, some galleons even had the same name as previous galleons.  For example, there was more than one San Salvador.  How about something like San Gabriel?

[Ferrus Manus]

Alright, no gads. I was thinking the same thing. I was also thinking of the name Esmeralda (it's a personal story) and was wondering if that was accurate to reality or not.

Edited August 26, 2023 by Ferrus Manus

[Ferrus Manus]

The issue is, basically every saint ever has had a galleon named after him/her. Mary probably has upwards of a dozen "nuestra senora de la..." ships. 

[Ferrus Manus]

Cacafuego was a Nuestra Senora. Her full name was Nuestra Senora de la Immaculada Concepcion. Captured by Drake with the Golden Hinde.

[Ferrus Manus]

What i didn't have was any kind of chemical blackening agent. What i did have, however, was a black spray-paint specifically designed for use on metal. The tiny creases in my hands are still black with paint. If it sticks to my hands, it'll sure stick to the chain. Anyway, the Esmeralda now has a boarding anchor. 

Is there anything else you guys can see me putting on the ship? I kind of feel like putting my sentimental "first figure" on the ship, but i probably won't. Instead, i'll keep him on my modelling table. 

 

[Ferrus Manus]

The stern flag has been complete, but not shown. Here it is, proudly waving the Spanish heraldry:

[Ferrus Manus]

The main topsail is also complete, giving the ship its final silhouette. 

Edited August 28, 2023 by Ferrus Manus