San Martin by SergeyP - OcCre -1:90

[SergeyP]

Hi.

I want to present the assembly of one of the latest revisions of the San Martin kit from Occre, i bought it in 2021.

The ship is almost completed, and this will be a retrospective of how I assembled it.  

When building, I used a lot of tips found on this forum. This is my first model, and I really enjoyed working with wood. 

[SergeyP]

Overall impressions of the kit are quite good. Occre improved the quality of the sails, and now you can safely look at them. The sails, that were in the sets before, were very sad, with terrible loops at the corners. Now everything is fine with them, although the fabric could be thinner.

Wood quality varies. If the walnut and sapele are good, then the deck material is not very good. Deck planks are not the same width and are not very pleasant to work with it. So, I decided to replace the deck coverings.

Occre replaced the scary cast gun carriages with slightly less scary prefabricated wooden gun carriages, but they are still very far from the Spanish gun carriages of the 16th century. A terrible cast boat is put in the kit yet, which must be thrown out immediately after opening the box.

The main problem with my kit was crooked frames and a crooked false keel. The plywood was heavily twisted with a screw, and I could not straighten it. I did not have the opportunity to cut new parts, so I had to deal with this when assembling the "skeleton".

 

[SergeyP]

When I started building the decks, I understand I didn't like the result with the Occre slats, so I replaced them with pink pear slats. Later I understand that this solution is not very good, since dark decks are not the best option for the ship model

Edited March 14, 2023 by SergeyP

[SergeyP]

I decided not to varnish the model and used only Danish oil. The model has been oiled several times, and the final oil will be applied before the finished model is covered with a transparent dust cap. This is what the decks looked like after sanding and oiling.

[SergeyP]

After a long struggle with crooked frames and false keel, I managed to set all the decks evenly and I finally got a straight keel.

I did not paint the inside of the boards as Occre recommends, but applied sapele planks there.

[SergeyP]

Sheathing the hull with rough sheathing, I bent the slats using a steam iron and adjusted each slat separately.

I did not use nails to fix the planks but used a quality cyanoacrylate glue-gel. The connection is very strong and there was enough time for the slats to be properly installed.

[SergeyP]

After sanding and using a small amount of putty, the body was ready for sapele lining. 

Now I am sure that it would be right at this step to cover the body with a dye close in color to the sapele.

[SergeyP]

At this point, I decided to make real ports for guns on the second deck and install guns in them in the future. The good news is that the cannon port hatches that Occre provides can be used with the lids open. Having cut the necessary holes in the sides, I began the installation of decorative trim with sapele trims.

 

Edited March 14, 2023 by SergeyP

[SergeyP]

After sanding, installing a latrines deck and some decorative details, it already looked like a ship

 

[SergeyP]

After the first layer of oil, I began to install berghout and other elements.

 

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by SergeyP

[SergeyP]

Decided not to use Occre cannons and carriages, and made the carriages myself.

It, of course, has no historical identity and artistic value, but I did not plan more detail on the guns.

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by SergeyP

[SergeyP]

The boat from Occre, if it can call a boat, was replaced with a kit from another manufacturer.

Unfortunately, the scale is a bit wrong, and the era is different, but I had no other option.

 

 

Edited March 16, 2023 by SergeyP

[SergeyP]

The last photo shows that I changed the location of the capstan.

This is certainly not good, but the model is in far from reality.

[SergeyP]

Additionally, I bought anchors and semi-guns from Amati.

I did not like the anchors from Occre, and there are no cannons for the second deck in the kit from Occre.

I had to work on mounting the semi-cannons, but everything worked out.

In the photo my first option is wantputtings. I did not like it, and soon changed the design.

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by SergeyP

[SergeyP]

Soon I reduced the number of wants and made new  wantputtings.

I purchased the solution from a local manufacturer of goods for models.

 

[SergeyP]

My kit from Occre had spar from a light wood (I don’t know its name).

I know Occre used to sell kits with African walnut spar. So I replaced the light wood for the masts with African walnut.

Other than that, I didn't use Occre's mars and bought mars kits from a local manufacturer.

I have a question about mars. I couldn't find any information on how this type of mars should be installed. High side forward (I mount it like this) or high side back.

How right?

 

[SergeyP]

For me it was a problem to choose the color of the windows on the stern. After a long trial, I settled on this color.

 

 

 

[SergeyP]

When came time to set up the rigging, I put aside the shaggy ropes from Occre and used ropes from a local manufacturer.

I didn't make big changes to the instructions from Occre, but used a slightly more correct setting of stags.

 

Edited March 16, 2023 by SergeyP

[SergeyP]

There were no big problems with the wants, but I did not manage to set the juffers perfectly on the same level

But I did not set myself this task

 

 

[SergeyP]

Weaving weveling on wants is not a very fun activity, and I had to start over after completing 70% of the work 😵

But in the end I was satisfied with the result.
The selection of the color of the ropes may be questionable, but I decided to make these colors.

 

 

 

 

[SergeyP]

Having installed the sailyards, I thought for a long time how to make sails.

Although the sails from Occre are not bad, but quite dense, and I allowed the opportunity to make new sails.

After thought, I used the sails from Occre, but decided to put them in a raised state.

I know that sails are a difficult task, and my first sails are largely wrong. But the overall impression of the model was harmonious

 

Edited March 22, 2023 by SergeyP

[SergeyP]

In the last photo, the state of the model is currently. It remains to work a little with a running rigging and the project will be completed.

The assembly of the kit took more than year a leisurely assembly on weekends, and sometimes evenings on working days.