Santisima Trinidad by MarcNS - OcCre - 1:90

[MarcNS]

Hello All;

I have just started this project and thought I'd share a few pictures and notes as I go along and requests for advice.  As there are several excellent build logs already for this kit (see YouTube for a couple - Timelapse (model ships) and a series by John Alprantis from 3 years ago) so I don't believe another detailed step by step will add value to what is already out there.

This is my second OcCre kit, I built the Candelaria last year to see if I liked their models and found that it was designed in a very similar manner to recent Latina kits.  What I preferred with OcCre was that in addition to a printed set of pictures (AL wants you to download PDF from their website) they also provide a decent package of drawings.  Neither company provides great written instructions (but other than the one Victory (Amati- Chris Watton) model I did, really who does).

First off, while unpacking I discovered that one of the wooden part sheets had split and one part was broken; I reached out to OcCre about it and got immediate response and instructions on how to get a replacement.

Below is my first couple of pictures (and my first oops) - a new record as I am about 3 days in.

[MarcNS]

My first picture is of the hull assembly with the false deck pieces dry fitted.  I was pretty pleased with this until I realized that I messed up by gluing all the frames in place before inserting the crossbeams.  You can see where they fit in the picture below and what they look like in the last photo.  The instructions and pictures with the kit don't articulate that you need leave frame 16 unglued until these are inserted but while a notice on that would be helpful, it was also a clear senior moment as if I'd thought about it (or watched John's video) I should have caught it.

I see two options here (1) cut the beam into pieces and insert them in between the frames -  (see middle picture). Or just forget about it and hope that this is a design redundancy.  I'd like to heart thoughts on this - it seems that once the decks are installed there won't be much that will tend to pull the frames fore and aft so I can't see what purpose these crossbeams serve.

[BikerMart]

I am building the Montanes, also from OcCre. It too has these beams and, as far as I can see, they do not serve any great purpose. Once the decks are on and the bulkheads are firmly glued to the keel, I think that the structure will be strong enough that you will not need the beams.

 

[MarcNS]

1 hour ago, BikerMart said:

I am building the Montanes, also from OcCre. It too has these beams and, as far as I can see, they do not serve any great purpose. Once the decks are on and the bulkheads are firmly glued to the keel, I think that the structure will be strong enough that you will not need the beams.

 

Thanks for that, I was not looking forward to all that cutting and fitting.  
The Montanes is a beautiful ship, I am hoping you have posted some pictures of your build - I’ll search for them.

[BikerMart]

I start off with good intentions but lack the discipline for a build log😒

 

[MarcNS]

Good Day,

I am on a bit of an hiatus right now as I've decided to plank the decks with 10 cm strips offset either at 5 cm or 2.5 cm.  I've done this in the past and have cut the strips with one of my xacto blades on my cutting sheets and found it a challenge to get them even.  So I bit the bullet and ordered a plank cutter on Black Friday and it will be a couple of weeks to arrive (then the holidays) so it might be mid January before I get back to this in earnest.

In the mean time, I've been watching some Youtube videos and looking at some build logs and since I have some time, have been playing around with some options for planking the deck.

First off, the kit material is 3X1  lime wood which is fine to work with but sort of boring, I don't have any nicer planking around in enough quantity so I decided that I'd see what stain I could use on them.  Below are three samples I made up from extra lime wood and stained with different shades,

I

Edited December 2, 2023 by MarcNS
correct a word

[MarcNS]

I didn't like the two shades of walnut (too dark) but I thought the Sapelli looked pretty good.  (obviously there is no end to options for choosing a stain - I limited my choices to what I had in the paint drawer).

One of the videos - I'm sorry but I can't seem to find who did it but it is available on YouTube - shows a great approach to aging the deck.  The result was terrific but for me just a bridge too far.  However one thing he did was to paint the edges of the planks black rather than using pencil or other ways to simulate the caulking.  I did a few planks this way and then applied sealer (to see how that looked) and then put a couple of coats over the sealed sample to see if that looked better,

 

l

[MarcNS]

I haven't yet decided what to do but I like the stained version with the black painted edges.  Not sure I have the patience to prepare all the strips I will need to line the decks but I have time to decide.

On a related item,  the instructions say to line the false deck sections before installing,  John Alprantis on his series decide to line the decks after installing the false deck.   I have found that having to work around the uprights at the edges of the deck when planking to be a pain but planking first then installing reduces the flexibility of the section and can make it tougher to glue in place.  Interested to hear thoughts on this.

I may jump ahead a bit while I wait for my delivery and make some of the deck structures or masts,  if not will be back at it in a few weeks.

[allanyed]

Just one more opinion, hope you don't mind, but the decks were holy stoned and very light rather than dark.  The caulking on the edges was barely visible so you may be better off using the wood supplied as is and forget the blackened edges as they look extremely heavy just as treenailing and bolting (which is barely visible at full scale) would look totally out of place at 1:90 scale.  Photos of decks of contemporary models from Preble Hall are below.  These are 1:48 scale and even they do not blacken the edges.  If you really want the edges blackened at your scale maybe try a pencil or black tissue paper which will give a very clean edge.

 

Allan

 

[MarcNS]

Back at it after the holidays.  

First, Thanks Allan,  I followed your suggestion and abandoned my plan to stain the deck planks.   I did however receive the plank cutter that I ordered and cut the deck planks in 8 cm strips (was easier than figuring out how to jig the cutter for 10 cm). and offset them on a 4X2cm offset. 

I am satisfied with the results but the planked decks had a rather significant seam down the center in the sections that I planked before installing.  (see below).   I eventually used some wood filler on these and that improved it a bit.  (The picture below is before the wood filler)

 

[MarcNS]

Next step was to install the pre cut bulwarks and gun ports to the frame.  There are 15X15 backing to be installed behind the gun ports, some of these are a little tricky and the video build I referred to earlier tipped me off to check on the positioning of them relative to the frames and glue the unobstructed ones on before installing them.

Once all were installed, I found that these was work to be done to smooth out the fit. The other good advice from a build log was to paint the inside to the gun ports at this stage rather than after the planking is installed (per the instructions), as it eliminates any slips of the paint brush on a finished area.

 

[MarcNS]

I am now ready to move on to planking, so I expect it will be a while before my next post.  I do have a question though.

 

The inside of the bulwarks are to be planked.  I plan to do this early with some left over 0.5mm lime wood and am considering whether or not to paint them red.  In my research,  I have seen both natural and red for the inside of the bulwarks and it seems that a war ship of this era likely did have them painted red.  Does anyone out there have insight on this?

[MarcNS]

Three weeks of planking are finally in the rear view mirror.  Of note,  the materials provided in the kit and nice quality and plentiful, the downside is the sapeli (lower part of the hull) is very hard to work with.  I ended up soaking the planks  overnight before attempting to bend them with my trusty heated bending tool and even so, I still snapped a fair number.  

This is a single planked kit and I wasn't successful at executing the planking well enough to avoid significant sanding and use of wood filler.  Sapeli is not easy to match - the closest I could find was walnut wood filler which didn't look that great in the amounts I needed.

To get the best finish I could,  I used a coat of pre-stain, two coats of Sapali dye (still wasn't great) so then I decided to darken the whole thing with red mahogany stain.  I'll eventually add a coat of clear varnish.

 

[MarcNS]

I haven’t posted anything in a while respecting the logs by much more talented builders than myself.  I did post on an issue in general discussion on the stern decoration that might be helpful to some attempting this kit.

An issue that I ran into in the last couple of weeks was with the gun port covers.  There are two parts, a frame and a cover both made of cast material.  As I assembled the 100 or so of these, several of the covers were hard to attach.  I forced a few resulting in snapping the hinges.   Occre customer service was terrific in replacing the broken ones but the issue can be avoided.  In the picture below, where circled, you might be able to see that there is a bit of material in the cover where it attaches to the frame.  I used my dremel with the fine cut off wheel (on lowest RPM) and carefully removed the excess.  The covers then attached without an issue.

[Theodosius]

This looks like a good start! 🙂

 

[MarcNS]

Good day all,

Spring is here, well East coast Canada so there is the possibility.  About to take a break the Santisima project for the summer.  Before doing that I wanted to point out an issue for future builders.

 

I have completed most of the spars and the work from my stern decoration challenge to this point has been pretty straight forward (supported by several full build log here and elsewhere).

 

if you note the plan below, the shape includes a ridge towards each end.  Also pictured is one of the metal clips provided to connect the large spar to the rods or aerials.  Clearly it would be impossible to position the clip where shown after shaping the spar as directed.

I decided to sand down the ends to exactly fit the clips as pictured and they look fine.

[MarcNS]

Will be pausing in midst of doing the shrouds and rats lines.  There are a lot of knots to tie - tedious work.  Maybe do a few on the odd rainy day.
 

Have a great summer everyone.