Trabaccolo by aliluke - MarisStella - 1/32

[aliluke]

I have made a small start on the trabaccola by Maris Stella. Also known as a a trabakul, it is a coastal trading ship from the Adriatic - specifically Croatia. Maris Stella are based in Split, Croatia and I bought the kit directly from them. The support  from Zoran at Maris Stella has already been amazing.

 

I chose this ship for its likeable and unusual shape and for being, well, different. Plus being a freighter there are no cannons - yay! It is also a ship type rather than a specific vessel so I can paint it whatever colour I like and they came in many colours. There are existing trabakul, so plenty of photos online. The kit set looks beautifully made and comes with pre-sewn sails - whether I install these remains to be seen. Its not a common subject here with one log for the kit by Don Robinson, who did an amazing job, and one scratch build by Mfelinger (Matija from Croatia). There are lots of photos of the real thing on Matija's log. At 1/32 it is a large scale and a big model at 876mm long. It has plenty of challenges including a fully lined interior and single planking for a very bluff, rounded bow and stern. Nothing is as normal...

 

To start, I examined the need for building the ships boat from a balsa wood plug which you have to carve. I was not really up for that, so I bought a Quay Craft resin 1/32 boat through Cornwall Models. It is almost exactly the same size as the kit version but with a slightly different seat configuration. It is also clinker built which I like. The Quay Craft kit comes with a huge number of parts i.e. four - one hull and three seats. The casting is a bit rough but cleaned up okay. You detect more roughness when you paint and it is hard to get a really good finish and even lines. I added oars, a rudder and bolts. I'll also add an anchor and rope at some point. I like to start with a smaller kit part to get my head around the scale and this is really big! It also gives me a chance to play with my basic colour scheme which will deviate from the box lid. In my case a pale blue grey with very dark blue trims but mostly natural timber (the boat seats and floor is just painted resin made to look like timber).

 

I haven't given up on HMS Fly - I just got bored with it for the time being.

 

 

The box - big!

Inside the box - there are plenty of descriptions of content on the Maris Stella website.

Inside the box 

The plug for the boat - no thanks...

The Quay Craft alternative - more or less completed.

Size comparison with the Vanguard Models launch and pinnace at 1/64.

[Knocklouder]

Good luck on your journey , and have a Happy New Year, all the best my friend.  

[aliluke]

Thanks Bob and the likes

As I delved into the kit I realised that I had to scratch build the windlass. Hmm, I don't have a lathe as Don Robinson had for his windlass, and my attempts at carving the dowel for this piece were rubbish. So I built a 3D model of the windlass and will get it 3D printed. Being summer here and most people on holiday, that might take some time...We'll see how it turns out. If any one wants a model of a windlass at 1/32 for a trabakul feel free to ask.

 

 

 

[aliluke]

I have been away. Trips and such, Faroe Islands!!! Iceland. But now back to the Trabaccola. 

It ain't easy - a stunning kit with incredible precision but in no way a beginners voyage. Almost all frames are up and then you build the interior...I am determined in spite of it seeming very difficult. The kit quality continues to be really impressive in every way. It is just bloody complicated to build! I have probably spent more time reading the instructions than just getting on with it. Don Robinson's log remains a key reference. Hopefully my outcome will be just, or nearly as good...Time will tell.

[Knocklouder]

Glad to see you back my freind. Tagging along,  .

Bob  M.                    

[aliluke]

I'm battling on with this but it is a really fiddly one. The instructions are very confusing. There are photographs in the instructions of things that aren't in the kit and then there are things that are in the kit but aren't in the photographs. I still think it is a really great kit but it's really doing my head in seeing pieces that don't exist, in the photos and then seeing pieces that do exist but don't appear in the photos. My guess is that Mariastella photographed a prototype build. Also the photos have empty arrows pointing to pieces but no indication of what the piece is. I think I'll just stop looking at the photographs...

[aliluke]

I just want to qualify my last post. The fit of the parts, the quality of materials of this kit are fantastic. The plan sheets are fantastic. It's just the photos of the build in the build booklet that completely confuse me...I'll figure it out.

[aliluke]

Completed the skeleton. Overall it is very robust, solid as a rock. Now it is on to lining the interior. This looks very, very fiddly...

[Ronald-V]

I'm very curious how this project develops. The ship looks very attractive on their site, also the scale is nice.

 

But indeed...compared with a Vanguard ship skeleton this looks...different  

[aliluke]

One of the unusual aspects of the kit is lining the interior. This is well in hand - torture for planking strips - and access between the frames to sand and correct is really tricky. Almost all of this won't be able to be even seen. You wonder why you bother - but you do don't you? Loving this kit!!!