San Marcos by mathewp - Occre - Scale 1:50

[mathewp]

      The Bounty's done, so it's on with the next kit. Occre seem to put out a nice kit. I spent more on this one so it should be better. The parts are good quality, and i'll only be replacing the lantern I think, with a nicerer one. This one has sails, which will be new for me to do. There's not much info on the Ship in the kit, so all I know is that it's a Portugese Galleon that was part of the Spanish Armada. Here's some pics of the kit to get the ball rolling.

           Matt.

[Jeff-E]

Hi Matthew,

 

Very nice looking kit I'm looking forward to your build.    

[Ferit]

I hope it will go smoothly...

Is this Occre's kit or ACME's?!...

[mathewp]

It's nice to get started on a new Ship. I spent a few days going through the plans and instructions. Amazingly,  all that's missing is the transfers that go on the Sgields, and the pisture of St Mark that goes on the Transom and 20 ringbolts. My supplier has a 30 day parts replacement policy, so thats taken care of.

        The Bulkheads fit well. No loose ones. I took the time to make a better keel clamp this time round. The plywood keel supplied had a bend, so it was best to make something that would hold it firmly until the master plank went on, hopefully straightening it. It did . This kit comes with colr photo instructions so I'll basically follow them in order, not all of them, but mostly.Planking the inside Bulwarks is a good idea, but you will have to be careful fitting. These instructions have the decks and onboard Bulkheads planked before hull planking. The angles on the main deck Bulwarks would make it much harder to do later.

        I spent a nice time outside with some sandpaper and a file, while I faired the frames. And then it was time to master plank. Once this plank goes on you put one plank above it and then the lower Gun ports. That's a week and a half of building so far.

        There is a slight issue with a transition from thinner to thicker plywood on the half deck Bulwarks. The only way I could think of to fix it was to align the ply with the outside of the hull so that planking was easier (no filler), and blend the inside bulwark from thinner to thicker.This leaves a slight curve . As far as I can see, this doesn't impact on any fittings, and the caprail will disguise it somewhat. Now it's on with hull lower gun ports and then hull planking.  

[Jeff-E]

Hi Matthew,

 

Looks like your of to a good start, the deck and inner bulwark planking is very neatly done . That first plank looks fairly thick in your last photo. What size is it?

Is this kit double planked?

[mathewp]

Thanks for dropping in Jeff. She is double planked, the second layer is Sapele, which I think is another word for Mahogany. That thick plank is 5mm by 3mm, which was a little tricky to bend. I thought it was a good idea as you can straighten your keel with them before moving on to the rest of the hull. I might use this method on future kits. The only drawback is you need to prepare the slots so you get the right amount rebated into the bulkheads so that your 2mm planks either side fit flush. I got it mostly right. That first plank, also is used as a guide to place the lower gunports.

Edited October 23, 2013 by mathewp

[mathewp]

I ordered some plans today for a Viking Ship. and a Greek Bireme. Happy days

[mathewp]

      There are a couple of issues now.The plywood for the Gunports is 2mm 3 ply. This makes it easier to bend in one direction. However, this sheet was cut so that it bends easily in the direcyion you don't want it to.There is a curve in the bulkheads where they go, so this has left some filling to do before second planking. One of the gunport placements was wrong , being too far forward, but easy enough to fix. I nedd to work on my planking plan for second layer as the first had too much lateral bend from the gunport placements. In hindsight, it would havebeen better to trim the ply so that there was less. The gunports are not planked over, so it was just a case of making do. You never know how these parts are going to fit until you put them on. 

       I also tried my hand at a half steeler to reduce the amount of planks going to the bow, as tapering brought them to 2.5 mm. The half steeler brought it back up to 3mm. Now it's on to planking the bottom half of the hull. 

Edited October 29, 2013 by mathewp

[mathewp]

 OK. The hull is now first planked. I had some issues with the twisting needed to get the planks on the keel. A couple of them broke, so a couple of repairs, no big deal. The hull looks like it has good shape and symmetry. I'll put up some photos after sanding. The aim this time was to taper and bevel better, leaving me an easier sanding with less filler. I think I managed it:) The area over the lower gunports is a different story. The plywood just wouldn't go where I wanted it to, so definately some filler over those.

    I got some plans for a couple of smaller less complicated Ships to have a go at a  scratch build. I need to do a little more research and source some more tools and timber before I post it. I got a little bored waiting for the quickset glue to dry. Hopefully a couple of smaller projects will keep me occupied.

[mathewp]

    Spent all day sanding and filling, a total of 9 hours. I must have got the fairing pretty right this time, because no nasty bumps or large hollows to fill apart from the lower gunports I mentioned earlier.The hull shape of this Ship might make you think it's shape is wrong, but this hul is like a pot bellied pig. It stands up by itself without support. If you are making this, dont't be put off by it's odd shape, it seems to be it's natural look.

     Sanding done, I'm pretty happy so far. Next will be to block in the Bow section, and plank the forward deck that goes the bit at the front.Then it will be second planking for a while.  

[Jeff-E]

Hi Matthew,

 

Wonderul job with your first planking  

 

Regarding you breaking a few planks, have you tried soaking them and pinning them into place and letting them dry first? After they dry you can make any small adjustments required before gluing them into place.

 

I picked this tip up from Dan Vad when I was building my 'Norfolk' it works really well just a bit time consuming  

[mathewp]

That's a nice tip. I'll make a note of that one. Thanks Jeff, and Dan

[mathewp]

 The plans now call for the planking of the bow and stern before second planking the outside of the hull. First the small deck on the bow, then the front of the forecastle. Be extra careful with part 85, because you will have to leave about half of it outside the curve of the bow so that you can sand it to match the outside of the hull. Then it was on with the stern, easy to do except for the part that has to be set at 45 degrees.  I guess the main part of the hull is next. 

           Matt

[Jeff-E]

Hi Matthew,

 

Very nice work with your planks the stern looks great.

[mathewp]

Thanks Jeff, that's a tricky little piece, making it all fit snugly. On with the build, so the second planking is about 2 thirds done. Had some minor buckling, but fixed it up. I'm hoping to have her done and varnished this weekend.

[WackoWolf]

Nice planking, your work is coming along very nice. Keep the pictures coming.

[mathewp]

 Thanks Joe. 

 Now i'm done planking and puttying and sanding and have a coat of varnish on her. Mahogany is so brittle, I think it's a good idea to get a coat of varnish on as soon as possible, because you're bound to break a piece off somewhere. I only had one little piece do that so can't complain really.I ended up with larger scupper holes than I should have so I blocked a small piece of 2mm in the holes and refiled them, and they're ok. I'll let her dry for at least 24 hours and give her a light sand.

[Sjors]

Hi Matt,

 

I'm just dropping in.

You did a very good job at your planking !

That looks marvellous !!!!

What are the sizes of the model?

Maybe you have named it before and I missed that, in that case, sorry.....

I will crab a seat and will follow you further.

 

[mathewp]

G'day Sjors, I'm not sure I did give the sizes, anyway they're 810mm long 650 high and 300 wide. Thanks for your kind words ans for dropping in 

[mathewp]

  Just a short post today. The next step in the plans was to put on the keel, which are plywood. I'm not sure how i'm going to cover the edge yet so that there is no exposed ply, but i'll think of something. The color of the ply has been stained or something, and I'm not sure if I can match it with anything. I then gave the inside bulwarks and the other planked parts a sand and a coat of varnish to help stop this damn mahogany from breaking off, as you only have to catch a tiny bit and a big chunk will break off.The stem has a small problem as there is a gap left after fitting. There's not much you can do as it's laser cut, so I'm just going to put a small patch in the 2 mm gap that's left.The end of the stem is very easy to break off so be careful. How do I know?, I know because I did. It's ply, and so where it narrows to about 2 mm on the end of the stem it's a weak spot, and having a boat with a big nose hanging off it, you are therefore bound to knock it like I did.

       

Matt

[Sjors]

Hi Matt,

 

That looks very good.

That plywood, try to give it a stain...

Try is first on a scrap peach, then you can see how it turn out.

OcCre has that with all his builds.

They like I think ?

 

[Jeff-E]

Hi Matt,

 

 Great job with your second planking, looks fantastic  . Good save with the scuppers easier fixed on the first layer of planks.

 

With regard to the keel and stem could you line the edges of them with the planks  you used for the deck planking if you have enough left over , they look to be of a similar colour in your pics

[mathewp]

 Thanks for the input it's much appreciated. The deck plank sounds like the way to go. Maybe a light stain on them that i try to match at the hardware shop.I'm wishing i ordered a 5 mm board when I bought the kit.

[firdajan]

Hi Matt, you´re doing a great job with this build, planking is excellent. I´ve never seen anyone to build this ship

 

Jan

[mathewp]

  Thanks Jan, I haven't seen this Ship anywhere either. Maybe I have the only one in Australia. I took extra care this time cleaning up glue while i was planking. 

    Today I did the bow deck doors, the ladders that go below the main deck, glued the grates and put together the wheelhouse. With the grates I just soaked them in half water half pva glue for an hour and left them to dry. the ladders are pretty straightforward. The wheelhouse needs to be sanded on an angle so that it fits flush to the bulkhead, otherwise you will leave a gap. The plans say use 5mm by 2mm mahogany for the roof, which seems like overkill to me. The roof will need it's parts beveled to follow the curve. I think I got it mostly tidy

 

  Matt.

[mathewp]

   Time to do the grates on the decks, and the bow section. The main deck pre cut hole was a little bit small to fit 3 sections of grating of equal size, so I cut a small section from the deck to fit. According to the plans, it doesn't interfere with anything. The result was ok I think. The other two grates were less complicated, just rectangle, and the holes in the deck didn't need changing, just a little filing. The bow section was a pain. The plywood frames I didn't like so I replaced them with wood ones. Then the plans let me down as there's no real indication of what line they should be placed in, so as to fit the side rail. Basically I just lined it up by eye and only had to change one frame position. That done I did the grates. Not a brilliant job, but I'll tidy it up with a bit of 2 mm by 1 mm walnut or something. Then it was on to planking the side rails that have sections of planking on an angle. I used some tanganika and mahogany so I can save some of the ramin planks to stain for the keel. I've also added the lower gunwale and the 2 mm by 2 mm walnut that goes in between the scuppers.

  Thats it for now

                               Matt

[mathewp]

    It's gunwale time, and fenders. The instructions call them fenders, so I'll go with that. There's no real easy way to place the first 

 

(lower) gunwale. The others aren't too hard to get on. There was also the decorative angled timber at the top of the stern. I also added some extra pieces in the bow section along the grating I think it makes more sense having them on there so that a person would be less likely to lose their footing off the edge of the grating and down the side of the side rail. It tidies up the edges as well, so if your edging is a bit wonky like mine, you can cover it up this way. The Cap-rails were fairly east to get on, apart from the curved part near the half deck. 

[WackoWolf]

The grateing work came out beautiful, they stand out nice on the deck. Keep the pictures coming, you doing an excellent job.

[mathewp]

  Haven't felt like building much so I decided to do some research on how to do the decorations better, namely the gold paint, which usually fades and looks pale after a while. I did some research on gold leaf, which is very expensive, but has a less expensive alternative. I bought a booklet of imitation gold leaf and the other stuff used, like a red bole used to paint under the leaf to make it brighter, and some gilding paste. The result was ok I think, it's definitely brighter than the gold paint, and with a coat of clear over it should hold it's color for a long time. 

  The stern gallery went on ok. I replaced the plywood handrails with some walnut left over from the Bounty build. I might rip them off yet, and do them again. I also glued the picture of St Mark on the transom.

[Ferit]

Hi Mathewp,

Until now I used to suppose that the speed and the quality were reversely proportional...

You maintain the control at the top gear... Very fine work...