San Marcos by mathewp - Occre - Scale 1:50

[jastrząb]

SUPERB!

[mathewp]

     I'm not a great fan of doing rudders it turns out. I always seem to have some problem with them. Never mind, I got there after I broke a hinge and scratched the paint and sent dozens of little 2 mm nail pieces flying all over the workshop. Lucky I've got a few thousand to do that. So the rudders done, and the support pieces that go under the stern gallery. I've managed to gild the decorative pieces, and they're not perfect but still look way better than painted ones. The shields that go near the stern are done, nothing difficult there, and the chain pendants on the rudder. The ladder was a little difficult to place as it goes near a gun port. The only thing to be sure of there is to leave enough room for it. I also fixed the hand rails for the stern gallery as they were hanging over the end too much. I could have sworn I got them right when I fitted them.

That's all or now.

[mathewp]

Had a not so fun day with the lower cannons, as one of the backing pieces went inside the model. I didn't have much fun fixing that one. The gilding on the upper gun ports is done and they're glued on. The lower gun ports were a bronze color, so I thought they needed a better finish. I painted them first with a red earth matte and then a coat of cool red over the top. It turned out ok. I just couldn't be bothered going to the art shop to get a red ochre. The stern part that holds the flagpole is on. The part that is supposed to cover up the missing pieces of deck plank, sits too high, so I'll have to patch two pieces in the gaps. The shields on the bow are on, and to even the angle and to bring them more upright, I put two pieces of 2 mm and 3.5 on the back. The larger piece at the bottom to bring it further out. I'll touch up the paint on the gun ports later.

[WackoWolf]

Beautiful work. She is looking better and better all the time. Keep the pictures coming.

[Jeff-E]

Hi Matt,

 

WOW you have made some progress since the last time I looked in  . I really like the gilding it looks very good and should last a long time.

 

Excellent detail on the sheilds and the stern painting they look great and I think the gallery rail looks fine  

[mathewp]

Thanks Joe and Jeff. I already fixed the hand rails so they're better now. Have you been away fishing Jeff? Leave some Barra for me. Joe, do you have a build log somewhere. I've had a look and haven't seen one. I'd like to see yours. I'm really noticing the difference in the quality of the parts in this kit. They are making the model look much better.

[Jeff-E]

Hi Matt,

 

Yes I have been away but ufortunately not fishing  , so there are still plenty of fish left for you  , I have been in Sydney visiting family  

[WackoWolf]

Matt,

 

   Just sent you a PM.

[mathewp]

 I spent some time today dong the ladders and the hand rails for the decks. Some of the hand rails double as pin rails. The plans call for 22 mm wide ladders. Don't make them this wide. They won't fit. There's only room for a total of around 18 mm in width for the half deck, so I made 15 mm rungs for them and they fitted ok . There is room on a couple of spots for 22 mm but I wanted all of them to be the same size, so that's what I did. I painted the columns as indicated on the instructions a red color, the same as the gun ports. The instructions don't give you a specific color though. You have to find one for yourself. I've also added the main pin rails. Looks can be deceiving as there is now a total of more than 90 pin rail holes. It doesn't look like a lot, but they add up, and there's still more to do.

That's it for now.

Matt..

[Jeff-E]

Hi Matt,

 

Nice work on the ladders, pin rails and hand rails they look great, she is really starting to come together now. It does pay to measure and double check the plans.  

[WackoWolf]

The ladders came out very nice, excellent work on the pin rails and also the hand rails. She is coming along Beautiful. Keep the pictures coming.

[ZyXuz]

nice and neat, Matt

[mathewp]

Thanks everybody. I'm having a ball with this build, apart from a couple of small issues The last two days have been spent on deck fittings. The pump, Capstan and mast pin rails and posts for each. and a belfrey. The Capstan parts supplied aren't the best. The round washer at the base was too small, so you can make one from a scrap of 12 mm dowell. That fit quite well allowing for the diameter of the dowell in the centre, and the thickness of the whelps. I made 8 to start with by cutting them and placing them on some tape, and shaping them to the same profile was easy from there. It beats making them one at a time. * wasn't quite enough to go around the pole, so I made an extra that fit nicely in the gap. This was easier than spacing them so they all fit.

     The pump and belfrey were fairly easy, with no issues. The mast pin rails were a problem. The pre cut plywood ones don't fit the holes precut in the deks. The best way around this is to make some from 2mm by 6mm walnut, but make them without the slots , and to put the slots in the posts. Then you can slide the posts along the rail until you have a good fit. Worked like a charm, however the holes in the deck were too big, and would leave unsightly gaps. The only fix I could think of was to put some 2mm by 2mm around the base of each pole that went into the deck. It seems to have done the trick. That's it for now

Matt.

[Jeff-E]

Hi Matt,

 

Your deck fittings look great, nice fix with the pin rails, looks like they were meant to be that way  . The capstan turned out really well, looks fantastic.

[mathewp]

Thanks Jeff. It's Cannon time, and longboat. The parts here are a little fiddly, and some needed sanding till nearly nothing was left. The Thwarts for the lonboat needed a lot taken off as they were just way too thick. You could almost just make these from 0.25 mm planks. The plywood parts were 2 mm. I planked the top section including the gunwales in Mahogany. The bow and stern Thwarts were planked in Tanganika and sanded to within an inch of their lives. The cross pieces were 2 mm by 6 mm Walnut. I made my own paddles as I didn't like the metal ones. I didn't have any dowell so I used toothpicks, and some 0.5 mm walnut plank.

    The Cannons went together ok, only you have to try and fit them square so that the cannons fit in squarely. That's not so easy when the parts are angled. After gluing the plywood parts there were some gaps so I filled and sanded each one. Once painted they looked ok. Then it was cut the brass pins for the cannons and the wheels, then paint the wheels. Next I whipped 8 pieces of the thicker cord to an eyepin, and attached a small block. There's no allowance in this kit for putting the pulley blocks on the cannons, so you will have to get some if you want to do your cannons this way. I used the ones left from the Thermopylae build where I lost everything, nearly. Then I put 2 blocks on each gun carriage. From there it was just a case of pre assembling the cannons and placing them on the deck.

  That's it for now

 Matt. 

[Jeff-E]

Hi Matt,

 

The long boat looks great and the scratch built oars are much better than the metal ones.

 

Excellent work on the cannons and rigging it can be a bit tricky to make it look right but yours have turned out spot on

[Sjors]

Hi Matt,

 

You have been busy !

Looks fantastic !

The rigging of the cannons is something that I copy from you for my next build ! ( if you don't mind )

 

[Pnorval]

This looks awesome.. Great work.

[Sjors]

Hi Matt,

 

Any progress ?????

 

[mathewp]

Yes Sjors, here's a little bit of work. I.ve done the Channel boards, the ladder ropes and the bowsprit wood work.There's a few little gremlins here as the metal parts for the Jack top don't fit well, so I made some wooden ones. The mast caps supplied in my kit are all one size, so I'll end up making some as I have with the bowsprit. For now I'll just continue with the masts. The plans called for a bowsprit of a given length, which is no real mystery. However, the bowsprit seems too long by about 40mm. I might have to trim it down a little.

 

Matt.

Edited February 20, 2014 by mathewp

[Sjors]

Hi Matt,

 

That's a lot of progress !

Maybe it's the picture but the top mast on the bowsprit is not straight.

For the rest it is looking great !

And some bowsprits are very long.

If it is the right measurement, leave it .

 

[p_balag]

Hi Matt

 

Mate! all I can say is... your skills are amazing and you make it look so simple....

 

Only when someone like me is building the same kit will be able to appreciate what you can do... compared to how i am managing!! hehe...

 

No doubt, I will follow your build like a hawk!!! (in a good way)...

 

Cheers

 

Bala

[mathewp]

Thanks for your kind words everyone. I haven't posted for a while. I've been doing a few things to the workshop, trying to make things a little less cluttered and more organized. Lately it's been all masts and preparing to glue them in. The metal mast caps were no good. so I made my own. Same goes for the struts that hold the top rail on the mast caps. They just didn't fit. I'm also short a length of 8 mm dowel so I have to wait a little bit so I can do the Mizzen mast. I had to remake a trestle as I put it on upside down, it's so easy to do that. Everything seems to be progressing well. I've rounded the blocks this time, and I think it looks OK. It's very fiddly to sand them one at a time, so I'm hoping it's worth it. For now i'll continue prepping masts and fitting them out with the blocks. The plans are letting me down on this part, as it's very difficult to tell what some of them are for. I've found one 4 mm dead-eye that's not supposed  to be there. That's all for now .

 

 

Matt.

[Sjors]

Wow Matt,

 

You are not around for a while but when you are coming, then you have something !!!!!

Great job what you have done !!!!

And thanks for the pictures.....I love that !       

 

[mathewp]

Hi all. Have finally managed to get some parts and timber to continue building. I was short some 8 mm dowell for the Mizzen abd the main yard. While I was waiting I got stuck into preparing the masts for gluing and trying to do as much of the fiddly work as I can before putting them on. I made a little jig for positioning the deadeyes, as my other efforts with them haven't been very good. The ones on the mast tops have turned out pretty good, well, better than my other ones so I'll count it as a win.

That's it for now.

[mathewp]

     I dont know what's going on with the site, but i've got some photos missing . Anyway, I've got a little bit of progress to post. I've moved on to doing the deadeyes and getting the Shrouds tied on and a few ratlines to boot. I made a little jig to help space the deadeyes so I could get nice even looking Shrouds. I think I've done a better job this time. I've left the Stays unfastened so I can adjust them once all the standing rigging is up, including the Backstays because they are somewhat in the way of doing the Shrouds and ratlines. I'll do those last. 

 

   Matt.

[Sjors]

Hi Matt,

 

There was a server changing and there are a few pictures who are missing.

If you still have them on your pc ,you can re-upload them.

 

You have make good progress !

You deadeyes are just perfect in one line !

Ratline are also great.

Overall a great job !

 

[mathewp]

Hi all. I hope you are all well. I've made a little progress with her, but it's the slow kind. Ratlines and preparing sails for fitting have been time consuming. I've added the Anchors as I've finished the dead-eyes and the ratlines. The end is in sight now, so only a couple of more posts to go for this build. It's just a case of sails and flags and tidying up with some rope coils and she will done. The plans for rigging aren't the best so I've left them all with some playroom so that If anything needs to be changed I've got enough to move the rigging. At this point none of the rigging has been glued on and trimmed off near the pins etc, as I've been a little concerned about the loose lines that come off the sails that will need to be made to look even. With a bit of luck my next post should have the sails all up.

    I decided to use the provided sails, but tea stained them and added the edges which took 3 days to sew on by hand. I did a test piece first and they didn't look too bad afterwards, so I did the whole lot. That's all for now,

   

 

Matt. 

[olliechristo]

Wow, incredible sail work.. looking really grand.. Ollie

[Littlebob]

Well done Matt and fast to.