15th Century Latin Caravel by Vivian Galad - FINISHED - Artesania Latina - Scale 1/50

[Vivian Galad]

Ulises, hope I get some more soon, 3 more ships already coming. =D

 

Al, São Paulo is a busy city, a place to work and make money that never sleeps. I found my peace, now, when I work on the caravel; think she gets me to another dimension - it´s a time to forget my problems. You´re doing a great work, I´m sure u´ll get yours all pretty and neat. =D

 

Sam, they´ll be mobile, but not by wheels. The canons in this case were just put on the carriage (a simple base, really) and adapted from cannons from fortresses. The gunners had to move them through sheer force. Since the small caravels had great manoeuvrability, the cannons usually hadn´t to move. Later, the "caravela de armada" got new guns with a firing deck and all. Well, as for the tools, still don´t know what is to have too much

 

Mihail, spaciba bolshoi =D

[Captain Al]

Vivian, my wife mentioned you to my Sao Paulo neighbor and he said he'd like to correspond with you (at least once). She said she'd have to check with me if that was possible other than via this website. I don't think it is. I don't see any feature here for off line direct contact with members. So, with his permission, I am giving you his email address:email address removed by moderator, if you so desire, drop him a line. He's 91, wife is 86 and they are both great people. If you don't, so be it.

 

Al,

Please send Vivian the email addy via PM.  Posting it is an invitation to spammers to harvest it and use it.

Edited December 29, 2013 by mtaylor
removed email address to prevent spam

[Richard Griffith]

Vivian, when you get into a different dimension, when time passes without you knowing it, then you have reached a state of mind that will give you peace and relaxation.  Making model ships also does this for me.  For others, this would be other forms, for example, my son Shane found his while playing the cello. 

 

You are doing very nice work, and you will get better at it.  It appears you have found your passion. 

 

Have fun~!                         Duff

[Jeff-E]

Hi Vivian,

 

Very nice improvisation with your rudder hinges they look very good and they work. Are you going to paint them black?

Your anchor machinery thing is called a 'windlass' in our silly english  

Your deck fittings look good also very neat.

With your cannon could you add a small strip of timber to the bottom of each side of of your gun carrige to cover the legs that are now exposed  and then add some new legs to lift them up to the right height ? It may make the carriges a bit bigger but it would be an easy fix :)Just a suggestion. I hope your deadeyes turn up soon

[Vivian Galad]

Duff, that´s it. Found a passion, or it found me. Already got 3 more kits on e-bay - Cocca Veneta by Corel, Chinese Junk and San Francisco II by Artesania Latina. Hope I get better in each one I build.

 

Jeff, turns out I´ll paint them black, after I get some nails to them. Thanks for the explanation, got one more word to use. Thinking about the etimology for it... lol. I thought about fixing the cannons that way, but I´m still searching for an excuse to that, since the other two can be placed without problems. Out of question, though is to fix the hull, making new holes - it would be a risky work with new planking that I´m not in the mood to do. If I build, they will come -

[Ulises Victoria]

Found a passion, or it found me. Already got 3 more kits on e-bay - Cocca Veneta by Corel, Chinese Junk and San Francisco II by Artesania Latina. Hope I get better in each one I build.

 

Vivian. One of the major pleasures in my life is to open the box of a new kit, peruse its contents, and then go to my neighborhood Starbucks one Sunday morning with the plans and instructions, and build the ship in my head over a nice latte. You have 3 coming up!

 

Out of question, though is to fix the hull, making new holes - it would be a risky work with new planking that I´m not in the mood to do. If I build, they will come -

 

This is perfectly OK, as long as you learn something out if it

 

Best wishes

Ulises

[src]

Vivian, you will get better with each one, as long as that one of your goals. Its life life, each little step becomes easier the more you do it. Listen to me, haven even finished my first build and giving that kind of advice, HA!

take it from a life long carpenter and tool snob; you can never have to many tools! Its kind of like some women and shoes. 

Sam

[burnside63]

Vivian, where did you buy the kit.  I have been looking for this and cannot find it.

[ScottRC]

Vivian,

 

I seem to always end up with one opening, usually cabin windows, too high or too low.  It is better to have the cannon low so that all you need to do is shim it up. 

 

In regards to canon use, it really all depends on what the ship was contracted to do.  Ships of the period we are discussing were "multi-purpose" so at least they would have one cannon to use for signalling, or could have in board a dozen or more if contracted for military expedition.  As was explained earlier, cannon of this period were still regarded to be used for artillary support for soldiers.  This is why this period is so interesting. Like the combat evolution of the airplane, which started out just to be an observation platform to support the infantry, the ship was used primarily to carry, aid, and support the infantry, and not to be used as a primary offensive weapon, yet we see within a period of 200 years ships evolving into single-purpose fighting vessels.

 

Scott

[Vivian Galad]

Ulises, always learning. Today I´ll mount my anchors and already decided to forget the original plans, so I´ll not have problems as those for the cannons. After a lot of images review, I´ll put it at my will - that´s one thing I´m loving, too, to modify the kit.

 

Sam, I can understand what u´r saying, cause I throw now a lot of time at tools searching. Saws, drill parts and lots of tiny instruments are at my wish list, now. ^^

 

Burn, I found it at a brazilian manufacturer, link follows: http://www.artimanha.com.br/Vendas/Kits_a_venda/Venda%20CV%20Portuguesa.htm

 

Scott - u´r right and I think I´ll just raise my cannons. The first caravels were mainly used for exploration, since the lanteen sails and the low keel let them sail through seas and rivers and gave them agility against other types of ships. The model I´m building is one used for exploring Africa´s west coast, between the 1430´s to 1470´s. They were light gunned and, as u said, gave cover to land incursions. The first caravels were two masted, and got Portugal beyond any other nation´s exploration at the time, at least in the Atlantic, mine is a later one, three masted and used after bases Portugal already had in Africa´s coast.

[Vivian Galad]

Jerome, I´m taking as many pictures as I can. Your cousins are right. Although São Paulo is a mixed city, with people from all around the world, it´s a big international city, with malls and skyscrapers everywhere. Lived 11 years at Cuiabá. Mato Grosso, near the Pantanal (our everglades, lol) and all I can say is that all ppl who lives in São Paulo should live a time out of the city to feel really brazilian.

[Vivian Galad]

Hey all! Did some progress today and I´ll bring some pictures on.

 

   First of all, worked on my anchors, and don´t know why found them cute. Some time sanding, some time polishing, then painted them black, as all my metallic fittings. The wooden part was made from two 3x3mm pieces tied together - all again, sanded, varnished and closed with the ropes, waxed to get dark.

 

 

  Had the water pump to do the same, so, I did. Sanded, polished and painted it black. Fixed it to the appointed place on plans and it looks that way:

 

 

  Mizzen alone don´t have the power over mizzen sail, so, there it is, a tail to hold the sail.

 

 

  The rudder got its driving bar and got some seccurity ropes (so I think it is). Bar made from a 4x4mm wooden strip, sculpted to fit in. Ropes got trough brass fittings attached to the hull and rudder.

 

 

 

  Finished my anchors and windlass with ropes and all. Satisfied with the results.

 

 

 

  Did that oops fixing to my cannons and learned a bit about making holes without thinking about the use for them...

 

 

  Now my caravel got that look

 

 

   Tomorrow I hope will work on sails, to let them ready for the final effort. I´ll varnish the hull once more, with a marine varnish, after filling the small gaps that are still there, too. Seems she´s getting ready to explore the Atlantic.

Edited January 2, 2014 by Vivian Galad

[Jeff-E]

Hi Vivian,

 

She is looking really great, nice neat work on the anchors and their rigging and I think your cannons turned out OK. You will soon be onto the real fun part, the rigging.

By the way have your wooden deadeyes turned up yet?

 

Keep up the good work and the pics coming

[MontyB]

Very good build i really like it no love it. Keep up the good work

[Don Jane]

Happy New Year Vivian !

Your build is looking great !!!

[Moonbug]

Hi Vivian, she's looking good!

 

I'm always happy to see a new shipbuilder join the gang. My advice on building your first ship is to really, really take your time. I had a tendency to get so excited that I would plow through at a faster pace than I should have - and the next thing you know - you're done already! So before you really jump into the sails and rigging, take a look at what you have and see if there's anything you want to do differently or change. Once all the lines are in, it's very difficult to do that.

 

Also, before I would tackle a new piece or deck fitting, I'd go through the forum and see who's already done it - then take what I could from them. As you get new kits you'll likely find that the kit instructions vary SO much that it's a good idea to take the best bits from each, then the rest from what builders here have already done.

 

You're doing a great job, and I can't wait to see you finish out this build and jump into your next ones!

 

- Bug

[Vivian Galad]

Jeff, I´m in hope my deadeys will be here tomorrow. In the meantime, I´ll work on sails, final varnish for the hull and some minor fixing. Since I modified the kit, I think it´s right to show some comparison to what it was to be by the book and what I wanted her to be. There are not so many things, but to me, they gave the soul she deserved.

[Vivian Galad]

Monty, my many thanks. She´s my baby love now. In no time there I am, apreciating her, thinking on how she´ll be after the rigging, with sails on to take the seas...

 

Don, a fantastic 2014 for you and everyone u like ^^. Thanks for the visit.

 

Bug, I´m learning a lot through the forum. When I got the kit I began it hurriedly and paid for that. Got a non simetrical hull (although it is not that assimetrical too), some problems with my deck planking and find out too late that the instructions and the laser cut pieces weren´t so precise. If I took my time, I could have seen some of these problems. Now I´ve got what time is to the hobby and never do more than a few things when working on her, to prevent further mistakes and to fully grasp all the details. Thanks for your words =*

[Salty Sea Dog]

Hi Vivian!

 

You have definitely added soul to your caravel. The bitumen and waxes are a great touch. Love that anchor!

 

Best wishes,

[Moonbug]

Great approach Vivian!  Whenever I start to get in a hurry (particularly during the repetitive bits like ratlines etc.) I try to tell myself that if my finished build is going to last forever, the least I can do is invest an extra few minutes or even a day to get a part the way I want it.  

 

At the same time, it's also very important to me to make my own artistic liberties to get her the way I want her even if those changes may not be completely accurate. After all, they are MY ships and I'm the one that's going to see them most often. ;-)

 

Keep having fun and I'll be following with interest!  

 

- Bug

[Ulises Victoria]

Hello Vivian:

Wow... you are doing a terrific job. Your model is coming a little big masterpiece. Your attention to detail is what makes it so well done. Please keep posting photos of your advances.

 

Tu amigo: Ulises

[Vivian Galad]

Moon, fun and satisfaction ^^. Last two days I got on my sails, but no rigging yet. Got like 6 hour just to let the wood the way I want, with some studied imperfections here and there.

 

Ulises, I´m really thankful for your support. Ppl say god is in the details and I like to be some time on the same piece till it is what it deserved to be. Hope in the next ones I can overcome the mistakes I did and learn more, but this caravel will always be my first baby. Besos!

[Vivian Galad]

Hey, Buck, ty! The instructions said to paint the hull almost black. I couldn´t do it to the wood, instead, thought the wax would bring stains but keep the wood visible. If I had painted her black, think I would never look at her with the same admiration.

[Moonbug]

I can't bring myself to paint... Dark stain, sure. Paint... Not so much.

 

-Bug

[Vivian Galad]

Well, well. Some little progress in the last few days. As I said, was working on my sails and here I bring my first one finished.

 

Two 4mmX24mm sticks brought together with glue and lines. Got them waxed so to look as weathered ropes.

 

In detail

 

Mizzen sail on the beginning

 

Detailing the wood to what I wanted it to look - lots of sanding and two layers of wax.

 

And my first sail ready.

Edited January 9, 2014 by Vivian Galad

[Richard Griffith]

Hi Vivian, your lateen yard and sail look great! 

 

Duff

[Moonbug]

Nice work Vivian. How did you add the cross? Was it already on the sail?

 

-Bug

[Vivian Galad]

Hey, Duff. Ty ^^

 

Bug, already on the sail.

[src]

Vivian,

Great work and in such a short time. looking forward to your future build(s)

Sam

[NAZGÛL]

Looking good, you're a fast builder!

 

 

/Matti