Santisima Trinidad by Daryl - FINISHED - OcCre - 1:90 scale - Cross-Section

[Daryl]

Took some time off and went on holidays. The weather it too bad to be staying in Melbourne just now.

 

I have now attached the Main and Topmast shrouds and started tying the Ratlines. Just love all those clove hitches.

 

Photo 68

 

 

Photo 69

 

 

Photo 70

 

 

I get sore arms from holding them up tying the ratlines, so if anyone has a simple way for tying ratlines, please let me know. e.g. The shrouds are pre-asembled (cut to length and blocks attached at ends), then laid out flat on the work table, pinned to shape on top of a piece of paper which has the location of th ratlines drawn on it, and then the ratlines tied. Once the are all tied, the shrouds are inserted through the crosstree/cheek and then attached to the block on the chain plates using the lanyards. Sounds easy, but I am sure there could be a catch somewhere.

[cristikc]

Hi Daryl

Maybe you can look here: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/293-santisima-trinidad-by-cristikc-occre-1769-wood-cross-section-190/page-4

and see how i solved the problem, it is the same cross section

Al the best, Cristi

[Daryl]

Back again. Just had to get away from this rotten weather for a while. I have now completed the ratlines on the Main shrouds and started the ratlines on the Main Topmans shrouds.

 

Cristi. Thank you for sending the images but I was not been able to open them so i went directly to your build and saw them there.

 

Photo 71

 

 

Photo 72

 

 

 

[GuntherMT]

Hi Daryl, this is a really nice build, and I'm amazed at how you dealt with the massively warped frames.

 

You posted months ago that OcCre was going to replace them, did they ever send you replacement parts?

 

I for one will be very interested in reading your report to OcCre when you are finished!

[Daryl]

And the rigging grows and grows.

 

Photo 73 - Ratlines completed on Main Topmast shrouds

 

 

Photo 74 - Main Topgallant shrouds installed

 

 

Photo 75 - Mainmast backstays installed

 

 

Photo 76 - Mainmast rigging completed

 

 

So now we move on to the Yards and Spars and all their bits and pieces. I am sure that will keep me occupied for lots of time.

 

Stay tuned.

 

Daryl

 

 

[Daryl]

Hello Brian

 

Yes, everything straight out of the box. The rope is not the best at all. Very fluffy and catches on everything. I am now very interested in learning how to make rope. I willbe building a small model Viking Knarr next year, so I think I will use that as my test bed for rope making.

 

Daryl

[Daryl]

I have now completed the yards and not without some problems. Maybe I just need new glasses but I feel I found a problem with the diagrams they gave.

 

There are 2 images for each yard. One is shown from the front (or back) and the other from the top.

 

Using the Topsail yard as an example. When you look at the image showing the front of the yard, you can see to the R/H side of the Topsail yard support board that there is a 5mm block and then a 4mm block attached. In between them there is another 4mm block which is located behind the Topsail yard spar. So far, so good. Now, if you look at the top view image (which is only the front view image rotated 45 degrees, it shows the 4mm block infront of the Topsail yard spar. It should be behind it.

 

I found this occurred many times so it will be interesting to see what happens when I start with the halyards etc. I am hoping it does not cause too much of a problem as the thought of cutting them off and retying does not do my little grey cells any good.

 

And here is a photo of the completed yards. I think I have a lot to learn about these.

 

[Daryl]

Well, I had an inkling that the rigging was not going to be simple.

 

In photo 74 of the coloured instructions, it tells you to attach 6 x 4mm pulleys, labelled "E". Very clear photo of the two holes in them, so that is what I did.

 

In sheet B of the large black and white rigging diagrams, it indicates that the rigging is to be connected to 5 x 4mm blocks labelled "D".

 

I will not be changing the pulleys to blocks as there was not enough of them provided in the first place.

 

I have found the rigging diagrams to be very confusing and not helpful. Maybe I am just not experienced enough yet.

 

I have also changed brands of the cord I am using for the rigging. The provided cotton is too fluffy. I have also had to drill out a lot of the pulleys and blocks as the holes are woeful. The joys of being retired and having nothing to do but build model ships. NOT.

 

Having said all that, following is a photo of the Main yard which is now swinging nicely from the Main mast.

 

[Daryl]

I am pleased to say that there actually IS light at the end of the tunnel.

 

I have made a huge effort to finish this project as it has been around for a long time now. As a result, I only have 1 days work to go and it will be completed.

 

I have spent the month completing the sails and rigging except for the final tie off of the rigging. Needless to say, as can be seen in the last two photos below, I have heaps of cord hanging free just waiting for me to get it all tangled and knotted.

 

The first photo shows the yards suspened by the halyards.

 

 

The next shows the lifts attached.

 

 

The next two photos show two views of the hanging of the sails. I must say that I love the sails. They are really well made and were a joy to work with.

 

 

 

And then I started on the rigging and ran into a few problems.

 

The first is the mainmast rail. This should NOT be installed until the very end of the build. It just gets in the way of tying off everything.

 

The second are the side and mast pin racks. They are not long enough to have the pins spaced sufficiently to cater for good tying off. They are too cramped. I could be wrong but I think the pins are not scaled down correctly.

 

The next photo shows the buntlines hanging yet to be tied off.

 

 

And the last shows the Sheets, Garnets and Leech lines attached but not tied off

 

 

Should be finished soon.

 

 

[Daryl]

Well, she is finished. Spent the last two days tying everything off. Not happy with the end result though, especially the running rigging. I just could not fit everything in. I have so much to learn. If anyone knows of a book that is viewed as being the "bible" of how to rig a model, please let me know. In the mean time, I will keep looking at all the great models on this forum hoping to learn more from them.

 

Here are the last two photos. If you look closely, you will see the shortcuts I have made. I was thinking of doing another "section" model but I will try and learn a lot more before I start one.

 

 

 

I will now finish my report and that will be attached in the next day or two.

 

 

[bago100]

Congratulations Daryl, on your achievement

 

Finished just in time for the 2015 footy pre-season.

 

Looking forward to seeing you begin your next build

 

Wishing you a happy Christmas

 

Graham

[Daryl]

I just found out I could not attach a .doc file so here is an extract of the text of the report that I am sending to OcCre.

.........

 

Please find on the following pages, a complete and honest report on my build of the “Section Santisima Trinidad” model purchased directly from OcCre on the 29^th November, 2013.

Please note that I am not a highly skilled modeler so what may be a problem to me may not be one to someone else and I may be making suggestions that are already common knowledge and have solutions.

This is the first time I have ever thought I needed to write such a report as I have encountered so many problems with this build that I thought I should say something. This report contains not only the problems I found but some suggestions regarding fixing those problems that may help both the manufacturer and someone who attempts to make this model.

I hope this report is of some use to those who read it.

 

Purchase and Delivery

I purchased the model online directly from OcCre. The purchase process was very easy to use and did not provide any problems.

The delivery of the item was quick and there were no problems. The ability to track the delivery of the model was appreciated.

 

Model Kit – Parts provided

I undertook a complete audit of the kit once it had arrived which identified only one discrepancy. It was:

No. E – 4mm Pulley. Only 36 were delivered instead of the 45 shown on the parts list.

 

During the build of the model, I found that there were insufficient amounts of one item in particular, that being:

Deck Planking – The widths of the decks is greater than the width of the number of planks identified in the instructions. E.g. the lower deck is 140mm wide and the total width of the planking based on the figures given in the instructions is 129mm. The same goes for all 4 decks. OcCre quickly provided me with additional decking when I brought this to their attention. Not a major issue but one that should not have happened.

 

Model Kit – Quality of Parts provided

Metal. All of the metal parts were of a very high quality.

 

Frames. I had a major problem with the quality of the timber used for the frames. The ply was very poor and not fit for such a model. Once they were removed from the sheet, they twisted all ways. When trying to straighten they snapped very easily. A modeler should not have to make up a complicated jig to hold the frames in line.

 

Masts. The timber used for the main mast was warped and could not be straightened. Luckily I have a good supply of doweling so that was easily fixed. Then again, it should not have happened.

 

Pulleys and Blocks. The 4mm & 5mm clump blocks were of a very high quality. The 4mm & 5mm blocks and pulleys were of a very low quality. The holes in the 4mm pulleys were not in line and I had to redrill every 4mm & 5mm block and pulley. There are very good quality blocks and pulleys available from many sources so it is difficult to understand why OcCre used these.

 

Cotton thread. The 0.15 cotton thread is of very poor quality. It is very “furry” and catches very easily. It does not look like rope at all. There are very good quality threads available that could be used instead of this.

 

OVERALL. The quality was below what I would have expected from OcCre and especially for a model of this price.

 

Documentation

 

The three documents that were provided for the build of the model provided both confusion and in some cases, inaccurate directions.

I felt that having to move between multiple documents was not the most efficient way in which to work. Each one had a different format, i.e. one had step-by-step instructions, one had color photos and one had plan drawings with differing elevations. They could have all been easily combined into one continuous document.

One example of inaccurate details is the Mainmast Crosstree. The one shown in the color photo differs to the one shown in the plan drawings in that it had an additional cross piece.

Instructions

As previously mentioned, the instructions are spread over three very different documents.  Experienced modelers may not have a problem with these instructions, but those who are still learning such as myself, need as much assistance as possible so as not to make too many mistakes.

This might just be an “age” things, but I really enjoy the following format for instructions:

Step #. What to do - Where to do it - How to do it - Image/Photo/drawing of step & result.

The order of a build should be such that everything is done when it should be done. (Each part has a number and they are entered in the Parts List in the order they are meant to be done, so I have included the numbers to show how far apart some of these are) Examples of this not happening in the instructions are:

• The Waist (111, 112), Battery (113, 114, 115) and Deck (116, 117, 118) stairs. They are only installed after the hull and decking has been completed. It would have been much easier to install them on their deck (16, 25, 42) when building that deck.
• The Mast pin rail (108). This should not be installed until the very end of the build as it just gets in the way of trying to tie off all the rigging.
• The Loft (105, 106, 107). This should be installed in conjunction with the lower deck (16).
• The sails (206, 207, 209, and 211) are laced to the yards before any of the running rigging. If you do this, when you attempt to tie the Clew Garnets (216, 217, 218, 219) and Buntlines (220, 221, 222) to the yards, you will be tying them over the lacing (205) used to attach the sails to the yards. Instead, the Clew Garnets and Buntlines should have been tied off on the yards prior to the sails being laced.

A photo and a part number is NOT an instruction. An example of this is the building of the Masts, Rigging and Running Gear. There are no step by step instructions for these as there is for the Hull. Instead, you have photos (some with a lot of items in the photo), part numbers and descriptions and plans. Considering the instructions for the Hull took 2 and a half pages, not having any written instructions for the rest seems surprising to say the least.

 

OVERALL. The documentation could be a lot more user friendly. I personally think it could do with a total review and possible re-write.

 

Scale drawings

1. The plan documents give both front and side elevations for the masts. They are very detailed but have to be studied carefully. Some of them are confusing. An example is on page 5.

• The top drawing shows a side view of the completed Main Yard.
  • In this view, there are two blocks partially hidden by each Main Yard Spars. These turn out to be the blocks used for the main clew garnets.
  • If this drawing was “rolled counter clockwise” so as to give the top view as shown in the bottom drawing, these blocks should appear on the “top”. Instead they are shown hanging from the “bottom”.
  • The error is in the top drawing. They should be shown in front of the Main Yard Spars.
• Following these plans exactly as shown could result in having the blocks located on the wrong side when you go to use them later on.
• The same problem happens on page 6 for the Topsail yard.

1. The plan documents for the rigging are of a very small scale. I must admit that I got totally lost when trying to tie off all the running rigging. The instructions tell you to install 8 Belaying Pins in the side pin racks yet there are 9 tie-offs for each side. As for the mast pin racks, they hold 5 pins but there are 8 tie-offs on one side and 6 on the other.  

OVERALL. The Scale drawings in some instances are too small and too complicated. They need to be enlarged to give a better view of the work that is to be done.

 

Overall

1. Anyone wishing to build this particular model should spend a considerable amount of time to read and re-read all the documentation so as to obtain a very clear understanding of what needs to be done and in what order,
2. Following the instructions/plans/photos blindly will more than likely lead to problems,
3. All instructions and plans should be provided electronically (CD, link to website for downloadable file etc. which would allow modelers to print out just the section they need in any size that suits them.
4. Check all parts for not only their quality but their usability and lastly
5. Do not let it get you down. I am reasonably pleased with the end result of my build but that does not get rid of the frustration I had in building it due to the issues I have raised both in this document and in the Model ship world forum. My unbiased wife Kaye tells me it is beautiful so how can I argue with that.

Feed-back

Go for it. I will take on board any feedback you may want to provide. I can handle criticism so long as it is followed by a suggestion as to what may have been a better/more suitable way to have done what it was that has caused the comment.

 

Other than that. I look forward to putting my next build (Viking Knarr) on the Forum when I start it in the New Year and following the great builds that are underway.

[Daryl]

Hi Graham

 

Thank you.  Sorry for being so late in responding. Went overseas to Kuala Lumpur for Xmas and just got back. As for preseason. I just hope the Blues have a better year or I may just have to think about not renewing my membership in 2016.

 

My next build is a 1:72 scale Viking Knarr. I have already found a problem with the shape of the laser cut keel compared to the drawings in the instruction manual so I am currently talking to Dusek (the manufacturer) to try and sort it out before I start building. I will be putting that all up on the forum within the next week.

 

Have a good 2015.

 

Daryl

[Bernard Kane]

I suspect I am really too late to make comments following your observations on this model Daryl but having just finished that same model as you built (Santisima Trinidad Section) I felt I had to comment. The first thing I would say is that I wish I had read your review before making the model - I think life would have been much easier. I would concur with just about every comment you made. The most difficult part for me was the rigging as you are so right in saying. I too had to re.drill just about every one of the pulleys and indeed had to order some extra parts from OcCre. To be fair they did respond and sent me some additional parts which was a help. My main complaint about the model were the instruction for the rigging which I found to be confusing. The pictures did not seem to match the drawn instruction but again, like you, it could be that I am not a sufficiently competent or experienced modeller of this type of model. I have been modelling all my life but this is my first venture into this type of boat. I thought the picture instructions for the hull and other accessories were quite good and in fact I completed the hull without too much stress. I wholeheartedly agree with most of your other comments. I suspect by now you will have built the Viking Knarr so I hope that well. 

Sorry to be late but I hope you get these comments and please feel free to come back to me. Indeed if anyone else is thinking of building this model and want further advice feel free to ask. I shall in due course be putting some pictures of the build on either YouTube or/and Model world. I have certainly found some of the advice very useful. One word of caution though to new builders. This model is sold by a few companies and there are differences between them so although they look very similar be careful to not where these differences are between OcCre’s model and other companies.