Base color
Before painting, only one thing is required: lightly make pencil marks for the location of the decorative elements. The background painting of the decorative elements itself is done with Humbrol acrylic blue paint No. 5025, which gives the most correct and pleasant shade of blue, subsequently highlighting the ornament perfectly.
The part of the hull below the waterline should be made of matte white in two or three layers with intermediate drying of each of them. After this, the mask is installed strictly along the broken waterline using any available method and the corresponding part of the hull above the waterline is painted matte black. In fact, given the amount of work that still needs to be done on the hull in the future, the paint on the bottom of the model will have to be touched up at least once more.
The body with the base paint applied is shown in Fig. 17.
Rice. 17. Body with base coat of paint on stand.
Gun Port Covers
There are a few things to pay attention to at this stage. First of all, the hinges of the gun port covers must be painted. Then, before installing the butts on them, the hinges are glued onto the lids with epoxy.
After this, according to the instructions, the covers are installed in place. But considering the fairly large amount of work that still needs to be done on the case, this is not the best idea. It is recommended that you paint the inside of the port covers red and set them aside for later installation.
One unpleasant comment on the quality of the kit: both parts of the prefabricated gun port covers are provided in the form of pre-cut laser elements, which, along with the fairly high precision of their execution, is absolutely unacceptable in terms of the wood chosen for this - it is too light. Therefore, you should do one of two things: either try to etch the outer side of the covers to match the color of the body plating, or make the outer part of the cover yourself from scraps of the finishing plating.
Bronze decorative elements
At this stage, it is already necessary to install some decorative elements in place. A few key points to pay close attention to will help make this part of the job much easier and improve its quality.
Initially, all decorative elements are divided into two parts: bronze castings, the quality of which is simply the highest, requiring only minor work on cleaning the seating surfaces for their gap-free installation on the body, and photo-etched sheets (nowadays, wooden “scorched” sheets are used - approx.). The latter can be divided into the required parts, simulating ship parts, using small side cutters. You should be very careful when doing this, because... the edges of these elements are quite sharp (it is better to be careful not to deform or lose these elements - approx.). After separating the photo-etched part from the sheet, you should clean the places where it is attached - the remains of the “legs” and, if necessary, level it on a flat surface. Painting the recesses of photo-etched parts in the appropriate color, followed by sanding their raised parts, can be done both before and after separating the part from the whole sheet.
The balustrades of the aft gallery are made in the form of castings from a softer and more pliable material than the details of the ornament and, with appropriate precautions, can be bent to give them the required shape. It is necessary to take into account the rather complex spatial, double curvature shape of the bend of the balustrades, and cut their lower gunwale in three or four places to facilitate this bend.
It’s not at all difficult to press “your” balustrade on the upper deck of the gallery with several “crocodiles” while the glue is setting. But for the lower deck, it is recommended to drill three or four holes in the vertical plating immediately below the deck level, into which “crocodiles” can be inserted. Of course, these holes are sealed before installing bronze plates in this place.
Decorative overlays and ornamental leaves connecting them around the body under the lower gallery require very careful and precise marking on the body, as well as some correction of their contours for precise installation in their places.
Several bronze details represent shields with coats of arms. Instead of installing them as recommended in the instructions without any treatment - bronze color, you can paint them. For example, the background of the quarters is made in red and white criss-cross with multi-colored details of the bas-relief of the coat of arms. This will add several small, but very effective and eye-catching details to the model both in the bow and stern of the hull, significantly increasing its entertainment value.
Various types of decorative elements of the model are shown in Fig. 18, 19 and 20.
Rice. 18. Bronze elements of the bow ornament.
Rice. 19. Transom with cast and photo-etched parts installed.
Rice. 20. Fencing and decoration of feeding galleries.
Latrine
This stage is the most real test of the modeller’s skills and craftsmanship.
It is recommended to work from bottom to top. First of all, you should adjust and install in place on both sides of the latrine bracket. Their shape and location are captured using a photo-etched overlay that extends from the hawser area of the body under the figurehead. The curved seating surfaces of these pairs of brackets, with a changing base angle, make it almost impossible to adjust these surfaces for the installation of subsequent elements and, above all, the specified wedge-shaped decoration.
This issue can be resolved by replacing the original parts of the brackets with your own, made of thicker material. In this case, having adjusted them to the seating surfaces of the hull and stem, as well as processing their outer seating surface, ornamental photo-etched linings of the right and left sides are applied to the latter, and their contour is outlined, along which the brackets are processed, ensuring their perfect match with overlays. After such adjustment, all parts are installed in place (Fig. 18).
The latrine deck support brackets are installed on the stem. Particular attention should be paid to their symmetry and verticality.
Regels are made of decorative bronze strips. There are three of them per side in a set and, practically, they connect both sides. First, coat of arms are installed behind the cramboles on both sides. A decorative casting, which is the front end of the regels, is also installed in its place behind the figurehead. Then it is useful to prepare a stencil showing the layout of the regels, which is removed from the corresponding drawings. Some technical adjustments may be required here. In other words, you will have to cheat a little. To do this, you should remove from the model on a separate sheet of paper the actual dimensions and relative positions of the three holes in the armorial shields and the decorative casting on the stem. After this, the “theoretical” stencil is cut into two parts, and then positioned and fixed on the “real” paper drawing. The protruding part of the stencil is trimmed along the boundaries of the upper and lower regels and applied to the model for final verification. Any necessary subsequent adjustments can be made by making a new stencil (Fig. 21). It is important to note that the four cast frames of the crossbars on each side are identical, so you should carefully sort the crossbars so as not to confuse them.
Rice. 21. Cardboard stencils of regels. The same for the left and right sides (in mirror image!).
Imitation gun barrels
Few words. If, as expected, the modeler wants to make sure that all the simulated gun barrels of the lower closed decks protrude beyond the hull at exactly the same distance, then to adjust the overhang of these barrels it is best to place washers between them and the blocks where they are installed. If you want to “drown” the imitation into the body, then holes with a diameter of 6 mm are drilled in wooden blocks, in which the barrel itself is held. In all cases, initially a small-diameter pilot hole is drilled in the blocks, into which, according to the instructions, a barrel simulator is installed with its leg in the breech.
Another important point is the need to paint the channels of these trunks matt black before installing them in place. To do this, just drop a drop of acrylic paint inside and blot off the excess with a damp cloth.
After installing all the simulated gun barrels, it is time to replace the lower deck gun port covers. Just above each port, two small-diameter holes are drilled for wiring the ends, with which the lid is lifted through hoists and held in the open position. The ends of threads of the required size, simulating these ends, are impregnated with cyanoacrylic glue and glued into the body, after which they are tied to the eyelets of the butts installed on the front side of the lids and cut off.
Deck railings
To ensure complete alignment of the holes for the posts, it is recommended to drill the top and bottom of these fences only together. At this stage, all longitudinal dimensions of the fences are taken not from the drawings, but from the model itself. The height of the fences, of course, depends on the size of the posts supplied in the kit.
Spiral drains
The method of making these drains shown in the drawings works without question. The only thing you can do is make a small adjustment in the method of making the outer curved bowstring. First of all, it consists of two balls of 0.5 mm thick strips glued together. The inner ball of 3x0.5 mm strips is laid out along the generatrix of a tube with a diameter of 32 mm, which is supplied in the kit, and pressed against it with a pair of rubber rings. After this, the entire surface of the assembled strips is coated with PVA glue. This method helps to avoid accidental glue strips sticking to the tube, which, among other things, may require additional cleaning of the internal, front surface. The outer ball of 4x0.5 mm strips, also held and pressed by rubber rings, is installed and fixed with glue after the first layer has completely dried. In this case, you can save a lot of time if you make a cylindrical blank at a time so long that it is enough for all three required bowstrings at once.
Again, without even paying attention to the drawings, the height of each ladder is taken at the appropriate places in the model. The distance between the respective decks is critical and key, and performing a 120° turn, or 42 mm on a 36 mm diameter, is not such an easy task.
First, the stair steps are machined and the central support post is cut to the exact height between the surfaces of the upper and lower decks. The steps overlap each other halfway and are fixed to the central post - only in this case can the correct degree of rotation of the ladder be achieved. Individual details of the screw ladder manufacturing process are shown in Fig. 22.
Rice. 22. Sequence of construction of screw ladders.
After this, a pre-prepared bowstring is glued to the ladder, as well as various support strips, racks, and handrails.
Balustrade
The description of the balustrade manufacturing process given in the documentation is very practical, although at first glance it is overcomplicated. The main point that should definitely be adhered to is to fit and drill the top and bottom of each section of the balustrade only together so that they turn out identical. To strengthen them, the corner columns, in addition to gluing, are fixed with dowels, and after they are completely dry, all the other intermediate columns are simply pushed into place.
Open deck guns
This is something that needs to be done immediately before continuing with deck detailing work. After all, in fact, it will be simply impossible to install the ship's guns in the places under the quarter-deck and stern-deck after the main and mizzen masts, and especially the beaters with dowel bars at their base, are installed. For a similar reason, the two bow-facing guns located below the fore deck must be installed in place before installing the fore deck grate hatch.
The frames of ship guns consist of two side frames, fixed to the axle supports (Fig. 23). All of these parts come pre-laser cut in the kit. The connection of all these parts is quite complex, especially taking into account the need for complete identity of all gun frames of the model. A simple jig made from scrap material can come to the rescue, the use of which ensures both simplicity and correct connection of gun frames (Fig. 24). To complete this job faster, you can use cyanoacrylic glue. Real frames of real ship guns could remain unpainted. Unfortunately, the type of wood offered in the kit for the gun frames leaves the modeler with no choice but to paint them dark brown.
The ship's gun, fully assembled and prepared for installation on the model, is shown in Fig. 25.
Rice. 23. Elements of ship guns. Assembly conductor.
Rice. 24. Axle supports in the jig. The sides are ready for installation.
Rice. 25. Completed gun frame. Completed ship's gun.
It should be noted that the axle supports have two standard sizes: for the front and rear axles of the ship’s gun frame, as well as, by the way, the bronze axles themselves. Wheels of larger diameter frames are placed in the front part of the frame, and smaller ones in the rear, to compensate for the deflection of the decks. Again, all cannon bores must be painted black.
Lattice hatches
The model requires the installation of eleven lattice hatches. One of them is divided into two parts (Fig. 26). The kit does not give the modeler the right to make mistakes, because there are only enough blanks for making these grilles. Therefore, you should use only sharp tools to avoid damaging the workpieces. The assembly of the grilles itself is not difficult; you just have to remember to install the frame-edging and flashings.
Rice. 26. Deck grill. The bottom is edged and ready for installation.
Deck equipment
Coffee dowel strips, bits, spire, ship bell. The preparation and installation of these elements does not cause any difficulties if you use the instructions in the instructions and drawings. A large number of identical parts are placed on the dowel strips, which are prepared in this regard at the same time. Almost all deck elements, especially those that must in the future absorb loads from rigging, are recommended to be installed using dowels.
The ship's lanterns are standard parts from Mantua. To increase their entertainment value, it is recommended to line them from the inside with pieces of transparent acetate film. Installing lanterns requires a lot of care and skill to get them at the right angle and height, but when installed correctly they look wonderful.
The anchors are assembled according to the standard pattern for kits. The rods are laser cut from plywood. As in other areas of the project, the wood used for the rods must be either painted or replaced with another, making the rods from scratch. Anchor eyelets should be encircled for a more professional and historically correct presentation.
Vant-putens
This stage may cause some surprise and reflection on the correspondence of the cost of the set to its quality: the installation of shrouds and shrouds on the riverbeds. While many of the kit's wood pieces, which have fairly complex shapes, come pre-cut, almost all of the channel piping must be made by the modeler himself from brass wire. In turn, this makes it necessary to come up with some homemade devices and conductors that would help make all these elements, as required, absolutely identical. Of course, most modelers can handle this problem. With more or less success. But for a set of this level, such neglect of such important details leaves a sour taste.
And an even bigger problem than manufacturing the parts described above is their installation on the model body. The tool has to be held terribly close to the raised covers of the gun ports, and installing nails of puttens strips into even pre-drilled holes poses a certain and considerable danger to the model. This work is not for speed. Yes, even without a strong sense of self-confidence, you should not start such work.
And of course, brass wire and puttens are the "wrong" color and must be painted. It is recommended that painting be carried out after connecting the shrouds to the deadeyes and before installing them on the channel.
Deck elements and details are shown in Fig. 27, 28, 29, and 30.
Rice. 27. Aft decks. Rusleni.
Rice. 28. Deck parts around the mainmast.
Rice. 29. Spire and ship bell. Whaleboat support on the main deck.
Rice. 30. Bow section. Encrusted eyelets of anchors.
Stand
Until this point, you can use a stand, assembled dry from the parts supplied in the kit, to work on the model body. However, towards the end of the project, it turns out that the “branded”, simple stand does not at all correspond to the level of the model, which deserves something better than two figured pieces of plywood connected by wooden rounds. Even etched and varnished, this stand has a crude appearance. Therefore, it is better to make the stand yourself, for example, as shown in the photo of the assembled model at the beginning of the article, with turned legs and a name plate.
Armament and rigging
The model of the San Felipe ship in this scale is too large for a modeler in his apartment or even a house to feel comfortable enough next to it, and not like in a communal apartment. Therefore, it seems logical to make this model only in the form of a body, i.e., practically finish the work there.
It should be noted that a study of the documentation and the parts, materials and elements attached to the armament model and installation of rigging shows that the implementation of this part of the project should be carried out according to the usual schemes and known sequences. Many of the weapons are pre-cut, which makes this part of the project much easier.
Installing the rigging does not introduce any surprises into the work. The only question is its significant volume! There are no sails in the kit, so the modeler has much more room for hands and tools.
Only the short ones of the masts and bowsprit, as well as the water-woolings of the latter, are installed in their places.
conclusions
Even with such an initially high price, the modeler receives long-term pleasure, so that the cost, divided by the many hours spent in a pleasant modeling pastime, gives a fairly low value. It is not worth mentioning the actual number of hours spent on the construction of this model, because... still, this cannot take into account the capabilities and skills of a particular modeler. But, in all cases, this project is not for a few weekends. And not even for one vacation.
The Mantua company has earned its good name thanks to the quality of the models it produces, however, as with any kit, San Felipe is made with errors. It's nothing you can do. And I don’t want to stoop to petty nitpicking and whining.
Of course, it would be worthwhile to make some parts not from plywood, but from good wood. The company had a good idea to provide the modeller with pre-cut fairly complex parts, rather than forcing him to “plane” it all himself. On the other hand, the lack of ready-made shrouds is a big disadvantage for the set.
The drawings are good in every sense, the instructions are quite detailed and consistent. The project corresponds to the real historical appearance of sailing ships to a very good level, although, to tell the truth, there is not much information left on this particular ship, so this project half falls into the category of “typical fantasy”.
But no matter what, the finished model has a very impressive appearance and can bring its author a fairly deep sense of self-satisfaction.
Price? Considering the number of hours of exciting work on the model, it's worth it.
This source also talked about people who work in museums in Madrid, who also cannot accurately confirm all this information on both San Felipe and Real Felipe... in general, the manufacturer of this model created a ship that is as close as possible to those three models that have some mystery.
What can I say about the set itself:
The set consists of 2 boxes with a total weight of 11.5 kg.
Scale: 1:50 Length: 1200 mm. Height: 930 mm. Width: 475 mm.
(Whereas Mantua: Scale: 1:75 Length: 960 mm Height: 860 mm
30466 RUR)
The kit included: catalog 2012, mini instructions, CD.
I didn't watch the disc because... CD-ROM doesn't work...
The thickness of the plywood of the body is 5mm.
The body of the model is inlaid with double skin. The frames, keel and other parts are laser cut. The body is decorated with many cast resin decorations (about 2400 pieces) (unlike Mantua, where the casting is made of brass). All guns are made of aluminum. Other deck and hull parts are made of wood and metal. A distinctive feature of the model is the execution of the spar from already narrowed blanks (masts are narrowed to one edge, yards to two).
In general, I was impressed by the set, both in terms of their quality and quantity. I was also pleased that small parts, as seen in the photo, come in vacuum packaging.
I haven’t expanded the instructions yet because... it is very large and consists of several large sheets of drawings.
Unfortunately, there is no way to take a photo on a plain background; I took it on my desktop.
Upon delivery by mail: there was a blow to the boat, but fortunately the parts themselves are intact, only the holder frame was broken.
And at the very end of the review I post a photo of the ship that is now sailing under the same name on its hull.
If anyone has interesting historical information on the ship, write to me, I will be very grateful!!!
Thank you for your attention.
Built by the King of Spain in 1690, the San Felipe was that nation's largest and most magnificent warship of its time.
Model characteristics:
This model is made from various types of wood, the color combination of which coincides with the color of the ship of that time. The hull cladding consists of wooden slats of various sections. There are also metal elements (stern decoration, details of gun port covers, guns, bow decoration, anchor hawse frames, anchors, some useful things). The model is richly decorated. The blocks and deadeyes are made of dark walnut. For rigging, threads of various colors and several diameters are used, which makes it possible to distinguish between all types of hoists.
When painting the model, high-quality acrylic waterproof paints in silky-matte and semi-matte tones are used, which most closely matches natural dyes.
The model has large dimensions and looks good on a mantelpiece, a small chest of drawers, a low stand, and installing the model in a trunk will give it the appearance of a museum exhibit.
At the request of the customer, the model is made in several versions: varnished or painted in colors according to the rules of the time.