Ahoy!
Thanks Mike for the contribution.
The difference in the Mayflower and this vessel is indeed large. I try to do all my models in the (some say masochistic) scale 1:100cm to have a comparison of the various vessel's sizes.
Short news from the shipyard:
I managed to apply all the foil needed to cover the hull. Then I decided to try and imitate some treenails.
Now, some here might be of the opinion that this is completely unnecessary and too much for a model in scale 1:100 cm – I totally understand and think similar, but…This model is a try out of what goes and what not to improve my own skills, so I thought, why not? Either I totally screw it or (like Tapcho told me) I totally nail it!
Tree nails were maybe an inch in diameter or even a bit more for the bigger ships. This would convert to a diameter of 0.25mm in this scale.
I use an “old trick” of imitating the treenails by punching a “ring” into the foil with a grain punching tool. I use for that a medicine syringe needle (you can get them for free in the pharmacy here). This way of imitating tree nails in planks is from wooden ship modeling and I just try it out here with the foil. The sharp tapered front part of the needle has been cut (I had to use the back side of the needle anyway because the cutting squeezed the tiny metal tube too much) and I use the back side of it (
pic.1) together with my old ship modellers knife I got when I was eight from my neighbor (a good ship and building wood modeler). This knife is not so sharp so I use it to cut the plank butts – the end of the planks every about 4.8cm or so for the (hopefully) nice plank pattern.
Tree nails also had a certain way of how they were arranged, depending on the thickness of the planks.
Picture 2 shows a scheme taken from the ship modeling book by
Wolfram zu Mondfeld. I used the pattern for planks wider than 11’’ (or about 28cm).
So I started from the middle of the ship (
pic 3) and did not count exactly the tree nails I pinched, but thus far (
approximate count) there is more than
3080 already, and I just managed to do one side of the lower hull. So my guess is there will be some over
10 000 pinched tree nails in total…
I checked, which paint for altering the foil would be better (
pic 4) and chose the brown (
burned umber) option this time. In the
Mayflower I used black oil paint, which was nice, too.
One problem with the pinching is that the foil tends to bend at the plank butts (
pic 5), so I had to lift them all a bit and glue back in place with a tiny drop of CA (
pic 6). One way around it would be to cut stripes from the foil that are as long as the hull and cut the plank butts later, but then the variety in plank color and pattern is not as high.
Pictures 7 to 11 show the result thus far after painting. I am satisfied with the result, it is not totally screwed, but rather looks more like nailed to me..
Now the paint is almost dry and I can continue with the rest of the hull…
So much for now,
Rgds,
Radek
“…Agosto Anno Domini 1669…
…Knock…Knock…Knock…Knock, Knock…!!
...sounded the hammering from the shipyard, as the workers diligently hammered the treenails into the outer hull planks.
-Why do I have to hammer along with the common workers, complained the young apprentice Antonio Iturribálzaga Gaztańeta: …I can’t feel my arm anymore…!
And turning to a diligent worker nearby, he shouted: Hey, Pancho! How many treenails do we still need to hammer??
The at first intimidated worker looked surprised, but taking a glimpse at the amused faces of Radék de la Sol de la Santa Cruz and his visitor Tapanillo Giovanni Cassini, he just burst out in laughter and replied:
My honored seńor Gaztańeta, we hammered so far a bit over 3000 nails and we just so managed to cover one in a fourth of the whole of the Neptune! You will need soon a new pair of arms, ha ha ha!
Radék and Tapanillo joined in the hearty laughter, while the young apprentice grumpily turned back to his assigned part of the ship and continued to hammer even more furiously!
-Hah, the anger will make him strong, and he will hopefully learn a thing or two about the curves of the ship and the secret of good planking. Come, Tapanillo, let’s have a glass of the wine you brought from Europe, I have important news I’d like you to deliver to the governor of Panama – not so good news…
For Radék received a message from Miguél De Nevado Norte regarding an impending raid by Henry Morgan and his growing crew on the city of Panama, and wanted the message of warning to be delivered there by a trustworthy man.
-I have therefore good news… said Tapanillo after sipping some of the good red wine on the terrace at Radék’s domicile, from where one could overlook the beautiful, turquoise colored water and golden sand of the coast as well as the shipyard, the knocking of hammering the treenails clearly audible from the distance...
-I have news regarding the vicious pirate François l'Olonnais. That sacrilegious bastard is no more! After his failing attempts to raid the Spanish Main at San Pedro Sula, much to the thanks of the ambushes by the brave Spanish soldiers, when he swore “Mor’ dieu, les bougres d’Espagnols me le payeront!” (God’s death, the Spanish blackguards will pay for this!), he got so obsessed with payback that it led to his downfall in a most cruel and desecrated way. Surely his soul burns forever in hell!
-Tell, tell, dear Tapanillo. What happened? Asked Radék, wanting to hear more about one less worry for the Spaniards in the Caribbean.
-As you know, not long ago he captured the wealthy Spanish galleon ‘La Salutación de la Virgen’, but the loot was just paper and some old wine. This led his discouraged companions Mozes Van Klijn and Pierre le Picard to quit his company. Not only that, but his Spanish prize was such a heavy sailor, it ran aground near the Pearl Islands and he was forced to live ashore in the Nicaragua. His crew tried to build a longboat, but, not being skillful shipwrights, they made the vessel too small, ha ha!
-Not easy being a shipwright, lots of treenails to hammer, can tell you that! Ha ha!
-Yes, them pirates were too lazy to make enough so they shortened the vessel, ha ha ha…
And after taking another sip of the good and smooth wine he continued.
-So, attempting to steal some more boats near the San Juan River, they were beaten by the Spaniards once again and forced to retreat into the Jungle. And there his small band was attacked by some native savages. The only survivor, captured by the Spaniards, still white like a fresh sheet of sails and totally mad in his mind from the cruel experience told them that “L’Olonnais was hacked to pieces and roasted limb by limb…”
-He truly got what he deserved (pic 12), a taste of his own medicine, which turned to be poison in the end… Said Radék with a mixed feeling of an upset stomach and satisfaction that there would be no more brutal raids on the Spanish Main by this inhumane pirate creature anymore…”