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Steve (Docidle),
I am sorry to hear about that nerve damage! I hope that it improves with therapy. You are a wonderful modeler!
Bill
Bill, thanks for the input! I wholeheartedly agree with you. We have to appreciate them for what they are. If that is what they looked like, then so be it.
Steve
Steve,
We here in New London, CT just had a replica ship of the Santa Maria visit last week. Unfortunately, I did not take pics. But, I had the same surprise as you about the ship being painted black. Given my preconceived notions of how she is supposed to have looked, I have to admit that I did not find the overal black scheme attractive. But, I will have to reconsider.
Bill Morrison
Adrian, you are welcome. I agree. I can't imagine being on these crowded ships for months at a time. It had to be a real test of a persons metal.
Great pics of the ships Steve.
I was aboard both the Nina & Pinta several years ago with my granddaughter and posted a few pics of them then. I was surprised at how small the ships were also. I couldn't imagine having to sail the Atlantic in those tiny ships.
Also, when I toured the ships, one of the guides explained that when the Santa Maria sank, it's crew were put aboard these two. It had to be pretty crowded on those ships for the return voyage. It's hard to imagine 50 men or more on board each of those ships.
Thanks for posting the pics.
Adrian
Steve, it is great hearing from you. For many reasons I am really sorry to hear about the nerve damage. For my selfish reasons, I am sorry to hear that it is affecting your Nina build. You do such excellent work and I would love to see the build finished. I love what you have done on it.
I hear you about taking the summer off. For the most part I am doing the same.
No worries about the instructions. I am still a long way off from the rigging.
Thanks, Steve
I would love to be able to finish the Nina at least if not both. However, I am dealing with very severe nerve damage in my hands. When I attempt to rig, my hands go completely numb after a just a couple of minutes. I have been trying to rerig the main mast but my attempts if you look at the last pictures on the WIP are clumsy at best and VERY frustrating.
Presently, I am working on models that are of larger scales and do not involve rigging. I have also taken the summer off to build models with my boys and to try and get my model groove back. I think it worked since I am loving the PT Boat kit I am working on now.
Also, I think I owe you the older Mayflower rigging instructions!
Hey, Steve. You are welcome. BTW...I would love to see more progress images on your Nina!
Thanks for posting these pictures. Very interesting, especially the size. If I can get the Nina finished in the next 100 years or so, I'll be able to work on the Pinta.
Don and JT... Thanks for your efforts on this. I will look into the information you provided. Great info! Thank you!
I think the book you're referring to is Anatomy of the Ship: The Ships of Christopher Columbus, by Xavier Pastor (London: Conway Maritime Press, 1992) The Naval Institute Press also published an American edition of it.
I believe it's been out of print for some time. But I found a couple of used copies at the Barnes and Noble website: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Xavier+Pastor?fs=0&_requestid=309888 . Those prices actually are remarkably low - probably cheaper than the original price.
So far as I know, scholars haven't turned up any significant new information about those ships since 1992, Pastor's book is probably the best, most up-to-date source on the subject. But always remember that practically nothing is known for sure about them. Any reconstruction, drawing, painting, model, full-size replica, or otherwise, depends on a great deal of speculation.
Anybody with a serious interest in Columbus needs to read one book that dwarfs all others: Samuel Eliot Morison's Admiral of the Ocean Sea. It's an old book now, but I don't think it's ever been surpassed - and I personally think it's Morison's greatest work.
Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.
Bakster Don--I recall they said something about the fish oil as well. Yeah--probably pretty pungent! I would be very interested in reading that book. If you have anymore information that you can give me to search it out, I would be interested.
Don--I recall they said something about the fish oil as well. Yeah--probably pretty pungent!
I would be very interested in reading that book. If you have anymore information that you can give me to search it out, I would be interested.
It was a library book, so I don't have it. I did a google search, and the book "The Ships of Christopher Columbus" may be it. It sounds similar, but I am not certain. They want ridiculous prices for copies today, so I would see if your library can get it via interlibrary loan.
Don Stauffer in Minnesota
Thanks, Gmorrison. I agree about the rigging.
There was a great book on the Ships of Columbus, written by a Spanish Admiral who was heading some spanish navy historical section. It was a fantastic book, describing each ship- as much as known about it- in detail, and speculations of this vs that. One thing he mentioned that really interested me- except for a few small areas of decorative paint, the hull of spanish ships in that era were preserved with a coating of fish oil! Those ships must have had quite an odor in hot weather!
When I saw these ships several years ago, I thought the most interesting things were the diesel engines they had hidden below. Cheaters! :D
I'm from the government and I'm here to help.
Great photos, B. I find the rigging to be the most interesting part.
Modeling is an excuse to buy books.
I remember hearing that the ships were surprisingly small. I suspect seeing them in person, they look even smaller (relatively) than the pics.
Interesting about the black color and tar.
Hey Don--thanks for sharing that. That all makes sense...
Since they would be sailing into uncharted waters, they wanted as shallow draft as possible, so exploration voyages usually did use smaller vessels. However, even the largest ships of that era were small by today's standards. Even the largest sailing ships of wooden ship era are dwarfed by a modern destroyer.
Greetings. Today I had the privilege to tour the Nina and Pinta replicas. I thought I would post some of the images that I took. Maybe they will be helpful to some builders as reference photos. I included some of the rigging as well. Although, I was told the rigging is not entirely authentic. They chose to make the rigging more user friendly.
There are two things that surprised me about these replicas. The ships are smaller than I would have imagined the originals to be, and I was surprised by the color. I asked if black is authentic, and they advised me that yes it is. The originals were coated with a form of tar to seal the ships. The replicas are coated as well, but they are using a more modern method to make the coating.
Anyway, it was a good day.
Below: Pinta
Below: Yes--someone is sitting in an opening at the stern of Nina. Is this the Poop Deck of the ship?
"THE END"
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