The building of La Pinta

Like I wrote, I liked the veneer from the AL kit - it wasn't that bad, and I could work it with sharp scissors, so that was OK. But if you find something better, you can replace it too, why not.

In many photos you can see the planks held in place with pins, nails or stuff like that. I have used other approach - I used white glue for glueing the planks to the bulkheads, but instead of nails I have used drops of super glue to hold the planks down. This worked surprisingly well and I also can tell you white glue and CA are really compatible - especially meaning that a place already having some white glue on it can reliably be held down with CA.

As for the outer planking it's worth noting that the plank wouldn't be tapered down more than to the half of its maximum width. So on bow and stern some planks are "stepped" - they get wider and other planks just end where they would get too narrow. Sounds confusing - here's a picture to clear it up:

Before you get too depressed about the work involved, think on how the shipwrights built the Norse longboats. Each plank had a longwise rabbet both top and bottom edged, was tapered in some way along part of its length, and because the planks were tied to the ribs with leather thongs; had a pair of wood bosses straddling the rib which had holes drilled through them for the thong. Oh, and those bosses were not additive- they were created by removing some thickness of plank on the inside around their locations.

It probably was a lot harder than it sounds.

Bill

Having-fun

CapnMac82: Are you subjecting that I use basswood instead of the lindenwood that came with the ship? Are you referring to the first layer of planking or the second?

Yes, replace both.

AL pland that you just make some sort of solid layer with the one planking, which can run any old way, and be filled in with gobs of wood putty.  Then, the veneer planks are meant to be run "to scale appearance."

Which is fine, other than you are running planks twise.  And the thin veneer, which can be cut with scissors, will also frizz and split and misbehave.

Planks are interesting on wood hulls.  They are one width at the midpoint, and narrower at bow and stern.  You can measure he bulkheads and get a number of planks.  Measuring the middle bulkhead, you can divide it into an even number of, say, 5mm wide planks.  Use that quantity, and divide the measurements of the forwardmost and aftermost bulkhead.  That will give you the target width to taper the planks "to."

Generally, you want to only taper the upper edges of planks.  In 1:! construction you bevel the upper edge, and you relieve the back edge of planks to get them to fit.  Luckily, such details are not generally necessary on models.

Your mileage may vary.

I've never found any use for Pin Pushers.  That's because you generally need to drill the part so they don't split.  At which point wooden pins (treenails) are as useful as stubborn brass pins.

Mind that fals deck that AL provides can be held down with a pile of rubber bands as easily as any other way.

That's my 2¢, spend it well.

Well, it looks like I may have to put a hold on the build, I attempted to add the main deck and found out that I needed to put pins to hold the deck in place while the glue drys up, but, I do no have a ping pusher. I attempted to use a little hammer, but it is to difficult.

I went into Amazon and found one for about $20.00 that looks OK so I ordered it. Now I have to wait until it arrives to continue the build.

See you them

Joe

I went back to the model keel and took everything apart, then I added glue and re-installed the bulkheads and added steel clips to make sure they were at 45% angle. See photo.

I hope it works. I will wait until tomorrow to take off the clips and very that everything is at 45% angle, will see.

Joe

Tanker-Builder

Hi;

      Joe, the one thing I cannot stress enough on the Latina kits. Make darned sure All your frames are exactly square on the keel.

 

I went back and verified the angle of the frames and, sure enough, some of them were off. Luckily I have not glued them yet, so I going to go one by one and, while gluing them I will make sure they are square. Thanks

CapnMac82: Are you subjecting that I use basswood instead of the lindenwood that came with the ship? Are you referring to the first layer of planking or the second?

Thanks guys for you expert advise, it will save me from hitting the wall a few times.

Joe

Funny thing - I got my kit partially started with lots of planking used up and looking bad - so I removed it and needed something for a replacement. I had a big basswood plank laying around for like 10 years - stuff I got for another project - so I got out my little russian buzzsaw and cut a lot of tiny planks myself - and they worked really nice, although this was my first plank on bulkhead hull ever.

AL probably means basswodd when they write "linden-something". Their translations also leave a lot to be desired - they are just consistent :-)

Although I rather liked their veneer strips that were used for the hull and the deck - that was pretty nice stuff. What I didn't like were parts made out of plywood that were supposed to remain in plain sight after the model was finished - like the main rail - I replaced that with stuff I made myself out of tropical wood. The funniest detail in my model were the chain plates - the deadeyes were supposed to hang mid-air not supported by nothing. This looked so absurd (right in the boxtop photo!) that even my untrined eye caught it right away.

But - like I wrote before - this is all nothing to stop a good modeller from making a good model!

Have a nice day

Paweł

For my 2¢ and too much AL experience, I'd hit up the LHS and replace the kit "planking" with proper basswood.

The "lindenwood" AL supplies is stringy, nasty, stuff, which appears to have rejected for use in apple crates.

Al will want you to render the wales as just another plank stuck atop the hull planking. This never looks right, as it's obvious it's an over-lay.

And, in theses ships, the wales were a prominant structural part, not a tacked-on bumper of sorts.  They really ought be made of thicker material, and laid in first, with the side planking laid in between.

AL appears to use Spanish "tourist frigate" models as guidelines for rigging plans.  This winds up a rabbit hole, though, as our documentation of 15th Century rigging is, at best, both fragmentary and contradictory. 

The Amati rigging plans, to my eye, are better, if looking a bit too much of 16th Century practice.  (They also belay too many lines off in clove hitches, which would be a clumsy and cumbersome to use at sea.)

Hello!
Good ole' Professor Tilley, when he was here with us and had a good humour sometimes referred to the supplier of your kit as "Artist in the Latrine" - and after completeing their "1805 Pilot Boat" I can say not withous good reasons.

So please watch out - their instructions tend to be BS, their drawings take a lot of liberties with reality and their parts are sometimes crappy. But that's not stopping a good modeller from building a nice model - if you read some books, do some research and replace some of the parts I'm sure you will end up with a fine looking model.

Good luck with your build and have a nice day!

Paweł

PS. Here's how my baby turned out:

Hi;

      Joe, the one thing I cannot stress enough on the Latina kits. Make darned sure All your frames are exactly square on the keel.

I'm really looking forward to following this because I've always wanted to try a wooden ship. Good luck