Scratch Building the Portuguese Carrack in 1/700th Scale

[callen]

Hello Filipe.

Yes indeed. Thanks for the pic, by the way, I haven't seen that one. It's been an interesting experience attempting to create a Galleon from a hull intended to model a Carrack. You'll have to tell me what you think of the proportions.

[callen]

Gun ports! Raison d'Etre of the Galleon...

In my research I have read that the reason for the transom stern was to facilitate the creation of rearward facing gun ports, which seems to make sense. It explains, among other things, why the stern of the 14th Century Flemish Carrack has a 'round tuck' (not a transom) and why the Mary Rose, et al. does. But it also means that any ship with a transom stern in this era probably ought to have gun ports there as well...

Completing the stern gallery...

The lower wales took a beating as I attempted to create a gun deck in the resin hull. It was necessary to re-face it with strip.

Trimming smooth the amidship 'bumpers' since these do not seem to be a feature of the Galleon type. Not sure what to do with the detail remaining between the wales. Trimming it out would leave a 'blank' spot in the planking...

A bit of spare photo etch from an old obsolete Eduard set helps to face the gun ports....

[callen]

But how does one create those lovely carved supports underneath the stern gallery? I got to thinking about some of the photo etch I had collected modeling 20th century warships... Lion Roar has a nice set of IJN 'perforated bar.' I got to looking at it...

Creating a wedge from this bar with a diagonal cut through the hole resulted in a somewhat 'ornate' looking support structure. I was quite excited about this at the time, but realized later it would be better to remove these before priming and painting and install them later....

I had reached the point now where I had 10 or so builds to prime and paint, including the Galleon. But some of them still needed work. The 'Maxed Out' Carrack needed some facing... Tedious and un-fun work.

What to do about the transom stern on my Flemish Carrack? This one is supposed to be mid-to late 15th Century (before heavy cannons and gun ports) and I had just finished putting gun ports in the transom of the galleon. If I'm honest, a Medieval Carrack really ought to have a round stern, not a transom...

Well... let's get to it then. Not going to be fun. To be honest, I wasn't even sure if I could pull it off...

First thing, sand it flat, easier that way.

Build up material for the rounded shape...

Start shaping...

[callen]

Tricky, getting those wales to tuck up round the stern post. Involves a compound arc in the rod. Fortunately using square rod helps you to bend neatly in different planes. I've tried to do this in the past with round rod and had 0% success rate. The real trick will be getting both sides to look uNiFoRm

Sternpost roughed in. Carving the inside curve to match the curve of the new stern took quite a bit of testing and sanding. It took me two attempts before I got it right...

Coming together... Shaping the wales was not as hard as I thought it would be. I'm learning most things in modeling are that way.

Can we try to create that odd stern walk on the back of that ship?

Cut out perforated bar to make arches instead of holes, and use that for the entrance from the poop deck...

I suddenly wished I had not done this. The gold color of the unpainted brass looked perfect as an accent at the top of the pillars...

The Rudder will be created separately and attached to the stern post after the hull is painted. The tiller will be inserted through the round port below the walk, similar to the engraving. The results are not exactly as depicted, but similar, and hopefully plausible. One of the fun things about modeling these ships is that you have the freedom to try things and experiment a little bit. You have some leeway to be creative, but, on the other hand, you can never be certain about the accuracy of your efforts.
That's all I've got for now. Let me know what you think.
Cheers and Happy Modeling!

[Rui Matos]

Excellent work Callen

You really make those small vessels look huge!!
The perfection of the portholes says it all!
Oh, and a tip for cuts: use CA Glue to fix it - just put the skin "aligned" and use it, trying to keep the glue outside the cut
(remember that CA Glue was created for this purpose!)

Cheers
Rui

[callen]

Excellent work Callen

You really make those small vessels look huge!!
The perfection of the portholes says it all!
Oh, and a tip for cuts: use CA Glue to fix it - just put the skin "aligned" and use it, trying to keep the glue outside the cut
(remember that CA Glue was created for this purpose!)

Cheers
Rui

Thanks Rui! Much appreciated.

BTW you should know I have been talking to Filipe, and looking up the published builds by you and by him, both here and elsewhere. I was completely blown away by the quality of the builds I saw. You are both really terrific modelers, I have to say. Really first rate. I'm not surprised your stuff gets featured in museums. I don't know how many modelers there are in Portugal, but from what I've seen so far, it looks like there's a pretty strong scene there. I'm very impressed.

About the glue, my wife has been telling me the same thing. I use CA for everything else, I might as well try it for this too. I'm going to have to too, because I've got a gig Saturday and I won't be able to play if my finger opens up and bleeds all over the place...

Wish me luck!

[maxim]

Your speed of building is frightening

The stern of the galleon looks right to me, I am not sure about the proportions of the bow.

[Cadman]

That looks awesome, especially in my favorite scale!

[callen]

That looks awesome, especially in my favorite scale!

Thank you sir!
It's my favorite scale too. I'm hoping that we'll all see more of this kind of thing in our favorite scale. I'd like for 700th to become the 'HO Scale' of Ship Modeling; i.e. the 'holy-cow-you-can-get-anything-in-that-scale!' scale. There's about 4 thousand years of Nautical History to cover. The further back you go the more sketchy the documentation gets, but, I'm finding out that doesn't make it any less fun.

[callen]

Your speed of building is frightening

Somebody else said I built fast, but you have to remember these hulls are around an inch long before adding the superstructures... It doesn't take long.

The stern of the galleon looks right to me, I am not sure about the proportions of the bow.

What do you think Lars? Too little freeboard? Too long a beak? Too high a forecastle? I justified this build to myself because I had gotten the impression that at the beginning of the Galleon Era people were cutting down carracks and converting them to Galleons. My worry is that she's too fat for a proper galleon, but then I see these De Vroom paintings of these Spanish ships that make me think there were some fairly tubby galleons out there, particularly early on. I eventually want to create a proper galleon master, but I thought I'd go ahead and try this for starters just to see. Jean and Bruno are both big galleon fans and are wanting a couple of galleon masters this year, so this is 'practice' for that.

[maxim]

I am not sure. It could be a combination of too low freebord and too long head.

Your assumption that early galleons are similar to carracks is probably valid, especially for bigger galleons (not the smaller English galleons optimised for speed).

[Dave Wooley]

Callen This is 1: 700 scale scratch building at its most impressive and awe inspiring. How you manage to work in such fine details is just amazing. Question do you make use of an optical visor?. I have to resort to one and I'm working in the gigantic scales of 1:144. I am not too familiar with the Carrack but are references plentiful or do you have to do some of your own primary research.? At 1; 700 what material will you be using for rigging? This is what I truly like about this board it attracts so many talented builders and the subject material is so varied thus much more interesting . My interest in sail is mostly in the period long after the Carrack but I do appreciate the skills involved working the detail into such vessels.
Dave Wooley .

[Rui Matos]

Hi Callen

Thank you, you are very kind!
Still regarding me and Filipe, and I don't know if you have seen/read these, here they are for your enjoyment

Go to model shipwrights dot com -> Features -> Meet the ship modeler and choose me and Filipe from the menu
Edit: The link isn't working...

And more (my models) in the same site under the callsign skipper

Regarding the portuguese naval ship modeling community is rather small, especially considering that this is a Navigator/Seaman/Sailor country - or used to be!!!!
We are only a dozen or so... we loose for the Airplane/AFV Military/Figure areas by a far margin, but still we endure and try to do our best! At least I think that, even few, we have good ship modelers in this small country (I could be wrong - eheheheheh)

Going back to the subject...
Here are some images that I have found in one of the books here at home - I have to admit that this is not my "cup of tea" regarding references, I have more on British and German submarines (for instance!!), than of portuguese vessels! Ok, shame on me!











If you need high res images, let me know... I'll email them to you!

[callen]

Callen This is 1: 700 scale scratch building at its most impressive and awe inspiring.

Thank you Dave. Much appreciated.

How you manage to work in such fine details is just amazing. Question do you make use of an optical visor?. I have to resort to one and I'm working in the gigantic scales of 1:144.

I've had some gents at the club ask me similar questions. I'm just about to turn 40, so I'm fairly young in the hobby. I'm the only one of my brother and sisters who didn't need either glasses or braces, much to my parents relief, both of whom wore glasses as well. I don't have any explanation for that, other than I am young. Many of my modeling friends have told me that eye problems start in your 40s, so I thoroughly expect to wake up to a blurry world on my birthday.
... not really. Hoping the eyes will hold out for a while longer.

I think it kind of works out. When one is young (relatively) and strapped one buys small (hopefully) cheap kits and builds those. This also helps when your home houses three growing kids all with their 'stuff' competing for the available space, etc. As one gets older and (hopefully) more financially secure, and the eyes start to lose their sharpness, one can migrate to larger more impressive scales. I expect the day will come when I will begin to invest in the traditional wooden ship hobby where the subjects hover around 1/96-1/72 or so. And that will be fine with me. But I'm comfy in 700th world for right now.

I am not too familiar with the Carrack but are references plentiful or do you have to do some of your own primary research?

The only research I can do is read archaeology books that pertain to ships like the Mary Rose, the Red Reef Wreck, the Bremen Cog, the Highborn Cay Wreck, Girona, etc. etc. and then consult the period depictions like everyone else. I've learned a lot building and casting these hulls, posting them here and getting feedback from this community. I feel like I have a reasonably competent grasp of these ships now, at least enough for modeling them in such a small scale, though if I were doing this over right now there would be things I would do differently, based on what I've learned.

At 1; 700 what material will you be using for rigging?

I plan on using Black, Brown and Tan Nylon Monofilament, better known as 'Doll Hair'. Have bought several packages at the local Hobby Lobby (while heavily disguised, in case anyone I know should see me in the doll section:big_grin:)

This is what I truly like about this board it attracts so many talented builders and the subject material is so varied thus much more interesting.

I feel.... the same way. Actually let me tell you exactly how I feel.

I started posting these pics about a month ago or so. I immediately got a lot of positive feedback, some of it from modelers whose names I knew or had at least heard before. I felt pretty good about myself at that point. Then I started to look around... *gulp*

Scratch building the engine room of the Lusitania? Are you Kidding Me? Then there's this guy, whose name I shall refrain from using who built an RC Kiev that, as far as I can tell is flawless. Not to mention Bob Carr with his 'one rivet at a time' ironclad, Moomoon and his rare and wonderful torpedo boats, Italian Yamatos, masters like Egberth, Russ Clark, Vladimir Yakubov, Bill Waldorf, ARH and all the rest... I gotta tell ya. I'm just happy to be here.

I see stuff on this board every day I have no idea how to do, and not sure I could do it even if I did. I sometimes get the impression people think 700th scale is challenging because of the size. What I think is challenging is taking a pile of plywood and a couple of buckets of auto putty and making it into something that's not only recognizable but Scale. And then detailing it, motorizing it, ballasting it and putting it on the water. That just blows me away. You know I can rough out and detail up the hull of one of these little sailing ships in a few days. These guys spend months, sometimes years getting their hull done. I want to try it someday, but right now I'm content to sit back and admire them.

My interest in sail is mostly in the period long after the Carrack but I do appreciate the skills involved working the detail into such vessels.

It's funny, you know, this was really a whim for me. I don't think of myself as the 'Carrack Guy'... It was Maxim who got me turned on to the idea of scratching sail and Tom Lindsay who got me thinking about carracks. Once I got to thinking about it, I couldn't resist trying it.

I don't know what ships you're talking about but I'd be willing to bet I'm interested in the same ones. Over on the main board I asked a question 'what navy do you prefer?' etc. I wanted to know because I wanted to see if there is anyone like me. I was telling my new Portuguese friend Filipe over on Facebook yesterday that I have this dream to have the evolution of Naval Technology all on my shelf� from the caveman on the log to the Nuclear Submarine... all the important relevant steps in the evolution of the ship in one scale, in one place. I love the idea of putting an atakebune next to the Yamato, or the Mary Rose next to the KGV or the Hood. Just to see them together in the same scale I think can tell you a lot, and graphically depicts how far technology has come in these past few centuries. But I want to do it all really. Like somebody on that thread said: 'if it floats, I'm interested in it.'

The problem is, learning about something like Carracks (or the Galleass, or the Galleon or the Trireme...) you start to get the 'fever.' You don't want to do just one. You know I'm going to have to do the Mary Rose at some point. And the Marie de la Cordeliere, and the Caterina di Monte Sinai and a few others... There's just way too many ships out there.

[callen]

Rui thanks for posting links for you and Filipe. I hope the other guys here check them out too. There's a lot to see.

Wow! Great Pics! Thanks for posting these. Some of these I hadn't seen before. Very cool.

I think it's like what you're saying everywhere. Rusty White and I are in the same club, and there are two or maybe three other ship modelers there, but we're really outnumbered by the aircraft and especially the Armor guys. There's so much Armor around... there's just no end to it. I actually like all kinds of models myself, but I knew I'd have to choose, and really it had to be ships.

[ARH]

Callen, Were only doing what your doing, model building only on a larger scale, keep up the good work, were all watching,

[JIM BAUMANN]

innovative and imaginative work that is both interpretive as well as experimental!

Most enjoyable read!!

Jim Baumann

[callen]

Hey Jim.
Good to hear from you. Thanks for dropping by!

Yeah I think that anyone who's going to attempt to model these ships (particularly carracks) is going to have to do some interpreting. It's a little bit different experience from modeling a ship with plans and photos, etc. More fun in some ways, less satisfying in others.

BTW I wanted to tell you that Torpedo Boat book you recommended arrived at my house last week. It's a real gem! Thanks again!

[Tom L.]

Callen!

Since you mentioned wanting to try your skillful hand at her, here's the most recent interpretation of Mary Rose, apparently based on finds made in 2004 of bits of the forecastle and stem;

[callen]

Hey!
Tom's back!

I keep hoping I'm going to see a new thread that says 'Venetian Carrack again by Tom L.' I'm hoping you, Maxim and I can form a 'Age of Sail Invasion' of the 700th world together. I'd like to bust down that wall somewhere around 1860 that says 'do not build prior to this date in 700th scale...'

Thanks for the Mary Rose pic. I am planning on doing her in a big way, not just in 700th scale but probably in a large scale at some point, 1/72 or 1/192, and probably more than once, as I have a number of friends interested in her, not the least of which is the Mary Rose Trust in Portsmouth England...(It's a long story, has to do with music.)
But, you know, she deserves her own thread so you won't see any of that here.

Thanks for posting! I'll have more on the carracks soon.