Regina Maria Pia, 1/700 scale, from scratch.

[Stefano Salesi]

this is a post made of first times.

This is my first attempt to a full scratch project, first attempt to copy Jim Baumann method for water (with the proper medium, watercolour paper and not cheap bristol card ), Jim Baumann method for making platform with white glue (did'nt work as i wished, maybe i made some mistake... Jim make it seems easy and quick but hell, it's not ), Jim Baumann way of building masts and will try to copy Jim's rigging system from Vladimir Monomach and others.

(Jim, in case you want to sue me for copyright infraction..well..i can't blame on you ! but i promise, no classica cars and no trains! )

Last but not the least, try to imitate/reach the work that Jp64 did on the very same ship.
He was kind enough to share some information with me about the changes that the ship had in her extremely long career, and i thank him again for his kindenss.

I'll depict the ship in a different configuration, more advanced in the lifetime of the ship, with some differences in superstructures from Jp's one.
This is the picture i'm using as reference and ispiration:


some pictures of the actual situation:







some background: the hull is built in paper, plasticard and carton plume, used to fill the space between the ordinates.
the thing is then puttyed and sanded, and again putty and sanding until it's smooth and...DONG! asimmetric!
i tried to correct the asimmetry 3 times, for 3 times i trew away the hull and redid it.
Fourt time is the good one. still asimmetric, i realized that i can't do better with this system, so i'm happy with my not-so-straight hull.
After the last sanding the hull was smooth enough, so i used some masking tape to simulate the armoured belt and to mark the gun ports.
i then hollowed the gun ports with a new, sharp blade, helped by the softness of the carton plume used for the structure of the hull
then i applied paint and started to add details on the deck.
the armoured tower is realized using a 1/35 german soup can, stripped from details and wrapped in thin plasticard, while the platform is realized with p.e. railing structure and white glue. (Jim Baumann copytight )

next step: deck fittings and masts...then the rigging...

cheers and...stay tuned!!!

[Gone Asiatic]

Looks like an interesting project

[wefalck]

If you scroll down a bit on this page you'll find some pictures of the model of the REGINA MARIA PIA in the Museo Storico Navale in Venice: http://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/ma ... zia-1.html



wefalck

[Stefano Salesi]

Gone asiatic, thank you part of my will to scratch depends on your Commodore Dewey's squadron

Wefalk, thank you for posting the link to the pictures.

However i already have these pictures, as you have posted the very same set on JP64 topic. very useful for guessing the deck fittings, as almost none of the existing pictures of the real thing permits to see the deck.
I think scratching a ship of that era is mainly a matter of guessing and interpretating...

[wefalck]

Yes, I knew that I posted them already. Thought you didn't see the other thread.

wefalck

[JP64]

Hi, Stefano

seems to coming out a very nice model.
I'm happy that the info I sent you were good enough to start such model.

Just an advice..
Be careful that in the picture you have posted is visible a chart room (with a man standing on the roof) just before the mainmast...
The drawing I have sent you do not show this particilar that should be added later than the date of the drawings I have.

Surely this part was added on the upper (and front) flying bridge...

I'm sure, anyway, that will be a very nice model
Enjoy

ciao
Jp

[Stefano Salesi]

I already drawn the chart room, using as a reference the one which can be seen in the other units of the class in their last configuration, as it seems that the proportions are pretty much the same.
Other differences between our builds thac can be discerned from the pitures are at least two big cowl vents on the bow and maybe one right behind the mast, but that can really be everything.
height and shape of the funnel, and i'm pretty much sure that the funnel is yellow, maybe given the imilar shade in the picture even the masts are yellow. any hint or suggesion?
another doubt: is there a torpedo netting on the hull side? if not, what is that festooned shape just above the gun ports?

i'm in a little trouble 'couse i'm not that expert on this kind of ships, so my guessing can be (most of the times) totally wrong.
there are some vertical poles that came up from the hull near the boat's davits. are they some sort of loading booms or what?

any advice is more than welcomed.

[Stefano Salesi]

Hi all. small update, work is progressing veeeery slow due to the learning process of scratching.
here is a couple of pics just to show the actual stage, masts are dry fitted.
in the second pic you can see the armour belt made of tamiya tape and the two cowl vents made with the radiator piping of the Bronco CV3/35 tankette, glued with white glue as i'm planning to replace them with something more similar to the actual ones as i'll find them.
the boat davits are made of copper wire bent around a plastic davit from a ijn waterline set
also managed to paint and add a little detail to lifeboats and other little nutshells for the diorama.

still a lot of research to do and a lot of work to put on her.





cheers, Stefano

[JIM BAUMANN]

Ha!


I just saw this now--don't know How I missed it!

Thank you for your accolades et al..

I think you have made an excellent start!!-- great subject!

I am watching!!
------------------------------------------

handy hint I may suggest...?


white stripes @ waterline and on hull sides...

use the excellent decal stripes from TL decals

as discussed here:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=104882



for the white hull stripe also-I would use a decal stripe

as on my 1/700 Wien

[Stefano Salesi]

Hi Jim.

I decided to obliterate the white line on the hull but not the waterline and to give a try to the decal technique.
Do the decal that you use need to be treated with decal softer or other stuff? do they have a film that can cause silvering?

However, work is going on really slow. i need to figure what is what on this picture and to find ideas and/or suitable techniques to build deck fittings and other small things.
Personally i'm finding really formative scratching a ship, even if applying tips from other modellers and not really "creating" my own, but IMHO the best way to learn is imitate.

[JIM BAUMANN]

I have never needed to use a decal softener on the gentkle curves that our ships have.

Silvering has not as yet been an issue--even on a black hull.

Give it a whirl...--you may like the sharpness.

I use these stripes all the time for the water-line white stripes as well...

see my latest project

viewtopic.php?f=59&t=104027


JB

[Stefano Salesi]

Did it for the white line, the sharpness is absolutely evident, but that was demonstrated by your ships many times

However i had problems, mainly becouse i'm not that confident with decals and decaling...
i broke the strip in 3 or four points (per side ) but in the end i found it relly satisfactory.
I'm not goint to use decal on the WL becouse i'm not sure the surface is that clean and smooth to correctly take the decal, and trying to removing the ship from it's base at this stage means only one thing: breaking it
But from the next ship i'll use without doubt decal stripes. really clean and neat lines, hardly think thai i can do the same masking an painting...and maybe i'll be able with some workout to not disintegrate the strip in the positioning phase

i'll post pictures asap, but now it's time to a dish of pizza, i'm really hungry!

[Stefano Salesi]

Hi all.

As promised, a picture of the Regina Maria Pia with the white decal strip.



I'm waiting for the delivery of my WEM order to have enough decal striping to do even the waterline toooooo much better, i have to risk and go forward

I have ordered Atlantic Models ratlines and WEM ship's wheels, so, waiting for the mailman to knok on my door i'm focusing on spotting details on the pictures i have, like booms, boarding ladders and...stowed torpedo netting?
I'm not sure if i'm correct about this.
looking at these two pics i think that the festooned thing on the hull sides is a torpedo net, but...where are are the booms? hidden by the net itself or stowed somewhere in the ship? what was the "common" solution for 1880/90?


Maria Pia


Ancona


Work continues on deck fittings....still a looooong road.

cheers!

[Stefano Salesi]

Hi all. time to resume this WIP.

Work on this strange little Ironclad continues, slowly, but it continues.
Finally gave a try to rigging, but more important, i'm trying to learn how to use (correctly) a digital camera.
I'm still a dog-shaped photographer but hell, it's a starting point
I started to rig the ship. tried stretched sprue. disaster
scratching my head to find a more suitable (for me) solution, i found some nylon thread (the black one coming with the ZVEZDA Sirius) that was uncoiling at one of the ends. tried to pull out a single fiber and...thin...black..strong...hey, i like it! separated MOOOORE fibres and started making tests. lots of tests, especially about glue reactions.
White glue: no grip.
Styrene glue: very little grip, ligthly corrosive, tensioned lenghts snaps if wetted with it. fumes of tamiya green cap give a little tension to lenghts of "rope"
CA glue: sticks really well on metal, plastic, paper and all. Very brittle fibre on fibre.
The single fibre is not straight when uncoiled, it remains quite "springy"...but hot steam from a boiling pot of water help to straighten it up.
ironing the fibre is simply devastating, the rope melts down even if wetted or protectd with a towel. (hint: do the ironing test when SWMBO is out )
Rigging is not complete, it's just the first batch of ropes

Sooooooo
lest's start with pictures







and at last, a picture similar to the "real one" which i'm using as inspiration



cheers to you all....

and stay tuned

[LE BOSCO]

hello Stephano

very nice job !it'll be very beautifull once finished
congrat's
nicolas

[MichelB]

I love this build!

[Captain pugwash]

Great work indeed Stephano.

Watching this with great Interest.

[Ziga]

Great model Stefano!

[Duilio]

Interesting subject

Are there any profile plans available

David

[Stefano Salesi]

tanks to you all.

@Duilio: actually no.
there are only a few drawings, very basic, with profile and elevations, and a side plan with a partial sail plan of Castelfidardo, that you can find on the "service historique de la marine" site under the name of "cuirasse italienne castelfidardo", togheter with some sections oh the ram and a section of the hull.

The plans that i drawn are basically guessing at it's best. no precise and sicure reference, only the few pictures i was able to find on the net.
The best source of informations for this build is the 1:100 model of JP64, as he is a very competent and able modeller, for sure better than i am.

To make things "easier" this ship (and her sisters) had a long career and received a lot of transformation.

just to be clearer, she started like this




and ended like this

.

in between, my version, JP version and maybe some other stages.
Worst, the pictures available online are often not clear, low res and...not surely identified.

So, MY build is FAR from being accurate. it's the result of my guessing, and a little logic, but i really can't say that it's an accurate reproduction of the real thing.
Guessing continues, so...stay tuned