Niña Columbus 1492

 

 

 

 

...hull and mast painting underway.....hours of seam scraping, clean up and masking of those silly masts....hope it is worth it....
.....The hull is Mission Models Rotbraun (red/brown?) MMP-015 and the darker accents that will be hand painted, like the planking on the interior seen here, are Mission Models Brown MMP-002 

...decent fit for the aftermarket decking...looking forward to this... 

....lots of clothespins for deck gluing.....does anybody use clothespins for cloths anymore?....laundry hanging out to dry.....they say it makes for comfortable clothing... 

...some moderate shiming was needed to get everything lined up at the aft position.... 

......Niña....hang in there...a golden throne awaits you.....this is getting close to rigging...surprised to see cannon on this small ship...that is a Christopher Columbus signature burned into a deck piece.... 

...the HiSModel folks made the deck for the Niña.....and supply rigging thread in several colors, rigging blocks of wood, anchors and brass cannon to spruce the Niña up....they say this is enough thread to do all three Heller Columbus ships....

....time to get busy....
 

....decision time for the aftermarket cannons and anchors...
..those cannon look way out of scale to me and they would completely dominate the model...that's a Santa Maria cannon up top...way too big again...maybe the Niña cannon would be better for the SM....but these kit pieces look more realistic and can use a repaint ...the cannon mounts will be lashed to the deck...every photo i have seen of this model has them sitting there...waiting to be swept off in rough seas....so, a cannon mount lashing is about to take place....
...the anchors....the reverse is true...the kit pieces look too big and aftermarket pieces will be substituted... 

....the deck gets a water barrel and a lifeboat (scratchbuilt seats and oars)...with "ropes" coiled up waiting for use.... 

....cannon stands drilled for lashing ropes and cannons glued...touch up paint and installation tomorrow... 

....cannons lashed...this was fun....rigging is underway...with some confusion...the instructions call for a 8 hole block....and its a rather large piece...as you see here...but there are three other options for the same rigging in the HisModel wooden block set (see the deck for examples of sizes)...which to use?...now that i rigged one of them...i know the drill so am willing to start over with a smaller block....using the magic sewing bob..... 

mr dyslexia tries to rig a Niña...with predictable results...i must of started that double block thing 3 times before it went right...but, with time, some success....this is zen work....a bit mindless.... 

main mast supports are up...next, masts for sails..... 

 

....a knife used as a jig for the anchor rope bundle...the ends were set in first, ropes wrapped around and then tied off... 

...nice aftermarket anchor piece here... 

.....there are more realistic sail attachment methods than this grommet and tie off method...but they are beyond this middling modelers humble skills.... 

...these will get installed all up the sail border and then a circular rigging method is used to attach them to the mast........ 

...the first smaller sail attached....happy with the result...BTW...in my photography work, putting the camera at an angle like this not at 90 or 0 degrees is known as a "Dutch Angle"...no clue why....it is used here to show the entire sail 

....gotta say....the combination of the kits "ropes" around the masts and the circular rigging, etc....really works....pleased with this result.... 

the Niña....all done...photos next.....