Montanes by OcCre Build Log

G

gene438

Joined
Oct 30, 2023
Messages
104
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103

Location
Baton Rouge, LA
Coming off my first and very educational build of the HMS Beagle, I now begin my 2nd journey with another OcCre model, the HMS Montanes. A full description of the Montanes can be found here.

I know many like to see the unboxing, but unfortunately, I did not take photos of the unboxing, but it was as expected. Both of my OcCre models have been well boxed, complete and well organized. I find the instructions, photos and inventory lists to be well documented.

Before starting, I wanted to take a few minutes and reflect on my first build and remind myself of the things I would take forward to this new build:

1) Patience. Now that I have checked the "Build Complete" box for the first time, I now no longer have that hanging over my head and I believe I can be more patient.

2) Only work when I am in the mood. Some days you just don't do your best work....so, take a break from the project.

3) Use less glue. I over glued everything and spent way too much time cleaning up glue over run.

4) Test fit more often. Again, take the time to test fit things before jumping in.

5) Read ahead. Look at plans down the road to make sure you know how the part you are working on will interact with other parts, etc.

6) Think of each step as a project in itself. Too easy to try and breeze through a step when you know there are hundreds more afterwards. Best example for me was the building of the 4 lifeboats for the Beagle. They were rushed and poorly done and I will redo one day. I wished I have viewed them as separate projects and taken the care to do them right. Each table, cannon, window, etc should be thought of the same.....

OK, enough talk, I will post be pics of my skeleton assembly next.
 
OK, my first steps of getting organized, laying out parts, numbering parts, etc went smoothly without a hitch. OcCre's documentation regarding parts and inventory are excellent in my opinion.

After numbering, I assembled the skeleton and put down the lower deck. Over the next couple of days, I began planking the deck.

IMG_7261.JPGIMG_7260.JPGIMG_7263.JPGIMG_7264.JPGIMG_7265.JPGIMG_7266.JPGIMG_7267.JPG
 
Great Start !
Did you lay and glue the bulkheads with the lower deck altogether ?
Or did you let yhe bulkheads dry first ?

Cheers and good luck with the build ,i will watch closely .
 
sevish said:
Great Start !
Did you lay and glue the bulkheads with the lower deck altogether ?
Or did you let yhe bulkheads dry first ?

Cheers and good luck with the build ,i will watch closely .
Click to expand...
I dry fitted everything together, then glued the bulkheads and carefully removed the lower deck and let it dry completely, Then I test fitted the deck again, saw that everything was lining up and then glued the support beams in place. I was going to plank the lower deck while it was off, but changed my mind because it is so tight a fit and felt like it would be easier to glue the deck back on and then plank it.
 
gene438 said:
OK, my first steps of getting organized, laying out parts, numbering parts, etc went smoothly without a hitch. OcCre's documentation regarding parts and inventory are excellent in my opinion.

After numbering, I assembled the skeleton and put down the lower deck. Over the next couple of days, I began planking the deck.

View attachment 443312View attachment 443311View attachment 443313View attachment 443314View attachment 443315View attachment 443316View attachment 443317
Click to expand...
Looking great! I really liked your opening this thread concerning lessons learned. It was a nice treat!

Bill
 
OK guys, I have come across my first major decision. I am strongly leaning towards not doing tree nails on this project. this is a very large model at
470mm x 1250mm and the planking is done with 3mm wide boards. At 1:70, I just don't know if tree nails would be visible at this scale. I think the deck planking is turning out to be very, very nice and I plan to coat with a satin, clear finish. I want to keep the natural tone of the wood. I'm worried that tree nails would detract the planking and make it look "too busy".

I'm still a day or 2 away from completing the planking on the lower deck, but I wanted to throw the idea out to you guys and get your thoughts.IMG_7267.JPG
 
Mawa said:
Hello, I'm modelling the San Ildefonso / Occre. That kit is maybe the same as the Montanes, what I can say. I done my planking with small nails, doin by a hardly pencil. I like the result.

I wish you a great time for modelling the Montanes. Many Greets

View attachment 443548
Click to expand...
Thanks for the photo...the two models do appear to be very similar.
 
gene438 said:
OK guys, I have come across my first major decision. I am strongly leaning towards not doing tree nails on this project. this is a very large model at
470mm x 1250mm and the planking is done with 3mm wide boards. At 1:70, I just don't know if tree nails would be visible at this scale. I think the deck planking is turning out to be very, very nice and I plan to coat with a satin, clear finish. I want to keep the natural tone of the wood. I'm worried that tree nails would detract the planking and make it look "too busy".

I'm still a day or 2 away from completing the planking on the lower deck, but I wanted to throw the idea out to you guys and get your thoughts.View attachment 443533
Click to expand...

In my build i want to try to drilling the holes of the tree nails and then to fill them with blackened CA glue and then cover the deck with teak or linen oil.
Linen will keep the original tone of the deck and the Teak will give it some darker tone.
 
sevish said:
In my build i want to try to drilling the holes of the tree nails and then to fill them with blackened CA glue and then cover the deck with teak or linen oil.
Linen will keep the original tone of the deck and the Teak will give it some darker tone.
Click to expand...
Sounds interesting....with 3 x 60 boards, there are a lot of them and you'll be drilling for days....I also like the natural color of the boards. Look forward to seeing yours......
 
gene438 said:
Coming off my first and very educational build of the HMS Beagle, I now begin my 2nd journey with another OcCre model, the HMS Montanes. A full description of the Montanes can be found here.

I know many like to see the unboxing, but unfortunately, I did not take photos of the unboxing, but it was as expected. Both of my OcCre models have been well boxed, complete and well organized. I find the instructions, photos and inventory lists to be well documented.

Before starting, I wanted to take a few minutes and reflect on my first build and remind myself of the things I would take forward to this new build:

1) Patience. Now that I have checked the "Build Complete" box for the first time, I now no longer have that hanging over my head and I believe I can be more patient.

2) Only work when I am in the mood. Some days you just don't do your best work....so, take a break from the project.

3) Use less glue. I over glued everything and spent way too much time cleaning up glue over run.

4) Test fit more often. Again, take the time to test fit things before jumping in.

5) Read ahead. Look at plans down the road to make sure you know how the part you are working on will interact with other parts, etc.

6) Think of each step as a project in itself. Too easy to try and breeze through a step when you know there are hundreds more afterwards. Best example for me was the building of the 4 lifeboats for the Beagle. They were rushed and poorly done and I will redo one day. I wished I have viewed them as separate projects and taken the care to do them right. Each table, cannon, window, etc should be thought of the same.....

OK, enough talk, I will post be pics of my skeleton assembly next.
Click to expand...
Great reflection. GEAUX TIGERS!
 
gene438 said:
OK guys, I have come across my first major decision. I am strongly leaning towards not doing tree nails on this project. this is a very large model at
470mm x 1250mm and the planking is done with 3mm wide boards. At 1:70, I just don't know if tree nails would be visible at this scale. I think the deck planking is turning out to be very, very nice and I plan to coat with a satin, clear finish. I want to keep the natural tone of the wood. I'm worried that tree nails would detract the planking and make it look "too busy".

I'm still a day or 2 away from completing the planking on the lower deck, but I wanted to throw the idea out to you guys and get your thoughts.
Click to expand...
Your planking is looking very nice. Enough contrast in the pieces to emphasize that they are separate boards, but not so much as to be distracting. I also like that you used a good stagger pattern. As to treenails, I certainly wouldn't do more than pin-pricks prior to finishing at this scale. Even though they probably wouldn't be visible, it does add a level of detailing to your model. But I think you'd be fine not doing them too. Nice job so far!
 
looking forward to following your future post, it looks like the start of a fantastic ship. Please keep posting, I have wanted to build this ship for some time and perhaps your build log will be my inspiration.
 
Scale is your closet monster for treenails. They would need to be very small impressions. I would not try to drill and fill as in my experience you will not get them small enough to satisfy scale. My suggestion is to bypass treenails. Having said that there are techniques you can try. One is to make very small dimples, perhaps with a straight pin, where a treenail would be…then when you finish the deck the finish will settle into the dimples slightly coloring them and giving an impression of the presence of treenails.
 
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