PRINCIPLES FOR

SAIL SHIPS

ASSEMBLY

The assembly of a plastic scale model of a sail ship basically is divided in three parts: Hull, Masts/Deck and Sails/Ropes

1st. PART – HULL
-TYPES OF HULLS
According to the model and brand of kit, the hulls can be of a single piece or in two parts. In the case of the one-piece hulls, the preparation for the painting is easier. In the one-piece hulls, being sailboats, we must make a vast search as of year 4000 b.C., where was found in a sumerian tomb tested as of that time the oldest sailboat of which news we had, although being in plastic modelling is very few the brands that inject old boats, which returns impossible to find some model of boat that come near to that time, those that come near more are the Roman Boat of Minicraft and the Viking Drakar of Revell USA, later, passing more towards the Average Age, we arrived at the boats of the XV, XVI, XVII and XVIII centuries, of which they are kits easier to find; and later the newest of the centuries XIX and XX, that practically are in any brand. In kits with scales greater to 1:200 the hulls are generally one-piece. The scales can be up to 1:6000, that are the boats for war games. 

PREPARATION OF HULL AND DECK
Many modellers know the procedure of wash the pieces with detergent before initiating the assembly and painting, to avoid any vestige of grease of  the fingers or of the own plastic, that can contain some chemical substances of the production line.

In the commercial ships of Renaissance time, XV Century and basically until the end of the 1880 decade, their hulls were brush painted, that is did not exist compressors nor painting pistols. If the modeller decides on this technique, in the first place must use enamel type synthetic paint and a little type brush of otter hair, because the final result will have to present the smaller possible number of brush marks. It is why it is needed to practice too much to apply this technique.

The paint influences much the result whenever the correct dilution is applied, applying this technique reaches a more real result in relation to the original ship, because all were painted with brushes. 

In my opinion, the best paint to work with this technique is the one of Humbrol brand, because it allows to be well diluted, the colors are very exact and provides optimal results.

After the brush painting the completion comes, that is the most important, because all the hulls, between a table and another one, are impregnated of dirt and marine microorganisms, that are imitated working with pastel chalks. The application of these chalks must take care control, normally commit much exaggeration, this is why a good investigation on the ship that we are assembly will offer a better result later. After finishing the painting phase, a coat of satin varnish is applied to all the hull, but before we must choose to use the Judea bitumen or pastel chalks to culminate the work of wearing down in all the piece.

After applied the bitumen we can give him a coat of satin varnish with airbrush, since applied with brush it is very difficult to obtain good results, because the varnish is deposited where the brush marks are deeper. If you are going to apply pastel chalks on those brush marks the result can improve a little, because the pastels cover some defects. The use of chalks after the painting with airbrush will have almost obligatorily follow the beige tones light and dark brown, black and some ash-gray tones. In some places of the hull will have to apply matt varnish, mainly in those in which there is greater wearing down because the water beats the hull.

We cannot forget, even being ships, before applying the definitive paint coat of the hull, to give him a bottom color coat, it does not need to be primer, it is enough that it is a coat of any smooth light color very diluted in all the hull, so that the main coat of paint has good adhesion, airbrushing it to average distance so we have a rough surface in the hull.

Apply this technique carefully, because in case you come near too much to the hull could cover all the details of the tables and nails. This technique is used solely you are decided on the painting with airbrush, if decides to the brush painting is not necessary to use the primer.

The same painting form of the hull is used in the deck, with a difference, the wood color. The deck, as it takes much more sun that the hull, has a lighter tone, therefore the tone of beige applied will be lighter and the bitumen amount also will be smaller. We do not have to forget the corners, places of load, places of rammer of ropes and barrels, part of the prow and many other places, that are seen darker because of the accumulated dirt, or those that they have greater transit, like for example: the places where the ropes distributed around all the deck are fixed, the fir wood used for the masts, yards, oars, etc. are generally of darker colors in their bases, as well as the yards, railings, crow's nest, prow mask, riggings, stern castle, etc.

In each ship notices a variety of different colors, from the reddish tones like those of some Spanish galleons constructed with theca (a type of wood), to the walnut tones of other boats, passing through the oak and pine.

In order to obtain a greater realism in the wood color better results are obtained with the dark wood colors, like for example the chocolate color, to which him more realistic aging appearance we can provide. In order to obtain this effect we let dry the painting very well, at least three days, when is completely dry, we will dilute a little part of black bitumen with turpentine spirit and apply with a soft brush on all the surface of the hull and some parts of the deck. We can also apply another material, they are the varnishes of the wood own color, they can be synthetic or acrylic, and their tonalities vary from the colors of theca, walnut, oak and cerejeira to the Spanish oak.

To paint the deck of a plastic ship of a smooth color is one of the most depressing spectacles of the plastics kits world, because it is there where the sight of the modeller pays attention. In some cases the tables of the deck are marked by parallel lines that as soon they notice, and often in sobrerelief, which totally is missed, because the gaps between the tables are recessed; therefore we will have to remake them with a rule and blade, table by table, firstly sandpapering all the deck to erase the reliefs lines, and later we will have to mark the wood veins with a blade or cutter. 

After having that ready and painted of light color, we will have to make the marks of the nails that maintain the tables, that make with a Rotring pen measure 0,1.

In the ships of XVII and XVIII centuries got used to paint in red the internal part of the haul, as well as the huts walls, the hoops of the hatchways and the gun carriages of the cannons. The wood of the outer side, in zones of much wearing down by the use, as the supports for the ropes, banister rails, the huts of haul, etc., can be worked with a smoother tone using the dry brush technique, so that up their polished wood texture. In this case taken care in applying the dry brush with much smoothness so that it does not acquire a milky or granulated aspect, if is well aplied its aspect must be as smooth as the banister rails of wood stairs, and for final completion give it a coat of satin varnish. 

The decoration of the ships is one of the points that more flame the attention. The old ships were used an enormous range of adornments, to stress the prestige of their respective nations. In order to obtain that effect in kits we will give a first base color that can be black, blue, red, dark green or any other color that contrasts with gold, silver or yellow. The black is used to being the most frequent, used by English and Spanish, as well as light blue by the French of XVII Century.

If the details were golden can be swept with the dry brush, taken care of not touching the dark bottom color, that must be free of gold paint. If it were wanted to give a special brightness to it in some determined point, mixes gold with silver, and paint the places in which it is working. If the adornments were light color and the bottom also, the best thing is to delineate those adornments in dark color, black or brown shade, before giving the definitive paint coat, that be done as we explained above.

Towards the end of XVIII Century all the shining paint of the adornments was replaced in almost all navies, the golden tones by common paint, as well as the amount of adornments and statues, that they were replaced by one a more sober decoration due to the high price that had some ships. The golden one was normally changed by cadmium yellow or ocher yellow, at a time at which almost all navy of the world painted all their ships in black with yellow or white strips. As the yellow paint is difficult to apply on black bottom, we are going to make the inverse process, whenever it is possible. First the piece is painted yellow and lets it dry by two days, and later the black part is painted superficially, leaving the details already delineated.

IMITATION OF METALS
For the pieces that we want to imitate of iron the technique is very easy, we will paint the piece in matt black and without hoping that the painting dries completely impregnate a finger with a little graphite dust and the pass through all the piece. In agreement with the graphite amount that we use, the effects can be of old or polished iron, being able to arrive until a waxed iron tonality.

For the imitation of the bronze also we can have effects of polished bronze, rusted or matt. The matt bronze obtains with mixture of brown, green and red paint and a little reddish gold pigments powder. If you use the metal pigments powder that there is in the market, will obtain only a bronze color similar to copper, for that reason it is important to mix it with paints. For the oxidized bronze effect, is obtained painting first with a coat of very light green and later with a slipped brush, is applied the bronze tone obtained with the matt bronze mixture, trying to make that it is left the light green in the deepest places, like the lines and hollows of the cannons. The rank of rusting is according the preference of each modeller. Finally the polished bronze is obtained painting with the same paint mixture of the matt bronze and golden pigment powder added to it. After applied the mixture let dry well, and soon is made the technique of brushing with pure golden paint, diluting the contours. The intensity of the brightness will depend on the taste of the modeller.

For the effect of old silver, the pieces are painted in matt black, and which they dry well, is applied a coat of silver color paint using the technique of the smooth and slipped brush, later brushing with silver pigment powder. In order to obtain the aluminum effect is almost identical, happening soon applying satin varnish after applying the silver pigment powder.

With the rust in the first place, we must carefully study the locations of the same ones, the form that will take, and its sliding by water in certain zones and places. Also we must define if the rust will be older (dark) or more recent (reddish or yellow). Much caution with the excess of rust due to have not ridicule the model. The rust is obtained with an ocher, red and yellow mixture. In the zones where the water falls in drops paint in the direction in which they run, diluting and lighting the edges so that the rust is not excessive. Clear edges nor defined spots are not due to make, and the tonalities will be due to alternate, trying to use all the possible range.

I want to leave clear here that those processes that we mentioned above being apply if the modeller does not find the specific paint tones for the pieces, but as at the moment the supply of paints and colors is very great (mainly of metallic colors), it will not be difficult to find the appropriate tone for each object, and hardly complements with the application of metallic pigment powders and graphite.

Only to complete this part, I would like to emphasize something as the details of smaller boats, like motor boats and oar boats. It is of great importance placing in its interior, already painted and finished, oars, small rolls of cord and nailing some pins with hoop. Some boats were equipped with a small mast with a Latin sail (square), and can be constructed so much the mast as the spanker boom of the sail with plastic or wood rod, and be placed tied them within the boat.

The crow´s nests, until the end of XVII Century, was round and reinforced on the upper side with tables placed radially; as of XVIII Century they take the form of a "D", conserving those reinforcements. For the paint of the crow's nest I advise to use the drybrush technique with most lighter tones so that they are heightened. The yards by custom was black painted, being able to be painted in brown also, passing Judea bitumen to finalize.

All the pieces pertaining to the masts and the crow's nest are due to mount before placing them in the deck. The blocks, bidrops (rounded piece with three holes) and sheaves (rounded by where the ropes run) also must be mounted in the masts. All the rope that fixes the masts, stays, shrouds and riggings was painted in black, because those pieces always were covered with tar to be protect of the weather inclemency. A complete masting can take, at least, the same working time that the hull, which gives an idea of its complexity.

Take much care when executes the masting, any error in the masts place can lower from 100 to 80% the beauty of the model.

3rd. PART – EQUIPMENT AND SAILS
Fixed Equipment are called all the ropes that serve as support of the masts, and was made up of shrouds, riggings and stays.

The shrouds are those four great ropes (threads in the model) of each side of the mast, tied of two in two. Stays are the ropes that fulfill the mission of fix the masts longitudinally. Futtock shrouds are ropes like the shrouds, but more fine and compressed, that fix the woods to the futtock laterally. All work of mooring demands much well-taken care and concentration because the working space is very little and since the fingers in many cases do not have space to make the knots, with a little practice they be able to make knots with clamps, is more complicated, but later of which is learned it makes easy. Soon to do the knot, put it a drop of white glue and lets dry a little, cuts the excess of thread using sharpened scissors to not mark the thread, because the knot cannot have movement later of their dry. The correct thing is to make all the moorings without worrying about the threads that exceed the making of the knots, sticks with white glue each knot and soon of make all the moorings and dry the glue of the knots, cuts all the leftovers with scissors. Paint in black the knots so that they do not seem patches, if the thread was of another color you were to paint all the thread just to be able to make adjustments later.

In some boats the ratlines are not ropes (threads) but made of wood, forming also stairs. The painting of that stairs is done following the same technique of the painting of the deck, using the same wood tone of the masts and applying the dry brush technique for the wearing downs. At the moment in the modern ships the wood ratlines are not used, were replaced by metallic steps welded in the own masts or by snail stairs.

All this work of making of the set of ratlines in the models is called RATLING.

SAILS
The main part of the modellers uses the sails included in the kits (of plastic), but you can provide a greater realism to your model using fabric sails.

In the case of the plastic sails, we will paint them of yellowish ochre or light beige diluted, the plastic sails even have printed the fabric texture and the marks of seams. Later of which were dry, is applied diluted Judea bitumen and is done a smooth swept with rag without threads, it does not need to push with much force, like the bitumen were very diluted, the objective is soon to yellowish the sail (aging appearance), mainly in the seam marks. Later of which the bitumen is well dry, applies a coat of matt varnish, soon a layer to equal the bitumen. We can use pastel chalks in the edges of the sails where the cuff are located, in this place normally concentrated much dirt, but taken care of committing exaggerations in the applications of this wearing down, it must be well discreet and almost imperceptible. Another one option is to tint the sails with tea or coffee (very well-known technique), submerges the sails by approximately 10 minutes, retires it and verifies if the color is of your affability, if note that not well, continue submerging in 10 minutes intervals, until arriving at the wished tone. With the tea is tinted more quickly, therefore take more attention to the time of delay. Later of which was tinted and well dry, is applied the same system mentioned above of matt varnish and pastel chalks. 

Attention: Never submerge the sails in tea or coffe to hot or lukewarm temperature, it must be totally cold..

The plastic sails have two disadvantages: if they are very fine, by virtue of the glues and paintings applications in some specific places, with time finishes cracking and color down totally, because they are very fragile; on the other hand, if they were heavy, loses realism by more well painted that was. Therefore, the option to the modeller is to use the plastico sails included in the kit, or to make a very good finishing not to spoil the vision of the model.

Another option to replace the plastic sails is to use fabric sails (rag or linen woven). Also was tinted with coffee (every 10 minutes verify if the tone is of your affability). Soon of they are tinted and given a specific form to the sails, apply a coat of matt or satin varnish. As soon was well wet with the varnish, model the format you wishes that they take, and later lets dry very well remaining in the same position. Use acrylic varnish, that does not attack fabrics. In order to make the sails can take advantage of the own format of the plastico sails, or draw molds of paper of each one and transfer them to the fabric, marking all the necessary details that have been on the sails, like heavy linen stripes sewn between. All sail ship took to a professional or master who took care of his manking and preparation during the trip.

The seam of the fabric strips can be easily imitated sewing directly by machine in parallel lines. There are sails in which those seams are vertical and in others they are parallel alongside opposite of the yards. Around the sails there is a reinforcement formed by a sewn case, and in the edges and cuffs of each sail an angle reinforced seam.

For the ships that present flags or standards becomes the same process that the sails when it is possible, as they are difficult to replace by fabric ones (due to the painting problems), the more indicated is use vegetal paper and apply acrylic varnish to them, modelling to your taste and leaving dry very well. As far as the pennants that identify countries and codes, agrees to use those that included in the kit (of paper), giving they a smooth coat of acrylic varnish.

In scales in which the ships are little, it is possible to be used the option of the sails made of vegetal paper, taps and painted. If you prefers to do it with the gathered sails also can use modeled vegetal paper (in little ships) or of fabric (coiled in the yards) in greater scale ships. 

The greater sailboat constructed until today was the PREUSSEN (Germany), constructed in 1902 and that sail during eight years. With five masts, 5,600 m2 of sails area and 8,000 tons, cross several times the Cape Horn. Was sunk in 1910 soon of be hit by a steam ship, in the coast of the English Channel.

The shipwreck of the PAMIR in 1957 as a result of a cyclone to the southwest of Azores was a fatal blow for the millenarian history of the sailboats.