1⁄700
Spanish Navy Battleship PELAYO, 1895

a build story by Jim Baumann
12
Comments



The ship was mounted on my usual artists water-color paper base. The large mooring buoy was made of alloy tube and furnished with a small PE ring according to photos. Virtually all railings were GMM superfine gold plus colored with an indelible pen. The small awnings on the bridge were made of thinned white glue dragged across the frame edged prior with sprue.





All rigging was stretched sprue applied with patience and a steady hand. The ratlines and shrouds were originally intended to be the new WEM items, alas the fighting tops were too high so I resorted to making them from wire shrouds and and sprue foot-ropes.

A mention must be made of the Vinyl Tape used throughout the build of this model; It is a small sheet of matt vinyl that has been slit into differing widths ranging from 0.5mm upwards. It is manufactured by BECC model accessories here in the UK and was supplied by Mr. Carpenter of CAMMET Ltd. It is available in a variety of colors.

The PELAYO was a most challenging subject to research, there being much erroneous information around. I would not have been able to complete this model without the gracious and speedy help of the following people:

Santi Caro for supplying me with numerous books and kindly translating great swathes of text as well as ALL the picture captions.
Darius Mazurowski for putting me in touch with Nick Mitiuckov author of book 'Pelayo'.
Sergey Myagkov for express sending the above book to me on trust!
Julio Pillet for sending me huge scans of the plans from the Museum in Madrid!
Steve Backer for looking up his 1887 naval annual publication featuring the Pelayo to set my mind at rest about the capstans!....
....and many many others who immediately dug about in their reference piles to assist me with my quest for information

THANK YOU ALL!



Essential resources and references when attempting to build the Pelayo!

Busques de la Armada Espanola 1849-1900-Spanish Ministry of Defense

' El Acorazado Pelayo' -Quiron Ediciones

Pelayo,by Nick Mitiuckov /A.Anka via Sergey

Spanish American War website
http://www.spanamwar.com/index.htm

US Naval Historical center website-Pelayo page
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-fornv/spain/spsh-mr/pelayo.htm

Interesting deck views
http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/pelayo.htm

Full Photo Display on Next Page!

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About JimBaumann


Comments

skipper
Another excellent SBS by Jim! It also provided some help on one of my current projects Congrats Jim Thanks for sharing it Mark Rui
MAR 22, 2008 - 03:30 AM
jba
Seriously, don't you want to play some Rachmaninov when you look at Jim's boats? Come on, at this point of mastering it's poetry.. That and I think the Pelayo is a really very handsome boat too
MAR 22, 2008 - 06:53 AM
Clanky44
A great study for anyone interested in the finer points of ship building. Thanks for sharing with us Jim. Frank
MAR 22, 2008 - 11:42 AM
gator
MAR 22, 2008 - 01:25 PM
JimBaumann
Thanks you for your kind words gentlemen! I had fun building her too! Rui--a new project eh...? JIM B
MAR 24, 2008 - 04:35 AM
skipper
Indeed Jim ... slow in the making, but another one Cheers, Rui
MAR 24, 2008 - 05:17 AM
Devin
Beautiful build, Jim. Great atmosphere. A suggestion for the next time you have to plug a large section of hull (as you did with the sacrificial gun turret in this build): try some Aves Apoxie Sculpt. It's an acrylic two-part sculpting clay. It dries super hard, sands and feathers like a dream, and it will hold an edge. You might have trouble making it out in this picture but I was able to get that end of the hull razor thin using Aves (I had to resculpt that edge after the hull took a nose-dive to the floor). I was able sand it down so sharp it became a translucent knife-edge.
MAR 24, 2008 - 06:02 AM
rokket2001
Jim, Beautiful build, mostly especially because you took a base (with flaws!) and made it sing! I love your mods and creativity, and the finished dio is beaut mate. A lovely finished piece, even better because of the extra work you put in. Really enjoyed the article. Devin - very nice epoxy replacement!
MAR 27, 2008 - 08:43 PM
peterf
We usually play the Dubussy while gazing at Jim's presentaion, JBA, ah yes, I can hear it now. Peter F
MAR 31, 2008 - 08:27 PM
jba
yep Peter, Debussy works too! Actually, anything good classical music from the last 130 years should work. it must be slightly romantic but mostly, you have got to hear the Machine and the smoke in the music too, this is why a bit of repetitivity and harshness in the music would be necessary. Stravinski's Весна священная (Spring's sacre in English?) comes to mind. Actually I would also play Neil Young's soundtrack to jim Jarmush's Dead Man too As there is space, smoke, a longing to be somewhere else in another time, and like Jim's work, at this point, it doesn't look like model making anymore. and for the Pelayo!
APR 03, 2008 - 08:51 PM
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Copyright ©2021 by Jim Baumann. _OPINIONS Model Shipwrights, KitMaker Network, or Silver Star Enterrpises. Images also by copyright holder unless otherwise noted. Opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of Model Shipwrights. All rights reserved. Originally published on: 2008-03-22 00:00:00. Unique Reads: 9920