Back in the 60's of last century my father build a Santa Maria from a plan he got from somewhere. That model sort of disappeared when I grew up...(no, I did not try to see if it floated)

I would like to build a Santa Maria, and can find two kits on the net...
Keeping in mind I am ok with plastic, a knife and an airbrush, what would be the best way to go here?

It'll be a present for my sister, so....

Hi Harald

Did you got the Heller 1/75 one?

My advice would be to paint it in browns and then use artists oils (burnt sienna, yellow ochre and mixes of both) to create a realistic wooden appearance on the plastic.
I saw your gallery images, so, you are not a newbie... I can trust that you will manage to do it properly

Apart from the wooden aspect of it, the other two very important things are:
- The rigging
- The sails

For the rigging you could buy some scaled rope by artesania latina, corel, amati and other wood scale ship manufacturers (please avoid sewing line).

For the sails, when you get there, you can use a trick that a club member did, using very fine linen, tea, and diluted white glue, using the vacformed plastic sails as templates - it worked fabulously!!

Hope this helps
Cheers,
Rui

Rui,

thanks!

I haven't got anything yet.
What I am looking at is actually switching from plastic to a real wooden version. What attracts me is the "build" aspect, like a different form of craftsmanship. However, this is also what intimidates me, having never worked with this mix of "natural" ingredients. I think I know hat to do, but not how to do it....

That tip on the sails is an interesting one. I was looking at making a canvas cover for a 1/48th scale vehicle, and this looks like a way to go. thanks for that one.

H