Having seen Tim’s Roman merchant ship I was inspired to make something in a similar vein. I dug out an old Heller (again Heller!) sailing boat called a Sinegot, in 1/60 scale. I changed the two masted square-rigged boat to a single mast lateen sail to make it look more Mediterranean. Eventually it will be tied up at dock and being unloaded. Crew and people will be 1/72 scale.
Comments/Likes/Dislikes?
I like it Leo! Can’t wait to see the dock and the crew aboard.
You’ve really nailed the wood grain finish on that plastic! Looking great!
Hi, Like it very much, agree with Tim.
Cheers, Si
Actually, the wood grain is thanks to Heller. It’s a raised grain pattern, that has been described by another modeler as “exaggerated”, but looks pretty good under a coat (or two…or three) of paint. I painted the entire model a nice woody color (Citadel Zambesi Desert), then using the same color, made shades with gray, white, and a darker brown. These were used to paint random individual planks for a variety of shades. After all was good and dry, I brushed on a dark brown oil paint, followed by brushing most of it off by brush and sponge that results in a warm woody look with the individual plank shading still obvious. I’ve used the same technique on a Santa Maria (Heller, again!), pics to come, and it looks like a wooden model!
I’m currently working on the dock (pretty easy, and finished) and a medieval looking cargo hoist. Thanks to a regularly scheduled postal strike (@%$&#*!) figures may not arrive until well into next year! 
A note on the sails: Included plastic sails are often pretty pathetic - over-thick injection molded plastic, or battered vacu-formed. After-market cloth sails often look over scale, with really big stitching. A lot of ship modelers prefer to use a Japanese paper called “Silkspan”, which is very thin, yet has a high wet-strength. It’s also tough, and withstands some manhandling. Unfortunately, Silkspan is unavailable locally, and shipping rates from US are unrealistically high (for a package of paper!!). There is, however, an alternative - Tenguko paper, another Japanese paper. It has almost the same characteristics of the more expensive Silkspan, and is more readily available. This is what I used on the above boat and the earlier Pinta.
It was your painting technique I was specifically referring to. Well done.
Leo,
It really looks the part. I really like your wood painting. You’ve brought out the wood pattern and planking nicely. I also like how you have it rigged. I’m starting a Heller Thonier Armor fishing boat kit soon and I hope to use your methods for rigging. Did the blocks, pulleys and dead eyes come in your kit? My kit parts are mostly molded with lines attached.
Thanks
John
Thanks for liking. This model didn’t come with any blocks, deadeyes, etc., and you were just expected to tie rigging lines to the ends of yards, gaffs, etc. and glue them in place. Good enough for a beginner who wants do do some basic rigging. I had some surplus equipment from previous builds, pirated some from the Revell Bounty, and had some 3D printed items from Model Monkey. It would be a big help to Google “Heller Thonier” and see how other modelers have rigged theirs, or just do a general search on rigging model ships and study the techniques. In my above model I just used the hull and deck parts. I changed it from a two-master into a single mast lateen-sail, so I had to Google typical rigging methods for that kind of boat.
Thanks for your reply, Leo. I have been doing some online searches but your build log had some nicely detailed photos that will help me a lot. Hope you have a happy Thanksgiving.
John
I would be wary of using other modeler’s builds as a prime source of reference, but merely as a suggestion; ie, I may not be 100% correct, even though I may think I am! 
I would be wary of using other modeler’s builds as a prime source of reference, but merely as a suggestion; ie, I may not be 100% correct, even though I may think I am!
I agree. A case in point is my own corbita;
Although the model may have looked nice, any sailor would tell you the rigging was all wrong!
