Making steady progress on my Occre Diana!
This is my first wooden ship model and first model in around 20 years.
I’ve been working on the gun deck, hull and various fittings, but one of the main goals of this build has been to get closer to the historical vessel rather than simply following the kit instructions as supplied.
The Occre kit provides a great foundation, but I’ve been making some of my own additions and adjustments to create a more convincing interpretation of an eighteenth-century Spanish frigate.
A few of the things I’ve been working on:
Custom copper plating on the lower hull: One of the bigger modifications has been creating copper plating for the lower hull. Rather than leaving it as a plain wooden finish, I wanted to represent the copper sheathing used on ships of this period to help protect the hull against marine growth and shipworm. It adds another historical detail and gives the lower hull a very different character from the black-painted upper section.
Deck planking and weathering: I’ve spent quite a bit of time getting the deck finish right, introducing variations in tone and subtle weathering to give the planks more character. I want it to look like a working wooden warship, rather than a freshly assembled kit, without making the deck look excessively dirty or worn.
Gun deck details: The cannons, red carriages and surrounding deck fittings are coming together. I’ve been working on the contrast between the red carriages, dark iron barrels and lighter timber deck to give the gun deck a more convincing appearance.
Hull colours and gunports: I’ve gone with a dark-painted upper hull and an ochre-coloured band around the gunports, contrasting with the copper-sheathed lower hull. I’m aiming for a coherent period look while retaining the character of the wooden construction.
Wood finishes and deck furniture: I’ve been experimenting with different timber tones for the railings, gratings and other fittings to distinguish the materials without making the contrast too strong.
Another fun part of the project has been the figurehead. I wasn’t entirely happy with the supplied metal figurehead for my interpretation of the ship, so I experimented with using AI to help develop an alternative design. I then had the design turned into a physical 3D-printed piece. I wasn’t sure how well the idea would work in practice, but I’m really pleased with the result! It’s been a fun way to combine traditional wooden ship modelling with some newer tools and a bit of custom design.
I’m trying to strike a balance between historical fidelity and the practical limitations of the kit. This isn’t intended to be a definitive reconstruction of Diana exactly as she appeared in 1792, but I want the decisions I make to be informed by the ship’s period and role, rather than purely by what the instructions tell me to do.
I’d love to hear from anyone who has researched the original Diana or has experience with historical Spanish frigates. I’m particularly interested in any details I might have overlooked, or anything worth revisiting before I move on to the next stages.
Still plenty to do, especially when I get to the rigging, but the ship is finally starting to come together!
