Building OcCre’s Spanish 74-gun Ship Montañes from Part Kits – Final

When I began the Montañes part kit project, I began fully aware that this was pretty well just a long term project that I’d work on from time to time, and that the cost of the Packs, as OcCre calls them, would be more than the cost of the complete kit. Unfortunately, I went online to consider again purchasing the second Pack and found that the pricing had changed considerably. The Packs have gone from about $110 each to $179 each. But, there is some savings in that OcCre has changed their shipping policy so that shipping is free for orders over 150€, about $164. So, the price of $179 for the pack is the shipped price, which before was about $130.

Building OcCre’s Spanish 74-gun Ship Montañes from Part Kits – Part 3

Having still not come to my senses, I continue to plan modifications to my Montañes model. More and more, I am considering modifying the cannons and gun ports. As none of the cannon parts are included in the initial parts pack (remember, I only have Pack 1 of the six available for this kit), I contacted OcCre about ordering some of the cannon barrels and parts.

I have to say that OcCre’s customer service seems to be top notch. I communicated by messaging them through their Facebook page, which is easy to do and replies are usually within 24 hours. I provided the part numbers from the kit and the quantities. Basically, I just wanted 4 of each of the cannons and carriages, which would be enough for me work with, and allow me to at least expand the number of full cannons on the upper gun deck. Anyway, the parts aren’t very expensive, but right now in particular, with Covid limitations, the shipping is the expensive part. I think it ended up costing me around $26 for these few parts. But, since I’m experimenting and writing about my build, I decided to go ahead.

It didn’t take me long to get the parts I’d ordered, giving me some idea of how I might proceed with the build. First off, I had a hunch from looking at the photos of the part packs that OcCre had changed their kit from the original design, to use cheaper materials. So, while disappointing, it came as no surprise that the cannon barrels were all cast metal parts, not the beautiful looking brass gun barrels that you see on all the model photos.

For me, it probably doesn’t make a lot of difference, as I usually prefer my cannon barrels blackened to appear more like the real ones. And, as castings go, they aren’t bad. On the larger dummy barrels, you can hardly see any mold seams.

But, as with so many kit manufacturers, the cannon barrels don’t look a whole lot like real cannon barrels. I don’t know who designed these cannon barrels, but clearly they either have no idea what a cannon barrel looks like, or they just don’t care.

Building OcCre’s Spanish 74-gun Ship Montañes from Part Kits – Part 2

Beginning the actual construction of the Montañes started with the marking of the parts needed for the first steps. The parts are all laser-cut, all nice and neat on their respective sheets, but they parts aren’t marked. To find the parts, you have to use the diagrams of the laser-cut sheets in the instructions.

Part numbers drawn in pencil.

Building OcCre’s Spanish 74-gun Ship Montañes from Part Kits – Part 1

I began writing about OcCre’s model kit of the Spanish 74-gun ship of the line Montañes a few months back, when I wrote about ordering one of several available “part kits” put out by the company. The others being the San Ildefonso, the Nuestra Señora del Pilar, and the Santisima Trinidad. I chose the Montañes because I like the type of ship, the size of the model, and the details of this particular kit the best.

I purchased the first of six Packs, as OcCre calls them, and plan on buying them as needed for the build. However, building from the packs is really no different in terms of materials, fittings, and instructions, as the full kit. You just don’t have to pay for it all at once, though it ends up costing you more, mostly due to the ship charges.

An Occre Part Order Follow-Up

It occurred to me recently that I’d written a post about ordering a part kit from OcCre back in December, which had a wrong laser-cut sheet in it. I’d contacted OcCre about it, but I never posted the results of that issue. So, here it is.

To recap, I ordered the first of 6 part kits, or Packs as OcCre calls them, of their Spanish 74-gun ship Montañes kit. It was a nicely packed set of laser-cut wood sheets, wood strips, and kit instructions. Unfortunately, in the process of marking the parts for identification, I discovered I’d gotten a duplicate laser-cut wood sheet and I was missing another.

Two of one sheet, with one needed sheet missing.