Black Sea's Spanish 3rd Rates of Renown

Two more additions to the Spanish fleet for Black Sea's, This time from the 'Spanish 3rd Rates of Renown' set. The set consists of three of the basic plastic 3rd Rate ships plus some cast metal figureheads and stern sections to make the 'Argonauta', the 'San Justo' and the 'Monarca' all of which were present at Trafalgar.

The kit also includes a special 'Spanish' metal upper deck but I couldn't get it to fit properly so, as it was little different to the plastic upper deck, I didn't bother using it.

The first to be finished was the 'Argonauta', an 80 gun ship built at Ferrol and launched in 1798. She fought against the British Ferrol expedition in 1800, at the battle of Cape Finisterre in July 1805 and finally at Trafalgar under Captain Antonio Pareja where she was captured by HMS Polyphemus, later sinking in the storm after the battle:

The metal figurehead of a bull:

The stern with the ship's name engraved:

The second ship is the 'San Justo, launched in 1779. She participated in a number of actions including the Battle of Cape St Vincent, the siege of Gibraltar and Trafalgar under Captain Miguel Gaston de Iriarte.

The San Justo survived Trafalgar and was eventually broken up at Cartagena in 1828. Interestingly there is a model of the ship in the National Maritime Museum which has a black and white colour scheme. I painted my version of the ship in a red/black combination:

Again the stern has the ship's name engraved:

That just leaves the 'Monarca' to complete to finish the set.