„Sao Gabriel“ – the carac by Vasco da Gama (Portugal)

Vasco da Gama was born in 1469 or 1470 in Sinis, a small port in the province of Alentejo. Little is known about his youth. According to Antonio de Lima, Vasco da Gama came from a noble family, which is mentioned as early as 1166, although a male line without "white spots" is known from 1280, to Alvaro da Gama, who was descended from his father Estevan da Gama. He served as alcalde (ruler) and judge of Sinis. Vasko da Gama's mother, Isabel Sodra, was English. Vasco was their third son (the eldest was Paul da Gama). As a nobleman, as well as the son of an alcalde and a judge, Vaskas received his higher education in Lisbon, where he spent his youth. In 1484 became a sailor. It is known, that between 1484 and in 1492 studied astronomy and navigation at the School of Evora. In 1492 led the defense of the Portuguese colony against the French on the coast of Guinea. In 1488 Bartholomew Dias returned from a voyage around the southern coast of Africa, which he named the Cape of Bourges (later renamed the Cape of Good Hope), reached the Fish River (now the Republic of South Africa), and Pedro de Corvilhã sailed from India and reached the route he had previously followed B. Dias. All that was left was to combine those two tracks into one. This task was entrusted to Vasco's father, Estevão da Gama, but he died before preparations could begin. Then his son Vasko was appointed as the leader of the expedition. He sailed in 1497. July 8 with "Santa Maria de Belém" from the port of Lisbon, near the chapel of Ermida do Restelo, built by Henrik Sailor. In that chapel Vasco da Gama and his crew prayed the night before setting sail to commemorate the discovery of the sea route to India. Vasco da Gama left Lisbon with four ships ("Sao Gabriel", "Sao Rafael", "Berrio" and "São Miguel") and a crew of 160 (some sources say 170), including a number of prisoners. The trip led through the Atlantic, the Canary Islands and Cape Verde. Although part of the route to the Cape of Good Hope was already known, the journey was not easy. V. da Gama had to put down mutinies, fight big storms and scurvy, which exhausted the crew. December 16 the crew passed Fish River and sailed through waters, unknown to Europeans. The shore they passed on Christmas Day, was named Natalia (later Natal). In January it reached present-day Mozambique, an Arab-controlled part of the Indian Ocean trade network on the eastern side of Africa. While so far away, V. da Gama hired a guide in Malindi (now Kenya), who led the expedition further to Calicut on the southwest coast of India (May 20, 1498). The local Arab merchants met V. da Gama very hostilely. He eventually obtained some concessions, but had to sail without warning after the Raja of Calicut tried to force him to leave all his goods as security. V. da Gama detained the goods and left several Portuguese with the task of carrying out the trade (factory). On the way back a number of the crew died of scurvy. Only 55 people reached Portugal. Returning to Portugal in 1499 in September, V. da Gama was richly rewarded as the man, who managed to fully implement the plan, the realization of which lasted 8 years. Received the title of "Admiral of the Indian Seas" and in 1502 February 12 sailed again to India with 20 warships to consolidate Portuguese interests and open an easier way for goods. Pedro Alvarez Cabral (who had discovered Brazil during his voyage) had been sent there two years before, who reported, that the crew had been massacred or chased away in India, in the face of opposition from Calicut and Arab merchants.

A fairly complex model of a medium-sized sailship, that can be perfectly assembled by a modeler of average experience. We are not talking about experienced people - for them this model is like peeling sunflowers.