Spanish Ships of the Line from current French&British ships

[Gallo Rojo]

I know this may sound like a blasphemy, and probably it is … but say I want really badly to have a couple of Spanish Ships of the Line. Say the Santa Ana and maybe the Santisima Trinidad.

I’ve found them in white metal and in 1:1200 scales (here), but they are very expensive stuff.

So here is the blasphemy: If I just got one of the current Ocean-Class French Ships, re-paint it with proper colors and put a Spanish flag on it, would it be much difference between it and a ‘real’ version of the above mentioned Spanish ships?
I’m really good at painting and crafting and even doing small parts from scratch – I’ve been doing it for airplanes and tanks for decades, I’m just new to ships. Could I do some minor transformations in order to make one of them out of an Ocean-Class? If yes, which ones?
Regards!

[Coog]

I don't see any problem with it at all. Both are quite close in build and general appearance. With the lack of ship models available and the rate of production being so slow, it is almost a necessity to do repaints and reflaging of substitute models if you want a variety of ships. That is what I did to get American ships for circa 1800. Check these articles for a comparison of the Santísima Trinidad and the Océan-class. I think you will find their dimensions and armament quite similar and using the same game statistics reasonable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish...Dsima_Trinidad

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oc%C3%A...ip_of_the_line