We just received our first shipment of the newest kit from the Spanish wooden ship model kit manufacturer, OcCre. The ship is the 1/70-scale model of Endurance, the Antarctic exploration ship of Sir Ernest Shackleton. A 3-masted barquentine (or barkentine) built in Sandefjord, Norway, the carried Shackleton and his crew of 27 for the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition in 1914.
The Endurance was a sturdy ship, 144 feet long, and built with a reinforced hull. The ship was equipped with a coal-fired steam engine that could propel the ship at over 10 knots. Though she was considered to be perhaps the strongest wooden ship ever built, she could not overcome the power of nature. In January of 1915, strong winds had piled up thick packs of ice around the ship, and became locked in the Antarctic ice. Ultimately, by October, she was crushed by pressure waves in the ice around her, and her crew was forced to abandon her.
After months on the ice, Shackleton and his crew took to the lifeboats and made it to the uninhabited Elephant Island. Shackleton and five of his men then continued to sail 800 miles in an open boat to get help and mount a rescue expedition for the rest of his men. The crew of the Endurance survived the ordeal without a single loss of life.
OcCre’s kit features an MDF (medium density fiberboard) keel piece with laser-cut plywood bulkheads. Major structural parts are also laser-cut for ease of construction. A healthy supply of strip woods are provided for the planking of the hull, which is accomplished in two layers. Two sheets of photo-etched brass and a supply of wooden, cast metal, and brass fittings are provided to detail your model. To finish up the model, several spools of rigging line, pre-sewn sails, and printed flag sheet is provided.
The included instructions are in a step-by-step, pictorial format, and you can download and preview a copy of them here: Endurance Instructions
Want more help with your build? OcCre has you covered, with a 30-part series of instructional videos on Youtube, designed to guide you through the construction of the hull. Here’s a link to the video series: Endurance Build Videos
Or watch this preview…
We received a limited initial supply of this kit, so hurry if you want one. We have more coming in soon, though. So, if you don’t manage to get one right away, you shouldn’t have to wait long.
As an introductory special, we’re listing this kit for only $199.95, which should be good through the end of April. Get your’s here: Endurance on Ages of Sail
In the meantime, here are some more photos of the completed kit…
Get your wooden model ship kit at Ages of Sail!
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Reblogged this on Ship Modeler and commented:
OcCre has been producing a lot of new kits over the past couple years, and what’s great is that they are releasing a number of subjects that haven’t been done before, or haven’t been done very well before.
Now, these kits aren’t exactly scale accurate representations, but are reasonably priced and they seem to have the overall dimensions and general details right. Any ship modeler who is more scale-obsessed, like I am, can modify the details as he or she sees fit. To me, that’s the mark of a good kit.
Well, the latest release by OcCre is Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic expedition ship, Endurance. Check out OcCre’s 1/70-scale model of this famous ship of exploration. OcCre seems to be on a roll with these ships of exploration. 3 of the last 5 kits that I am aware of, have been ships of exploration: HMS Terror, HMS Beagle, and Endurance.
OcCre’s Endurance looks like it may be another winner.
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