Author: agesofsail

Shipyard’s HMS Wolf – An Admiralty Model

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Building HMS Wolf – Shipyard’s 1/72 Scale Laser-Cut Card Kit – Part 16 – Final?

Shipyard’s 1/72-scale laser-cut card model kit of the English 10-gun snow-rigged brig, HMS Wolf, is an amazingly detailed kit, designed with two masts, and a full spread of pre-cut sails. But, the rigging of any sailing ship model can be a tremendous challenge for any model builder. Here’s a model that has been built without all the rigging, focussing the observer on the shape and details of the hull, and the details of the decks, guns, and other features of the ship.

Placed on a fine walnut base and supported by brass pedestals, the model looks like a jewel on display…

New Revised RMS Titanic Model Kit for 2025 from Amati

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Just Arrived and In Stock Now at Ages of Sail!

For years, Amati has had one of the best wooden ship model kits of the famed RMS Titanic available. Now, the just released a newly revised version of their 1/250 scale Titanic beauty, and this new model kit is better than ever! Like their original version, this is a plank-on-bulkhead construction wooden ship model kit that measures just over 42″ long, 9″ high, and 5″ wide.

The model now features a more accurate hull shape and new photo-etched parts, replacing the old paper pieces that were used for representing some of the doors and windows. Plus, laser-cut parts are now provided for the second planking layer, making for easier and more accurate assembly.

The shipment of the new kits just arrived and are on sale now for $549. However, if you want to save some money, and you feel the original version is good enough for you, we still have several in stock, at the low price of $450.

Check them both out on Ages of Sail:

New 2025 Version

Previous Version

 

USCGC Eagle Touring the West Coast

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For those of you in our neck of the woods, there is an opportunity to visit a real, operational tall ship this Summer. The Eagle, ex-Horst Wessel, is the U.S. Coast Guard’s training vessel. She’s a 295 foot long, steel hulled, 3-masted barque, meaning her fore and main masts are square-rigged, while her mizzen mast is fore-and-aft rigged.

The ship is scheduled to visit San Francisco on June 25 and again on July 25. However, there’s a possibility that the June date may change. In any case, she will be open to the public, so here’s a chance to go aboard.

San Francisco has been home to a couple tall ships for many years – the 3-masted ship Balclutha, and the 3-masted lumber schooner C.A.Thayer have been open to visitors at the San Francisco Maritime National Park’s Hyde Street Pier. However, those ships have been temporarily relocated the Mare Island while the pier is under repair.

Unfortunately, there are no longer any kits available of this ship, at least from our wooden ship model kit manufacturers. However, the Eagle is a Gorch Fock class ship, and we do carry a couple kits of the Gorch Fock. It should be possible to model the Eagle from one of these kits, though the Eagle has been modernized, so some modifications to deck structures and fittings would be necessary to accurately portray this ship.

OcCre’s Gorch Fock wooden model ship kit.

 

You can see the Eagle’s full West Coast tour schedule here.

You can also keep track of just where the ship is at any given time, using this ship tracker. Ω

 

Tying Ratlines, A Quick Video

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Ratlines are the “rope ladders” that allow sailors to climb the masts of sailing ships. Making these can be intimidating to new ship modelers. Here’s a short video clip showing the process of tying ratlines using the tried and true “clove hitch” knot that used on the full-sized ships.

In the video description on the Youtube sight, the poster says:

The model in the clip is Mamoli’s 1/54-scale English royal yacht Mary, 1660. This ship has only 1 mast with 4 shrouds on each side, limiting the number of ratlines needed. The ratlines are about 16″ scale inches apart. The card with the lines on it was created as a visual guide. Once the knots are done, I touch each knot with matte acrylic varnish to help hold the knot in place. Other modelers may use watered-down PVA glue for the same reason. You’ll notice I stretch the knots by grabbing the ends of the ratline and pulling outward. This tightens the knots, stretches the line, and prevents the “pulling in” of the shrouds that you see on some models.

This is, of course, just one way to add ratlines. Some modelers, especially at smaller scales, may use a sewing needle to run the ratlines through each of the shrouds, using no knots, then use glue to secure them. Others may simply glue each ratlines directly to the shrouds, again, using no knots.

Photo from ModelShipWorld forum, showing clove hitch knots in the middle, with cow hitch knots on the ends.

On real ships at full size, the ends of the ratlines are not knotted, but an eye is formed in each end, and those eye are lashed to the outer most shrouds.  However, some modelers simulate this by tying the outermost knots using what is called a “cow hitch”.

You should use whatever method you find works best for you! Ω

A Method for Cutting Grating Strip

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All the wooden ship model kits that we sell include grating strips if they are required for the model. We also sell gratings in strip form and pre-assembled gratings as well. But, if you’re a stickler for exact scale, or your scratch modeling and want to make them yourself, here’s article we found that may help if you have your own hobby table saw.

Cutting Your Own Grating Strips

HMS Enterprize – Another Kit for Detail Oriented Modelers on a Budget

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Do you love working in fine details? Do you love sailing ships? Are you limited in your workspace and tool collection? Is making a lot of dust a problem? No place to operate power tools? Do you have a very limited budget? If so, you might want to consider a modeling art form that’s been very popular in Eastern Europe for decades: Paper Modeling. Paper ship modeling offers a lot of benefits and flexibility that most ship modelers aren’t even aware of, and we have many paper model kits from one of the most renown kit manufacturers of Poland, that most people know of as Shipyard.

 

Continue reading →

Santa Leocadia – A Kit for Detail Oriented Modelers on a Budget

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Do you love working in fine details? Do you love sailing ships? Are you limited in your workspace and tool collection? Is making a lot of dust a problem? No place to operate power tools? Do you have a very limited budget? If so, you might want to consider a modeling art form that’s been very popular in Eastern Europe for decades: Paper Modeling. Paper ship modeling offers a lot of benefits and flexibility that most ship modelers aren’t even aware of, and we have many paper model kits from one of the most renown kit manufacturers of Poland, that most people know of as Shipyard.

Continue reading →

An Amati Greek Galiot Build – A Customer Update, by Will G

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One of our customers sent us some updates of his build of Amati’s Greek Galiot kit. This is a 1:65 scale kit of a type of Mediterranean vessel from the early 19th century that was powered by sail and oar. This vessel resembles a xebec in many ways, but this warship is armed with a pair of forward firing cannons, while xebec carried broadside guns. Amati’s kit measures a little over 21″ when complete.

We received many other photos, but these show what the planking process on this model kit looks like. This is a single-planked model kit, so our builder added his own balsa wood filler blocks to give support to the hull planks, a technique that many ship modelers use to assure a smoother curvature to their model’s hulls.

We’ll be looking forward to more updates on Will’s Greek Galiot in the future. In the meantime, if you’ve got photos to share, please send them along to us at blogger at agesofsail.com.

Learn more about this Amati kit at Ages of Sail!

HMS Beagle – A First Ship Model Build

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OcCre’s HMS Beagle is a very appealing kit to many ship modelers, and first time builders are no exception. The kit is designed as a moderately priced wooden kit of medium difficulty, what OcCre labels a level of 3 on a difficulty scale of 1 to 6, with 1 being the easiest. It might not be the best choice for first time modelers, but sometimes, it’s the subject matter that drives the shipmodeler to a successful build.

While we recommend a first time builder start with something like the OcCre Polaris, or perhaps Amati’s Lady Nelson, for the more ambitious, this particular modeler decided to take on OcCre’s HMS Beagle as his first ever ship modeler, and he clearly knocked this one “out the park” as they say. So, here is ModelShipWorld member DonSangria’s HMS Beagle…

The builder comments that he took his build slow but steady, and that he made some of his own improvements along the way. This includes making his own sails out of silkspan, which is a paper-like cloth. While the kit includes a full set of pre-sewn sails,  the thin material he used gives a more scale appearance to the model.

Note too, how the builder angled the yards slightly, adding a more lifelike, natural appearance of an actual ship on the seas. The few figures he put on the decks, and the curling shape given to the flags only add to that lifelike feel.

DonSangria’s model is based on the 1/60-scale wooden ship model kit of HMS Beagle from OcCre, which you can find on our shop here.

There are other kits of HMS Beagle, but this one is the closest in appearance to the original ship, as presented in the thoroughly research work of Karl Heinz Marquardt, in his book on HMS Beagle that was published as part of the Anatomy of the Ship series. That book is out of print, and used copies are rare and apparently in high demand, as pricing for a used copy is in the neighborhood of $250.

But, you don’t need that book to build a fine replica of the ship, you just need a well designed kit, like this one, where OcCre has clearly done their homework to bring you the finest representation of HMS Beagle available. And, to make construction easier, OcCre not only gives you a detailed, step-by-step construction manual, they have also created a series of build videos that are readily accessible on YouTube. In addition, there are many fine builds on ModelShipWorld and elsewhere, so you can easily follow others’ work.

We’ve only shown you a few photos of DonSangria’s beautifully done model, but you can see more at ModelShipWorld.com, there’s more than 20 of this beautiful model. Ω

 

 

New Kit from OcCre – The Black Swan Pirate Ship

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“Cisne Negro!”  The call from the lookouts that would strike fear in the hearts of the captain and crew of any Spanish galleon that sailed the Caribbean waters. Cisne Negro… The Black Swan.

During the golden age of piracy, the Black Swan sailed the perilous waters of the Caribbean, leaving behind a trail of fear and admiration. Under the command of the ruthless Captain Tom Leach, this legendary ship raided Spanish trade routes and boldly faced fleets that tried to stop it. Its dark silhouette and black sails billowing in the wind were symbols of defiance, freedom, and adventure.

 

 

Now, you can build this fearsome looking master of the open seas with the latest kit from OcCre of Spain! The Black Swan model is a 1/75-scale wooden model ship kit that features a plank-on-bulkhead construction using laser-cut framing, high quality wood strips. The kit includes all the necessary wood strips, dowels, cannons, fittings, rigging material, pre-sewn sails, and pre-printed flags. Printed and well illustrated instructions will guide you step-by-step through the build. Continue reading →