Author: agesofsail

New Colin Archer Kit from Billing Boats Available Now

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Several years ago, Billing Boats’ popular 1:15-scale kit of the salvage ship Colin Archer was discontinued. The kit was very big, at about 50″ long, and featured an ABS plastic hull and was suitable for RC operation.

New, BB728 Colin Archer wooden hulled, expert level ship model kit.

Billing Boats has just released a new version of the Colin Archer kit at the same 1:15 scale. But, now, the kit features a wooden plank-on-bulkhead construction hull. The size, construction, and detail have earned this kit an EXPERT level rating. So, make sure you’re ready to take on a kit of this difficulty level before starting your build.

Ages of Sail and our sister site Billing Boats USA now have this kit available. It is one of Billing Boats largest, and lists for $789.95. But, if you’ve been following this blog or our Facebook posts, you’ll know that we currently have a Black Friday Sale that will continue up through midnight tonight. So, you can get this kit now from Ages of Sail, and save $79 by phoning in your order. Your order will also qualify for free shipping as part of our Black Friday special.

Now’s the time to get your big Colin Archer kit!

Call 510-889-6000

If you are only able to reach our operators, just leave your name and number and tell them you want to place an order. We’ll call you back and will honor the special sale pricing.

South Bay Model Shipwrights November Meeting

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One of the local ship model clubs had their meeting recently. It was nice to see kits built from some of our customer as they progress and to see others admiring their work. Lou Cierra is one of our regulars who is new to ship modeling, but seems to be taking to it with a passion. The Gulnara is his third ship model kit.

The Krick line from Germany is one of the newer lines of kits that we carry. In addition to the Gulnara, other display models include the U.S. revenue cutter Alert and the Baltic Schooner Karl und Marie. The company also produces a large number of kits designed for RC operation, including steam operation.

If you’re interested, make sure to check them out at http://www.agesofsail.com/ecommerce/krick-models.html

We also stock Corel’s Baltic ketch Scotland. This is a fairly popular Corel kit due to the interesting subject, the kits small size and lower price point, and Corel’s quality reputation. We have just about the entire Corel line in stock, which ranges from this small ketch to the big Wappen Von Hamburg.

You can find them at http://www.agesofsail.com/ecommerce/corel-ship-kits.html

catopower's avatarShip Modeler

I made it to the meeting of the South Bay Model Shipwrights, which is a very long-standing and respected ship model club that was started by Jean Eckert back in 1982 and has operated continuously ever since. Some current and past distinguished members include Jerry Blair, Dr. Clayton Feldman, of course Jean Eckert, Ed Von Der Porten, the late Charles Parsons, and many more.

The club currently meets at the Los Altos Public Library in Los Altos, California, at 6:00 pm, generally on the third Friday of every month. The club, though much smaller than in the past, is  currently headed by Jim Rhetta, who recently completed the rigging of a model of the 3-masted schooner Fannie Gorham for a couple who’s father had passed away after completing most of the hardware.

Jim brought the model, which was in a case built by member and past-president Walt Hlavecek, and presented it…

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Thanksgiving Special at Ages of Sail

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Thanksgiving is Just Around the Corner

Save $50 on these two Classic Mayflower Kits

To celebrate our early settlers, we’re offering special limited time pricing on selected Mayflower kits. Save $50 on either the large Amati Mayflower kit or the Billing Boats Mayflower kit (both above). That’s more than 15% off these beautiful American heritage kits.

Both kits are the same 1/60 scale and are about 25.5″ long. Both feature plank-on-bulkhead construction with major parts laser-cut. The Billing boats kit features single-planking with obechi wood, with fittings in wood, metal and plastic. Amati’s kit is double-planked, with an outer layer of  fine hardwoods, and includes fittings of metal and wood.

A closer look at the Amati kit 

Choose the kit that suits you best. But hurry. Prices are only good from now through November 30th, 2017. To get your’s, simply visit us at www.agesofsail.com or click one of the links below. No special codes needed to qualify for these prices.

Amati Mayflower – regular $299, now $249 through 11/30/17

Billing Boats Mayflower – regular $286, now $236 through 11/30/17

If one of those kits don’t quite suit your need for the ship of the pilgrims, there are four other Mayflower kits you might look into, including the new 1st Step Mayflower kit from Amati.

Check them out at Ages of Sail.

*Note: Mamoli kits are in limited supply after a factory fire shut them down. Missing or broken parts can not be replaced at this time.

Feature Kit: Artesania Latina’s French Privateer Cutter Le Renard, 1813

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Looking for a beautiful ship model subject that’s big enough to display, easy enough to build, won’t takes years to complete, and at an affordable price? Take a look at the French privateer cutter, Le Rendard, 1813. 

Continue reading →

Ship Model Talk in North Reading, MA

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Those of you living in Massachusetts might be interested in attending a ship modeling talk given by the very talented ship modeler Frank Moda. He’ll be speaking at the Flynt Memorial Library in North Reading, MA, on Tuesday, November 14th at 7pm.

You might recall Mr. Moda’s beautiful Wasa model that we featured in a recent post (click here for the story).

Flynt Memorial Library is located at 147 Park Street in North Reading, MA. The event is free, but the library staff is requesting that those interested in attending please register for the event. You may either call them at 978-664-4942, or visit the event page on their website – Click Here

Mr. Moda will be displaying some of his works and talk about the art of ship modeling, followed by a Q & A session. Ω

 

Beautiful Corel Wasa Build

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There’s a lot of great ship modeling work that’s available to view on the Internet. Here’s a really beautifully done model of the Swedish warship Wasa (or Vasa) based on a kit from the popular Italian manufacturer, Corel.

The 1/75-scale model was built by ship modeler Frank Moda, Jr. and completed last year.

Mr. Moda enhanced the look of the model with the use of gold leaf, making his model look like a treasure piece. He also made use of some after-market parts to further enhance his work, though as you can see, his work really doesn’t need any enhancing.

Rigged with a suite of flying sails and furled sails, this model is a real masterpiece.

Corel kits can be a real challenge, and the Wasa is one of the most complicated of them all. You need to be good at reading plans to take this model on. Don’t expect step-by-step written instructions to guide you along. But, if you’ve got a few ship models under your belt, and are looking for a something that will put your skills to the test and make a beautiful model, Corel’s Wasa is something you should consider.

You can visit Mr. Moda’s build log on Model Ship World, which will certainly help anyone building this kit. Click Here.

If you’re interested in purchasing this kit, keep in mind, this 35″ long model is one Corel’s top-of-the-line kits. Check it out here, at Ages of Sail.

Amati Swedish Gunboat Build – Part 5

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Here’s the latest installment of a modified build of Amati’s Swedish Gunboat kit. This is one of the least expensive kits from Amati and this provides a good example of what can be done with this kit of a very unique type of vessel from 18th century Northern Europe.

catopower's avatarShip Modeler

With another ship modelers’ get-together coming up again in just over 3 weeks, it’s time to take a look at our group project, the Amati Swedish Gunboat. Still, nobody has finished their model, but three of us are in striking distance of completion and I’ll be wrapping up my project in the next couple months.

I was partly inspired to finish up this model after seeing photos of the model built by ship modeler Junichi Yamashita of the Japanese ship model society The Rope. The model was beautifully done and was part of the society’s 42nd annual exhibition. Below are just a few photos of this nicely done model, courtesy of The Rope.

You can see more photos of this model on their website:

https://www.theropetokyo.org/展示会作品集/第42回展-2017年/第42回展-2-4/

Just scroll down the page to model entry 42-18 and click on the photo.

On my own model, I began by drilling out the…

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More Supplies and Paints

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Ages of Sail has carried a range of instant glues from BSI, we decided to carry wood these classic wood glues. As most ship modelers already know, these glues offer strong bonds and fast drying time, they clean-up with water, and they are non-toxic. They are the preferred glue by many ship modelers.

 

 

 

By adding these, it gives us the opportunity to make beginner combo sets that are safer for younger first-time builders. Watch for those soon.

Ages of Sail is also proud to announce that it will soon be carrying the full line of Historic Ship Paints. These water-based acrylic paints are color matched specifically for ship modelers. They come in 2 ounce jars in a line that includes water-based stains and finishes. Look for them soon on our website.

Finally, while the Historic Ships Paints includes metallics, we find that the best metallic finish comes from oil based paints. We experiment with some options and decided to carry Testors brand paint markers. We’re only stocking Gold markers at this time, as that’s the primary need for wooden ship model builders.

These markers produce an excellent gold finish that’s difficult to get from acrylic paints. Markers also remove the need for brush cleanup and reduce the chance of messy paint spills. You still need to take precautions to make sure you’re working in a well ventilated area, but the cap keeps the marker sealed, and without the need for paint thinner and brush cleaner, vapors are kept to a minimum.

The gold paint markers and Titebond glue are available now at Ages of Sail.

Pirated Products on the Internet

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An important commentary on pirated ship model kits that are appearing in large numbers on the Internet.

catopower's avatarShip Modeler

I would like all ship modelers to beware and understand the significance and impact of many kits that are appearing from a number of Chinese companies on the Internet.

The amount of work necessary to research and design ship model kits is a major part of the expense of producing good quality kits. It is unfortunate then that unscrupulous individuals and companies are stealing work that has been legitimately produced at great cost and expense, using the work to produce their own knockoff products and either making their kits more attractive by adding their own details, or undercutting the pricing of legitimate manufacturers, or both.

The problem is rampant, and many ship modelers are aware of what’s going on, but ignore the issue for their own benefit and to the detriment of the dedicated, legitimate ship modeling industry, and it is having an impact on the very companies that have…

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Summer Shipments In

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At Ages of Sail, we’ve been getting a lot of shipments coming in over the past week. Today, we just stocked up on Caldercraft kits.  Over the last couple weeks, we received a large shipment of kits from Occre and we’ve restocked our assortment of Amati fittings and tools. And, of course, we get regular shipments of Artesania Latina and Dumas products.

So, if you’ve been looking for something that’s been out of stock, or just want to see our huge assortment of products, check us out at Ages of Sail!