17th Century Pinas Cross-Section from Kolderstok Now Available

September 14, 2025 / agesofsail / Leave a comment

Newest Kolderstok kit now is now in stock at Ages of Sail: 17th Century Dutch Pinas Cross-Section Model Kit.

This is a transverse section of a 17th-century Dutch pinas, including 3 pieces of armament and authentic blocks. Designed after the original 17th-century description by Nicolaes Witsen.

The pinas was a transverse-rigged merchantman, relatively slender in shape and easy to sail. It was frequently used by the then Republic of the Netherlands for trade voyages all over the world. The ship could carry a large amount of trading goods, but was also equipped with plentiful armament, to protect itself and her cargo against potential enemies.

This cross-section shows the part of the ship around the main mast, including spindle, servants, pump, galley and guns. It is open on one side and fitted with skin planking on the other.

The kit includes fully laser-cut parts, a detailed step-by-step manual with text, photos and (original) illustrations and several authentic parts. During construction, it gives a unique insight into the shipbuilding method which was common for Amsterdam shipyards in the 17th century.

This section is in scale 1:50. When built the model is 165 mm long, 165 mm wide and 490 mm high. It is supplied in basswood and can be brought to a vivid color with special stains and paint which can be bought separately. Difficulty level 1-2 on a scale of 4, for both beginners and advanced builders.

Find it in stock in limited quantities at Ages of Sail here: https://www.agesofsail.com/shop/kolderstok-wooden-ship-kits/seventeenth-century-pinas-cross-section-150-kolderstok/

AGES OF SAIL

Our New Online Shop

September 8, 2025September 9, 2025 / agesofsail / Leave a comment

If you haven’t visited our online shop in a while, now is the time to check it out. We’ve completed our transition, worked out the bugs, and we’re now up and running smoothly.

AGES OF SAIL

With the new online shop, still www.agesofsail.com, we tried to keep the function and presentation familiar to our existing customers. Some things had to change, based on the capabilities and features of the new software platform we’re using. But, the new platform will also allow us to add useful features in the future, and gives us a better web presence from the start.

For instance, to see the selection of product categories, which used to sit at the top of the shop page, you now view simply by clicking on the Shop menu at the top of the page.

We hope you’ll check it out and find your way around our store. For those who live nearby, you’ll notice that you can now opt for free local pickup at our shop in San Lorenzo, CA. If you have any questions or comments, good or bad, please use the feedback form on the Contact Us page, accessible in the main navigation menu. Hope to hear from you!

Visit us at www.agesofsail.com

New Ages of Sail Shop in Transition

August 14, 2025 / agesofsail / Leave a comment

We’re currently in the middle of transitioning our Ages of Sail online shop to a new server using new software. We just made the switch-over today and there are a few issues that still need to be ironed out, but it’s coming along.

If you’re having troubles in the next couple days, that’s probably why. However, if you still have issues after a couple days, send us an email to agesofsail@gmail.com and let us know, or see if the issues clear up in a couple days.

If you need to place and order and find you’re having issues, feel free to give us a call to place the order over the phone at (510) 461-7800.

South Bay Model Shipwrights Update

August 11, 2025 / agesofsail / Leave a comment

August ’25 In-Person Meeting Follow-Up

The South Bay Model Shipwrights is a ship model club in our own back yard, here in the San Francisco Bay Area. The group currently meets in Santa Clara once a month, and has been participating in various events in order to create visibility for themselves and for the ship modeling hobby as a whole.

Schooner Berbice Laser-Cut Kit from Shipyard by Jacob Cohn

August 10, 2025August 14, 2025 / agesofsail / Leave a comment

Our local customer Jacob Cohn shared these photos with us of his latest laser-cut card model of the American-built, Baltimore clipper Berbice. The exact date of her construction is unknown, but she was built as a merchant ship, and purchased into the British Royal Navy in 1780 in the West Indies. She was officially commissioned into naval service in July of 1781 as HMS Berbice.

Photos of the Berbice at the meeting of the South Bay Model Shipwrights group in Santa Clara, CA.

Jacob acquired the kit in June of this year, and has gotten this far in only a couple months, and the results of his work are beautiful! He’s posted his build in a build log on ModelShipWorld.com, under his screen name of SaltyDog here. The model itself is one of the 1/72-scale laser-cut card models produced by the Polish company Shipyard, known for their paper models of sailing ships, as well as their lighthouses and harbor structures.

As with several other subjects, Shipyard makes the Berbice in the 1/72-scale laser-cut card version that Jacob is building now, as well as a 1/96-scale paper model version that includes a simple quay port diorama.

Jacob is now just getting to the stage of adding cannons, masting, and rigging. We look forward to seeing more progress on the model. Will it have sails? That’s for the builder to decide when the time comes.

If you’re interested in building one of the Berbice kits or other Shipyard kit, you can find them at Ages of Sail here.

Amati Endeavour – America’s Cup Model Kits

July 16, 2025November 11, 2025 / agesofsail / Leave a comment

With OcCre getting a lot of attention with the release of their new America’s Cup challenger Endeavour kit, it seems like a good time to highlight the whole range of America’s Cup kits that are available from Amati, beginning with the big, 1/35 scale wooden model kit of the Endeavour, the 1934 J-boat that challenged the Rainbow for the coveted America’s Cup.

At this scale, this wooden plank-on-bulkhead Amati kit builds into a BIG model, at over 46″ long, allowing the modeler to show off the many fine details that Amati designed into it, including Pre-finished wood, cast metal and brass fittings, as well as photo-etched brass parts.

Or, if you’re looking for something to fit a smaller space, or that is considerably easier to build, Amati has you covered with their 1/80-scale wooden hull kit. At just under 19″ long, this model still features lots of great details and a wooden plank-on-bulkhead construction hull. This kit even provides you with a selection of useful tools, making it ideal for the modelers building his or her first planked boat model.

And if you’re really new to ship modeling, or are just looking for a nice quick project, but still want a beautiful model, Amati offers this same boat in 1/80 scale, but with a polystyrene hull, perfectly shaped, just needing priming and painting.

When it comes to America’s Cup, whatever your skill level, Amati has you covered. Check out the whole line at Ages of Sail here.

Steam Tug Hercules Heading to Mare Island

June 26, 2025August 14, 2025 / agesofsail / Leave a comment

The historic steam tug Hercules, one of the many historic ships of the San Francsico Maritime National Historic Park, is on the move again! It will soon be joining it’s fellow historic ships at the Mare Island waterfront. These historic vessels will soon be open to the public again, but not until the Park Service finishes building the access ramps and finishes docent training.

Did you know that Ages of Sail carries a beautiful wooden model kit of the Hercules? These kits are manufactured by OcCre of Spain. This is a 1:50 scale model that measures 36″ long and 16.5″ high, and is made to be built either as a display model or an RC model. Learn more about the kit here.

You can learn more about the Hercules on the SFMNHP website here.

Endeavour – New America’s Cup kit from OcCre

June 20, 2025August 14, 2025 / agesofsail / Leave a comment

Just in is the newest kit to be released from OcCre of Spain, the racing yacht Endeavour, a J-class yacht built for the1934 America’s cup race. She was a steel-hulled design built for Thomas Sopwith, who used his aviation design expertise to ensure the yacht was the most advanced of its day.

The new kit is in stock and ready to ship to you for only $149. For more information or to order your’s, check out our listing on Ages of Sail here.

OcCre’s Endeavour is a 1/75 scale wooden ship model kit, measuring just under 21″ long and about 28″ tall.

New Revised RMS Titanic Model Kit for 2025 from Amati

June 6, 2025August 14, 2025 / agesofsail / Leave a comment

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

June 6, 2025June 6, 2025 / agesofsail / Leave a comment

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.