Like many people these days, Ollie S of Norfolk, UK, discovered wooden ship modeling when the Covid pandemic kept him from his other activities. After building OcCre’s San Juan Felucca kit as his first project, he got hooked on ship modeling and took on OcCre’s kit of the famous exploration ship HMS Beagle. This is, of course, the ship that carried naturalist Charles Darwin on voyages of discovery, leading to his writing of The Origin of Species.
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OcCre Flying Dutchman Kit Now In Stock – Introductory Special
OcCre’s newest kit has arrived and now available for immediate delivery! We’re offering this kit two ways: As a stand alone kit; and as part of an Introductory Special Combo set that includes the Flying Dutchman kit, the unique, custom display stand, and OcCre’s LED lighting set.
The new kit sells for $429, or you can get the Introductory Special combo set for only $479. That’s a savings of $70 off the individual components.
Check out OcCre’s Youtube video introduction to their latest kit…
Click Here to check it out at Ages of Sail!
New OcCre Flying Dutchman Kit, Pre-Order Special
For centuries, sailors on the high seas have told tales of a strange ghost ship, veiled in a ghostly light, never able to make port and doomed to sail the seas forever.
And while legend says the appearance of the phantom ship portends doom, the sighting of the new Flying Dutchman kit from OcCre is a sign of many hours of enjoyment in store for you.
Check out OcCre’s Youtube video introduction to their latest kit…
The kit is available right now as a Pre-Order Special, that includes the kit, the customized stand, and OcCre’s new lighting kit, all for the special pre-order price of $379.
The kits are expected to arrive the first week of October, and pre-orders will be shipped out ASAP.
Get your’s at Ages of Sail here: https://www.agesofsail.com/product/flying-dutchman-occre-1-50/
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On the Horizon: HMS Indefatigable from Vanguard Models
With the release of the cutter HMS Alert, the Brigs HMS Flirt and HMS Speedy, then the royal yacht Duchess of Kingson, and finally the frigate HMS Sphinx, the Royal Navy ships available from Chris Watton’s Vanguard Models continues growing in size and number.
The latest work in progress is now the 44-gun razee frigate, HMS Indefatigable, a ship with not only a very active history, but also one famous for its appearance in C.S. Forester’s Horation Hornblower series.
This 1/64-scale wooden ship model kit has been under development by Chris Watton for some time, and the prototype model is currently under construction by ship modeler James Hatch. You can read about the the build progress on the ModelShipWorld online forum here: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/30665-hms-indefatigable-1794-prototype-by-james-h-vanguard-models-164/
According to Chris, he’s hoping for a December release of the new kit. But, it will depend on when the prototype model is completed, at which time, he has to begin the process of laser-cutting the parts of the final version. Ages of Sail is expecting to order the new kits as soon as they are available.
In the meantime, the latest release from Vanguard Models was recently announced, and Ages of Sail is in the process of ordering these kits of the Barking Fish Carrier Ranger, 1864.
This latest kit from Vanguard Models is 1/64-scale and measures a little over 20″ long.
Watch for forthcoming details once we have the kit in stock.
In the meantime, check out the line of Vanguard Models kits at Ages of Sail. Ω
An HMS Enterprise Paper Model Build in 1/64 Scale
We recently found this very interesting build of the English frigate HMS Enterprise. While this is a paper model and it’s based on Shipyard’s paper model kit, Shipyard’s kit is made at a scale of 1/96. This particular builder, who lives in Vietnam, after building a 1/96 scale paper model, decided he wanted to build something larger, so he bought the Shipard kit and made an enlarged copy, to create a model that’s 50% larger.
The model is complete, but you can follow his full build log on ModelShipWorld here: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/27494-hms-enterprize-by-dominichsteven-finished-shipyard-164-card/?_fromLogout=1
There’s some really interesting and useful information for those who are curious about what it’s like to build a model in paper. They’re a lot more detailed and realistic looking that you might think.
Again the model is based on Shipyard’s 1/96-scale paper model kit, which is very inexpensive.
And, if you’re happy to build the kit in 1/96 scale, in addition to the optional sail set, the blocks set, and the mast and spars set, there’s a new set of laser-cut detail parts designed specifically for this kit.
The set includes gun carriage parts, gratings, ship’s wheel, binnacle, railings, capstans, deck pumps, bitts, and timberheads. This will save hours of work, though I believe the parts will need to be painted. Now, we don’t have this detail set in stock yet, but we are in the process of getting them. Hopefully, we’ll have these in just a few weeks, along with similar detail sets for HMS Mercury and Santa Leocadia.
The Santa Leocadia, by the way, was temporarily out of production, but is back again with the release of the new detail sets. So, we should have the Santa Leocadia back in stock soon as well.
Of course, we’ll post announcements when these products are in stock, so keep watching our blog if you are interested.
In the meantime, if you haven’t done it yet, make sure to check out the big, 1/64-scale HMS Enterprise build and get some great inspiration, whether or not you are a paper model builder: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/27494-hms-enterprize-by-dominichsteven-finished-shipyard-164-card/?_fromLogout=1
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Presentation on Building Wooden Models from Paper Kits
We can’t quite figure out where we learned about this video, possibly from a post on ModelShipWorld.com, but there’s a very interesting presentation that was given by ship modeler Ian McLaughlan at a meeting of the Society of Model Shipwrights, which take place mainly at locations in Southern England. This particular presentation was given in February 2021 and discusses how this ship modeler used 1/96-scale paper model kits from the Polish paper kit maker Shipyard to make a pair of wooden ship models.
Many ship modelers, learning of these paper kits, consider ways to use them to build wooden models. While we think paper models can be pretty awesome in their own right, this is one ship modeler who managed to do some interesting work using a couple of these relatively inexpensive paper model kits.
The kits the presenter is talking about are the HMS Wolf and HMS Alert paper model kits.
If you’re interested in learning more about them, you can use the following links to take you to the item listings in our online shop:
HMS Alert – 1/96 scale paper model
HMS Wolf – 1/96 scale paper model
Have you ever built a wooden ship model using a paper kit as a starting point? We’d love to hear about it. Emailing us a blogger@agesofsail.com. Ω
Amati Swedish Gunboat – Revisiting a Build
It’s been four years now since we shared this build by ship modeler Clare Hess, so we decided it was about time we took another look at this fine build of a classic Amati ship model kit. This kit, roughly 1/40 scale, measures 13.8″ long and about 8.5″ high. These photos appeared in the final post of his build log of the Amati Swedish Gunboat kit.
Visit the full build log on shipmodeler.com here: https://shipmodeler.wordpress.com/category/ship-model-build-logs/swedish-gunboat-group-build/
If you’re interested in building one of your own, check out the entry on our website here: http://www.agesofsail.com/ecommerce/am1550-amati-swedish-gunboat.html
Got photos of your own completed build to share? Contact us at agesofsail@gmail.com!
New Amerigo Vespucci kit from OcCre, Now in Stock!
OcCre has been very productive with their new kit development. It wasn’t long ago that they released their new 1/200 scale kit of the German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. And just this past weekend, they announced their latest new kit, a 1/100 scale kit of the internationally famous Italian Navy training ship, Amerigo Vespucci.
New and In Stock Now!
This iron-hulled, three-masted sailing ship was built for the Italian Navy in 1931. It’s design is reminiscent of the ships of the line of the 18th and 19th centuries. The model at 1/100 scale, measures over 38″ long and 22″ high. This is a high skill level kit, designed for experienced ship modelers.
This is a wooden model ship kit featuring precision laser-cut parts for the hull framing. High quality wood is provided for the hull and deck planking, masts, and spars. Includes a complete set of wood and cast metal fittings and photo-etched metal parts. All rigging line and pre-sewn sails are included in this kit.
The new kit is in stock now and ready to ship at Ages of Sail!
Not sure about it yet? Check out OcCre’s Youtube video presentation here:
No need to pre-order the kit, it’s here now, and ready to ship. For details, pricing, and ordering info, please visit the Amerigo Vespucci product page on Ages of Sail, just click here.
Find all your OcCre products at Ages of Sail
German Heavy Cruiser Prinz Eugen Arrives – Special Pricing through May 31st, 2022
OcCre’s newly released 1/200 scale model kit of the German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen has just arrived at Ages of Sail! Regularly priced at $450, we’re celebrating the new kit with a special sale price of just $399. That’s a $50 savings from our regular price.
Prinz Eugen was a heavy cruiser built for the German Kriegsmarine. Launched in 1938, the ship entered service shortly after the outbreak of World War II. The Prinz Eugen was one of five Admiral-Hipper class heavy cruisers, armed with a main battery of eight 8″ guns, mounted in four twin turrets. The ship’s secondary battery consisted of twelve 105mm guns, twelve 37mm guns, eight 20mm guns, and a pair of triple torpedo tubes.
Soon after she entered service, the ship was sent to join the newly completed battleship Bismarck in the Baltic as part of Operation Bheinübung, to break out into the Atlantic to destroy Allied shipping. During the operation the two ships encountered British battlecruisers at what became known as the Battle of the Denmark Strait. It was during this battle that the ships sank the battlecruiser Hood. After the engagement, the Prinz Eugen managed to break away to conduct attacks on Allied shipping.
Eventually, the ship was assigned to Operation Cerberus to support german operations in Norway, and later to operations in the Baltic, where she served until the end of the war.
OcCre’s new Prinz Eugen kit is massive. At 1/200 scale, the completed model measures just over 42″ long.
This is a wooden hulled ship model kit that is built up with a framework of bulkheads and wooden strips. It is an advanced-level kit. Components include laser-cut wooden parts, highly detailed cast parts, and lots of photo etched brass.
We received a good supply of these kits, but the special pricing of $399 is only good through the end of May, so act quickly if you want to take advantage of this offer.
Get more details about this incredible kit or buy it now at Ages of Sail here: https://www.agesofsail.com/ecommerce/prinz-eugen-(occre,-1:200).html
Ages of Sail
On the Horizon: The Fluytship from Kolderstok
Kolderstok has been working on a new kit to add to their lineup of wooden kits of Dutch ships and ship types, the Fluytship or Flute Ship. We have a couple shipments in the pipeline from Kolderstok, to include the new kit. So, watch for it!
From Kolderstok’s kit description:
“The flute ship can be seen as the means of transport of the 17th century.While the origin of the name flute cannot be established with any certainty, its characteristic shape – a convex, pear-shaped hull with a strongly concave top and narrow decks – can plausibly be assumed to be the result of a succession of small developments that started at the end of the 16th century.
At this model the method of construction is different from other models. An oak frame is placed on an MDF base, after which the customised basswood planking is attached to the oak frame. The planking is applied from the keel upwards. After removing the MDF base, a completely hollow hull remains.
The model is in scale 1 to 72 and consists of laser-cut frames, fully cut basswood planking and various laser-cut accessories. The ornaments are fully 3D designed and printed with a very high accuracy. The building instructions are based on photos, and the rigging is based on drawings. The model includes two small boats and a set of sails (self-build, stitching required). The model comes with a basic oak stand.”
The scale of this new kit, 1/72, gives it a length of about 24″ and a height of about 21.5″, and scale compatible with both Kolderstok’s Batavia and the Zeven Provencien kits. It is considered an advanced kit with a difficult rating of 4 on a scale of 1 to 4.
We don’t have a final price on this kit yet, but we will have it when the new kit arrives. Watch for it at Ages of Sail or check out our full selection of Kolderstok kits here. Ω






























