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Building Shipyard’s Dutch Fluit Schwarzer Rabe, 1627 – Part 3

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Here’s a nice reminder that some of the most interesting sailing ship model kits aren’t made from wood. Here’s a build of one of the paper model kits from the Polish kit maker Shipyard.

In this case, one of the lesser known kits is shown here, a Dutch armed merchant ship called a “fluit” that was built in 1627. This ship, called the Schwarzer Rabe, which is German for “Black Crow”, took part in the naval engagement called the Battle of Oliwa, on the side of the Polish-Lithuanian fleet.

The kit is a 1/96-scale paper model. If you’re interested in building this kit, you might consider Shipyard’s 30th Anniversary set of the Opponents of the Battle of Oliwa, which includes the Schwarzer Rabe and the Papegojan, which fought on the Swedish side. Check out this set here: https://www.agesofsail.com/ecommerce/paper-kits/30th-anniversary/30-anniversary-collection–the-opponents–shipyard-mkj004.html.

catopower's avatarShip Modeler

As you may have noticed, I’ve now officially elevated this build of Shipyard’s 1/96-scale paper model kit of the Dutch fluit Schwarzer Rabe to a full fledged project, with its own place in my Ship Model Build Logs menu.

It seems that after completing the 1/72-scale Hanse Kogge Bremen laser-cut paper model, for which I did not maintain a build log here, I was itching to keep up with the paper models. I wasn’t really sure if I had been doing a good enough job with my Dutch fluit Schwarzer Rabe, but I thought I should give it a chance. So, I continued the build this weekend, adding more details to the hull, and starting a blog on papermodelers.com, which I will basically echo here, or vice versa.

As we last left this build…

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Hanse Kogge von Bremen – My Completed Card Model

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We’ve been following the build of Shipyard’s Hanse Kogge, Bremen 1390 laser cut kit. This card model was built by Clare Hess, who has been maintaining a build log on Then NRG’s ModelShipWorld.

The 1/72-scale model project was completed recently, and will soon be on display in our shop in San Lorenzo, CA, which we hope will be reopening this Summer.

catopower's avatarShip Modeler

I’m happy to announce the completion of my Shipyard laser-cut card model of the 14th century Bremen cog. The model kit is officially called Hanse Kogge von Bremen, 1380, and it is one of the newest kits from the Polish company.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been putting a lot more effort into the build, dealing with the sail and rigging. I haven’t done much rigging in a while, so it was a bit of an effort to get back into it. Fortunately, with only one mast and one yardarm, the amount of rigging required is pretty small. Still, when seeing light at the end of the tunnel, every detail seemed to take longer and longer to complete. But, knowing that completion was near was great motivation to keep at it.

Yesterday, I made and added rope coils at all the belaying pins and cleats, when I realized there were…

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Building A Master Korabel Ship’s Boat Kit

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Master Korabel makes some 1/72-scale ship’s boat kits that may be the ultimate, most accurately detailed ship’s boats available for your ship model. They’re also pretty complex kits that might make for an excellent small weekend(week?) project for experience ship modelers, and nice small stand-alone display models.

Here’s the first part of the build of Master Korabel’s MK0101 95mm Ship’s Boat kit.

If you want to try one out for yourself, we have all three of their ship’s boat kits available. Each sells for just $24.99, and is a good introduction to what Master Korabel kits are all about.

https://www.agesofsail.com/ecommerce/new-master-korbel/ship-and-boat-kits.html

catopower's avatarShip Modeler

Master Korabel is a Russian wooden ship model kit manufacturer that have been sold in the U.S. for a couple years now. They’re kits are all in a scale of 1:72 and they’re developed using Computer Aided Design, or CAD.

They have a fairly limited offering at this time with seven wooden kits of ships , none with more than two masts. But they also have three ship’s boat kits ranging from a 4-oared yawl, 2-3/4″ long, to a 10-oared ship’s boat, 3-1/2″ long. I picked up the larger of the ship’s boats kits to get an idea of how these kits go together

The largest ship’s boat kit, MK0101, is 95mm long, or about 3-1/2″. About the first thing I did after opening up the kit and laying everything out was to put it all right back in the box. I was just too taken aback by how thin…

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More RC – Introducing Aero-Naut Kits from Germany

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Note: We originally posted this yesterday. But our posts get put onto our Facebook page automatically, and unfortunately, when talking about how things are getting back to normal, we mentioned the word see-oh-vee-eye-dee. We have to put the word here phonetically, so that Facebook doesn’t catch it and limit our ability to share the post.  We’re not going to use the “c” word here and hope it works better this time!

So, as the Summer quickly approaches, more and more of us are able to get out and enjoy the outdoors. That doesn’t mean you have to abandon ship modeling! Take it outdoors with these great RC kits we’ve just brought in from Aero-Naut of Germany.

These Aero-naut kits are all designed for RC operation. Some feature wooden hulls and some have plastic hulls. But, all will allow you to install your own choice of radio control equipment.

We currently have sixteen kits to choose from, from sport boats and fishing boats, to workboats and battleships. And, all of the kits we sell include the fittings. So, it’s not necessary to buy a separate fittings set.

Take a look at just some of the Aero-Naut products we now carry…

Battleship Bismark

1:200-scale Battleship Bismark measures a little over 49″ long.

The Victoria Luxury Yacht

The mahogany hulled Victoria luxury yacht.

 

The Anna 3 Fishing Boat

The Anna 3 fishing boat.

Aqua-Race Outboard Motor Mounts

The Aqua-Race 50 outboard motor mount.

Check out all the Aero-Naut products we carry at Ages of Sail here.

www.agesofsail.com

Shaping Trim Moldings with Artesania Latina’s Micro Shapers

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Those of you who want to add some nice details to your model without going out and buying specialty shaped strips of wood or brass should take a look at these two tool sets from Artesania Latina.

Artesania Latina Micro Shapers

Micro Shapers Set A

Micro Shapers are scrapers, each with 15 to 16 pre-cut specialty bead molding shapes. There are two sets available, and each set contains 3 different shapers, you just have to cut them loose from the sheet.

Artesania Latina Micro Shapers

Micro Shapers Set B

To use them, you simply scrape lightly against the appropriate sized strip wood. This is how to add fine detailed elegance to your ship model.

Artesania Latina has even created a nice little Youtube video, illustrating how to use them.

We carry each of these sets for $12.99, plus tax and shipping. Check them out, along with the whole range of Artesania Latina’s specialty ship modeling tools here at Ages of Sail . Ω

Improving Basic Details – Getting the Gratings Right

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Here are some tips geared towards beginning ship modelers about making the most of the hatch cover gratings in your kit builds.

catopower's avatarShip Modeler

Gratings are common a feature seen on old ships, as they can be used in place of hatch covers to allow ventilation below decks. They’re also be useful for standing on to keep out of pooling water and to maintain one’s footing on a wet deck. On a model, they are a feature can stand out as an indicator of the builder’s attention to detail, or the quality of a kit, for good or bad. Now, there are a few ways to make your own from scratch, which is what I do, but you don’t have to go that far to simply improve the look of the gratings on your model. Here are a couple simple things you can do to improve their appearance on your kit-built model.

Grating on my model of the Colonial Schooner Independence

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A Wooden Wütender Hund Cog Model Build

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While it might be in a different language, it’s still nice to find a beautifully executed model built from a kit from the Polish card manufacturer, Shipyard. In this case, this is one of the recent wooden kits produced of a medieval cog they call the Wütender Hund.

Shipyard’s wooden kits are almost identical to their laser-cut card model kits, just in thin wood. Being wood, they require no painting. But, an application of a nice finish makes for a beautiful looking model.

At Ages of Sail, we carry two wooden Shipyard kits, the Wütender Hund and the Kogge von Kampen, as well as the two laser-cut card model kits Wütender Hund and Hanse Kogge von Bremen.

Find all the Shipyard cog kits here: https://www.agesofsail.com/ecommerce/paper-kits/cog-kits.html

catopower's avatarShip Modeler

As I work to finish up my Shipyard laser-cut card model of the Bremen Cog, I’ve been following a couple other builds of similar models. One that I just ran across today is on a German model building forum.

The build is well photo documented and the builder is doing a beautiful job. His model is not the same subject as mine – He’s building the wooden Shipyard kit called the Wütender Hund, or the “Angry Dog”. The hull is very similar to mine, which is officially called the Hanse Kogge von Bremen, 1380, but the stern castle and forecastle are based on historical images of other cogs.

Wütender Hund model by “Pietpieterszoon”

Anyway, you might want to check this out. It’s not complete – the builder was working on the model in November and December and is just about to get to the rigging stage. But, it’s very nicely…

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Improving Basic Details – Wayward Blocks

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Here’s a little building tip aimed at the beginning ship modeler. It’s all about getting your rigging blocks mounted the right way. Seems like it should be obvious, but maybe not for everyone.

catopower's avatarShip Modeler

This is really more for beginning ship modelers. Experienced ship modelers, and probably most beginners too already understand the way a standard rigging block works. It’s basically just a wooden block with a pulley, or sheave, inside a slot. There are different sizes and types, and there are single, double, and triple blocks, and just about ever wooden ship model needs at least some number of blocks.

Standard Amati single-sheave walnut blocks

There is one mistake I occasionally see regarding blocks. But, the thing is, after a modeler completes so much work on the hull, deck details, masts, and all, I really don’t want to point out the error. But, it’s such an obvious error that it detracts from the entire build. So, I figured I’d mention it here.

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Hanse Kogge Bremen – Continuing a Shipyard Laser-Cut Model Build

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This model built from Shipyard’s Hanse Kogge von Bremen, 1380 kit is getting very close to completion. This is one of three Shipyard cog model builds that we’ve found on the Internet. The others are build’s of one of Shipyard’s wooden kits, which are as detailed and as thoroughly designed as this card model kit.

If you’re interested in building your own kit from Shipyard, you can find them all here: https://www.agesofsail.com/ecommerce/paper-kits.html at Ages of Sail.

catopower's avatarShip Modeler

I published a post about building this Shipyard card model kit a couple weeks ago, and I’m working pretty steadily to get it done. I’m not done yet, but I’m getting close, and I thought I should post an update this weekend.

After my last post, I finished making the mast and yard and finished detailing the sail. I have to say that I really enjoyed working on the sail. It was kind of a lengthy process lacing the bonnet to the main sail, but it was also something I could just do without having to think about too much.

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Photographing Your Model on a Black Background

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We recently found this great, simple video with tips for getting the best results when taking photos of your models using a black background. This video was put together by the very talented photographer and ship modeler Olha Batchvarov.

With these new tips on photographing your models, we hope you’ll try them out, then send us photos of your completed models, so we can share them here! Ω