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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.

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

 

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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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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Two More New Easy Build Kits from Amati

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Amati just released two more kits of their 1st Step series of easy to build ship model kits, bringing the series to a total of 6 kits.

Up to this point, we’ve had the Pirate Ship, the Elizabethan Galleon, the HMS Bounty and the Santa Maria. Amati has just added the Niña and the Mayflower, two famous ships that brought Europeans to the “New World”.

Amati’s 1st Step Mayflower

 

Amati’s 1st Step Niña

The new products are both about 1:135 scale like most of the 1st Step kits, and include pre-shaped hulls with a unique, self-aligning design that sandwiches a laser-cut board that includes the keel, stem and stern post, between two halves of the hull, making for a perfectly shaped hull.

The kit includes laser-cut parts, a variety of dowels and strip woods, wood and metal fittings, sail cloth, rigging line, a wooden stand and pedestals to display your completed model, and a printed sheet of flags, and in some cases, colorful hull decorations. Includes an easy to follow, fold-out sheet of step-by-step directions written in English and Italian.

Here are some photos of what you’ll get in a typical 1st Step kit, showing the 1st Step Elizabethan Galleon kit.

 

 

 

 

These are ideal starter kits and require only basic tools, glue, and paints. They also make great projects for more experienced modelers who just want something fun and quick to build.

Check out these and the other newest kits from Amati Model at Ages of Sail:

http://www.agesofsail.com/ecommerce/amati-kits/new-items.html

Last of our Mamoli Stock

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Mamoli kits were once a mainstay of the wooden ship modeling community, but after a big fire shut down Mamoli for good, our large stock of Mamoli kits has been shrinking steadily.

The Sao Miguel is one of the most unique kits available anywhere, representing a three-masted carrack from very early 16th century. We have five of these kits left at the moment, and when they’re gone, they’re gone!

Dusek Ship Kits has purchased the rights to produce Mamoli kits again, but it has taken until recently for them to re-release the Mini-Mamoli kits, which are simple designs. Chances are good that we will see a couple of these kits re-released later this year, but we have no information which ones they will be, or even if these will all be re-released.

Mamolis kit of the French Lugger Le Coureur

So, if you’ve been missing Mamoli kits and there is one you’re interested, the list below shows the remaining stock. Some kits, we are likely to have in stock for a while, but watch out for those with only 1 or 2 remaining!

  • MV19 Roter Lowe  x4
  • MV21 Sao Miguel  x5
  • MV22 Blue Shadown  x4
  • MV24 Friesland  x1
  • MV25 Marseille  x3
  • MV26 America  x12
  • MV29 Il Leudo  x4
  • MV31 USS Constitution  x2
  • MV33 Gretel x2
  • MV34 Le Gloire x5
  • MV35 Hunter  x5
  • MV36 Rattlesnake x1
  • MV37 Halifax x4
  • MV38 Le Coureur  x4
  • MV40 Royal Louis x2
  • MV41 Flying Cloud x5
  • MV45 Portsmouth  x4
  • MV46 Black Prince  x2
  • MV48 Lexington  x7
  • MV49 Mayflower  x3
  • MV43 Puritan x1
  • MV51 Catalina  x5
  • MV54 Jenny  x2
  • MV56 HMS Victory x2
  • MV57 Amerigo Vespucci  x8
  • MV59 Swift  x9
  • MV80 Prince  x16
  • MV81 Valliant  x11
  • MV82 Blackbeard  x6

Since Mamoli is no more, please keep in mind we can’t get replacement parts for these.

If you’re interested in one of the easy to build Mini-Mamoli kits, you’re in luck, as we have a complete stock of these, with more shipments coming in from Dusek Ship Models, which is now producing these kits.

Here’s a direct link to the Mamoli products at Ages of Sail: http://www.agesofsail.com/ecommerce/mamoli.html

Two Billing Boats kits just added, Frigate Jylland and HMS Warrior

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We’ve carried Billing Boats kits for quite a while, but we’re working now to expand our retail selection of these kits. There will be more Billing Boats kits forthcoming, including a couple fairly recent releases. But, for now, here are two classic warships from the transitionary period between sail and steam, the Danish frigate Jylland and the British iron-hulled warship HMS Warrior.

Both of the original ships are still in existence  and represent the last ships of their kind. They are available for public access, so you can still walk the decks of these beautiful vessels. And, if you can’t get to them, there should be plenty of photos on the Internet to help you make the most accurate build possible.

In fact, here are a couple photos we found on the web…

HMS Warrior

Frigate Jylland

Both Billing Boats kits are “Expert” level models, so we don’t recommend you attempt them without a fair amount of experience. The kits feature plank-on-bulkhead construction and include laser-cut frames. Many major parts are also laser cut. Fittings provided included wooden blocks, and fittings in brass, wood or plastic fittings.

 

The Frigate Jylland, BB5003

The frigate ‘Jylland’ was the last warship of the Danish Royal Navy built of oak. It was launched on 20 January 1860. ‘Jylland’ was also the first steam-powered, screwdriven ship and at an engine out-put of 400 hp was able to reach the then impressive speed of 12 knots. A noteworthy feature that should be mentioned is that the screw could be raised up into a ‘screw- well’ so that it did not slow the ship down under sail. On 9th May 1864 ‘Jylland’ fought in the Battle of Heligoland against a fleet of Austrian and Prussian ships. King Christian IX used the ship on various visits to Iceland and Russia. The 2450-ton ‘Jylland’ had a hull lenght of 71m (96m overall) and a beam of 13,5m. The ship had a crew of between 405 and 437 men, depending on the ship´s duties, and carried 44 muzzle-loaded cannons. In 1960 ‘Jylland’ was towed by tugs from the naval base in Copenhagen to Ebeltoft. On 11 August 1984 it made its last voyage – into a new exhibition dock. After several years of restoration work, Frigate ‘Jylland’ was opened to the public. For those with an interest in ships and life at sea, this 130-year-old ship is certainly worth visiting.

The completed model measures 39.8″ in length and 24.8″ in height and sells regularly for $599. To celebrate the addition of this model, we’re taking 10% off, now through September 1st. We only have 5 of these kits available at the time of this writing, so act fast if you want to get one, especially at this price.

 

HMS Warrior, BB512

The Warrior was designed and built in response to an aggressive French shipbuilding program which saw the introduction of the first iron-clad warship La Gloire. The Royal Navy was determined to meet this challenge of supremacy and build a ship so superior in terms of quality, speed, size, armament and armour that it would be inconceivable to France that she could take Britain on in a sea battle. August 1, 1861, The Warrior was the largest warship in the world, at 9,210 tons displacement, she was fully 60% larger than the La Gloire. June 1862 she started active service in the Channel Squadron. In 1871 she was no longer the crack ship she had once been, and was downgraded to Coast Guard and reserve services. The Warrior was eventually converted to a floating school for the Navy and re-named Vernon III in 1904. By 1978, she was the only surviving example of the ‘Black Battlefleet’, the 45 iron hulls built for the Royal Navy between 1861 and 1877.

This is a BIG model! The completed model measures 57.9″ in length and 26.5″ in height and sells regularly for $755.95. Again, to celebrate the addition of this model, we’re offering the kit at 10% off, now through September 1st. We only have 13 of these kits in our warehouse, so we don’t expect to run out anytime soon. But, if you want to take advantage of the special pricing, make sure to act by September 1st!

Click the links below to check out the kits now at Ages of Sail:

 

A fine exhibit and publication about model ship building!

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Found this blog post which is several months old now. But, we just checked with the San Diego Maritime Museum, and the exhibit, titled “Steering Small” is still open. We couldn’t find out how long it will continue to be there, so if you want to see this wonderful looking display on ship modeling, better go now!

If we find out more information, we’ll pass it along. The exhibit is in the Gould Eddy Hall aboard the ferryboat Berkeley.

Photos from the Golden Hind Repair

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Ship modeler Clare Hess does some repair work on this beautiful cut-away display model of Sir Francis Drake’s Golden Hind at the visitor center at Pt. Reyes National Seashore, a short drive north of San Francisco.

catopower's avatarShip Modeler

I was just sent some photos taken last Friday during the final stages of my repair work on Raymond Akers’ Golden Hind model. The model is on display at the Bear Valley Visitor Center of the Pt. Reyes National Seashore.

The repair work is done – yes, I finally finished a ship model related project – and the model is back in its display, with a new, more colorful backdrop.

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