New Kits from Artesania Latina Now in Stock

November 5, 2022 / agesofsail / Leave a comment

Artesania Latina fans rejoice! This week, we just received our shipment of kits from Artesania Latina, which includes two newly revised kits that we think you’re going to really like. The company just relaunched a completely revamped version of their expert level kit, the first rate line of battle ship Santa Ana, as well as the ever popular, and long missed intermediate level kit of the newly revised American Baltimore clipper Harvey!

112-gun first rate warship Santa Ana.

The ever popular Baltimore clipper schooner Harvey

Both kits in stock and ready to ship!

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A Local OcCre Endurance Build

November 4, 2022 / agesofsail / Leave a comment

One of our local customers, veteran ship modeler Paul Reck, who heads up the Hyde Street pier Model Shipwrights group in San Francisco, is working on a commissioned build of Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton’s exploration ship Endurance. The model is being built from OcCre’s 1/70-scale wooden kit, and Paul was nice enough to provide some photos of the model, under construction in his workshop.

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OcCre Flying Dutchman Kit Now In Stock – Introductory Special

October 17, 2022 / agesofsail / Leave a comment

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

September 28, 2022September 28, 2022 / agesofsail / Leave a comment

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/ecommerce/flying-dutchman-combo-set-(occre,-1-50).html

Presentation on Building Wooden Models from Paper Kits

August 21, 2022 / agesofsail / Leave a comment

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

August 7, 2022 / agesofsail / Leave a comment

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!

German Heavy Cruiser Prinz Eugen Arrives – Special Pricing through May 31st, 2022

May 17, 2022May 17, 2022 / agesofsail / 1 Comment

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

April 19, 2022 / agesofsail / Leave a comment

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

Two New Fishing Boat Kits from Vanguard Models – In Stock Now

March 29, 2022 / agesofsail / 1 Comment

Lately, it seems that Vanguard Models has been releasing new kits faster than we can stock them. The two newest kits to be released are a pair of 19th century fishing boats, the Nisha, a Brixham “Mumble Bee”, and the Erycina, a Plymouth Trawler.

Erycina

Nisha

The Nisha, 1907 – The ‘Mumble Bee’ was cutter rigged, full bowed and broad beamed. They were strongly built and many survived to a good old age. Because of their fine lines, a few of these vessels were converted to yachts in their later life. Those fishing off the Welsh coast out of Tenby, working the fishing grounds in Mumbles Bay, acquired the collective term ‘Mumble-Bees’. In part, this was coined because of the large numbers of them ‘buzzing’ around the Mumbles like bees around a hive, and also arose by them adopting some of the features of the established Mumbles boats. Nisha had an overall length of 59 feet 3 inches, moulded beam of of 14 feet. She had a deep drag aft with a draft of 7 foot 10 inches but only 4 feet forward. Her fine lines translate into a very pleasing hull shape, making a very attractive display model.

The Erycina, 1882 – Originally built as a cutter designed by H.V. Prigg and built by W.H. Shilston, Coxside, Sutton Harbour in 1882. She was converted to a ketch rig in 1894. Due to her pedigree, Erycina has unusually beautiful lines, described as a ‘Crack Ketch’, and handled more like a racing yacht than a fishing vessel. Erycina fished along the South West UK coast for over 50 years, an incredibly long career for such a vessel. Her overall length was 71 feet, with a length between perpendiculars of 63 feet. The moulded bredth of 17 foot 2 inches was rather more fine than that of the average trawler, but she was built for speed, and of- ten raced at regattas with with the crack Brixham Smack, Ibex. In 22 races at Plymouth regattas, Erycina won 15 first, 4 second and 2 third prizes.

Both kits are in 1/64 scale that incorporate the latest design techniques, but are both suitable for the total beginner, as well as the seasoned modeler who may want to take a very scale accurate and detailed kit and add their own additional detailing.

Both feature laser cut and engraved parts in MDF and pear wood, laser cut pear wood ladders and companionway, laser etched and cut maple decks with treenail detail, photo etched brass detailing, and more.

Check out the specifics of each kit or order yours on our Ages of Sail shop here:

Nisha – Brixham ‘Mumble Bee’

Erycina – Portsmouth Trawler

Available Now at Ages of Sail

OcCre’s HMS Terror Build in High Speed

March 29, 2022 / agesofsail / 1 Comment

The latest video work from TOM’S Modelling in Motion brings us a 4-1/2 minute build of the Arctic expedition ship HMS Terror, one of two ships that disappeared while searching for the Northwest Passage in 1845, the other being HMS Erebus. The video takes us rapidly through the model, seemingly building itself, while educating us about the story of the ship and crew.

One thing that’s interesting about Tom’s build is his use of some specially designed 3D printed figures which are prominently displayed at the start of the video. Apparently, these figures are available as a file download for your 3D printer for a very reasonable price. Of course, you’ll need your own 3D printer or service to create them.

Tom’s figures are available as 3D printer files, which you can purchase, download, and print to your own 3D printer or using a service of your choice.

We don’t sell these ourselves, and we are not responsible for the quality or use of the file or figures. But, you might be interested in using them yourselves. Again, we have no knowledge about how to use the downloaded files, so please don’t ask us! Here’s the link that Tom shared on his Youtube description: https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/various/admiral-captain-and-sailors-for-hms-terror

But, the model is of course the HMS Terror kit from OcCre of Spain. And, if you’re inspired to build your own model of this fascinating ship, we do carry this very popular kit.