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.

Feature Kit: Artesania Latina’s French Privateer Cutter Le Renard, 1813

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Looking for a beautiful ship model subject that’s big enough to display, easy enough to build, won’t takes years to complete, and at an affordable price? Take a look at the French privateer cutter, Le Rendard, 1813. 

Continue reading →

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

 

Beautiful Corel Wasa Build

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There’s a lot of great ship modeling work that’s available to view on the Internet. Here’s a really beautifully done model of the Swedish warship Wasa (or Vasa) based on a kit from the popular Italian manufacturer, Corel.

The 1/75-scale model was built by ship modeler Frank Moda, Jr. and completed last year.

Mr. Moda enhanced the look of the model with the use of gold leaf, making his model look like a treasure piece. He also made use of some after-market parts to further enhance his work, though as you can see, his work really doesn’t need any enhancing.

Rigged with a suite of flying sails and furled sails, this model is a real masterpiece.

Corel kits can be a real challenge, and the Wasa is one of the most complicated of them all. You need to be good at reading plans to take this model on. Don’t expect step-by-step written instructions to guide you along. But, if you’ve got a few ship models under your belt, and are looking for a something that will put your skills to the test and make a beautiful model, Corel’s Wasa is something you should consider.

You can visit Mr. Moda’s build log on Model Ship World, which will certainly help anyone building this kit. Click Here.

If you’re interested in purchasing this kit, keep in mind, this 35″ long model is one Corel’s top-of-the-line kits. Check it out here, at Ages of Sail.

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…

View original post 525 more words

More Supplies and Paints

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Ages of Sail has carried a range of instant glues from BSI, we decided to carry wood these classic wood glues. As most ship modelers already know, these glues offer strong bonds and fast drying time, they clean-up with water, and they are non-toxic. They are the preferred glue by many ship modelers.

 

 

 

By adding these, it gives us the opportunity to make beginner combo sets that are safer for younger first-time builders. Watch for those soon.

Ages of Sail is also proud to announce that it will soon be carrying the full line of Historic Ship Paints. These water-based acrylic paints are color matched specifically for ship modelers. They come in 2 ounce jars in a line that includes water-based stains and finishes. Look for them soon on our website.

Finally, while the Historic Ships Paints includes metallics, we find that the best metallic finish comes from oil based paints. We experiment with some options and decided to carry Testors brand paint markers. We’re only stocking Gold markers at this time, as that’s the primary need for wooden ship model builders.

These markers produce an excellent gold finish that’s difficult to get from acrylic paints. Markers also remove the need for brush cleanup and reduce the chance of messy paint spills. You still need to take precautions to make sure you’re working in a well ventilated area, but the cap keeps the marker sealed, and without the need for paint thinner and brush cleaner, vapors are kept to a minimum.

The gold paint markers and Titebond glue are available now at Ages of Sail.

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…

View original post 346 more words

Summer Shipments In

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At Ages of Sail, we’ve been getting a lot of shipments coming in over the past week. Today, we just stocked up on Caldercraft kits.  Over the last couple weeks, we received a large shipment of kits from Occre and we’ve restocked our assortment of Amati fittings and tools. And, of course, we get regular shipments of Artesania Latina and Dumas products.

So, if you’ve been looking for something that’s been out of stock, or just want to see our huge assortment of products, check us out at Ages of Sail!

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