Category Archives: News

New Historic America Privateer Grecian Kit

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Historic American Privateer from Vanguard Models Now Available at Ages of Sail

The new kit of the American War of 1812 privateer Grecian is one of the latest kits being produced by Vanguard Models of England. The Grecian was a Baltimore Clipper schooner built in Baltimore by Thomas Kemp in 1813. For those interested, Howard Chapelle describes her in his book The Baltimore Clipper, It’s Origin and Development.


The Vanguard Models kit depicts the ship after her capture by the British in 1814 and taken into service as HMS Grecian. Chapelle, in his book, includes some description of how she may have appeared as a privateer in American service. Ω

Foundation Franklin Repair

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While the Hyde Street Pier Model Shipwrights group may not be meeting these days, Paul Reck shows that members are still active. His latest work is the repair of a very nice looking model of the tugboat Foundation Franklin. Below is a photo of the model that was apparently damaged by the bane of all ship models: the cleaning lady…

The Foundation Franklin, according to this Wikipedia entry, was a salvage tug, built in 1918 for the British Royal Navy and originally named HMS Frisky. Operating for Foundation Maritime after 1930 as the SS Foundation Franklin. The ship survived World War II only to be badly damaged in a hurricane in 1948, which led to her being broken up in 1949.

However, as far as the model is concerned, the simulated hurricane damage was not beyond the ability of ship modeler Paul Recks repair work…

She is now happily back in the hands of her owners. Hopefully, they’ll consider putting her in a nice, acrylic case to keep her from further damage! Ω

Adventures in Trunneling

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Some thoughts on trunneling or treenailing the deck.

Ship Modeler

Recently, I made an Instagram post about the trunneling work I recently started. It’s something I used to do more of, but I’d been doing some paper models recently, as well as many Japanese boats, and smaller scale ships, so it’s something I stopped doing much of. Also, I started using pencil to just do the ends of planks on several models. But recently, I’ve been looking at some 1/64 scale models, which in my book are just large enough to show trunnels, so I’ve been back at it recently.

I decided to return to my original method of representing trunnels. To make the trunnels themselves, I’m using the smallest hole in a draw plate that I think I got from Micromark at least 15 years ago. The holes are drilled with a #72 drill bit. This results in trunnels that are about 0.025″ in diameter. While I use this…

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New Franklin Expedition Ship – HMS Erebus from OcCre

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A second ship model kit from the Franklin Expedition. Now, you have a choice of building HMS Terror or HMS Erebus… or build them both!

Ages of Sail

First, there was HMS Terror, one of two ships of the Franklin expedition, that disappeared in the Arctic during a search in 1845 for the Northwest Passage. OcCre introduced that kit back in 2018. OcCre’s newest release is the other ship of that ill-fated expedition, HMS Erebus.

Of the two ships, Erebus was the lead ship, under the command of Sir John Franklin himself, but the two ships were very similar. Both ships were converted bomb vessels, received the same modifications for Arctic service, including the addition of steam propulsion, and both had similar deck layouts. Now, you can build a 1/75-scale reproduction of this most famous ship, or model the Franklin Expedition with OcCre’s 1/75-scale HMS Terror kit.

The kit includes laser-cut wooden parts for the hull framing and many structural details. Wooden strips for a double plank-on-bulkhead construction, wooden dowels for masts and spars, planking material for rather unusual…

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Shackleton’s Antarctic Exploration Ship Endurance by Paul Reck – Completed Model

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Just about two months ago, we posted an article about HSPMS member Paul Reck’s work on a model of Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic exploration ship Endurance, based on  kit produced by the Spanish ship model kit maker OcCre.

Paul is building this on commission. And, while he wasn’t in any hurry to get it done, he’s already wrapped up this project in record time.

Paul chose not to build the model with sails, leaving the model with a classic “bare poled” look. He also made some small modifications to the model, based on photos he found on the Internet of the actual ship.

 

As Paul noted early on, this is a big model. We’re not sure where the final home is for this model, but we’re guessing that Paul’s next project is crating the model up to ship across the country.

Only time will tell what Paul’s next ship model project will be. He had good things to say about the OcCre kit, so perhaps he’ll build another one soon. But, being primarily a scratch modeler, he’ll probably be working another 1/2″ scale yacht model commission. Check back here for an update on his model work. Ω

BLACK FRIDAY SALE!

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Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

When you’re not busy with family, travel, cooking, or whatever Thanksgiving involves for you, you might want to start shopping around for some ship modeling deals!

Here’s the latest from our friends at Ages of Sail down in San Lorenzo… You can check out their deals, which includes free domestic shipping on orders of $150 or more here: https://www.agesofsail.com/ecommerce/