Sad news for ship modelers everywhere. Seaways’ Ships in Scale has apparently ceased publication. This, according to the Nautical Research Guild, whose own Journal will be working to pick up some of the void left behind by the long time periodical. The last issue sent out was the Spring issue, 2018, which is still listed on their website, and no official announcement has been posted or been mailed out to subscribers.

If you recall, it was exactly a year ago that the publication went from bi-monthly to quarterly. To my knowledge, the issue was primarily one of time involvement of the publisher, and as recently as a month ago, they were still accepting advertising.

Speaking strictly for myself, this is sad news in that the magazine was a great way for me to get written material out to a wide audience. I’ve personally had five articles published in Ships in Scale…

The Nautical Research Guild just posted some basic previews of 4 new kits from the new ship model kit manufacturer Ship Model Okumoto on ModelShipWorld.com. This is a new company in Japan that is producing a line of kits for those modelers who want to build a frame or admiralty-style model relatively quickly and easily.

Hannah by Ship Model Okumoto in 1/70 scale.

They offer four kits, the Revolutionary War schooner Hannah, the bark HMS Endeavour, the Santa Maria, and the 17th century French warship La Couronne. All are frame-style model kits with all parts laser cut for ease of assembly.

La Couronne by Ship Model Okumoto in 1/123 scale.

Construction times on these kits vary from an estimated 100 hours for the Hannah, on up to 240 hours for HMS Endeavour. These build times are far lower than what ship modelers usually have to face when building ship…

I just saw a post on Model Ship World announcing this new kit from Model Shipways. This is basically a larger, armed version of the Chuck Passaro-designed 18th Century English Longboat kit. The original kit was a 1/4″ scale, or 1:48 scale, model that measured just under 12″ long. The new kit is produced at 1/2″ scale, or 1:24 scale.

The new kit is then just about 2′ long, which should make it an easier build for beginners. I’d add that while many people call the original kit a “beginner” kit, having built it, I would never recommend it for beginners. The only thing that might be okay for beginners in that kit was the simple rigging and the low price. However, this kit’s size should make it much easier to work on, still retaining the simple rig and relatively low price of $119.99.

The price of this kit includes…

Several years ago, Woody Joe came out with a unique wooden model kit of the Solar Barge of Khufu, also known as Cheops, King of Egypt from 2589 B.C. to 2566 B.C. The ship was buried with King Khufu, and intended for use in the afterlife. It measures 143 feet long and is one of the most well preserved, largest and oldest vessel ever discovered.

Woody Joe produces this 1/72-scale kit, making heavy use of laser-cut wooden parts. It’s a beautifully designed kit, with the model measuring around 23″ long when complete.

It’s designed to be fairly easy to build, though of course the instructions are in Japanese. Mr. Dressel reported that he did have some difficulty interpreting some of the instructions until he downloaded the Google Translate app on his iPad.

Zootoyz, an excellent online seller featuring Woody Joe kits, lists the kit as a Level 2 kit on…

The Paint Scheme from Paris

Having made some great progress on the model, it’s time to begin consideration of the paint scheme. From the very start, as a gozabune, it’s been very clear that this is a highly ornate ship, painted in black and vivid red lacquers, and decorated with gold trim.

Model of a large gozabune I found on the Internet.

I’ve noted that modeler Yukio Nakayama’s gozabune models, as well as those made by other Japanese ship modelers, are painted inside and out. Pretty much everything except the decks. This left me wondering how I would end up finishing this model.

I’ve been in a quandary because I do like the look of the interior painted bulwarks and beams with the bare wood deck. But, I recently looked more closely at the notes on the Paris drawings and discovered that interior painting information is actually there in…

Today, someone pointed out in a ship modeling newsletter that there is a new manufacturer of model paints called True North Precision Enamels. The Maine based company is making a complete line of oil based enamel paints, and It appears that BlueJacket Shipcrafters is in the works to start carrying the new brand of paints (As of this date, these don’t seem to appear on their online shop).

The color selection is a bit limited yet, but there appear to be plans to fill out a line of 5 series of colors that includes:

• Federal Standard 595B and C Matching Colors
• World War 2 Military Colors
• Modern Military Colors
• Non-Military, Automotive, Figure and Mixing Colors
• Metal Effects

I haven’t tried the new paints out myself yet, though I just ordered a sample of colors. But, the paint series is being created by modelers (both founders are modelers) for modelers…