For fans of the Dutch sailing vessels of the 1600s, we’ve got some great news for you. Ages of Sail is now carrying the line of wooden ship model kits from Kolderstock. There are currently 5 kits available, all designed for the experienced ship modeler.

(All artwork provided by Kolderstok)

The aim of Kolderstok is to offer a high quality range of wooden model boat kits for ships not available elsewhere. Models of famous ships of the Dutch Golden Age, such as those belonging to the VOC (Dutch East India Company), but also ships famous for the great battles in which they served. Ships under the command of well-known names: Michiel de Ruyter, Marten Harpenszoon Tromp, Jan and Cornelis Evertsen and Adriaen Banckert. Kolderstok models are created using old images and existing models as guidelines, thus ensuring the best possible accuracy.

All kits feature laser-cut…

Good news for Nautical Research Guild members in California. Today the NRG just announce that next conference will take place from October 15-17 at the Channel Islands Maritime Museum in Oxnard, CA.

It’s a bit of a small venue for the event, I think. But, the collection of models and marine art is wonderful.

For myself, my earliest years of ship modeling were associated with this museum. As I lived less than an hour away, I made many trips to look over the collection of models, my favorite being those made by the late Ed Marple.

I was even president of the model guild for a short time, but my service was cut short when I went back to school and had a shift in family life. I probably still know 3 or 4 people there, who I will hopefully see again, as I fully intend to go the conference…

Before I continue on with the rigging of the model, there is one more construction assembly to address. The railings on the Dana are made of brass wire, threaded through a hole in each of the brass stanchions. As I mentioned earlier, I painted the stanchions white, but I’m thinking to leave the rail itself bright brass. I haven’t made up my mind on this one. It’s probably easiest to paint them all white, and might be more accurate. Certainly, that’s what the kit instructions seem to show, and it looks good on the box art.

Now, it might be too early to install the rails just yet, as they may get in the way a bit while adding the shrouds and all. I could actually assemble the rails, getting everything bent to shape and all, and leave the final installation until later. However, I’m anxious to make some progress on…

It’s been a while now since both Jean Budriot and Hubert Berti have passed away, but Ancre books has continued to publish new titles and add new language versions to existing ones, and for some reason, I’m having a hard time keeping tabs on them. Their work keeps slipping under my radar, so I’m not quite sure what exactly I’ve missed.

But, I did get an announcement of two new titles this year, as well as the release of their 2020 calendar.

The first one, which I believe was released some months ago, is a monograph on the Louise, an Argenteuil racing yacht of 1878. The photos showing the author’s model look truly beautiful. I can’t imagine that I could make a model that looks this good. But, the subject looks intrinsically beautiful, so it would be hard to go wrong with it.

This book is available in English as…