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An Introduction to Seahorse Kits (photos Courtesy of Seahorse and the author) Regular visitors to MSW may recall having seen some delightful, scratch-built card models made by a member who goes by the username “0Seahorse.” The real name of the man behind the username is Tomasz “Tomek” Weremko, a resident of the small town of Ulanów in southeastern Poland. Happily for us card modeling types (and those who are intrigued by the medium), Tomek not only designs and builds card models – he publishes them, too. At first his designs, mostly coasting craft but which also included the brig HMS Badger, were published by WAK, a well-known Polish publishing house, but like some designers, Tomek got the itch to publish his own work. His first effort, the Dutch exploration ship Duyfken, came out in 2019, and that first effort has now been followed by four additional offerings. Tomek’s earlier designs are still available both at his own website and at WAK. Ever eager to get enterprising card model designers some time in the MSW spotlight, I asked Tomek if he would be interested in having his latest kits reviewed. He agreed to the idea and said he would be sending “sets of models with accessories.” Expecting these to consist of one kit or perhaps two at the most, I was very surprised when the package arrived from Poland containing four Seahorse kits along with their laser-cut accessories. As I have found to be pleasantly normative for packages coming from Poland, everything survived the three week journey in fine shape. Because the Seahorse stable of designs are the products of a single designer, they have similar attributes. As for the earlier review I did of Paper Shipwright, I will treat the Seahorse kits as a collective. The kits we will look at are : · Nr. 1 DUYFKEN 1606 (1:100) · Nr. 2 SAO GABRIEL 1497 (1:100) · Nr. 3 LEUDO VINACCIERE (1:72) · Nr. 4 ARMED VIRGINIA SLOOP 1776 (1:100) The first thing you’ll notice is that there are no steel warships in Tomek’s stable of designs. Tomek says he enjoys older ships, both military and civilian. You’ll also notice there’s no example of Wasa, Sovereign of the Sea, etc. Says Tomek, “I rather focus on smaller ships, so that they are within the reach not only of top modelers, but also to encourage those who do not have a cardboard sailing ship in their collection yet.” Once you get a peek at Tomek’s work, I think you’ll agree that the temptation to try out a card model sailing ship can be great indeed. You might also notice that most of Tomek’s designs are in 1:100 scale. This might cause you to panic a bit, but have no fear. 1:100 scale is considered small for wooden models, but it is actually on the large end for card models, which are most often rendered in 1:200, 1:250, or 1:400. Still, because these are sailing ship models, the finished items will in fact end up being small models. None exceeds 41 cm in length. Another thing worth pointing out is the cost of these kits. This is a strong selling point for card models in general, which I have pointed out elsewhere. The basic Duyfken kit, for example, is only € 6.67, which is pretty darn cheap. Compare that to the same subject offered in a wood kit from another manufacturer at € 209, and you quickly see what I mean. Of course, card model kits usually cry out for after market accessories, which I’ll describe later, but even with those goodies added in the Seahorse Duyfken still only comes in at € 31.51—a real bargain for modelers on tight budgets. And if one has a really tight budget and a lot of time available, the aftermarket accessories are of course only optional, and the kits can be built without them. So, what do you get when you crack open a Seahorse kit? Let’s flip through some pages and have a look. As is typical for card models, each kit comes as a bound, A4 size booklet (American builders will need to keep this in mind if they want to scan any parts pages before building). Covers feature fore and aft views of the prototype models. As much as I appreciate artwork on kit covers, I like to see what the model actually looks like when it is built (assuming of course that I’m half as talented as the prototype builder). Flipping to the first page, one finds the instructions in both Polish and English. Again, card model instructions are usually not very detailed, mainly because there are only so many ways one can say “stick part 1 to part 2,” etc., etc. But where instructions are needed, it is certainly helpful when they are legible. English-speaking modelers will be pleasantly surprised at the quality of the English instructions. Tomek has a much superior grasp of English than the average English-speaker has of Polish, and this shows. You will not need someone to translate the English instructions into real English, as sometimes seems warranted with the instructions in Italian kits. There are plenty of diagrams—the key element in card model instructions—to cover every phase of construction. Some of the construction stages even include photo illustrations. One very nice touch in the rigging diagrams is that the various lines are printed in different colors, which makes it easier to visually untangle multiple lines where they cross each other in a two-dimensional representation. Turning to the parts pages, we see that everything is printed on good quality stock, either regular bond or card as appropriate. Colors are sharp and registration is excellent. Decks and other unpainted parts are shaded to imitate natural variations in wood tone and texture. Each kit includes extra color swatches so that any gaps can be filled in with matching card. Hull construction begins with internal formers, covered with three layers of skins. The first layer produces the basic shape and provides an underlayment for the additional layers (Fig. 3 in the image below). The second layer finishes the hull shape in sturdy laminated card (Fig, 5). The seams of the first and second layers are at roughly right angles to each other to strengthen the hull structure. The third layer (Fig. 10) is a veneer consisting of the outer planks. Of course, any sailing ship model done in card stock has a lot of cutting to do as well as a multitude of small, repetitive structures, such as blocks and gun carriages. An ideal and inexpensive way to deal with these issues is to purchase aftermarket laser-cut sets. The Seahorse sets include structural pieces such as hull formers, the second set of hull skinning, and other pieces that otherwise require lamination onto thicker stock before cutting out. The laser-cutting is superb, and parts are laser-engraved with their parts numbers, either directly on the parts or, in the case of small parts, adjacent to them. Hull formers also have laser-engraved lines to indicate the proper locations of joints between mated parts, e.g. between longitudinal profile and bulkheads. Additional laser-cut sets produce blocks, hearts, deadeyes, gun carriages, and other small items. The blocks are made from layers, which when glued together eliminate any need to drill holes into the finished items. Having used similar laser-cut blocks for my build of Wütender Hund, I can attest that these are not as difficult to assemble as they might appear at first glance. They can, of course, be replaced with wooden blocks, but the card blocks are a perfectly viable option. Also available are printed sets of sails. These are single-side printed on fine linen and show panel lines and seams. Each sail set also includes a set of flags. For modelers who want to save a bit of money, each printed kit includes full-size sail patterns. In addition to sails, sets of dowels for spars are also available. These are made of either linden or beech, are cut slightly longer that the spars to be turned from them, and must be tapered to the desired dimensions. Tomek did not send any of the dowel sets for review, since as he pointed out they are “just dowels” (you have to love candor!), can easily be locally sourced, and would have added unnecessarily to the shipping costs. Nevertheless, they are available if one wishes to purchase them. There are a few non-kit-specific items that builders will need to source for themselves, such as rigging cordage and chain. Tomek does sell some of the former at the Seahorse website. At this time, there are also no aftermarket cannon available as kit-specific sets. One can find cannon in 1/100 scale if one searches around a bit, though finding the correct patterns for the older kit subjects, i.e. galleons, might be a challenge. All in all, I find the Seahorse kits to be delightful additions to the card modeling side of our hobby. The quality of the materials and design at their price points make these outstanding values. It is also apparent from reading through the instructions and diagrams that Tomek has indeed put much thought and effort into making these kits manageable projects for intermediate-level modelers. Each kit will produce a finished model that is comparable in appearance and detail to any wooden kit and moreover will not take up a huge amount of space to display. Not one to rest on his laurels, Tomek has already released a new kit for 2021, the galleon Meermann 1627, a participant in the defeat of a Swedish flotilla at the Battle of Oliwa. As mentioned earlier, Tomek confesses a love for older ships, particularly Dutch vessels, so it is likely that we will see additional offerings of these attractive subjects in the not-too-distant future. Meermann, now available in 1/100 scale from Seahorse Thanks again to Tomek for sending out these examples for review. If you would like to purchase a Seahorse kit, you may do so at the Seahorse website. Be sure to tell Tomek that you heard about Seahorse at Model Ship World! MSRPs: Duyfken: € 6.67 Sao Gabriel: € 10.58 Leudo Vinaccieri: € 7.82 Armed Virginia Sloop: € 7.13 Meermann: € 10.12 CDC

I saw the MiG-15 and F-86 demonstration at the Chino airshow back in '98 or '99 (time flies). The F-86 leaves a distinct smoke trail that put it at a disadvantage versus the MiG when it came to who spotted whom first.

Hi, Scott! Nice to see you pop in, even if only to offload some books. That's a good offer -- hopefully you'll have a taker soon. Cheers!

Beautiful! But now I think you need a new username, because you are obviously not a newbie anymore! 😉

This needs to be moved to the correct subforum. Are you intending this to be the beginning of a build log?

Congratulations! This is simply a gorgeous model in every way -- I bet Model Shipways has garnered at least a few customers from among the folks who have viewed this build log!

Congratulations on your milestone, Paul!

Okay, comments: HMS Fly is a great kit. I know, 'cause I own a partially-built one and lots of finished ones dot the landscape around here. The only knock against Fly is that you absolutely should get the upgrade kit that goes with it. If you don't want to buy a separate upgrade kit, then ... ... get the Pegasus kit, which is a Swan-class sloop like Fly but already has all the upgrade parts included in the kit. Or ... ... consider Speedy or Flirt from Vanguard Models. Same designer as Fly and Pegasus, but newer and thus have improved construction methodology. Pride of Baltimore II is also a great kit and makes a beautiful model, but Model Shipways kits typically have fewer (often much fewer) pre-cut parts. MS expects you to be able to scratch-build many features, like deck houses, using dimensions taken directly from the plans. Don't let that scare you -- if you really like Baltimore clippers, this is the gold standard model kit of that type. Short answer: those are all very good kits.

Their are some great kits available in your price range from a number of different manufacturers. Can you firm up your idea of a vessel type that most appeals to you?

Nice work -- congratulations!

Maiden Voyage Today was the big day! I took the Kat to Lake Cunningham today. The boat launch is only about five miles from my house. The first challenge was to get her up on my car by myself. Here we are, all loaded up on the soft roof pads, everything cinched up tight and the ends tied down. The CRV has front and rear anchor points for just such tasks. Several people at the lake commented on how nice Kat looked and were surprised to hear she's a home-built. There was a nice grassy spot for putting in. It was a great day for paddling. It would've been a perfect day if the fish were biting, but they didn't cooperate for me. They didn't appear to be cooperating for anyone else, either. In this next photo, that wooden structure off in the distance is the public fishing pier, which in late summer will be totally socked in with weeds and lily pads. Notice that I am out in the glorious open channel, where I can fish the outside margin of the weed beds. Ain't boats wonderful? Speaking of boats, both of the lakes near my house have 10 hp limits on motors, so there's no water skiers and Sea-Doos tearing up the place. Sweeeeeet. After about four hours of leisurely fishing, it was time to haul out. Did you know that fishing in mesotrophic reservoirs gives one's beautiful new boat a bathtub ring of sorts? Fortunately, it washed off easily. Tomorrow we Americans have a federal holiday, so who knows? The Kat may hit the other lake tomorrow. Cheers!

I think Jean-Pierre has got it. Might be a limited edition kit that was not widely distributed.

Might be an OOP Woody Joe kit.

Yes, they are fun, but "easy"? That depends entirely on the model. Bear in mind that in addition to requiring its own particular skill set, an advanced card model can easily have several thousand pieces. It's as challenging as any other medium. You can find out more about card models in the kits section of the forum, as well as searching for the word "card" in build log titles as Mark suggested. Also, we have reviewed some card model kits in the reviews section (and more are on the way). Be warned: Once you try card, you may not go back!

Ha! My Dad used to tell me that there were train robbers in our family tree. I used to reply that these purported outlaws must not have been very good at their trade, because I never heard of them. Since then, I've done a LOT of genealogy work and even found a few bad apples in the tree, but no train robbers (but I did find two distant cousins that were struck by trains and died on separate occasions -- go figure).

Plus, if the ship is moving at speeds approaching the speed of light, special relativity shows us that its length will contract in its direction of movement. 😮

Lengths on real ships and their model counterparts are notoriously tricky items. Are we talking about waterline length, overall length, length on deck, length between perpendiculars, or some other dimension? And what source material did the kit designers use to establish scale?

Okay, time for THE BIG REVEAL!! After seven months of work, Sha-Sam-Kat is ready for her debut. Some concluding thoughts will follow, but first let's have some pictures. The name Sha-Sam-Kat is a nod to my three great kids, Shannon, Samuel, and Kathleen. I got the lettering from a place that does custom boat decals. Got the left side just a touch too high during the application process, but it's not especially noticeable from a distance. All told, I spent probably around $1600 for the kit, tools, and materials -- more than a mass-produced fiberglass or aluminum canoe will set one back, but far cheaper than comparable custom-built wooden canoes. I might get her out on the water this weekend -- pics to follow if that happens. Some concluding thoughts: Building a boat is a love/hate relationship. There were times when I was all ready to have a go at a second boat and other times when I just wanted the darned thing to finally be finished! Can you say "sanding"? I'm happy with the Chesapeake Light Craft kit -- nothing to complain about in that department. Whatever flaws are visible on the finished item come down solely to me and not the kit. If I had to do it again, I would pick a simpler design for a first effort. Although rated for beginners, the lapstrake planking creates about twice as many seams to tack together and fill. A slab-sided dinghy or skiff would've been easier, but also much heavier. This was my first time working with both epoxy and fiberglass. It sure would have been handy to have those skills before starting construction! If you have building a boat on your bucket list, do it! Don't wait. So, that concludes my 1:1 build. I hope you have enjoyed the journey with me, and I also hope that it has inspired other potential builders. Perhaps we will see other 1:1 builds in the near future. Thanks for tagging along, everybody!

Chris is leading the way in making complex subjects more accessible to modelers of average ability.

Yup, exactly. I already have the paddle. It is longer than a typical kayak paddle on account of the higher freeboard. Neither the canoe nor the paddle are designed with aggressive paddling in mind.

Load capacity is only 250 lbs, so it would have to be a really small MSW member. 😳

Sassafras is designed as a sit-on-bottom canoe. I'm going to assume for now that the designer(s) had a good reason for the lower center of gravity.

I tested one small spot as i suggested in my earlier post. I'm not entirely satisfied -- you can see where the touch-up has been done, even though you might have to squint just right to see it. I may reconsider and do only the spots that really need it.

Zooming right along ... Next task was to glue down the seat. Not easy, since instructions specify a linear distance of exactly 71.375" from the stem to the front of the seat. But of course, one can't measure a straight line down from the stem into the boat, can one? Solution: a primitive plumb bob made from a miniature clothespin hanging from a thread wound onto a piece of scrap wood. Measure from the stem to where the scrap meets each rail to create the base of an isosceles triangle, hang the bob over the center line, and presto! Location of seat identified. The seat consists of two foam pads. The lower pad is hollow as you can see; that allowed me to run a marker around the inside to see where the glue needed to go. The base is glued down with contact cement, then the top layer is glued on top. The hollow construction will allow my tush to settle in comfortably (hopefully). With the inside finished, it was time to flip her over again. Here I've identified spots that need a little touch up and flagged them with bits of tape. These are mostly quite small, so I think a a light scuff and a dab with a good quality brush should do the trick -- I intend to sacrifice one of my white sable modeling brushes for the job. I can easily get another at the local Hobby Lobby. I will test this procedure out on one of the more obscure boo-boos before going at it hammer and tongs. The finish line is in sight!

I assume that most of our members already realize this, but it's worth mentioning that the build is 1:1 because it's not a scale model -- it's a full-size replica of a craft that was designed from the get-go as a pond yacht. Should be interesting -- good luck!