Ab Hoving

Thank you Jan. I don't think there are UK people who want to deny the event, just that it hurts to be confronted with another nation having invaded their country. Yes Steven, it is, but from my own experience there are people who have problems accepting it. That's all I wanted to mention. As I said, the Dutch were beaten by the English several times and maybe it depends on what your vision on history is how you cope with it. My 'corrector' obviously had a different vision than I had. I suppose this forum has a max for uploading pictures. Therefore I will send you the high res picture in a PM. Thanks for your appreciation. Ab

I really hope so David. Years ago when I did a contribution about the stern carvings of the captured Royal Charles for Model Shipwright, a beautiful English magazine, a desk editor, who had no business at all with the content of the article, changed my somewhat ironic text into something much more acceptable (for himself). John Bowden, the editor was furious about what had happened, but it was too late. It shows that the matter might touch an open nerf for some people, even knowing that the British did defeat the Dutch fleet several times most convincingly...

As I promised earlier hereby the (temporary) 'natural surrounding' of the frigate Postiljon. It is the situation during the Raid on the Medway on June 22 1667. Earlier the fortress Sheerness at the mouth of the river was conquered, the chain that closed the river was broken and here Upnor castle is under attack by the Dutch frigates. Three of the king's ships laid up near the castle were set to fire and little later the flagship Royal Charles was taken and brought to Holland as a trofee. The action speeded up the negotiations for a profitable peace and is still in the Dutch history books as a showpiece for the abilities of admiral Michiel de Ruyter (although he himself only arrived at the end of the action). I'm sure English history books have another view of the event if mentioned at all. Emiel tried to keep as close to the facts as possible.

Thank you gentlemen, for all for your undeserved praise, @druxey: The shapes of fluits have been a subject of mockery from the beginning of its development. Still it was a most functional vessel for those days. @Alvb: At the moment Ter Velde is laying the fore deck: @TheDuckDetective: Next summer the full size plastic fluit will be built on the premises of the old Willemsoord Navy yard in Den Helder. @flying_dutchman2: You are making nice progress with your fluit. @Baker: Thanks Patrick, I cannot stand in your shadow with your 'noblest ship' @Michael Mash: Thanks Mike. Still, as a paper modeler yourself you know the tricks. @firdajan: Wonderfull work on your SoS, Jan. @scrubbyj427: I have a confession to make JJ. Usually I never picture a specific ship, because it suggests that I know all the details. I don't. I prefer building a ship type, on which I put an invented name in the stage when the taffrail has to be added. But it is all fake. There are almost no 17th century ships of which we can be sure above a certain level. All I had as a source was this Van de Velde picture, which shows some peculiarities, like a two-rails beak head instead of a three rails one, the locations of the gunports, the ship's ladder, the absence of the forecastle deck, and some more details which I tried to model Furthermore what James Bender tells us in his book Dutch Warships. All the rest is general knowledge of how the decks were detailed, dimensions of the rigging, etc. To make a long story short: what I make is little more than a mixture of general knowledge, logical thinking and the impression the images Van de Velde left us, translated in paper and paint. You can get any support for your build you want from me, but don't expect your model to be a true replica of the original. At least mine is not.

Thanks to all the people who liked my model. Inspiring! Special thanks to Alvb and Jsk for their kind remarks and to Alvb: No, neatness and accuracy are not my main purposes. I must confess the lack of them in my models are partly a result of the physical problems I encounter, but I never felt much attraction in polished, neat, shiny ship models, although I admire the skills of those who produce them. In the end we are all here to inspire others and when it sometimes succeeds, it is a reason to be contend. Oh, by the way, I built another model this summer for a friend who is building full size vessels from wasted plastic. Here is his web site. https://www.clean2a.nl/onze-schepen/ It is worth to keep an eye on him, because next summer, after he finished his pleasure vessel after Witsen, he will start a full size 100 feet long fluit. For inspiration I built him this model: Just a paper finger exercise. Best, Ab

In spite of my shaking hands and fading eyesight I just could not resist the building of this light frigate. The Postiljon only measured 100 x 24,5 x 10,25 feet and was armed with 20 guns. Het crew existed of 75 men. She was part of the group that executed the Raid on Chatham, an occasion at which many British warships were burned and the flagship Royal Charles was captured and brought to the Netherlands. Postiljon only played a modest roll in the event, but she was on the Medway, so she wrote history. I pictured het counter-braced to come to a halt. We will probably come with images showing her in her natural surroundings. For whoever is interested, here are the plans in 1/77 scale. The model measures 52 cm over all, bowsprit and lanterns included. I hope you like it. Ab Postiljon_rev_1_77b.pdf

Fantastic result so far Patrick!

Amazing, dazzling, beautiful! Congratulations. Well deserved.

Hallo Rik, My compliments for your work and your research. They both make sense. @TheDuckDetectiveAs for the book 'In Tekening Gebracht', I'm sorry to tell you that is has been sold out for years. Maybe second hand (try Boekwinkeltjes.nl)? I do have an English translation though, so if you are interested I can send the pdf. As for the model NG-MC-498, you can find pictures of the model at the Rijksmuseum site and I have a draught after my own measurements. Let me know what you like. Best, Ab

Most interested to see what you make of it Chris. The model this whole project was based on dates from my wood-building period, long ago. It was built in 1988 and was the start of my museum career. It still sits in my window-sill. A little dusty nowadays... Best, Ab

As to your second question: In 2000 I published a book called 'De schepen van Abel Tasman' at Verloren Publishers (www.Verloren.nl), both in Dutch and in German and English especially for model builders. The Dutch version was sold out long ago, but probably you can get it second hands somewhere. A lot of what you need can be found in the book.

Thanks for the compliment Marcel. I sent you a PM with the Dutch version. Too big to post here. Good luck. Ab

A pleasure to watch your thread Patrick. Ab

Nice work Constant.

Fantastic project Patrick, very well done!