Ab Hoving

A remarkable and inspiring project Patrick, a pleasure to follow (now and then) :-). Ab

An amazing build Mr. Falck. My compliments. Ab

Yes GrandpaPhil, the models in the Merchant book are made by Herbert Tomesen (Artitec). He uses cast resin as a base for his models . As far as I know he first makes a solid wooden plug, of which he makes molds which he details with polystyrene. Thus he can cast several copies from one design for his scenery modeling work like https://artitec.nl/v-o-c/ . The models in my next book 'Dutch 17th Century Shipmodels in Paper' are all in paper.

Just send me a PM Marc and which picture you like. What I want you to know is that the models in the Merchant book are made by Herbert Tomesen van Artitec and executed in plastic. No problem, I'm sure Emiel has high-res copies of the plates. Ab

Thanks @hollowneck and @Ondras71, Oh, Ondras, if you want a higher resolution, just call. Ab

someone missed the crew:

Thanks @flying_dutchman2 and @Baker. My son just sent his photographic interpretation of my pinas-wreck: Hope you like it as much as I do...

Thanks for the comments folks! @GrandpaPhil and @mtaylor: Thank you for your kind concern. I am happy to be modeling still, though not at half the speed I was used to. Hard to unlearn.... @druxey: I must admit it did hurt to ruin a reasonable ship model, but I really wanted to see if it worked. We will see the proof of the pudding once Emiel is finished Photoshopping. @hollowneck: I know how it feels Ron, and looking at your Grecian I am glad you kept it in one piece. Beautiful! @bdgiantman2: Pity. I would have liked seeing others doing this doubtful work.

While staying in hospital early this year as a result of open heart surgery and therefore confronted with the finitude of life, I got the idea to picture a ship that was apparently also at the end of its existence. Some weeks earlier I had started another pinas and I used the unfinished hull for just that purpose. But the only thing I could do was to give it a broken rig. It became soon clear to me that if you really want to build a broken hull, you will not get away with the same building technique used for healthy ships. You will have to take into account the wreckage right from the start. So in future, if time is given me, I might work out a wrecked ship with planks missing, showing frame parts and partly broken decks. This is not a completely new challenge for me, as I have always built my wooden models just like they were built in real life, but as we all know: paper is different. In the mean time you might like the result of this first effort, of which we soon will present a Photoshop composition, showing the ship in its natural and fitting surrounding. Also an impression of my latest 'smalschip', sort of a preview for my soon to come new book: smalschip.mp4 Happy New Year, Ab

Hello Petr, Good to hear that you still are working on the model, even if you are busy with more serious things like building a house for your son. Sorry to hear about your problems with the planking. But it is better to adjust small mistakes in an early stage than later, because mistakes tend to grow while building. About the gun ports: if you look at the building sequence in https://Witsenscheepsbouw.nl ( stage 12) you will see that the sides consist of the actual frames (or filling chocks where necessary) and that the upper and lower sills are added between them. Witsen gives no indication about the attitude of the sills. Blom chose for a tilting sill and I can agree with him, but apart from his reasoning there is no proof for it. So you can decide for yourself. The planking of the ship forms the outer frame of the gunport, about an inch from the actual aperture. About your problem with the carvings at the doors of the forecastle: I warned you before that there are two versions of the drawings. One drawn by myself and one by the late Cor Emke, who reworked them with Autocad. This program however changed the lines of the hull and I advised you not to mix the two up. Anyway, you are right, there is no side view of the carvings. So you can make them however you like them. You can even let them out. They are not part of a shipbuilding rule, they are only decorations. Good luck with your build. The shape of your hull looks great. Ab

Very nice report on this project Patrick, chapeau!

Hello Mike, Thank you for your interest. The best way is probably to wait until the book is out. We produced it after SeaWatchBooks asked for it, but so far I have not been abled to get in touch with Mike Ellison after earlier this year only briefly. I did most of the writing when I was recovering after the surgery, because building models was not a number one priority on my list during that period. By now Emiel is almost finished with the design and 'painting' new plates. So far it is not even in the state of printing. Hence the hush. 🙂 But I can assure you it is looking very good so far. Best, Ab

Ssssst! It's a secret. For the time being I am trying to reach Mike Ellison, but my mails all seem to end up in his spam box. Perhaps this is the way to reach him? Ab

Hello Meriadoc, How thoughtful of you! Thank you very much, most appreciated. New projects? As a matter of fact my son and I are just about to finish a new book: making ship models out of paper. So stay tuned. Best, Ab

Great job Patrick, I like this sort of intuitive modelbuilding. Ab

After about 1630 the deadeyes were round.

Leaving aside the recent discussion of hull details, I would most of all like to express my admiration for the way you have rendered the sails and rigging. I have never seen it done so well. I tip my hat for this beautiful work. Ab

I'm sure you will make this an interesting Build Patrick!

Nice Work Patrick!

Sorry to disappoint you Kirill, but I have not the faintest. It seems to be part of the old rigging type, when even the lower yards were lowered and hoisted to manage the sails. Or it has to do, as mentioned here with the lashed topmasts, who knows? I am not aware of any sources, other than the ones mentioned here. Even Anderson has nothing about them. They do look like coils of rope but to what purpose? I don't know.

Well done Meriadoc Brandybuck! Very inspiring. I hope (and actually I'm sure) that you have found out that making everything all by yourself is a most satisfying way to build ship models. I'm quite curious to see your next project. Ab

Yes, correct. The length is measured from the front side of the stem to the aft side of the stern post. Good luck!

I posted another picture PM Brian. I think it was the kaag you wanted? Ab

Beautiful model, well executed!

Hello JJ, Here are the files I have. There is a fbm.file which can be opened in the Delftship program (free downloadable here:https://download.delftship.net/DSFree.php), it may help when you are choosing your scale. The scale of the file is 1 : 1, Measurements are in meters. man of war 1680.fbm There is a body plan, a top view and an elevation as made by my great help Rene Hendrickx on the basis of the Hohenzollermodel. Here are some screenshots that may be helpful: Of course I don't know your level of building and working with plans, but this worked for me. Once you have your hull ready we can talk about decorations, beakhead, deck furniture and rigging, but that's another stage.... I advise you to lay your hands on the book (by Heinrich Winter) with the original draughts and lots of pictures of the model, which was sadly destroyed in WWII. It is only available as second hand. Let me know if there is more you need. Good luck, Ab