robert Lamba

Spent a frustrating weekend and part of today putting the beak head together. Took it apart several times, reshaping and fitting before I was satisfied, it still could be better but it'll never be complete if I keep nitpicking. I chose to paint the beak head rails yellow like the VOC Amsterdam in Amsterdam harbour. I like a natural wood finish but the material used wasn't that attractive and painting hid some flaws, it's also historically accurate for the time period. Choosing when to paint and when to go natural a continuing issue.

Thanks that's flattering but no, everyday I learn something new about scale ships, I definitely should've aimed a bit lower for difficulty level on my second build.

This being an english forum "dutch" is the common term for Nederlanders. The english called anyone from the northern areas of todays Netherlands or northern Germany dutch, but it stuck permanently with Nederlanders, correct or not dutch is what it is. Frisian losing independence in 1300 wouldn't eliminate the people or their language as is evidenced by dialects everywhere even in the Netherlands. Whaling began in the early 1600's not 1700.

Plattdeutsch is similar to the dutch in NE Netherlands, I think the common base is Saxon but I'm not a linguist.

I didn't know anything about the whaling industry of the Netherlands until I came across your build. I looked deeper into it I suspected most of the whalers may have been Frisian, my investigation confirmed it, whaling crews were predominately of Frisian origin. Hoorn the home port of your ship was in West-Friesland now North Holland. West-Frisian political independence was ended by the dutch but the language would've remained on for centuries, even today the Dutch dialects there still have a Frisian influence. I wouldn't change your ships name with the regional linguistic evolution of the time period Dutch, Frisian or something in between could be correct.

Noorden ster,- the language changes continually my parents would complain about the new language changes, they were born in 1910 so literally old school. My mother spoke Utrecht's dutch and high German understood some Frisian and low German. Her father was Frisian spoke Frisian/dutch/low German and high German, her mother was the same. I have difficulty with the dialects of the east and north east Netherlands. Frisian is a completely different language maybe closer to english than dutch, a saxon holdover . Flemish I can understand maybe 50% if I know what the topic is beforehand and they speak slowly, East Frisian even less. My Dentist is Flemish and he says even he has problems with East Flemish and that was just across the river from his home. Let's not even start with my friends Afrikaans, wth! it's amazing how much a language can drift away from the mother tongue in 500yrs. At one time the Fries occupied all the coastal areas of Netherlands North east Germany and the west coat Denmark. Most of Northern Netherlands was Frisian territory until 1700-1800 when it was reduced to it's present size. So your whaler could've very likely had a Frisian speaking crew.

Which Low German or High German? North east coast, central or north west? which region, city or town...like dutch the potential spelling and pronunciation variations that far back in history are numerous. My farther usually referred to as the Noorden Ster, but I recall hearing Poolster as well. If it sailed out of a Frisian port it translates to Peal Stjer, Noard Stjer

That would be difficult without consulting a linguist. Not only are you going back 300-400 years a time when there was rarely an accepted fixed form of spelling or pronunciation for any language but in a country of many strong regional dialects it's even worse. I'm no longer fluent as I was as a child, some dialects I'm okay with and still others like those found near the German border other can be a struggle, in Belguim there is some Flemish I can follow along, while with others I'm lost. Even today while formal schooling has unified the written form regional dialects can still be a challenge for those not fluent in dutch. Then's there's Friesland where even dutch fluency won't help you and if your ship came from it's northern ports I have no idea how it would be spelt, an english version maybe closer.

Glue curing time led to another chore I was avoiding, the ships boat. The strake material provided and the lack of instructions ended up with tearing off the strakes a few times and beginning again. I switched material to a mahogany veneer that was more pliable and I went swith a clinker systems as the only method that would work with my skill level and the small size(11cm) of the boat. Two days later and it's done. I added some colour that was period correct, they loved their primary colours.

While waiting for gorilla glue to set on the figurehead(it's come loose twice already) I've moved on to other details. I assembled the ships light which has the same slow curing glue, before I glue in the base I need to bend it 90 degrees. My first though is I need to apply heat, if so a torch or will a plank bender work. Maybe it will bend by hand but it just may snap in half if too if it's cast. Any suggestions?

Anyone have recommendations for gluing metal to wood? Wood glue has little holding ability with metal, I've tried contact cement while better than wood glue it's still not 100%.

Ahh the 70s and 80's the younger days of unrestrained irresponsibility, my brother and I rode the fine edge of the law with our moto creations. Red and Blue flashing lights frequently appeared in my mirrors. Today I still get pulled over have my license checked and sent on my way with a warning to slow down, I think they're amused by hooligan grandpas. The ladies from my other build hobby

Thanks, I think after my first small build which would rate a 1 or 2 for skill level required I was over confident and went well above my skill level with this one. I've made mistakes but if take it slow I think it make an acceptable build. I'll probably be in way over my head with what I'm planning for my next build , the Zeven Provincien from Kolderstok.

Cannons aren't glued in, I shouldn't need to do that once they're secured with lines. Four years ago I restored a vintage motocross racer a 1976 AW440cr, pretty to look at but with my knees I was never going off road riding again so I sold to a private museum two years ago. Six years ago I restored a 1979 Honda CBX 1050 , I've owned since new 42 yrs this summer. Still modifying and tinkering with it, optimizing the handling. My current project is a 1984 Suzuki GSX1150ef, I've been restoring and modifying it for the last 3 years. I fully restored it then I decided to modify it's appearance to my own taste. Now I'm improving the handling and power output, it's going to be a monster. Another two or three winters before I'm done. Future projects if I can persuade the owners to part with them, my niece has 100km 1974 Yamaha RD250 it's been in a barn since '74. A neighbour has a late 90's 600 Ducati Monster. Either one would be great fun.

I'll write that up as learning experience for me. I intended to think outside the box but I'm still locked into following rigid rules assembly. When I assemble my motorcycles there's no such options it's either assembled the right way or the get yourself killed way. If I had seen his suggestion earlier I could've done it easily, now I have to think hard if I want to backtrack and disassemble what I've just completed. I attached the deck railings, 18 hrs of cutting and shaping minuscule balustrades.😢 They were supposed to be made of the same iron hard wood as the upper and lower rails but I gave up after the third balustrade, it was just too hard and don't think there was enough material to complete it. So I switched to the white wood in the photo, it gives an interesting colour contrast without paint. Edit: looking at the plans there is a considerable amount of rigging on the fore deck while probably not impossible to relocate cannons there, it is problematic for my skill level. So I'll be pondering the other two options we discussed.

yup, failure on my part part to think outside the box...great suggestion but too late😂

did you read my post?

You quoted me from my review which only took me a couple of minutes to post, short and sweet hardly ballooning out of control. There's no need to spend endless hours going through how many builds on this forum?

The poll would be of more help if people would state their building experience and explain why they up voted or down voted a particular kit. Asking an experienced builder or beginner can result in different answers for the same kit from the same company. A beginner may give up in frustration whereas an experienced builder can adapt and may have few issues that he/she can't work around. I'm only on my 2nd build and both are from Dikar which went of business long ago. So I have nothing to compare to, my Dikar kits could the best kits ever or the worst I just don't know. As Dikar isn't around anymore it's not relevant to the poll but I've occasionally come across Dikar kits still listed on Ebay. So for anyone who comes across one I've found there is nice milled variety of exotic woods. Castings from my limited experience are good. Instructions quality? I couldn't say I lost mine but there's enough pictures of completed ships on the internet to use as a guide and there are forum members here who are willing to advise and fill in the knowledge gaps for you. If the kit is complete there are four sheets of plans done on a 1 to 1 scale, parts are numbered and there are parts sheets with matching numbers and a parts inventory.

Here's a issue I've discussed with Pete on our PM's I should've included it here. It's a small issue that anyone but us would notice but it really annoys me. It's cannon/grate proximity conflict, as you can see from the picture rolling the cannon back to load would be impossible. The best solution is to have spotted the issue early on made a narrow deck opening but that option set sail long ago. Pete pointed out that the prints drawn up probably didn't allow for that and the hatch/grate should've been narrower allowing the cannon to be rolled back. I did come across another build with the same issue, the builder in that situation built a platform for the cannon that was raised to the height of the grate and designed the platform so that water on the deck would be free to pass below it. It seems like a practical real life solution solution but was it ever done??? Pete suggested lowering the grate to where it would be flush with the deck, being on the upper deck it wouldn't have the water issues like on the main deck. That's probably valid but in NW europe where Fluyts sailed extremely heavy rains are an issue, as well on the VOC trade routes and the monsoon rains of SE Asia. A raised grate can be covered and secured against heavy rains whereas a flush grate could be a serious problem. Both solutions would work while neither may be historically accurate, which is the best of two not ideal solutions? I suppose it may be the one that bothers me the least. I probably fret the small stuff too much🙄

I shaped all my hull strakes with ammonia, as I had tough bends at both ends of the ship I'd need stand one end in the jug of ammonia shape that with the heated plank bender, then repeat the process for the other end. Soaking time depended on the severity of the bend, soaking time up to two weeks for the more severe bends. The wales were very resistant to bending into shape. For the railing material, 6 months soaking did no damage to wood, when left to dry it returned to it's previous iron hard state in less than a day. The only noticeable lasting effect was the wood became very dark.

Even after 6 months of soaking in ammonia and using a heated plank bender the curved bottom sections of the railings were still monsters to shape. I've no idea what type of wood it was but I think steel is easier to bend, I've spent at least 12 hrs bending and fitting those six pieces into their final position.

Upper rails for the beakhead delicate, gluing the curved section with a straight piece that would need to be bent. My first attempt with glue failed almost instantly as I expected it would, 4mm x 4mm contact area isn't sufficient. I drilled a hole into each piece and used gorilla glue to fix a brass wire into each hole. Much stronger, now I'll be able to apply some heat and shape them into position. The difference in wood colours will probably look odd if I left them clear or stained, I may paint them with a gold leaf.

Thanks, This my first large build I had no idea what I was getting into. I've had some good guidance from Pirate Pete when I run into something I don't know how to deal with. My only previous experience with wooden ships is a solid hull Urker only 12" long. I'm flying blind otherwise, built from a Spanish kit maker Dikar that went out business decades ago, no instruction booklet, a set scale prints, pictures from the internet, trial and error and many hours just staring it from every angle looking for solutions. This week will all be focused on the beakhead and and assembling the rails. Once I get past that the end is in sight, the rigging looks intimidating but I suspect it's more tedious than difficult.

Personal tragedy, motor cycle rebuild(my other hobby) distracted and competed for my time putting my Derfflinger build on the shelf. Now Covid19 pandemic and loss of job, completed motorcycle have given me lots of free time. I should be able to complete the build before the lock down is lifted, and at my age without a vaccine I'll be spending a lot of my free time at home. With the lack of accurate historical plans I switched directions with Derfflinger I've decide to to reflagg it as a VOC trader. Doing this loosens the rules and simplifies the design, there is no right or wrong as each fluyt built was different modified by the Master ship builder of the time. I only feel the need now to be period correct and not restricted to plans drawn up some 70yrs ago that may or may not be accurate. Here's where my build is at today. Fluyt trivia...fluyt is usually translated as flute, a musical instrument which didn't make much sense to me when referring to a ship. But there is another translation for the dutch fluyt, glassware. The fluyt when seen in cross section has the same big bottom shape as the glassware.