Oboship

Thanks for sharing the first impressions of Grecian! That model will be even slightly longer than Cruiser and Jalouse!

It will be an interesting build of an impressive schooner. As the Indy for me is regretfully out of the question (not enough space to build/display and most likely beyond my skills 😒...), I am very curious to see the prototype (and price idea) when available.

Grecian is surely an option for me to get another VM kit!

Best regards

Uwe

Hi Nils,

This is truely a beauty!

Regretfully, I started to follow your build log only at a rather advanced state of the build, but of course I read the previous posts as well.

I used to work very close to Hamburg Ueberseebruecke ("Vorsetzen") and I saw "Elbe 5" every now and then on the river, particularly when the annual "Port Anniversary" was due.

I think that you created a very nice rendition of the beautiful original! It is a model you can be proud of!

Best regards from Stade, and who knows, maybe we will meet sometime at the Maritime Museum in Hafen City...

Uwe

Monkey???🤨

A solid understatement in my opinion!

Kevin,

This is an amazing build! To see the frames, girders, bulkheads etc. come into place, is like the real thing. Great job!

On second thoughts, considering the complexity of the kit I wonder how much work must have gone into the design of the individual cardboard sheets in the first place...

Uwe

This build will be another Chris W / James H masterpiece!

"...so looks very rough as usual" 👀

You call this rough??

Best regards
Uwe

Getting bored??

To me this is one of the most interesting build logs ever! I admire your patience and quality of your work, plus the fact that you take the time to take all these pictures and show them here.

As for familiarity I can confirm what Andy said because I saw a lot of ships in drydock undergoing maintenance or repairs.

Take care!

Uwe

Looks very much like the real thing!

The construction of the corrugated bulkhead is also very interesting. Great build!

As for the colours I found cargo holds (incl. bulkheads) on General Cargo Ships painted in medium grey, and frames etc. in double bottom tanks were / are painted red (shop primer). Tank tops (which are the bottom of a cargo hold) were also usually grey but the paint would vanish after a while due to chafing, so tank tops appear(ed) rather in dark metal. On modern container ships the holds are entirely in light grey.
Decks are painted red, green or grey, sometimes even black.

Best regards
Uwe

Are you saying the frames are not glued in yet and that you will have to repeat the same process all over again??

I very much envy your patience and skills!

Best regrads

Uwe

Kevin,

What an interesting build log this is!

When I started my seafaring career in the early 1970's the SD14 ships could be seen from time to time, particularly in West African and smaller Asian ports where container ships and the big container bridges were still beyond the horizon at the time. In the mid-eighties I started to work "ashore" and for a while I worked in a private surveying company. During that period I had to conduct a loading / lashing survey on an SD14 in Rotterdam. So, I actually set foot aboard one of those!
As you mentioned in your first post, the vessels were not too expensive, and depending on the owners' budgets some of the ships were rather sparsely equipped in terms of cargo gear etc. and hence were eyed a bit sceptically by folks sailing on more advanced ships. Still, the SD14s did their jobs satisfactorily.

It is now very pleasant to see your dry and clean double bottom tanks develop ☺️; I had my share in tank inspections while I sailed on tankers and bulk carriers...
By the way, I was not aware of card board models this size and that alone is interesting! I will curiously be following this log and your superb work (not only on the tanks, of course)!

Best regards

Uwe

I fully understand your reasons. That's what I had meant in my post before it was re-edited. Maybe my wording was a bit too straight-forward, though...

3 hours ago, chris watton said:

On a separate note, my first parcels to Krick are being shipped to them this week and next.

 

For customers in the EU, I cannot send any order below the equivalent of 150 Euro using UPS.

 

This is because I am required to have an IOSS Number. Now, I did apply for this, and paid the non refundable application fee. However, it is not until you have paid this fee and proceed with the application that you learn you have to submit all of your bank details to a holding company based in Eastern Europe. You then have to trust this holding company to take out the £50 per month membership fee, plus all other fees relating to VAT and other charges.

 

Call me Mr. Cynical, but I did not trust these people with all of my account details, and allowing them access to my account for the sake of the odd order under this amount. It is very rare I have orders for less than this and the customer wants it shipped UPS. So I have to send standard post for all EU orders under this amount until our government make the rules a lot clearer. Anything over the 150 Euro threshold is fine, though.

 

This is one big reason I wanted a distributor within the EU..

Hi Chris,

In December I had ordered the Nisha kit and your invoice stated a total amount of GBP 206.00 incl. sails and a lumpsum shipping fee of GBP 29.00.

For this beautiful kit the amount is perfectly ok to me! My credit card was then charged with €246,32 as per daily exchange rate; still fine by me.

Just before the kit arrived I received an SMS from UPS advising on the delivery day and that additional fees would be charged. When I received the parcel I was presented an invoice (issued by UPS, on behalf of the government) which showed an amount of €48,82 (!) in import dues incl. and excl. vat etc., etc. Presumably some fuel surcharge was also added.

This is a rather new way of processing shipments since in the past I had ordered kits directly from Caldercraft, Cornwall Model Boats and -of course-from Vanguard without having been charged these additional costs.
Having said this, it will be interesting for us EU modellers to see the prices the mentioned EU distributor 😉 will come up with...  I for one would prefer to order directly in the UK and let you guys have the turnover and the profit directly (and if I could avoid the additional charges would be even better).

Take care!

Uwe

REMOVED POLITICAL CONTENT - ADMIN

Oh yeah! I know that fine wooden smell from my other two VM kits!

My Nisha kit is with the Customs waiting for clearance... (Can't wait to open the box)

Uwe

Just ordered Nisha!

My wife has "mildly" encouraged me after she saw the model on Chris' website ("That's a sweet ship! Why don't you order one -now?")

I'm looking forward to receiving the kit...

Uwe

Mine would certainly float -for a while. 🤿

Not because it just looks like a ship but merely because it is made of wood... (Watertight integrity? Stability? Constructional buoyancy?) 🙏

Thanks for sharing!

I've never done a card model yet (although I have a small tug boat lying around in the attic which is to be built one day). The models are amazingly detailed and one would not believe that the material is card instead of wood or plastic.

It is a very interesting gallery, indeed. Would be interesting to know if the sheets of the models -or some of them- could be purchased somewhere.

Maybe I should take a closer look at my tug and not only to Alert...

Take care!
Uwe

Today I completed the Jalouse after a build time of quite exactly two years. However, since there were many interruptions the net build time would sum up to approximately 18-20 months.
Caldercraft rates this model as of intermediate level "resulting in an excellent second or third model".  I agree to the intermediate level but the statement as for the "second model" is rather ambitious in my opinion. Anway, it was fun to build the Jalouse and I really enjoyed the detailed drawings.
I took the pictures with my new camera, a Panasonic Lumix which has a tremendous zoom capability. And no, my work bench doesn't look always as tidy as on the pics.
After Jalouse I will concentrate on VM's Alert and I'm looking already forward to the modern construction method...

Take care
Uwe

The window in the attic gives a nice lighting

Bow and anchors: the forward anhor lashings had to go through the gunport because the commanding Officer (i.e. I) refused to secure the anchor to a belaying pin as was indicated on the drawing!

22 minutes ago, chris watton said:

I think what I shall do is continue doing what I do. I know I will never please everyone (and the loudest critics are usually the ones who would never buy your product anyway), but I like to think I know enough as to what  most would like to see in a kit, I just think of what I would like to see in a kit that I paid my own hard earned on.

 

I will source flags at some point, but right now, I want to concentrate on new kits, this is where my investment money is going.

 

 

Very well put, Chris!

Uwe

Simply beautiful, James and Chris!

Uwe

11 hours ago, druxey said:

Whew! At last the definitive account. I appreciate your consideration of my input, Waldemar.

I can only line up after druxey! Congratulations on the (probably) final version, I'm glad I could be of assistance!

All the best
Uwe

I still would opt for "burst". "Zersprängen" or "gesprängen" as you have it in your transcript would have to me the same meaning. The first would be the verb (zerspringen), while the latter would be a grammatical tense (gesprungen). Anyway, ..."sprängen" does not give me any hint to "distribute". Besides, in today's German we have the word "sprengen" which means a contolled and deliberate explosion (e.g. if an old chimney or another building has to be destroyed on purpose). I will not go any deeper now as we have also "springen" which is to jump or to hop.......

I know, this is a "bursting" language...🙂

Cheers
Uwe

Hi Waldemar,

Coming back to your last transcript: be careful to use the word scheist, this is the equivalent to the English sh*** 🤫  Schiest or schießt would be correct.

Apart from this I'm a bit confused now over the transscript. "Zersprängen" would seem to me rather something like to burst (explode?; see as well the word "gesprängen") and "Arhnahe" doesn't make sense to me at all.

"Schlatedt Zwey" -I have no idea; "Mehr Weib" could also be "Mermaid".

Just a few thoughts...

Take care
Uwe

Hi Waldemar,

"seindt" could mean "sind" = are
"zue besagen" might as well mean to provide (besorgen, versorgen). If we look at your last transcription and your interpretation of "to be sowed",

this might give another meaning -a bit far fetched, perhaps- but if you sow something you may as well plant something or put something (i.e. guns in this case) in place or provide something...

I tried to look up some ancient German dictionaries or translations, but except for "bedarff" I did not find anything suitable in the internet. Therefore the thought occured if the original script really is German or rather Dutch, as both languages have similarities. But then, I'm no linguist and can only guess.

Are you researching the Dutch-English wars?

Cheers
Uwe

What a detailed, superb manual!

Best regards
Uwe

Thank you, Waldemar!

Your re-arranged text sounds good and seems plausible to me. The adjusted wording is of course easier to read now.

Best regards
Uwe