catopower

Though I'm still dancing around the issue of how I want to construct the sails on the kitamaebune, I realized there were other areas I could work on in the meantime, so moved forward in other areas. It seemed to me that the next logical step would be to set up the main stay. Calling it a main stay seems a bit weird, as on a ship of this type, there is only one stay. It took me a while to figure out this is called the Hazuo in Japanese. So, to recap or introduce some of the relevant terms for those who are interested: Hazuo - Stay Ho - Sail Hobashira - Mast Hogeta - Yard Yaho - Fore Sail Yahobashira - Fore Mast Still trying to figure out the terms for some of the details, but these are the main ones regarding the masts and sails. Anyway, dealing with the stay, or hazuo, requires making/rigging four different parts. Here's the section of the instructions that deal with this. Writing about the stay is a bit difficult, as I don't know what I would call these parts in english. Right now, I'm thinking they might be: Stay, stay pendant, stay laniard or tackle, and stay collar. If you have any suggestions for the terms, I'd be happy to hear them. I don't know the Japanese terms for all of these items. They would be pretty specific terms, and the only one I know for sure is the one I mention above for the stay – hazuo. The stay itself is fairly easy. It's just a heavy line with a loop at each end. On it are threaded the baggy wrinkle and string of wooden beads. I presume these beads help keep the stay from vibrating in the wind. To some extent, they probably also prevent chaffing. But, that's what the baggy wrinkle at the top end of the stay is for. So, the wooden beads must serve some other purpose. Woody Joe provides some instruction for making the baggy wrinkle, which they refer to as the hozure (ho-zu-ray). Wrapping heavy line around a piece of provided brass wire. the line is glued up with white glue. When the glue is dry, a hobby knife is used to make cuts across the surface of the rope. A piece of sandpaper is then used to fray the surface of the rope. It took me a while to get this looking something close to what I expected the baggy wrinkle to look like. You can see the final result in a later photo of the completed stay. Next are the beads. These come as laser-cut... wheels, that you have to round off. The technique given is to mount them onto a pointed stick and sand down the edges. This actually worked pretty well for me, though it might be possible to use one of those Model Expo Block Busters. For photos, I had to cheat a bit, as I didn't take any "before" photos of the beads, so I stole a couple from my past build of the similar model, the Higaki kaisen... But, the results were about the same in the end. I assembled the stay, but didn't take any photos of it by itself, so here are the photos for all the stay construction. Meanwhile, I also rigged the line that runs across the top deck and is used for securing the sheets of the main sail. And, finally, the stay is rigged... I didn't like the way all the tackle was bunching up around that fore mast, so I shortened the stay by about 1/2" and also shortened the collar by about 1/4". The stay tackle is easily adjusted to make up for the change. I've seen photos, possibly of models, that show the fore mast lashed to the stay. I may do this for additional interesting detail. It should be noted that the fore mast was removable, as was a second larger mast that often appears behind it. But, for that matter, the main mast is removable as well, and is often lowered when the ship is at anchor for a long period of time, lowering the center of gravity of the ship, and making it more stable. Now, the one issue with the stay being rigged, is that this is not the order of the build in the instructions. And, from my experience with my Higaki kaisen build, I know that rigging the main yard might be a little tricky with the stay rigged, as the halliards are fixed into place and can not be adjusted. So, when they are tied to the yard, the yard has to be in place, high up on the mast. That can make tying the ends of the halliards a bit tricky with the stay in the way. However, if worse comes to worse, I can loosen the stay tackle and temporarily remove the stay. Also, the pins that hold the different parts together have not been glued into place. So, they can be removed, if necessary. There are still a few things I can work on before I absolutely have to have the sail ready, but we're getting down to the wire!

Hello Alexandru, Thank you for updating your blog. I'd forgotten all about this lovely project. You've done a beautiful job with the model and you've given me quite a lot to think about here regarding the sails. I have been working on my own model based on a Wood Joe kit. Same basic type of ship, which is generally referred to interchangeably as a bezaisen or sengokubune. I am particularly impressed that you were able to do so well using the Paris drawings, since they don't really explain how the planks fit the structure. A wonderful build. I hope I'll be taking on a similar scratch build in the near future. I will certainly come back here for inspiration.

No real progress to post on the kitamaebune. I'm still struggling with ways to make the sails in a realistic fashion. If I can't make something work well, I can always use the kit provided main sail and leave the forward mast, called the yahobashira, bare poled with just the halliard rigged. But, I'm still hopeful. In the meantime, I thought I'd post this update on a boat that I posted pics for back in February called a Honryousen (hone-reo-sen). The model was commission by Douglas Brooks as a gift for generous donors who helped fund his project in Japan last Fall. The boat was one of two that he and his crew built, in this case under the guidance of Japanese boat builder Mr. Nakaichi Nakagawa. The model was completed and sent to its new owner up in Washington state, after which I received a very nice phone call thanking me for the model. I also was given a photo of the model where it is being proudly display, so I thought I'd share that here. Nice to have some real closure on that project. By the way, I found I have a few good close-up photos of the sails of the Hakusan-maru, which is the kitamaebune replica ship on Sado island. I'm hoping they will help me with my sail development, but they're more likely to complicate things further – a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing...

Hi Chuck, Another thing. I found that with the paper and acrylics in particular, if you brush it too much, it will look splotchy. I had the same problem. If you just brush the plank in one stroke, or minimum of strokes, it will look much more even. When painting the cargo deck, that's really hard to do after it's installed, which is why I don't like the look of mine. Good thing it's all pretty well hidden inside. After that, I was more careful with the painting and always painted in the direction of the imagined wood grain. I'm happier with the results now.

Hi Tony, I've only had to use CA to stiffen the cardboard in a couple places on this model. So, I haven't had to worry about CA glue economy. On this model, my main cement has actually been contact cement. Which works fine of the CA'd parts. For my HMS Alert model that I built several years ago, I used wood glue for much of it. I'm no paper model expert, so I can't say which one is absolutely best. But, I've been having good luck using the contact cement so far. You just need it fresh, so it's doesn't get stringy. Plus, rather than using the brush that's attached to the lid, in most cases I just use a thin scrap of wood as an applicator. Chuck, I've been sidetracked trying to get some other work done for the past couple weeks, but I think I'll get back to it this weekend. On applying the color mix, the number of coats I used depended on how much I thinned the paint, and if I was happy with the coloring. Once I was confident with the color mix and technique, I painted the whole sheet of planks at one time. After it dried for 24 hours, I did go over much of it a second time with a thin wash. Also, I chose random planks to either skip or do again, to get a little color variation between some planks. I say, go with whatever looks better. Darker is fine. In fact, one question I've seen asked about the color scheme is "shouldn't it be darker?"

Marc, congratulations on the completion of your first wooden ship model! She looks great, you should be proud. you did a nice job tying those ratlines. How did you enjoy that part? I like this Woody Joe kit – I have one started, waiting for me to get back to it. A lot of nice deck details and such. Well done!

Actually, I think the default language may be english, as I've never seen the site in another language. And, there is a currency selector now, so you can see the prices in dollars or euros, etc. Personally, I like seeing the prices in yen, so I can feel that much better when I convert the cost into dollars. Yeah, Amazon. When I first found Woody Joe kits, Amazon sellers were trying to charge 3 times the cost of the kits because they felt they could get away with it. I contact Woody Joe to help find a seller in Japan, which is how I found Zootoyz. Took a while for the Amazon sellers to adjust downwards, but they eventually did. Prices aren't as bad as they used to be, but Morikawa-san at Zootoyz is a simple family man who runs the shop and provides fair prices and very good service. He is VERY conscientious about it!

How about a super tiny paint-by-numbers frieze?

Welcome James, and good choice on the kit!

Chuck, I don't see this happening any time soon. Issues with non-english instructions and also Ages of Sail being a distributor/dealer and Woody Joe being a Japanese company whose operation doesn't fit with distributor operations. A bit like why Ages of Sail probably can't sell Vanguard Models kits or Syren Ship Model Company stuff. But, zootoyz.jp offers great service and very fast shipping. So, I think they're the best way to go anyway. Thanks for the kind words Captain Hook. I'll do my best. It's a bit tough trying to make them with special detail. It would be easiest to simply sew the seams on the kit provided sail. But, then I the bow sail would look a little out of place as it wouldn't match the main sail, unless I just have the bow mast, which no sail attached. I did sew all the seams, but now have to simulate the separation of the four main sail panels. I'm hoping it will look natural. If not, then I have to scrap the sail and come up with a different plan.

Nice progress on your model. The planking looks great!

Thanks Chuck. I think it will look pretty decent in the end, even though I can see various flaws while I'm building it. I agree the instructions aren't the clearest. When you get to the adding of those ribs, and probably in many other places, it's kind of a guessing game as to what's going on. It makes sense when you're done with a step. But, when you get to something new, sometimes you've got to stare at it and look over the parts for a while until it becomes clear how things are supposed to go. My one piece of advice is to stick closely to the laying of those planks. Overlap up to the line marking where the next plank goes, but don't cross it. Also, keep in mind that the planks at the stern will eventually be level with the stern post. Well, at least on mine I guess. On the Wonder Dog, it's probably the same, but I don't know that for sure. Good luck with it though!

So, I ended up adding the ribs, which was a change from all the planking. It was hard to keep track of them as they are all different. I had it all worked out, but try as I might, I managed to lose track at one point, so I just had to figure out where I went wrong and do the best I could. The ribs are each numbered, but number is engraved on the part itself. It's so tiny that someone looking at the model would NEVER see it. Unfortunately, that also made it really difficult to tell which number rib I was looking at, even when wearing magnifying lenses. But, they are in order on the sheet, so I just went down the line and, near the end, found that I was off somewhere. I don't think it's a big deal. I ended up fashioning a pair of the pieces from scrap card stock. It's too soft to cut easily, even with a scalpel blade, so I hit the paper with a shot of thin CA, which made it stiff as plastic. Then, I could shape the part fairly easily. The only difficulty was the small size of the part. But, I managed. Now, the one thing about models where parts are all pre-engineered and pre-cut is that at some point, you find out how far you were off in the laying down of those planks. Because it's a clinker hull, the ribs are shaped to fit, like a shallow saw tooth, against each plank. Clearly, after all the planks have been laid down, I'm off by a couple millimeters, as the shape of the ribs doesn't quite match the lay of the planks. Again, I don't think it's a big deal, as you can't really see any of this at this scale once the planks are all in place. Still, it's a little disconcerting when you get to this step. You just have to ignore the need for perfection. This isn't a feature of just these card models. I've found this is also true on some of the Woody Joe kits of traditional Japanese boats, in which all the parts are laser cut. If you don't build it precisely as intended, you end up with little imperfections. And, it's nearly impossible to build a kit like this without having little imperfections. It's just the nature of the kit.

Over there, they're saying "some countries use decimal points instead of commas. And I have no idea why." Chuck, I know what you mean. Yes, mine had the commas too – I eventually just adapted. But, I of course first read a ratio of 6:0??? Followed by a 25:0 and a then a 5!

Chuck, check the ratios again. They're really weird the way they are written. My instruction book actually says 6 : 0.25 : 0.5. I've never seen rations written with numbers less than 1 like that. In the first place, it's really hard to read, and even harder to measure "6:0.25:0.5". So, I "Normallized" it by multiplying everything by 4. So, now it's 24:1:2 Same ratios, but easier to work with.

Thanks James. Captain Hook, thanks for the comments, but those aren't my sails – I have yet to make mine! Tim, send me a photo and I can tell you if I had similar problems there. Not having the instructions anymore, I don't know what section 24 is Edit: Tim, I just looked at my own build log and there's a photo of step 24! So, I know what you're talking about. Yes, I had some issues there too. I have the lower hull painted black, so some issues are pretty well hidden. Also, I found that because the ship has a chine hull, imperfections in the seams between planks are not so noticeable as well. A strip of wood behind any gaps is the most useful thing to do, as it will keep any stray light from shining out through the cracks. I had to do this in many places, and now I'd even forgotten that those gaps exist. This would be a bigger issue on a hull that's round with fair curves. This ship has a lot of stuff sticking out.

Hi Tim, Actually, I managed to get some scans of the last few pages. That was all I needed. Turns out at this point it's pretty much identical to the Higaki Kaisen instructions. But, thanks for the offer! How is your build coming along? It's nice to know that others are building this and the Higaki Kaisen kit. Hi Druxey, Unfortunately, at 1/72 scale, I can't do a whole lot of detailing to the sails. I can only simulate the overall appearance. I'm going to have to model a smaller craft that has significant sails so I can really show the details of the Japanese sails. Probably be a subject in 1/20 or 1/10 scale, but it's not at the top of the "Next Projects" list. Ekis, cog, Thanks for the nice comments. I'm nearing completion. I already have the main yard ready to go. Just have to make the small one for the bow sail. Then, I just have to decide on how I want to make the sails. Right now, I'm thinking I might just sew most of the seams, but the sail panels are grouped into four sections, and these sections appear to have more noticeable lacing between them, particularly the seam at the center of the sail. Found a photo I took of a model – I think it was at the Sea Folk Museum in Toba. This model was built at 1/30 scale I believe. Maybe it was even 1/20. I don't recall, and unfortunately I can't find a photo of the whole information card at its base. But, you can see in the last photo that each sail panel is folded over, so the modeler could successfully tie the panels together. Then, you can see the lacing between the groups of panels. Also, most models of Kitamaebune show black sections on the sail, usually in the form of rectangles. These markings identify the ship owner. I found some examples recorded somewhere. I'll try to incorporate this on my model. Higaki Kaisen belong to the Higaki trade guild, so you don't see the sail markings on them. They're identified by the diamond shaped lattice work on their bulwarks. Off to meditate on the sails...

Managed to misplace the instruction booklet for this Woody Joe kit. Fortunately, at this stage, the model is nearly identical to the Higaki Kaisen kit, which I've built before and still have the instructions for. I haven't needed to deal with the sails yet, but I have been studying some photos I took of museum models to get some ideas. I went ahead and added the main mast and worked out a way to fit the small bow mast. The main mast, I had built months ago, so it's been ready to mount for some time. For the bow mast, I fashioned that out of some of my hinoki supply and fit it into place. I placed it just forward of the foreward most beam at the bow, which allowed me to lash the mast to it for strength. I added a very simple rectangular piece of wood for the mast step, and fit a piece of brass rod into the base of the mast to help secure it to the deck. I also added some lines to chocks I made for the tenmase, the small boat I placed on the foredeck. I forgot to mention that I added a pair of small eyebolts on either side of the bow and made a piece of red and white rope that's used to hold the sagari (the tasssle hanging from the stem) from swinging about. I used white line that I'm told is cotton, but I'd swear it was linen line. Anyway, I used some red gouache paint on one length of line. It gave me the brightest looking color for the rope that I've been able to get. I then twisted this and a piece of white line to make the final red and white rope. This worked well enough, but had to be careful with the gouache, as it stays water soluble even after it dries. I'll be spraying the whole model with some matte laquer, so this will hopefully stabilize the paint in the rope. I also got out the mini drill press and drilled holes to add bars to the windlass barrels. These would actually have been wood, but it seemed to be a lot simpler to use some wire I have on hand. They look pretty good here, but I'm sure these wouldn't have been iron, so I'm going to mix some paint to try to match the rest of the wood and paint these. Securing the main mast was easy enough. There is a pretty simple lashing that makes several turns around the whole assembly. I'd seen one photo that had this nice crossing of the rope behind the mast, so I thought I'd work that in. Looks a lot less plain this way. Finally, here's the tenmasen up close, now secured to the deck, with excess line trimmed off. Next, it'll be time to make the sail. Haven't decided how I want to do it, but I have some ideas. We'll see which one wins out.

Just my 2 cents, but I think you'll actually have an easier time, and a better looking model, if you just remake the boom and gaff. Probably didn't take you all that long to do, and you can clearly do a good job with those. Resewing the sail will possibly leave you with something that stands out on the model.

I know this doesn't really help you, but In the old days, they just gave us a big hunk of balsa, and the instructions "now, carve the block to the shape of the stern". That said, you do have the shape of the deck and the side profile from the drawing. It's all covered up by planking, so you don't have to worry about how good it looks. It just has to be functional.

Problem is going to be that this kit is out of production. Even Expo, which does not appear to sell AL kits can't provide parts that don't exist. The missing parts should be laser-cut parts, and if you have the sheet they came from, then you have a pretty solid outline of the parts and can simply reproduce them. That's the beauty of working in wood.

Hi Chuck, I think I can get by with simply covering those ends over. There is actually a piece that's supposed to cover the ends, and that, in turn, will be underneath the stern castle structure, so I don't think it will be a problem. But, when it comes to it, who knows? I may just trim those ends off anyway. On the nails, I actually painted mine a dark gray, adding a bit of 3 to the 30. But, Druxey had a good idea about using a Pigma marker pen. I've already committed to painting and didn't want to change horses mid-stream. Should work and might make a quick job of the nail heads.

Finished up with those nails and they look okay. Not perfect – I have to work on technique there. But, they'll do. Adding a rope around the sagari, the tassle hanging from the tip of the stem. I wanted this to be a bit decorative, so I found some white linen line and used gouache to color it. So far, this has produced the brightest colors. Main problem right now is that I seemed to have misplace the kit instructions! Not a total loss, as I've built the Higaki Kaisen kit, which is very similar, and I'm at the stage were I'm basically going to rig the mast and sail. That part is pretty much identical to the Higaki Kaisen kit. Also, I have the instructions for that kit, should I need to reference something. Not sure how I'm going to handle the sail. I'd like to add a bow sail – don't know what the Japanese term is for this. Probably an omote no ho, which is the equivalent of "face" or "bow" sail. Have to figure out how to mount that one. Also, I want the bow sail and the main sail to match in terms of material and construction. Since I'm going to have to scratch build the bow sail, I think I'm going to have to do the same with the main sail. Luckily, I just had some sail sewing practice for two other projects, so I'm fairly ready for this one. Only question is how detailed and accurate I'm going to make these sails. The real sails are make up of some 18 narrow vertical panels that are laced together. Several panels make up a group that is more loosely laced to the next group. A total of maybe 4 groups then make up the main sail. This lacing will open up the gap between the panels, spilling air when the wind gusts, making them effectively self reefing. Not sure if I can really reproduce this appearance at this scale. But, I need to try. I found a couple photos that help to illustrated what I mean about the way Japanese sails are made. These were posted last year by member marcjp in Bob Riddoch's Higaki Kaisen build log, but they really help out here. If you look closely, you can see how the vertical panels are separate pieces that are laced together. Note the division of panels at the base of the mast. Anyway, this is what I'm starting to work on now, making sails that reflect or simulate these details. The sails provided in the kit are actually very good, and they have a printed pattern that gives them a bit of this effect. In fact, someone was amazed when they saw the sails on my Higaki Kaisen model, thinking I had sewn them. So, they must look pretty convincing on their own. Clare

Hello Johnny007, I think you picked a great kit for a first build and like the way you approached it. You are clearly doing a fine job with it and it's coming along well, very quickly. For marking the waterline, there are fancy tools available, but all you really need is a book or books or blocks high enough to rest a pencil on top. The beauty of this is that the pencil won't wander up and down as you're drawing the line. Looking forward to following the rest of your progress. Clare

Finished up the painting of the sail. Was a nice break from planking – I understood what I was doing, for the most part! I have a slight issue showing up with the hull planking – the plank ends at the stern shouldn't be overlapping the sternpost like this. Looking ahead in the instructions, it doesn't like like this should cause any problems, but seeing this as your building the model is a little troubling. Meanwhile, planking the hull continues. As you have seen, I'm high up enough on the hull that the inboard side of the planks are becoming exposed, so they have to painted prior to installation. Note that the stem (and hence the bow) is on the right. So, the planking continues and I'm now preparing the deck for installation.