catopower

I agree with Nils wholeheartedly – A beautifully built model!

Clare

Thanks Jesse.

Thanks for the nice comments.

Laser-cut parts make up a bit for craftsmanship. But, in this particular case, it did take a lot of work to fit the deck boards into place as they're all different sizes and they are purposely cut oversized, allowing for variation in builds and giving the builder a chance to sand them for an exact fit.

Clare

Hi Milo, wish I could take credit. But, it's more like great laser-cut parts!

Clare

Hello SOS,

that's exactly what it is!

It's kind of covering up the pivot mount in this photo. You can see it on the pivot in one of the other photos, IMG 2084, I think:

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/gallery/image/13043-img-2084/

Clare

TonyM,

So, this was your model at the NRG conference I saw last week? Very nicely done!

I love the action on deck. But, even more so, I love the details you put in, which are so vague in available drawings of these gunboats.

Clare

Nicely done, TonyM!

I've been considering scratchbuilding a model of a similar ship, the USS Fenimore Cooper, which operated in the San Francisco and also Japan in the late 1850s.

Interesting to see such a small US Navy ship.

Clare

Thanks MikeB4.

Thanks SimonV, JesseLee. It was a fun build.

Thank you Frank, Bobstrake.

Thanks Mark. It's a great kit.

Clare

Thank you Nils. I don't feel I can take too much credit – The kit was built almost straight out of the box.

The only modifications/additions I made: I used some wood dye to darken the overall color, reduced the rudder size to appear closer to the Hacchoro today, sewed along the seams of the sail, and made the decorative tassel hanging from the bow.

Clare

Blackie, I absolutely love the lines of this ship! 

You have done a tremendous job. You are truly a skilled modeler and I am in awe.

Clare

Thanks for the nice comments Nils, Wacko.

Clare

Thank you Nils. The wood is a Japanese Cypress called Hinoki. It's used in making cutting boards and traditional Japanese bath tubs. I believe it is because of its natural anti-fungal properties. It has a very strong, pleasant aroma that makes it a double joy to work with. It's very light, but stiff and brittle except when dampened, and then it becomes easy to bend. All the Woody Joe kits are at least partially made from Hinoki.

The wood's color is a creamy white, like basswood. I used a wood dye mixture to darken it like you see.

Clare

That's beautiful Jack!

You know, I had this kit a long time ago and it didn't come out looking ANYTHING like yours does. Thanks for showing us how it's done! 

Clare

Thank you Jesse!

I love the lines of topsail schooners too, especially when their sails up.

It may be scratch built, but I based it off of the plans which were originally sold by the kit's designer Jim Roberts. The revised kit is still available, but now sold through The Lumberyard for Model Shipwrights if you're interested.

Clare

Thanks again Jesse. A belated thank you too, Wishmaster – I'm sorry I didn't see your comment before.

I feel a little funny getting attention for some of these Woody Joe kits. They are very well engineered and I feel like I didn't do a whole lot more than put them together.

If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to check out Bob Riddoch's in-progress build here.

Clare

Thanks Don and Jesse for the kind words.

Glad I could stir up some kind of interest!

Clare

Hi Joe,

Of the Prince de Neufchâtel Model Shipways builds I've seen. I think yours is my favorite. I love your paint scheme and the overall use of color. Rigging looks great, masts and spars proportions look really good, and a very nice coppering job. Well done.

I have the remains of a kit in my closet, and your build is inspiring me to take another look at it.

Clare

Hi Jiljilia,

Thanks for the nice comments.

I haven't seen the other traditional Japanese ship kits by Woody Joe, but this probably is the most detailed one. The smaller size of this kit (the others are 1/30 to 1/50 scale) and the heavy use of laser cut parts makes for a lot of details that look fairly intricate.

You can't see it very well in any of these photos, but the main cabin interior has a couple rooms and a main room with shelves, capstans, sheave bits, and such.

Some parts, however, are extremely delicate like the lattice work on the hull exterior.

Clare

Thanks Tarbrush. 

You know, I wish I could take more credit for the model, but overall, I'd say it's a pretty amazingly well engineered kit. There are some issues to contend with given all the pre-fab parts, for instance the alignment of parts becomes a lot more critical when you're not cutting the parts to fit. So if you misalign an assembly, you're going to end up with a gap or something not fitting correctly later.

Overall, it's a lot more like building a plastic model than a traditional ship model. Was a LOT of fun to do, and of course I had to borrow and watch a copy of the 80's TV mini-series SHOGUN, which has a really nicely done replica row galley in it that is similar to this ship in many ways.

Clare

Thank you Nils.

Bob, I'm glad you got the kit. I'm jealous that you got to go to Japan though... Do you read any Japanese? If you can read しません and しない then you should be able to catch the red printed text that tells you not to glue something. Please feel free to contact me with any questions. I got enough help that I owe the ship modeling Kami, and am happy to do my part!

I'm working on an SIS article now, but I don't expect it will be out until the Fall at the earliest. If you want to read a little about my own experiences, I do have a personal blog you can read: Clare's Higaki Kaisen Blog. It's not a full on build log, but I do mention a few things about the kit and the build.

I'll post something more on MSW after I figure out the best way to do it.

Clare

Hello S.os, thank you for the comments. Because I didn't do a build log on this ship, I'm not sure where to put a more complete write up. Let me see what I can do.

For now, you can read a little more about it on my own blog site: Clare's Higaki Kaisen

Michael,

Lateen sailboat "sculpture" is right. What a beautiful model...

Clare