Jean-Pierre

I am currently working on the masts.  Not a small job anyway, as I found it difficult to align them properly.  And as I am not a dedicated user of sophisticated machinery, I brought all masts to the right shape with a Stanley cutter blade and abrasive paper: and I dare say they look fine, and sufficiently well aligned.  But before I glue the 4 masts on the deck, I did some changes and "improvements" to the deck.  First I followed the advice of Marcus, and removed one of the water pumps.  Then I glued the anchor cables.  I had also made 6 winch bars and mounted 3 of them each side, in the only place still available.  Then I had an aesthetic problem with the various pin rails.  Some had "shouldered" feet, and others didn't but looked too high (see pics above).  The shouldered rail at the mizzen mast received the straight feet of the ones behind the bow, and these, like the ones at the main mast, were shortened by 0,5cm.  The pin rail near the bow got shoulders, as most of the lines attached to it would go to the bowsprit.
 
By the way, you can see on one of the following pics a few woodworm holes.  These were all made in a couple of hours, an some extensive insect spraying seems to have killed the poor little beasts.

I am currently working on the masts.  Not a small job anyway, as I found it difficult to align them properly.  And as I am not a dedicated user of sophisticated machinery, I brought all masts to the right shape with a Stanley cutter blade and abrasive paper: and I dare say they look fine, and sufficiently well aligned.  But before I glue the 4 masts on the deck, I did some changes and "improvements" to the deck.  First I followed the advice of Marcus, and removed one of the water pumps.  Then I glued the anchor cables.  I had also made 6 winch bars and mounted 3 of them each side, in the only place still available.  Then I had an aesthetic problem with the various pin rails.  Some had "shouldered" feet, and others didn't but looked too high (see pics above).  The shouldered rail at the mizzen mast received the straight feet of the ones behind the bow, and these, like the ones at the main mast, were shortened by 0,5cm.  The pin rail near the bow got shoulders, as most of the lines attached to it would go to the bowsprit.
 
By the way, you can see on one of the following pics a few woodworm holes.  These were all made in a couple of hours, an some extensive insect spraying seems to have killed the poor little beasts.

I am currently working on the masts.  Not a small job anyway, as I found it difficult to align them properly.  And as I am not a dedicated user of sophisticated machinery, I brought all masts to the right shape with a Stanley cutter blade and abrasive paper: and I dare say they look fine, and sufficiently well aligned.  But before I glue the 4 masts on the deck, I did some changes and "improvements" to the deck.  First I followed the advice of Marcus, and removed one of the water pumps.  Then I glued the anchor cables.  I had also made 6 winch bars and mounted 3 of them each side, in the only place still available.  Then I had an aesthetic problem with the various pin rails.  Some had "shouldered" feet, and others didn't but looked too high (see pics above).  The shouldered rail at the mizzen mast received the straight feet of the ones behind the bow, and these, like the ones at the main mast, were shortened by 0,5cm.  The pin rail near the bow got shoulders, as most of the lines attached to it would go to the bowsprit.
 
By the way, you can see on one of the following pics a few woodworm holes.  These were all made in a couple of hours, an some extensive insect spraying seems to have killed the poor little beasts.

Quite a few things have been done, and this log was quite difficult to find.   I had to face a number of problems I had never encountered before.
First I had (have??) wood worms in my deck. I sprayed the whole ship 2 or 3 times  (in- and outside) and look each morning anxiously if i don't notice any new wood dust heaps.  Grrr...
Then I think I may be happy with my winch.  I had previously made a couple of attempts you can see on one of the following pictures: One with a round drum, which i felt i would never succeed to make octogonal and then another attempt was made based on the kit parts, but that soon proved unfitted.  I finally used a stick of square stock.  The square hole were drilled round and then made square with a suitable nailhead.  But then I made the wrong decision to cover it with a coat of matte varnish (old enamel range by Humbrol) and it all turned white.  I used various ways to get a darker shade with the available materials, but Luckily, part of it will be covered by the anchor rope.
So far with some unexpected problems.
 
On this picture, you will find some of my trials and fails.  First the City of Hoorn coat of arms: my first two examples were either uncentered or just too large.  Then you have, clockwise, the rejected winch drums and flanges.  Then a skylight which I built during my first build seesion, and which I don't remember where to put them. Then, on the left a rather successful attempt at better pumps, next to the kit pump.  Then a roof which iss too large to be placed before the fore mast, and above these, two sets of winch bars, the small ones are way too small, and maybe the larger ones are in fact ... a little too large.
 
I have enlarged the pic to show the fairly ridiculous chains provided in the kit: no way for me to make anything solid with those rings.  But I have noticed that these chains were (on paintings), much shorter than what the kits suggests you to do.  See the end result.
 
I also made the various deck furniture pieces.  I tried to make better staircases but failed.  These are from the kit
 
Questions to 'specialists ':
I wanted my model to have 2 water pumps, 1 each side of the main mast: does that make more sense than just one of them.  Problem: I have already built them both, but let authenticity prevail!
The majority of flutes pictured on the web do not have mast bands!  I want to follow this trend (the easy way?): what do you think.  And in this case, the mast probably was a one piece wood piece, probably pine ? Then there would be numerous wood knots visible, no?
 
Here are some pics of her actual status:
 

Quite a few things have been done, and this log was quite difficult to find.   I had to face a number of problems I had never encountered before.
First I had (have??) wood worms in my deck. I sprayed the whole ship 2 or 3 times  (in- and outside) and look each morning anxiously if i don't notice any new wood dust heaps.  Grrr...
Then I think I may be happy with my winch.  I had previously made a couple of attempts you can see on one of the following pictures: One with a round drum, which i felt i would never succeed to make octogonal and then another attempt was made based on the kit parts, but that soon proved unfitted.  I finally used a stick of square stock.  The square hole were drilled round and then made square with a suitable nailhead.  But then I made the wrong decision to cover it with a coat of matte varnish (old enamel range by Humbrol) and it all turned white.  I used various ways to get a darker shade with the available materials, but Luckily, part of it will be covered by the anchor rope.
So far with some unexpected problems.
 
On this picture, you will find some of my trials and fails.  First the City of Hoorn coat of arms: my first two examples were either uncentered or just too large.  Then you have, clockwise, the rejected winch drums and flanges.  Then a skylight which I built during my first build seesion, and which I don't remember where to put them. Then, on the left a rather successful attempt at better pumps, next to the kit pump.  Then a roof which iss too large to be placed before the fore mast, and above these, two sets of winch bars, the small ones are way too small, and maybe the larger ones are in fact ... a little too large.
 
I have enlarged the pic to show the fairly ridiculous chains provided in the kit: no way for me to make anything solid with those rings.  But I have noticed that these chains were (on paintings), much shorter than what the kits suggests you to do.  See the end result.
 
I also made the various deck furniture pieces.  I tried to make better staircases but failed.  These are from the kit
 
Questions to 'specialists ':
I wanted my model to have 2 water pumps, 1 each side of the main mast: does that make more sense than just one of them.  Problem: I have already built them both, but let authenticity prevail!
The majority of flutes pictured on the web do not have mast bands!  I want to follow this trend (the easy way?): what do you think.  And in this case, the mast probably was a one piece wood piece, probably pine ? Then there would be numerous wood knots visible, no?
 
Here are some pics of her actual status:
 

I did some more work on the winch to hopefully make it look a little more civilized and finally glued it in place.  It is good from far (away), but far from good, I am afraid.  Anyway it is a large improvement on the kit winch.
 

First I am a native French speaker.  But I happen to be lucky and know Dutch quite well, and certainly better than most Franch speaking persons.  I also have worked in the Netherlands, and in Flanders, and have a fair understanding of a number of dialects
 
I was suspected that Poolsterre could have been the word in those days.  I used to have some east Flemish friends, whom I managed to understand (at the cost of some headaches!) and yes, they still use the old word sterre.  
 
Alas, as you may see, I already put the tiny name plate, on which I wrote POOL STER / Hoorn.  I may try and be bold enough to change that.  In the meantime, the last 2 letters ER have been accidentally blurred ( Could have been a night raid by the Great Dutch Grammar Wizard? ).  We'll see and thanks for the research anyway.
 
So here are are some pictures of the ship I took yesterday with my cell phone.  I did not care to have a pristine finish of the waterline, like on real ships of the time.  I also added the anchor cables, which I made in the most rustic way by rolling 3 right twined cables from right to the left.  I wanted to have a right twined cable, like it was in those days, at least for the thicker cables.  I only had them (right twined in too small thicknesses.
 
 

I did some more work on the winch to hopefully make it look a little more civilized and finally glued it in place.  It is good from far (away), but far from good, I am afraid.  Anyway it is a large improvement on the kit winch.
 

Marcus, 
you are a honest modeller but you should learn to cheat a little:  in my opinion it is much easier to use full length planks whenever possible, and afterwards, to indent the joints. Planks will no doubt need some lateral bending on your ship: difficult to get a fluid bend with shot planks with butt joints.  Also if you wet the planks, consider that they may shrink when drying, thus opening some joints.  On my model, I cut all 4 (or 5?) mm wide planks in 2 lengthwise, which gave a still acceptable plank width, and I used an Amati plank bender to give the dry planks their intricate shape. Adding the joints is then a very simple task: the planks will of course fit perfectly.
 
Happy modelling
 
Jean-Pierre

I did some more work on the winch to hopefully make it look a little more civilized and finally glued it in place.  It is good from far (away), but far from good, I am afraid.  Anyway it is a large improvement on the kit winch.
 

I did some more work on the winch to hopefully make it look a little more civilized and finally glued it in place.  It is good from far (away), but far from good, I am afraid.  Anyway it is a large improvement on the kit winch.
 

I did some more work on the winch to hopefully make it look a little more civilized and finally glued it in place.  It is good from far (away), but far from good, I am afraid.  Anyway it is a large improvement on the kit winch.
 

Thank you for your kind comments.
 
Jan, you are right about this kit's winch.  It makes no sense.  It should be said that this kit seems more aimed as a decoration item than as a historic replica and as such, she is beautiful. Still, for me, the model was interesting just because of the possibilities for improvement.
 
About the winch, here are 2 underwater pics of a flute's winch.  Difficult to discern if they were taken backwards from the bow or otherwise.  Anyway, after many clumsy trials with a piece of round dowel, then with the kit pieces, I finally used a square dowel that I made more or less octogonal
I would have made the winch from side to side, but then I would have had problems with the access to the forecastle, PLUS I still want to build a ship's boat and therefore need the winch to be as close as possible to the forecastle to have enough place for it.
 
Another question:  I have seen on various models of Dutch ships a vertical pin rail along the mast, with 2 to 3 pins and a pulley there under.  Should this replace the classic horizontal pin rail before each mast?  See picture from the ship wreck.
 

Thank you for your kind comments.
 
Jan, you are right about this kit's winch.  It makes no sense.  It should be said that this kit seems more aimed as a decoration item than as a historic replica and as such, she is beautiful. Still, for me, the model was interesting just because of the possibilities for improvement.
 
About the winch, here are 2 underwater pics of a flute's winch.  Difficult to discern if they were taken backwards from the bow or otherwise.  Anyway, after many clumsy trials with a piece of round dowel, then with the kit pieces, I finally used a square dowel that I made more or less octogonal
I would have made the winch from side to side, but then I would have had problems with the access to the forecastle, PLUS I still want to build a ship's boat and therefore need the winch to be as close as possible to the forecastle to have enough place for it.
 
Another question:  I have seen on various models of Dutch ships a vertical pin rail along the mast, with 2 to 3 pins and a pulley there under.  Should this replace the classic horizontal pin rail before each mast?  See picture from the ship wreck.
 

Thank you for your kind comments.
 
Jan, you are right about this kit's winch.  It makes no sense.  It should be said that this kit seems more aimed as a decoration item than as a historic replica and as such, she is beautiful. Still, for me, the model was interesting just because of the possibilities for improvement.
 
About the winch, here are 2 underwater pics of a flute's winch.  Difficult to discern if they were taken backwards from the bow or otherwise.  Anyway, after many clumsy trials with a piece of round dowel, then with the kit pieces, I finally used a square dowel that I made more or less octogonal
I would have made the winch from side to side, but then I would have had problems with the access to the forecastle, PLUS I still want to build a ship's boat and therefore need the winch to be as close as possible to the forecastle to have enough place for it.
 
Another question:  I have seen on various models of Dutch ships a vertical pin rail along the mast, with 2 to 3 pins and a pulley there under.  Should this replace the classic horizontal pin rail before each mast?  See picture from the ship wreck.
 

Thank you for your kind comments.
 
Jan, you are right about this kit's winch.  It makes no sense.  It should be said that this kit seems more aimed as a decoration item than as a historic replica and as such, she is beautiful. Still, for me, the model was interesting just because of the possibilities for improvement.
 
About the winch, here are 2 underwater pics of a flute's winch.  Difficult to discern if they were taken backwards from the bow or otherwise.  Anyway, after many clumsy trials with a piece of round dowel, then with the kit pieces, I finally used a square dowel that I made more or less octogonal
I would have made the winch from side to side, but then I would have had problems with the access to the forecastle, PLUS I still want to build a ship's boat and therefore need the winch to be as close as possible to the forecastle to have enough place for it.
 
Another question:  I have seen on various models of Dutch ships a vertical pin rail along the mast, with 2 to 3 pins and a pulley there under.  Should this replace the classic horizontal pin rail before each mast?  See picture from the ship wreck.
 

OK, when I asked about the 17th century spelling of the word STER, I really did not mean to start a political crisis in the Netherlands😷 . I swear!!  But thanks for the feedback anyway.  By the way, I was told that the language (Nederlands) was called Nederdiets in those days, which remembers of its North Deutsch or Platdeutsch origin.
 
So that's settled I guess: I'll try very hard to correct the name plate on the ship into POOLSTERRE.
 
The kit is really an "open source" to the builder's imagination.  Take for instance the fact that you have from many points a view to the inside structure.  Unacceptable, and of course what would remain visible inside should be masked with matt black paint.
 
I am now about to install the deck furniture, starting with the winch.  I include a picture of a winch built straight from the box, with the exception that the builder painted the flanges to cover up the plywood layers.  I also had liked to include a picture of the winch found on a flute wreck, a most simplified example, but I cannot reduce the picture size on this Macbook.  Sorry!
What bothers me on the kit winch are:
-the straight drums with grooves in it.  Why these grooves?  Shouldn't the drum be larger in its middle part? From a few other models, it seems that that the drum should extend from one side of the ship to the other one.  The wreck seemed to have a round drum, not an octogonal one.  Then the ratchet is ridiculously weak in the kit.  But then, I have never seen a winch (other than in this kit), that is supported by an extension backwards: nice, but not correct.  Also, it seems that the winch drum should be much lower to the deck.  Any opinion?
 
The kit picture is from Mr. Onderwater's model.

OK, when I asked about the 17th century spelling of the word STER, I really did not mean to start a political crisis in the Netherlands😷 . I swear!!  But thanks for the feedback anyway.  By the way, I was told that the language (Nederlands) was called Nederdiets in those days, which remembers of its North Deutsch or Platdeutsch origin.
 
So that's settled I guess: I'll try very hard to correct the name plate on the ship into POOLSTERRE.
 
The kit is really an "open source" to the builder's imagination.  Take for instance the fact that you have from many points a view to the inside structure.  Unacceptable, and of course what would remain visible inside should be masked with matt black paint.
 
I am now about to install the deck furniture, starting with the winch.  I include a picture of a winch built straight from the box, with the exception that the builder painted the flanges to cover up the plywood layers.  I also had liked to include a picture of the winch found on a flute wreck, a most simplified example, but I cannot reduce the picture size on this Macbook.  Sorry!
What bothers me on the kit winch are:
-the straight drums with grooves in it.  Why these grooves?  Shouldn't the drum be larger in its middle part? From a few other models, it seems that that the drum should extend from one side of the ship to the other one.  The wreck seemed to have a round drum, not an octogonal one.  Then the ratchet is ridiculously weak in the kit.  But then, I have never seen a winch (other than in this kit), that is supported by an extension backwards: nice, but not correct.  Also, it seems that the winch drum should be much lower to the deck.  Any opinion?
 
The kit picture is from Mr. Onderwater's model.

OK, when I asked about the 17th century spelling of the word STER, I really did not mean to start a political crisis in the Netherlands😷 . I swear!!  But thanks for the feedback anyway.  By the way, I was told that the language (Nederlands) was called Nederdiets in those days, which remembers of its North Deutsch or Platdeutsch origin.
 
So that's settled I guess: I'll try very hard to correct the name plate on the ship into POOLSTERRE.
 
The kit is really an "open source" to the builder's imagination.  Take for instance the fact that you have from many points a view to the inside structure.  Unacceptable, and of course what would remain visible inside should be masked with matt black paint.
 
I am now about to install the deck furniture, starting with the winch.  I include a picture of a winch built straight from the box, with the exception that the builder painted the flanges to cover up the plywood layers.  I also had liked to include a picture of the winch found on a flute wreck, a most simplified example, but I cannot reduce the picture size on this Macbook.  Sorry!
What bothers me on the kit winch are:
-the straight drums with grooves in it.  Why these grooves?  Shouldn't the drum be larger in its middle part? From a few other models, it seems that that the drum should extend from one side of the ship to the other one.  The wreck seemed to have a round drum, not an octogonal one.  Then the ratchet is ridiculously weak in the kit.  But then, I have never seen a winch (other than in this kit), that is supported by an extension backwards: nice, but not correct.  Also, it seems that the winch drum should be much lower to the deck.  Any opinion?
 
The kit picture is from Mr. Onderwater's model.

First I am a native French speaker.  But I happen to be lucky and know Dutch quite well, and certainly better than most Franch speaking persons.  I also have worked in the Netherlands, and in Flanders, and have a fair understanding of a number of dialects
 
I was suspected that Poolsterre could have been the word in those days.  I used to have some east Flemish friends, whom I managed to understand (at the cost of some headaches!) and yes, they still use the old word sterre.  
 
Alas, as you may see, I already put the tiny name plate, on which I wrote POOL STER / Hoorn.  I may try and be bold enough to change that.  In the meantime, the last 2 letters ER have been accidentally blurred ( Could have been a night raid by the Great Dutch Grammar Wizard? ).  We'll see and thanks for the research anyway.
 
So here are are some pictures of the ship I took yesterday with my cell phone.  I did not care to have a pristine finish of the waterline, like on real ships of the time.  I also added the anchor cables, which I made in the most rustic way by rolling 3 right twined cables from right to the left.  I wanted to have a right twined cable, like it was in those days, at least for the thicker cables.  I only had them (right twined in too small thicknesses.
 
 

First I am a native French speaker.  But I happen to be lucky and know Dutch quite well, and certainly better than most Franch speaking persons.  I also have worked in the Netherlands, and in Flanders, and have a fair understanding of a number of dialects
 
I was suspected that Poolsterre could have been the word in those days.  I used to have some east Flemish friends, whom I managed to understand (at the cost of some headaches!) and yes, they still use the old word sterre.  
 
Alas, as you may see, I already put the tiny name plate, on which I wrote POOL STER / Hoorn.  I may try and be bold enough to change that.  In the meantime, the last 2 letters ER have been accidentally blurred ( Could have been a night raid by the Great Dutch Grammar Wizard? ).  We'll see and thanks for the research anyway.
 
So here are are some pictures of the ship I took yesterday with my cell phone.  I did not care to have a pristine finish of the waterline, like on real ships of the time.  I also added the anchor cables, which I made in the most rustic way by rolling 3 right twined cables from right to the left.  I wanted to have a right twined cable, like it was in those days, at least for the thicker cables.  I only had them (right twined in too small thicknesses.
 
 

... and some more.  Next (stupid??) thing will be to attach the rudder.  The kit includes material for 3 hinges (as on the original model in Rotterdam).  Yet I am inclined to think that there usually were 5 (or even 6) of them).  Then on my self made rudder (I did not like the shape and the profile) of the kit rudder) I reduced the cutouts for the hinges, which I had made way too large).  The hinges themselves were made of some copper strips onto which I glued a layer of aluminium tape with embossed fake nails.  The pins I glued to the hinges, having failed to solder them😚.  I fear this will be a weak point of the model, but let's cross our fingers.
 
Then came the time to paint the lower hull.  I did not find a "clean" way to achieve the blurred waterline like on the paintings, but I managed rather easily to reproduced the soft slope for and aft of it.  The result is a sparkling white lower hull which, if I have the guts, I will tone down at a later stage.
 
Then came the fun part of this kit (and of any other period ship): the decoration.  Now please bear in mind that this is a kit that dates , at least, from the early 1970's.  when a close ressemblance to the original was less important than details that would impress a newbie.  This explains the never seen before hinges on panels and gun ports, and also the strange stairs that run over the rear decks.  These are spectacular enough, but are better forgotten I am afraid.  Also the decoration of the kit is really rude, probably due to multiple re-use of the molds.  Main figure on the rear is what looks like Adam and Eve walking hand in hand.  A Dutch builder of this model had considered to name his model "the Paradise" but he wisely changed that as life on such a ship in Arctic waters would have been anything but heavenly.  I decided first to reduce the width of the rear pannel a little to make it more "flute like".  I also decided to make a simplified version of the star seen on the Rotterdam model (which I copied from a Jewish star found on the net) and cut out of plasticard.  I also made a small name plate with of course, the name I had chosen, and the Dutch city of Hoorn.  Some of the place left over I filled with a couple of landscape paintings of Hoorn in the 17th century, while the oval holes on the sides of the star have been turned into portraits of the owners (copied from portraits by Jacob Cats!)
About the "gold" seen on the decorations in the kit: I am pretty sure that no gold leaf was used on these ship, so I painted everything over in realistic colours.  As this was too drab to my taste, I could not resist to make some highlights, with some gold enamel.
 
At last, I made the guildings at the bow, also painted in "natural" colours, with just a bit of gold showing.
 
Oh, let us not forget that i also made the chains.  The plates in the kit are way too large.  I reduced them to a width of 15mm and that is still a bit too large (12mm would be enough and ideal to cover with 3 x 4mm planks).  The kit material for the chains had to be discarded.  I used soft iron thread
instead .  Here you see how the plates were reduced in width and the cutouts on their sides filled in
 

First I am a native French speaker.  But I happen to be lucky and know Dutch quite well, and certainly better than most Franch speaking persons.  I also have worked in the Netherlands, and in Flanders, and have a fair understanding of a number of dialects
 
I was suspected that Poolsterre could have been the word in those days.  I used to have some east Flemish friends, whom I managed to understand (at the cost of some headaches!) and yes, they still use the old word sterre.  
 
Alas, as you may see, I already put the tiny name plate, on which I wrote POOL STER / Hoorn.  I may try and be bold enough to change that.  In the meantime, the last 2 letters ER have been accidentally blurred ( Could have been a night raid by the Great Dutch Grammar Wizard? ).  We'll see and thanks for the research anyway.
 
So here are are some pictures of the ship I took yesterday with my cell phone.  I did not care to have a pristine finish of the waterline, like on real ships of the time.  I also added the anchor cables, which I made in the most rustic way by rolling 3 right twined cables from right to the left.  I wanted to have a right twined cable, like it was in those days, at least for the thicker cables.  I only had them (right twined in too small thicknesses.
 
 

First I am a native French speaker.  But I happen to be lucky and know Dutch quite well, and certainly better than most Franch speaking persons.  I also have worked in the Netherlands, and in Flanders, and have a fair understanding of a number of dialects
 
I was suspected that Poolsterre could have been the word in those days.  I used to have some east Flemish friends, whom I managed to understand (at the cost of some headaches!) and yes, they still use the old word sterre.  
 
Alas, as you may see, I already put the tiny name plate, on which I wrote POOL STER / Hoorn.  I may try and be bold enough to change that.  In the meantime, the last 2 letters ER have been accidentally blurred ( Could have been a night raid by the Great Dutch Grammar Wizard? ).  We'll see and thanks for the research anyway.
 
So here are are some pictures of the ship I took yesterday with my cell phone.  I did not care to have a pristine finish of the waterline, like on real ships of the time.  I also added the anchor cables, which I made in the most rustic way by rolling 3 right twined cables from right to the left.  I wanted to have a right twined cable, like it was in those days, at least for the thicker cables.  I only had them (right twined in too small thicknesses.
 
 

... and some more.  Next (stupid??) thing will be to attach the rudder.  The kit includes material for 3 hinges (as on the original model in Rotterdam).  Yet I am inclined to think that there usually were 5 (or even 6) of them).  Then on my self made rudder (I did not like the shape and the profile) of the kit rudder) I reduced the cutouts for the hinges, which I had made way too large).  The hinges themselves were made of some copper strips onto which I glued a layer of aluminium tape with embossed fake nails.  The pins I glued to the hinges, having failed to solder them😚.  I fear this will be a weak point of the model, but let's cross our fingers.
 
Then came the time to paint the lower hull.  I did not find a "clean" way to achieve the blurred waterline like on the paintings, but I managed rather easily to reproduced the soft slope for and aft of it.  The result is a sparkling white lower hull which, if I have the guts, I will tone down at a later stage.
 
Then came the fun part of this kit (and of any other period ship): the decoration.  Now please bear in mind that this is a kit that dates , at least, from the early 1970's.  when a close ressemblance to the original was less important than details that would impress a newbie.  This explains the never seen before hinges on panels and gun ports, and also the strange stairs that run over the rear decks.  These are spectacular enough, but are better forgotten I am afraid.  Also the decoration of the kit is really rude, probably due to multiple re-use of the molds.  Main figure on the rear is what looks like Adam and Eve walking hand in hand.  A Dutch builder of this model had considered to name his model "the Paradise" but he wisely changed that as life on such a ship in Arctic waters would have been anything but heavenly.  I decided first to reduce the width of the rear pannel a little to make it more "flute like".  I also decided to make a simplified version of the star seen on the Rotterdam model (which I copied from a Jewish star found on the net) and cut out of plasticard.  I also made a small name plate with of course, the name I had chosen, and the Dutch city of Hoorn.  Some of the place left over I filled with a couple of landscape paintings of Hoorn in the 17th century, while the oval holes on the sides of the star have been turned into portraits of the owners (copied from portraits by Jacob Cats!)
About the "gold" seen on the decorations in the kit: I am pretty sure that no gold leaf was used on these ship, so I painted everything over in realistic colours.  As this was too drab to my taste, I could not resist to make some highlights, with some gold enamel.
 
At last, I made the guildings at the bow, also painted in "natural" colours, with just a bit of gold showing.
 
Oh, let us not forget that i also made the chains.  The plates in the kit are way too large.  I reduced them to a width of 15mm and that is still a bit too large (12mm would be enough and ideal to cover with 3 x 4mm planks).  The kit material for the chains had to be discarded.  I used soft iron thread
instead .  Here you see how the plates were reduced in width and the cutouts on their sides filled in