Search the Community

I once had a build log of my Prins Willem here on MSW. I also had a backup of it on my PC. Some months ago I deleted that one.... I wish I hadn't done so I will try to recreate some of it over the next weekends. Perhaps that will give me some inspiration to continue her rigging, as I haven't done much over that last months. Jan

For my next build which is the Zeehaen, a Dutch fluit used by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman. But first some historical background information of a Fluit. Shipbuilders, skippers and other curious people, from near and from far, travelled to Hoorn in Noord Holland to look at the new ship. A prominent merchant, Pieter Janszoon Liorne, had turned his view of the ideal merchant vessel into reality. By the end of the sixteenth century there existed a ship type called a fluit, which had some specific characteristics. Seen from the side a fluit looks just like any old three-masted sailing ship. The mainmast and the foremast have square sails and the aftermost mizzenmast has a triangular lateen-sail occasionally supplemented with some smaller sails on the bowsprit and mizzenmast. The particularities of the fluit’s hull become apparent when seen from above or from astern. From above the outline of the hull appears as a rectangle box with slightly rounded corners. Seen in cross section the sides of the hull slope inwards, so-called ‘tumble-home’, which result in very narrow upper works. The rounded lower parts of the stern are crowned by a narrow flat transom, giving it a pronounced pear-shape. It might be that this shape, which stern-on gave the impression that the after works looked something like a thinly shaped glass, a flute, is the origin of the name. The Dutch fluit was a classic merchant ship of the 17th century. It was built to be economical in operation, carrying the largest cargo and smallest crew possible. The rigging was designed to be sailed and operated with proportionally small crews (12 to 13) , and its narrow upper deck was designed to evade Danish customs dues when passing through the sound in to the Baltic, where duties were levied according to the size of the breadth of the deck. There are several reasons for building a hull of this shape. Keeping the center of gravity low is perhaps the most obvious. The idea that the hull shape of the fluit was adjusted to cut costs probably derives from the general reputation of the Dutch merchants at the time. Creating a ship type that kept costs to a minimum becomes just another way to confirm their superiority and skill when it came to making profit. The fluit was a total success. From the end of the 16th century to the mid 18th century fluits were amongst the most common type of merchant vessels in Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea. In the Dutch Golden Age, 80% of the ocean going vessels were fluits and were built at an average of 400 to 500 annually. They were easy and cheap to build thanks to standardization of design as well as a technological improvements, such as the sawmill, which was invented by the Dutch. The fluit was a ‘multi-purpose’ vessel, a ship that with slight adjustments could meet a wide range of demands. Even if the term embraces a range of ships which share some important characteristics, there are variations with important differences. The size of fluits varied considerably. The smallest versions, sometimes referred to as the boot, were 86 feet at most (around 24m), whereas the largest versions were 140 feet (just over 39 m) and larger. Variations of the basic concept did not only affect the size, but included some special features connected to the trades in which these ships were used. Noortsvaarders or Houthaalders - Woodhauler was developed with ports in the bow and stern for loading long beams and timbers, They were of about 300-350 tons, with simple hulls and an armament of small guns. Ostervaarders, especially designed for the shallow harbours of the Baltic Sea. Fransvaerders, Spaensvaerders and the Straetsvaerders, so called because they were used in the trade with France, Portugal or Spain and the Mediterranean (through the straits). From the exterior, they differed from the other varieties through the beakhead The Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC, (United East India Company), employed a number of fluits. Fluits were also used as whalers which are easy to distinguish in depictions as they have davits on the sides for lifting whaling boats. Next, a biography about Abel Tasman Marcus

After my yacht, Utrecht, I decided to start building several 17th century Dutch merchant ships and the first one is a Boyer. The plans are from Ab Hoving and Cor Emke published by SeaWatchbooks. The Boyer was a small freighter, often seen in the entire North West European area. In literature it is suggested that the Boyer was developed from another ship, the 'heude', a Southern Dutch inshore vessel, which, in order to be able to sail the higher waves of the open sea (albeit in close vicinity of the coast), was buoyed up (heightened)in the sides; hence its name. Like every ship type, the Boyer is a compromise, which by its little draught and relatively large loading capacity was able to sail both at sea and on shallow waters. For the former, a deep keel performs best, for the latter the flat bottom. The solution for the Boyer was finally found in the application of leeboards, which came into use in the second half of the 16th century. They lessened the drift, allowing at the same time for a flat bottom. The Boyer could perform both inshore and close to the coast and was seldom larger than 22 meters. Its characteristics are the round shape with little deadrize and round bilges, upper planking with much tumble-home ending in the helm port transom, a curved stem and a set of heavy wales, emphasizing the handsome sheer. They sailed close to the coast and could reach cities that were situated relatively far inland, like Berlin, Cologne, Warsaw and Breslau. Wine, fruit, hemp, pitch, tar, wool cloth and spices were the lighter cargos often shipped by boyers. Note: this is going to be a slow going build as at the same time I am building an 8 sided drainage windmill, scale 1:15. It is a replica of a windmill still in existence. Thanks for reading. Marcus

Hi all, When I went looking for a new ship to build, I got a picture from my grandfather who looked through the window of a ship's bridge in his younger years. Unfortunately my grandfather deceased at a very young age. It seemed beautiful to build a ship where he sailed on. An uncle of mine then indicated they would like to have a model of the 49 KW, Antje in 1959. My grandfather has been a fisherman on this ship and my uncle went with him several times as a kid. I have nothing promised to him but I started to look for information. First, I came across a book with the following information to N.V. Viss. Me. Kennemerland Dageraad Woubrugge Year 1959 43,96 x 7:34 x 3.54 Capacity 291 Brt 07.18.1959 trial and transfer 1969 made suitable for beam trawling 1972 TX 46 Antje eig. P v.d. Vis Sold in 1974 to Argentina is San Lucas Unfortunately, there was further found little information on hand to be so I'm on several facebook pages and forums calls going to do if someone had more information, pictures or drawings. Immediately there were people who wanted to help me. They often had not the requested information but they knew people who had sailed on the ship. Unfortunately, many people already deceased but I managed to find a few people out after a lot of phone calls and mail, and some also had pictures. At the wharf The Dageraad During the trial I finally managed to get to 32 original photographs of the KW 49 and I am very happy with it. Luckily I met a man who had sailed on the VL 16, a ship that was similar to the KW 49 He had a lot of pictures for me and even in color. The VL 16] The TX46 (formerly KW 49)

Hello, this is my galleon ship construction. It is my second ship build. I will share photos of the build, hope you will like. Friesland The highly ornate Friesland dates from about 1663, when she was launched as part of the fleet of the "Seven Provinces" of the Netherlands. As part of the allied Aglo-French fleet, she took part in the Battle of Solobay in 1672. Mamoli's double plank-on-bulkhead kit, based on reliable Dutch documentation, features 80 turned brass cannon and over 50 gilded metal ornaments. The model is a magnificent replica, complete with authentic deck detail. Cast zinc frames ensure proper squaring and alignment of gun ports, while remaining hidden from view. Silk-screened flags and cotton rigging line reflect the rig plan of the original. Thirteen sheets of plans and step-by-step instructions allow you to build an extraordinary showpiece. Advanced Level Mamoli Kit No. MV24 Length 31"/Height 28"/Scale 1:75 Few photos of the box and inside the box.

Hi there; This is my first scratch built. I’ve thought long and hard about it and the last kit (HMS Bounty – Constructo) I built, I changed numerous items as they were not accurate to that year it was built. So if I can do that, I can build a boat where I am in complete control. I decided on the Statenjacht “Utrecht”, because I love the lines from (plat bodems) flat bottom boats. I bought the book on the Utrecht from Seawatch books a while back because I am interested on how they built the replica. In the late 80’s I had a friend who worked as a volunteer carpenter on the Batavia replica in Lelystad, The Netherlands and I was with the amount of wood that went into building that boat. This year I purchased another book on the Utrecht authored by Gilbert McArdle, also from Seawatch books. This gave me insights on how to build the boat. I will not build it the way he did it. I will not do a “no deck boat” where you can see the interior. My plan is add a deck with cannons and all the deck items, sails and all the rigging. I am getting ahead of myself as I still have to finish "The Royal Yacht Mary". I started by copying all the frames and taping them with clear packing tape on the basswood. The reason of the packing tape is that this tape will lubricate the saw blade at all times and the use of basswood is that this wood is cheap and once the deck is on you will never see it.

Reconstruction of decor and production of elements from wood.

NOTE: In this log I used Photo Bucket to add pictures but after problems with PB all my links to my pictures were blocked. I've replaced most of the dead links with new pictures but that was not always possible. (so there are still some deadlinks and sometimes the sequence is not correct) movie.avi In this buildinglog I will present you the build of the Dutch beamtrawler KW88, Pelikaan. 42,35 x 8,50 x 5,16 mtr Build in 1999 as the UK 153, Lun Senior, sold in 2007 and named KW88, Pelikaan. Motor: 2000HP Deutz The ship has sumwings and uses an electric pulse system The sumwing are like wings and do not touch the bottom. With electric pulse the fish jumps of the bottom and ends in the net. I started collecting information, photo's and drawings a few months ago and now I am at the point that I can actually start with the build. I have a complete set of original drawings and almost 500 photo's It will take some time before I start building this ship because I want to finish the KW49 first. First some photo's of the ship. As the UK 153 New registrationnumber

Hello MSW, I started building the Friesland one year ago, and maintained a build log at Dutch forum www.modelbouwforum.nl Because I relied heavily on the build log by GreatGalleons, I decided to post my progress here as well. I hope it is fun for you to read. Mind I am new to the hobby, so expect a lot of (beginner) mistakes and troubles Let me begin to recap what has been done so far. Building plank: Keel and Bulwarks, dryfit Note if you also want to build this Mamoli kit: The keel does not match the drawings/plans at all. Either make a new one from scratch or accept the deficiency. Also the bulwarks are what looks to be sawn by hand. The shape is really bad at times, with poor symmetry and alignment. I had a lot of problems getting the hull shape and the deck to all line up evenly. Take your time with this phase, certainly with this particular kit. Marked the rabbet line and bulwarks alignments on the keel: I removed the back part of the keel to allow for shaping the rabbet line. Because my underwatership will be painted white, I did not worry about it look ugly at this stage. Will be filled, sanded and painted later.

I have decided to do a serious review on this book and the plans and here it is. (avsjerome2003) just mentioned the book and nothing else. 17th century Dutch Merchant Ships Text, Photos and Plans for the Ship Modeler. By A. J. Hoving Plans by C. Emke Models by H. Tomesn Graphics by E. Hoving Publisher: SeaWatch Books, LLC Case Bound, Full Color, Dust Jacket Year: 2014 Large 8.5x11 format Pages: 152 and 24 sets of plans from 10 merchant ship types in the scale of 1-48 and 1-96. ISBN: 978-0-9904041-1-8 With this book all the plans modelers may need to recreate a whole range of vessels from the Dutch Golden Age. The plans are on thick stock (paper) and the ships areas follows” Seagoing Vessels: Pinas Witsen – scale 1-96 – 4 sheets of plans. Fluit “Langewijk” – scale 1-96 – 3 sheets of plans. Fluit “Zeehaen” (Able Tasman) – scale 1-96 – 3 sheets of plans. Fluit “Roode Leeuw” – scale 1-96 – 2 sheets of plans. Cat “Peacock” – scale 1-96 – 1 sheet of plans. Coastal Trade: Boyer 86ft – scale 1-48 – 3 sheets of plans. Galliot – scale 1-48 – 2 sheets of plans. Inshore: The Narrow- & Wide-ship – scale 1-48 – 2 sheets of plans. Kaag – scale- 1-48 – 1 sheet of plans. Fishermen as Traders: Buss 1598 – scale 1-96 – 1 sheets of plans. Hooker – scale 1-96 – 1 sheets of plans. Pink – scale 1-48 – 1 sheet of plans. ISBN: 978-0-9904041-2-5 Note: Three Fluits is one ship type. Summary of the people that created this book. Ab Hoving: Worked as the chief model restorer in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Studied the technique of Dutch ship building in the 17th and 18th century. He has written numerous books, articles in several magazines and given lectures. He has been involved in major replica building projects, such as Duyfken (West Australia, Statenjacht (Utrecht) and others. Cor Emke: After he retired as a manager from an American Co. in forklifts Cor dedicated his life in building ship models of Dutch vessels from the 17th century. In cooperation with Ab Hoving he produced many AutoCAD drawings of ships, thus filling the gap in the availability of such draughts. Together with Ab he has been involved in several replica projects, like the Statenjacht Utrecht and De 7 Provincien. Herbert Tomesen: Herbert runs a company in Amsterdam, Holland, Artitec (www.artitec.nl), which produces architectural models. He produced large scenery models of ancient cities in many museums in Holland. He built a huge diorama of Roadstead of Texel in the 17th century containing over a hundred ships. The models in this book are by him. Emiel Hoving: Ab’s son Emiel studied art in Groningen and has been a graphic designer for almost 20 years. He works for Artitec and did the design for Ab’s first book, Message in a model and Statenjacht Utrecht. For the pictures in this book he took photgraphs of Herberts models and used PhotShop to create images of what Dutch maritime world looked like in the 17th century. Summary: The book is well written with numerous pictures, beautiful maritime paintings, copies of old building plans, hull renderings and many ship models. Well documented historical information to give the reader a good picture of what type of ships were used in the 17th century Dutch trade. There is a detailed chapter of what items the Dutch traded in Europe and Russia and one can see that their wealth was first of all connected with their trading position Europe and that is what created their prosperity. The Dutch were Europe’s main freighters. Another detailed chapter discusses how the ships were built. What measurements and ratios were used to produce a type of ship. In the back of the book there is a comparison chart of Witsen and Van Yk’s shipbuilding Formula’s. Several detailed renderings how the Dutch build there ships, “shell first”. The chapters after that gives the reader detailed descriptions of the type of ship described which include close-ups from ship models, paintings and realistic Photoshop images. It is too bad the book does not include a CD-Rom with the plans on it like the book from Abel Tasman. The advantage of this would be that you could view, zoom and pan the drawings on the computer monitor and print them to scale different from those that are supplied with the book.

GOING DUTCH: How England Plundered Holland’s Glory LISA JARDINE Paperback: 432 pages Publisher: Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (September 1, 2009) Language: English ISBN-10: 0060774096 ISBN-13: 978-0060774097 This is a very interesting book about the Dutch and the British. There is a large section on how the Dutch invaded England. Something the history books forgot to mention. It is very detailed. I enjoyed reading about this and much has been written on this era of the Netherlands. The following is an excerpt from the book. It is loooooong, and amazing..... This is a book about cultural exchange between England and the Dutch Republic – an extraordinary process of cross-fertilization which took place in the seventeenth century, between the life and thought of two rapidly developing countries in northern Europe. The two territories, jostling for power on the world stage, politically and commercially, recognized that they had a great deal in common. Still, each of them represented itself – and has continued to do so ever since – as absolutely independent and unique. In Going Dutch, renowned writer Lisa Jardine tells the remarkable history of the relationship between England and Holland, two of Europe’s most important colonial powers at the dawn of the modern age. Jardine, the author of The Awful End of Prince William the Silent, demonstrates that England’s rise did not come at the expense of the Dutch as is commonly thought, but was actually a “handing on” of the baton of cultural and intellectual supremacy to a nation expanding in international power and influence. On 1 November 1688 Prince William of Orange, elected ruler or Stadholder of the Dutch Republic, and husband of the English King James II’s eldest daughter, Mary Stuart, embarked upon a seaborne invasion of the British Isles. His invasion force consisted of an astounding five hundred ships, an army of more than twenty thousand highly trained professional troops, and a further twenty thousand mariners and support staff. As a naval and military undertaking, the sheer scale, temerity and bold ambition of the venture captured the European imagination for years afterwards. The exact numbers of the invading forces were a matter of dispute and deliberate exaggeration (and have remained so ever since), but there was no uncertainty at all about William of Orange’s intentions – this was a redoubtable force, and it was headed for the English coast. The joint naval and military operation was on an unprecedented scale. Its meticulous organization astonished political observers. William, it slowly emerged, had started to build up his army in the first half of 1688, without consulting the Dutch government – the States General. close friends shuttled clandestinely around Europe for months securing backing from those known to be sympathetic to the Protestant cause, and negotiating supporting troops and financial loans. Between June and October they surreptitiously assembled a massive force of well-trained, well-paid and experienced soldiers drawn from right across Protestant Europe. From the very start, the Dutch fleet achieved its key strategic aim, creating an unforgettable spectacle, inducing a feeling of shock and awe in onlookers on either shore. The boldest enterprise ever undertaken by the Republic of the United Netherlands was stage-managed with exquisite artistry. The expedition comprised fifty-three warships, of which thirty-two were ‘capital ships’ designed for combat – thirteen with between sixty and sixty-eight guns, seven with between fifty and fifty-six, and twelve with between forty and forty-eight – the rest escort ships. There were ten fire ships and about four hundred other vessels to transport troops, supplies and horses. The army was made up of 10,692 regular infantry and 3,660 regular cavalry, plus gunners of the artillery train and five thousand gentleman volunteers – expatriate Englishmen, Huguenots and other sympathizers. On top of this there were 9,142 crew members and a further ten thousand men on board the transport vessels. William’s plan was that this spectacular floating combination of forces and resources should avoid naval engagement at all costs. Like the D-Day landings, this was a huge feat of transportation, rather than a navy seeking a sea battle. The munitions, equipment and supplies with which the expeditionary force was provided were formidable, and state-of-the-art. According to one eyewitness (who, as usual, may have slightly exaggerated the numbers), the fleet carried a total of seven thousand horses – mounts for the 3,660 cavalry officers, the Prince, his entourage and the officer and gentleman volunteers, and draught horses for the carts carrying provisions and ammunition. Further draught animals were needed to pull the fifty artillery pieces. Responding to the favorable wind, the invasion fleet proceeded in the direction of the English coast, headed towards Harwich, as if to make landfall in Yorkshire. Having sailed just past Harwich, however, William of Orange, commander-in-chief in person of this mighty flotilla, gave new orders for it to proceed instead south-westwards, to take full advantage of the ever-strengthening easterly wind. The English war fleet, trapped in the Thames estuary by the same wind, watched William’s armada go by twice, helpless to follow and engage until it was too late. The Dutch made landfall at Baxton. On 18 December the Prince of Orange and his army entered London in another carefully organized ‘triumph’, to be welcomed, this time, by cheering crowds of Londoners. The Dutch invasion of 1688 was a brilliantly stage-managed sequence of events, forever vivid in the memory of those who witnessed them. The entire London area remained under Dutch military occupation until the spring of 1690. No English regiments were allowed within twenty miles of the city. The English and Scots regiments of the States General’s forces, which had led the triumphal entry (in order not to alarm the citizens of London too much) were stationed at the Tower and Lambeth. Dutch and German regiments encamped at Woolwich, Kensington, Chelsea and Paddington, while another crack regiment was positioned at Richmond, and the Huguenots put up in various parts of London. So why is there almost no trace of this vast, hostile armada, with its dramatic progress along the English Channel, its fanfares and gun-salutes and parading battalions, in conventional historical accounts of the so-called ‘Glorious Revolution’? Why are many of us unaware of the fact that at the time of the English Parliament’s ‘welcoming’ William and his wife Mary Stuart, and subsequently, in early 1689, inviting them jointly to ascend the English throne, the country was in the grip of full-scale military occupation, with Dutch troops posted in front of key buildings throughout London, and growing unrest and resentment throughout the land? One obvious reason for this historical amnesia is the enduring impact and lasting success of the propaganda offensive launched by William of Orange even before he left Dutch shores. Surviving documents tend to exert a strong influence over retrospective historical interpretation – they are the stuff of which narrative history and interpretation are made. This book discusses the invasion in much detail and how the Brits and the Dutch have so much in common. Any Dutchman on this site should read this book. Thanks for reading Marc One more comment: Lisa Jardine's general purpose is to show that England stole from, copied, imitated and was influenced by the Netherlands during the seventeenth century. From state formation to garden-design, England learned from the Dutch. Thus, Jardine suggests, England isn't wholly English, since so much of its culture is imported, originally foreign, or hybrid. This will surprise people that have very little background in history, but most of us should know that the English, like all societies, learned from or were influenced by many people. Jardine never tells us, nor even asks, whether Dutch influence was more profound on the English than French, Italian, Scottish, Irish, Turkish, American, Spanish, or Indian culture was, though of course all were important in various ways. Nor does she have a very illuminating picture of what the Netherlands actually are - she implies that this rapidly changing and heterogeneous society was monolithic. I could go on, but suffice it to say that Jardine's story is a bit simple-minded and naïve. Readers with much background in 17th century history won't learn much, and would do better looking over her footnotes and simply reading those books instead. Jardine is a professor of history, but this book, like many of her others, in fact, reveal very little if any original research. This book simply doesn't tell the world anything that wasn't already available elsewhere. For those interested in the topics explored here, I would recommend instead Jan de Vries' new synthesis of Dutch and European economic growth, The Industrious Revolution. Tulipmania by Anne Goldgar is a very interesting study of flowers and collecting that reveals much about 17th century Dutch culture, and Jonathan Israel has written many of the best English-language studies of the Netherlands. Those books are thought-provoking and original.

How Dutch is this? If it is Photoshopped, I don't care, it is still a good one. Marc

Hi All, I'm quite new to MSW, but I made pictures of my current project the Half Moon (Corel) from the start. I already started rigging, but I'll upload pictures from the start of my build.