"De Zeven Provincien" 1665 by 0Seahorse - FINISHED - 1:100 - CARD

[0Seahorse]

Hello everybody,

 

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to ask Mr. Hoving for his opinion on the plans of a sailing ship of the Polish fleet participating in the Battle of Oliwa (1627). These drawings were not of the highest caliber and I felt it was a pity to spend time building a model with so many design errors. But Mr. Hoving did not leave me empty-handed, but suggested building a more interesting ship, such as "De Zeven Provincien", and so my adventure with this project began. Not only did Ab Hoving give me the drawings, but he supported and continues to support me with his knowledge and patience. I certainly wouldn't have started this project without his help. Thank you, Ab.

Since for 30 years I have been gluing only cardboard models, which have their specificity and limitations, so not all details are reproduced, not all boards, beams and nails have been included in my project. I have omitted details on the lower decks that are not visible anyway.
As usual, I started with the hull frames made of cardboard with a thickness of 1 mm. Although the model is not small (for a cardboard model), 1 mm thickness is sufficient. The gunports will only be open on one side and I've put simplified gun carriages there. I painted the interiors in a dark color to avoid the "shining" of the white of the paper.

 

In order to stiffen the structure and make it easier to stick the planks later, vertical stripes were glued. A little practice allows them to be glued directly to the 1mm edge of the frames without any additional paper strips.

On the hull prepared in this way, I glued the first layer of 0.5 mm cardboard. Such a layer (and in the case of this model there will be two layers) allows you to oval the hull and avoid the marks of frames, which is a very common occurrence in the case of cardboard hulls. Cardboard is much more easily deformed than wood. For many years I have not used any "fillers" such as putty, it's just what I've learned over the years and it suits me.

In open gunports I built 1.0 mm cardboard frames. In some places it was necessary to remove minor defects with sandpaper.

Then I glued the lower parts of the stern and prepared the rudder.

The time has come to stick the second layer of 0.8 mm cardboard on the hull. Since the planks had a thickness of about 1 mm on this scale, I wanted to take this thickness into account for gunports, where edges are visible. I thickened the keel in the stern part to get the effect of thicker lower planks (zandstroken).

As the model requires a lot of work, I started gluing the final planks at this stage. I will not have to turn the model upside down in the future and thus expose it to damage. So I went with the cover up to the gunports and to the verdek level.

The subsequent stages of building the hull were similar.

The first cannons and the next deck have appeared.

It's time for stern galleries. I had to glue such complex shapes for the first time and in the heat of the fight I completely "missed" the fact that the lower parts of the side galleries are in the colour of dark wood. It is much more likely that they were rather "greenish" like the rest of the gallery and the upper part of the hull, which can be seen in many old paintings. It will stay that way, because I do not paint the models (parts are already printed in color) and attempts to tear off the gallery could end up with damage that I would not repair.

I will move to the bow soon as there is still a lot to do there.

 

Greeting

Tomek

 

[RdK]

Hi Tomek!

 

Nice to see your build here! Although I am a scratch-build modeler, should your project make it to the shelf, count me in a s a customer! :)

 

-Radek

[0Seahorse]

Hi everybody!
I had a long break in building, but in the meantime "Wodnik" was created, so I'm a bit excused. I went back to "De Zeven Provincien" and I just hope to finish the model without any more breaks or "side jumps". Apart from the huge amount of decorations, there is not much left to do on the hull itself: top planking, head, handrails ...

I glued the bulwarks, added the decks and set up the bulkheads. The work is so simple that there is nothing to write home about.

The head took more effort.
Because the knee of the head narrowed (and you can turn a blind eye to it with small models of small vessels) and here the difference in thickness was so significant that I glued it together in a "box" method: long narrow triangles at the top and bottom are glued between the side surfaces and thanks to this, the thickness at the hull is ~ 4 mm and ~2mm at the end. Cheeks and gammoning knee are typically made of cardboard of an appropriate thickness.

Greetings
Tomek

 

[0Seahorse]

Hi,

I finished up the planking and "closed" it with the rails (of course it's just the lower part of the handrail), which I ambitiously made in a printed standard without painting them. There is some "pecking" and dugout, but it was worth it.
The upper planking made with an overlap planks was supposed to be easy, but it took a lot of time (try-on - retouch - slow sticking). The "boards" are 0.4 mm thick, as it seemed reasonable (so that it was not a thin cardboard and and that the edges are visible), but if you add inaccuracies, the thickness of the glue and other small mistakes, it was probably better to make it from cardboard 0,3 mm. Anyway, it is already stuck and I will not tear it off. I missed retouching in a few places, but it can be fixed.

I also started making bulkheads, which will be covered with boards such as the sides. I added doors and posts, between which it will be necessary to fit this "paneling". Then sculptures will appear on the posts.

And here is the biggest challenge. All bas-reliefs can be made on thicker cardboard and can be plasticize it with thick glue, modeling clay or milliput. But I still have no idea how to design full 3D figures in the "cardboard standard": two lions at the top of the stern between which there is a "holy maiden" and something like Neptune / Poseidon above the galleries. Various attempts may take a long time, so for now I am trying to decorate taffrail and here I would like to thank my friend Tomasz Król (he is also a designer of cardboard models and a painter, many kit covers are of his works), who, using his magic powers, drew a plasticized version.

 

And below the port side which looks a bit better :

 

Greetings

Tomek

[0Seahorse]

And again a little update.

 

At this stage, I have always had a problem with handrails with a lot of posts, which are difficult to prepare to be identical and fit. So this time I made them in the form of 1 mm thick "combs" glued in pairs, to which I glued 0.5 mm thick strips at the upper edge and masked the whole thing from the top with a 3 mm wide strip. To make it more understandable, below is a piece of such a handrail and the effect in the photo.

A much stronger solution. And how long does it take to cut these combs out of 1mm cardboard? I don't know, because I cut it with a laser 🙂 But if you think about cutting many posts to the right size and giving them appropriate bevels at the ends, the workload may be comparable.

 

Another batch of boards appeared on previously prepared bulkheads. Unfortunately, I did not retouch the side edges of each board (they were supposed to "hide" between the beams) and you can see some white spots. I hope that the carvings will hide it a bit and "soften" it.

 

The time has finally come to close the stern. From two layers, I prepared the entire bas-relief and glued it to the taffrail (asymmetrical - I know, but it will stay that way). On the edges, I glued thin strips (0.5 x 1.0 mm) to mask any inaccuracies. And just like with the side handrails, I also made the stern one in the form of a "comb", additionally engraving a small pattern. I am always afraid at this stage that all dimensions have been lost, and here is a real surprise: the laser-cut aft handrail fit literally without any adjustments. Finally, there are the horizontal protruding ends of this aft handrail, and this is how she looks today:

Greetings
Tomek

[mati]

Hi Tomek,

 

Really interesting build. 

Congratulations on design... look's great.

 

Stern look's really good. Great idea of making layered decoration.

 

Looking forward to see more!

 

Good luck!

 

Cheers,

Matt

[GrandpaPhil]

Looking good!

[mtaylor]

Beautiful work that is a joy to see.   Really hard to believe this is from card.

[ccoyle]

Nice work, Tomek! I like how the stern carvings turned out.

[0Seahorse]

Hello,

 

Thank you for your comments and opinions.

 

There was a long break in updating my work on "De Zeven Provincien" again, because I wanted to "close" the hull and stop it from hitting my eyes with white "spots" of unfinished fragments. In a way it worked 🙂

 

All handrails and decorative slants have been laser cut / engraved and painted yellow ocher.

 

The construction was slowed down by my reluctance to make a dozen or so cannon barrels out of paper. To solve the problem ... the laziness problem ... I printed the barrels in resin.

 

... and the building process started right away. It took the longest time to build the head and bow deck, but I'm happy with the results.

 

Now it is time to add artillery on the decks and decorate the hull with dozens of sculptures 🙂

 

Regards
Tomek

[0Seahorse]

Hello everyone,

 

Recently, I haven't had much time to continue building, so progress has been slow as well. Bakdek already has gretings, I set up the artillery amidships and tried on the sloop, which is 1 meter too big, so I will have to build it again

 

 

After many attempts, I decided to make bas-reliefs in the simplest form, i.e. scratches glued on a thicker cardboard. Looking at the effect, it seems that all of them had to be stuck to 1.0 mm cardboard, because some of them are too "thin". I will add additional layers of paper to them in some places to make them more three-dimensional. And one of the friends will improve the colors, add some shadows, so they should finally look better. Unfortunately, I am not a painter:-(((

I chose this form for ornaments because I anticipate that the model will appear as a kity, and therefore the difficulty level must be accessible to intermediate cardboard modellers. Anyone who has skills will surely make these decorations on their own from wood, modeling masses, green stuff, etc.

 

The largest sculptures, which are not there yet, will be made of several parts (if I can design it), and as a last resort, I ordered a design prepared for 3D printing. Time will show which solution is the best. Currently, the stern looks like this:

 

All comments will be appreciated.

Tomek

[ccoyle]

Tomek, I think the sculptures look perfectly acceptable, and surely they will appeal to that segment of the card modeling population who like to make as much of a model as possible out of paper rather than other media.

[GrandpaPhil]

And the cutouts from the kits will make perfect templates for those wish to make their own carvings to do so.

 

This will make an awesome kit!

[0Seahorse]

Hi friends

I must admit that I am not building the model at a dizzying pace, mainly because of the limited time and more and more details that need to be prepared and thought over. It took me a long time to make various attempts (mostly unsuccessful) to prepare the sculptures on the stern in the form of paper, which would slightly resemble THE SCULPTURES. The external company fulfilled the orders and I have all the sculptures ready for 3D printing, but those made of paper also had to be developed (because it is to be a cardboard model). This is what the first sample printed in resin looks like:

 

Therefore, I couldn't resist and replace the figurehead. Below is the old one of cardboard and the new one printed:

 

In the meantime, I put the rest of the artillery on the decks. There was a lot of it, so I helped myself with ready-made gun barrels and 2mm 3D printed blocks.

The print was gray, but the Vallejo primer sticks very tightly and nothing is peeling.

Now it's time to glue gunport lids, sculptures and lanterns, and all rigging "devices". Oh, and two more boats. I believe that in June I will start erecting masts 🙂

A few photos of an already armed ship:

Best

Tomek

Edited May 22, 2022 by 0Seahorse

[0Seahorse]

Hi everyone,

Some time has passed since the last update, but it was not time wasted because I can announce that I have finished working on the hull of "De Zeven Provincien" !!! Hurrah!!!!
I made gunport lids (I have a slightly "bent" eye, because a large part of them is slightly twisted in the same direction; similarly with the holes for the ropes lifting these covers, they are all slightly shifted to the left :-))) There was a lot of work on the starboard too, because I did not print the hinges for gunport lids, believing that sticking thin strips would be nicer. I don't know if it's nicer (probably not), but it's definitely more time-consuming.
But after dealing with nearly 80 gunport lids, it looked better and better. At the same time, I had to make deadeye attachments because it was getting tight in some places. In fact, I didn't simplify them, I just changed the shape of two lower parts (1 and 2), which I covered with small circles (3). Details in the drawing.

Adding various types of riggin equipment to the bulwarks and decks is a normal job and nothing interesting to write about.

I helped myself with a 3d printer again and it was a move almost brilliant :-))) I printed 180 belaying pins: delicate, small, nicely contoured shapes. The end result and the time needed for them is incomparable to those made of wire and thickened on top with a drop of thick glue. I am delighted with this solution, especially since I printed in brown resin right away (pigments are not cheap, but the time savings justify the expense)

It remains to finish the work on the decorations: the designs of the sculptures were prepared by an external company (I do not have such skills myself) and after minor corrections they were printed and painted. All that's left to do is put a few dozen eyebolts in the decks and set the sloop amidships.

Some pictures:

Greetings

Tomek

[ccoyle]

That is looking spectacular, Tomek!

[0Seahorse]

Hello,
I can't believe it's been so long since the last update. 
I have put up all the masts and I think you can say that the standing rigging is ready. Most components built/rigged as planned. A slight problem arose with the bowsprit mast and the foremast: both leaned back slightly when tensioning the stays, which was not matched by the stiffness of the bowsprit (it moved up a little). I am satisfied with the symmetry: with such a large sailing ship, I managed it almost perfectly. Some time ago, the model, unfinished but secured in the "aquarium", made its first cruise at the Model Show in Nowy Tomyśl. The latest photos of "De Zeven Provincien":

Tomek

[firdajan]

Tomek,

 

you are allways delivering the best you can.

 

Jan

[0Seahorse]

Hi everybody,
yes, many months have passed since the last update, but I finally have something to be proud of - last night I raised the last flag and today I can show the completed model of the flagship "De Zeven Provincien". Thanks again to Ab Hoving, who constantly supported me, advised me and cheered me on until the last day of working on the model.
Running rigging is so extensive that you can write an essay on what, how, where, what to watch out for, what to ignore, etc. I won't hide the fact that I simplified a few elements or simply "fooled" the human eye. I don't know how many ropes and threads are finally attached to the model.
Although it was unlikely that all the sails were set at the same time, I decided as a test (after all, it is a test model) to hang the stay sails to make sure that there were no errors in the instructions or that any of the lines were placed absurdly. I used various sources, but I may have misinterpreted something (especially since some sources were in Dutch). Surprisingly, I found only one error (the designations of ropes 72 and 82 were swapped). I attached the rest of them according to the instructions and it worked.
I made the first drawings in the project in the spring of 2017 (my daughter was 10, now 16).
A handful of photos, comments and questions are welcome

[ccoyle]

Wow, Tomek, that looks amazing! And we should point out that interested buyers can obtain this kit online as part of a set that includes mast details, spars, blocks, and sails for under US $50. 😲 Not for beginners, obviously.

[GrandpaPhil]

Nice finish Tomek!

 

Also, they have 3D printed guns and carvings, and laser cut sheets!

 

I got my kit a couple of months ago.

 

It will be one of my next projects!

Edited October 5, 2023 by GrandpaPhil

[Meriadoc Brandybuck]

Lovely result! I only wish I had room for one in my house. I can’t wait to see what’s next in the Seahorse catalogue. 
 

Well, in a few months that is.  Maybe you want a break after all that rigging. 
 

-Meriadoc

 

 

[Mark P]

Good Morning Tomek;

 

Congratulations on a lovely model; one that will be a joy to look at for many years.

 

All the best,

 

Mark P

[mugje]

Congratulations! Fantastic result! Hard to believe it's just mainly paper...

[Ondras71]

Greetings Tomek. Beautiful work, I envy paper art. 🏆

You convinced me again that the Dutch ships were the most beautiful..

[firdajan]

Congratulation, Tomek. Good choice, excellent model🥰

 

Jan

[Marco_van_H]

Looks very good! I ordered my set through Scaldis late last year, so it's on the to-do-list.