Meermann/Wodnik 1627 by 0Seahorse - FINISHED - 1:100 - CARD

[0Seahorse]

Welcome everyone,

some time ago I started to build a model of the "Meermann" ship, which took part in the Battle of Oliwa in 1627. The battle was not big when we compare it to great clashes of great maritime powers, but for Poland at that time it had a huge political and propaganda dimension. Because here "... the traders from Danzig defeated one of the strongest fleets - Sweden ..." as the angry king of Sweden reportedly said. The dynastic war with Sweden, in which the Republic of Poland got involved, led to the Swedish capture of part of the Polish coast and the sea blockade of Gdańsk. Partially built in Gdansk, partially bought (mainly from the Netherlands), the Polish fleet, emerging from the morning mists, attacked the "sleeping" Swedish ships standing in the roadstead of Gdansk. The Poles captured the Swedish "Tigern" and caused an explosion on "Solen" which sank. The Swedes withdrew, that's the whole battle.

Unfortunately, there are not many sources regarding the construction of these ships, so we can only use "standard" solutions from that period. Since my English is not so perfect that I could write passionately about dilemmas during the reconstruction, I will stick to some of the most important facts and a few "blank spots" to which Polish historians and researchers have not found an answer so far.
The dimensions of the ship are known with some assumption that all mistakes were detected in the main source, ie "Wismar inventory" (after the Battle of Oliwa, the Polish fleet was handed over to the Catholic Habsburg League and anchored in Wismar). There is no original document, only the original copy, in which the copyist's mistakes were found. Also the weapons and equipment are known from the above list. Unfortunately, there are no construction documents or documents confirming the purchase of ships. Certainly, part of the fleet was bought because two shipyards (in Gdańsk and Puck) could not build so many ships in such a short time. There is also no information about which ships were bought and which were built, they appear a bit like a "rabbit out of a hat".
The Scot James Murray was responsible for the creation of the Polish fleet, which for many historians is tantamount to the statement that they were English-style ships. But the empty royal treasury (which probably lasts to this day :-))) allows you to suspect that maybe it was built in the Dutch style, which was much cheaper and faster than the English method. Besides, some of the ships that were part of the Polish young fleet were bought from the Dutch. There are many such unresolved dilemmas for each ship.
I am familiar with four images depicting this event, but they differ drastically and, as recently noticed, are partially copies of other earlier images. The mere fact of "piracy" in painting is not surprising, but it reduces the credibility of such works.

Searching for answers is hampered by the multitude of myths that cling to the Battle of Oliwa. Around 1950, the plans of "Meermann" were created, which in fact are a modification of the plans of the "Rotter Lowe", with anachronistic geometric patterns in white and red on the sides. It seems to me that at that time only Hansa ships had decorations of this type. By the way, the red and white colors became the national colors of Poland in 1792. Such a form of "Meerman" caught on in the mentality of even researchers who reproduced these and other errors. In the mindset of many Poles, this battle took the form of not a historical event, but a legend.

Because I love the Dutch fleet and ships from Oliwa could be like that, I decided to base my work on typical lines of Dutch ships from that period, because for sure there were masters from the Netherlands, in the Gdańsk shipyard. And probably I was right, because I had to introduce a few changes to make the dimensions taken from the "Wismar inventory" match the ones I have. This applies not only to the distance between decks, width and length, but also to the draft, which turned out to be almost identical.

So the hull was built.
1 mm cardboard frames. Simplified gun carriages inserted on one side.

 

The first cover stiffening the structure:

...then I glued the seccond layer, horizontal, made of 0,5 mm cardboard...

On the hull prepared in this way I added final layer with printed planks...

Step by step I glued wales and finished th bulwarks...

I also glued a "sloep" - a boat that will be amidships.

Now I can say that the hull is ready for more details and setting masts and rigging...

Best regards

Tomek

[Tomasz B]

Hi 👋

Very nice Wodnik 👌 maybe ,,Smok,, next after this one ?

 

 

[Baker]

Very nice work 👍

[0Seahorse]

Hi everyone

 

Unfortunately, as I was afraid, the waistcloths were a huge problem, took a long time and the effect is poor. I have tried to shape these hanging canvases of various type of silkspan, paper tissue, paper towels, fine fabric, dry or wet and no attempt hes been succsessful. But in the end I had to make up my mind and the choice fell on one of the silkspan. It looks "average", good modelers will make it better than me. I can always declare that it is only a "test model":-)

 

I am still not sure what exactly such solutions looked like, and perhaps an additional difficulty is the fact that there could be just different solutions for different vessels. In the paintings from those years, waistcloths look as if they "lay", but again on some plans and studies you can see frames on which these canvases "hang" rather than "lie".

 

In any case, this stage is over and it is time to put up the masts.
I tried to make standing rigging in a way that is probably typical for small Dutch ships. I used the Heemskerck and Zeehaen plans.
I had a few problems, because I used old cyanoacrylate glue which turned snow white when dry. So all shrouds had to be painted black. A bit of laziness, and a bit "because it is a test model" :-))), fore shrouds and a fore stay are the same thickness as main shrouds and a main stay, which of course caused further problems, because there is "too tight" at the top of the foremast. And I still have to push the other ropes from the running rigging there.

Blocks and deadeyes are made of pressboard.

 

Greetings

Tomek

[Chuck]

That looks beautiful....Exceptional detail on that prototype.

 

I wish you the best of luck with these kits.

 

Chuck

[GrandpaPhil]

We are always our own worst critic.

Your model looks great!

[ccoyle]

7 minutes ago, 0Seahorse said:

It looks "average", good modelers will make it better than me. I can always declare that it is only a "test model":-)

 

Hello, Tomek!

 

I for one kind of find it reassuring that someone who designs such elegant models describes his work as "average" -- it gives hope that truly average modelers may make something presentable upon completing one of your kits.

 

Kind regards!

[druxey]

Very neat and nice work, Tomek! I always enjoy seeing less modeled subjects.

[0Seahorse]

Thank you gentlemen for the kind word.
Maybe because I hadn't tied the rigging for the last six months, it felt like I was doing it in the dark. I have been building models of sailing ships for 15 years and then suddenly at every step something went wrong, I still had to correct something. As the rigging was going smoothly with many of the previous models, this time I started to get frustrated because what I presented today I should have achieved without hurry a month ago.
But most importantly, standing rigging is complete. Maybe with the sails I will get back to the right track :-))

 

Regards

Tomek

[Dziadeczek]

3 hours ago, 0Seahorse said:

Hi everyone

 

Unfortunately, as I was afraid, the waistcloths were a huge problem, took a long time and the effect is poor. I have tried to shape these hanging canvases of various type of silkspan, paper tissue, paper towels, fine fabric, dry or wet and no attempt hes been succsessful. But in the end I had to make up my mind and the choice fell on one of the silkspan. It looks "average", good modelers will make it better than me. I can always declare that it is only a "test model":-)

 

I am still not sure what exactly such solutions looked like, and perhaps an additional difficulty is the fact that there could be just different solutions for different vessels. In the paintings from those years, waistcloths look as if they "lay", but again on some plans and studies you can see frames on which these canvases "hang" rather than "lie".

 

In any case, this stage is over and it is time to put up the masts.
I tried to make standing rigging in a way that is probably typical for small Dutch ships. I used the Heemskerck and Zeehaen plans.
I had a few problems, because I used old cyanoacrylate glue which turned snow white when dry. So all shrouds had to be painted black. A bit of laziness, and a bit "because it is a test model" :-))), fore shrouds and a fore stay are the same thickness as main shrouds and a main stay, which of course caused further problems, because there is "too tight" at the top of the foremast. And I still have to push the other ropes from the running rigging there.

Blocks and deadeyes are made of pressboard.

 

Greetings

Tomek

Hi Tomek,

What are you complaining of? The model is excellent (IMHO). It reminds me of some wonderful cardboard models built and shown here by Abe Hoving, a Dutch historian and modeler.

I have a million questions, if I may. 😁   Is the model built from a kit or is it your own design? What are the deadeyes and blocks cut with? A laser, perhaps? Your English is very good (I did not notice any mistakes). I have never before encountered these "waistcloths" (okrycie szancowe). Interesting! I think that you reproduced them very well.

I enjoyed reading your historical note on the Battle of Oliwa and the circumstances leading to it. Great!

Congratulations on your built!

 

Another Tomek

 

 

Edited April 19, 2021 by Dziadeczek

[Dziadeczek]

Hi again,

I just noticed that in the title it says "SCRATCH"!   Wow, double congrats ! Excellent effort and result!

Thomas

[0Seahorse]

Hi Dziadeczek,
of course I read your comments on the Polish forum with great curiosity and I always learn something new and useful from them. So I am very pleased that you like my job. Complaining is probably more related to the "regression" of skills, because that's what I felt when doing standing rigging. Or maybe it's just spring fatigue 🙂
Yes, it's a scratch based on a typical Dutch hull from that period (I helped myself with Heemskerck, among others).
I regularly watch Ab's work, so it's nice to hear that my models resemble his work to some extent. I am honored and pleased to correspond with Ab Hoving, who helped me in many projects related to the Dutch fleet (VOC Duyfken 1606, Speeljacht, Grosse Jacht), gave constructive criticism with a great deal of patience. I hope it stays that way, because "De Zeven Provincien" is waiting to be finished, and without Ab's help it will be hard.
Blocks and deadeyes are laser cut from the pressboard. It is much stronger than simple cardboard and after gluing it, it has never happened to me that anything was delaminated. Sometimes you have to clean holes, especially in deadeyes, because glue gets there.
As for "waistcloths", they are actually rarely seen on models (I think I only saw them once on a model on the Internet, but I don't remember what it was). The whole idea was taken from the book by Marian Huflejt "Bitwa pod Oliwa 1627- facts and myths", where he carefully considers their construction and purpose. The entire book is highly controversial and some hypotheses are poorly proven, but waistcloths can be found in many old paintings, so it's time they appear on models 🙂
Greetings
Tomek

[kirill4]

Good day Tomek,

Your model looks nice and building process is very interesting!

Will follow your building repports with great interest!!!

All The Best!

Kirill

[Hubac's Historian]

Oh, WOW, this is truly excellent and exciting!  I love the work of the card modelers on this site.  This is really a very finely worked model.  I will be following along.  The hull form is very reminiscent of the Dutch-built Vasa - particularly the bluff bow and the bow form below the water line, as it approaches the stem boxing.

Edited April 23, 2021 by Hubac's Historian

[0Seahorse]

Hello,
Thanks to everyone for your comments and remarks.
 I had the last update divided into two parts, but somehow it turned out that there will be only the final. So the memorable moment has come when the model of His Majesty's Ship "Aquarius / Meerman" was completed in a different "configuration" than the previous attempts at reconstruction.
Attaching the spears was not particularly difficult, also access to belaying points was quite acceptable (the most difficult thing was with the main mast). I will not write anything innovative in the history of rigging or the art of modeling.
I have developed my quick method for sails on a scale of 1: 100. For this I use a very delicate and thin cotton canvas (here I used a batiste). I soak a fragment of the canvas with thinned, transparent water-based glue and leave it to dry. Then, with a sharp scalpel near the ruler, cut off narrow strips of fabric from this piece (thanks to the glue, the canvas does not fray and you can cut strips narrower than 1 mm with a little practice). I stick these stripes (with the same transparent glue) in all places where there are reinforcements on the sail (at the edges, corners, etc.). Only then do I cut the sail with scissors. In my opinion, on a scale of 1: 100, all attempts to sew the sail are terribly off-scale and the effect is "not very good". I use a pencil to draw "traces" of sewing cloths rather than clear, visible lines. Also, I do not sew on bolt rope but stick with glue.
Before attaching the spears with the sails, I soak the canvas gently with water and again with diluted glue and dry with a hair dryer, giving a convex shape. Sometimes a great effect can be achieved.
This time I managed to achieve "high wind dynamics" in the lower sails thanks to a simple trick (discovered by chance). The buntlines are gently glued to the sails and then pulled tighter, thereby swinging the bottom of the sail forward and upward.
This is what the new face of "Meerman" looks like:

Greetings
Tomek

[Hubac's Historian]

In all respects, this is extremely well-done, Tomek!

[ccoyle]

Lovely work, Tomek, and a fine addition to your catalog!