Duyfken by Meriadoc Brandybuck - Seahorse - 1:100

[Meriadoc Brandybuck]

Hello,

Some time ago as a “productive distraction” from my scratchbuild I decided to try a paper kit from Seahorse. Nearly all Seahorse kits are at my scale of choice, 1:100, so it will fit in my collection perfectly. As it turned out, I liked the kit so much I didn’t stop with one, but explored more of the Seahorse catalogue as well..

 

After a few intense bouts of labor, the hull has reached a stage of recognizability, and it’s time for some photos to show the stages of construction. 
 

The kit:


The ship:

The wind:

Framing, skinning, and first planking with 1/2mm strakes:

Very important to bend the skin in multiple dimensions to fit the frames like a glove:

The 1/2mm strakes must also be manipulated along multiple dimensions to fit the shape required. These strakes are glued to the frames only, not the skin in between, and one must NOT use pva or water based glue for this step as that would cause the strakes to suck into the shape of the skin, leading to the “hungry horse” effect. I used CA on the frames. 

Not quite symmetrical, but that’s alright at this stage. One or other of the sides is a bit misaligned. It seemed you were supposed to have some gaps here and there on the way up. 

 

Side by side with my sloop, taking shape. 

 

After months of staring at those frames, I finally got around to getting the castles built up. The inner gunwales, with their extra strakes and detail, are deceptively time-consuming. 

 

Lee guns stowed. Weather side run out. 


 

Now I’m in the planking stages. I’m using “Arabic Yamato”, a gum based glue (?) available here that dries slowly but sets more quickly once squeezed between paper surfaces.
It’s important to get the upper works/gunports aligned before working the planking all the way up. Adjustments will be needed but there are a few appropriate places for them to be made. Gaps can be concealed by wales, and certain planks are good candidates for trimming. I can tell that some trimming will be needed in the near future. The waterline came together nicely though. All in all this stage is a pleasure. 
Note: I was able to easily replace the printed grating on the forecastle deck with a laser-printed grating, available through Seahorse (and a godsend for scratchbuilds). 

 

Leave your projects on the shelf long enough, and they multiply…

I know some are turned off by the idea of a “paper” or “cardboard” kit, but as can be seen in other build logs, it’s an extremely versatile medium in which anything can be built with a bewildering amount of detail. Its main advantages are the tools you need: a good knife, mostly. Sandpaper sometimes. And paint to hide those sneaky edges.
Sometimes, like for framing gunports or capping the rails around frames, I found it best to toss the kit parts and make what I needed out of 1mm or 1/2mm card, and paint as needed. For edge painting, a marker can be used to speed up the process, but it will bleed into the ink and cause regrets, so paint is best.

 
This little Dutch pinas has quickly become one of my favorite subjects.  The planking technique is certainly less messy than using filler, and the method of building up the superstructure- while time-consuming with all the little parts and subassemblies- works.  
 

Meriadoc

[VTHokiEE]

I have this kit in my stash so I will be watching with interest. Looking good so far!

[ccoyle]

Sweet! I will be following along with interest.

[Cirdan]

Interesting project, and looking good so far! 

[Louie da fly]

I went on board the replica when she was still under construction in Fremantle, Western Australia. It was a wonderful experience, but she was tiny! I have a souvenir - a small oak offcut with the name Duyfken burnt into it.

 

Steven

[Meriadoc Brandybuck]

5 minutes ago, Louie da fly said:

she was tiny

Yes, I believe she is properly referred to as a jacht, which corresponds surprisingly well with our modern notion of a yacht for size. About 64’ LBP if I am not mistaken.
Imagine sailing all the way from Northern Europe to Australia and back on such a thing with turn-of-the-17th-century technology and charts. 
Does she ever call at Japanese ports, I wonder?

 

Meriadoc

[Meriadoc Brandybuck]

Hello, 

I appreciate all the enthusiasm everyone has shown for this project; thank you all. 
 

Having reached a bit of an impasse on my scratch sloop build, I took a week or two off to think on it and got some Duyfken put together. The hull is now, well, take a look.

 

Planked:

 

Wales, channels:

 

The quarterdeck had a significant gap between it and the gunwale, which I filled with card to give the yellow cap rail some solid backing:

Yellow cap rails below. Note the companion vessel in the next dry dock:

Handrails, finished gunwales here and there, some spots of indecision, and a very Dutch looking hull awaiting its next day with the shipbuilders:

I’m afraid updates will continue to be sporadic as my sloop refuses to let me call it done. But little by little.
I have to mention the Arabic gum based glue I’m using that has so many appropriate applications for a build like this. Cheap and odorless. I think it’s even used in surgery. I can always scrape away excess residue as it dries without ripping the print off the paper.  
 

For now, 

Meriadoc

 

[Baker]

Very nice work.
Seeing your build, makes me think to give a card model like this a try.

[Keith_W]

I have never built a card model before. What are the planks made of? Did they come in that colour, or did you stain them? How do you get them to run so smoothly? Did you sand everything? Also, the blue and red look quite a lot more saturated than the replica that is in berthed in Australia. Did you choose that colour, or did the kit come like that? If it is cardboard, can it be repainted? 

 

Sorry for all the questions, I am curious to try a cardboard model and I want to know how many of these decisions have been made for you by the kit maker. 

[Meriadoc Brandybuck]

1 hour ago, Keith_W said:

I am curious to try a cardboard model

Everything is made of various thicknesses of paper or card. The colors are printed. You can of course paint over it or cover it with your own planks of sorts to any desired effect, but I was happy enough with the kit colors OOB and lack the time to go to great lengths to improve what is already good enough for me in this case. 
There is a good introduction to this kit floating around here somewhere; I’ll see if I can find it. Seahorse (the manufacturer) has some other excellent subjects, almost all in 1:100. 
 

The planking system uses a 0.5 mm longitudinal card layer to conceal frame locations and is further covered by a thick printer paper layer with finish planks; done properly (it’s not hard if you follow the instructions: don’t use PVA for the planking) it results in a very nice hull. The rest is just basic modeling skills common to any medium (but usually easier in paper!) 
 

here:

Meriadoc