Chinese Junk 1880 by Ferrus Manus - Imai - 1/60 - PLASTIC - My First Non-Western Ship

[Ferrus Manus]

I've been eyeing this kit for a while, as I would like to build another Imai ship model. I also used to have a fascination with Chinese and other non-Western ship types, which I feel are woefully lacking on MSW. I'm also pretty sure my build of this model is going to be the first on the forum. 

My build logs usually entail me posting progress photos and maybe a few explanatory sentences, but this one will be a severe departure from that norm. The reason why is that this log is intended to serve as instructional material for a coworker of mine who is just starting out with scale model shipbuilding. Thus, extreme care must be taken to ensure my information is accurate and well-explained. 

I somehow managed to get my hands on a first-edition copy of this kit, and if you know Imai kits, you'd know how rare they are. Please, if you see one of these for sale online or anywhere else, snatch it up right away- you may never see one again. There are Imai kits I have been searching for for years, and I've never found even one place where they were sold. 

Here are some introductory photos: 

The first two pictures are of the box, and the third one is of the instructions, which are all in Japanese (Imai is a Japanese manufacturer that is long-defunct). You might see an issue when comparing the three. The two illustrations of the ship have significant differences between the two, which in turn have differences between them and the model itself. For those reasons, and reasons of historical accuracy, I am going to rig my model based on historical photos and diagrams. The hull will be constructed according to the instructions. 

This is Aoshima's version of the model. 

The model has a lot to be desired in the paint department, and while the plastic sails provided in the kit are some of the best I have ever seen, they are still plastic sails- woefully out of scale, inorganic, and unsuitable for use. I will be replacing them with sails made from silkspan and wooden dowels. 

There is one more striking issue with the kit that is obvious in this photo, which is the extreme aft rake of the mast. I have already begun working on a solution for this as far as my model is concerned. I will also be using the ship's hull as a canvas for some pretty intricate paint-work, in order to make the ship look filthy and worn-out. 

Here's the dry-fitted hull and deck: 

Wish me luck! 

[Dziadeczek]

As you noticed, Imai is long gone, unfortunately...    😞    Replaced by another Japanese kit maker, Woody Joe - check their offer, perhaps you'll find something interesting for you.

 

Many years ago I built a model from Imai - their "Osyoru Maru" (Oshoro Maru) - a brigantine, research vessel from the Hokkaido University's department of Fisheries. I got this kit as a gift from a friend from Japan.

Cute little project, very well designed and easy to understand, even though the instructions were only in Japanese. Recommended for a beginner with some experience with his hands.

 

 

Edited May 21 by Dziadeczek

[Ferrus Manus]

If I ever have the time, money, or display space, I would like to build Imai's Kaiwo Maru in 1/100 scale, a four-masted sail training bark:

 

[Ferrus Manus]

This is the paint job for one of the hull halves. 

I made sure to attempt to accurately portray the way hot, wet climates beat up and destroy wood. Clearly, this junk has not been well taken care of. My decisions for this model's paint job were based primarily on this black-and-white photograph, which I have interpreted in color: 

Let's see how we got there. 

First, I applied a coat of cream colored paint, which was almost the same color as the plastic: 

Then brown on the very organic-looking wales, and a creamy tan on some of the planks, which may have been replaced recently. I made sure to make it as messy and sloppy as possible, which will come in handy when weathering. 

A healthy coat of a light brown shade: 

A very heavy coat of antiquing medium, my favorite paint for the last two years: 

I made sure to rub some of the paint off to add to the weathering effect. I also dry-brushed on a mixture of brown, white and grey, which you can barely see in photos: 

I then added muck on the bottom, as well as barnacles and algae: 

Finally, the eye and serpent carvings were painted: 

This is approximately how we will continue the paintwork throughout the construction of this model. We will pay special attention to weathering and shading, and spend as much effort as possible making this ship look like something that would have really existed in the South China Sea. You should be able to see a clear distinction between this and Aoshima's paint job, which looks toylike in comparison. We will paint the gunwale in a bit. 

 

 

 

[ccoyle]

18 hours ago, Ferrus Manus said:

If I ever have the time, money, or display space, I would like to build Imai's Kaiwo Maru in 1/100 scale

 

Check out these offerings from Woody Joe: https://www.zootoyz.jp/contents/en-us/d2045761086_Japanese-Sailing-Ship-model.html

[Ferrus Manus]

Gluing the hull halves is very easy given that this is an Imai kit. The keel will require some sanding and the aft interior will receive some more painting detail. 

[Glen McGuire]

A very interesting subject and kit, Ferrus.  I've done one SIB with Chinese junk ships and have another SIB currently in work with a Japanese ship as the subject.  I find the ancient Chinese and Japanese ships fun (and challenging) to build because of their unique hull shapes, deck structures, and sails. 

 

Really nice start with the weathering process of the hull.  This should be a great tutorial for your friend.  Looking forward to see your work here.    

[Ferrus Manus]

Thank you, Glen. I could never do the kind of work you have done with your Japanese SIB. 

[Ferrus Manus]

The next thing I'd like to get out of the way before we do the deck is the rudder. 

Here is the ship's rudder and tiller: 

I have already done some modification to the rudder in preparation for mounting. The kit instructions say that you are to trap the rudder between the hull halves when you glue the hull together. I did not want to do that. I wanted to retail the rudder's freedom of rotation and, more practically, delay the installation of the rudder  until after the hull halves were glued. Originally, there was a ring that went around the top of the rudder's main post, and two pegs that joined into the sternpost at the aft of the ship. I have sanded both of those down. Rather unusually for Imai kits, there are three injector pin marks to fill with putty. 

This is the rudder after I filled the injector pin marks. I have also drilled a hole with a pin vise near the top of the rudder fin. This will accept the rudder lift, which was an important feature on Chinese junks:

The stern of the ship. I have the unpainted transom resting on the back of the hull. The planked gun platform is glued in place and painted. There are two holes on the center-line of the stern. The forward hole is for the rudder, and the aft is the step for the mizzen mast. I have drilled two holes immediately aft of the rudder hole for the lift. 

Some actual rudder designs: 

[Shotlocker]

Great work, Ferrus. I built two Imai kits in the late '70's - the Santa Maria (photo attached) and the Catalan ship.

Thoroughly enjoyed building both, especially the Catalan ship. It's a shame the company went out of business.

I sold the Santa Maria model to an Italian restaurant in the Denver area and sometimes wonder if they still have

it. The Catalan ship went on a voyage to an unknown destination, so I hope it still exists.

Regards,

Gary

[Ferrus Manus]

12 minutes ago, Shotlocker said:

Thoroughly enjoyed building both, especially the Catalan ship.

That is one of the Imai kits I would love to build someday, I've just never seen it being sold. I doubt a single copy with ever show up online again! 

[Shotlocker]

In the past, I've seen it for sale on eBay, but it was hell expensive. Haven't looked recently but you may want to check

to see once in while. Maybe someday a company will reissue it from the old molds? One can hope, eh? 

[Ferrus Manus]

I've now completed the rudder assembly. There is a rope that wraps around the rudder post to prevent it from tilting aft, as well as the rudder lift. Here's what they look like from outside: 

And the rat's nest inside the ship, which will not be seen once the deck goes onto the ship: 

Two of the ship's guns will go into the interior section at the aft, which will further obscure this mess. 

[Ferrus Manus]

The fore, aft, and deck of the ship were all painted similarly to how I painted the hull. The deck is slightly lighter as I went easier on the weathering, but the technique is functionally the same. 

The boat winch housings, pinrails, main rails, and mast are currently dry-fitted into the hull. I rectified the aforementioned issue with the mast rake by doing some strategic sanding of the base of the mast. These will probably all be painted some shade of brown. 

[yvesvidal]

Such a rare kit and unusual ship. I will be following your progress.

 

Yves

[Ferrus Manus]

The parts that we dry-fitted on the deck have all been painted according to previously laid-out principles, and installed. It is wise to dry-fit every part prior to painting and installation. What I like to do is grab and prepare a few different parts in the order I want to install them, and proceed from there. 

The next assembly will probably be some of the interior railings, hatch covers, and some other miscellaneous pieces. 

[Ferrus Manus]

The railings were painted to look like unpainted wood, which is an effect that isn't easy to achieve with a plastic model. What I did was paint each railing with two coats of thinned brown paint, which was applied unevenly, and put a brown shade coat on top of that. I proceeded to paint the top and bottom a different color of brown. 

The bamboo hatch covers were painted using a brown-yellow paint as a base. After that, a mixture of yellow and green went over select bamboo poles to indicate newer bamboo. Older bamboo in need of replacement was painted yellow-brown. 

The fore upper works were painted relatively normally, using a brown paint with shade on top. Metal elements were painted silver and shaded. 

Edited June 7 by Ferrus Manus

[Ferrus Manus]

Since we have now been over the basics of model painting, I find it redundant to continue with the painting tutorials. The next in-depth subject will be the rigging concepts, but we aren't there yet. 

The ship's stern lantern, sterncastle hatch mouldings, stern shade structure and fore boom crutch have been painted and put onto the ship. The fore shade structure and the fore and mizzen masts are currently dry-fitted in place. After we are finished with the masts, we will do some scratch-building to facilitate easier rigging. 

The paintwork looks much more flat in flash photos than it does in real life. 

[Ferrus Manus]

An interesting thing I found about this ship is that not only is it armed, but all three of its anti-ship guns point directly aft. 

Unfortunately, these guns had barrels so tiny they wouldn't have been able to accept a pin vise bit. The anti-personnel pieces that will be added after the completion of the rigging are the same way. Either way, the crew of this ship is probably well familiar with the practice of running away from something while shooting at it. Perhaps something this ship is carrying puts it on the wrong side of the law. 

Found it! In an attempt to conceal their criminal intent, a few members of the crew have partially covered their stash of highly illegal opium to sell on the black market in southern China. The sale and use of this addictive substance fueled two wars between Qing dynasty China and Britain in the mid-1800's, with the end result being a Chinese crackdown on the sale of the drug within their borders, citing social decay and the immorality of drug abuse. This was the original War on Drugs, and the crew of this smuggling ship is looking at a long prison stay if they're caught. 

[Glen McGuire]

20 minutes ago, Ferrus Manus said:

Unfortunately, these guns had barrels so tiny they wouldn't have been able to accept a pin vise bit.

Those barrels are tiny, indeed, and look near impossible to drill out.  I use veterinary needles (intended for cattle) for my very small SIB cannon barrels.  They are cheap and come in a variety of gauges/thicknesses.  Something to consider if you want that hollow cannon barrel look.  Although the one on deck above looks to have a bit of a taper, which the vet needles do not have.

[Ferrus Manus]

Since the hatches were made and painted, I have done the rest of the work for the ship's hull. I also did some scratchbuilding to facilitate easier rigging. In addition, I painted and installed all of the masts. The stern outrigger is a scratch-built addition, as a means to accept the mizzen sheet. 

 

These are some of the elements so far for the sails and rigging. The gunport lid and ladders have since been painted and installed as of the creation of this post. 

[Ferrus Manus]

Let's go through the entire process of making and rigging a sail from scratch. If you're someone who wants to use the kit sails (and they are remarkably well-made for kit sails) then this post won't apply to you. Before you make any sail of any type, you must first familiarize yourself completely with the type of sail in question and how it is used. You should know every line, block, and other structure on the sail, and what it does. Failure to learn everything about the sail you are about to make could cause you to have to remake the sail in the future, which is a huge waste of time. Ideally, you should analyze both modern diagrams and pictures/paintings from the time in which the sail was used. You could even check out videos of people actively sailing the modern replicas that use the sail. 

The Chinese junk sail (also known as the balance lug) is very unique in that it is an extremely complex sail for its size and use. 

The material I use for sails is silkspan, which is basically a stronger form of tissue paper. I used some modified parts from a different kit as the battens and yards/booms, so that is also a non-issue. The line I used for this sail was tan sewing thread, as it was a good diameter for realistic rigging on this sail. 

First, I measured and drew an outline of what the sail's size and general shape would be. 

Then, I drew in the panel lines on both sides of the sail with a mechanical pencil.

 

After cutting out the sail, I did a test fit to see how it would look on the mast and assess whether or not it needed adjustments. 

Before I could commence with the rigging, I had to do a few more things to get the sail ready. The first was to test-fit the battens to the sail to see if any of them needed to be trimmed, which none did. 

Afterwards, I soaked the sail in black coffee to give it a realistic stain. I dried the sail on a paper towel. 

These are the materials and procedures I use with nearly every sail I make, and I have made dozens. Many modelers choose to do it differently, many with better results. 

Now, on to the rigging. 

For the rigging of the sail, I followed the diagrams as closely as possible using the aforementioned sewing thread, which I stained a darker shade of tan using a wood tone paint. I had to modify some of the blocks to fit the design of the rig, but none of that was a big deal. The rigging was very simple, here is the finished sail: 

While the hairy thread isn't that apparent in real life, if you want to remove it, just run the thread through beeswax a few times. This should at least help.