18 | February | 2021 | Ship Modeler

Ship modelers who have even a passing curiosity on the subject of Japanese boats and the Japanese apprentice learning system will be sure to find this talk fascinating. Douglas Brooks was a speaker at past Nautical Research Guild conferences, and his talks were very well received.

Wasen Mokei 和船模型

Sorry for the short notice, but there is an online workshop this Saturday, Feruary 20th, from 11am to 1pm PST. That’s 2pm to 4pm Eastern. The Zoom-based workshop is being hosted by Kezurou-Kai USA and there is a fee of $50 for non-members and $30 for members. Douglas will be discussing the building of Japanese boats under the traditional Japanese apprentice learning system.

For those who haven’t had a chance to attend one of his talks, this is a great opportunity. I have been fortunate to have attended his talks both in-person and online, and I’m always learning new things. But, the story of his apprenticeships is fascinating and entertaining and I’m sure you will feel that way too.

Whether or not he plugs his book, Japanese Wooden Boatbuilding, I strongly recommend it for anyone who is interested in building a real Japanese wooden boat, a model of one, or…

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As I announced in a previous post, Artesania Latina’s new Vasa kit is here! Ages of Sail reportedly has several of the kits in stock. This kit seems to mark another step-up for this classic ship model company, which in the old days, was often the first brand that future ship modelers were exposed to, as they were carried in the standard hobby shop distribution chain.

What seems most interesting now is the level of detail in the kit instructions. I don’t know how much of the instructions are included in the kit, as there are something like 400 pages of photo-based instructions. The kit includes a DVD and you can download them off the Internet as well, so I can’t imagine they’d print up such a massive book.

Anyway, check it out. You may find your next ship model project!

Ages of Sail

We just received a big shipment of products from the “new and improved” Artesania Latina, so we’re finally recovering after the holidays depleted our stocks of this long-time popular brand. In addition, we’ve receive some new kits you might want to check out, as well as the return of an old favorite, the San Juan Nepomuceno. But, the biggest news by far is the release of their brand new kit of the 17th century Swedish warship Vasa.

This spectacular kit is made for the Expert Level modeler and is produced in 1/65-scale, making it one of the largest Vasa kits available at 42″ long and 34″ high. The kit makes heavy use of die-cast and photo-etched decorations, and there are a LOT of them!