David Antscherl’s Norwegian Sailing Pram Kit

I’ve been waiting for this one. If you’ve been following my blog, or even if you’ve just been keeping on top of ship modeling news, you probably know that Model Expo has started a new line of model boat kits in a series of progressive model building tutorials. These kits are designed by one of the best ship modelers of our time, David Antscherl,  who is also the author of several ship modeling books.

I’ve just spotted the second kit of the series in an email ad from Model Expo, the Norwegian Sailing Pram.

This kit is classed as an “Intermediate” kit, but I think that term is relative, since so many square rigged sailing ship model kits are called Intermediate as well. But, it is designed to be the second build, after the completion of the earlier released Lowell Grand Banks Dory kit. For those who have never built a ship model kit before, this series should be an ideal way to build up the skills necessary to master more complex builds.

Actually, if you act quickly, it looks like you can get the kit, currently marked at $49.99 with free shipping. And, if you add ANYTHING to your order, you’ll get 25% off the order. This deal is only good until August 31st. I’m sure there’ll be another deal around the corner, but I went ahead and sprung for it (I ordered a pack of $3.49 drill bits to get over the $50 threshold), so I can see first-hand how the kit looks.

Here’s a link to the kit on the Model Expo site. There’s no special coupon you need to use for the deal I mentioned above. It’ calculated automatically: https://modelexpo-online.com/NEW-RELEASE-Norwegian-Sailing-Pram-112-Scale_p_4239.html

And, if you don’t have it already, the Lowell Grand Banks Dory kit is only $22.99 at the moment, so you might just spring for them both to get your free shipping and 25% off: https://modelexpo-online.com/NEW-RELEASE-Norwegian-Sailing-Pram-112-Scale_p_4239.html

Remember, you don’t have to be a beginner to build one of these kits. For experience modelers, you’ll probably find it a nice quick distraction from your long-term projects. Ω

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My Newest Book Acquisition – The Greenwich Hospital Barge of 1832

I’m something of a collector of ship modeling books – Well, of kits and tools and supplies too, for that matter. But, the books provide the most inspiration and learning, so they’re particularly important. Plus, they’re a nice distraction from time to time. And, you never know, maybe I’ll actually build the subject matter of the book at some point.

Today, my copy of David Antscherl’s book, The Greenwich Hospital barge of 1832, and methods of building open boats, arrived in the mail.

Many of us are familiar with David Antscherl’s other works on the excellent Swan-class sloop series and his book on the Fireship Comet and others, all published by Seawatch Books. He’s so prolific that I can’t keep up with his publications. But, this book was, frankly, the least expensive, and of a very different kind of subject, so I thought I’d go ahead and get it.

The subject is a Thames River ceremonial barge that, if I understand correctly, belonged to the Greenwich Hospital and would primarily have been used by the Mayor of the Hospital as a kind of river limousine.

The book is also about building small open boats. The Hospital Barge is one that is clinker-built in 1/48 scale, but the book also goes into the construction of a “plug” and a method for using it to build ship’s boats. A carvel-built hull is used for the example there.

It’s a small book, but a very nice one – 86 pages printed in full color, plus it includes a pair of 8-1/2″ x 11″ sheets of plans for the Hospital Barge.

You can find more photos and description, or order your copy from Seawatch Books. Ω

 

The Hayling Hoy of 1759 – New Book by David Antscherl

David Antscherl has done it again in this newest publication from Seawatch Books.

 

This newest title details the construction of an English Hoy, a harbor craft used to transport cargo and passengers. The book details the plank-on-frame construction of one of these vessels, using framing techniques from the first volume of The Fully Framed Model, a.k.a. The Swan series.

The Seawatch Books description doesn’t give many specifics about the vessel or the plans. Presumably, the plans are the same 1/4″ scale (1:48), as those in the Swan series were. Anchor hoy’s being cutter-rigged will certainly make this a smaller model in comparison with a full-rigged ship. I’m looking for more details now and will revise this post with any updates I find.

The book is a large format 8-1/2″ x 11″, 200 pages, hardcover, with 8 color pages and 3 sheets of plans, and sells for $70 plus shipping. Ω

 

NRG Conference this Week in St. Petersburg, Florida

For those who weren’t aware, if you happen to be in the area of St. Petersburg, Florida this week, you should consider checking out the NRG Conference, which is being held at the Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront hotel.

The annual conference is an international gathering of ship modelers that will take place from Thursday, October 26th through Saturday, October 28th. Local tours of interest take place on Thursday, while Technical sessions and symposiums, plus the annual membership meeting and banquet, take place on Saturday.

New: Swan IV Revised and Sail Making Supplement

David Antscherl’s series of books on building a “Fully Framed” model of the British sixth-rate sloop of war Swan, or one of her sister ships, is know to ship modelers everywhere as the definitive guide to building a plank-on-frame ship model as a miniature replica down to the last bolt. The series, published by Seawatch Books, has seen revised versions of the first two books in the series. And now, there is a revised version of the fourth book in the series, which details the rigging.

The book is not only revised, but it has been expanded to include a section on making and installing a full set of sails. The revised version is available for $70 plus shipping from Seawatch Books.

For those who already have the original version, a 16-page supplement has been published which includes the full text on sail making. The supplement is only $7 plus shipping from Seawatch Books.

The Royal Navy Fireship COMET of 1783 – New Book Release

A Monograph on the Building of the Model by David Antscherl

This book, recently released by Seawatch Books, is another fabulous work by the most excellent and admirable ship modeler and author David Antscherl. I had an opportunity to meet Mr. Antscherl at the 2014 Nautical Research Guild Conference in St. Louis in October and found that he is not only a wonderful author and ship modeler, but he is also a very nice gentleman. I even shared the dinner table with him and with Gilbert McArdle, who wrote the book on building the HMS Sussex, 1693, the book on Building the Yacht Utrecht, and long ago wrote Modeling the USF Constellation.

David Antsherl is also the author of the highly popular Swan series of books. In addition, he and Greg Herbert (author of the 3rd book in the Swan series), run admiraltymodels.com. This is a must visit site for those interested in building the fully framed model.

My copy of this book arrived just a few days ago and I didn’t have a chance to read it all, but I did go through it with great interest. The hardbound book is 8-1/2″ x 11″ and 160 pages and includes a separately packaged set of 6 sheets of plans. The book is full of photos and illustrations showing, among other things, the details of construction specific to fireships. 6 pages of color photos show the incredibly beautiful model that Mr. Antscherl is constructing.

Those wishing to build a fully framed model like the model illustrated in the book will need to consult the Swan series of books for such details. This book really covers the details of the fireship in general, but the bulk of the book is about building the details of the Comet.

Whether or not you’re planning on building the fireship Comet, this is a very interesting, informative and inspiring book to have. Ω