Hanse Kogge Bremen – Continuing a Shipyard Laser-Cut Model Build

I published a post about building this Shipyard card model kit a couple weeks ago, and I’m working pretty steadily to get it done. I’m not done yet, but I’m getting close, and I thought I should post an update this weekend.

After my last post, I finished making the mast and yard and finished detailing the sail. I have to say that I really enjoyed working on the sail. It was kind of a lengthy process lacing the bonnet to the main sail, but it was also something I could just do without having to think about too much.

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Hanse Kogge von Bremen – A Shipyard Laser-Cut Model Build

Something I’ve been working on for about a year now, but haven’t been writing about here, is a card model from Shipyard. The model is of a medieval cog based on the Bremen cog that was excavated in 1962 in Bremen, Germany. 

The last time I mentioned this build was in my mid-summer update post last August. As I mentioned then, I have been maintaining a build log on this project, but this time, I chose to only post it on the Nautical Research Guild’s Model Ship World. I did this because I sometimes spend too much time writing and not enough time working on my many projects. So, I thought I might just keep the build log in one place for this one.

A Woody Joe Sir Winston Churchill Build Log on MSW

Good to see someone building this kit on Model Ship World…

This is the 1/75-scale Woody Joe kit of the sail training ship Sir Winston Churchill.

I have one that I started, but it was just to keep me building during a motivational lull. It’s a very nice kit that, interestingly enough, is the exact same scale as the Billing Boats kit, which is pretty similar in price. The Billing Boats kit isn’t as well organized and the instructions are in the simple Billing Boats style, where the Woody Joe kit has the parts very well organized, makes good use of laser-cut parts, has color illustrated step-by-step instructions, but they are only in Japanese.

Still, you might want to check out this ship modeler’s build, as he seems to have been dealing with the language barrier quite well. Bear in mind that this is his first wooden ship model kit: https://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/17779-sir-winston-churchill-by-marc-l-woody-joe-scale-175-first-wooden-ship-build/

When I am able to devote my full attention to my own build, I’ll start a build log here. But, I did write an out of-the-box review, also on Model Ship World. Here’s a link: https://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/14594-review-woody-joes-sir-winston-churchill/

I know of at least one other ship modeler in the same forum that is also planning on building this kit. And, if you’re interested in buying this kit, you can get it from the Japanese online shop Zootoyz.jp.

An Intro to Card Models – V108 Torpedo Boat

For those of you looking for nice tutorial on card model building, check out Chris Coyle’s tutorial on The Nautical Research Guild’s Model Ship World. In this tutorial, Chris uses a small, downloadable model of a German WWII V108 Torpedo Boat produced by Digital Navy.

The company produces several card models, that you can download for around $35 to $40. However, they have given Model Ship World permission to host the downloadable files for their tutorial and you can get these for free. You will, of course, need a color printer and some good quality card stock paper to print on.

https://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/2701-intro-and-table-of-contents/

 

Completed waterline version of the V108 card model built by Chris Coyle and featured in his tutorial

Since I’ve been working on a couple paper models, I thought it would be a good idea to follow this tutorial and try my hand at building this relatively simple card model myself. The startup cost is hard to beat, and you really need only very basic tools for start modeling in paper.

This is probably a lot more common type of paper modeling than what I’ve been building from Shipyard kits, which is why I want to run though the tutorial.

If you want to give it a try too, I encourage you to register with Model Ship World (it’s free) and start a build log there.

I started mine, which you can visit at: https://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/16325-v-108-torpedo-boat-by-catopower-digital-navy-1200-scale-card-msw-tutorial-build/

 

The Nautical Research Guild and Model Ship World Team Up

Last week, the Nautical Research Guild sent out an announcement that it had acquired the ship modeling forum Model Ship World. At the same time, notices were posted on MSW announcing the merger, as they called it. Now, the site is officially called The NRG’s Model Ship World.

The only details I’ve seen regarding the new relationship is that the NRG will fund any shortfall in the sites fundraising operation, and any surplus MSW funding will go to the NRG. MSW members will automatically become associate members of the NRG. Free membership with MSW gets any benefits of NRG membership, but won’t receive the Nautical Research Journal.

Model Ship Word is a very active forum with a large membership, and already, MWS members are becoming more aware of the NRG and some have responded that they are now signing up for full membership. That’s a very good thing for the NRG. This also gives the NRG a stronger web presence, which it has sorely been lacking and will perhaps encourage it’s regular members to become more active and networked.

Reactions of MSW members are very good. But, MSW members tend to not speak out against actions of the site’s administrators, as on a site like this, people do tend to dog-pile on dissenters. Still, this will probably work out very well for MSW and offer more opportunities to learn and share the art of ship modeling.

Personally, I’m already a member of both, but I think this will end up encouraging me to do more on the NRG’s MSW site. I currently maintain a blog on my USS Saginaw model there, though it hasn’t been updated very quickly lately. I may end up moving or starting another blog there soon. They do tend to encourage you to make progress on your projects.

And here’s my own personal plug for The Nautical Research Guild. This is a great organization that encourages ship modeling. You don’t have to be an expert ship modeler to be a member, nor do you have to be a scratch builder. I joined as a beginner back in the 90’s and found tremendous inspiration in the pages of the Journal. And now, they have a mentorship program if you want someone to help you along, and will soon be hosting webinars and more. So, join today if you haven’t already done so.