Newsletter | Ship Modeler

The Rope News is the quarterly newsletter from the Japanese ship model society The Rope, Tokyo. I just received the latest english language version of their newsletter. It is always amazing to see the quality and amount of work that comes out of this and other ship model groups in Japan. They are very active, even holding regular classes for first-time ship modelers using build subjects that are fairly involved, such as Woody Joe’s Charles Royal Yacht, and more recently, for their intermediate class, a 1/48-scale scratch-build of an english cutter.

1/48-scale model of an english cutter being built by Norio Uriu, one of the tutors of their current intermediate model building class.

I am told that this more recent class has 15 students in it. That’s more than all the active, attending members of both of the ship model clubs I belong to!

In any case, you can read this latest issue as it is available to view on the club’s website. I was particularly interested in seeing a build of the Kanrin Maru kit by Woody Joe, which I have. Also, there is a very nice 1/72-scale model of a Japanese whaleboat type called the Senzan-maru, used by the Tokushima clan.

Access the newsletter directly on Google Drive here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DCegymu9zoM-cP1nKzzPTIxokMsEH-yW/view

Or check out this and various back issues on the club’s english language site here: https://theropetokyo-en.jimdofree.com/newsletter/

It’s nice when you don’t have to toot your own horn because somebody else does it for you. In the latest edition of The Rope News, which is the newsletter of the Japanese ship model society in Tokyo, my friend Norio Uriu, who is the Director of International Relations for the group, did a nice little write up on me and my work on Japanese traditional boats.

I was introduced to Norio-san through ship modeler Don Dressel of the Ship Modelers Association of Fullerton, California. Don and I both built models of Woody Joe’s Higaki Kaisen kit and we exchanged a few emails about building Woody Joe kits. I built some of the other Japanese traditional boat kits, and he built a Japanese pagoda and Woody Joe’s Egyptian Sun Ship kit.

Having Norio-san as a contact in Japan, we made arrangements to meet for dinner one evening in Tokyo during my last trip to Japan. He brought along his daughter and his friend, Mr. Masami Sekiguchi, who had developed an interest in Japanese traditional boats, and who offered to help me get answers to questions I might have about them.

In any case, the writeup in the newsletter is nice, though a little embarrassing to read about myself there. You can download a copy of the whole newsletter (No 99, March 31, 2018), and find other past issues and gallery images on the english language section of The Rope’s website here: https://theropetokyo-en.jimdo.com. Ω