There are some more ship types I programmed to do some time ago, so I will continue with some more small 17th century craft.
The first one is a 'kaag'. It is a flatbottomed clinker built vessel, which is interesting for me, as I never did a clinker built model before. The model is reconstructed after a specification contract in the book by the Amsterdam lord mayor Nicolaes Witsen (1641-1717). The size of this vessel is 42 feet, which means in the 1 : 77 scale I work in, a total length of 17 centimeters.
Like the smalschip (narrow ship) I built before this one, the type was used as a lighter, to bring and take freight to and from bigger ships lying on the roadsteads of the isles of Texel and Terschelling, in order to transport it to Amsterdam. The merchantmen were often too big to cross the shallow waters of the 'Zuyderzee', the inlet of the North Sea Amsterdam is situated at. This is a small kaag. There were bigger ones, approximately the size of the smalschip: up to 70 feet. It was sailed by a skipper and his hand. The rig is a spritsail, like the smalschip.
Building is pretty straightforward. A cardboard skeleton, vertically covered with paper, filler was applied and the hull was sanded and planked with paper strips with a layer of self adhesive imprinted plastic. This time I did not forget to cover the plastic with primer to prevent the paint to peel off.
See you next time.
