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HIGH HOPES, WILD MEN AND THE DEVIL’S JAW - Willem Barentsz Kolderstok 1:50

Hello Everyone

I think it is high time that I post the next instalment in the series of the Willem Barentsz replica. Today we will look at the actual goals of the foundation of the Willem Barentsz as well as the first series of actual construction photographs:

WBN.png

THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE WILLEM BARENTSZ REPLICA SHIP - PART 3 WHAT ARE THE ACTUAL AIMS AND GOALS?

The heroic tale of Willem Barentsz is one of the most touching stories from Dutch maritime history. Subsequently, he has always been regarded as one of the most famous Dutch explorers. Reconstructing his ship according to the building methods of the late 16th Century, would not only represent a daunting challenge to those who undertake such a venture, but would also be nothing short of a national treasure. Therefore, The Willem Barentsz Expedition Ship Foundation has as its goal to rekindle this piece of Dutch glory.

Upon completion of the ship, it could be utilized for tourism, historical research and for the training and education of those interested in naval history. However, the personal dream of Gerald de Weerdt and Koos Weestra has always been to retrace Barentsz’s trip to Nova Zembla. In De Weerdt's words: "If we succeed in even completing Barentsz’s trip or even just a portion of it, we will put Harlingen, Friesland and the Netherlands on the World Map."

Our goals are:

1. To reconstruct the original ship with which Willem Barentsz undertook his expedition in 1596 AS ACCURATELY AS POSSIBLE.

2. To maximize all opportunities that the ship presents us with. This includes:
  • As educator of shipbuilding practices and maritime history of 400 years ago.
  • Strengthening and promoting tourism in the Friesland area and in Harlingen in particular.
  • The perfect example of how we can protect our cultural heritage.
  • Social Function: Not only does the reconstruction provide job opportunities for the unemployed, but it also serves as an education platform for a variety of projects.
  • Organizing and participating in commemorative voyages and retracing the routes of the original journey
1. inhouten.png
First frames are installed. Note the portion of the hull (shell) which was constructed before any framework was added. This is the classic Dutch shipbuilding method of shell-first.

2. eerste-zitter.png
Frame futtocks.

3. JaJaFo--120605_huidgang7.png
Hull planking has started. Fancy bending those puppies!



5. onderschaal-schip.png
The first wales are in place. Notice the scarph joints.

6. Worstelen-met-spant.png
The caption underneath this picture read: "worstelen met spanten", translated "fighting with the bulkheads/frames".

7. montage-kimwegers.png
Bilge area being planked on the inside.

8. uitstroken-spanten.png

And if you thought that fairing the frames before planking is something that is reserved for model building, think again!

9. In-de-nok.png

Working on the stem assembly. Here you can clearly see the different lines of the wales on the replica ship as opposed to those on the Kolderstok model which are more upswept in nature. This represents one of the hotly debated topics of the build and we have already discussed this at length in this build log.

a uitzagen zwalustaart.png

Creating a swallow-tail (zwalustaart) joint.

b uitsnijden-zwaluwstaart.png

Chiseling-out the finishing touches to the joint.

c pennen-slaan.png

Putting in the treenails/trennels: Top Row from left to right. Drilling the hole, chamfering the hole, hammering in the trennel. Bottom Row from left to right. Sawing off the extra length, creating a hole for the wedge, driving in the securing wedge.

d Mijlbalk(2).png

Placing the deck beams into position.

e berghout-bb-4.png

Fighting with the wales at the stem.

This is all for this update dear friends. I hope that you have enjoyed it. In the meantime and until the next update, happy shipbuilding - and in @Dean62 Dean's case, happy aircraft-building!
 
Pathfinder65 said:
Excellent, love the history and looking forward to the next installment of the 1:1 kit build.
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Thank you so much my friend. I am very happy that you enjoy the reconstruction photographs. It puts our challenges in perspective! :)
 
Pathfinder65 said:
Another WB

This WB is just little more modern. :D
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Mighty interesting Jan. I knew about the more modern version, but I had no idea that she was the ship in the background.

A quick squizz on the internet has also revealed these two vessels:

barentsz10.jpg

A whaler

1646148404787.jpeg

And passenger ship. I am also aware of a tugboat called the Barentszee.

Clearly it was a very illustrious name to carry!
 
Pathfinder65 said:
Looking at the pictures again, the gun port framing looks very unique.

View attachment 294201

Looks like an upside down mitre joint.
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Jan it does look like that, but it is so difficult to tell in the early stages of the build, what is temporary and what is permanent.

If you look at this picture of Gerald de Weerdt peering out of a gunport, it looks like a normal butt-joint that was used in the final assembly of the ports.

3702030_2_org.jpg
 
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