I am a 78 years old Japanese model ship building enthusiast.

[Rob444]

Welcome aboard from Connecticut, USA. Beautiful work on your ships!

 

[RussF]

Absolutely beautiful slipways! With that level of detail, it could actually be functional as well. Well done!

 

[Daniel20]

Awesome!!

 

[Rebus]

Incredibly wonderful build!

 

[tossedman]

すごい！めちゃ綺麗！

 

[Masaaki Hikosawa]

Dear all.
Thank you for your kind word.
　　　You all speak Japanese very well.

I created this diorama with the aim of understanding the structure of the slipway and the cradle described in Mr. Boudriot’s book.

In particular, the cradle was difficult to understand just by reading the book, so I finally grasped it by actually building it myself.
The ship hull and human figures are at 1/87 scale.
Unfortunately, the slope of the slipway I made is too steep.
That’s a bit disappointing.

However, I believe I managed to make the cradle accurately.
Below, I’ve listed some reference materials.

The Seventy‑Four Gun Ship　1/4
　　　　Jean Boudriot
　　Hull Construction　64–77page
　　Slipway and keel blocks
　　Raising and horning of the timbers
　　Launching

Building the Wooden Fighting Ship
　　James Dodds, James Moore

THE BOMB VESSEL
　　GRANDO 1742
　　PETER GOODWIN

https://www.theropetokyo.org/2025/03/31/第50回ザ-ロープ帆船模型展-2-5/#50-15

 

[Masaaki Hikosawa]

Dear all,
This is my fifth post.

It is a cross-section model of the brig Oneida.

As with the shipyard diorama I posted previously, I created this diorama to better understand the structure of the ship's hull.
I also depicted how the cannons are secured and how the breeching rope’s ring bolts penetrate the frames.
The model includes structural elements such as the keel, false keel, frames, hanging knees, deck beams, and even the ballast materials at the bottom of the hull.

I created this using the following materials as reference:

The U.S. Brig Oneida
A Design & Operational History
by Gary M. Gibson
https://www.napoleon-series.org/military-info/Warof1812/2012/Issue19/Oneida.pdf

 

[rtwpsom2]

That is a very interesting idea, I like the execution.

 

[Masaaki Hikosawa]

Dear everyone,
thank you for reading my post.

親愛なる 皆さん,
Shinainaru minasan

私 の 投稿 を ご覧いただき 有難う ございます。
Watashi no toukou wo goranitadaki arigatou gozaimasu

When I build my models, I make the port and starboard sides asymmetrical.
For example, the starboard side might depict the ship entering or leaving port,
while the port side shows it under sail or in the midst of a cannon battle.

私は私のモデルを作るときに左舷と右舷を非対称に作ります。
例えば、右舷は入港または出航の状態左舷は帆走中または砲撃
といった具合です。

 

[Peter Gutterman]

That is a very interesting idea, I like the execution.

Agreed!

 

[tossedman]

Excellent craftsmanship Sir! Thank you for sharing.

 

[Masaaki Hikosawa]

Dear all,
I was recently asked a question about Japanese ships by a member of Ship of Scale. So, I’ve decided to share with you some URLs related to Japanese ships that I’m familiar with.

Some of the links are in Japanese, but please try using translation tools to read them. These days, even Japanese books I’ve introduced can be easily scanned and translated with a smartphone.
I hope this information will be of some help to you.

Wikipedia　 San Juan Bautista
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/サン・ファン・バウティスタ号

MIYAGI SANT JUAN BAUTISTA MUSEUM
https://www.santjuan.or.jp/multilingual_e.html

WoodyJOE　 San Juan Bautista
https://www.woodyjoe.com/196

Meiji Maru
Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology Meiji Maru Maritime Museum
https://www.kaiyodai.ac.jp/overview/facility/meijimaru/

Wikipedia　 Meiji Maru
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/明治丸

NIPPON MARU
https://www.nippon-maru.or.jp/english/

Wikipedia NIPPON MARU
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/日本丸_(初代)

Kaiwomaru
http://www.kaiwomaru.jp/en/

Wikipedia Kaiwomaru
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/海王丸_(初代)

An explanatory book on Kitamae-bune
You can buy it on eBey by searching the following names：
“Ancient Japanese Samurai Navy Ship Boat Recreated”

What is kitamae-bune
https://en.kitamae-bune.com/about/main/

kitamae-bune Hakusanmaru
https://n-story.jp/exp-report/45/

kitamae-bune　Michinokumaru
https://www.town.noheji.aomori.jp/kanko/spot/819

 

[KingDaddyo]

Hikosowa-san

Welcome and hope we give you the support and kindness you deserve and need to get to know all of us. While I have traveled extensively around the world for work and some vacations I never had the pleasure or honor of visiting Japan. I hope to visit before much longer. My youngest daughter traveled to Japan with a college singing group and had a wonderful time. She has offered to guide my wife and myself if we do go. I will visit The Rope to see what your group does. It's always good to meet new friends and learn from them.

 

[Masaaki Hikosawa]

Welcome and hope we give you the support and kindness you deserve and need to get to know all of us. While I have traveled extensively around the world for work and some vacations I never had the pleasure or honor of visiting Japan. I hope to visit before much longer. My youngest daughter traveled to Japan with a college singing group and had a wonderful time. She has offered to guide my wife and myself if we do go. I will visit The Rope to see what your group does. It's always good to meet new friends and learn from them.

Thank you for your prompt reply.
I hope you will visit Japan someday and enjoy your time here
(Although, with your huge motorcycle, Japan’s narrow roads might be a bit of a challenge! )