• SUBSCRIBE TO SHIPS IN SCALE TODAY!

    The beloved Ships in Scale Magazine is back and charting a new course for 2026!
    Discover new skills, new techniques, and new inspirations in every issue.

    NOTE THAT OUR NEXT ISSUE WILL BE MARCH/APRIL 2026
  • Win a Free Custom Engraved Brass Coin!!!
    As a way to introduce our brass coins to the community, we will raffle off a free coin during the month of August. Follow link ABOVE for instructions for entering.

Chinese Junk - Imai/Aoshima 1:60

johnlattanzio

johnlattanzio

Joined
Sep 12, 2025
Messages
171
Points
78

Location
Melbourne, Australia
While I continue working on the Golden Hind, I like to have something less demanding on the go at the same time. For a break.

I was impressed with the work done by Harry Houdini on his Chinese Junk - see here. So I bought one of these and will start it soon. I will go for similar colours to Harry because I think his looks excellent!

I have also been reading a bit about Junk rigs, in preparation...
 
Hi John there is a book called the golden lotus. It is about a bunch of kiwis tgat had a junk built then sailed it to NZ .there aee alot of pics and a description of how thwboat wasmade the traditional way this was in the 1960s it may be of help to you cheers Mike
 
johnlattanzio said:
While I continue working on the Golden Hind, I like to have something less demanding on the go at the same time. For a break.

I was impressed with the work done by Harry Houdini on his Chinese Junk - see here. So I bought one of these and will start it soon. I will go for similar colours to Harry because I think his looks excellent!

I have also been reading a bit about Junk rigs, in preparation...
Click to expand...
Very nice selection. I have the same way of thinking and for that I have a few easy ships to do. I also like to do something "out of the standard". And for that I have a couple Chinese boats waiting to be done. Last year, I did this one :

Post in thread 'NANHU RED BOAT , Shicheng Model, 1:50 [COMPLETED BUILD]' https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/...-model-1-50-completed-build.14638/post-385449

Thread 'NANHU RED BOAT , Shicheng Model, 1:50 [COMPLETED BUILD]' https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/threads/nanhu-red-boat-shicheng-model-1-50-completed-build.14638/

It has a very interesting story and was easy to build.

Cheers
Daniel
 
Mikes shed said:
Hi John there is a book called the golden lotus. It is about a bunch of kiwis tgat had a junk built then sailed it to NZ .there aee alot of pics and a description of how thwboat wasmade the traditional way this was in the 1960s it may be of help to you cheers Mike
Click to expand...
I have found the book online. I might try to get a copy or at least some useful pics. Thanks.
 
Dematosdg said:
Very nice selection. I have the same way of thinking and for that I have a few easy ships to do. I also like to do something "out of the standard". And for that I have a couple Chinese boats waiting to be done. Last year, I did this one :

Post in thread 'NANHU RED BOAT , Shicheng Model, 1:50 [COMPLETED BUILD]' https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/...-model-1-50-completed-build.14638/post-385449
Click to expand...
That is a great build! It is good to do some unusual or different things. I loved it! Many thanks for pointing it out.
 
Some progress...in planning, not in building :-)

Firstly I show some pictures of Harry Houdini's Junk (see here). Love his colours and his results. I intend to basically copy his, with some changes as discussed below (probably!). If mine comes out half as well as his, I will be very pleased!

Pic-1400.jpg

Pic-1404.jpg
Pic-1401.jpg
Pic-1402.jpg
Pic-1403.jpg
 
Harry largely followed the rigging suggested in the kit. And I agree with this with one exception. The kit has some strange rigging linking the sail corners. One would normally call these "sheets" but I don't think junk sheets are the same thing. My reading of junk rigging did not show anything similar to the line in the instructions (red and green, below). The kit suggests the following....rope (d)...one on each side.
Pic-1445.jpg
Pic-1444.jpg

This makes little sense to me. Having looked at junk rigging there are two main things that are not included in the simplified instructions:
  • parrels for holding sails to mast
  • sheets and topping lifts, for reefing the sails
The diagram on Wikipedia shows these lines...

Pic-1420.jpg

And the NZ junk "Golden Lotus" also clearly shows the lifts and sheets (thanks to Mike's Shed):

Pic-1424.jpg
Pic-1425.jpg

I think the battens, and their unique way of reefing, is what makes a junk so interesting. The battens fold up like a blind, making reeefing relatively easy. These stills are taken from this video.

Pic-1419.jpg

So I think I will add the topping lifts and the sheets.

I think I will skip the parrels. They may be a bit fiddly. I think the sheets and lifts will give the impression of the function of the junk rig.

Final decision to be made after I get to that stage :-)
 
So.... based on the figures above I think I have worked out how to rig the topping lifts (relatively easy) and the sheets (not so easy!)

Here are my instructions to myself for the lifts, telling me what to do and in what order.
Pic-1452.jpg

Now the sheets. Much more complicated! If I have it right I will need a fiddle block and a double block as well as 3 normal single blocks. But the real problem is that the cyan line has a block on each end but runs through another block! So one block has to be stropped to the line after it is in place. Wish me luck getting all these lengths right, so the rig looks good. I may regret this!
Pic-1451.jpg
 
Alternative sheet rigging!

Based on the painting below, this version has single lines with one block stropped to the end. No lines with blocks at each end, which are harder to complete on small models. This looks convincing but each line will be much easier to execute. It still needs a fiddle block and a double block, but that is easy. I might go with this. Looks convincing. (Remember - it is a model, not a replica!)
Pic-1457.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top