Hohenzollernmodell 1660-1670 Scale 1/21

Joined
Sep 23, 2018
Messages
97
Points
253

Hi everybody,

my Name is Peter and I'm from Germany. Some of you might know about a comtemporary Dutch ship model from the 1660s that was destroyed by bombing in WWII. The model was owned by Kaiser Wilhelm II who was exciled after WWI, hence its name: Hohenzollernmodell, but the model remained in Berlin. It is unknown which ship of the Dutch fleet the model represents.



In 2013 I started to build a replica of this model. This is what my copy of it Looks like now:







The cannons are cast in bronze:



Thanks for checking in.

Peter
 
Hi Peter,

Nice to see your incredible model again. We have met in May this year at the Batavia werf during the NVM modeling day. Here on the pictures you can't see the shear scale of your model which is just extremely impresive.

Yes I know the vessel from the book of Winter which I used to modify my Mamoli Friesland which is based on this ship. There is some debate if it was a model based on a real vessel or not or just a model to impress and to sell ships to the Kurfurst of Brandenburg. Some sources say it is the vessel Jonge Prins but most probably you know all these stories.

I will be following your build closely as it is just an amazing project.
 
Hallo Peter, happy that you have found our page and decided to participate.......very happy Thumbs-Up

Great project you are making here - very interesting background -
Do you know why they decided once to make the model in the unusual scale of 1:21 ?
 
Many thanks everybody for making me feel welcome here. :)
@Uwek As to the scale: we have to bear in mind that the original Hohenzollernmodel was most likely built without plans. As Nicolaes Witsen said: you will never get two identical ships. The ship grew as it was being built. Nobody knew what the ship would exactly look like until it was finished. I believe the scale the modelmakers were aiming at was 1:22, but as they didn't use plans, the model turned out to be everso slightly larger than planned. It was no big deal. The Amsterdam foot had only eleven Duimen so 1:22 scale would make perfect sense.

@Maarten The "Prins van Oranje" (also known as "Jonge Prins" or "Willem Prins van Oranje") was built in 1665 at Medemblik by Cornelis Janssen Olij. In 1667 she carried 62 guns, in 1674 64 or 68 guns. The Hohenzollernmodel was pierced for 74 guns. According to James Bender the "Prins van Oranje" was 150ft long, the Hohenzollernmodell was 156ft. We are talking of 1.68 meters difference! Maybe this came from the fact, that the model turned out slightly larger than it was meant to. The fact that the "Prins van Oranje" carried up to 68 guns doesn't mean that it was pierced for only that amount. If the HZM depicts a built ship then the "Prins van Oranje" is the sole candidate. A stern view by van de Velde the Elder shows similarities but also fundamental differences,.

Today I am working on the Konstapel Kammer. The black and white Image is of the historic model, the colour image is of mine.



Thanks for dropping in
Peter
 
Last edited:
Looking great - identical to the original model - missing only the dust of centuries is missing :cool:
One question to your way of making this photo of your model - do you have a special devise or lens?
 
In the past week I continued building the cartridge shelves for the Kontapelkammer. A template was cut out from cardboard for one of the rear walls. Small snippets of cardboard were used to follow the contours of the inside hull wall.



Here is the real wall made from oak:



Here the port-side shelf is finished including the "Steunder"



The same template that was used to form the rear wall was used for the standing knees:



Several attempts were needed before I was happy with the shape of the knee. Here the knee is drawen onto oak-wood:



and here the fully shaped item:



I think I can live with this:



Regards
Peter
 
Thanks UweK and Janet for your kind comments and also to everybody else for your likes. @JANET This is the basis for my model:













The book was published in 1967. I believe it was only available in German and in Dutch. The text is a detailed description of the model though one can tell that some of it was written while Heinrich Winter was recording the model around 1937/1943ish and some of it after the war when his Memory was already fading.
The book is chock full of some 40 photos of the model. Most of them are heavily retouched, so they can be misleading. In the meantime I have obtain copies of most of these photos in far better Quality.
The plans are ok-ish. The shape of the hull is good and also the position of the whales. The gunports are in the wrong sizes and also in the wrong places.

Here's a stern view of the destroyed model:



And here are the carvings so far of my model.



I don't do the sculptures myself, I have a professional from Berlin doing that job for me as he is far better at it than I am.

Peter
 
Hi time for an update here! :) I tested tarring one of the shrouds using the same approach that is used on full size ships. The result is excellent - the snag is: it took six months for the tar to dry sufficiently for me to handle the shroud.



So in the meantime I have completely wormed, served and tarred the mainmast shrouds hoping that I maight be able to install them in about six months or so.





The sculpturor has been busy too and has completed yet another figure for the Stern of the model:



In past days I have been figuring out the shape of the quarter galleries.







Now to transfer these shapes to wood! :)

Regards
Peter
 
Hello Peter,
Please let me start by wishing you a Happy New Years. My God, your ship looks amazing. At 1:21 scale, what is the actual size of this beauty? If I had to guess, I'd say she was about 320 cm long. If that is the case, "WOW!!!!!".
I hope to see more progress on your build.

Raymond
 
Back
Top