"Meermann" or "Wodnik" 1627 (1:100, scratch) [COMPLETED BUILD]

Joined
Jan 20, 2019
Messages
85
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183

Location
Poland, Tobylka
Welcome everyone,

encouraged by a group of friends, I made a bold decision to develop a model of the "Meermann" ship, which took part in the Battle of Oliwa in 1627. The battle was not big when we compare it to great clashes of great maritime powers, but for Poland at that time it had a huge political and propaganda dimension. Because here "... the traders from Danzig defeated one of the strongest fleets - Sweden ..." as the angry king of Sweden reportedly said. The dynastic war with Sweden, in which the Republic of Poland got involved, led to the Swedish capture of part of the Polish coast and the sea blockade of Gdańsk. Partially built in Gdansk, partially bought (mainly from the Netherlands), the Polish fleet, emerging from the morning mists, attacked the "sleeping" Swedish ships standing in the roadstead of Gdansk. The Poles captured the Swedish "Tigern" and caused an explosion on "Solen" which sank. The Swedes withdrew, that's the whole battle.
Battle of Oliwa

Unfortunately, there are not many sources regarding the construction of these ships, so we can only use "standard" solutions from that period. Since my English is not so perfect that I could, like Ab Hoving, write passionately about dilemmas during the reconstruction, I will stick to some of the most important facts and a few "blank spots" to which Polish historians and researchers have not found an answer so far.
The dimensions of the ship are known with some assumption that all mistakes were detected in the main source, ie "Wismar inventory". There is no original document, only the original copy, in which the copyist's mistakes were found. Also the weapons and equipment are known from the above list.
The Scot James Murray was responsible for the creation of the Polish fleet, which for many historians is tantamount to the statement that they were English-style ships. But the empty royal treasury (which probably lasts to this day :)) allows you to suspect that maybe it was built in the Dutch style, which was much cheaper and faster than the English method. Besides, some of the ships that were part of the Polish young fleet were bought from the Dutch. There are many such unresolved dilemmas for each ship.
I am familiar with four images depicting this event, but they differ drastically and, as recently noticed, are partially copies of other earlier images. The mere fact of "piracy" in painting is not surprising, but it reduces the credibility of such works. In short: in the most popular of these paintings by P. Janssen you can see a copy of the ships from the Dutch painting of the Battle of Bantam (1603), and the second important painting, A. Boy's watercolor, is a compositional copy of the painting of the first one, i.e. P. Janssen :)

Searching for an answer is hampered by the multitude of myths that cling to the Battle of Oliwa. Around 1950, the plans of "Meermann" were created, which in fact are a modification of the plans of the "Rotter Lowe", with anachronistic geometric patterns in white and red on the sides. It seems to me that only Hansa ships had decorations of this type at that time. By the way, the red and white colors became the national colors of Poland only in 1792. Such a form of "Meerman" caught on in the mentality of even researchers who reproduced these and other errors. In the mindset of many Poles, this battle took the form of not a historical event, but a legend.
There are still many details that I could complain about, so maybe enough :)

When building, I used typical lines of Dutch ships from that period, because I assumed that there were masters from the Netherlands, not from England, in the Gdańsk shipyard. And probably right, because I had to introduce few changes to make the dimensions taken from the "Wismar inventory" match the ones I have. This applies not only to the distance between decks, width and length, but also to the draft, which turned out to be almost identical.

So the hull was built.
1 mm cardboard frames. Simplified gun carriages inserted on one side.




The first cover stiffening the structure:




And the second horizontal cover:




I put planks on the hull prepared in this way:









Best regards
Tomek
 
Your work is looking very good -> Thumbsup
I am every time newly surprised, what is possible in cardboard and paper .... :cool:
 
Hello Bonden,
I always observe your model building with great pleasure and because on die-kartmodellbauer everything is in German, which unfortunately I do not know, I am glad that you show your work in English here too :)
Of course, I know the "Papegojan" model from Shipyard, although I never built it - probably because I have been designing ships myself for many years and there is not enough time on "someone else's" projects.
I am also very curious what will come out of Meermann, because for modelers in Poland this ship is a legend, but unfortunately there are not enough sources. All attempts at reconstruction, and this one, are also largely just imagination.

Greetings
Tomek
 
Hello everybody
Thanks to everyone for your comments and interaction.
All work on Meermann is done simultaneously, so I have only a few stages completed.
I glued all the wales and finished the work on the bulwarks.
28.listwy i belki.jpg
30. listwy i belki.jpg
33. listwy i belki.jpg
It took some time to adjust the planks covering the walls and glue the "posts".

I also glued a "sloep" - a boat that will be amidships.
Gluing steps in the photos below.

szalupa 02.jpgszalupa 04.jpgszalupa 05.jpgszalupa 06.jpgszalupa 10.jpgszalupa 11.jpgszalupa 12.jpg
szalupa 09.jpg


Greetings
Tomek
 

Attachments

  • szalupa 09.jpg
    szalupa 09.jpg
    1.1 MB · Views: 6
I agree completely with Bonden - looking very good
 
Hello,
thank all of you for accepting my efforts.

Very slowly but finally I was able to complete the hull construction phase. A few details (e.g. cleats) are missing, but the hull can already be shown.
The handrails took the most time, because it is difficult to cut dozens of equal posts. That is why I glued the handrails first and then adjusted the posts under them. I know, I know - not everything came out evenly, a few posts "tip over", not always perfectly vertical. I admit to these mistakes and let it stay that way :))) (The color is definitely redder than the pinkish ones you see in the pictures.)
36. kadłub.jpg
39. kadłub.jpg
41. kadłub.jpg

I added modest ornaments in the form of carved stripes, which at the same time cover the edges of the decks. On the stern, I placed a larger ornament with the coat of arms of Gdańsk. The whole thing is ineptly painted "by hand", but the inaccuracies can only be seen in the photos and with the help of a magnifying glass. So overall I'm happy so far.
42. kadłub.jpg
44. kadłub.jpg
45. kadłub.jpg
47. kadłub.jpg

Currently, I am looking for a way to make covers on the sides (I do not know the English term for heavy canvases hanging on the edges of the sides on additional frames to protect the marines from musket fire), because so far all attempts with different materials look bad.
NMM_NMMG_BHC0752-001.jpg

Greetings
Tomek
 
Last edited:
Exceptional workmanship, Tomek!! ThumbsupOne day, I might achieve the same results... :)
 
Hello,
thank all of you for accepting my efforts.

Very slowly but finally I was able to complete the hull construction phase. A few details (e.g. cleats) are missing, but the hull can already be shown.
The handrails took the most time, because it is difficult to cut dozens of equal posts. That is why I glued the handrails first and then adjusted the posts under them. I know, I know - not everything came out evenly, a few posts "tip over", not always perfectly vertical. I admit to these mistakes and let it stay that way :))) (The color is definitely redder than the pinkish ones you see in the pictures.)




I added modest ornaments in the form of carved stripes, which at the same time cover the edges of the decks. On the stern, I placed a larger ornament with the coat of arms of Gdańsk. The whole thing is ineptly painted "by hand", but the inaccuracies can only be seen in the photos and with the help of a magnifying glass. So overall I'm happy so far.




Currently, I am looking for a way to make covers on the sides (I do not know the English term for heavy canvases hanging on the edges of the sides on additional frames to protect the marines from musket fire), because so far all attempts with different materials look bad.


Greetings
Tomek
The photos are for me not visible, because you uploaded them not on SOS but on an external place.
We kindly ask you to upload them here, so they are for ever visible for the members...... many Thanks in advance
 
The photos are for me not visible, because you uploaded them not on SOS but on an external place.
We kindly ask you to upload them here, so they are for ever visible for the members...... many Thanks in advance
I am very sorry. My mistake. I hope now it works.
Greetings
Tomek
 
Welcome everyone,

encouraged by a group of friends, I made a bold decision to develop a model of the "Meermann" ship, which took part in the Battle of Oliwa in 1627. The battle was not big when we compare it to great clashes of great maritime powers, but for Poland at that time it had a huge political and propaganda dimension. Because here "... the traders from Danzig defeated one of the strongest fleets - Sweden ..." as the angry king of Sweden reportedly said. The dynastic war with Sweden, in which the Republic of Poland got involved, led to the Swedish capture of part of the Polish coast and the sea blockade of Gdańsk. Partially built in Gdansk, partially bought (mainly from the Netherlands), the Polish fleet, emerging from the morning mists, attacked the "sleeping" Swedish ships standing in the roadstead of Gdansk. The Poles captured the Swedish "Tigern" and caused an explosion on "Solen" which sank. The Swedes withdrew, that's the whole battle.
Battle of Oliwa

Unfortunately, there are not many sources regarding the construction of these ships, so we can only use "standard" solutions from that period. Since my English is not so perfect that I could, like Ab Hoving, write passionately about dilemmas during the reconstruction, I will stick to some of the most important facts and a few "blank spots" to which Polish historians and researchers have not found an answer so far.
The dimensions of the ship are known with some assumption that all mistakes were detected in the main source, ie "Wismar inventory". There is no original document, only the original copy, in which the copyist's mistakes were found. Also the weapons and equipment are known from the above list.
The Scot James Murray was responsible for the creation of the Polish fleet, which for many historians is tantamount to the statement that they were English-style ships. But the empty royal treasury (which probably lasts to this day :)) allows you to suspect that maybe it was built in the Dutch style, which was much cheaper and faster than the English method. Besides, some of the ships that were part of the Polish young fleet were bought from the Dutch. There are many such unresolved dilemmas for each ship.
I am familiar with four images depicting this event, but they differ drastically and, as recently noticed, are partially copies of other earlier images. The mere fact of "piracy" in painting is not surprising, but it reduces the credibility of such works. In short: in the most popular of these paintings by P. Janssen you can see a copy of the ships from the Dutch painting of the Battle of Bantam (1603), and the second important painting, A. Boy's watercolor, is a compositional copy of the painting of the first one, i.e. P. Janssen :)

Searching for an answer is hampered by the multitude of myths that cling to the Battle of Oliwa. Around 1950, the plans of "Meermann" were created, which in fact are a modification of the plans of the "Rotter Lowe", with anachronistic geometric patterns in white and red on the sides. It seems to me that only Hansa ships had decorations of this type at that time. By the way, the red and white colors became the national colors of Poland only in 1792. Such a form of "Meerman" caught on in the mentality of even researchers who reproduced these and other errors. In the mindset of many Poles, this battle took the form of not a historical event, but a legend.
There are still many details that I could complain about, so maybe enough :)

When building, I used typical lines of Dutch ships from that period, because I assumed that there were masters from the Netherlands, not from England, in the Gdańsk shipyard. And probably right, because I had to introduce few changes to make the dimensions taken from the "Wismar inventory" match the ones I have. This applies not only to the distance between decks, width and length, but also to the draft, which turned out to be almost identical.

So the hull was built.
1 mm cardboard frames. Simplified gun carriages inserted on one side.




The first cover stiffening the structure:




And the second horizontal cover:




I put planks on the hull prepared in this way:









Best regards
Tomek
Hallo Tomek alias @0Seahorse
we wish you all the BEST and a HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Enjoy your special day
Birthday-Cake
 
Hello everybody,

Unfortunately, as I was afraid, the waistcloths caused a huge problem and took a long time and the effect is poor. I have tried to shape these hanging canvases from various kinds of silkspan, from tissue paper, paper towels, from a fine weave cloth, dry or wet, and no attempts have produced acceptable results. But in the end I had to decide on something and the choice fell on one of the silkspan. It looks "average" - better than me will do it better. I can always declare that this is just a "test model" :)))
okrycia szańcowe próby.jpg
51. kadłub f.jpg

I am still not sure what exactly such solutions looked like, and perhaps an additional difficulty is the fact that there could be just different solutions for different vessels. In the paintings from those years, waistcloths look as if they "lay", but again on some plans and studies you can see frames on which these canvases "hang" rather than "lie".
okrycia 6.jpg
okrycia 3.jpg

In any case, this stage is over and it is time to put up the masts.
I tried to make standing rigging in a way that is probably typical for small Dutch ships. I used the Heemskerck and Zeehaen plans.
I had a few problems, because I used old cyanoacrylate glue which turned snow white when dry. So all shrouds had to be painted black. A bit of laziness, and a bit "because it is a test model" :))), fore shrouds and a fore stay are the same thickness as main shrouds and a main stay, which of course caused further problems, because there is "too tight" at the top of the foremast. And I still have to push the other ropes from the running rigging there.

Blocks and deadeyes are made of pressboard.
74. stałe.jpg
70. stałe.jpg
71. stałe.jpg
72. stałe.jpg
73. stałe.jpg

Greetings
Tomek
 
Impressive build! Never thought that this could be possible with cardboard.
Decades ago I built some castles made by Schreiber. Still have the Schreiber lighthouse "Roter Sand" at home, unbuilt.
Maybe I give it a try some day....
 
Impressive build! Never thought that this could be possible with cardboard.
Decades ago I built some castles made by Schreiber. Still have the Schreiber lighthouse "Roter Sand" at home, unbuilt.
Maybe I give it a try some day....
Thank you.
My whole adventure with cardboard boatbuilding came from the fact that I did not believe that a sailing ship could be glued from cardboard and that she would look nice. Previously, I glued cardboard planes from WW I and one day (about 15 years ago) I tried to stick together a cardboard sailing ship (for the sake of difficulty, I decided to glue Wasa). I built her and never went back to building planes, tanks, etc.
 
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