Korean Turtle War Ship - Young Modeler - 1/65 [COMPLETED BUILD]

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Already a few years ago I was looking to a documentary (Discovery) about the battle between Korea and Japan. The Turtle Ship had the leading role and at the end I know that I had to build this ship. I have made searches on the internet and could only find one kit from Young Modeler (South-Korea). There is also a 1/100 scale kit, see the nice topic about this ship from Mike Szwarc (MSW) – it's because of this topic I could not let the box closed anymore .

Some wikipedia: (full text: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_ship )

"The Turtle ship, also known as Geobukseon(거북선), was a type of large warship belonging to the Panokseon class in Korea that was used intermittently by the Royal Korean Navy during the Joseon Dynasty from the early 15th century up until the 19th century.
The first references to older, first generation turtle ships, known as Gwiseon (귀선; 龜船), come from 1413 and 1415 records in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, which mention a mock battle between a gwiseon and a Japanese warship.
However, these early turtle ships soon fell out of use as Korea’s naval preparedness decreased during a long period of relative peace.
Turtle ships participated against Japanese naval forces that supported Toyotomi Hideyoshi's attempts to conquer Korea from 1592-1598. Korean admiral Yi Sun-sin is credited with designing the ship. His turtle ships were equipped with at least five different types of cannon. Their most distinguishable feature was a dragon-shaped head at the bow (front) that could launch cannon fire or flames from the mouth. Each was also equipped with a fully covered deck to deflect arrow fire, musket-shots,
and incendiary weapons. The deck was covered with iron spikes to discourage enemy men from attempting to board the hip. Claims that it was iron-plated remain controversial."

A replica is shown in the War Memorial in Seoul.
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Controversial or not, I will build her covered with the iron spikes.

Some pictures of the box and its content:

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And started already with a dryfit - total length will be 60 cm:

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This looks a very interesting kit, I haven't seen anything like this before.
The box contents looks to be of a decent quality and plenty of fittings, this is a build that I will need to keep my eye on.
Steve..
 
Anja, popeye and Steve, thanks for looking in :)

@Anja
All the action is below decks indeed. It must have been very crowded with about 60-80 oarsmen and 60 marines. On each side you can find at least 10 cannons and another cannon could be placed in the dragonshead when is wasn't used for the sulfurgas.

Some progress.
I have started with the pedestal frame. I used some oil, the reason why It's still a bit shiny.
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The hull is not so complicated, very flat but it's according to the original ship.
With a little help of "Lego" I glued the first five frames:
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The planking will be layered and frames are already prepared for it by the manufacturer:
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I'm satisfied with the first results:
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Very interesting take on the planking. Kind of a clinker build. Will really make planking easy. The whole kit should go together really fast and make for a nice display.
 
It's a clinker build indeed and frames are already prepared for it. This kind of planking was most common for Korean ships in that period. So far I'm satisfied with the kit, nice manual, nice wood, etc.
 
Wim,
it seems you always have this knack of choosing the most esoteric ships to build. I would have never found this ship. This is a new one on me. Just like your other builds, I am sure that you will do it justice with your talent.

Donnie
 
Wim,

Impressive kit, quite a lot of goodies in it :D I'm looking for a Japanese ship, as I'm interested in that culture. However, there's not a lot to be found, if any. Anyway. I'll follow your progress with interest. Have fun with this slant eyed lady
 
Thanks for your comments :D .

@popeye
I've seen that buildlog too and that log was the reason to start with this one.
It was already stored in my closet for more than a year.

@Donnie
Thanks, I hope for a nice and clean build.

@coq
Carl, thank you, there are not so many ships from te East. I've already build a Chinese one, but never seen a Japanese.

@Sjors
Those pins were to prevent Japanese mariners to enter the ship. And I am pretty sure they didn't :).
 
Seven planks on each side were enough to close the hull, no difficult bending.
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Overview:
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First modifiation is upcoming.
This is according to the instrucions:
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And look at this photo of the replica:
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It's not quit the same :eek:.
 
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Hello all, since this is a really old post (from 2013), I can only play with shown evidence. It is evident that member Wim500 uses an external service when uploaded the photos. As such, all the images were shown in the log stored in the server belonging to this service, in our case is Photobucket. (see below). We don't know the 'Terms and Use' for this service. We don't know how long (the period of time) the Photbucket should keep the uploaded photos. I can see, that for some reason, the photos are not available (curently) at the place they were stored\uploaded. It is up to a user to investigate.

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SOS encorrage all members to upload images directly to SOS build log via 'attach' or 'drag & drop. This way images stored in our server alone with a forum software. If you still unclear, PM me and will provide more details, if needed.
 
Sorry for any inconvience for the missing photo's. I finished this build already and after this build I had a break for several years.
I have replaced some photo's and will add some more to show you the end of the project.

Cheers, Wim
 
First the bow (rounded planks):
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Parts of the mast foot:

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Dryfitted in ship:
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The tail of the ship must be extended with three pieces, now trying to repair the small gap with sawdust and a bit of carpenters glue.
It's not done yet.
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Preparation of the maindeck:
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Overview (dryfit):

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Cheers,
Wim
 
Bending sideboards - 5mm x 5mm cherry.
First soaked in water of course.
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And the first modification of the tail (not finished yet).
Furthermore I want to hide the gap at the right side - I'll fix it, but need some time to think about that.
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The cherry was more easy to bend than I thought.
Placing the deck on the hull. Needed some creative clamping.

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And without clamps.
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Working on her tail:
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Some very small parts:
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Placing them on the boards:
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Some quick photo's:

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Blackening the metal parts.
The ship will be 'overloaded' by metal parts. Hope it wont sink.....

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Anchor build:
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Heliview:
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Firstmetal parts. It looks Wow imo.
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More details:
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Building roars:
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One side with roars finished:
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Cheers,
Wim
 
Both side roars are placed, so second deck could be glued.
In the middle there is a jig, which was in the kit.
It is intented to obtain the right shape in the roof.
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Two planks over the jig.
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Some guns and fences on second deck and removed jig.
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Normally you only plank the hull...now roof too.
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First planking.
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Deck is closed now, a bit sanding and she is ready for her metal coat :)
Busy with the portholes - must say they have a different position we are used to.
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Painting the dragonhead in gold, for more depth it need some black wash.
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Studying the pattern of the metal armour.
An impression:
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Placing armour:
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Finished the armor, I am satisfied with the result so far.
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