Axel Thorsen 1810 in scale 1/72

[Dubz]

Axel Thorsen 1810 Dane - Norwegian Schooner 1:72 by Modelship Dockyard

Size: Length  40cm
Width    8cm
Height  25cm

Download Instruction Manual - Axel Thorsen 1810

Time for something new.

I have a special relationship with smaller, more unusual ships and kits, and I wanted to build something "simple" without having to think too much. Spoiler alert: the plan didn't work out at all :-D

In my stash, I still had this small, inexpensive 1:72 kit with a printed hull from Modelship Dockyard. The design seemed interesting and the finished hull promised easy construction... Anticipated, that was a misjudgement :-P


History:

The Axel Thorsen was constructed in 1810 as a Naval gun-schooner for the Royal Danish/Norwegian Navy. Built from pine, the vessel measured approximately 56 Norwegian feet (approx. 19 meters) in length with a displacement of 74 tons. It was armed with two 24-pdr swivel guns and typically crewed by 45 sailors. This class of schooner was designed to counter the British blockade of the Norwegian coastline during the Napoleonic Wars, primarily tasked with escorting merchant ships from the White Sea to Norway. In its early service, the Axel Thorsen participated in multiple convoy missions and harbor defense operations.

Following the Napoleonic Wars, the ship continued to serve for decades in diverse roles, including coastal surveying, Arctic scientific expeditions, and marine resource harvesting. Its final chapter came in 1872 during an Arctic exploration when it was trapped by ice and abandoned in Tsjesjekaja Bay near Cape Kanin.

Axel Thorsen epitomized 19th-century maritime endeavors—from wartime defense and sovereignty assertion to Arctic exploration and resource exploitation. Its dual roles reflect the era’s complexities


The Kit:

At first glance, the kit makes a good impression. I prefer pear wood, but cherry is also a good wood. Turned brass gun barrels, high-quality blocks, photo-etched parts and some resin parts (3D printed) round off the picture. A 1:1 side view of the model is included as the only plan. The instructions can be downloaded from drydockmodelsandparts.com, for example.

Unfortunately, it becomes clear as early as step 3 of the instructions that something is seriously wrong. The instructions – as will become increasingly clear – are unfortunately a disaster. Parts are not mentioned, not named, look completely different from the laser-cut parts, are supposed to be installed in a way that is not possible, and are sometimes listed in an "unfortunate" order.

Unfortunately, this seems to be a fundamental problem with lots, not all, Chinese kits. Which is a shame. Wonderful little kits are designed, but it seems that no one is willing to go through a couple of beta build iterations to test whether, for example, the instructions are correct and what can and, above all, must be optimised. It's a great pity.


Anyway, challenge accepted.

The inner planking should be made with 1 mm cherry veneer. There's no way to get all the bends with nthese shor parts – the wood is simply too thick! Other manufacturers rightly use 0.5 mm veneer for this. I switched to this and made the parts with 0.5 mm pear veneer.

Another issue was the waterway. According to the instructions, it should be glued to the deck, which is nonsense, if only because of the fishing that has been done. With a 3D-printed hull, you would expect everything to fit perfectly, but that is not the case. The waterway had to be laboriously adapted to the shape of the printed case.

The keels false keel is not mentioned in the instructions and no part number is shown, great (I mean I don't care ... haha).

It was a very frustrating start, and I was undecided whether to start a build log because there was a possibility that I would abandon the project. So much for simple and relaxing... :-D














Cheers Dirk

[Dubz]

Continue with step 05 of the instructions. Here, the outer hull is to be planked. It must be ensured that that the top of the first plank is flush with the top edges of the sides of the hull. Unfortunately, there is NO mention of NOT shortening the planks at the stern, so beware or be smarter :-D According to the images it LOOKS like to cut them flush. Much better would have been to do step 07 - the stern - before. You will learn I like filler.














Cheers Dirk

[Dubz]

Going on with step 05 - I did the whales - and step 06 the handrail ... another fail of the kit haha. First the parts would not have been fit flush when the inner planking would have been done with 1mm veneer. Second the handrail should not be flushed to the planking anyway.









Cheers Dirk

[Dubz]

Fixing the handrails ... looks much better.

















Cheers Dirk

[Dubz]

Finished step 05, the planking (and the handrails). It would have been nice if the last planked would have been oversized wide, now the is a small gap at the keel. I prefer to remove the laser char so that might lead to the gap. The lasered plank did not fitted anyway the way it should, lots of sanding needed at the bow ...

















Cheers Dirk

[Dubz]

Then the hull was oiled and lightly polished with Ballenmattierung. I always like to do this at this early stage, as it also protects the wood from sticky fingers.







Cheers Dirk

[Dubz]

After that, there was a first airbrush session. Everything above and including the whales will be black. The original ship may well have been black all over but I don't wanna hide the beautiful cherry hull. The inside will also be sprayed black. Among other things, I HAVE to do it because a lot of filler will be necessary at the stern and bow.






Building the stern ... filler time. Nothing fits here, nothing. No mention in the instructions were angles needs to be sanded and or else... The stern parts shown in the manual are completely different from the lasered ones, oversized and much more rounded. I also had to "fix" the shortend planks issue, as I wrote this part should have been done BEFORE planking.






Cheers Dirk

[Dubz]

The result (I am still struggling with the wrong angle of the stern rail.)























Cheers Dirk

[Dubz]

Step 10 - A "fun" part and so a long post. A very complex part with lots of angles has to be build with nothing then a single image in the instructions. Joke. No drawings, no angles, no marks.




Unfortunately, there are virtually not much sources, especially when it comes to details. I have Marquardt's original plans, then there is a paper model with some pictures, a very well-built model with pictures but many differences in detail, and two small black-and-white images of Marquardt's construction (which also differs from his plans in some details). So there is a lot of room for interpretation.

First, I had to determine the total width of the object and exactly what needed to be removed from the bulwark (I have no idea why the 3D-printed cover wasn't adjusted accordingly already...).





The side wall was then sawn freehand along the markings.


Fits.






Continue customising, step by step.






Filling and sanding.








There wasn't enough wood at the front, so something had to be added.






Grind in the rounding (still needs more :-))








Ready for airbrushing :-)











Next step will be glueing the part, then filling and airbrushing again where needed.

cheers

Dirk

[Dubz]

Glued und airbrushed :-)

Edit: Learned it is too far aft. Sux. Many flaws already in the boat but I still think the model "tells the story" quite well.



























cheers

Dirk