The Flickr Interioraccent Image Generatr

VASA is shown as she would have appeared (under full sail) had she not encountered her misfortune and sank in Stockholm Harbor in 1628. However, she was raised and benefited the world relative to actual 17th century ship design.

With the assistance of 16th-17th century rigging tables/notes left behind on these vessels, along with paintings/drawings of the period; I was able to unearth a more reliable rigging method that made sense over 'speculation'. During my maritime tenure of the 1980s, so many 'egos' surfaced and tried to suppress my work(s)...But now, I finally get to expose it to the world for what it is.

We ALL can enjoy this God-given beauty. It was not meant for one culture or entity. It was meant for those who dared to explore freely and, at will. So now, I've proven my call as both historian, artist, and craftsman.

This is 'my take' on VASA... I can only hope others will follow their purpose and draw from this ship the good which is the period of which a culture came together and produced a vessel that not only was designated to protect them; but a vessel that took the skill of many men/women to plan and design accordingly. This is the real history behind the 'tragedy'...and I am not one to leave a stone unturned in my creations. My works have always been complete.

I raise, again, my glass to Airfix and to the late Bjorn Landstrom.

This project was an exciting adventure -(and build)... i could have easily scratch-built this, but decided to challenge my skill by modifying an existing plastic kit which was manufactured by Airfix circa 1980s.

The challenge was to keep only the hull and carve away some of the plastic features. Those features included many of the gunports and ornate carvings at both bow and stern. As a reference, I followed the illustrations of author Bjorn Landstrom to conclude the build by scratchbuilding and enhancing details with wood substitutes made of bass and birch woods. This included all the guns which were custom-made of birch.

Decking I penciled and hand-scribed in bass. Deck furniture, doors, belay pins and rail enhancements were done in birch. Anchor stock, masts and yards were a combination of both birch and bass. The sails were custom made of treated bond paper which gives a realistic 'feel' in both settings whether it be a calm breeze or windswept motion. In this case I chose the latter.

Rigging was very tedious and took much time in this build. There are no shortcuts for accuracy -especially when detail invites scrutiny. As a professional I've been around this bend so many times.

I've heard so many complaints regarding this kit relative to warping, alignment, etc. But I personally feel anyone can bring correction to flaws and make good on the effort...such as seen in these images. I raise my glass to Airfix!

Flags have been one of my signatures which make those pieces I've created in my 40 year tenure easily identifiable. I paint and bend them in such a way that it's difficult to copy. In my early years I made them out of soft foil and had to support them with wire; but as I matured in the field I went opposite my contemporaries whom used tissue and; instead, experimented with bond paper.

After trial and error, I finally found a solution to treat the paper after I painted the decorations. This helped in receiving commissions and exposure at notable venues in and around New York and New England. Finally, the world.

The beauty of this paper was that the flags flew naturally with thread as opposed to wire. These threads come in the form of silk, antique, Irish linen, and cotton...all which place these particular models in the 'one of a kind' category.

People assume that I build these unique models for my own pleasure; and I say to that....No. I build them as an exercise to further my knowledge on sailing ships of the period -document and then sell them. As with SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS (the model I build prior to this), I find this one quite exceptional.

Now, if I can only locate the Airfix SAINT LOUIS c.1626...