Thursday, April 11, 2019

Chinese JUNK sailing vessel

This is the very old (1956) Aurora plastic model of a Chinese JUNK sail boat. For a model tooled in 1956 it is surprisingly good.

The word "junk" may be derived from the Chinese word   meaning boat or ship or sailing vessel, but more probably from a Malay word for boat later used by the Chinese. Generally it means a boat with fully-battened sails. The type reached its apex in the 15th - 17th century.

The basic wood colour is Vallejo's mahogany weathered with oil pastels. The plastic masts were replaced with wooden masts, then it was fully rigged. More coiled rope will be added, as will some general cargo on deck. The truly hideous base will be replaced with almost anything which is not as awful, or at least painted as a temporary solution.

It is very difficult to photograph something this dark. Work in progress... by John Clearwater