A customer and mate hobbyist has kindly shared with me some pictures of his recenty built Dutch fleet, consisting of two large war galleons from Minairons, as well as a smaller 'race-built' fast galleon from Skytrex --all them at 1:600 scale. Here you can see what they look like:

He chose not to use the Dutch flag sets I published, but to paint some of his own instead. Bases are clear plastic rectangles textured by means of a clear silicone layer. Also, he glued a small magnet at bases bottom, for higher safety when carrying them.

We've just made available the second model of our 1:600 scale Age of Sail Ships range. Now it's been the turn for a late galleon, showing some features different to those of the former one (such as the bow piece or stern design, for instance), although compatible to it thanks to the chance to interchange some parts between them. The new kit is inclusive of a flags set of 1640-1653 Catalan ensign, flags and pennant --with several more sets available on our website.

This is what a built sample looks like, once superbly painted by Julián of Model J Ship (worth to point out he again chose a rigging option different to the one actually in kit):

If eventually interested in this new model kit, please note that, due to a silly misunderstanding with my resin caster, the number of model kits actually available right now is quite small; so there's some risk of finding an empty bookshelf if you don't rush fast enough to reserve your sample! Otherwise, you might have to wait a few weeks until a new, larger batch is cast.

Please allow me some minutes to introduce our next 1/600 scale Age of Sail ship, a Late Galleon, a sample model of which was recently built and painted by Model J Ship naval workshop along with her earlier sister, as you can see by the pictures in this thread.

Model kit will come in box, complemented by a flagsheet with a 17th Century Catalan ensign, flags and pennant --those very same you're watching in pictures here. This new 03NAV006 Late Galleon is schedueld for release in April 3^rd, but eventually interested users can already pre-order her from this web page.

Also, some will perhaps find useful the collection of 17^th century Ensigns we are developing, currently covering either naval, merchant and privateer flags of Spain, Portugal, Catalonia, France, Ottoman Empire, England and United Provinces, with more on the way devoted to Venice, Malta, Sicily, some Indies Companies and a handful of pirates.

She's priced the same as her earlier sister --that is, €15.95.

I'd like to wish to you all some memorable Christmas holidays with your beloved ones, as well as a most happy New Year.

Let me show in a few lines the latest hour releases, just at the start of these momentous holidays. First, some words for talking about our category of 1/72^nd scale Spare parts, that has just grown with a new addition: a turret kit for T-26 tank improvement, also suitable for BA-3 or BA-6 armoured cars, BT-5 or early BT-7 tanks, and some Spanish Civil War armour, like Hispano Suiza MC-36 or Chevrolet armoured cars. It consists of a detailed resin turret with separate hatches and a brass gun barrel. Hope you like it!

Also, we have released two new 'Reinforcement' kits (that it, the single model version of an already released boxed vehicle set), the one in 1/100^th scale (IGC Sadurní light tank) while the other in 1/72^nd (Landesa tractor).

In the end, we have several projects running fast altogether, hopefully welcome by gamers; as well as a couple of surprise moves and expected collaborations with other brands. Perhaps better leaving such subjects for later though, after Christmas holidays have gone by.

So enjoy your Christmas and please keep tuned!

While awaiting our first 1:600 Age of Sail model ship to come (see picture above), we're making its complementary 17^th century Naval Flags range to steadily grow. The first three sheets we released last month are now accompanied by three more sets: those for a Spanish Man o'War, a Catalan Galleon and Thomas Tew's pirate ship.

New sets can be purchased from our website at the price of €2.00 each. As already commented, these 6 first sheets are still to be followed by several more, accordingly to the current schedule shown in this page of Minairons Blog. Also, a lot of possible naval flags sets more are on Minairons' Wishlist page, awaiting your vote to make them see daylight. Join the contest!

Unless something starts going seriously wrong, I expect this will be my last update on our Spanish galleon designing project, before we plunge into the process of tooling it for production.

After all, as you can see by the image above, we have designed the model with two alternative bows and sterns, to reflect the design changes suffered by the ship over the centuries. Thanks to this artifice, we shall be able to launch not just one but two different galleons (sharing a central hull, but with interchangeable bow and stern pieces, in order to facilitate the construction of hybrid models).

In the end, this is the shape our upcoming 03NAV001 Early Galleon is going to take:

And this is what the 03NAV006 Late Galleon following afterward is going to look like:

That's not all though, because we have also designed each mast in two different configurations: with either fully unfolded and partially furled sails. As both kits' masts will be interchangeable too, this will allow for even more customization and variations.

Worth to confirm that ultimate model kits will be waterline (despite drawings above are showing hulls complete to keel).

POLL REMINDER

As already announced, we shall start releasing soon a collection of naval flags suitable for this upcoming ships range. Our first releases are to comprise ensigns, jacks and pennants for Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, French and Ottoman ships (either men-of-war and merchants/privateers); but we've also set recently a poll to help determine real priorities in this matter among users. Please help us decide by answering it!