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Building the Rijkswaterstaat 1 

   - by Frans Dekker

 

 

Model:            Length                        164 mm

                       Wideness                     32 mm

                       Height                         132 mm

Bottle:            Length                        315 mm

                       Diameter                     165 mm

                       Bottleneck                     30 mm


Rijkswaterstaat is a government body that has the management of the major waters, dikes and coastal protection of Holland. In 1915 they bought a vessel that original was built as a yacht for a German. Because of WW1 he could no longer afford the ship. The name they have given to the ship in first was Rijkswaterstaat. Later on they chanced it in Noord-Holland, a province I live in. The last name was Rijkswaterstaat I. Today the ship is in the harbour of Enkhuizen.


The following is a pictorial guide showing the steps  Frans Dekker took in building this ship in a bottle. It is best viewed by clicking on the first picture and then moving your curser to the right middle side of each picture to reveal the ">"  (forward symbol).  Click on the > symbol to advance to the next picture in sequence. There are six pages.

 

The model I made is as far as I could find in pictures and drawings in the original state. A book is made of the history of this ship and is has 3 different drawings and several pictures. But none of them is the same so it was quite difficult to find the original state. Later on the look is chanced. The ship was used for patrol cruises, measurements, supervision and control. It was also used for represented tasks. During his life (it still is in function, mostly in representation tasked) there were more than one innovations. Deckhouse, mast, engine, sails and wheelhouse are renewed and chanced. But the hull is still the same.

 

The hull is made in two parts. The keel, stem and bow and the rudder is made of one plate of copper. The small entrance on the foredeck and the schinlights are glued on the starboard side on the hull. The wheelhouse and the salon are placed after the hull parts are made together.