A plank-on-bulkhead reproduction of Henry Hudson's historic vessel! Pre-cut wooden components are poplar and mahogany, dark walnut, limewood, tanganyka and beech. The decorative strips along the bow and stern are intricately inlaid - not painted - wood. The hardwood, brass and gilded metal fittings are of excellent quality. Kit includes ten sheets of plans.
Advanced Intermediate Skill Level.
Length 21" / Height 21" / Scale 1:50
Please note: The manufacturer of this wood kit is based in Italy.
Although complete plans and instructions are included, the limited English instructions
provided require critical thinking and some modification as needed.
This is not a build by numbers kit, and is not for everyone. Additional technique books, and or
access to the advice of an experienced wood modeler or wood model club is
recommended.
To see other wood model ship kits: please click
here.For tools, books, & glue: please click
here.The Half Moon was the name of a Dutch West India Company ship which sailed in what is now New York harbor on September 11, 1609. It was captained by Henry Hudson who was in the service of the Dutch Republic and who named the discovery of the river, which now bears his name, the Mauritius River after Holland's Lord-Lieutenant Maurits. The Half Moon’s arrival had profound implications on American history and culture as it laid the foundation for the only colony among the Original Thirteen with a legal-cultural tradition of toleration as the underpinning of cultural diversity.
The Half Moon sailed from Amsterdam to the Barents Sea, turning westward to traverse the Atlantic Ocean sailing from Newfoundland to south in search of the Northwest Passage. They sailed to what they believed to be an island, and gave it the name of New Holland, but afterwards discovered that it was Cape Cod.
From there they sailed south to the Chesapeake and then went north along the coast navigating first the Delaware Bay and, subsequently, the bay of the river which Hudson named the Mauritius River. The Half Moon sailed up Hudson’s river as far as Albany, New York, where the crew determined the water was too shallow for farther progress. Realizing that the river was also not a passage to the east, Hudson exited the river, naming the natives that dwelled on either side of the Mauritus estuary the Manahata. Leaving the estuary, he sailed north-eastward, never realizing that what are now the islands of Manhattan and Long Island were islands, and crossed the Atlantic to England where he sailed into Dartmouth harbor with the Dutch East India Company yacht and crew. A map of 1610 depicts the Manahatas west and east of Hudson’s river and from which the name Manhattan originates.
A replica of the Half Moon was built and designed by the late Nicholas Benton in Albany in 1989. Mr. Benton, a master ship-rigger and shipwright, was president of the Rigging Gang of Middleton (Rhode Island), which specialized in colonial ship restoration and design. To prepare for building the Half Moon, a $1 million project, he visited maritime museums in the Netherlands and the United States.
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