Geobukeon (Korean Turtle Ship)

The Young Modeler kit I used for this build.

The 1:3 scale speculative turtle ship reproduction in the Korean War Memorial in Seoul that I wanted to model.

Hull was built OOB.

Deck built OOB.

Tail structure was modified and detailed to match the museum replica.

Cannons and oars installed.

The kit mast supports, access hatches, and armor plating (l) are significantly different from those on the museum replica, this is the point where I left the kit instructions behind, and began scratch-building.

Mast supports modified to match museum replica.

I realized that the ends of the museum replica's planking are not visible, so I had to go back and cut a rabbet in the end beams.

Rabbet cut to receive ends of roof planking.

The kit ring bolts (r) were too large, so I made my own.

The iron corners were included in the kit in the form of dyed veneer. I made the rest of the ironwork myself from textured black paper rubbed with graphite.

To cut the hundreds of iron armor plates needed for the model, I made a punch by forcing the end of an allen wrench into a piece of brass tubing.

Armor plates were made from textured black paper that was coated with graphite on one side, and fish glue on the other. The fish glue is activated with moisture and then the tile is stuck in place on the hull.

Hundreds of spikes were also needed.

I made a setting tool out of styrene scrap to ensure that all the spikes were set to the same height.

The dragon heads on Korean replicas have a more open mouth, and longer horns than the resin head included with the kit (r), so I had to resculpt it.

I cut the head apart, and used a piece of brass rod to hold the halves apart.

I used epoxy putty to resculpt the features.

I included a vent in the back of the dragon's mouth because contemporaneous reports indicate that the crew could cause a foul-smelling smoke to be expelled from the dragon's mouth.

I made my own sails with strips of dyed paper glued together.

I simulated the bamboo sail spreaders (top) using modified dowels.

The anchor included with the kit (r) is significantly different from anchors on Korean replicas, so I scratch-built my own anchor.

Kit anchor (l), and scratch-built anchor (r).

Kommentare

17 3 August 2020, 14:34

Tom Beighley
I'd hate to have one chasing me down, looks very menacing. Nice car collection as well!

3 September 2020, 16:08

Treehugger
This somehow reminds me of a movie. Hm.. The Admiral: Roaring Currents

3 September 2020, 16:35

Mike Szwarc
Thanks for looking, guys! Treehugger, The Admiral: Roaring Currents is about the conflict where this ship would have been used, If such a ship actually existed. There are no contemporary drawings of the geobukseon, only a couple of vague written descriptions of it. This model is of a scaled down speculative recreation of a turtle ship on display at the War Memorial of Korea in Seoul.

3 September 2020, 17:14

matsal _
All the shipwright traditions from the old days were passed down orally. The word-of-mouth drawings and the last turtle ships were destroyed during the period of Japanese colonial era. Only a few contemporary fishing han-seon, which was a traditional Korean ship, survived after independent. Some ships were rebuilt by old ship carpenters, and they were academically restored. Unfortunately, all the military han-seon, including the turtle ship and pan-ok seon, weren't. We have only superficial details, such as painting by artists or list of supplies for the military ships, and they are not enough to restore the ships academically.

9 March 2023, 00:24