Noel Smith
Shefford, Bedfordshire, England
Amid much fanfare, the Swedish warship Vasa (or Wasa) set sail on its maiden voyage on August 10, 1628. As the ship’s gunners prepared to fire a salute to the city of Stockholm, sudden gusts of wind twice tipped Vasa onto its port side. The second time proved fatal as water rushed into open lower gunports and the ship sank in plain view of city folk and dignitaries gathered to see it off.
Noel built Revell’s 1/150 scale Vasa but installed carved figures from the older 1/144 scale Airfix Wasa. He writes: “The model is built to depict how the ship appeared when she sank. She had only four sails bent into the yards, her fore and main top gallant masts and yards were missing, and she was short of eight of her main cannon, four from the main gun deck and the four stern chasers.”