The “Vologda” pink model is being built by Sergey Lushkin, Cherepovets ship modeler, out of eight types of wood. To make the model — a reconstruction of an 18th-century ship on a scale of 1:72 — he used drawings from the archive of the St. Petersburg Navy, and additionally consulted with the maritime museums of London and Amsterdam.
The pink "Vologda" was built in Arkhangelsk in 1749, and was used to supply the fleet`s operations. The length of the vessel is 36 meters. Width - 8 meters. Artillery weapons - six small-caliber cannons for self-defense.
By order of Peter the Great, Vologda citizens were sent to St. Petersburg, Arkhangelsk, Voronezh to build ships. At that time, 70 percent of the shipwrights at shipyards were from the Vologda province. Therefore, the names associated with this region were carried by more than 20 ships. Only two ships, for example, are named in honor of Pomor'ye . But in honor of the Vologda region - pinks “Vologda” and “Great Ustyug”, frigate “Theodosius Totemsky”, three galleys “Sheksna”, galleys “Chagodoscha”, “Ustyuzhna”, galliots “Vologda” and “Tot`ma”.
The hull of the ship is made of linden and sheathed with wooden planks. The underwater part is made of bog oak wood, which has lain in water without air for more than 100 years and has changed color from gray-brown to black. For the surface part, the wood from the trunk of an apple tree was used. The masts are made of light wood - maple, apple and mountain ash. The figurehead is made of pear. Carving - decor on the stern – is made of boxwood.
The blocks, used in the sail control rig, are made of a birch burl. The deadeyes - from boxwood. The sails are made of batiste with double stitching. For rigging, cotton threads were used, woven on a ship-model machine for the required diameter. All metal parts are copper or brass.
Sergey Vladimirovich is the grandson of the ship mechanic of the Milyutin`s shipping company, naval officer, retired captain of the 2nd rank, member of the Russian Geographical Society. His collection is known to the general public from exhibitions and booklets.
Sergey Lushkin has been building miniature ships for many years, and follows the path of the Vologda masters. His specialization is Russian sailing ships of the first half of the 18th century. These are, as a rule, small vessels - military, commercial and fishing: koches, shallops, karbases, Novgorod busas, flat-bottomed boats, shitiks, Arkhangelsk hookers, pinks.
Ekaterina Starostina
Photo is provided by Sergey Lushkin