No need to be sorry Gunnar. I now a little of the Kon-tiki story, but your bit has helped fill in a few more details for me. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Todd On Sat, Jul 2, 2011 at 1:25 PM, Gunnar Sillén <[email protected]> wrote: > ** > > More on the Kon-Tiki > > > > In the mid 19th century not many westerners could imagine that ”primitive” > non-Europeans were able to travel the high seas long before Columbus. Deep > sea sailing was believed to demand a ”developed” culture to be invented and > dared.**** > > Therefore the Norwegian adventurer Tor Heyerdal was met with much > scepticism when he launched a theory that Polynesia might have been > populated through a direct migration from South America. He pointed at winds > and streams leading constantly from the South American west coast to the > Polynesian islands and at great similarities between pre historic sculptures > in both places. To prove the theory he had a native raft, a so called > ”balsa”, built in Peru following 16th century descriptions and with no > modern (metallic) strengthenings. Together with four friends from the > allied war training camp ”Little Norway” (started in Canada) and a Swedish > ethnologist, he sailed off from Callao on the 28th of April 1947. The raft > was named Kon-Tiki after an Inca divine personality who following the > ancient myth had to flee over the ocean together with his closest after a > hostile attack from neighbours. **** > > Heyerdahl and his friends sailed and drifted ****7000 kilometers** and > landed after 101 days on the island Ravoia, where the polynesians showed > such an interest in the raft. Even if they had never seen a vessel of this > type they already knew it and had a name for it as it well followed > descriptions in the myth telling how their ancestors had come to the > islands. **** > > The book that Heyerdahl wrote (1948) on the expedition became a > bestseller and the documentary film from the journey got an Academy award in > 1951. I was a quite young boy at that time, but still remember how impressed > I was when seeing the film in the cinema together with my parents. **** > > Even if Heyerdahls theory on migration still is not so accepted, he > managed to show that pre historic native crafts were good enough for > tranocean crossings. It has made it easier for us to understand that even > stone age peoples could sail the seas. Only that they did not need the > growing amount of safety gadgets that later generations don´t dare to live > without.**** > > ** ** > > As I stated already in my earlier posting, this paper model downloaded from > the Bulgarian site http://www.bgbiomass.com/bghobby/kon-tiki/index.htm has > been a great pleasure to deal with. I have done some mistakes (who does > not?) but managed to masque most of them behind a little paint and lots of > threads. (The amount of ropes and lines on the pictures of the real craft > are stunning.) For the rigging spars I have been lucky that my wife > several years ago cultivated flax in our garden. Beautiful flowers alive. > Nice bouquets also when dead and hanging in or ceiling to dry. And now a > huge stock of masts, antennas, canons, stancions and what ever thin and > strong I need for detailing my paper models. **** > > ** ** > > Sorry that there are no scale indications with the photos. The model is in > 1:100 and has a length of **15 cm** (**6 inches**?). Also sorry if the > story was a bit long, but the model inspired me so much.**** > > Gunnar**** > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Jim Krauzlis <[email protected]> > *To:* [email protected] > *Sent:* Tuesday, June 28, 2011 10:36 PM > *Subject:* RE: [Papermodels II 45155] Kon-Tiki > > Greetings, Gunnar!**** > > ** ** > > I believe the model your described is still available at this site:**** > > http://www.bgbiomass.com/bghobby/kon-tiki/index.htm**** > > ** ** > > Is this the one? I can’t tell either who the designer is, although the > home page talks about three individuals and the hobby pages seem to refer to > “George”, which might be George Zhelev. There is an email address provided > ([email protected]) that you might want to try but I see these pages > date back a few years and are apparently not current.**** > > ** ** > > Looking forward to seeing more on this build!**** > > ** ** > > Cheers!**** > > Jim**** > > ** ** > > ** ** > > ** ** > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] > *On Behalf Of *Gunnar Sillén > *Sent:* Tuesday, June 28, 2011 3:51 PM > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* [Papermodels II 45153] Kon-Tiki**** > > ** ** > > Dear all,**** > > I am just building a model I downloaded three years ago thanks to a posting > to this group. It is the Kon-Tiki which showed up to be a pleasant > experience. It has given me a lot of training in the art of glueing paper > rolls. I have also got some training in handling threads. First I thought > that this model should have been a wooden (balsa) model instead. But I have > found that the paper has given some very special qualities to the model. The > model is also very ambitious when it comes to detailing and accuracy. I will > send another picture when I am ready. **** > > The text on the model sheets looks to be Bulgarian (and English) and the > website from where it came (bgbiomass.com) also seems to be Bulgarian. > But I have found no naming at all of the designer of the model. As I am > building the model for a paper ship exhibition, I would like to give credits > to the designer. But who is he (or she)?**** > > Does anybody know?**** > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Papermodels II" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/papermodels?hl=en. > -- You're father was a hamster, and you're mother smelt of elderberries, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Papermodels II" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/papermodels?hl=en.
