Since he was a youngster, Rudi Cooijmans had built quite a lot of boat models (e.g. the „Oude Klomp“). In the 1980s he switched to full sized Greenland kayaks in order to go on paddle trips. In the 1990s he was building mainly Baidarkas – the seaworthy Aleutian kayaks – for he opted for offshore paddling.
Hence comes is growing interest in the different kayak designs of the Arctic region. To gain a comparison between these designs it seemed necessary to reproduce these different kayaks on a scale of 1:4. This scale was choosen due to the fact that most of the wooden parts needed for this size of kayak construction are readily available.
In 1996 Rudi built his first wooden model frame of a Kap Farvel style kayak. This was already built to a very high standard:
No wooden part, no rib, no tie was skipped – everything was an exact reproduction of the original!
Even the flexibility of a model baidarka is the same as of a „big“ one. As an inherent necessity the building process is exactly the same of how one would build an original kayak. Thus the time needed for building either this or that size is almost identical.
Rudi builds his miniature kayaks either as a pure wooden frame design that illustrates perfectly the incorporated building techniques or as a skin covered model kayak. The natural skin Rudi applies is a mere 0.02” thick (as an average)! If it´s going to be a fully equipped kayak, Rudi also crafts the corresponding hunting gear (e.g. harpunes, floats, ice scrapers). These miniature weapons are not only exact reproductions – they are made for fully functionality! Another highlight are the seal-shaped floats that are incorporating an airtight fitting mouthpiece via this you could inflate them if only your mouth would be on such a small scale...
Rudi builts his kayak models and the related equipment solely in museum quality. To gain such a high standard not only skilled hands but comprehensive knowledge about kayak construction are needed.
A closer look onto the images shown below will reveal some more interesting details and give an insight to Rudi´s detailed
and perfect workmanship.
To learn more about the building of Arctic kayak models Rudi Cooijmans can be reached at: ruco.kayak@kielnet.de
(In short there will be an exhibition of Rudi Cooijmans´Arctic model kayak collection.)
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