This project has been defined by fate since the late 90's when I first had to hear in the news about a Cossack boat found by archaeologists. Even then, it occurred to me how wonderful it would be to raise and "touch history", since this boat is almost 300 years old - a national cultural heritage that has survived to our time since the Cossack era ... The second time I mentioned this when in 1999 the boat was lifted from the depths of the Dnieper. It was also necessary to switch on the TV at the very moment when this news was reported. But even then, I did not understand the hints of fate. And she did not even suspect that in 10 years I would do ship modeling and begin to study the history and arrangement of wooden sailing ships. The third meeting with the Cossack "Seagull" was fatal when one of the novice modelers approached me for help. He wanted to assemble a plastic set of the boat of the XVI century, but without having in the instructions information about the arrangement of some elements of structures, anchors, oars, mast and rigging - he asked for help, while bringing a book by Dmitry Kobalia and Valery Nefyodov "Zaporozhye Seagull". The truth is that he did not pay attention to the construction era - the book describes the same archeological find of the seventeenth century. I re-read it several times, studied the drawings that were reproduced in it at the time when the seagull was in the form of a 3D puzzle, before the restoration began. Therefore, the drawings were not accurate enough. Finding a photo of the fully restored boat, some obvious discrepancies (the sheathing of the transom, the number of frames where the midsection of the frame and the locks of connections) are located immediately caught my eye. With such a living exhibit, I wanted to build an exact Admiralty-style copy, so it was extremely important to see The Seagull live. By the name of the book, I was able to find a page on the author's Internet, Dmitry immediately agreed to help and invited to Khortytsa span. This time I could not resist anymore - I remembered my first desire to "touch history" and went to Zaporozhye ...

Now I have a complete map of what this real boat was like, so armed with AutoCad I decided to make detailed drawings on a scale of 1:24. We are still in discussions with archaeologists for what this boat was intended for and why those structures are in the middle. In fact, this compartment is like a modern-day Batman for the transportation of horses, and even large rings are present for tying a horse to the junction, but how did they get there? Could it have been just a boat-transformer for different types of cargo? .. Therefore, in the drawings I recreated all the details that have been preserved and a separate version of a possible internal organization of space. Since this strange Cossack boat is not at all like the legendary "Seagull" by the description of Boplan. It is too modern and modern even for its time. And all the numbers on the frames indicate that it was built according to the drawings with strict adherence to technology. The more I try to understand how this boat was built and how it is used, the more I want to build it. And you want to reproduce it as accurately as possible ...