Brigantines like the Aurora were the back-bone of North American trade during the 19th century. Usually less than 100 feet long and manned by six to eight sailors, they were built quickly and at relatively low cost. They were rigged with square sails on the fore mast and triangular sails on the aft mast for a practical combination of speed and maneuverability. Hundreds of brigantines were built in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and New England from the 1830s to the 1920s. These ships transported lumber and salted cod to the Caribbean in exchange for sugar and rum.

OcCre’s plank-on-bulkhead Aurora kit features laser cut wooden parts and double planked hull. An ample fittings package contains ready-to-use boxwood blocks and deadeyes, cast metal lifeboat, blackened metal anchors, mast caps and ship’s wheel, brass nails, stanchions, eyebolts and belaying pins and many other detail parts. Kit also includes four diameters of rigging line, silk-screened flag, wooden baseboard with nameplate and pedestals. A full set of sails is pre-sewn and ready to rig.