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James H

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About James H

  • Birthday 02/26/1970

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    www.modelshipworld.com

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    Male
  • Location
    Anderton, Lancashire, UK
  • Interests
    Foreign food, travel in general, modelling in timber and plastics, photography and guitar playing.

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  1. Glad you sorted the deck problem. The tape trick is something I used for the Indefatigable, primarily because the halves were so vast.
  2. 1:22 Venetian Gondola Amati Catalogue # 571 Available from Amati for around €105 The gondola is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. It is typically propelled by a gondolier, who uses a rowing oar, which is not fastened to the hull, in a sculling manner, and also acts as the rudder. Today's gondolas are up to 11 m long and 1.6 m wide, with a mass of around 350 kg. They are made of 280 hand-made pieces using eight types of wood (lime, oak, mahogany, walnut, cherry, fir, larch and elm). The process takes about two months; in 2013, the cost of a gondola was about 38,000 euros. The oar or rèmo, is held in an oarlock known as a fórcola. The fórcola is of a complicated shape, allowing several positions of the oar for slow forward rowing, powerful forward rowing, turning, slowing down, rowing backwards, and stopping. The ornament on the front of the boat is called the fèrro (meaning iron) and can be made from brass, stainless steel, or aluminium. It serves as decoration and as counterweight for the gondolier standing near the stern. The gondola has existed in Venice since the 11th century, being first mentioned by name in 1094. It is estimated that there were eight to ten thousand gondolas during the 17th and 18th century, but there are only around four hundred in active service today, with virtually all of them used for hire by tourists. The uniqueness of the gondola includes its being asymmetrical along the length, making the single-oar propulsion more efficient. For centuries, the gondola was a major means of transportation and the most common watercraft within Venice. In modern times, the boats still do have a role in public transport in the city, serving as traghetti (small ferries) over the Grand Canal operated by two oarsmen. The kit This is quite a new kit from Amati, and who better to realise a scale model of a Gondola, than an Italian company. This particular subject appears to represent a modern Gondola, which is still no bad thing as I’ve seen a lot of these myself and they are beautiful vessels. This isn’t the first Gondola released by Amati; they did a model of an 1882 vessel (#1600), with a covered passenger section, which was 1:20 scale and is now unavailable. Original Amati Gondola kit The new kit is a very different model. As is always the case, this kit is packaged into an attractive and high quality, glossy box, with a single photo of the finished Gondola on the lid, and a couple of other finished views on the sides. The vessel is finished in its famous satin black, and the artwork design reflects this. Despite the box’s depth, the actual components don’t occupy too much space, with a few packets of flat sheet parts included, plus a single, large plan, manual etc. We’ll look at these parts now. You could say that this model is very much a plank-on-frame (POF) build, with a series of ‘C’ frames which sit upon a flat, ply floor, sheathed initially with single-piece timber sides. It’s quite a simple approach to building but allows the model to be fitted out and furnished easily, whilst also displaying elements of the hollow hull. The model also needs to have its interior painted black during different phases of the build, due to those areas still being within eyesight when finished. Several thin ply sheets are provided which hold the parts for the frames, footboards, strakes etc. Here you see the frames sheet, with side elements. A little later, you can see a number of selected manual pages, so you’ll get a better idea of construction. Incidentally, the single plan sheet isn’t what you use for main construction guide. The model is mostly don’t via the manual photos, with the plan only really giving an idea of the finished model. This ply sheet contains parts for the oar, display stand, and some visible interior bulkheads. Also visible are the seats. These will be finished with a material which looks like crushed red velvet. On these two ply sheets, you can clearly see the asymmetrical floor of the gondola with engraved positions for the frames, and also side tabs which will key into the single-piece sides, ensuring that alignment is perfect. More turtle deck parts can be seen here, as long as the tabbed floor sections which slot into the frames. Here you can see the Gondola’s side panels with the tabs that correspond with the flat, ply vessel bottom. That was the last of the flat timber sheets, but included is a large sheet of steel photo-etch. This carries the prow and stern shapes, plus two ornamental strakes which lie down each side of the hull. A reasonably sized sheet of material is included which represents the crushed red velvet of the Gondola interior, as well as for the seat furnishings. Lastly, a single length of dowel is included which is for the oar construction, a cast metal lamp, and the oarlock in grey resin. Instructions As I’ve already stated, the model is mostly built using just the stages from the manual, and not the plan sheet. All photos and instructional text are nice and clear and describe in good detail, exactly what the modeller must do at each stage. Photography is excellent and every picture is perfect reference for your build. Conclusion When I came into the hobby around 22yrs ago, the original Amati Gondola was a kit I always coveted, having a copy of their catalogue. For whatever reason, I missed out on that kit and eventually forgot about. Being sent this new kit to review has more than made up for that as this look a beautiful and beautifully simple model to build, but one that’s very attractive. I love watching the Gondolas when I visit Venice, and this model very much captures the evocative appeal of this type of vessel. Something a little mysterious. Maybe I’ve been watching too many old films too! Amati’s Gondola is also a very affordable kit that offers plenty for the builder. As a modeller of primarily warships, this is the sort of side project that I very much enjoy, and as soon as the opportunity presents, I will open a build log for this. My sincere thanks to Amati for sending this kit for review here on Model Ship World. To buy directly, click the link at the top of this article, or visit your local Amati dealer.
  3. Caldercraft stuff is lovely, but I sort of see it very much as legacy these days, albeit one of the better legacy companies. Having a fresh, modern version with precious timber, really makes this shine. Definitely worth the extra £/$.
  4. Take a look on the VM site. The kits are skill rated too so you can pick something you feel to be in your ballpark.
  5. Welcome to MSW! Your workshop is SO tidy. That will have to change!
  6. 1:20 Grand Banks Model – Heritage 46 Amati Catalogue # 1607 Available from Amati for around €513 Grand Banks History The boatyard has its origins in Hong Kong, where it began building custom wooden sailing and motorboats in 1956, as American Marine. The Spray, a 36- foot -long displacement vessel, was designed and built in 1963 as a prototype trawler yacht. This new, robust, and visually pleasing type of boat was so successful that the company founders decided to put the vessel into production. Series production began in 1965, for the first time under the name Grand Banks, and the different models were each designated according to their length in feet. In 1968 the company moved to Singapore and since 1973, trawler yachts have been made of glass fibre reinforced plastic. The success of Grand Banks led to competing shipyards also beginning to mass-produce trawler yachts in the 1970s. Photo from boats.com The spacious living quarters aboard the Grand Banks 46 Classic provide ample room for comfortable long-range cruising. With top speed exceeding 20 knots, the 46CL is an ideal yacht to get you quickly to your favourite cruising destination. Safety and reliability are, of course, a built-in Grand Banks tradition. Wide walk-around decks, aft cockpit, and well-equipped steering and navigation stations both on the flybridge and in the salon are all part of the package. There are countless attributes of a Grand Banks that contribute to its reputation as one of the most reliable, high-quality yachts designed and built for cruising. The kit This Amati Grand Banks kit release is packaged into a highly attractive box with a glossy lid that depicts the completed model, including some scrap detail views. The scale of this one is a crumping 1:20! In real terms, that equates to a finished model which will be around This box appears to be the same size, or thereabouts, as the HS Vanguard and Orient Express kits, but possibly a little deeper. In fact, the kid itself doesn’t extend to the bottom of the box! One thing you’ll notice on the lid of this very heavy box is that the hull in this release is made from ‘resin’, or to be more accurate, glass-fibre resin. The large, single-piece hull is made from white resin and has a satin, slightly chalky but very smooth appearance. One thing I need to say here is that this model CAN be fitted out for RC and Amati sell an additional kit that can be used with this model. Ok, back to the contents. This is another of those kits where I don’t seem to be able to get everything back into the box once I’m done. Frustrating! The inner box has an integral lid which gives the box a load of rigidity as well as stopping anything easily piercing through the lid, into the contents. Lid off, and the first thing to be seen is an envelope with the manual and plans, with sheets of enveloped timber underneath. For the purpose of this article, I’ll tackle the contents in a different order. Many key constructional areas are laser-cut in a very nice quality birch ply. No parts numbers are shown on these sheets, and you need to cross match the sheet with the pictorial parts sheet that’s included. Of course, each sheet is numbered to identify it. Here you can see parts that will build up to create the entire superstructure. If you intend to make this RC, this whole area will lift out to provide access to the motor and servos/linkages below decks. Having looked through the instructions for quite a while, I do think that if you are capable, sheathing the entire superstructure in thin, white plasticard sheet, such as Evergreen, would produce a stunning finish. Anyway, that’s just me thinking out loud. Whilst the hull is glass-fibre, there are some thin ply strakes which fit below the gunwale. These can be seen in the two sheets at the top of this photo. There is some darker laser marking on some parts, but thankfully the parts aren’t degraded because of it, and some light sanding will remove it. Two sheets are cut from 1mm mahogany, and contain many cabin interior parts, plus window frames etc. The grain on these parts, in thinner areas, will be a little more fragile, so some kid gloves will be needed to handle them. It’s a case of not removing parts from sheets until they are needed. Of course, the exterior of the superstructure will need to be skinned, and these parts are for that purpose. Going back to possibly using styrene sheet to skin the model, you could in theory, use these as templates for doing just that. However, that’s not what’s intended here. Some parts are included on these two 3mm sheets, manufactured again in mahogany. These include more substantial parts, such as the multipart gunwales and ornamental scroll rails etc. The mahogany here is a little lighter and I think a staining varnish would be nice here to give the parts a deep, rich colour. A small cradle is supplied for the hull, and not the large stand shown on the box lid. This cradle is a simple MDF affair. Personally, if you are spending £500 on a kit like this, I’d look at buying/building a nicer mounting solution to this one. The smaller sheet contains parts for the dinghy/launch. There is a small amount of MDF in this kit. Here, the parts are for superstructure. A little area of familiarity is the inclusion of wood strip for various things, such as framing, deck planking etc. There is also a quantity of brass rod too. The two boxes supplied here are found at the bow and stern of the hull when packed. One of these supplies all the pre-shaped, chromed rails, and they are superb. These are quite complicated shapes and I don’t see any deformation etc. I really do suggest you remove this box to a safe place, right up until you need to fit them. Damaging these would be annoying. The other box contains a suite of various seating parts. The bases are cast in a matte white resin, and the seating is beige faux leather. All are very nicely made. A smaller box is included, containing the boat’s dinghy, cast in the same matte white resin. This of course will be fitted out with various mahogany parts etc. Residing in the boat’s hull are two packs of fittings. This first one contains two PE parts frets, some timber section, the boats props, wheel, rigging blocks, cleats etc. The second fittings box contains trim tape, brass ferrules, rigging cord, plastic grating, brass pins etc. An envelope contains a steel PE fret due to the nature of the parts on there, such as the grilles on the side of the superstructure. In this thickness, steel isn’t quite as flexible as brass, therefore not as easy to damage in key areas. There is also acetate in this package, for the various cabin windows. I think the cloth is perhaps for the cabin curtains. The last envelope contains a set of plans, full colour instruction manual, written notes and colour-printed sheets that have details for the parquet floor, flag, rugs, maps, charts, and even magazines for the cabin tables! Here a number of selected images from the manual. Conclusion On the box, Amati say that this is an ‘easy to build model’. Ok, everything is relative. Anything is as easy as you want to make it, but it’s the result which will define the effort you put in. This is by no means a beginner kit, but the construction of the kit, the beautiful fittings, chromed rails and small details, will make this an enormously enjoyable project to build, and if you’re like me, a very welcome change from regular masted, wooden ships. The plans and manual are also excellent and show all aspects of construction extremely well. It could be said that this isn’t a cheap kit, but I think it’s very reasonable for what you get, including that superb glass-fibre hull. There’s very little you can get wrong with this if you work objectively, and of course, it will make a really unique large shelf display model. If you’ve been thinking of taking the plunge with this, or in need of something a little different, I’d most definitely recommend Amati’s Grand Banks Heritage 46. My sincere thanks to Amati for sending out this kit for review on Model Ship World. To buy this kit direct, click the link at the top of the article, or head over to your local Amati distributor.
  7. It is. This was one of the first kits I added to the site, after the site was initially built. The guy who set it up initially, created a rat’s nest of illogical decisions. At that point I had to continue until the site was totally rebuilt. That is a legacy page now as MS kits aren’t offered now. One day, when I have time, it’ll be reworked.
  8. This is because the product has more than one main kit variable (usually Master Shipwright kit editions). All variables can be ordered from one page instead of having multiple pages.
  9. I never added them to mine. It's a small detail that I'm sure most casual builders wouldn't even know about. It's not really feasible for @Glenn-UK to add them at this stage, and I don't think his beautiful build will look any worse off for not having them.
  10. There's a PE 'horseshoe' to add there. You'll see something similar towards the stern where a 'fishplate' will fasten. These were for strengthening the timber joints on the real ship.
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