ccoyle

If you truly wish to step back a bit, take a look at some of the kits from Midwest Products. Their beginner's kits are designed with absolute beginners in mind, and the instructions are some of the best in the business. Each kit includes a complete list of necessary tools. They build into very nice models straight out of the box, but can also be super-detailed if one wishes. Doesn't hurt that Midwest is having a 25% off promo right now, along with free U.S. shipping, making some of their kits under US$20.00. The Chesapeake Bay Flattie is a particularly good first model. Cheers!

Heinz, It may be difficult to write, but your English is quite passable! Cheers!

It is virtually impossible to generalize about the overall quality of one kit manufacturer versus another, due in large part to the fact the kit lines are continuously evolving. For example, Caldercraft are usually highly recommended, and, generally speaking, their kits are good. But there is a huge difference in the amount and detail of the instructions included in Caldercraft kits between early designs, like Sherbourne or Convulsion, and later offerings such as Pickle or Badger. Similar situation at Victory Models, where Chris Watton has gradually been able to get Amati to include more kit-specific fittings and details with each successive design. As another example, not all of Bluejacket's offerings are in-house designs; some are older kit designs purchased from now-defunct operations (e.g. Laughing Whale). BJ has made efforts to update some of those kits, but there are still plenty of them out there carrying the BJ label that are essentially Laughing Whale kits. Other manufacturers (Corel comes to mind) have some kits that are regularly raved about, and other kits that are abominations (ask me about their Flying Fish kit sometime). So, you really can't single out any manufacturer and generalize by saying their kits are good or bad. It's usually a case of some of their kits are good, some not so good, and perhaps some are terrible. Kit quality is almost an issue that has to be taken on a kit-by-kit basis. Cheers!

Splendid work, Sal!

**Groan** I swear, if MSW had a keel, you'd be being hauled under it right now!

Hi, David. Just got back from Mexico and saw you were on your way with this model. A couple of things to keep in mind with this model: 1) HMV design tolerances are very tight, so be very careful about positioning parts. With so many pieces, cumulative 'error creep' can be a problem. 2) I believe HMV has a laser-cut detail set for this model available now. If so, it is well worth the money. 3) Be prepared for some design glitches. I have this model about half-built, so I may be able to help you when you run into snags. Cheers!

That's my goal for every model I start, too. I don't always reach it -- but I keep trying!

Looks good, David! There has been some commendable improvement in your card modeling skill set. Cheers!

I'm thinking those probably have more value as collector's items than as actual projects. Are you sure you want to build them??

David, HMV is the firm you are thinking of.

Or............ ..........you could come over to the truly dark side and try the Yamato in card. Halinski publishes one in 1:200 and offers brass barrels and PE details (five sheets). Digital Navy publishes one in 1:250. Yeah, I know -- not the advice you were looking for.

Pete, don't pull up that chair too soon! This project is several spots back in the queue. Ron, are you speaking of the printed parts sheets needed to cut the parts from the wood billets? Too bad about FSB going out of business, although their web site is still up. This explains why their inventory has been declining over the years. It'd be nice if someone purchased the right to update and produce the FSB line of kits.

I have this kit, and even started on it. Since then, it's been bumped to the way back burner. She's a lovely ship, though, and I will be interested to see how your model turns out. Good luck!

This is a review I originally published as part of another thread back in 2014. I have updated some of the comments to reflect the current status of the companies mentioned in the review. Enjoy! When I bought this kit back in 2014, Freedom Song Boatworks were still in business, but they have since folded. One of the reasons I wanted to get hold of a FSB kit was to compare it to a Midwest Products kit. Interestingly enough, Midwest is also now out of business. Kits from both companies still turn up on eBay, although since far more Midwest kits were made and distributed, they remain much more common on auction sites. Evangeline comes in a box about 18" long by about 3.75" square. There is a color photo of the prototype model on the box. The contents were packaged neatly. I can't say for certain, but I always got the impression that FSB was a cottage industry, and this is certainly reflected in the kit's design, materials, and packaging. The kit comes with three plan sheets showing hull construction details, hull top and side views, and sail plan. The plans are nicely drawn and easy to understand. At 1/24 scale, you can see that the kit produces a fair-sized model. There are two two-sided sheets of simple instructions and a one-sided sheet of basic wood modeling techniques. This of course pales in comparison to what's found in any Midwest kit. No parts list is included. Evangeline's hull bottom and sides consist of four pre-cut pieces of pine. All other sheet parts are printed and must be cut from two sheets of balsa, one sheet of pine, and one small sheet of ply. The kit's strip wood and dowels are of good quality. One of the dowels is slightly crooked, but considering the age of this kit, I'm not too surprised by that. The included sail cloth has a nice, fine weave. The fittings include various kinds of wire and cordage, eye pins, nails, aluminum tubing, brass portholes, and 'blocks' that are actually plastic (or perhaps ceramic) beads. As you can see, there is a very small quantity of parts and materials here, which reflects both the smallish nature of the craft being modeled and the simplified design of the kit. So, what are my impressions? Overall, I am satisfied. I knew up front that the kit builds straight out of the box into a simplified version of a Tancook whaler and is intended for beginning modelers, and I also knew about the printed parts, so I'm not shocked by those features. My only disappointment is with the plastic beads for blocks -- those will absolutely have to be replaced, but fortunately there are not too many of them. The rest of the kit components are of good quality -- no complaints there. As I said in the introduction, one of my reasons for purchasing this kit was to see how it stacks up against comparable offerings from Midwest Products (of which I have built two and have a third in my stash). There is, IMO, no comparison between the two when it comes to considering their suitability for first-time builders. Midwest Products kit instructions are the gold standard for kits of this sort - they are extremely detailed, profusely illustrated, and as fool-proof as kit instructions are likely to be. The two sheets of instructions offered by Freedom Song are well below that standard. The other big knock against Freedom Song is the large number of printed parts that must be cut out. Seriously - printed parts is ancient kit technology. If I'm going to shell out the $59.95 MSRP for this kit (Note: all prices mentioned in this review are listed 2014 prices; keep this in mind when bidding on any eBay offerings), I expect all the parts to be at least die-cut, same as Midwest kits are. Additional style points must be deducted for the plastic beads for blocks. I cannot fathom why the more usual wooden blocks were not included, or even plastic or cast metal blocks. And lastly, we should look at pricing. The most expensive MSRP for any kit in Midwest's beginner's line is $89.99. Four of Freedom Song's similar kit offerings are listed at $99.95. When you consider what you get from Midwest for significantly less money, the choice is pretty easy. However, there is a final point to be made. Freedom Song does offer several kit designs that are not available elsewhere, of which Evangeline is but one example. For a modeler wishing to build one of these designs, or for someone intending to super-detail the basic model, Freedom Song kits are certainly acceptable. Be advised, though, that if you want to keep an eye out for FSB kits on eBay , you may have to wait a very long time for one of these uncommon models to turn up. Cheers!

I appreciated your comments about "only four" guns to rig. Repetitive tasks is one of my biggest dislikes in modeling, and I really had to push myself to get a mere 16 guns rigged on HMS Fly. I think I would go quite mad having to do anything more than that.

Pre-cut planking - now there is something you don't see every day in a kit like this. Looks like it is coming together quite nicely.

Well, as if I don't have enough projects waiting in the wings ... Freedom Song Boatworks came to my attention many years ago. Frankly, I find their list prices to be a bit steep, considering what comes in their kits according to their product descriptions (e.g. printed parts -- really? In 2014?), but they have some unique offerings of American small sailing craft. So, for some years now I have had them on my eBay alerts list, but usually it is one of FSB's R/C designs that has come up for auction. But, finally, today I was alerted that a kit of Evangeline, a Tancook whaler, had been listed, so I snapped it up. When I get around to building her, I will probably do some research with the goal of super-detailing the basic kit. I'm very interested to see how one of these FSB kits stack up against the superb offerings from Midwest Products. I will post a review of the kit when it arrives sometime in the next week or so. Cheers!

OK, somewhere back there I totally failed to pick up on how small this model will be! That's some pretty fine work there!

Augie, I ordered the regular blades in bulk, but added a few of the ZrN blades to try out as well. I'll report back later.

Hood is indeed one of Halinski's early releases. The really top-shelf stuff we now take for granted from Halinski started rolling off the presses around 2002.

Anyone have experience with these, good or bad? It's time for me to order more blades, and I wonder if the new 'wonder blades' are worth the extra moolah (about 31 cents per blade versus 17 cents for plain ol' blades).

With Shipyard, one gets a variety of choices: kit alone, frames alone, plans alone, kit plus frames, and 'complete kits', which include parts, paint, details, rigging, i.e., the works. Kits labeled "laser cardboard" are complete kits -- everything is included. Price goes up accordingly.

I can attest to the methods described by Alistair, as I also use brushing for large paint areas. Especially what he said about not scrimping on brush quality -- they're one thing I have found that you DO get what you pay for. Get good ones, treat them nice, and they'll serve you well for years.

Jase, Have a look at this article in the database. Hope this will help. Regards,

Pegasus is essentially an upgraded Fly kit. Most of the details that come standard in the Pegasus kit must be purchased separately for Fly, thus the difference in price. Either will build into a very nice model.