catopower

Thank you Tomek!

Chris, can you tell what blocks or belaying pins are required to complete the model?
 
 

Interesting. At 1:50-scale, that makes it a direct rival of the Kolderstok Speeljaght wood kit... 🤔
 
Will be interesting to see how this compares. 1:50 is a big scale for paper ship model kits.

Thank you Tomek!

Chris, can you tell what blocks or belaying pins are required to complete the model?
 
 

Two single about 4 mm, one double 4 mm. Six belaying pins  - bottom diameter approx. 0.8 millimeters (Belaying pins)
 
Greetings
Tomek

Chris, can you tell what blocks or belaying pins are required to complete the model?
 
 

Well, two weeks after placing the order, everything arrived safe and sound. You can add Seahorse to the list of conscientious shippers -- all was securely packed.
 
First glimpse inside. I believe Tomek has described his mast sets as something like "just sticks," but they are reasonably priced, and I like the fact that I don't have to source dowels of the right diameter and cut them to length. They will need to be shaped, obviously.
 

 
Pre-printed sails. These include suggestions for dying, reinforcing, and adding boltropes.
 

 
The kit itself. Believe it or not, my knife slipped while slicing open the protective plastic sleeve. Fortunately, I only damaged the back cover. Whew!!!
 

 
Some parts . . .
 
   
 
. . . and diagrams.
 

 
And, of course, laser-cut frames.
 

 
Looking forward to starting soon

Ooooooh!!
 

Interesting. At 1:50-scale, that makes it a direct rival of the Kolderstok Speeljaght wood kit... 🤔
 
Will be interesting to see how this compares. 1:50 is a big scale for paper ship model kits.

Interesting. At 1:50-scale, that makes it a direct rival of the Kolderstok Speeljaght wood kit... 🤔
 
Will be interesting to see how this compares. 1:50 is a big scale for paper ship model kits.

Interesting. At 1:50-scale, that makes it a direct rival of the Kolderstok Speeljaght wood kit... 🤔
 
Will be interesting to see how this compares. 1:50 is a big scale for paper ship model kits.

Oooo, something nice from Poland arrived at my house today. Anyone else receive theirs?

Ok, I admit it... I also ordered the Seahorse Speeljacht. I can watch how you build it.

Only three?  You are slacking off.
 
Good luck with the paper model.     I am a bit leary after my experience with Wutender Hund.
 
Yeah, sometimes those kits from Europe to the US can take awhile.  I just finished a model from Ukraine (Shallop by Pavel Nikafin) and started one from Netherlands (Pinas Cross Section-Kolderstock).  Both took a long time in transit. 

Marcel, Welcome! I've built a few Shipyard paper models, mostly the laser-cut kits. Temporarily on pause are Shipyards HMS Wolf laser-cut kit, and the Seahorse Armed Virginia Sloop kit. Hoping to get back to those very soon!
 
LOL! Hey Chris, I don't think that may be a universally understood reference!  😁 
 

Marcel, Welcome! I've built a few Shipyard paper models, mostly the laser-cut kits. Temporarily on pause are Shipyards HMS Wolf laser-cut kit, and the Seahorse Armed Virginia Sloop kit. Hoping to get back to those very soon!
 
LOL! Hey Chris, I don't think that may be a universally understood reference!  😁 
 

Marcel, Welcome! I've built a few Shipyard paper models, mostly the laser-cut kits. Temporarily on pause are Shipyards HMS Wolf laser-cut kit, and the Seahorse Armed Virginia Sloop kit. Hoping to get back to those very soon!
 
LOL! Hey Chris, I don't think that may be a universally understood reference!  😁 
 

Yes Bob, a really good kit, wholly spoilt by a poor manual - and lack of parts. No ladder sides, not one of the two sets are present, and this time they are not intended to be built, they are clearly marked as "pref"! I've started making the small one myself (top RH corner of the cutting mat), but the big one will be more demanding.
 
Anyway, the middle deck is now removed (did anyone hear the heart rending crack?!). It came away intact apart from the supports (again!). You can see one replacement about to be shaped on the cutting mat.
 

 
I've tried a refit "by hand" lower down, and thankfully I can go low enough to make it look all the more respectable. I can't deny I'm a bit worried about the mast alignment, the mast "hole" is bound to move back a fraction, just how much of a fraction!?

Top Deck Fitted and ...oh dear!
 
I hand built the handrails and stanchions including the ones I thought had been omitted (yes you were right Bob, oh that manual) and fitted them in place before fitting the deck. All went well and was quiet pleased, they look quite good - until I stood back. The said handrails and stanchions were built by the book, but look oversized. But then I realised it wasn't them that were too big, but the middle deck that had been fitted too high :-( As fitted the sailors who manned that deck would have to be about 4ft high (proportionally).
 

 
(You can imagine the nautical terms that were uttered!).
 
I've no choice, I'll have to remove and refit the middle deck otherwise it would haunt me forever. I notice the cannon barrel is riding higher than it should (not surprisingly), so I've about 8mm to play with. Not a great deal, but as in effect it will mean both the lower deck will be 8mm less high and the middle deck 8mm lower, it will help appearances.
 
I've already removed the middle deck support pillars from the lower deck. You'll probably hear the sickening crack as the middle deck is separated from the hull! A lot to do though, all deck support pillars will have to be remade. The cannon should survive, as it's pinned to the deck. It will alter the alignment of the mast to, but hopefully not too much. Oh well...

Yes Bob I tend to think you're right, I absolutely sure they could shut under their own weight. There would have to be some system to keep them securely up and open when necessary, but all that rigging does seem over the top. Try though I did I could find absolutely no reference to "port lid rigging" in my Internet searches.
 
By the way, looking now at the top deck I find all four of the "precut" cast hand rail stanchions have been neatly snapped in half. It looks for all the world as if some disgruntled packer has just snapped all four. I really can't imagine how all four could just break like that in transit.
 
Mind you they are ugly things and aren't even used in the manual photos, so I'll be making them out of wood anyway. But out of curiosity have a look in your box when you have a moment. Also no "pre-cut" hand rails as it claims in the manual (I think). They won't be easy to replicate with those holes in. Have you got those?
 
Cheers.

Working up to the Top Deck
 
There's been quite a lot of additions, so I thought I'd do an update because the top deck will be going on shortly, and quite a lot of the work, while still visible, won't be so easy to photograph. Having said that I think I'm going to do a lot of the top deck furniture and fittings; balustrades and the like, before I fit the deck.
 

 
The work done recently includes completion of the gun rigging, and the mass of paraphernalia that litters the two decks, and litters is really the word in this case. A great jumble of stuff laying about, but I love it, it makes it all the more interesting even if no self respecting captain would ever allow a deck to be so messy!
 

 
The gun cleaners and ramrods were interesting to make, I approached it with some trepidation, but ultimately found them fun to do, so much so that in addition to the "ladles" and ramrods, I also made a sponger which isn't catered for in the kit, and I may yet try and do a "wormer/scraper", although that might be gilding the lily a little, as there isn't a great deal of room left, and the infamous fuse buckets have yet to go on each deck (still awaiting a post with whatever delights Guinea Models might send). Needless to say I had run out of material to make the handles long before I even got to the extra ones. (Which accounts for the vaguely different handle colours of the latter ones). I had to sand down a bit of spare doweling I had "in stock".
 

 
One item of note which as much as anything illustrates what a rubbish manual the kit has is the port lid rigging. Absolutely no reference is made to it in the instructions, nor is there a photo specifically showing it, although it can vaguely be seen in a couple. Its actually quite complicated, and were it not for it being an integral part of Cobr@s "Section Deck Between Gun Bays", and Cobr@ thoroughly photographing it, I would have been totally clueless as to how it was rigged. (Must remember to blacken the brass fittings!).
 

 
The end is still a good way off, but is in sight, and I can honestly say for all its faults I am enjoying this build more than any I've previously attempted.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Middle gun-deck about to be (re)fitted!
 
The cannon rigging and most of the lower deck paraphernalia has now been completed. I say "most" because several items were missing or incomplete as regards the kit contents. The large fuse barrels just weren't in the kit, and the number of cannon balls (of both sizes) was grossly inadequate, as were the rings already mentioned. (More about my efforts to get them replaced later).
 
As there wasn't even room to place the two cannonball stands as the manual shows I have made do with just the one. It looks OK, whereas two of the same size (as specified in the manual) would have looked ridiculous - and I didn't have enough cannonballs to fill two stands anyway! Also not yet added are the cannon ramrods, cleaners etc., which can be added at anytime, and I'll almost certainly construct and position them all at the same time. Larger barrels and maybe other odds and sods I'll position when the middle deck (and its supports) are positioned.
 

 
The cannon by the way were fitted a la Cobr@, with pins through the wheel base into the deck (thanks Bob!). They at least won't be going anywhere. No room unfortunately for the bashed table and benches, although I will give some thought to other deck items which may have been present in the real thing when I can see how much room I have to play with - it seems there will be quite a lot.
 

 
Just some scratched paintwork on the lower inner hull to touch up, then the middle deck goes up!
 
You can imagine my dismay to discover no large fuse barrels present, and given the general lack of other items I "penned" a terse email to the kit suppliers Guinea Hobbies in Spain. Given the problems I had with them originally I wasn't too confident I'd even got a response, but perhaps because of my threat to get the "credit card people" on the case (always a good weapon), I was delighted to receive an email almost by return promising they had got onto the manufacturers and would be replacing the missing items within  7 days. We'll see!
 
Bryan
 
 
 
 

We can rebuild...
 
I thought an update was overdue, because many changes have occurred which needed logging, if only for my own benefit!
 
The three gun port covers were assembled and positioned, but not without difficulty. By now I'm used to having inadequate instructions, but not having pieces of the kit missing! There were no cover brackets, nor hinge mechanisms (assuming there were meant to be, that manual...!), so I had to create and assemble my own. I'm not at all displeased with them, and decided to leave them "brass" rather than black. They add a great deal to the outer hull of course.
 

 
As I was pondering earlier; I decided to build the upper deck completely "off piste", and in fact it's still "off piste" for the moment. It was infinitely easier to build in this way, but lining it up with the rest of the build was tricky obviously, as was getting the mast "hole" in the right place. I'm confident it is now, after a lot of work, as good as if it was built onto the existing kit.
 

 
Another benefit was of course having lots more room to play with below, and it occurred to me that positioning the guns, and all the deck paraphernalia on the bottom deck would be so much easier if the middle deck wasn't there! Nothing ventured ...  I removed it! Not without casualty I must admit; the photos reveal the upper deck supports didn't take kindly to being uprooted, and both were severed in half! Not for the first time I underestimated the power of the humble carpenters wood glue!
 

 

 
However the sheared off "stumps" actually act very well as "registers", enabling the deck to be exactly positioned as it was before, by keying them together. And of course it did make adding the guns, their rigging etc sooooo much easier. The photos show the (biggest) guns positioned in all their brooding glory. Not all the rigging has yet been attached. I did also construct a table and benches (bashed, as no provision was made for them in the kit). Alas as the guns took their positions it became obvious the table made things far too cramped. I have since made it more narrow, and will include it later if it seems appropriate.
 
The middle deck will shortly be (re)fixed in position and I have already "turned" four pillars which are an improvement on the last ones (my local builders merchants did have some (9mm) dowel I'm relieved to say. Sadly they didn't have any 6mm rings and smaller eyelets (well, it was unlikely) , so I've had to order and await these before I could continue. Sadly another criticism of this kit; lack of parts!
 
My enjoyment of this build however remains undiminished, we'll say nothing of the instructions.
 
Bryan
 
 
 

Welcome aboard, Marcel! Card models are kinda like Lay's Potato Chips -- no one can build just one!