Jean-Pierre

Hard to imagine that their top selling item (considering the number of models built over the forums) would be discontinued.

I also checked on Artesania's site, and was pleased to notice that they, at last, seem to have decided to depart from their reddish / yellowish wood finish, so typical of Artessania and Occre.  For instance their new Hermione looks much more convincing than their prior offering.  Good job on their part.  Maybe there will come a new San Francisco as well. 

This is still a very nice model, although it is more than half a century old.

By the way, in my teenager years, I got interested in ship modeling by this model, which was on exhibition on an advertising display for... Cutty Sark Whiskey.  I was then particularly impressed by the brass chains on the bowsprit.  But of course I have improved my criteria since then.  So did you as you tinted those chains.  Excellent job. Special thanks for sharing this one.

JP

This is a great build indeed.  Well, I assume this is not a scoop, but I just wanted to check in on a very good build

JP

Looks like a fine kit.  Were the frames precut?  Could you post a picture of the box art so we can figure out how much better your build will be

Drying wood can indeed become a problem, especially on old kits.  I did that experience with an old Mamoli kit of the Yacht Mary for which I had to replace most of the walnut for the second planking: it had become very brittle and would break or split at any attempt to curve it.  Hope this time Bilings will have provided a better wood quality, or your stocking conditions will be better.  Will gladly follow your build.

`Thanks for sharing your experience.

JP

Gets better and better, Jack.  Always a pleasure to follow your build.  Thanks for that!

one idea would be to use transparent wood tint, which would allow all the wood detail to be seen.  But as the other modellers said, you are at the steering wheel.  I'm so glad I signed in to this build log! (this is where I wanted to put a happy emoticon, but did not find them (sad emoticon!))

An exquisite model on its own.  I also love your oars: I haven't often seen such realistic tiny items before.  Are they made of one single piece?  Wonder what beauty comes next!

I don't know the name of that wooden v-shaped blocks they used to put under the gun barrels, but if you decided to add them, you would  have the guns pointing horizontally like we use to represent them.  But whatever you decide to do, the whole model, and in particular the guns, look fantastic. Congratulations.

JP

This build is too beautiful to miss.  Congratulations for these tiny items.  I'll follow this log, if you don't mind.

Wonderful, really! not only is the build of pristine quality, but somehow, you managed to get beautiful wood tints that enhance the details of your build. I look forward to the next Congratulations. steps.

I'm sure you will come up with a beautiful model. I suppose your problem of detaching the pieces can be helped by cutting half way on both sides of the sheet, or at least the tab will be weakened so that the piece could then be snapped off without breaking.

Now as far as glueing broken pieces is concerned, there are now PVA glues, CA gels or epoxy glues that are literally stronger than the original, so any accident could be remedied. The only problem is when you want to dye the wood as apparent glue stains won't take the colouring material, of course.

By the way, the model from Master Korabel which had impressed me was not an armed ship: it was the St Gabriel: superb detail.

And the other Swedish gun boats are made by Amati (a small, simple model) and by Mantua (a well detailed model that needs quite a bit of rework to make it look like a wooden model rather than an assembled "laser saw" puzzle.

Have fun with your build.

JP

I am very interested in your build, Chuck. I did not remember well the name of this brand, but I remember to have seen pictures of what looked like an exquisitely detailed model. It was also a gunboat, I think. As far as this model is concerned, it is funny to notice that there are no less than three kits of a such a strange ship: one is a rather colourful model by Amati, if I remember well, the second one looks more detailed. It is by Sergal, I think, and is an effort to oversimplify the build, and looks quite awful I think. This kit looks rather fine as details are numerous. Master Korabel seems to prefer unpainted models, which is ok, but looks a little dull, don't you think so. I look forward to your succesful build.

JP

Excellent job and great detail on your model.

Just a question: was there a strip of wood to cover the edge of the copper sheating, like there seemed to be on British ships? If yes it would certainly be worth adding it, at your level of accuracy.

Happy modelling!

JP

Good job with the skylight. And unglueing the part did not damage anything.

I just posted in the section gallery of finished model from kits, a few pics of the Pen Duick, which I built some 20 years ago. You will see there what can be fairly easily done to improve even more those skylights.

Thanks for the reply. Looks indeed like a very good wood you've been using. I look forward to the rest of your beautiful build.

JP

Hello Andy. If you would like to do some extra detailing that is not too difficult (I could!), and which will greatly enhance your build:

cover each side of your large roof with a piece of cellophane, painted matt black on the inside. Then use the thinnest available wood or paper strip to frame your windows. Then make tiny strips of plastic. Carefully (of course) pile them per 3 and make 3 regularly spaced holes. Paint them dark brown and glue them on the sides of the windows. Then insert thin brass rods cut flush with the exterior side. Fairly straightforward and surely within range of your skills: this is a very eye catching item on a model.

Good luck! You are about to start the rigging: do not hesitate to use a range of different thicknesses and colours of thread, from grey to buff, this will also add life to your rigging (try not to use too thick threads)

This is an absolutely lovely build. Congratulations: you may be proud of your Pride!

A little suggestion: maybe this will be taken care of later, but the skylight on the large roof would look better if the inside "floor" is painted matt black.

I confess this post is also done to join this thread. So happy building further on.

Excellent job. These ribs look very convincing.

I am a little concerned about the rigidity of a hull like this. Planks and wood sticks will I think, always try and recuperate some of their original form after they have been bent. So I wonder if your hull ribs will not push the hull sides a little further apart than they should. I am sure that you have considered this possibility. How will you fix it?

This is an(other) excellent build, and I particularly like the challenge of building an open hull, which I understand is your favorite (and which I have never dared to attempt.

Now I also understand that both Marisstella and Dusek are really top notch manufacturers, together with Victory Amati and the Chuck creations for Model Shipways. Not only are (apparently) the explanations better or equal to their competitors, but the provided materials look excellent as well (your hull looks beautiful). They surely deserve to be even better spread. Maybe their choice of subjects, although beautiful, is not want is commercially easy to sell to a wider public.

For me, the most overpriced kits are the ones that remain on the shelf or were never finished, so that my golden rule n°1 is to never buy a kit (anymore)unless the former one is almost finished. Rule n°2 is not to start a project that could prove too difficult for me, because the chance is great that it will end up on my (overcrowded) shelf. Rule n°3 is to get in love with your next model, because you will need it to overcome the challenges to come.

As said, the price ou pay is fairly irrelevant compared to the numerous hours you will have spent on your project, and also considering your legitimate pride about the end result.

Happy building and...yes, Pegasus is a good choice and a splendid model. But... there are so many fantastic builds of her on this forum, that you may find it difficult to reach their level...

JP

What a superb kit! My congratulations on this one. Wish you good sales. With the exception of the Red Jacket, this is certainly the most complete clipper ship kit around. Especially your etching sheet is impressive. A wish though: please add more pictures to your site (close ups. Even the ship boats look impressive. Wish we soon have a build log of her.

De rien, mon ami. It's just that commercial blocks usually come with 2 holes (like yours. The area between those holes simulate the wheel. . With your pencil, you just tint this area in metallic grey which is fairly the same as a metal wheel. You could also round this area off but that is a far more important job.

Besides, tinting brass with blackener is a pretty fast, efficient and good looking method to prevent the issue of paint peeling off. Just make sure that the copper is well cleaned off before.

Excellent job indeed.

A little and easy idea: try to insert a #2 pencil into the blocks to simulate the metal wheel: easy and effective.

Tsss tsss, an airplane.  Hope at least it's a floatplane!

Superb.  Not only is this one of the most beautiful models in the MS range, but you did a great job with the provided material.  In fact this is the best rendering of this ship I've seen so far.  Hope to see more modelling from you in the near future!