Kevin

Polybak, (laser etched) same as I use for Indy. Better than using PE.

And as of right now, this is the state of it, where I am up to - stern parts will be completed by the end of tomorrow (designs/laser cut finals) and then I move onto the head rails...
 
The bow area where the cathead will go will look a lot neater on Jims....
 
 

first build post day 3
 
day 1
clear room, only long enough to get a good clean done, and did the kit review photos
 
After marking identification numbers on all the parts All the plywood bits removed . shame they dont do this at the stage they are made, after test fitting
 
 day 2
i painted them in Oak, using the OcCre dye, then made the hull up using titebond original

too yellow

day 3
what about walnut?
 
im happier with that, becomes a nice shade on top of the oak
 
lower hold forward half deck
on one side of each plank i marked with a permanent marker - in black 
painted the deck black, laid planks in a 3 shift butt system
drilled holes to represent nails
stained in oak

this is how she stands tonight 
 
 
 

I had the Spit Fire pic as one of my references! I did originally have the text exactly like in the picture, but was told to change the font as the printing they use would not be able to print something so thin onto the decal sheet. Originally, every name had a slightly different look and line thickness, to simulate the styles written by different hands - but in the end had to change them. Took an age, too. 

first build post day 3
 
day 1
clear room, only long enough to get a good clean done, and did the kit review photos
 
After marking identification numbers on all the parts All the plywood bits removed . shame they dont do this at the stage they are made, after test fitting
 
 day 2
i painted them in Oak, using the OcCre dye, then made the hull up using titebond original

too yellow

day 3
what about walnut?
 
im happier with that, becomes a nice shade on top of the oak
 
lower hold forward half deck
on one side of each plank i marked with a permanent marker - in black 
painted the deck black, laid planks in a 3 shift butt system
drilled holes to represent nails
stained in oak

this is how she stands tonight 
 
 
 

Chris: Not to say this is gospel, the maritime museum in San Diego has a ochre colour for there guns below deck on the HMS Surprise moored at the museum. For what its worth!

The variations of this build are really going to be fun to see.  I'm hopeful that at least one builder will also add a sloth.
 
Alan

I guess most people will want to build the Hollywood ship which definetly does not have red gun carriages.  They do look great built up with the coats of arms and the names.  Some people may want to do the stern chasers in Bronze as per the books and film too.  I think every build of this will end up being different, I for one look forward to what people do with this kit.

Thank you everyone for the comments and likes. one final photo before i start my next build
 
me with my happy face

Good evening everyone
 
42 days on the table and of those i did something on 39 of them and im calling her finished, i have another couple of figures to paint but im not good enough to do them
Thoroughly enjoyed this one, quick build, brilliant online tutorials, excellent plans and wooden material, pants supplied thread, instructions, and after sales (but im very well aware of what is going on in their country
glues used Titebond original and C/A
Occre walnut and oak dyes
paint 1 bottle came with the kit, a acrylic metallic colour for the shields
figures from Aliexpress
i have the Captain John Smith's Shallop ordered at the same time from @chris watton Vanguard Models
 1:32 Captain John Smith's Shallop - Ships of Pavel Nikitin - REVIEWS: Model kits - Model Ship World™
 
but have also recently ordered the  San Bartolome
1:48 San Bartolome by Pavel Nikitin - REVIEWS: Model kits - Model Ship World™
 
 

finished, will post better photos later
 

good morning everyone
 
took a while to get the sail to look more realistic, but i think this looks better, most of the fittings are now in place, except the shields and mast stands along with the bow and stern scrolls
still have to trim some excess thread from the sail, and cut the bolt rope ends.
 
5 seconds after the last photo the breeze caught her and she landed on the puppy, puppy is ok though, and build was repaired

good evening everyone
thank you for comments and likes
 
i seam to have missed a post, so lets play catch up
 
seat lockers day 29-2
nice and simple with just 28 to make up, stain and varnish

oar storage brackets stained and fitted

name plate two tone stained and varnished

day 29-2
barrels made up along with cradles and the rudder


oars required a lot of clean up due to laser char, then stained
 

1st August 2025 day 34-2
stand cleaned up, stained and varnished 

outside contractors employed (Ruth)(wifeypoos) for sail building
 

3rd August day 36-3 started rigging

i fed a bolt rope around three sides, and room for a wire if im unable to get the sail to sit right

not many rigging lines to fit, but getting the sail to sit right took longer than most other things

today was spent tidying her up. and adding a few bits like the rudder, oars, seats, rope coils
 
more to add tomorrow, before the big reveal, and move on to the next project
 
 

or maybe def not
 

first build post day 3
 
day 1
clear room, only long enough to get a good clean done, and did the kit review photos
 
After marking identification numbers on all the parts All the plywood bits removed . shame they dont do this at the stage they are made, after test fitting
 
 day 2
i painted them in Oak, using the OcCre dye, then made the hull up using titebond original

too yellow

day 3
what about walnut?
 
im happier with that, becomes a nice shade on top of the oak
 
lower hold forward half deck
on one side of each plank i marked with a permanent marker - in black 
painted the deck black, laid planks in a 3 shift butt system
drilled holes to represent nails
stained in oak

this is how she stands tonight 
 
 
 

first build post day 3
 
day 1
clear room, only long enough to get a good clean done, and did the kit review photos
 
After marking identification numbers on all the parts All the plywood bits removed . shame they dont do this at the stage they are made, after test fitting
 
 day 2
i painted them in Oak, using the OcCre dye, then made the hull up using titebond original

too yellow

day 3
what about walnut?
 
im happier with that, becomes a nice shade on top of the oak
 
lower hold forward half deck
on one side of each plank i marked with a permanent marker - in black 
painted the deck black, laid planks in a 3 shift butt system
drilled holes to represent nails
stained in oak

this is how she stands tonight 
 
 
 

There is quite a lot of Information out there that suggests ochre for inner bulwarks and carriages for the early 1800's. My main source for this particular kit is the book The Frigate Surprise, by Brian Lavery and Geoff Hunt. Victory inner bulwarks and carriages are also yellow ochre, and she is depicted as per the exact same time frame as Surprise.
 
But, as always, the colour scheme is never gospel, no one will insist the modeller uses the colours we suggest  you can paint them red, yellow, even green or pink if you wish!
 
Conversely, how do we know definitely they were painted red, or at all?
 
ETA - The reason I did the carriage names in both white and black is to give the modeller the choice of how they wish to paint them, red for the white decals, lighter colours like ochre use the black.
 

There are also very good articles on the topic in the Mariners Mirror. I forget the sources, but Red Ochre was removed from the approved Admiralty list of paint pigments in 1807. 
So for the “real” Surprise red would be fine if you chose to model that. But for the “fictional” Surprise many of the stories are based around historical event in the 1808 - 1817 time frame. So like Chris I will be following the Lavery/Hunt book as my reference.  Will be nice to see something different to red ochre! 😁

first build post day 3
 
day 1
clear room, only long enough to get a good clean done, and did the kit review photos
 
After marking identification numbers on all the parts All the plywood bits removed . shame they dont do this at the stage they are made, after test fitting
 
 day 2
i painted them in Oak, using the OcCre dye, then made the hull up using titebond original

too yellow

day 3
what about walnut?
 
im happier with that, becomes a nice shade on top of the oak
 
lower hold forward half deck
on one side of each plank i marked with a permanent marker - in black 
painted the deck black, laid planks in a 3 shift butt system
drilled holes to represent nails
stained in oak

this is how she stands tonight 
 
 
 

first build post day 3
 
day 1
clear room, only long enough to get a good clean done, and did the kit review photos
 
After marking identification numbers on all the parts All the plywood bits removed . shame they dont do this at the stage they are made, after test fitting
 
 day 2
i painted them in Oak, using the OcCre dye, then made the hull up using titebond original

too yellow

day 3
what about walnut?
 
im happier with that, becomes a nice shade on top of the oak
 
lower hold forward half deck
on one side of each plank i marked with a permanent marker - in black 
painted the deck black, laid planks in a 3 shift butt system
drilled holes to represent nails
stained in oak

this is how she stands tonight 
 
 
 

Thank you everyone for the comments and likes. one final photo before i start my next build
 
me with my happy face

For the last day or two, I've been concentrating on some of the smaller stuff, as I usually do at this stage in a VM build. I like to get some stuff out of the way early, such as guns, grates, etc. This update will look at the main guns and the stern chasers. The main guns are constructed like Indy, meaning the barrels aren't actually fitted until the model is almost complete. This means the capsquares in the carriage sides, are open at the front, allowing the builder to slip the barrel through the port and glue the part in place. The stern chasers are more traditional. Here, the barrels are fitted through whole capsquares during assembly. 
 
Fourteen on the main guns come complete with name decals. When the cart is painted, some gloss varnish is applied and when set, the decals are added to the carts before being sealed and matt varnish applied. Here you can see the names.


 
PE is used for eyelets and the small stop bar which sits between the sides. The latter is painted ochre to match the cart.

 
Wheels are now added....remember, large ones at the front, so as to deal with deck camber.
 

 
 
The barrels are NOT glued at this stage. The carts will plug into slots in the deck, and the barrels will be one of the very last things you fit as you build Surprise.

 
Chasers: Almost identical in formula to the main guns, except the barrel is fitted as you close the carriage sides.



 
I'm currently working on carronades. I might be able to update today, but maybe not. I have a visitor later who operates the Modelkits Stuff YouTube channel, and he's coming for a preview of the work and sheets of parts etc. 
 

kit contents

a conversation between the wife and myself last week (yes we do talk)
 
wife. i love that Viking thingy, i like the  wood effect
me. oh
wife, will you build something for  just me
me oh 
wife yeah 
me, what
wife, something like that, no copper tiles, no colours  on the hull, just natural wood, sails, bit of lighting, and see something inside like on that big thingy you build from chris
me.  you mean Indy
wife yeah
 
Now i have everything i want in life, Ruth never asks for things very often, so i have to say yes,
we ruled out all my on hold builds and spent a few days looking around, 
in the end this build suited all the requirements, so it was ordered and i found a copy of the AOTS by 
John Mckay 2md hand
 
 

so many build logs on MSW, but very few ever completed, maybe i will find out why in the coming weeks/months