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Showing results for tags 'san felipe'.
Found 3 results
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Just recently I was fortunate of getting a free kit. This kit was already started with the framing and planking done. I am looking forward to continue this kit. The cannons and walkway are just dry-fitted so is the stem piece.
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I'm still laid up with a broken leg and can't get to my workshop easily so I decided to amuse (embarrass?) myself by doing a retro build log of the Panart San Felipe. I bought the kit in the 80s so it's pre laser cutting and did the build 20 years later before I had access to the collective wisdom of all of you! -
Where to start? I've had this kit patiently waiting for me and I decided to get started. I have always wanted to build this kit and have had to restrain myself because I had other projects that I needed to finish. This is the newer edition. It includes laser etched decking and several other changes that are supposed to make it much easier to construct. The hull came together very nicely. It feels nice and sturdy. Before you even start planking, it's already heavy. And then the fun starts... due to the laser etched decks, the planking of the upper section of the ship has to be done in stages. If you were to manually plank the decks things would be much easier. But because of the size of each laser etched part, it becomes a tricky job. I have found myself having to rework several sections because the instructions are so bad....and that is why I'm writing this review now. I have yet to start planking the entire hull with the first layer, but I am so angry and discouraged by these lousy instructions that I thought I'd take a break to warn others that might be interested in building this kit. Mantua/Panart in their haste to rewrite the directions to match the changes they made to the kit did a VERY bad job! I've seen the older kit and the drawings were beautiful. The directions were pretty bad, all text, but this is a very advanced kit and the builder should be able to interpret the drawings with little explanation. For this newer version they decided to create an manual full of photos, with very little text. That would be fine if the manual would have been made with care, but instead they made a mess out of everything. Pictures are often out of order and omit MANY steps and fail to mention many parts. So I thought I would revert to going by the drawings. No problem...except for the fact that the drawings were not updated to match the changes made in the kit! This makes it seem like one is building two different kits! Things get VERY confusing and if I didn't have experience in model ship building, I would probabbly give up. But even with experience, it is not a lot of fun. And I'm just getting started! So beware if you are planning on buying this kit.
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