Barbary Pirate kits.

[Glenns_TX]

I have Constructo's 1799 Enterprise. She participated in Barbary Wars. Are their any kits of the Barbary Pirate ships from this period near 1:54 scale?

[catopower]

There are no Barbary Pirate kits per se. But, what you're probably looking for is a Xebec model kit. Amati and Occre both make kits in 1:60-scale, though I thought the Occre kit was a bigger scale. Anyway, these are about as close as you're going to get.

 

The Amati kit is a little shorter than your Enterprise model and the Occre kit is a bit longer.

 

You can find them online, but Ages of Sail has them both. Here are links to them:

https://www.agesofsail.com/ecommerce/amati-xebec-am1427.html

https://www.agesofsail.com/ecommerce/cazador.html

 

I've seen beautiful builds of them both. 

[Viggen]

Alongside the Amati and Occre offerings already mentioned, there is also the Mystique by Corel to consider. It is in 1:50 scale.

There is a nice build of it by Clark in the gallery; 

 My expericenses with Corel (not this kit in particular) are: good plans that really helps you in the building process, very good wood, generally good detail - BUT (and this is the one big negative) the metal castings for decorations are sometimes a real dissapointment, being cast lumps of metal totally out of proportion. Corel also tends to "fake" the historical backrounds for some of their ships, but with the Mystique, which is more of a generic example of this type of vessel, that would not really be a problem I think. 

Edited August 14, 2019 by Viggen

[catopower]

Returning to this old topic, I'd add that the Mysticque was an actual French ship. Her particular type is called a Polacca Xebec. The ship appears in the 1880's publication, Le Souvenirs de Marine, by Admiral Paris. I don't know the type well enough, but I believe it's a European modification of the Xebec type. I think a true Xebec would be more likely used by the Barbary pirates, but that's just my opinion. I have nothing to back that up.

 

However, I do recall there is another option for a Xebec, which is one made by Mantua.