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I recently stumbled across an offer for an Amati Granado kit for a very good price (60 Euros). The owner posted some pictures and said that no parts are missing, but I would really like to consult with somebody who actually built this kit first. Can you post some pictures with the whole content of the kit? Apparently Amati does not offer pictures with the kit content.

 

I will post a picture with the content, but it seems to me that the material for the masts and planking is missing. I will further consult with the seller, however I would it would be great to know prior what to check for.

 

Thank you in advance! 

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That's a Chris Watton design and a great kit. As harlequin said, if the strip wood and dowels are all that is missing, it's still a pretty good deal.

Chris Coyle
Greer, South Carolina

When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.
- Tuco

Current builds: Brigantine Phoenix, Hawker Hurricane

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I agree, what should always be in a used kit for me is the parts bags or containers and most important of all is the plans. Without the plans, you will have a box of wood and metal and that's about it, you can hope the manufacture offers detailed plans that you can buy, but don't hang your hat on it. 

 

 

mike

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The fittings appear to be untouched. This kit regularly retails in excess of US$400. If the owner is only asking $60, then you can buy a lot of very nice strip wood and dowels with the savings! Heck, you can even replace it with some upgraded wood, e.g. Swiss pear, cherry, boxwood, etc.

Chris Coyle
Greer, South Carolina

When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.
- Tuco

Current builds: Brigantine Phoenix, Hawker Hurricane

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Looks like the strip wood and dowels are all there. For 60 euros that would be an incredible steal (let me know if you're not interested). But I'm also somewhat cautious by nature, and I would be curious why the seller didn't notice that the supposedly missing material is in fact there. The stuff is pretty easy to spot in the photos.

Chris Coyle
Greer, South Carolina

When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.
- Tuco

Current builds: Brigantine Phoenix, Hawker Hurricane

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5 minutes ago, Oliver24 said:

are the instructions detailed enough for a beginner

Based on the instructions included in other Victory Models products, I would say yes, with the caveat that Granado is not necessarily an easy model. If this is intended as a first model, you might want to start off with a simpler project.

Chris Coyle
Greer, South Carolina

When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.
- Tuco

Current builds: Brigantine Phoenix, Hawker Hurricane

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18 minutes ago, Oliver24 said:

Its not! I have a build log of the Santa Maria from Amati. She is nearly finished

Then I think this model would be a viable choice for a second model.

Chris Coyle
Greer, South Carolina

When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.
- Tuco

Current builds: Brigantine Phoenix, Hawker Hurricane

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I would say yes, it could be a first model, IF you are persistent enough to follow through, no matter what the obstacle could be. I have seen models started with all the good intentions in the world of finishing them some by beginners, some by accomplished modelers who just lost interest for various reasons (I'm working on two of those such models now). I believe any kit model with the excellent plans in most all of them to the some good, some great instructions could be a first model, especially with the resources you have in front of you like this website and forums with a wealth of information at your fingertips. So if you do start this kit and don't finish it, it will all be on you, not the kit, not the materials, not the lack of this or that, not the (I see this all the time) POOR INSTRUCTIONS.

 

If you learn to build off of the plans rather than relying on the instructions, you will find like I did, the instructions some if not most of the time can be quite the hinderance. To me, instructions are only an aid to assist you, but not build the model for you. Ingenuity is the main facture here more so than the instructions. So if you get the kit, good luck on the build and I have faith in you that you can do it.   

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I have an agreement with the owner. The package will be sent the next week. At this price, even if lacks some parts, I believe that it is well worth it.  I will post some pictures after I get the kit.

 

@mtdoramike I agree with the most you sad about perseverance. However, I believe that there is no excuse for poor instructions! It is bad for the company, it is bad for the consumers and for the hobby as a whole. Think about how many people abandoned their kits due to poor instructions.... it is not always their fault that they have no knowledge about masting and rigging out of the blue. In my town, I know absolutely nobody who is part of this hobby to get advice from. On the internet I have found some videos and information, however the most help came from 1-2 build logs of the same ship I am building. Moreover, the builders apparently are not using this forum anymore. Not much help really! All I am saying is that it would be for the benefit of all to have step-by-step instructions.

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36 minutes ago, Oliver24 said:

All I am saying is that it would be for the benefit of all to have step-by-step instructions.

I believe you are both correct! As Mike points out, with experience comes less reliance on written instructions, but novice builders certainly benefit from them. It largely depends on who is buying the kit! I think, though, that there has been a trend in recent years towards manufacturers providing better instructions in kits, which is good. But there's still plenty of existing kits in circulation with bad instructions, and in some instances a manufacturer may not feel that upgrading the instructions is worth the effort on their part. Having worked in the printing and publishing industry, I suspect that part of the problem there lies in the fact that the lion's share of any printing costs stem from the initial set-up, and the longer a print run is, the more the cost per item decreases. Thus, a manufacturer probably gets many more instruction booklets printed than he will use in an initial production run, and once having gotten them printed is not very likely to get them reprinted prior to a subsequent run.

 

A far worse sin, in my view, is for foreign manufacturers to not have their translated instructions proofread by a native speaker of that language. It's a simple matter to do, and there's probably any number of native speakers who'd be happy to do the job. 

 

Enjoy your new model kit, and I hope we may see it on your workbench in the not-too-distant future!

Chris Coyle
Greer, South Carolina

When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.
- Tuco

Current builds: Brigantine Phoenix, Hawker Hurricane

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There are some alternatives. For example, they can post on their youtube channel a tutorial for the easier ships. It is free! Occre is doing that with the HMS Terror (It was in plan to buy it and still is). There are aprox. 100 videos about building that ship  step-by-step. Artesania Latina provides detailed instructions and a DVD for the Lafayette Hermione...

 

 

 

 

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I have built around 40 ship model kits in the past 25 years from various kit manufactures and have yet to find a kit with poor instructions. Now I have found in most foreign kits (like CC) points out the interpretation of a few words here and there might be lacking, but for the most part if you read quite a few steps ahead, my rule of thumb was three - four steps ahead and then I could figure out what they were trying to say. Latina and OcCre come closest to step by step instructions that I have found with both written and colored photographs of each step. But as far as plans go, non can compete with Model Shipways especially some of Ben Lankford plans, to me they seem to be the most accurate and easy to understand.

 

My best resource when I started my first model, back before I owned a computer, was my local Library. The Library had quite the resource material and even a how to book on rigging tall wooden warships from the 1600's to the 1800's. I wished I could have kept that book, but I had to return it. I think I checked out the book at least 10 times. They also had both movies of Mutiny On The Bounty on VHS format, I was building the HMS Bounty at the time and found both movies to be invaluable.  

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That’s a really fantastic deal on a great kit.  Nice score!

 

You can always download the instruction manual for the Caldercraft Granada.  It’s a very detailed manual that should be of help.  My guess is that the two kits don’t vary much in terms of construction. 

Mike

 

Current Wooden builds:  Amati/Victory Pegasus  MS Charles W. Morgan  Euromodel La Renommèe  

 

Plastic builds:    SB2U-1 Vindicator 1/48  Five Star Yaeyama 1/700  Pit Road Asashio and Akashi 1/700 diorama  Walrus 1/48 and Albatross 1/700  Special Hobby Buffalo 1/32  Eduard Sikorsky JRS-1 1/72  IJN Notoro 1/700  Akitsu Maru 1/700

 

Completed builds :  Caldercraft Brig Badger   Amati Hannah - Ship in Bottle  Pit Road Hatsuzakura 1/700   Hasegawa Shimakaze 1:350

F4B-4 and P-6E 1/72  Accurate Miniatures F3F-1/F3F-2 1/48  Tamiya F4F-4 Wildcat built as FM-1 1/48  Special Hobby Buffalo 1/48

Citroen 2CV 1/24 - Airfix and Tamiya  Entex Morgan 3-wheeler 1/16

 

Terminated build:  HMS Lyme (based on Corel Unicorn)  

 

On the shelf:  Euromodel Friedrich Wilhelm zu Pferde; Caldercraft Victory; too many plastic ship, plane and car kits

 

Future potential scratch builds:  HMS Lyme (from NMM plans); Le Gros Ventre (from Ancre monographs), Dutch ship from Ab Hoving book, HMS Sussex from McCardle book, Philadelphia gunboat (Smithsonian plans)

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This is my belief, when buying a kit of a ship, buy what YOU want to build because the second hand market for them is quite bad. Most second hand kits wind up selling for 25-50% of their retail value and only the most sought after kit realizing the 50% mark. So the seller has most likely made several attempts at selling it with little interest, which is why the cost is what it is. 

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9 hours ago, mtdoramike said:

Most second hand kits wind up selling for 25-50% of their retail value and only the most sought after kit realizing the 50% mark.

Try telling this to all of those delusional eBayers trying to sell their "vintage" kits at premium prices! 😝

Chris Coyle
Greer, South Carolina

When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.
- Tuco

Current builds: Brigantine Phoenix, Hawker Hurricane

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I picked up the package today! The seller was kind enough to wrap it in multiple shock absorbing bubble bags. I opened it as soon as I could. On a first glance it seems that everything is there. The small plastic boxes with the small parts are unopened so I presume that nothing is missing. The instructions, plans and the story of the ship is there as well. There are at least two pages with rigging instructions which is great. My only concern so far is the slightly darker lines on one of the brown laser cut parts which you can see from the pictures. I don`t know yet if it will be a problem or not...All in all, I can say that it is quite a heavy package with a lot of content. It is bigger than I expected...It will be  challenging build. For 1/4th of the retail price, it is a steal.

 

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Edited by Oliver24
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Looks great! Sounds like one of the walnut billets has a little bit of discoloration. I suspect that most of those parts will end up being painted.

Chris Coyle
Greer, South Carolina

When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.
- Tuco

Current builds: Brigantine Phoenix, Hawker Hurricane

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Many kits, including Amati, unfortunately have different colored sheets, even of the same wood.  As Chris said, it should be fine if you are planning to use paint.

Mike

 

Current Wooden builds:  Amati/Victory Pegasus  MS Charles W. Morgan  Euromodel La Renommèe  

 

Plastic builds:    SB2U-1 Vindicator 1/48  Five Star Yaeyama 1/700  Pit Road Asashio and Akashi 1/700 diorama  Walrus 1/48 and Albatross 1/700  Special Hobby Buffalo 1/32  Eduard Sikorsky JRS-1 1/72  IJN Notoro 1/700  Akitsu Maru 1/700

 

Completed builds :  Caldercraft Brig Badger   Amati Hannah - Ship in Bottle  Pit Road Hatsuzakura 1/700   Hasegawa Shimakaze 1:350

F4B-4 and P-6E 1/72  Accurate Miniatures F3F-1/F3F-2 1/48  Tamiya F4F-4 Wildcat built as FM-1 1/48  Special Hobby Buffalo 1/48

Citroen 2CV 1/24 - Airfix and Tamiya  Entex Morgan 3-wheeler 1/16

 

Terminated build:  HMS Lyme (based on Corel Unicorn)  

 

On the shelf:  Euromodel Friedrich Wilhelm zu Pferde; Caldercraft Victory; too many plastic ship, plane and car kits

 

Future potential scratch builds:  HMS Lyme (from NMM plans); Le Gros Ventre (from Ancre monographs), Dutch ship from Ab Hoving book, HMS Sussex from McCardle book, Philadelphia gunboat (Smithsonian plans)

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  • 1 year later...

Hi oliver   did you ever get started on your granado ? I just wonder ,because if you did then that makes us two the only people i can find that are doing / done  this kit,  if you havent started then it seems to be just me   .i have started my kit  this winter  and i must admit the plans have had me scratching my head a little ,but ill get through ,  there dosnt appear to be any build logs anywhere !  unless you know any different  and i cant do one myself  ( dont have a smart phone )     cheers   sticker

 

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