Armed Virginia Sloop (AVS)

[bigcreekdad]

I decided to take a short break from my Cutter Cheerful build, and pulled the AVS off the shelf where it has resided several years. I'm just ready to start the first planking, and I have been amazed at the poor quality of the non planking wood. The kit supplied frame wood is terrible. Every single bulkhead slot had to be widened, and by quite a bit IMO...not sure how this tedious process adds to your skill set. After positioning them the lengths did not all have the same distance to the bearding line. The bulkhead tops also break very easily. The very thin and flimsy false deck broke constantly where notched.

 

I have only built one Model Shipways kit in the past (Bluenose). As I recall, that kit wood was decent. What the difference is in the two kits I don't know, but in other completed builds ( 3 Caldercraft and one Occre) I do not recall this frustration with the keel, bulkheads, and false deck. Maybe it was the shock of just coming off building that much on the Cheerful build that kinda spoiled me....no comparison in the quality of the precut materials.

 

In any case, the AVS is sometimes considered a new starter build. Glad it wasn't my first build.

Edited November 22, 2019 by bigcreekdad
spelling

[Gregory]

How did the parts compare to the plans?

 

I have the AVS plans and am considering a scratch build someday..  I don't think I'll bother if parts made from the plans don't go together well...

[bigcreekdad]

Gregory

Honestly, I did not compare the parts to the plan. However, I should think that if you scratch build from the supplied plans you will do fine. The plans appear quite detailed to me.