John Allen Posted July 24, 2020 Share #1 Posted July 24, 2020 Please advise if I am being nitpicky. The price of the kit is $ 749.00 I am a little disappointed in several of the supplied materials considering the cost of the kit. Most of the fittings including cannons are brittania or a base metal for the money I feel that at least he cannons should be brass. The pre etched deck does not in my opion look as good as planking (personal choice that can be changed by the builder. I ordered deadeyes at one point before I realized they were metal and had to be painted or browned. I would have thought for the money wood deadeyes on the caliber of Chucks should be supplied. I know they have a great reputation as for as instructions support and replacing parts. It just seems for the cost of that kit some parts should have been upgraded. Am I being to critical, I bow to suggestions from the more experienced. lmagna, reilly, Canute and 1 other 4 Quote John Allen Current builds HMS Victory-Mamoli On deck USS Tecumseh, CSS Hunley scratch build, Double hull Polynesian canoe (Holakea) scratch build Finished Waka Taua Maori War Canoe, Armed Launch-Panart, Diligence English Revenue Cutter-Marine Model Co. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory Posted July 24, 2020 Share #2 Posted July 24, 2020 Don't be so apologetic. At that price point I would agree about the cannon and deadeyes. I would expect premium parts all around. Canute, reilly, John Allen and 2 others 5 Quote “Indecision may or may not be my problem.” ― Jimmy Buffett Current builds: Rattlesnake (Scratch From MS Plans On Hold: HMS Resolution ( AKA Ferrett ) In the Gallery: Yacht Mary, Gretel, French Cannon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtdoramike Posted July 24, 2020 Share #3 Posted July 24, 2020 No, I agree with you, at that price point, better fittings should have been included. This is where the foreign made kits stand out above the domestic kits especially when it comes to woods and fittings. Plans and instructions on domestic kits are hand down the best. reilly, mtaylor, Canute and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Pellett Posted July 24, 2020 Share #4 Posted July 24, 2020 I agree, John. That’s a lot of money for metal, especially as I believe that this is a relatively new kit. A better choice for the gun barrels today would be cast resin. BTW, if you PM me your deadeye bill of material I might be able to help you out. Roger Canute and mtaylor 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Allen Posted July 24, 2020 Author Share #5 Posted July 24, 2020 13 minutes ago, Roger Pellett said: BTW, if you PM me your deadeye bill of material I might be able to help you out. Roger, Thanks I should have made the post clearer. I was about to pull the trigger on the kit, since not being able to find one that was comparable. There is the Revell plastic and the Mamoli Alabama on eBay. Been mulling this over for a week but the cost vs material made me come to my senses. Post is to verify I made right decision. Thanks for the offer that's what is great about this site good folks willing to help each other bruce d, Canute, RichardG and 3 others 6 Quote John Allen Current builds HMS Victory-Mamoli On deck USS Tecumseh, CSS Hunley scratch build, Double hull Polynesian canoe (Holakea) scratch build Finished Waka Taua Maori War Canoe, Armed Launch-Panart, Diligence English Revenue Cutter-Marine Model Co. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory Posted July 24, 2020 Share #6 Posted July 24, 2020 The Mamoli kit would be a great option for some bashing.. I would want it to be the new Dusek version.. A bank or lawyers office in Mobile might be willing to pay a nice chunk of change for a well finished model.. At the least you might get a nice tax deduction for donating to a local library.. I noticed Bluejacket wanted $10,800 for a completed model.. mtaylor, lmagna, Canute and 1 other 4 Quote “Indecision may or may not be my problem.” ― Jimmy Buffett Current builds: Rattlesnake (Scratch From MS Plans On Hold: HMS Resolution ( AKA Ferrett ) In the Gallery: Yacht Mary, Gretel, French Cannon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uss frolick Posted July 24, 2020 Share #7 Posted July 24, 2020 Blue jackets metal is an alloy they call “Britannia “, of which they are rather proud, since it will not oxidize or “cauliflower “, like other lead based metal fittings do over time. It is much like pewter, hence the expense. Wooden blocks can look kind of clunky in 1/8 scale, especially those supplied in foreign kits. (Not Chuck’s of course) lmagna, Canute, John Allen and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uss frolick Posted July 24, 2020 Share #8 Posted July 24, 2020 Cottage Industry Models offers a 1/8th scale upgrade in resin of the guns of Alabama and Kearsarge for the respective Revell Kits. The site hasn't been updated in years, so I don't know if they are still taking orders, but the site is still there: http://cottageindustrymodels.com/?page_id=289 You might want to try to contact them. Canute, John Allen, lmagna and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtdoramike Posted July 25, 2020 Share #9 Posted July 25, 2020 18 hours ago, Gregory said: The Mamoli kit would be a great option for some bashing.. I would want it to be the new Dusek version.. A bank or lawyers office in Mobile might be willing to pay a nice chunk of change for a well finished model.. At the least you might get a nice tax deduction for donating to a local library.. I noticed Bluejacket wanted $10,800 for a completed model.. Lawyers are notoriously cheap and Banks would only be interested in it if it's a donation. Insurance corps and private businesses I have had good luck with. The Danish West Indies trading company in Ft. Lauderdale is home to the Billings Danish Training ship Danmark I built some years ago. They actually flew a small Cessna plane into our local airstrip to pick up the ship model and fly it back. Canute, lmagna, mtaylor and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Allen Posted July 26, 2020 Author Share #10 Posted July 26, 2020 Trust me being up close and personal to numerous lawyers (of which most were the bloodsucking types) they would buy a cheap knockoff from China or Vietnam all the while screaming about Chinese imports. reilly, lmagna, mtaylor and 2 others 5 Quote John Allen Current builds HMS Victory-Mamoli On deck USS Tecumseh, CSS Hunley scratch build, Double hull Polynesian canoe (Holakea) scratch build Finished Waka Taua Maori War Canoe, Armed Launch-Panart, Diligence English Revenue Cutter-Marine Model Co. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uss frolick Posted July 26, 2020 Share #11 Posted July 26, 2020 Sadly, in this current PC, Woke culture we find ourselves in, few lawyers or companies are going to want anything to do with the Confederacy on open display. mtaylor, mtdoramike, John Allen and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Morrison Posted July 27, 2020 Share #12 Posted July 27, 2020 On 7/24/2020 at 4:58 PM, uss frolick said: Cottage Industry Models offers a 1/8th scale upgrade in resin of the guns of Alabama and Kearsarge for the respective Revell Kits. The site hasn't been updated in years, so I don't know if they are still taking orders, but the site is still there: http://cottageindustrymodels.com/?page_id=289 You might want to try to contact them. I have both of these sets. They are mixed media. The gun carriages are resin. The barrels and eyebolts are metal and look great! The remaining blocks are wood. I am using mine in a nearly complete accurization of the Revell CSS Alabama. By the way, has anyone seen reviews of the Mamoli model? Bill Canute, Roger Pellett, Ryland Craze and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBlueJacket Posted July 28, 2020 Share #13 Posted July 28, 2020 Our Alabama and Kearsarge kits contain an enormous number of parts. Photo-etched brass is expensive, and it takes a full day of laser cutting to do all the pieces in each kit. On the Kearsarge, there are over 50 pieces just to make up each Dahlgren gun. To say nothing of the large number of wood sheets used. We try very hard to keep our prices down, but we are using American labor. Also, each kit took 1,400 hours of design work to be amortized across 150 kits. Nunnehi (Don), Snug Harbor Johnny, mtaylor and 5 others 7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccoyle Posted July 28, 2020 Share #14 Posted July 28, 2020 25 minutes ago, MrBlueJacket said: Also, each kit took 1,400 hours of design work to be amortized across 150 kits. That's over 8 months of full-time work. It's just one R&D expense that is bypassed by knock-off kit manufacturers and conveniently overlooked by some ship modeling sites. mtaylor, Ryland Craze, Canute and 1 other 4 Quote Chris Coyle Greer, South Carolina When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk. - Tuco Current builds: Brigantine Phoenix, Hawker Hurricane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoelSmith Posted August 30, 2023 Share #15 Posted August 30, 2023 Mr Bluejacket The Alabama and the Kearsarge limited editions look to be the most accurate models of those two ships. Superb kits from what I can see of them. So why make them limited editions? Surely you could amortise more of your company costs by producing a run of say 500 initially and sell them as a regular catalogue item? The other thing is that much as I would love to model the Alabama in particular, 1/96th scale makes for a huge model. Too big for me unfortunately. Would it not be possible to consider a kit half that size? Small enough to accommodate, but big enough to fully detail. mtaylor and Canute 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBlueJacket Posted September 1, 2023 Share #16 Posted September 1, 2023 The decision to make them limited edition was made by the previous owners. When I took over, they were already well into development. The idea was to honor the 150th anniversary of their battle off Cherburg, France. Canute, mtaylor, Roger Pellett and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoelSmith Posted September 4, 2023 Share #17 Posted September 4, 2023 OK. So how about doing an unlimited kit of the CSS Alabama at half the 1/96th scale. It could make for a more affordable accurate kit as much of the Photo etched and Laser Cut parts could be easily reduced in scale on your CAD. Understandably there may be a bit of modification to be made to the lasered frame slots to allow for whatever thickness of material is being used, but not insurmountable. The model would be more modest in size but could still be highly detailed. I have been looking at the 1/192nd scale drawings in Bowcock's book. Quite a nice size for display without being enormous. and due to the fame (or infamy depending on your view) of the ship could prove popular as a kit. Incidentally I downloaded the Bluejacket Catalogue but there was no list of scale plans that you sell that I could see in it. Canute and mtaylor 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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