kit review 1:22 Venetian Gondola - Amati

[James H]

1:22 Venetian Gondola
Amati
Catalogue # 571
Available from Amati for around €105

 

 

The gondola is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. It is typically propelled by a gondolier, who uses a rowing oar, which is not fastened to the hull, in a sculling manner, and also acts as the rudder. Today's gondolas are up to 11 m long and 1.6 m wide, with a mass of around 350 kg. They are made of 280 hand-made pieces using eight types of wood (lime, oak, mahogany, walnut, cherry, fir, larch and elm). The process takes about two months; in 2013, the cost of a gondola was about 38,000 euros. The oar or rèmo, is held in an oarlock known as a fórcola. The fórcola is of a complicated shape, allowing several positions of the oar for slow forward rowing, powerful forward rowing, turning, slowing down, rowing backwards, and stopping. The ornament on the front of the boat is called the fèrro (meaning iron) and can be made from brass, stainless steel, or aluminium. It serves as decoration and as counterweight for the gondolier standing near the stern.

 

The gondola has existed in Venice since the 11th century, being first mentioned by name in 1094. It is estimated that there were eight to ten thousand gondolas during the 17th and 18th century, but there are only around four hundred in active service today, with virtually all of them used for hire by tourists. The uniqueness of the gondola includes its being asymmetrical along the length, making the single-oar propulsion more efficient. For centuries, the gondola was a major means of transportation and the most common watercraft within Venice. In modern times, the boats still do have a role in public transport in the city, serving as traghetti (small ferries) over the Grand Canal operated by two oarsmen.

 

The kit

 

This is quite a new kit from Amati, and who better to realise a scale model of a Gondola, than an Italian company. This particular subject appears to represent a modern Gondola, which is still no bad thing as I’ve seen a lot of these myself and they are beautiful vessels. This isn’t the first Gondola released by Amati; they did a model of an 1882 vessel (#1600), with a covered passenger section, which was 1:20 scale and is now unavailable.

Original Amati Gondola kit

 

The new kit is a very different model. As is always the case, this kit is packaged into an attractive and high quality, glossy box, with a single photo of the finished Gondola on the lid, and a couple of other finished views on the sides. The vessel is finished in its famous satin black, and the artwork design reflects this.

 

Despite the box’s depth, the actual components don’t occupy too much space, with a few packets of flat sheet parts included, plus a single, large plan, manual etc. We’ll look at these parts now.

 

You could say that this model is very much a plank-on-frame (POF) build, with a series of ‘C’ frames which sit upon a flat, ply floor, sheathed initially with single-piece timber sides. It’s quite a simple approach to building but allows the model to be fitted out and furnished easily, whilst also displaying elements of the hollow hull. The model also needs to have its interior painted black during different phases of the build, due to those areas still being within eyesight when finished. Several thin ply sheets are provided which hold the parts for the frames, footboards, strakes etc. Here you see the frames sheet, with side elements. A little later, you can see a number of selected manual pages, so you’ll get a better idea of construction. Incidentally, the single plan sheet isn’t what you use for main construction guide. The model is mostly don’t via the manual photos, with the plan only really giving an idea of the finished model.

 

This ply sheet contains parts for the oar, display stand, and some visible interior bulkheads. Also visible are the seats. These will be finished with a material which looks like crushed red velvet.

 

On these two ply sheets, you can clearly see the asymmetrical floor of the gondola with engraved positions for the frames, and also side tabs which will key into the single-piece sides, ensuring that alignment is perfect. More turtle deck parts can be seen here, as long as the tabbed floor sections which slot into the frames.

 

Here you can see the Gondola’s side panels with the tabs that correspond with the flat, ply vessel bottom.

 

That was the last of the flat timber sheets, but included is a large sheet of steel photo-etch. This carries the prow and stern shapes, plus two ornamental strakes which lie down each side of the hull. 

 

A reasonably sized sheet of material is included which represents the crushed red velvet of the Gondola interior, as well as for the seat furnishings. 

 

Lastly, a single length of dowel is included which is for the oar construction, a cast metal lamp, and the oarlock in grey resin.

 

Instructions
As I’ve already stated, the model is mostly built using just the stages from the manual, and not the plan sheet. All photos and instructional text are nice and clear and describe in good detail, exactly what the modeller must do at each stage. Photography is excellent and every picture is perfect reference for your build.

 

 

Conclusion
When I came into the hobby around 22yrs ago, the original Amati Gondola was a kit I always coveted, having a copy of their catalogue. For whatever reason, I missed out on that kit and eventually forgot about. Being sent this new kit to review has more than made up for that as this look a beautiful and beautifully simple model to build, but one that’s very attractive. I love watching the Gondolas when I visit Venice, and this model very much captures the evocative appeal of this type of vessel. Something a little mysterious. Maybe I’ve been watching too many old films too! Amati’s Gondola is also a very affordable kit that offers plenty for the builder. As a modeller of primarily warships, this is the sort of side project that I very much enjoy, and as soon as the opportunity presents, I will open a build log for this.

 

My sincere thanks to Amati for sending this kit for review here on Model Ship World. To buy directly, click the link at the top of this article, or visit your local Amati dealer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BobG]

Great review, James! I agree with you that the gondolas have a rather mysterious and beautiful quality about them and I've always been intrigued by them as well.

 

A few years ago, I found a copy of the original Amati Gondola on eBay for a fair price. The seller said that the box had been opened and some of the parts had been removed from the sheets but he had checked carefully and everything was still there. I put the model aside after receiving it since I was currently working on the Medway Longboat by Syren but, a few months later, I discovered that there were several parts missing including a sheet of decorative, photo etch parts. I figured it was too late to try and contact the seller and chalked it up as being my own fault for not carefully inventorying the kit when I received it.

 

A few months later, I found another kit on eBay that said it was not complete but the pictures showed that the parts I was missing were included. I contacted the seller and he confirmed that the parts I needed were indeed included in the incomplete kit. So I ended up buying two of those old kits in order to get one complete kit and I learned my lesson about being sure to inventory any model that you buy on eBay to make sure you are getting what was advertised!

 

The new Amati gondola looks great and the instructions and parts look like they are improved over the older model. I like the look of both the newer model with the open passenger section  and the older model with the enclosed passenger section. I think the black, enclosed passenger section adds a bit of mysteriousness to the model...might the passengers be of high standing or royalty seeking privacy or perhaps the people inside are rogues on a clandestine mission...? Who knows? I just might have to build both models now! 

Edited March 26 by BobG

[wefalck]

Everything you need to know about gondole and other Venetian boats: https://www.veniceboats.com. Gilberto Penzo also has a little shop in Venice, where he sells his books, the plans and the kits he has designed.

 

[JerryC]

I have an Amati gondola in progress, it is an ongoing adventure. I also purchased a Gilberto Penzo gondola that I’m looking forward to. I think the Penzo gondola will be a lot easier to assemble.