Kit review Utrecht 1:72 by HiSModel

[tlevine]

Our newest sponsor HiSModel is primarily a retailer of kits from several manufacturers.  Their first in-house ship model kit is Yacht Utrecht 1746.  Kurt was sent a copy of this kit for an open box review.  The review can be seen in the latest issue of the Nautical Research Journal. I agreed to build the model from the perspective of a kit construction review. 

First, some background information.  The Dutch yachts were built to transport important individuals to official meetings and ceremonies.  They were typically heavily decorated.  According to HiS, this model is based on the original plans by the designer Pieter van Zwijndregt.  A replica was built between 1998 and 2003.  It’s primary use now is as an event space.  https://statenjacht.nl/

 

As with any kit review, the following are photos of what is included in the kit.  Not shown are flags, twenty-six resin decorations and rigging components (line, deadeyes, blocks, etc.).  Yes, this is a plastic kit!  I have not built any type of plastic kit in over 15 years, and that was an airplane I built to learn how to use an airbrush (and promptly threw away).  And my first and last plastic ship model was Revell’s Constitution back in the late 70”s.  It is a little hard to tell from the pictures but there is a lot of detail molded into the parts.  All of the decorative elements are crisp.  Unfortunately, the port head timbers were molded incorrectly.  As this is a kit construction review, I decided to build it completely out of the box, with no modifications to the components provided.

The kit comes in two levels, basic and Premium.  We were sent the Premium version.  This has sewn sails, rather than a bolt of cloth, a wood deck, metal cannon in addition to the plastic ones, a few extra flags and a legal-sized poster of the boat.   The decking is scribed for planking but the grain is very out of scale.  The actual ship had a painted quarter deck but the kit included wood veneer without the planking scribes.  The panel lines on the sails look good but the edge sewing is poorly done.

 

The instruction manual is designed so that there is minimal need for written instructions.  There are multiple construction drawings which show where to install various parts and where to drill different diameter holes.  There is one page containing six pictures of the completed model; everything else is computer generated.

 

Having already completed the model, I will give you my assessment before going on to the construction.  This builds up into a nice-looking model.  It is not without its problems, however.  Some parts were not cast properly.  The sails are of poor quality.  There is insufficient rigging to complete the model.  Some of the running rigging is shown as tarred line.  The recommended paint colors do not match the replica ship.  Finally, the instruction manual has a lot to be desired.  I would not have known how to install the leeboards if I did not have Angarfarther’s build log to refer to. https://modelshipworld.com/topic/10401-statenjacht-utrecht-by-angarfather-136/#comment-311620  On the positive side, the resin castings are incredible.  HiS should sell these separately for anyone else who wants to build Utrecht at 1:72 scale.  The included blocks are the best commercial blocks I have seen.  The line is fuzz-free.

 

I cannot recommend this kit as something to be built out of the box.  There are just too many small issues.  I also do not recommend the Premium version.  The coarse deck grain is distracting, the sails are of poor quality and the metal guns are not necessary.  The plastic guns included are of very high quality and do not need replacing with metal.  But for someone who would like to kit-bash this model, I strongly recommend the kit.  It is not overly large (35 cm long and tall) and I was able to complete her in just over one hundred hours, including research.  The condensed build log can be found under the kits build section.