Artesania Latina HMS Surprise 1:48 DeAgostini/Model Space vs Artesania Latina HMS Surprise 1:48 Age of Sail????

[Bill Hime]

So I've been looking at the HMS Surprise 1:48 for my build this winter. I'm bewildered by the price difference of this model between DeAgostini/Model Space @ $1,399.99 and Age of Sail @ $699.99...

 

Is there something different between these two kits? I did see that the DeAgostini model is in collaboration with a maritime museum. This is literally double the cost. Can anybody shed light on this for me?

 

 

Warm Regards,

 

Bill 

Edited September 10, 2014 by Bill Hime

[mtaylor]

Bill,

 

Is the DeAgostini a partwork?  Sold in magazine issues?  If so, that's the big price difference.  I recall, and could be wrong, but those two are the same kit, just packaged differently.

[Bill Hime]

Hey Mark,

It's on the site Model Space linked at the bottom of our Forums page. You can have it sent in stages monthly or pay for it out right. Monthly it's $100.00. Or you can pay one time $1,399.99.

So it's $1,399.99 or $699.99.....that's a $700.00 difference being advertised right here on our Forum. Model Space and Age of Sail are both linked here.

 

 

Bill 

[NMBROOK]

Hi Bill

They are both exactly the same!!! HMS Surprise was never offered as a proper weekly partwork in the UK,so I very much doubt it will be any different for the US.Save yourself a heap of cash my friend and go with Age of Sail.Only downside to both depending on your opinion,no paper plans,the model only comes with an instructional CD for the computer.However the kit can be built into both a large and well detailed model.

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[mtaylor]

Ah... thanks Nigel.  I wasn't quite sure it was the same beast. 

[Bill Hime]

Mark, Nigel,

 

Thanks guys! That extra cash could buy a Byrne's table saw and/or thickness sander . I will say that sounds a little concerning not having paper plans?!

 

This is the scale I'm really interested in and of course the HMS Surprise is one of my favorite

 

 

Bill

[mtdoramike]

If you think that is a great price, check out this link to Oakridge Hobbies, which is where I purchased the Victory from and they have the Artesania Latina HMS Surprise for the same price I paid for the Victory kit @ $567.00. Also at that time they offered free shipping so I don't know if that still applies or not. http://www.oakridgehobbies.com/hobby-shop/plastic-wood-hobby-model-kits/artesania-latina-tall-ships-models-wooden-boat-models-wooden-ship-model-kits/artesania-latina-h-m-s-surprise-1796-wooden-ship-model-kit.html

Edited September 10, 2014 by mtdoramike

[Bill Hime]

Thanks for the link, i'll check that out as well !

[Ulises Victoria]

 

This is the scale I'm really interested in and of course the HMS Surprise is one of my favorite

 

 

Bill

Hello Bill.

Make sure you have PLENTY of room to build this kit. I have it in my stash, but I can not build it at the moment due to its size. This animal is BIG. 

1.34 mts. long. 

[Cristiano]

Hello Bill,

the cost is different, but I think that the "material" provided is not the same.

Below the description of the theoretical difference:

 

 

Purchasing HMS Surprise

As usual with DeAgostini’s kits, there is a choice of purchase options. You can choose whether to buy outright or break the purchase into monthly instalments to spread the cost. This latter includes a set of expanded step-by-step instructions for online download, plus a monthly magazine revealing the story behind the ship, plus features on sail and sailors.

 

 

 

But beware that the above description is some years old, so verify if the current selling proposal is the same!

 

The type of customer that buy the monthly issues, usually prefers to divide the overall cost in many small amounts.

in addition, it is considered a good approach for modellers that have never made such type of models, due to the fact that the monthly instructions guide the modeller step by step.

In that way, the construction of a model "appears" less complex since you made small steps of construction each month.

Obviously the overall price is bigger, but I really think that this approach is targeted only to some type of customers.

Surely not to the experienced ones, which usually prefer to buy a complete kit.

As an example, below you can see some pages of the instructions (italian language) related to the HMS Victory, always by De Agostini, that were inside the monthly issues.

 

 

[mtdoramike]

Yes, those are very nice instructions for sure.

[Bill Hime]

Cristiano,

Those instructions are very nice. English would be better !  Thanks for the peak ! I wonder if this type of monthly magazine would be available here in the states. Oh I suppose it comes with each mailing of the monthly kit, would that be correct?

 

Ulises,

My Admiral has supplied me with all the room I need. I'm a very blessed man

 

 

Warm Regards,

 

Bill

[Cristiano]

Hello Bill,

if you want an example of the English version instructions of the HMS Surprise, you can download it as a pdf file in the same web page of the advertising of the De Agostini /modelspace US version:

 

http://www.model-space.com/us/build-hms-surprise.html

 

Following the same advertising, it said that the monthly instructions cames together with the monthly package.

 

You must consider that the instructions are a key factor for this type of modelling approach.

As for I know (in the italian versions of these models), there are no drawings at all given with the model (at least with the monthly version), since they want that you DEPEND ENTIRELY ON THE INSTRUCTIONS.

 

So the instructions need obviously to be very well done, otherwise the modeller is completely "blind".

 

That means too, that is more difficult for you to stop purchasing the monthly issues and complete the model by yourself...

 

For the complete kits, is the opposite: the modeller depends entirely on the drawings and the instructions are sometimes limited, sometime useless, sometime bad written, sometimes with no photos.

It is a different approach of way of building a ship, and it can fit perfectly for some type of customer and be completely ignored by other customers.

But it seems that it works fine for DeAgostini, since are many years that they propose the wooden ship models on that way and their market growed a lot.

[Bill Hime]

Cristiano,

Thank you! That is a great insight into this model. I am definitely going to buy this model soon. Now I just need to decide on the approach.

 

Thank you!

 

Warm Regards,

 

Bill

[WackoWolf]

Bill,

 

    They don not offer this in the US, you would have to get someone to get the issues each month and send them to you. Sorry, I have sent emails to the company before and the answer is always the same, not in the US. I wanted the HMS Hood

[Cristiano]

They don not offer this in the US, you would have to get someone to get the issues each month and send them to you. Sorry, I have sent emails to the company before and the answer is always the same, not in the US. I wanted the HMS Hood

 

Are you sure?

the link that I provided is related to the models proposed for the US market.

In USA are proposed only the Victory, Akagi, San Felipe and  Surprise.

 

In Italy at the moment are proposed only the San Felipe and 12 Apostles.

 

In UK Surprise, Victory and many more.

 

Not all the ships are available in all the markets and not in the same moment.

 

Pay attention to have chosen the right country (upper right flag) in the website, since the ships available are different.

 

In anycase you can send them an email, just for clearing doubts, but the contract conditions refer to US phone and email:

 

Cancellation and Returns • You may cancel your order at any time within 15 working days of receiving the delivery from us with any seals and shrink-wrap intact by contacting customer service at 1-877-544-6779 or customerservice@deagostiniusa.com. In respect of products ordered, as long as you return the applicable products to us, you will receive a full refund.