I'm starting a poll on "Who's Kits do you like the most?"
If you like, post a reply message here after you vote, and explain what is it you like or don't like about about certain kits. Please don't start a new topic.
If I forgot a manufactuer, just let me know. I'll add them to the list.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I've always been partial to Model Shipways Kits. The instructions are usually well written and the plans are well done. If I don't care for some of the cast parts that come with a kit, I'll make my own to suit.

Always liked Midwest and Model Shipways kits. A lot of the kits from Europe don't have very clear instructions, and sometimes the parts they give you don't seem the fit the era of the ship.

I have found most of the European kits to, well, not to be so good. If I do get one I have to go through it and change or remake a lot of the parts (mostly the cast ones). I don't do entire scratch models, but I will modify kits so they will be more historically accurate. As I said in another post, I like to research a ship as much as possible prior to starting construction. :wink:

Tried a few of the kits from Europe. But if I had my choice, I'd stick with Dumas or Model Shipways. I've also bashed some kits, used the basic parts and semi scratch built my own. I don't get down to making my own blocks and such. I'll order small parts like that from one of the hobby suppliers online. My local hobby shop (as with most) doesn't carry much in the way of ship parts.

Not much to say. This is my first foray into ships. I did model airplanes in the past. I'm working on the Bluenose by Amati right now. I have nothing to compare it to, but the translations could be a little better. Let you know more when I finish the model.

Being new to the wooden side of ship modeling I can't make an honest choice. But this is valuable info for selecting a kit. It lessens the chances of getting in over one's head right of the bat and causing discouragement with the hobby.

Hi tobee,
I've started the Model shipways Virginia Sloop and have the Bluenose waitng in the wings. The most difficult problem to date was getting the permission from my wife to take up space in "her" work area, LOL!

These two models look perfect for my first trek up Mt. Everest. Although, I do have some rigging experience with plastic models Cutty Sark and Constitution which turned out tobee respectible. :wink:

You just have to let her know who's the boss! ](*,) (Your head being smashed against wall after the afore mentioned discussion with wife)
What made you decide to switch over to wood? I tried plastic many years ago. Those old Revell Kits. I guess I found wood more of a challenge, and more authentic looking.
Did you ever see the photos of wirewolfs' shop? Look and drool! =P~
It's a whole separate wing of his house.

My experience with the Revel kits was a very pleasant one. But I always, for many years, wanted to dive into the wooden ships. They are much higher quality and allow for leeway to add more realizm. I'm a detailed perfectionist and I would build a model from scratch down to the last treenail if I could.

I don't know about anyone else but I feel like I'm on vacation when working on these tall ships. Who needs to go outside on sunny days!? Bahhh! Close the curtains! :x
I can only dream of a large shop, at least until I kick...er send the kids off to college. \:D/

....................................................
I don't know about anyone else but I feel like I'm on vacation when working on these tall ships. Who needs to go outside on sunny days!? Bahhh! Close the curtains! :x
...............................until I kick...er send the kids off to college. \:D/
Amen! I started building my new shop as the kids were going out the front door! \:D/ :wink:

I have to say by just looking at kits I've purchased 11 total,ambitious or what? but have you seen the prices double in a year,I've decided to stockpile while still reasonable. I like artesani's packing,neat plastic dividers and color photo instructions. let me look at picture long enough and I will figure it out. I also appreciated the post on storing kits. thanx to the poster!

I have to say by just looking at kits I've purchased 11 total,ambitious or what? but have you seen the prices double in a year,I've decided to stockpile while still reasonable.............
Ambitious to say the least!(LOL)
Welcome aboard!
Prices do seem to be going up. Go figure. With 11 kits stock piled, have you started any yet? Or are you in the middle of one. What kits do you have?
Nosey, aren't I.
Just curious to know more about our members.
Cap. :wink:

Salut Cap! To make a long story short. Started a Sterling missouri a long time ago! New business in 1979 (sales & service runabout boats) Married in 82,kids in 85. Translation- No time,No workroom now the nursury #-o What was I thinking!! So the Mo was mothballed and on with life??? Now to the pressent, Bigger house 2002, Read "new workshop" Dug the Mo out and started again. She's 60% complete, hull ready to prime alas the superstucture suffered battle damage in the move! lots of work to repair

KITS I HAVE: Sergal 1-78 Le Soleil Royal
1-78 Victory
Panart 1-16 Victory launch
1-16 Armed "
1-23 Battle station
1-78 Victory bow section
Mamoli 1-53 Golden Hind
1-64 Bounty
Corel 1-24 Wasa battle station
Artesania Latina 1-30 Victory Carronade
1-48 Bounty (cut away vers)
Amati 1-250 Titanic
Minicraft 1-350 " X4 (these don't count because they
are styrene right) :roll:

I plan to do all of the "White Star Line" Olympic Class
Olympic,Titanic,Gigantic AKA Britannic, The 350th with fibre optics the 250th with interiors. Hence the knickname my friends gave me!

I still Love tall ships though,the creaking of the rigging,the silence of no engines!! (I have a sunfish sailboat)

So now you know my life story,sorry for being so WINDY but you asked :D

My brother sent me for Christmas '02 the 19" steam launch from midwest and on my birthday in April he sent me the steam engine that goes with it. I got hooked right away and conned my kids into giveing me the 'Brooklyn' for Christmas '03. Bieing a beginner I really apreciated the excelent instructions and pictures to match. Didn't love the stack and substituted it with a brass sink drain pipe(advice from Jan's hobby shop in NYC). Made quite a few changes, added lots of lights and RC, took it up to Central Park boat pond and got lots of attention. I think it's a great kit and if your handy and pataint it's fine for a beginner(not a kid beginner)I was surprised that almost all the boats in the central park pond were off the shelf plastic junk. Where are all the model boat builders in NYC? My next project was the 'Boston Typhoon' from Mount Fleet. I bought the kit through Don at Loyalhanna Dockyard. It was shipped missing some printed deck sheets and a few raw materials. The inventory list of raw material was a complete guessing game, the castings were absolute garbage, all 1600 packed in 23 bags jammed into one box(anything over 1" long was bent). I challange any model maker to make the rudder casting work. Like all the other castings it's white metel and in no way should be be expected to steer this model. The Prop is also white metal and a piece of junk. This is a $1000+ model that has real crappy fittings. It gets worse! The instructions are real folksy and really suck. There are whole sections of the vessel they completely ignore. The full size plan is a great help but inacturate in many places. They include 8-3"X5" color photos which without you could not build the boat. For another $20 they could have included close-up detail shots that would have been a great help. When Don e-mailed mount fleet about missing parts in the kit it took them 2 months to respond and they included in the package(still some of the wrong stuff)a snotty note "Don, we can't do business this way" I've finished the boat and am rigging it for RC, sound, smoke and lights. I should have thrown away most of the castings because there are so many companies manufacturing great model boat parts that would have been so much better than the crap in the kit. Do I sound PO'd. You bet! This company delivers a potentially great model boat kit and drops the ball in every catagory espesially in their attitude. Any body else have the same expereince? Dave

Hi Dave, Welcome Aboard!
Sounds like you're not too happy with that kit! I've never heard of that make before. Where does Mount Fleet come from. Here or from Europe?
How did the finished model come out?
Here's a good link for model clubs in NYC:
http://www.naut-res-guild.org/clubs.htm#USAn-s
Just scroll down the page until you see the listings for New York, near the bottom.
wirewolf

What's the website for ordering a brother that gives u steam launch along with the steam engine, lol ;)

Anyway i'd like to see some pictures of your steam lauch.

Hey, Dave,

I got curious about Mount Fleet, and found the following reference to it that you might want to explore:

http://www.touchhuddersfield.com/comdir/cditem.cfm/4615

It is a website for the town of Huddersfield, England (NE of Manchester) that includes customer reviews of the local area businesses. Mount Fleet Models is in a small local town of Holmfirth.

The site indicates that Mount Fleet Models has no email or website, but it show an address, phone number, and even a map and directions for getting there.

The only posted customer review for Mount Fleet rates it top-notch ... and appears to be written by someone who's a close friend or relative of the owner.

You may want to submit a more realistic review.

You'd make a good detective Tom! :suspicious:
I never trust on-line public reviews like that. No email and or web site? Um! Did a quick search, and could't find any US suppliers for Mount Fleet, except for Loyalhanna Dockyard, but found more in the UK.

Anyone EXCEPT Dumas.

Fits are poor. Wood varies wildly. Price suggests extreme quality. I did a first scratchbuilt of a 8' Higgins WW II PTB using blown up Al Ross plans to 8'. It was made completly of only 1/8" Beech plywood.

I finished the Higgins faster than the wood PTB by Dumas.

And I really enjoyed the problems in my scratchbuilt.--I DID NOT expect or enjoy Dumas problems.

Picky, ain't I ?

Stay away from Constucto at all cost

Apprentice

I am currently working on Constructo's Enterprise kit, and have been for about the past 12 months (I only work on the kit on weekends for a few hours). I find the kit to have excellent instructions (detailed plans and color photographs), and high quality gorgeous wood and other parts. Many of the wood parts are precut. All of the precut parts and fittings are beautifully organized in numbered bags. The frame and bulkheads were laser cut to perfection. The instructions are tersely written (in 6 languages), though clear. For example, one part of one step said "plank the hull". That part of that step took many weeks to complete. The instructions presume a knowledge of wood model ship building or the ability to obtain such knowledge from elsewhere. The kit included (free) extra vaneer planking for the hull which has made my hull look absolutely fantastic (with some help by me, too!). I most previously made the Skipjack from Midwest. That kit was excellent and had excellent instructions, plans, and drawings (not photos). However, that kit was a level or two below Enterprise in terms of difficulty. Also, the Skipjack used much softer and thinner wood and required the hull to be painted, thankfully, to cover a number of mistakes I made. However, Enterprise is not to be painted so mistakes are not an option. As a result of Enterprise, my tool collection has increased. I would also recommend a Dremmel, in particular. I now also have an excellent book on wooden model ship building that has helped me immeasurably. If my wife agrees to give me more space for displaying my work, my next kit will be a Constructo, possibly San Mateo. Money cost is not a factor for me in selecting a kit, however, time cost and frustration is. I will not hesitate to buy another Constructo kit.

Micheal

I am glad that you found Constructo kit satisfactory. Good lock to you.

For me, it is anything but. I was working on the Lady Smith, a turn of century (19th to 20th) trawler. The wood provided were extremely poor quality and insufficient in quantity, even if one exercise the greatest care. The pile wood keel and frames were the thinnest I have experienced, although my experience is confined only to AL, MS, Caldercraft and Constucto. The fitting did not match the size of the ship. The one that makes me very angry and fustrated was the propeller. It was too large and could not fit onto the hull. When I examine the plan carefully, I found that the propeller was the size as given in the plan, but there was a difference between the drawing and the actual model for the stern of the hull. Hence the propeller would not fit. All this after I have finished planking! I was definitely guilty of carelessness, but when one buys a kit, one expects the parts to be reasonably accurate. In this case, the difference was massive and I had to rebuild the stern completely to accumulate the propeller. The straw that broke the camel's back was the cover plate for the gunwale. This was a strip of rectangular section 5 mm x 2 mm, taking the same line as the top of the hull. For this part, the material provided was a peice of teak strip, 5 mm x 2 mm and one is expected to form it into the line of the hull. It is not difficult to form a 2 mm thick strip into a curve, but with an aspect ratio of 2.5, it is impossible for my limited skill. Other manufactuers provide a precut strip of the correct shape in such a situation. At that point, I gave up on Lady Smith and confined her to the waste bin. But my interest in model ship is not dented, only that I would not touch anything bearing that label with a 20 foot pole.

Apprentice

I don't work for Constructo or any other company so I have no axe to grind, but it may be that my Constructo kit was a fresher and a newer model than yours. A year ago when I bought the kit, I learned that Constructo had only recently released a new version of the Enterprise kit and I made sure that I ordered this latest version. I note that you are in China. Maybe the kit that you bought was a bit old, in many respects, and the newer versions are better supplied, etc. Also, my experience in kits of this type is that many parts are bigger than they are supposed to be to give the modelmaker some room for error (or for correcting other errors). All I can say is that I do not regret buying my kit, in my box. Your mileage may differ depending on your kit and your box.

My misadventure with Constructo happened two years ago, before I moved to China. The kit was bought from Model Expo as part of an order when they were doing a special deal that waived delivery charge within continental America for an order over a certain amount.

As for manufacturer providing oversized parts to allow for modelling error, I cannot accept the argument. What can the modeller do with an over-sized propeller, except to buy a new one at extra cost?