Has anyone out there tried the Fair American kit from Model Shipways? I purchased the kit with the hope that I could turn it into a reasonable version of the HMS Sophie from the Patrick O'Brien book Master and Commander. Am I way off base here? I'm new at the hobby but have a lot of patience. I'd appreciate any reviews of this kit from fellow modelers.

Hi Joseph,
Lauck Street Shipyard, www.lauckstreetshipyard.com, offers a practicum on the Fair American. Kinda pricy but you may want to consider it. Click on "College of Model Shipbuilding".

Hi Dennis,

Thank you. I'll take a look at it. I'm sort of surprised at the lack of response to my query. I'm going in many directions at the same time but I'll get down to some serious work soon, I hope.

Joe

Joseph: I'm currently working on Fair American from Model Shipways. I'm completing the gun port framing and will be starting on hull planking shortly. I had kind of a rough start with this kit - the 3/16 thick wood sheets for the laser cut bulkheads were warped when I opened the kit. I tried to flatten out the camber but no amount of weight put on top could straighten them out. I worked with them any way and had to add filler pieces between the bulwark spaces to correct the problem. Once added to the center keel I also noticed that several of the bulkheads did not meet the bearding line, so I had to add some little shims to flair them into the keel properly. I later found out that I could have returned these parts to MS and they would have replaced them for free - they're pretty good about that, so I've heard. I've only built one POB ship prior to Fair American (Artesania Latina's "Dallas") so I guess I'm still sort of in the "novice" stage. The hull planking looks like it will be pretty involved because this ship has a deep drag towards the stern which will require a few stealer planks to keep things in order. The rigging will probably be the most difficult part of the build based on the plans. Check out the photos in my album - not the neatest build I'll grant you, but I'm making slow but steady progress. If I can be of help just let me know. I'll be posting new progress photos shortly. Good luck - she's a beautiful little ship - just take your time.

RD