Model Ship Builder

This log was originally posted on Drydock Models and as such, is no longer available. Fortunately, I have copies of the log and the pictures. At first I thought I had lost the dates of the entries, but I can get reasonable estimates from the dates of the photographs. The log was then posted on Model Ship World and that version too is no longer available.

Maybe this log is a jinx!

Never the less, I’m going to try again. 

So, here's the first entry: 

January 15th 2010 

PICT_G_0101

This is what it says on the box:

Built inEnglandin 1834 and put in commission with the Sardinian Navy in 1835, the  is a typical example of the transition from sailing ships to steamers. The “Gulnara” servedSardiniaas an observing-, mail-, escort- and passenger Vessel until it was inactivated in 1861.

The “Gulnara” model was designed in 1/50 scale. Construction will cause no difficulties thanks to prefabricated keel and formers. Paddlewheels, all fittings and flags are prefabricated as well. A complete set of sails is available under Ref.-No. 61913.

Length: 1060mm Beam: 260mm Height: 575mm Scale: 1:50

This is a translation of an excerpt from the manufacturer's description of the kit:

….the Gulnara is a perfect example of the transition from sail to steam…. As with most ships of this period, she was built inEnglandin 1834. She was bought by the Sardinian Navy for escort and mail duties. The Gulnara was fitted with an oscillating steam engine made by the company Fawcett & Preston,Liverpool. When under sail, a section of the paddles could be folded back to reduce resistance.

So far, this is the only picture of the ship itself that I have found:

PICT_G_0102

I have found it included in the list of Sardinian naval vessels where it is shown as having 4 guns, type unspecified.

I've just received the kit from Cornwall Model Boats. It was ordered 13th January 2010 and received 15th January 2010, free delivery. How's that for service.

It's a fairly large box, obviously larger than normal because they'd had to tape two old cardboard boxes together to create a big enough parcel to contain it So far, all I've done is open the box and remove the plans and instructions so I could see what's in it. There are two large bundles of planks and lots of smaller ones. I think there are 5 sheets of pre-cut plywood parts. In addition to these, the keel is already cut as are several of the bulkheads. The parts are not laser cut, they appear to have been cut with something like a 1.5 mm router bit. There is no burning, just a slight feathery edge on one face of the pieces. The pre-cut bulkheads have numbers cut into them.

There is also a bag of what I believe are filler blocks for either or both the bow and stern.

There are two ship’s boats, very nicely machined from solid with a sheet of mahogany plywood parts for each. These, however, are not pre-cut.

There is a bag containing 4 paddle wheel discs and another containing a large brass tube for the funnel and various pieces of brass wire and smaller brass tubing. I’d guess the wire is for handrails but at the moment I’ve no idea what the tubing is for.

The final sets of parts are packed in a cardboard box. There are all sorts of goodies in there ranging from large brass davits to blocks and belaying pins.

And now we come to the plans and instructions.

Things didn’t get off to a good start here. The plans and instructions were packed in an A4 sized plastic bag and the top sheet appears to be an index sheet giving the part numbers for two of the plywood sheets. Stapled to it is a note for my attention. It’s in German so other than knowing it’s for my attention, that’s all I know.

Things improved markedly after that though. There are 8 separate plans, 2 are A0 size and the other 6 are A3 size. They are far better than any I have had previously.

And finally we come to the instructions. I was disappointed withMantua’s instructions for Astrolabe, but when I received the Amati instructions for their bireme, they madeMantua’s look almost comprehensive.

So how do Krick’s compare? They’re in a 24 page book, the first 13 pages are the instructions and the next 10 is a parts list (of 750) items. If you’re checking the maths and thinking that doesn’t add up, the last page is a parts key to three plywood sheets. (Actually, the instructions take up 12 pages as page 1 is the cover with the title and a picture.)

So how good are the instructions?

The good news is that they’re in a single language so there really are a dozen pages of instructions, not some small fraction of that in English.

The bad news is that they’re in German!

My German is virtually non-existent so I can’t tell you what quality they are. However I emailed CMB to ask if English instructions were available and received a prompt reply saying that they should have been included and that some will be posted to me.

I’ll unpack the box tomorrow and take some photographs of the contents.