Another "identify the kit" problem here!
I recently saw an Airfix kit of the "St. Louis" sailing warship - it's one of their large Series 9 "classic ships" range, but I've never seen or heard of this particular kit before.
The kit is in a 1970s-issue box and the subject looks to me like a 17th or early 18th-century man-of-war, reminiscent of the Wasa or Royal Sovereign. Unsure of the scale of the kit (presumably somewhere in the region of 1/150) or of the ship's nation of origin.

Anyone know what this is? Is it a re-issued Heller kit, or just a re-boxing of another kit like the Wasa? (though, unlike Revell, I didn't think Airfix usually did this sort of thing) The only Heller ship I can find with a similar name is the "Royal Louis" which is a tiny 1/600 "Cadet range" kit.

Thanks for the info!
This seems to be one of those Airfix kits (the Endeavour and Prince are the other two in the Classic Ships range) which doesn't turn up very often. Possibly because (like the Prince) it isn't a well-known subject and most non-enthusiasts probably wouldn't have heard of it. This doesn't explain the Endeavour though - it's quite famous (at least here in the UK) but I've never seen the kit either on eBay or in a shop. Possibly the moulds have been damaged or lost?

As usual, I agree with Jorit on all counts.  I think it's especially interesting to ponder that Airfix version of the Prince alongside the old Board Room model of the ship.  We're accustomed to holding models of that sort in awe - for good reason.  It's worth noting, though, that the windows in the transom and quarter galleries of that model are represented by black-painted sheets of wood, with dots of gold paint where the window muntons would intersect.  The Airfix kit has three-dimensional representations of the muntons.  So which is the more accurate model?

I think I've got an Airfix Prince in my attic.  I confess that one reason I've never started it is that I've gotten into an odd mindset over the years:  a model of a ship-of-the-line from that period looks odd to me if the hull timbers below the wales aren't visible.  That's a silly attitude, of course, but I have to admit that in my case it's true.

I wondered if anyone can help me, I have the Airfix 'Saint Louis' kit but don't have the instructions.  If anyone has them could they scan them and email them to me?  I havn't built it yet but it does look like a nice kit.

thanks,

Jim

According to J.C. Carbonel, in his book about Heller, there is a  Saint Louis model made by Heller in 1978, Ref 837 (it is not the Airfix model).  In his book about Airfix, Arthur Ward puts the Saint Louis in the list of new Airfix models for 1973.

Michel

 

Heller and Airfix only came under joint ownership from 1986, when Airfix was taken over by Humbrol, who already owned Heller. Before that date, there were no instances of Heller re-boxing Airfix kits, so it seems certain that the Heller St. Louis was  a Heller original product. Richard Humm's Airfix Kit List, widely recognised as the definitive source on the history of all individual Airfix kits and their various re-boxings, makes no reference to the Airfix St.Louis being re-issued by anyone else.

Cheers,

Chris.

Very interesting!  I gather the St. Louis must have been one of the very last of the genuinely new Heller sailing ship kits.  I'd like to see it; by that time the Heller designers had learned quite a bit about ships and were turning out some serious scale models.  A comparison between the two kits would be enlightening.

Good morning

I'm just finishing the hull of Lindberg St. Louis (Sir Henry Morgan Pirate Ship).   The hull form looks much like the picture's I've found and when together fairly well.  I've only started the masts and don't yet know if they'll need modification.

I do have some comments.  The upper deck gun carriages are quite poor and the gun trunions to far forward, I replaced the guns from a spare Wappen Van Hamburg and the carriages from the scrap box.   The middle of quarter deck is open with an inaccessible pin rail; I decked it over and left a laddered opening and also added ladders to the forward edge.  The forecastle deck has an opening forward of the mast I also decked over and added ladders.  I'll need to modify the anti-boarding frame to allow ladder openings.

I think she'll be quite a nice model when I get finished. 

Captain Road Kill

 

 

 

 

 

The Heller kit is indeed a "Heller original" that shares the hull with "Couronne" - but only the lower portion, from the upper gundeck upwards this is a different kit!

I don´t have any problems with this because "Couronne" as the first real big warship of French design was most likely based on the lines of the "imported" Saint Louis that was built in the Netherlands.

 The Heller kit has more parts than the Airfix one, with full guns on every deck. The heller ship is a bit wider and shallower in height than the Airfix ship, the stern ornament is -from what I have read, correctly- in fact just a cut-out-paper part that has to be glued onto a blank piece of plastic -the original is said to have been a painting!- while the Airfix kit carries real ornaments.

Overall, the Airfix kit looks a little more elegant but I like both kits - all in all there are not that many differences, while the Pyro kit is way overdone in its too pronounced lines (like the various HECEBOP kits of the Couronne BTW) and has a -to put it politely- "ornamental" looking wood grain structure.

 There is one bigger flaw in the Heller version: all the lower hull planks are parallel to the waterline and they do not become narrower to the front and stern ends - that´s not the way a ship is built, just easier to engrave!. A real pity and I do not know ANY other Heller ship kit that has the same issue, maybe at the time the molds had to be finished the guy who knew how to build ships was on holiday....