lindberg Edward teech ship WIP

    Edward Teach's pirate ship that you have is a fraud. It is actually the English capitol ship, SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS, repackaged as the QUEEN ANN'S REVENGE. I have nothing but disgust for modeling companies that try to mislead the public, so as to sell their products.

                   Montani semper liberi !       Happy modeling to all and every one of you.

                                                 Crackers                           

I'm glad you said that I was thinking it was a redo of the WASA but the stern was wrong. That and it has way to many guns to be a quick strike pirate ship. I can't complain I got it at a yard sale for 3 bucks.

Manufacturer's (admittedly rather irritating) subterfuge aside, you're left with a nice kit displaying good fidelity to the prototype, and you've certainly done a neat job of painting it.

I would suggest a gentle wash of a darker colour would really bring out the moulded decoration- it will make a big difference. Secondly- I think the stern windows would look better painted black/grey and finished with a drop or two of gloss varnish (or even 'future' floor wax).

Good job for $3!

P.s- if you really want to go to town on the Anderson, R.C. 'Rigging of ships in the days of the spritsail topmast 1600-1720' will give you all the detail you could ever need. Most of it will be impossible to include on a small scale model such as this, but I mention the book because a couple of the Lindberg 'pirate series' re-issues I have in my collection have VERY poor rigging instructions!

If you're interested in the period in general, I also heartily recommend Pepys's Navy: Ships Men and Warfare 1649-1689. it is a superb 'coffee table' work on the Royal Navy of the period. Good pictures too!

Will

I wrote to Lindberg last year asking them to repackage their so-called pirate ships to the ships they really represent, ie: La Flore, Sovereign of the Seas, Wappen von Hamburg, and Saint Louis.  I was informed that these kits are marketing the children's dollars and that Lindberg had no intention of seeking serious modelers to sailing ship modeling.

I tried again several weeks ago, but the letter was returned as undeliverable.  Must be those deplorable "I-Boats".

Bill Morrison

warshipguy

I wrote to Lindberg last year asking them to repackage their so-called pirate ships to the ships they really represent, ie: La Flore, Sovereign of the Seas, Wappen von Hamburg, and Saint Louis.  I was informed that these kits are marketing the children's dollars and that Lindberg had no intention of seeking serious modelers to sailing ship modeling.

I tried again several weeks ago, but the letter was returned as undeliverable.  Must be those deplorable "I-Boats".

Bill Morrison

Most interesting, Bill.  An usually candid statement from a model manufacturer:  "We know we're lying to the public, but we're doing it to make money - so don't try to tell us not to.  And we don't have any interest in people like you." 

What makes this unusual is that Lindberg admits to the practice.  Other companies - Revell and Heller, for instance - are just as guilty of it, but they rarely if ever condescend to respond to such criticisms.

I don't have any special insight into Lindberg's situation, but I have the impression that its CEO has retired and that, if the company hasn't ceased production, it's on the verge of doing so.  As of a minute ago, though, its website was still functioning.

After reading Bills comment about his returned letter I tried to do a little digging. I had been wondering myself after I was looking at the Model Expo website and noticed all the "pirate " ships were gone, and only the Sea Witch was still listed. The only thing I could find was a statement from late April that CEO Andy Petit had retired and all production and product developement has been suspended. I find it extra disappointing because a few months ago one of the online vendors had a long list of ships to be reissued in the last half of this year, including the Clermont and the Harriet Lane.

With no new models on the horizon, the rerelease of a few old favorites would have been cause for celebration. Now I'm wondering what will happen to their collection of molds. They had most of the old Pyro molds didn't they? It's hard enough as it is now competing with and paying collectors prices to get copies of some of those old kits.

Hopefully someone else here knows more about what is happening.

Well, Faith and begora!  I just called the Sales Rep at Lindberg, who gave me their new address and point of contact.  It is:

Mr. Tim Hurt, 517, 3rd Avenue SW, Suite C, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52404.

I am therefore going to try again with my letter.

Bill Morrison

Bill:

FYI - Lindberg is one of the brands owned by J. Lloyd International (web site: http://www.j-lloyd.com/) and the address that they gave you is the same as the address listed on the web site for  J.  Lloyd International - they also have a phone number and a fax number listed on the site.

If you really want to get their attention on this matter, suggest that you copy your letter to the Department of Consumer Affairs for the State of Iowa, although the most likely outcome will be that they will place a small asterisk next to the name of the kit on the box top and some fine print to the effect the the kit is "a scale model of a sailing ship but not intended to represent any specific pirate ship."

Good luck!

These are $20 kits. Is all this effort really needed? You can argue that the blackbeard ship is not historically correct, however the arguement can be made that the mold for the soverign of the seas probably isn't historically accurate either.

When I was a kid I would pick out model cars to build based on what the model on the box looked like. I would say that what lindberg is doing is working. When I was new to building sailing ship kits these "pirate ship" kits helped spark my interest in building kits and getting to know more about these ships. When I started I didn't know the difference between a galleon or a frigate or what a "ship of the line" meant.  I know that these kits are inaccurate, but i still want to build them, for fun. Not everything has to be historically accurate for people to enjoy them.

To Brassbow,

the build looks good keep the pictures coming, and thanks for sharing.

Enemeink,

The kits themselves are not bad. Neither is the idea of marketing kits for kids.  But, if Lindberg could also package them as the actual ships they represent, they might attract adult builders. It could lead to manufacturing other sailing ship kits. Afterall, Lindberg has never had a solid reputation for modern ships but their sailing ships are fairly nice. It could lead to an entirely new niche for them.

Bill