Good beginner plastic sailing ship kit?

Angeleno81

Pretty new to model building and the title says it all. Would like to try my hand at building a sailing ship. While a three masted ship would be amazing it sounds like i should start on something with less complex rigging. Any suggestions?

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I agree that a full three mast ship is a challenge.  Rigging is the big challenge.  Rigging a three master will take more time than building it up to that point.  I would suggest a two master or even a sloop, but I don't know any sloops available now.  There are a few brigs (two masts with square sails) out there.  Even if they are not the best kits, look at it as practice for learning the ropes (literally). Also, a schooner has simpler rigging than square rigged vessels, so a fishing schooner may be a good bet.

There are a lot of tricks in rigging, so check back with the forum when you start the build.  I have made some tools that I find really nice for rigging.  You will need good lighting and vision aid, and maybe a prescription for tranquilizers :-)

A good scotch or bourbon is a good substitute for tranquilizers, but can be more expensive than a prescription!  And there is no co-pay.

Lindberg has a few smaller ship kits out there, but not very prevalent in the market place.  May have to hunt around or try eBay.

Bob

I recommend the Revell "America" yacht.

Its about 1/64 scale. 

I have strongly disagreed with the recommendation to start with simple one or two masted rigs.  My belief is that you should start with a ship that interests you instead.  You are far more likely to finish it.  Author Wolfram zu Mondfeld, Historic Ship Models agrees. His advice is to find one that is attractive enough to you that you will put in the necessary effort to stick with it.

Keep in mind that the rigging plans for most of the following models are simplified, so pick which ship you like. These simplified plans will enable you to get a feel for both standing and running rigging. As you develop your skills you can become more elaborate.  There are many books about rigging that could be very helpful to you.

There are many kits in plastic. Most are out of production. Manufacturers like Airfix once produced a nice line of ships of the line like HMS  Victory, HMS Prince, and HMS Royal Sovereign.  They also produced the British race built Galleon Revenge, the Golden Hind, Mayflower, the HMS Endeavor, HMAV Bounty, the sail/steam Great Western, Discovery, Cutty Sark, and Flying Cloud.

Revell also has a very extensive line of discontinued sailing ships.  Stay away from their kit of the HMS Beagle and Thermopylae because the bears no resemblance to the real ship. Their other ships are quite good.These include USS Constitution in three scales, HMS Victory, Santa Maria, Nina, and Pinta, Charles W. Morgan, Cutty Sark, Great Eastern, Batavia, and others.

Lindberg still manufactures several as so-called "Pirate Ships". However, these models are really the French Frigate La Flore, the Wappen von Hamburg, the HMS Royal Sovereign, and French Le Saint Louis.  

Heller probably has the largest selection but about half of their ships are fictional.  Zvesda is newly developing a sailing ship line but these are quite small at 1/350 scale.

I recommend searching on sites like eBay. These kits are readily available there. I am a big fan of the Airfix line. The hardest thing with them are the elaborate paint schemes.

Bill

Airfix has some good ones. The Wasa and the Golden Hind.

Thanks for reminding me of the Wasa!  Revell of Germany also has an outstanding model of her in a very similar scale. And, there has recently been a great deal of information about her paint scheme made available  by researchers at the Wasa Museum in Stockholm.

Bill

The Wasa looks beautiful. I'm intrigued. I wish the Revell Wasa was also available somewhere. Couldn't find any on ebay or anywhere else for that matter.

Check this:

https://www.squadron.com/1-150-Revell-Germany-Swedish-Regal-Ship-Vasa-p/rg5414.htm

Sorry, but I'd avoid Squadron for that particular kit, and any other that says 'Available to order'. That is Squadron speak for 'We don't have it, don't really know if we'll ever be able to get it, but we'd be happy to take your money right now'. Avoid that nonsense. 

MJames70

Sorry, but I'd avoid Squadron for that particular kit, and any other that says 'Available to order'. That is Squadron speak for 'We don't have it, don't really know if we'll ever be able to get it, but we'd be happy to take your money right now'. Avoid that nonsense. 

 

I rarely use Squadron for that very same reason. Most of their items are either backordered or are just plain very slow in shipping. SB and Scale Hobbyis have my vote.

There are a bunch of Revell "Bounty" models on eBay. Also an interesting one- Bounty, Constitution, morgan and Golden Hind as a lot.

Hi;

 I always recommend to start with a Fore and Aft rigged vessel. Why? Well, it helps familiarise the builder with the ship and rig environment and part names. The Bluenose is one of my suggestions and, if you can find her, Revell's version of the yacht " America" She is a challenge to build, Simple in design, but, beautiful to behold when finished.

 There are quite a few "floating around out there" ( Nope, Don't "pardon the pun") Of these the Lindberg ships mentioned can be decent builds. I have them all and they have nice detail.They may NOT be historically correct, but they sure are "Purty on the Mantle'

I have two kits of the Revell Vasa.  I can send you one if you like.

Bill

I would suggest the current Revell Germany 1/96 "English Man O War".  Its not the most historical accurate, but its large size and small part count allows the beginner to get a feel of how a ship goes together and how to rig a three masted ship without a lot of complication. 

duplicate post

warshipguy

I have two kits of the Revell Vasa.  I can send you one if you like.

Bill

 

Check your PM

I take a break for a couple of months and a great discussion breaks out.

I would second the idea of Airfix Wasa. But only because I've had zero exeperiance with the Revell version. I built the Airfix one years ago and I still love it. If I can ever find a space for another 3ft long ship I'll eventually build the Corell Plank-on-Bulkhead kit.

I used this site to geek out on the ship and used it for reference material when I was painting all the figures on the stern and every where else on the ship.

http://www.wasadream.com/

Another more accessible kit to look into is the Lindburg Jolly Roger, which based is on an actual ship called the La Flour. There's also several build logs on here as well. I like this kit and it was fun to build. I built one of these some years back as privateer as you can really just use this kit as a blank canvas. I have another in my stash that I'll build as the La Flour once I clear off my work bench of another PoB that I've been working on.

https://www.amazon.com/Lindberg-130-scale-Jolly-Roger/dp/B000N3NT5C