I have enthused elsewhere in the Forum (here, for instance: /forums/909275/ShowPost.aspx ) about Revell's 1977 "Viking Ship" kit, which got re-released some months back by Revell Germany. I just took a look at the company's website, and got a disturbing shock: the kit isn't listed any more. It's not on the Revell/Monogram (USA) list either.
The mentality of those people is hard to fathom. The Revell Germany site still lists that infernal "H.M.S. Beagle" (one of the more disreputable marketing scams in the history of the plastic kit industry - though I rather suspect the people running the company today may not be aware of that fact) and the "Caribbean Pirate Ship" (a reasonably accurate scale reproduction of a prop that used to stand in Disneyland, in California - but bears no resemblance to any actual vessel that ever floated). One is tempted to believe that, horror of horrors, the company's primary motivation is making money. (What a terrifying premise!)
At any rate, that "Viking Ship" is, in my opinion, one of the very best plastic sailing ship kits ever released. According to Dr. Thomas Graham's book, Remembering Revell Model Kits, it's a scale model of a full-size replica that used to be on public display in Chicago; that vessel, in turn, was a full-size reproduction of the Gokstad Ship, one of the two major surviving Norse vessels (now at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo). The kit has the potential to be turned into a fine scale model of a beautiful and important vessel. (It has relatively few parts, simple rigging, and the opportunity to do some really subtle "wood" effects. A competent modeler - even one who'd never built a sailing ship before - could get impressive results from it in a week of evenings or so.) And I can't think of a better project for introducing newcomers of any age to the hobby. I've always contended that the best way to get into sailing ship modeling is with a relatively small vessel on a relatively large scale. This is one of the few plastic kits currently on the market that meet those requirements. (I gave my eleven-year-old grandson one for Christmas - along with a picture book about the Vikings.)
Squadron Mail Order's webpage still lists the kit, and I imagine other web sources have it. I saw one a few weeks ago at our local "hobby/craft/toystore." That suggests that it's still pretty widely available. My suggestion to every plastic sailing ship enthusiast: grab one of these things now, while you have the chance. Apparently Revell Germany decided it didn't sell well enough. That suggests it won't be back for a while - if ever.
Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.