Wonderful model! I did a lot of model building as a kid, in my late teens transitioning to wood ships. I have been wanting to get back to that for years now, and finally did it. I don't have a whole lot of time for it, but do a little bit here and there. Just finished the first planking, about to start the second. I'm enjoying every minute of it, and love seeing things come together and start looking like an actual ship. It's such a wonderful hobby. I picked this model because I thought it would be a good test to see if I like it as much as I did as a kid, without spending too much money right away. I already know which is going to be my next one. Material quality is top notch. I have lots of material left over from the first planking, they accounted for people breaking lots of planks while learning to bend them. The instructions are terse, with mostly good pictures to follow along with. But the excellent drawings will always make things clear. And luckily we have youtube to learn the various skills necessary. When I was a kid we didn't have internet, I had to rely on books. It's a lot easier now! Also, if you're building a model and cannot make out exactly how something goes, remember that it doesn't matter, you can make it your own.

This is my first wooden ship model. I've been enjoying it and taking my time whenever the desire (and time) to work on it strikes. I've only just finished the hull planking and a few trim items, but I'm looking forward to the middle-phase and starting on another ship once this is done!

Great Model! However, for a model of this caliber amd price I would have expected the dead eues to have been more acciratly drilled. I had to redrill everyone. It would have been great to have the brass stantions as well.