Model Shipways 18th Century Longboat Wood Model Kit 1:48 – Beginner to Intermediate Level – True Plank-on-Frame – Model Boat Kit for Adults to Build

Before jumping head first into a big complicated model, choose a simpler yet beautiful model like this. It offers an opportunity to learn the techniques you’ll need later and gives you knowledge of reading plans and the steps to built a wood boat model without losing your mind. The quality of the parts is excellent and the finished product will leave you satisfied.

Not really for beginners as planking takes some practice although the kit contains plenty of extra pieces. Really fun and satisfying. Great price.

This is an excellent model, with some caveats. This is really not for absolute beginners. The planking is challenging to get right, and the parts are very small. Midwest Products used to make the best starter model boats, but they appear to be out of that business. There is still one of their small models listed on Amazon. You might find some on ebay - the Skipjack is a beautiful model. When you are ready to take on the longboat, get yourself a free membership at modelshipworld dot com. There you can find all kinds of advice and detailed building logs from other modelers including the designer of this model, Chuck Passaro. It will make the build much easier. The biggest advantage of the longboat model is its very low cost. I bought two, since this is my first planked model, I expect the first one to be a "learner" and the second to be as good as I can make it.

Haven't yet but it looks simple and great instructins.

The good: There is a generous quantity of material supplied with a few exceptions. One is the belaying pins. You get exactly four in something that looks like a plastic bag. It's really just folded plastic and if you drop a pin you'll never see it again. The laser cutting is top notch so there is no difficulty getting the parts out of the sheet. The included manual is fairly comprehensive although some areas could get a little better coverage.The bad: If this wasn't billed as an introduction to model ship building this would not be part oft he review. The major problem is the scale; everything is very small. There are several parts you have to fabricate like the bands for the mast. They are made from 1/32" x 1/64" bras stock. Wrapping them around the mast to form them and soldering the legs together. Now you get to drill hole in them. To put this in perspective, the smallest drill bit you are likely to find locally is a #60 drill, which is .040 in diameter. 1/32" is .0312 so that's not going to fly. There are sets of metric drill bits from .3 to 1 mm. 1/32 is about .8 mm so you'll need to go smaller than that. Then you need to find a way to chuck it and drill through brass. Sub-millimeter drills aren't the greatest thing, so good luck.Also you'll probably want some sort of illuminated magnifiers. It would help if you're a jeweler by training. I bought this for a winter project. It's summer and I've reached the point where I'm starting to rig it. I can't say enough for the supplied tan thread. It takes a knot as well as polypropylene, that is to say not well at all. It's also very springy. More fun. I'm stubborn so I'll box the stuff up and take another shot next winter. I've built real boats faster and with a lot less frustration.Summary: This is a very nice kit if you are an experienced modeler and have a full assortment of specialized tools. As far as an introduction to ship modeling all it has done is convince me that I'll never build another ship model. This was supposed to be a warm up for a Viking longship. I should have started with that instead.

Model shipways has always produced great kits. They are not for beginners but are well made and produce very good models.

Why the author of the directions/instructions attached his name to it is beyond me. This was the most inarticulate, disorganized and poorly written instruction sheet of ANY KIND for ANY product I've ever seen and that includes those international non-language, only graphics types! And none of the parts were labeled to match the inventory list! Incredible! I actually had to buy a micrometer to measure similar pieces to figure out which ones were which. When I tried to reach out to them via email, the website offered an email message but it never took it. Terrible product, worst instruction sheet I've seen in my 62 years and non-existent support from the company, if it is indeed a real entity. Spare yourselves the aggravation and look elsewhere for a decent product.

Didn't come with the tools, paints like it used to, like I expected. Smaller than expected. No more or less difficult than the 'higher level' ships. Without the tools, paints it is not worth it. good instructions tho