This is a well designed kit. The instructions are clear enough if you pay close attention to them and the parts go together real well. I made a few mistakes but was able to cover most of them up. I also made some changes to some of the rigging and especially the paint scheme. I could have done better with that,
This is only my third level five model. So far I’ve not felt brave enough to try a full running rigging. I also fear that full sails would hide a lot of my work. But a finished ship with no sails at all, looks naked. This Zvezda model comes with sails attached to he yards. I separated the sails from the yards and cut fabric for furled sails. I think this looks better.
The thread they include with this kit comes on flat cardboard “spoolsâ€. Even after a coat of candle wax, it still has a good memory of the shape it’s been in and works against you. Luckily I had almost enough left over from other projects to use on this. I found some really good easy to work thread at Joanne Fabrics.
The Ratlines Gave me some trouble but turned out OK. I was surprised to find that there were no ratlines included for the top sails of the fore or main mast.
When I ordered this kit, I thought it would be really cool to do a “Pirate Shipâ€. This is a 32 gun frigate much like any other 32 gun frigate. The only difference is the very final step of attaching the skull & crossbones flag to the main mast.
The most impressive part is the stern. If you get this kit, take special consideration of the stern. It’ll payoff at the end. All and all, it turned out to be a pretty nice 32 gun frigate but less impressive than the English Man O’war.
I hope this helps you decide.