I ran across this little gem in the local hobbyshop last week:



It's the Kurun, a 33 foot yacht built by Jacques Yves Le Toumelin, who sailed her single handedly around the world starting in 1949 and arriving back in France in 1952. The entire journey was made under sail. Now it's not the most beautiful ship I have ever seen and her lines are not lean, mean and built for speed but something about this little model sitting on a shelf just seemed to be unresistable to me:



On inspection at home the moldings are nice and crisp and I think that if I bin the plastic sails and add some attention to the rigging this could be a very handsome little build:







While sitting at my workspace inspecting this tiny addition to my stash enjoying a very excellent Austrian Grüner Veltliner from Wachau I started thinking about the name of this forum, Model Shipwrights, and its inhabitants. We tend to avoid all non military vessels here and go for the armed "Heavy metal". Seldom are non-military vessels seen here and I am probably off course by posting the Kurun here.
A few weeks ago I ran off course again when I visited Wojtek's website. He had posted an article about the old Revell paddle steamer Robert E. Lee. I spent about 3 months lurking on E-bay a couple of years ago trying to get hold of this "blast from the past". When I was still at high school a friend of mine, ( another modeling freak), bought the R.E. Lee and added lighting inside, I loved that ship but never got around to buying it and after a few years it vanished from the Revell collection.I managed getting hold of a 1980 vintage USA Revell example for the rather hefty price of 70 Euros, (including postage), and added it to my stash. It is still on my want to build list. To jog the memories here some photos:









As you can see it has stood up to the passage of time quite well also considering the fact that it has been stored for a long time and has made 1 trans-Atlantic crossing. The decals haven't yellowed. I am too late to join in on the contest though, although I don't think there are many people interested in BMX bikes or cassette recorders any more.

I am rather curious if there are any inhabitants of MSW who also have this sort of off course articles in their stash?
cheers,
Julian

Julian

well this Robert E. Lee its my first "love" and as I said on my page for the first time I found that the diorama is more important then the model itself. It was more than 35 years ago and I was eight
But Julian - it was another boxart with herons

I know that comparing to todays standards this ship is "not very good" but it is milestone in my modellmaking history

Cheers

Wojtek
MAKIETARIUM

I think a lot of people love this model Wojtek I was about 18 when I first saw it and I am now nearly 57 . Your site really jogged my memory though, thank you
Julian

Even though I am building military at the moment I have quite a few non-military in the stash,
1/400 Revell AIDA Diva
1/400 Academy RMS Titanic Centenary edition
1/350 Hasegawa NYK Line Hikawa Maru
1/350 Iron Shipwrights SS John Ericcson
So I do have civilian stuff as well but none have risen to the surface of the stash just yet.
Cheers
Warren

How about doing a non heavy metal review here in this thread Warren?
Julian

Which one would you like reviewed Mr Sallows? Take your pick and that is the one I will do next. I think I need a break from guns n stuff..
Until then, here are a few picks of my 1/400 Queen Mary II



Pre wooden deck era..
Cheers mate!
Warren

Your QM 2 is magnificent as we are accustomed to for your builds Warren, the 1/400 special edition Titanic is tempting but I leave the choice of review model to you I must say I appreciate your willingness to join this non-heavy metal thread.
Maybe some more of the "Nomenclatura" of MSW will follow your example, ( thanks mate ),
cheers,
Julian

You asked for it, and you've got it..
In no particullar order I give to you the magnificent Academy 1/400 scale RMS Titanic Centenary Anniversary Limited Edition..
Sorry for the quality of the photos but I am not opening the bags until I am ready to start. You never know if you may need to sell a kit before you get to start it.































Yes, you could get away with painting nothing but the bottom of the hull and still have a great looking model. The sprues are all moulded in the various colours required, including a lovely buttery yellow/orange for the funnels. And one of the frets is plated in nice shiny brass for the base parts and props. May have to add a semi-gloss clear to the props as they are very shiny.
One of the PE frets is painted white, the other natural brass.
Not sure if the deck is self-adhesive but I am sure it will say somewhere.
There is a comprehensive rigging diagram but you will have to find the thread (bugger).
The PE instructions are both photographic and use diagrams. They look confusing until you study them for a bit then they make sense. Other problem is that the colours used and numbers are so small it can be hard for older eyes to read.
I am not sure how smooth or rough the Titanic's actual hull was but I don't think it was as lumpy as the Academy version.. We shall see. I think it adds character (and it would be a huge sanding job that I will not be doing if I can help it).
There is a 150 piece jigsaw included of the box art.
A small photo album is included.
There were only 5000 of this edition made. Makes it a bit hard to corner the market..
I hate to think how many portholes I have to drill out..
Cheers all
Warren

Thanks Warren, that is a really magnificent model, (I will have to try and get hold of an example). See what I mean about the non-heavy metal offerings?
Cheers,
Julian