Ship Model Building Kits - Scale 1/96 Classics Antique Ship Model Harvey 1847 Wooden Sailboat DIY Hobby Boat

I had my doubts, but this turned out to be a surprisingly nice kit and a remarkable value. The laser-cut wooden pieces fit very well, and the brass parts are beautiful. There are a few instructions in Chinese, but the assembly diagrams are clear and self-explanatory. I may even buy a second one.

This product is of very inferior quality. The laser cut parts are primarily from very thin sheets and so fragile that they brake easily. The instruction sheets are difficult to understand and provide very little guidance. Many of the parts to be assembled are so small that they are almost impossible to build. I would not recommend this model to even the most experienced builders. Do not purchase this item!

While I've done many other models, this was my first ship model. The instructions were ok, but very hard to make out. A lot of steps are skipped and gives a sense of the "draw the rest of the owl" meme. I had to search online through forums to find others that have completed the build to see how things are meant to go together. I imagine it's enough for seasoned ship builders though, or anybody that likes to build it on their own. Overall I'm happy with the details and it seems like everything was included so it was a fun build anyway.

Ignore all of the complaints. They are written by people looking for an easy, foolproof kit. This kit is well thought out and a great value for the money, especially with the brass upgrade kit. But, unless you are an experienced wooden model ship builder, you will have to find outside sources to figure out how to do things like planking the hull, tapering the dowels into masts and spars, and rigging all of the lines, stays, shrouds, ratlines, etc. Instruction in how to do all of these things is not hard to find on the internet. And, if you complete this kit, you will have developed at least the beginning of a set of skills that would ultimately allow you to build a model sailing ship from scratch. Building detailed model ships like this is not for children or people easily distracted. This model isn't going to go together in a few hours, it will take weeks, if not months. But the fun of model building is building the models.

Product is not for beginners, instructions are not specific on how to assemble it correctly. Wood is too fragile and not all parts are precision cut to fit correctly