This past weekend, we had a vendor table at the IPMS show in San Jose, and had a chance to talk to many people, including a number of customers. One of them, Ron Palma, is building a 1/72-scale model of the British sixth-rate frigate HMS Mercury from Shipyards Laser Cardboard Kit series.

Yesterday, he sent along some progress photos and said that we could share them, which we are very excited to do!

Ron has the hull mostly completed and copper sheathed. Keep in mind that while the frieze work is included in the kit, the whole model does not come pre-printed. So, the excellent paint job is Ron’s handiwork. He commented that the cannon barrels have been taped to protect them from the clear-coat overspray he gave the hull.

Ron’s done an outstanding job, but commented on how well this Shipyard kit has been engineered. He’s getting pretty close to starting the rigging on this model. When completed, the 3-masted warship model will measure 34-1/2″ long.

We’ll keep you posted on Ron’s very inspiring card model. In the meantime, if you are interested in this particular kit, you can find it here on Ages of Sail: HMS Mercury Laser Cardboard Kit. These kits include all parts laser-cut, with pre-printed frieze art, cast resin figurehead, pre-cut and printed cloth sails, turned brass cannons and swivel guns, wooden dowels for the masts and yardarms, rigging line, paint and brushes, plus an a nice photographic set of instructions.

We also carry the smaller 1/96-scale Paper Model kit. The Paper Model series kits are more basic, but include all the basic parts pre-printed in color on high quality paper. You are required to laminate paper to create the necessary thickness for the parts. You’ll also have to provide your own dowels and sail material. However, we’ll soon be adding Shipyard’s masting sets and sail sets to our website as we have all those items in stock now. Check out the kit on Ages of Sail: HMS Mercury Paper Model.

Watch for future updates on Ron’s HMS Mercury model.