Customer Kent Dutrieux, a ship modeler from Richmond, California, share some photos of his beautiful build of Amati’s Swedish Gunboat (Cannoniera Svedese), 1775.

This particular model was part of a Group Build, that required each member involved in the build to work on their own model. There were 5 participants in Mr. Dutrieux’s club.

He says that this kit is definitely NOT for beginners, mostly due to the amount of interpretation necessary of the plans. However, he also states that this kit made for a great group project as it gave the group many things to discuss, and provided a good platform for trying different techniques.

Because of the kit’s use of thin, single layer of planks, one of those techniques involved the use of inexpensive and easily obtained balsa blocks to fill in the space between the bulkheads. This was then trimmed and sanded flush with the bulkheads, giving the hull planks a good solid and fair surface to adhere to.

Other techniques tried out involved the making of the sails. Some members sewed the seams, while he simply drew in the lines. A product called Fray Stop was used on the fabric to prevent unravelling of threads while material was then easily cut and glued.

For more information on this kit, click this link: http://www.agesofsail.com/ecommerce/am1550-amati-swedish-gunboat.html

To visit a build log featuring this kit, click this link: https://shipmodeler.wordpress.com/category/ship-model-build-logs/swedish-gunboat-group-build/