The Amati Venetian gondola kit got completely sidetracked, but it’s back and approaching the home stretch. The model has been cleaned up and some details were added to the hull. Other details will be added soon. As a reminder, this is a newly revised Gondola kit that Amati released in the early part of 2023. Being a model of a small open canal boat, it’s actually a relatively quick build – do not let the slow release of build posts fool you. However, this 1/16-scale wooden model boat kit is definitely a challenge that is not made for beginners.

After cleaning things up a bit, the model was primered according to the instructions, which recommended Tamiya light gray Fine Surface Primer. For this particular model, where a really nice smooth finish is important, a fine model primer like this is best to use. Note that some details were added to the hull before this paint was applied, and the bare metal stems at either end were covered with masking tape.

After the primer was dry, the final color coat application was made using Tamiya TS-6 Matte Black spray paint, again, according to the instructions. The real beauty of the model starts to show through here.

Unfortunately, as you may see in these last photos, I ran out of the matte black paint part way through, and I don’t have a source that’s very local to me. So, it’s going to be a couple days before I can do much more. But, I thought that I should get this progress posted in the meantime.

I will point out that using paint from a spray can does make it more difficult to get paint nicely onto the interior surfaces of the hull, especially in all the nooks and crannies of the internal framing. However, it’s not that noticeable. In fact, the slightly lighter shading around these corners makes the framing detail a little more visible. Anyway, there will be a number of pieces that will fit in the floor of the boat, so some of the color variation will get hidden.

Another update on this project should get posted in another couple weeks, as I finally start to approach the final stretch of this project build.

Amati Venetian Gondola at Ages of Sail