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Mayflower- first issued 1966, in a curious 1:83 scale


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2nd thread to start in the GB, so aiming from 2nd to last at the finish line!

Way back when, I had one of the Airfix sailing ships with vac form sails; suffice to say it took me years to pluck up courage to try a vac-form again! Always thought sailing ships were exotic though with rigging thread, those vac-form sails etc

But this build isn't about things in my past other than my sister who is obsessed with all things Pilgrim Fathers, so I figure this can be her Christmas present...

She won't mind that it dates from 1966, and is crude by modern standards.

Enough background, let's get to the box

PXL-20220618-151655520.jpg 

A solid, if flimsy box. This being the commemorative gift set, it's more than a plastic kit! There's a commemorative poster, that's to say a bigger version of the box art, an intriguing choice of paints, a one size fits all paint brush and (actually useful) some cement

PXL-20220618-151929365-PORTRAIT.jpg 

 

Some aged parts

PXL-20220618-152139844-MP.jpg 

And the instructions, which look pretty reasonable

PXL-20220618-152442446-MP.jpg 

Another week of sprue fondling and we'll be setting sail on a voyage of discovery

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3 minutes ago, Jeepboy said:

Looking forward to this....I have the same kit bought for the dull lockdown days that I didn't have as I worked through, so can't wait to see how it should be done.

Full disclosure, but I'm the wrong person if you want to 'see how it should be done'. Look on me more mistakes to avoid!

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9 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Welcome aboard with a second build, yes you have to love the classic box-scale of the classic kits. 

It seems all the odder when 1:87 would have made it HO for model railroads and who wouldn't want the Mayflower in the harbour of their layout?!!

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10 hours ago, stevej60 said:

Great choice Mj,can you recall the 60's boxing with the Pilgrim father's in the foreground? One of the best ship box art ever.

Now that would have made a decent poster, hasten to point out that I"m past the age of selotaping box tops to my bedroom wall! There again, second childhood and all that, it might happen soon.

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On 6/20/2022 at 7:29 AM, Mjwomack said:

Another week of sprue fondling and we'll be setting sail on a voyage of discovery

 

I have the same Kit (though boxing might be slightly different - will need to check)

 

I brought this one to build at some point, as I am (through Mother),

a direct descendant of some of the Mayflower Pilgrims.

The Allerton's and (from memory the Brewster's too)

Mayflower Passenger List

 

Look forward to your build progress, to see how you get along (read pointers :D).

I haven't built a Sailing Ship in eons ^_^

 

Regards

 

Alan

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1 hour ago, LDSModeller said:

 

I have the same Kit (though boxing might be slightly different - will need to check)

 

I brought this one to build at some point, as I am (through Mother),

a direct descendant of some of the Mayflower Pilgrims.

The Allerton's and (from memory the Brewster's too)

Mayflower Passenger List

 

Look forward to your build progress, to see how you get along (read pointers :D).

I haven't built a Sailing Ship in eons ^_^

 

Regards

 

Alan

The boxing could well be different, but according to Scalemates the parts have never changed, and I'm more than sure they're right about that- looking forward to doing something with the crew members!

 

I will try to produce something fitting in honour of your ancestors.

 

As for sailing ship kits- there's 3 moored in the harbour of this GB waiting to cast off already, so I say go buy one (I can't save the global economy all on my own) and get on board- the water's lovely for a sail!

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30 minutes ago, Mjwomack said:

3 moored in the harbour of this GB waiting to cast off already

 

30 minutes ago, Mjwomack said:

I will try to produce something fitting in honour of your ancestors.

Thank you for your kind comment about  honouring my ancestors :)

 

I have at least 3-4 Sailing ships in the stash but are either Airfix or Heller,

or the Mayflower, but since you are building the Mayflower, that Honour is all yours 👍

I shall see what I might find? (though for starters it may have to be wingy thing - probably need

to ask the GB mods permission first though eh?)

 

Thanks/regards

 

Alan

Edited by LDSModeller
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On 20/06/2022 at 07:49, Mjwomack said:

Now that would have made a decent poster, hasten to point out that I"m past the age of selotaping box tops to my bedroom wall! There again, second childhood and all that, it might happen soon.

 

Will you have to take the poster of the lady tennis player scratching her bottom down to make room for it ?  :shrug:

 

Best of luck.

 

Cheers Pat

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've read the instructions three times ( personal best) and might pluck up courage to start soon. Lots of conceptual problems at the moment which must mean I'm overthinking it!

 

The truth is nobody knows what the original was like except is was a merchant ship- Revell's model is based on the Mayflower II 'reproduction', which the ship's architect for, never claimed a great deal of accuracy as he had no original sources as such, and tweaked the below decks headroom.

 

Then how much paint to splash around? Personally I'd not go for the 'factory fresh' look, but it's not for me but my sister so I'll probably go for 'crisp' but matt colours on all the decoration.

 

And finally the rigging? Mindful that my downfall is always over-stretching myself, I'll probably go for the simple option and save my eyes unless it looks too toy-like.

 

That though is a long-way off. Perhaps I should stop thinking and run the bath.. ready to give everything a good rinse, get some primer on and some brown rattle can and take it from there.

 

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On 7/2/2022 at 6:42 PM, Mjwomack said:

I've read the instructions three times ( personal best) and might pluck up courage to start soon. Lots of conceptual problems at the moment which must mean I'm overthinking it!

Gidday, if I read instructions three times I'd probably come up with four ways of doing things - quite confusing. 🤪

As nobody knows exactly what this ship looked like then nobody can say you're wrong about anything. (Well they can, but they'd be wrong. 😁) Do her as you see fit and remember rule no. 1 - enjoy yourself. Looking forward to seeing her come together. Regards, Jeff.

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Well I've made a start on some sub assemblies, which meant that after all that reading of the instructions I actually started at stage 32🤷

So much flash to remove that it's like the plastic of a second kit in there

Nothing worth a photo yet, maybe a group portrait by the weekend 

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9 hours ago, JOCKNEY said:

Are you sure that it's not a vacform kit rather than an excess of flash ? :whistle:

This must be where I've gone wrong. Got it the wrong way round and the sails aren't vacform at all; that's the injection plastic with excess flash

Thanks for clearing that up 

Edited by Mjwomack
Revised typos 😁
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I think a classic kit build is best approached for the nostalgia! I can't say I'm enjoying this as much as the Airacobra (and not just because this is for my sister). The instructions are vague in crucial places, such as detail on mast assembly, with the result that despite pouring over them I've built it back to front (other phrases are available)

PXL-20220713-141816178-MP.jpg 

Now, do I do the main mast wrong as well and be consistent or get one of them the right way round? I'm siding towards consistently wrong.

 

Plenty of sub-assemblies now done- pages of them isn't an understatement

PXL-20220713-141750303-MP.jpg 

This is the bit that hasn't been fun as they are not in what I call 'real' plastic but in that curious polythene that Airfix soldiers used to come in; very hard to work with when there's so much cleaning up required.

 

By way of light relief, I've been looking at the dates on this kit...

PXL-20220713-141908176.jpg 

Mould from 1966, self-adhesive pennant sheet from 2013 and instructions are 2020. I think the instructions are the weakest part, do wonder if it's counter productive for a company to keep repopping such an old mould, especially with weak instructions as I can see a new modeller (especially if they hadn't willingly signed up for a classic GB) being very disheartened by this package? Me, I just keep reminding myself that my sister will by thrilled!

 

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Gidday @Mjwomack, are the yards removable without too much grief? If so, then possibly remove them, turn the mast assembly around then re-attach the yards. Now that you know there's an error I think you could regret it if you don't at least give it a go. Your decision of course.

     If it's any consolation I once glued the entire shelterdeck of my first Prinz Eugen back-to-front. Fortunately I realized it before the glue set.

HTH. Regards, Jeff.

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22 hours ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday @Mjwomack, are the yards removable without too much grief? If so, then possibly remove them, turn the mast assembly around then re-attach the yards. Now that you know there's an error I think you could regret it if you don't at least give it a go. Your decision of course.

     If it's any consolation I once glued the entire shelterdeck of my first Prinz Eugen back-to-front. Fortunately I realized it before the glue set.

HTH. Regards, Jeff.

Gidday @ArnoldAmbrose, thyat was my first thought; the yards are connected (fixed would be an overstatement!) to the mast by a simple semi-circle so you can put the completely out of kilter. Alas though the first section of the mast assembly is firmly fixed to the middle portion and is they are directional due. Imperfection it'll be methinks.

 

At the moment I need a trip to LHS for some brown rattle can. Plenty more sub-assemblies to go in the meantime.

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When your nearest LMS specialises in model railways, the paint choices can be left field out of necessity!

 

PXL-20220722-162132119.jpg 

 

In this case, the woodwork has been treated to Railmatch sleeper grime, seems to do the job, maybe a wash of underframe grime  later, time will tell. The sails however are matt white with BR grey sprayed over the top which doesn't look too bad.

The mojo is up, and aside from a weekend full of work there could be more progress soon.

 

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