Last week while searching through model ship listings on ebay I discovered this kit of the Bonhomme Richard by Monogram. Up til then I was unaware of the existence of a plastic kit of this ship. Being from a Navy family and having read in my youth about John Paul Jones I was naturally interested in having a model of of the Bonhomme Richard. So I bought it. It was only then that I discovered that Aurora, the original manufacturer of this kit, had done a poor job of research for this model. A certain amount of leeway must be given as there is no accurate documentation of the details of this ship. It is known that it was originally a French East India Company armed merchant ship built in 1765 and after four voyages to the far east was sold to the King of France and presented to JPJ to use in the Continental Navy in the war against England. There are a couple of models in the US Naval Academy Museum which are probably as accurate as any model of the Bonhomme Richard and the Monogram model isn't very close. But, it is what it is, and I plan to build it with a few modifications to improve it's looks. Mainly I will be replacing the figurehead, a woman wearing a long flowing dress, with that of a lion pouncing on it's prey. I may replace the yards with sails attached to bare poles and a few other cosmetic changes. Unfortunately the area of the ship that looks the least like the models at the Naval Academy is the stern. Where the modelers at Aurora got their ideas for molding the stern galleries is a mystery to me as that area of the model doesn't resemble any picture of any sailing ship of that era. Unfortunately I am not a skilled enough fabricator of scratch built parts to make an acceptable replacement of the stern galleries. So I think I am stuck with what the kit has provided. When my build starts I will add to this thread so anyone interested can follow my progress. Maybe in the meantime someone will have some suggestions regarding how I might make improvements to the stern of the ship.