I appreciate all the compliments, but I will tell you what. For the most part, I was just following the book and building the ship out of the box. The only thing that I did differently was I left off a lot of the upper deck planks so that you can see the deck below - and have just enough upper planks for the Cannon trucks to sit on.
The other time consumer was rigging the cannons - the manual does not address this, but I punished myself (LOL) and rigged the cannons. Other than that, the kit speaks for itself. All the hull and deck planks are preshaped and tapered. It's getting too close to "putting it together" rather than "building it". A fine line I say.
This in my opinion is neither good nor bad, but the way the manufacturer addresses ship modeling.
However, at the same time, even though this kit leans more toward "putting it together", I would not recommend this for someone starting - however, the recommendation is RELATIVE. I always say this "If a particular kit is what you want, then buy it, build it, and have fun with it" - and don't worry so much about beginner and advanced level kits.
