Artesania Latina "Swift Virginia Pilot Boat - 1805" - 40th Anniversary of Kit Purchase Build

[seadeep]

Here's the link to my build log for this kit: SeaDeep Swift Build Log

This has to be a record build time for me in two domains. First: the longest time a kit has sat on my shelf before I started to work on it (I purchased the kit from Model Expo back in 1984... yes... 1984); and second, the fastest build I've ever completed (three months from start to finish). I think maintaining a build log pushed my natural tendencies to procrastination out of the way. lol

Preface: For those who live for accuracy and authenticity, you're not going to be happy. The kit itself is much different from the version Artesania Latina produces and sells today, and to the best of my knowledge there are at least three variants they've produced of the Swift over the years. This version is double plank on bulkhead, which I love because I get to see the beautiful wood tones of the second hull planking layer (the new version is single planked and painted). The new version does however, have much larger spaces under the dual cabins, and they're detailed with the inclusion of stairs and supplies. I added stairs and a barrel and bale to each of mine because I liked the idea of that. There are quite a few other areas where I went astray of the official plans and build guide, but ultimately I'm quite pleased with my end result. I built the Swift because I love to build wooden ship kits, and my passion is more to do with the quality of the woodwork and adding my personal nuances, as opposed to it being authentic to the core. Truth be told, I'm unsure if a "Swift" actually ever existed. My version has been purchased by a Canadian and has been relocated north of the 49th Parallel, and thus she now flies a Canadian flag.

So, without further adieu, here's my version of the Swift:

 

[Jimsky]

Congrats! Well done! You should be proud of your model! She is a small gem!

 

[seadeep]

Congrats! Well done! You should be proud of your model! She is a small gem!

Thank you for the kind words. As I look back at how I built my first version of this kit, I can see how much my basic skills have improved over those decades. Well... some have improved. I still managed to break one of the anchors that came with the kit while attempting to drill a hole through the white metal casting, and had to source a similarly scaled replacement. And things like the bow stem that was broken (and part of it completely missing) in the kit itself. I reached out to AL to see if I could obtain a replacement, but in the new version of the Swift the stem is plywood, so no luck. So I had to build in a patch and fabricate the missing section so that the profile was as close as possible to what it should have been. Stern rigging for the boom was far from clear in my version of the kit, so I went with the instructions they provide with the latest version of the kit. I think that's part of the job (and challenge) of building wooden kits as opposed to plastic models. There's a lot of fabrication involved, and it's how you establish how you're going to resolve issues that gives me personal satisfaction once the model is complete. There are always new techniques to learn (and this forum is a great place to learn them), as well as things you develop personally in how you approach your build that I find joy and solace in. Again, thank you for the kind words. It was a small, but entertaining build.