Why?
As noted at the end of my Fram build log: after building a robust, functional vessel I fancied something more elegant with nice wood and less paint. Browsing through the Corel options (usually good wood) I settled on HMS Unicorn. There are some posts suggesting that this kit has some historical inaccuracies but that is not one of my concerns. I want a good looking graceful model that might (possibly) be allowed in the lounge rather than being confined to the shipyard (spare room) or the stair well.
The Box
The box contains the usual compartmented tray full of fittings, bundles of wood strips (No sapele!) and plywood bulkheads, keel and decks. These are all pre-cut rather than being part of laser cut sheets. I have not removed the film from the fittings tray (I will not need them for a while) so the token photo below is partially masked by reflections.
Dry Fit of Bulkheads
Corel have made a complete pig's ear of cutting these components! The slots in the bulkheads are 4mm wide but the keel is 5mm thick Rather than trying to widen the slots by cutting/filing 0.5mm from each side I decided to cut channels in the keel by removing strips of veneer from both sides. This seems to be more precise since the carcase layers are about 4mm thick. The result is a bit messy but not ultimately visible (photo 2). When I eventually managed to fit some bulkheads I found that their tops were not flush with the top of the keel so the slots need lengthening. (Photo 3 and 4) .The slots in the keel are not quite normal to the keel base (photo 5) and their edges are not parallel. Photo 6 shows light coming through part of the slots.
Perhaps Corel should take more care setting up their jigs or invest in a computer controlled laser cutter. I am aprehensive about what I will discover about the bulkhead profiles and decks
As noted at the end of my Fram build log: after building a robust, functional vessel I fancied something more elegant with nice wood and less paint. Browsing through the Corel options (usually good wood) I settled on HMS Unicorn. There are some posts suggesting that this kit has some historical inaccuracies but that is not one of my concerns. I want a good looking graceful model that might (possibly) be allowed in the lounge rather than being confined to the shipyard (spare room) or the stair well.
The Box
The box contains the usual compartmented tray full of fittings, bundles of wood strips (No sapele!) and plywood bulkheads, keel and decks. These are all pre-cut rather than being part of laser cut sheets. I have not removed the film from the fittings tray (I will not need them for a while) so the token photo below is partially masked by reflections.
Dry Fit of Bulkheads
Corel have made a complete pig's ear of cutting these components! The slots in the bulkheads are 4mm wide but the keel is 5mm thick Rather than trying to widen the slots by cutting/filing 0.5mm from each side I decided to cut channels in the keel by removing strips of veneer from both sides. This seems to be more precise since the carcase layers are about 4mm thick. The result is a bit messy but not ultimately visible (photo 2). When I eventually managed to fit some bulkheads I found that their tops were not flush with the top of the keel so the slots need lengthening. (Photo 3 and 4) .The slots in the keel are not quite normal to the keel base (photo 5) and their edges are not parallel. Photo 6 shows light coming through part of the slots.
Perhaps Corel should take more care setting up their jigs or invest in a computer controlled laser cutter. I am aprehensive about what I will discover about the bulkhead profiles and decks
