Recently bought the CAFMODEL La Salamandre bomb ketch 2.0 kit from Max at ZHL. Very expensive and ambitious kit perhaps as close as a kit gets to high end scratch build aesthetics and completeness of detail. I bought this because it closely follows the outstanding ANCRE Boudroit/Berti monographe and plans for the build and I wanted to build a full frame kit in my kitchen as I don’t have workshop access at home anymore and this kit can be completed with a basic tool set. I was also attracted by the unique details of these unusually robust ships.
Kit comes in two parts which are usually sold seperate. First part is building cradle and basic hull structure. Second part is full interior fit out, box wood carvings, fittings and rigging. Also includes mini kits for longboat, cutter and barrels. This is a cottage industry style product and there is no fancy packaging. It appears this kit has gone through several revisions over the past few years with upgrades and refinements which may not be reflected in documentation and on past buildings logs on the net. The maker Cao has said he continuously revises his kits and says his next kit will always be the best one. I am aware of already 3 or 4 different building cradle revisions from the Russian and Chinese build logs I have seen.
This kit can be built in several ways as a complete ship, admiralty and open admiralty view or full rigged open admiralty. Strangely there is only one enormous sheet plan over 3 metres wide and a 1/1 rib/keel template sheet over 4 metres wide which I have started cutting up. There are two basic instruction books with some step by step diagrams and very little if any useful instructions written in Chinese with some English. This is a kit for experienced builders and who can work off plans for sure. This being the higher grade B level it has mostly nicely matched wood. All components appear nicely laser cut. There are many photo etched parts. Cast fittings are good but require finishing. Carvings should turn out excellent after cleaning up. I will replace the blocks and some other rigging parts as they are just ordinary quality and seem an afterthought given the high detail from the rest of the kit and will not do the build justice. This kit appears faithful and mostly accurate to the ANCRE monographe of La Salamandre in which there are 37 highly detailed plates to make the model and will complement this kit greatly. Variations from the kit to the ANCRE plans have been reported. I will try to build the ship following these plans. Will take me a long time no doubt and there will be frustrations and challenges.
After studying the kilt for a couple of weeks I have now completed the building cradle. Relatively straight forward quick job and not as complicated as Brian’s Enterprise cradle from the same maker. Parts are accurately cut but need some filing and cleaning up to fit. I have seen other cradles on the net with extra reinforcements so I added some just in case.
Is this kit good value for money and will it deliver on its promises? On early impressions its not perfect but has enormous potential to make a great model. Time will tell.
Below are links to some photo build logs on the net.
https://plus.google.com/photos/105206969767206068120/albums/6044896497804276801
https://plus.google.com/photos/105206969767206068120/albums/5960242700787525729
Kit comes in two parts which are usually sold seperate. First part is building cradle and basic hull structure. Second part is full interior fit out, box wood carvings, fittings and rigging. Also includes mini kits for longboat, cutter and barrels. This is a cottage industry style product and there is no fancy packaging. It appears this kit has gone through several revisions over the past few years with upgrades and refinements which may not be reflected in documentation and on past buildings logs on the net. The maker Cao has said he continuously revises his kits and says his next kit will always be the best one. I am aware of already 3 or 4 different building cradle revisions from the Russian and Chinese build logs I have seen.
This kit can be built in several ways as a complete ship, admiralty and open admiralty view or full rigged open admiralty. Strangely there is only one enormous sheet plan over 3 metres wide and a 1/1 rib/keel template sheet over 4 metres wide which I have started cutting up. There are two basic instruction books with some step by step diagrams and very little if any useful instructions written in Chinese with some English. This is a kit for experienced builders and who can work off plans for sure. This being the higher grade B level it has mostly nicely matched wood. All components appear nicely laser cut. There are many photo etched parts. Cast fittings are good but require finishing. Carvings should turn out excellent after cleaning up. I will replace the blocks and some other rigging parts as they are just ordinary quality and seem an afterthought given the high detail from the rest of the kit and will not do the build justice. This kit appears faithful and mostly accurate to the ANCRE monographe of La Salamandre in which there are 37 highly detailed plates to make the model and will complement this kit greatly. Variations from the kit to the ANCRE plans have been reported. I will try to build the ship following these plans. Will take me a long time no doubt and there will be frustrations and challenges.
After studying the kilt for a couple of weeks I have now completed the building cradle. Relatively straight forward quick job and not as complicated as Brian’s Enterprise cradle from the same maker. Parts are accurately cut but need some filing and cleaning up to fit. I have seen other cradles on the net with extra reinforcements so I added some just in case.
Is this kit good value for money and will it deliver on its promises? On early impressions its not perfect but has enormous potential to make a great model. Time will tell.
Below are links to some photo build logs on the net.
https://plus.google.com/photos/105206969767206068120/albums/6044896497804276801
https://plus.google.com/photos/105206969767206068120/albums/5960242700787525729
Last edited:
are stating in a far east forum that this is an Ancre copy without any evidence ,like sending somebody in jail without any proof and judge and attorney defence,the daycare is still open in DPK??
