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Mamoli Kits - a positive re-assessment

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In the past I have been pretty cranky and critical of Mamoli kits due to personal experience with them. (Albeit I'm on my third because they were the only kits available of what I wanted to build in the scale I wanted to build it.)
As a member of the Washington Ship Model Society, I had the opportunity at our monthly meeting recently to see and assess some of Mamoli/Dusek's latest offerings: A 1;64 scale Beagle, a mini- Mamoli Beagle, and a Constitution model new and fresh in the box.
With the mini-Mamoli the individual had finished carving and preparing the hull with very nice results. The plans and parts supplied looked ample, well executed and very nice. So much so that I am entertaining investigating what else they have to offer as I like the miniature scale and not having to start from scratch.
Although I did not take a deep dive into the "Connie" POB kit It too looked very well supplied and executed with nice brass, laser-cut and cast parts in abundance with very good materials, hardwoods, model-maker's plywood and an abundance of strip woods in a variety of species. The kit looked like an ample offering and very enticing.
The same gentleman was also well into a Mamoli Constitution cross-section model which was proceeding very nicely and he offered no complaints whatever.
Another modeler was well into a 1/46 scale "Beagle" POB model. It too was well along, the hull nearly complete. His first planking was so successful that a second planking would be icing on the cake. The first could have been stained, sealed, finished and displayed successfully as is. I believe the kit may even have been an older offering.
It looked to me, that with the more current offerings, that Dusek is perhaps slowly, but surely, addressing issues in updating their kits and offerings much to their benefit and credit. As I said, I am intrigued by, and interested in the Mini-Mamoli kits and will venture to see what they have to offer. I have not delved into, nor can I make any comment as to price. But they do appear to be offering a pretty good bang for the buck. I can't speak to their instrucions and plans. but the people at the meeting building these kits offered no complaints whatever in any aspect of their projects thus far. As always, "caveat emptor". I was, however, pleasantly surprised and pleased with what I saw.

Pete Gutterman
 
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My problem with Mamoli stems not from those ships that were made accurately but from the inaccurate kit such as the Beagle. They are simply POB copies of Revell plastic kits that were slight modifications of the Revell HMS Bounty. However, there were excellent models as well, such as the Friesland, the Royal Louis, the USS Constitution, and HMS Victory. Mamoli used to be a mixed bag.
 
I've built several Mamoli kits, and like them for there decorative quality.
My first wood kit was the Mamoli Rattlesnake. I have built Gretel a couple of times, and it is a fun little kit.
I have built the Mary and have a 2nd Dusek version in my stash.
1793059978883.png

My Mary

1793060010400.png
My Gretel

I have found the wood package and fittings to be adequate and typical of European kits in the 70's - 90's.
Dusek took all the original designs and made some refinements, like adding PE parts.
I have found Dusek to be responsive to emails. I found a problem with one of his early Gretel kits, which he acknowledge and apparently corrected.

I really don't like what Dusek has done with the plans.
The original kits had several ~30 x 40 Velum sheets, with some full size scale drawings.
All of the instructions with details were included on these large sheets, and really not that user friendly, but I found them kind of artistic in their own right.

Dusek has a couple of large drawings that are not to scale, and the rest of the instructions on several 12 x 16 sheets.

Mamoli.jpg
This is one of the Old Mamoli drawings.

Mamoli2.jpg
This is one of the Dusek 12 x 16 sheets.

I have never worked on the mini kits.

Some things to note about Mamoli was their re-boxing of several kits under different names.

I think their Bounty and Beagle share some common lines that the actual ships did not share.

Notably, the Blue Shadow, Portsmouth, and Valiant have the same basic lines and are all fictitious.

Their Surprise is a modified La Gloire

All said, I think they can be a rewarding modeling experience.

​

 
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