I was certain that my Bonhomme Richard cross section would be the last ship model (okay part of a ship) I would ever make (I'm 79 and can't see all that well, plus I drop EVERYTHING - at least 4 times). Until I saw this little beauty and your gorgeous work. I always felt the Carrack style of ship was too "cartoon-y" and exaggerated and somehow not realistic. But your model and work has made me realize that nothing could be further from the truth. Hard to believe I'm saying it, but I am seriously considering getting this little baby (I keep telling my wife it's tiny, relatively).
I do wonder if it's beyond my capabilities. I've watched all of this thread just today, but will be watching all your excellent videos to help determine that. I do know that I was unable to duplicate your knot-tying, but blame that on cheap thread instead of good roping material. And it's taken you almost 2.5 years to build this, but hopefully you had other projects (and horse-riding) as well. But maybe building it will keep me here. ;-)
Speaking of size, the MarisStella web site says this model is 77.5 cm in size but I don't know if that's height or length. Scaling from one of your photos of the plans with a metal scale, it appears that the length from figurehead to the stern is about 59 cm (just over 23"), so that just might be manageable for me on my study desk aka work bench.
I think I actually prefer the model finished as you have it now, without the masts, spars, rigging and sails, but they're really nice too. Do you plan on adding any more, or is this the complete build on this one for you?
Thank you so much for providing this build thread, as well as your excellent videos. If I do build it, I could wish for nothing more to guide me along each step of the way.