St. Gabriel Master Korabel 1:72 Scale Kit Review

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I have recently built Master Korabel's 75mm Lifeboat and I was impressed by the quality, ease of construction and the instructions, so I decided to get one of their larger boat kits. I oredered this from M.K's dealer in Europe and it arrived here in the U.K. from Germany a week later. What do you get for your hard earned pennies I hear you ask. It comes in a good sturdy box which keeps the contents secure.

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The Instructions are a printed booklet containing photographs of each stage of the build, these are clear and detailed, and not a photocopy roughly stapled together, but properly printed, already the quality is starting to show.
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To go with the Photographic instructions you get a booklet of detailed written instructions for each stage which includes the location of all the parts, this is in Russian but for the few of us that are not yet fluent in Russian there is an English and German copy. These last 2 booklets also contain information on how to fit the rigging that is on the 2 full scale plans.

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All the wooden parts are laser cut, the Bulkheads have bevel lines etched on and the instructions also mention about which way to fit the Bow and Stern Bulkheads so that you make use of the slight angle you get from laser cutting, something I've not seen in instructions before. The way that the Bow and Stern Bulkheads are fitted mean that these areas are virtually solid and that will make fitting the second layer of planking a bit easier. The second planking strips are very thin and the instructions recommend that you coat the rear side with diluted PVA before removing them to stop them splitting.

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The various Deck fittings, Pumps, Gratings etc are small kits seperately packed with their own instructions, the Anchors and Guns are already blackened, and Photoetch sheets for the metalwork detail. There are 4 spools of rigging thread and some material for the Sails. You can buy pre-made Sails, but I am going to have a go at making my own.
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I will be doing a build log of this kit,

Cheers Andy
 
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What is a “deck boat”? What period and country is the ship this model is based on?
I don't know what a Deck Boat means. I have tried researching this boat and the only thing I can find is a mention of a St. Gabriel being built in 1728 by Vitus Bering for the Second Kamchatka expedition which mapped the coast of Siberia and North West America, conceived by Peter the Great. I can't find any pictures of any of the ships used by that expedition, I'm sure I did read somewhere that this boat was built for one of the Czars but can't find where now. The boat reminds me of a Dutch boat with the Lee Boards and rounded Bow, but whether it's a real boat or not, when I saw it I knew I wanted to build one,
Cheers Andy
 
I found something......

on the page of GK Modellbau one german seller / distributor of the Master Korabel kits is written:

Vitus Jonassen Bering was a Danish naval officer in Russian service. He led the First Kamchatka Expedition from 1728 to 1730 to prove that Asia and North America are not connected. After his arrival in Nizhny-Kamchatsk in 1728, Bering had the 18 meter long St. Gabriel built. With this ship he examined from July 1728 the coast of Siberia in a northerly direction, discovered some islands and penetrated further and further into the Arctic Ocean, without finding a land connection between Asia and America. Although he had already crossed the strait named after him, the last proof that there is no land connection between Asia and North America, he remained guilty.

and here the header is saying "Expeditionship St.Gabriel"

http://www.gk-modellbau-shop.de/MK0301-Expeditionsschiff-StGabriel

further I found a picture showing the "Gabriel"

2012-07-vitus-bering.png At+the+mouth+of+the+Kamchatka+River,+Bering+supervised+the+construction+of+the+St.+Gabriel..jpg

Download.jpg
The Gabriel as drawn by Martin Spangsberg in 1827. Picture: Danish Geografisk Tidsskrift

and here is also a sketch
http://trimaris.blogsport.de/2014/10/06/zweimal-nischny-kamtschatsk-am-fluss-kamtschatka/
 
Danke Uwe, I knew you'd find out more information. The boat in the sketch is the same as the one in the kit, the boat in the article about Vitus Bering is almost the same it has 2 Top Sails on the Mast instead of just the one Top Sail. I like to research the history of things I build and it's been interesting to read about Vitus Bering,
Cheers Andy
 
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