Maris Stella Batelina A Boat from the Adriatic Coast 1:10 Scale

This was my first Marisstella kit and I gotta tell you I’m very impressed. While I don’t consider myself a master builder, I have built a number of wooden ship and boat models - principally small boats and rowing craft, both kits and few scratch built. The quality of this kit is as good as I’ve seen. The kit comes in a huge box. Why, I’m not sure. It’s big enough to hold three or four completed models. But the “what’s inside” is all first rate. The wood is incredible! It’s mainly strips of very clear, tight-grained walnut of various shades. I would recommend color sorting the wood early on so you can select a pattern that suits you when planking the hull. The laser cutting was very crisp and extremely accurate. The plans are very clear and very accurate. The instructions are well written, straight-forward and generously supplemented with color photos. This kit requires a fair amount of board-bending - some of which must be bent edge-wise. But don’t let this scare you away. I simply cut framing mat material (approximately 1mm thick) to the needed contours, soaked the wood strips in water for an hour or so, and clamped them to a board around the contour forms. Then I applied heat from a Monokote heating iron (set on high). As the heating iron is placed on the wood, it steams the water out and “sets” the contour to the desired shape. Worked great. The only deviation from the instructions I’d consider involves covering the plywood frames with the .5x5mm walnut strips. The instructions have you cover these frames after they are attached to the keel. Seems it would have been much easier to do this before the frames are attached to the keel. However, if you chose to do this, it will affect the fit of the frames to the keel unless you are very careful to keep the areas to be glued uncovered. The surfaces of the keel-to-frame joints must NOT be covered in order to obtain good, tight-fitting joints. I did not run into any serious difficulties building this kit. In fact, it was a joy to build. Mine turned out very straight and tight. No wood filler needed. In my opinion, this kit is simple enough for a first-time builder. Just follow the plans and instructions, take your time, and enjoy. I highly recommend this kit!