Constructo Construction Building Kit Albatross 1:55

I was looking for a new challenge after Marquetry and looking at the Constructo HMS Victory kit I fancied a go, then thought it rather expensive as a first attempt, the Albatros kit seemed more reasonably priced as a first venture.Having read some of the 1 star reviews about the Albatros kit complaining that pieces were missing and Constructo refused to replace the parts I was a little reluctant to order but decided to take a chance. As others have stated the tools supplied are very good but you will need others to do a good job. I have been working on the hull for six weeks now and have learnt a lot to enable a better job on HMS Victory, very minor amendments can help, I have found bending on the soldering iron from bow to stern much easier than the reverse as recommended and the previous advice to soak the strips of wood overnight is well worth following as is the advice to read the instructions two or three stages ahead. Having kept every little trim of wood there has been plenty spare. I am about to start on the rigging and sails which I expect to take at least as long as the hull. Enjoy.UpdateThe rigging proved to be more difficult than expected, mainly because the pictures in the instruction booklet did not illustrate the rigging from the right angle in some cases and the picture on the box was far more helpful. The “scale” drawing was some help but following the rigging lines was not easy. Compromise and intuition is required and when pulling the rigging tight to set the sails some of the twine untwists requiring undoing the rigging and pre-untwisting the twine and re-lacing the rigging. Very satisfying when done and I have now ordered HMS Victory.

After completing several Airfix models in my retirement, I wanted a bigger challenge and chose Albatross as one of the simplest in the Constructo range of models. I certainly found it challenging - moulding the wood planks for the hull, being one. But the more I got into it, the more I enjoyed it. The step by step instructions and plans and photographs are brilliant and were easy to follow, though sometimes I missed a detail until I had done the piece and then looked more closely at the photo, and found I had misread the instructions. I did have one disaster with supaglue when the bottle came apart and glue poured onto the completed deck. I was fit to throw it all in the bin, but persevered in cleaning up the solidified mess and reconstructing parts that had got irretreivably spoilt. Only an expert would see any difference in the result! I found the tweezers supplied with the kit essential, and a modellers vice and magnifying glass was vital to put yarn round the tiny blocks, as was a Dremel drill for the 0.5mm holes needed. I am mightily pleased with the end product and would recommend the Constructo range to any serious modeller.

I am an experienced model maker (however a wooden model ship is a new to me) but so far I am having trouble with the construction of this model mainly due to very poor instructions. A model where so far my enjoyment of model making has been dented as I am continually looking to the internet for help or reconfiguring to given instructions. I shudder to think what will be the results of trying to rig the model, if I ever get that far. I can not recommend this model to anyone who has little experience of model making (particularly in wooden ship model kits) and/or is not prepared to interrogate the internet for assistance in construction.

I ordered this item as a last office day gift for a colleague who is in love with sailing. He was chuffed when opened the gift wrapping. Unfortunately I never asked him how the putting it together went but I guess it should have been fine.

My husband is disappointed in this model. He has made models for many years from balsa wood planes to plastic kits but the wood with this kit is of poor quality & keeps splitting. Maybe he has just been unlucky but I cannot give this more than 3 stars.

Delivery was awesome and well expected, arrived in a very attractive box and very clear instructions :) ... Looking forward to start building it!!!!!

this kit makes a very good model, although not for beginners also some instructions for the rigging are a little confusing

Great product to test your construction ability and a great way to loose yourself in the past