Of course, you know that having this kit for a month now, I had to get something done on it – I couldn’t just leave well enough alone and report about the kit and move on. It was just too tempting, so I started tinkering with the model with no solid intentions to finish it. I just wanted to see how it goes together. That may change soon, as I’ve been having a lot of fun with it and learning a lot about card models.
But, before I talk about building this model, let me point out again the specifics. This is the 1/96-scale kit from Shipyard’s Paper Model series, and it is different from their more expensive, more complete, and larger 1/72-scale kit from their Laser Cardboard Kit series.
Accessories
There are two sets of accessories that can be purchased separately for this kit that Shipyard sells (well, aside from blocks and deadeyes), and these are a Sails set and a Masts and Yards set. I went ahead and ordered both of these directly from Shipyard.
The Sails set includes four laser cut sails, very nicely pre-printed. The cloth is a nice off-white color and the printing is relatively light in color so that it does not overwhelm the eye. The lines of seams give a good scale appearance and a coil of line is included for the bolt ropes.
The only downside of the sails is that they are printed on only one side, so the back sides may appear a bit stark unless there is some amount of backlighting so that the printed lines show through a little. I’m not sure how well it would work out, but I suppose you could always use these lines as a guide for sewing. Something I’m not averse to trying out. 
While I was at it, I bought the Mast and Yard set too. This set includes not only all the spars in wood, but also includes laser cut parts for the cross trees and caps. These are plain paper and must be painted.
So, I went ahead and started tinkering with the model, actually almost immediately after my last posting about the kit, but I think I’ll write about that in a different series of posts and leave this as more of a follow-up to my initial kit review.
The Other Alert Kit
Let me finish this with a plug for Shipyard’s 1:72-scale HMS Alert, 1777, Laser Cardboard Kit. While the kit I have shown here is pretty nice, it is small and inexpensive, the larger kit is REALLY NICE! Unlike my kit, which has a lot of color printed parts that you have to cut out yourself, the 1:72-scale kit has more plain paper parts that are laser cut for you. But, it includes the paint and brushes, razor blade, sails, brass cannon barrels, wood dowels for the mast and yards, metal eyebolts, blocks and deadeyes, etc. All in all, it is a VERY complete kit, and at the larger scale looks much easier to build.
Shipped, the smaller kit, plus sails, would come to about $50. If you add a couple paints and a set of blocks and deadeyes for the kit, it would be around $75. The larger complete kit is around twice that, but it’s nicer in many ways. If you can swing it, I’d suggest the larger one. Especially after I found this persons build yesterday: [Shipyard] H.M.S. Alert 1777 1/72
An absolutely incredible build leaving me wondering how much can be attributed to the larger kit and making me wonder if I’m wasting my time on the smaller kit. I’ll probably press forward with the 1:96-scale kit I have now and see how it goes.
By the way, you don’t have to order from Poland to get the kit. Ages of Sail has just gotten a shipment in from Shipyard – About 5 boxes full of kits. There’s a lot of stuff that came in including a bunch of lighthouse kits. It’s going to take a while to get all of the new products listed, but if your interested, keep an eye out on their website.
Ship Modeler 