I greatly appreciated your video and step by step process of making the Swift. My version from 1982 was a first edition and very different. I am proud to say I finally completed it. Looks great even though I took a few short cuts with blocks and pullies and rigging. No sails on my version. There were no color photos in the directions, sometimes parts did not match up, translation marginal, but most importantly, no internet! No place to turn to for help. I was confused for 40 years and finally after retirement and the pandemic, took the model out and finished it with help from the internet. Great fun, now looking for a new boat to build. To think I dragged that boat around for 3 marriages and seven differnt homes in 40 years...it is a special boat!

I am a man in my seventies. As a young man I built a few similar kits. I enjoyed watching you amd listening to you. You are indeed a gentleman with a comforting demeanour. Thank you, Ken! ...Barry

Firstly, I want to thank you for documenting your build process very detaildly. Ship modelling is also my hobby and I struggle a lot with the complexity of these model ships. I have built 2 models from artesiana and I can say that their instructions aren't detailed enough for begginers to figure out. You have a lot more patience than I do in researching the knots to use, the techniques to use in assembly and so forth and I admire that.

My brother is a model maker. I have noticed from watching several of these videos that the models are not constructed as an actual ship would be. My brother made architectural models which had to replicate the buildings. In watching the movie, Master and Commander my curiosity was picked and I looked on KZfaq where I learned that actual ships were built for the movie. Fascinating!

Thanks for posting Ken. I enjoy watching and learning new and different ways to tackle problems which develope during a build. In the end it's almost always not quite right, but not quite wrong. Hope to see more.

Good on you Ken. Thanks for taking the time to make the video and for showing some of the challenging sections. These really help the learning process. I love your attitude, so many times you said you had a problem or had never done something, but each time you said you’d go ahead and get it done and you did. I’m just getting back to restarting an Artesania Latina Swift I started maybe 5, possibly 10 years ago. I work in quite a challenging job that demands a lot of hours but I think this hobby will fit with my detail oriented nature and help me learn some patience. I’m going to start a build log on a couple of the model shipyard sites. As you say sharing your journey is part of giving back to this community. Thanks again, your ship looks great. I’m keen to see some of your later work. All the best from Australia. 🇦🇺

I appreciate that you show times when things don't quite go as hoped. I am about to buy my first ship kit and am gathering knowledge. It helps to see problems and how you dealt with them.

Thank you for sharing your experience with all of us. I always learn something new watching someone else work through the same questions I've enountered. I have made a couple of wooden ship models myself. Each one is a challenge of learning the ship carpentry and rigging terminology. ;) Hope you do more!

Ken. Thank you for the video. I was wanting to buy a ship and get into the hobby, your video was an eye opener 👀 to how involved it is to build one. Not to mention the amount of tools that are needed. WOW! Your ship turned out great. 👍👍.

This is a very helpful video, thank you. I appreciate the detail, particularly seeing what didn’t work and how you managed to sort things out.

Beautiful end result buddy. I'm very keen and interested in getting into this hobby. Doing my research, homework and watching folks like you before i purchase anything. So thank you for this video. Truly inspiring.

I've been teetering back and forth in taking on this hobby - with patience the final product is one to pass down to the next generation. I enjoyed this video very much and am looking for a first model with which to begin. Thank you.

Nice job! I'm starting one and your video helped a lot to know what to expect.

WOW! Nicely done! Love from Latvia!

Just found your build i bought one of those $20 (Australian $) ebay foot long plank models from china and was thinking about this model next ,your video was excellent and i will purchase one now myself ,yours turned out really well and thanks for taking the time to show us all much appreciated cheers !

its always exciting opening a new kit for the first time

wonderful video Ken, many thanks for posting it.

Excellent video, thank you Ken. I now have the confidence to restart this stalled project.

Great job Ken! You are my model hero...sticktoitiveness and honesty, if you didn't exactly understand it at first, you just thought about it and figured it out. You are a good man! Very nice model. God Bless....

Great job Ken! Enjoyed watching your video. Thanks.

I have a similar plank bender, that came with several changeable cutters/heads. The ones I found that work the best are flat on one side, as you have and a plastic one that has a 'V' cross section where you have the metal blade. So far I have never had the wood cut through and it produces a lovely curve. Good to see a step by step video where you are learning as you go along - and no mind-numbing music!

We need a new video bro, I just found your channel and starting binge watching! I’m about to start The Black Pearl and your videos really help out!

Oh you did well there, she’s looking beautiful. It takes me back to my days 40 years ago building Billing’s Danish boats. I lived in North East Scotland then and would go to a shipyard at MacDuff where they built real timber fishing boats, I’d watch men running great, hot planks from the steam boxes to bend and nail them to the frame. So I learned from that, bought an old range kettle with a long straight spout and would slide the model’s planks down the spout 5 at a time and steam them, this made all the difference to planking my boats. I used to sail mine with my kids, I fitted a Billing Boats B472 Mary Ann Cutter out with lights, a motor, a working bilge pump - pumping the water up a copper tube set in the keel and straight out over the side using a slow pump. The chimney stack smoked and there was a tiny ‘put put’ sound generator card and speaker deep in the bowls of the model. It was a great success! on that model the planking was so beautiful that I left it teak and varnished it. By then I’d learned the hard way to use seriously waterproof glue and to coat all the interior with it too! Thank you for showing your excellent work

I have just reached the mast stage, i have used your video many times for reference, so thank you for making it.

Awesome videoing! My son and I are building this together and your almost step by step video is a life saver for us first timers! Great job and it turned out beautiful. If we can even get close to yours, we'll be very happy!

Nice work Ken, and thanks for exposing the very difficulties that plagued my forward progress.

Excellent job Ken and you have what it takes to be a master model ship builder. The particular name brand of ship model you chose is known for being somewhat vague, so you have to either have previous knowledge or just figure it out. You did great and was a joy to watch. A great hobby and my best for wonderful adventures in new model ships.

Really nice boat well done.

Ken, you did a great job! It has encouraged me to build a double planked boat. I see you opted for the paper flag at the end though. After all of the trials and tribulations that must of put you through, I don’t blame you. You did beautiful work. Thank you for sharing.

Ian Great job Ken, I'm knew to model ship building, so I learned a lot from watching your video. Like yourself, I have watched numerous amounts of KZfaq videos, one of them showed the rigging being pulled through a block of wax prior to putting it on the masts which gave it a "real rope" appearance and likely made it easier to thread through the dead eye's. Looking forward to your next build.

Thanks from Quebec Canada 🇨🇦 I gave myself a gift this morning with this kit and your video will help a lot I’m sure It’s my second wooden ship model but still need advice

Thanks so much for this video. I've built several, but I relived every minute as u built this one. EXCELLENT photography. I'd show u mine if I could film like that. Now all I have to do is figure out how to edge bend a plank. Nothing I've done yet has worked.

mi aspettavo di più da un lavoro usando un kit. Giunture approssimative, non levigate le superfici e non rifinite con vernice trasparente. Un lavoro da principianti

Thanks for your video Ken. The model looks awesome. It's great how you detail all the tools techniques you use. Appreciate you posting this video 👍

Excellent job. Waiting for the next project.

Very nice build Ken! In the process of building a 1/70 scale wooden ship, and I picked up quite a few tips from your video. Thanks for sharing! Happy days and model on! 😎

never built a ship, but at the very least I can watch someone else do it. Nice craftsman ship and I enjoyed watching. looks fun and rewarding.

Beautiful work! Built this ship about a year ago (same time you built I think) and had fun building it. Since this is not based on a particular vessel, any digressions from the plans are just fine. After all, you are building it for your enjoyment. Word of advice, don't glue the masts in, they will hold just fine with the hole in the deck, the step on the false keel and the rigging.

Thank you. I have several model boats completed, and this very kit is in my inventory.

Hi Ken, I just came across your video. I'm about to start my first build - Amati Lady Nelson - and your video is an excellent instructional tool. Thanks very much for sharing your experience.

Love your work, and appreciate the effort you put into making this video!

you can overcome any obstacle ... over,around or thru ... good job Ken ...

Thoroughly enjoyed the video Ken thanks for taking the time to make it . Regards Gav.

Hello Ken! Hope this finds you in good health and good spirits. I decided not to plank the hull in mahogany. I used wood filler and 50% white glue/water to seal and finish the hull, sanded the hell out of it, and gave it a Navy Blue paint job. The Bulwarks gave me a hard time and I learned never again to use plywood on contour parts. (Next time I replace plywood with something else). I was able to bend the bow section using slight saw kerfs every 1/8 inch which worked well. The rubbing strips were trouble too but I prevailed. The transom was a real pain, as was the strips at the deck/Bulwark interface. The Hawse pipes were the biggest headache which I had to shave off 4 times!! Anyway I overcame all those problems and it looks awesome. I had to modify the rudder a little but no one will ever know. I painted the inboard side of the Bulwarks a very dark red, so the ship will have a Patriotic but subtle red, white, and blue look. I intend to deviate from the plans for a more custom build by adding fife rails and by hanging the anchors over the top rail at the bow. I'm not using the blocks from the kit, I mailed away to Blue Jacket for proper blocks in the correct scale (and they are fabulous). The AL kit was a basic start, but depends a great deal on the skill of the builder, and the instructions suck almost as bad as the parts list, which sucks out loud! AL has some serious Q.C. problems. More news as it happens. D

As you expand your knowledge, you’ll find all kinds of little tricks to building wooden ships. Next build try running your rigging over a piece of beeswax. It eliminates that pesky fuzz on your thread and greatly improves the appearance of the rigging.

What a great video!I bought this model and will need your help. Thought it was very informative. Thanks Ken

GREAT JOB !! Now lets go sailing around the world and have a adventure! !

Thanks Ken, I am starting my first sailboat model and your detail and patience are something I hope to put into mine. Yours looks great!

What a great job. I am impressed this was your first ship of this kind. I am working up to this with more novice ships. It would be nice to have decent instructions but I guess you get what you get. I really enjoyed your video and I am sure I will refer back to it when I am building my Virginia 1819. Fair Winds, Jeannine

Wonderful job on the model and an enjoyable video to watch. Thanks!

Very useful video Ken. I have received the Virginia today. It is my first model with ships sails and it is a challenge. Best regards from Madrid (Spain)

Enjoyed the video immensely...thanks for sharing ...

great job, well done. Looks really nice.

Nice job, Ken.

Very interesting and instructional. Thanks for posting. BRAVO ZULU

Super travail du bois et beau résultat de ce beau bateau !! Félicitations ...

great video! was just noodling around and had to watch!

Thinking about taking the plunge into this hobby, and appreciate your excellent video! I especially enjoyed watching the gradual change of a cleanly shaved chin to a luxuriant beard as proof that this is not a one-day instant gratification venture. Thanks!

Love your videos, keep'em coming. ☺

i loved watching this keep it up and how could any one dislike this its amazing

In hull planking, learn what stealer planks and drop planks are, and plan cutting your planks accordingly with tapers and drop-out chamfers. Google those terms. Planks never terminate in points, always in shaped with the point chamfered off. That's an important detail in ship construction. Pointed planks can't be nails down to form a strong joint and will leak since the point warps and opens up on a hull. Every model is a step up in learning and applying accurate ship features and new construction techniques. Each model gets much better, and faster than you would think. Huge thinks up on this video!

Thank you for the video. I want to start building model ships. This looks like something I could handle.

Great work, looks like good fun

Excellent video! Your work space is AWESOME! Mine,,, is the kitchen table. :( ;))

That was a delight, thank you.

Nice work. I'm building the "Newsboy". What an experience it has been, I love it but am scared of it too. I,m finished planking the deck and now building the deck furniture. I hope my eyesight holds up.

Excellent build as you go. For me, a bit more time on the planking technique wouldn’t have gone amiss. I’ve never had practical experience of building one of these wooden ship kits before. Keep up the good work.

Built my first wooden ship model, The Swift back in 1993. It's very similar to yours. Had no clue what I was getting myself into. No youtube to look up tips or tricks. Only thing that saved me was the plans were one-to-one and my pure stubbornness.

You started it without the beard...

Great work! Thanks for sharing.

I really enjoyed your video, interesting to see you work things out and just proves what can be done as a novice. I think you did a great job. I am buildin HMS Fly at the moment, its a lovely kit to build

Lovely build

Superb job!

Nice job Ken. Try using a little beeswax on your rigging lines to help with the "fuzz". Will really clean things up a bit more. Great job on your rigging!!!

Hi Ken Thanks for the video I just got my kit today same boat . Thanks for the tips

Thanks for a great video.

Fantastic Video Ken!

Great work Ken. And nice editing/detailing of the video.

I built this a few years ago, Nice model

Not only documenting a great boat build, but also a beard growth.

It looks so nice

I read a good thing to do is to not glue the mast in if something brakes in the future you can slip the mast out an work on it on the bench. Looking forward to your next build.

i wanted to make one of my favorite boats the wapen von hamburg but i realise there's is alot more to it than i thought thank you for this explanation

Great job on the boat, I took some inspiration on how I should be making mine since I'm making it completely from scratch with little to no instructions. So thank you for the great ideas, really taught me a few things I didn't know 🙏... Also will you be making and uploading a more complex model ship? Like a larger one with more complex designs?

You're video is wonderful! Not sure, though, that you didn't scare me off of trying a wood ship build. Congratulations on your build.

Very nice loved it

I have made a few model ships, initially from kits then some scratch built from plans. Its not easy to make a fully rigged model and you have made a fine job of that model. When planking decks or hulls another technique to emphasise the plank edges is to use strips of black paper between the planks then sand it back level with the planks. Its good at representing the caulking.

Schöne Arbeit!!!!!👍👍👍Gruß Udo Old Germany🇩🇪🙋‍♂️

Look into a tool called a “pin vice”. I have found them great for the small drill bits.

Respekt from Germany

Nice build Ken! I have an observation to make though! The ropes from the rigging look a bit fuzzy. A solution to make them look more "solid" is to run them trough a bit of bees wax. That will make them look a bit more natural and in scale. Regards! Emil

Nice work Ken. My Viginia Schooner was delayed perhaps 8 months when I had to plank the hull, and wasnt happy with the sharp angle I had at each bulkhead despite soaking in boiling water. At last I decided to fill the space between the bulkheads with solid balsa blocks cut and sanded to the contour of the hull. Gave me much more gluing surface and no more sharp angles. Now making better progress. Did you find videos by Tom Lauria? He's a wizard. Dave

Hi Ken, I really love your ship and enjoyed the video very much! Can you share the brand of the stand that you used to support the hull? A purchase link would be even better. I think it's angle tilting feature is very handy and would like to buy one for myself. (I don't know the exact name of the tool. To be clear, I am talking about the one that you mount the ship on at 27:16 in the video) Thanks!

I have started taking a interest in model boats and was just want to say that this is a great demonstration and was wondering how long it took to build

Have you tried a Pin Vice for tiny drills? You can also put the dowels in a hand drill and use sandpaper to taper (wear a leather glove as the sandpaper gets hot)

Great job.

Hello there Ken! I wanted to ask if you used any stains on the ship and what were they exactly if you could remember? I also wanted to ask where you might’ve applied them. Still thinking of getting this kit but of course the rigging looks terrifyingly difficult.

Now varnish the wood with a SATIN, not glossy varnish to bring all the beauty of that wood color out, and protect the model from moisture. Don't use glossy because it will make the ship look like it was dipped in glass, which is not the proper appearance. Great job on your first model. On the next one, do not be afraid to make custom parts from walnut or beech or lime wood if the ones provided do not fit. Measure your drawings carefully to make sure the proportions are kept accurate. Example: your main sail boom appears to be attached too high on the mainmast. Your railing height problem may be due to the gunwale not being high enough neat the bow, throwing the railing column heights off. The keelpost for the rudder appears to be not long enough at the rear. A shim of white wood added to the keelpost and sanded top blend in could have made the gap between the rudder and keelpost. Because the hull seem to want to wander off proportion when constructing, the gun port positions, deck and gunwale heights may wander off tolerance and affect position of parts later on in the build. When doing small details, use a headset that has a magnifier and light. It is inexpensive and allows you to be a LOT more precise when working the tiny stuff like rigging deadeyes and blocks. I liked the coffee cup and strap wet plank method of curving planks. I used the same technique using a bucket and strap to add camber to the flat decks on my ship model of La Couronne. Prebending parts goes a long way in the struggle to form planks and deck sheets around curves. I use an electric hot iron on wet planks to curve hull planks neat the bow and have great success getting perfectly fit parts. It just take a bit more time, and lots of test fits, but using the iron to steam the planks into complex twisted curves. You press the wet plank against a form made from a concave block of wood and that means no broken planks and stress-free fitting.

I've heard steaming the wood allows it to bend a little more easily. Great work !

Those pictures seem quite clear to me. The part number 11 seems to be chamfered at both sides, before glued onto part 10. The upper chamfer (bevel?) is on the same plane as the chamfer on part 10. The lower chamfer seems to make a smooth transition from the double thickness of part 10+11 to the single thickness of just part 10.