GAWEGM Adult Building Wood Ship Model - 1:148 Sailboat Green Eyebrows

I've built a fair number of these wood scale boats and for the <$20 group, this GAWEGM model is as good as any. This kit included extras like metal anchors and chain and two little wood barrels that I got a kick out of. The laser cut pieces fit well and I experimented with various wood stains for contrast and a little aging effect. Turned out OK I think. On the caution side, this is a very small boat with corresponding fragile pieces and difficulty. It just goes with the territory. So, NOT for a child, or even an adult for that matter, without some dexterity and experience. The instructions are a bit cryptic and in Chinese which is not untypical. But my only real gripe is a page where the sails and masts appear to be presented as full size templates. This is not the case. I almost doubled the size of the sails and cut the masts accordingly to get it close to the photo and final drawing. Still, all in all, good build.

Overall, I found this model to be very difficult to put together, yet extremely satisfying to view upon completion. One major frustration stemmed from the model including instructions in Cantonese only. Thankfully we live in an age with Google Translate, and I was able to decipher the extraordinarily complicated characters with the help of said program in conjunction with the camera on my phone. The sides of the ship were the most difficult aspect in my opinion, but eventually did come together after soaking in a bucket of warm water for a few minutes to allow the wood to follow an appropriate curve. Another difficult section was figuring out how to make the sails. There was no accurate sized pictorial diagram to assist in cutting the included fabric out into the correct shape. The quality of the model was fair, with the small pieces being very easy to accidentally break. Using a very thin type superglue definitely helped putting this ship together. I would recommend this for more experienced builders as it was a bit too complicated for children in my opinion. I was in no great hurry putting it together, but found it took me approximately 8 hours or so to finish.

Small & inexpensive, but missing parts. Also requires some knowledge and skill for bending wooden parts. This is not one for most younger children. (some small wood bending is needed) Update: These folks are alright, I received an almost immediate response to my comments and they seem to actually care. I have upgraded their star status. I will probably buy more of their products because the model itself is good and the service is quick.

These people do not know how to make directions for these kids so I give it two stars because I never went together right flimsy weak brittle parts. Everything about this model I didn’t like. So you win some lose some with this company

Not the best made model. Very thin fragile parts.

The model was shipped from China with only Chinese instructions. Even with a Chinese interpreter, the model is difficult to build. DO NOT purchase.

Great little kit. Fun weekend build perfect size for a book shelf.

Not too hard or too easy. Looks good and not too difficult to put together. Superglue will be needed and accelerant is a good idea too. Side planks are pretty hard to attach, but nothing unreasonable.

Estoy por terminar otro modelo. Éste kit aún no lo armo. Es pequeño y frágil, más de lo que imaginé, por lo que tendré que ser cuidadoso en su armado.