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Some of you will recall I posted some time ago about the pending release of this kit earlier this year. It has been on my wish list ever since. With doing the Spanish San Fran II I really wanted to do an English ship of the period
Revenge was rated as a galleon and had 46 guns. She was built in 1577 at a cost of around £4,000 and was the first of 13 English and Royal Navy ships to bear the name. Her design was quite revolutionary and influenced ship design for the next 300 years
Famously Sir Francis Drakes flagship at the time of the Armada she was eventually captured by the Spanish in 1590 and sunk soon after.
The Kit.
The Kit is double planked on laser cut ply frame and is scaled at 1:85. Essentially a wooden ship kit incorporating some etch, metal castings etc.
Whats in the box?
The kit comes with the standard OcCre packing. a well designed box that prevents bits rolling about, but does come with the draw back that once opened it falls apart and the plans and instructions all come rolled up rather than lying flat.
A compartmentalised plastic tray holds all the little bits. All the rigging blocks are wood, fairly standard stuff. Ladders and gratings are also wood and of a high quality. the pre cut grating strips are all the same shade and i could not see any miss-formed ones. The leader sides too were of quality not the usual softwood i have seen before and as a result there was no splintering or frayed cut edges, everything nice and crisp. In amongst the standard brass parts such as rudder hinges and chain are cast brass Belaying pins, I would have preferred wood but these are certain better than the base metal alloy ones you often get.
There are quite a number of cast parts in the kit. the anchors are nicely done with very fine seams, nothing intrusive, although i will probably replace the stocks with wood. The cannons and dummy cannons are cast with an antique brass finish that i really like. I prefer the pitted finish to that of turned brass cannons personal and again the seams are not intrusive. There are also some swivel-mounted fowlers in the same finish as is the rear lantern and the gargoyle figurehead. Still undecided on the lantern may replace may not but all the castings are of good quality. the final cast items are the gun carriages, these are less pretty in an antique bronze finish but as per the other castings nicely done with minimal seams.
There are two small frets of etched brass included for some of the decoration, gun port hinges as well as doors and windows.
Two other bags contain the sales and flags and the rigging thread. There is standing and running rigging thread as well as some anchor thread and OcCre have had the foresight to print the cord thickness to the card spindles. The pre stitched sails are thiner than i am accustomed to but not paper thin by any means. the sticking is top class with no miss-sowed lines wonky or missing sticking as you sometimes get. The flags are printed on a thick parchment like paper.
There is a large sheet of paper included that has much of the decoration pre printed. This idea may be new to some model builders but it is a standard approach for OcCre. The idea being you glue and varnish it.
There are there bundles of strip wood. The planking strips are as good a quality as you can get, knot free and very smooth, the pack of veneer for the outer planking, decking etc again is all top quality. as is the last bundle of assorted strips and rod in various woods. no broken or split parts all knot free smooth to the touch, certainly amongst the best when it comes to quality materials.
There are several sheets of laser cut ply containing a lot of parts, most of which is very nice continuing the quality feel of the whole kit. the tops and the ships boats are all wood construction and all the gun ports are pre-cut in ply too.
Then I got a disappointing find. One sheet of laser cut ply appeared to be dyed with dark stain and docent look good at all. much of it is the stand and i can like with that but the rudder and the cut water are in there and they are two parts that you commonly see end on and the ply lamination will be very clear to see - not good. There is no doubt i will have to cut my own parts to replace the kit ones.
Instructions
The instructions are in a class of there own. Extremely detailed with colour step by step guides. there is no text everything is fairly intuitive although a novice would struggle with some of the basic methods in plank bending as this is not shown. You don't get this level of instruction support outside of a partwork.
The plans also are very clear with cutaway construction diagrams and colour photos supporting the plans. all the ringing stages are shown in red making the plan easy to follow. My only slight grumble is that the rigging plans come as several pages which means you have to flick between pages to cross reference, a nice big fold out plan would be better.
Summery
This is a stunning little kit. I used the word quality often in my review and it really is a quality offering. the stained ply lets it down for me, its disappointing. but it does hi light the balance of the kit which is up there with the very best kits i have seen.
I would certainly recommend it and i will be launching a build diary in 2015.
Jase“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
-Mark Twain
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 Rank: Semi-Pro Level 2    Groups: Registered
Joined: 30/11/2014 Posts: 86 Points: 267 Location: Vancouver, BC
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I love "what's in the box" reviews and your review is very well done. I wouldn't be happy about the pre-stained parts either. That should be up to the kit builder to decide. Seeing all those wooden parts reminds me why I went nuts collecting wooden ship kits. Cheers, Gord. Subscribed: Suzuki GSX 1300R Hayabusa In The Last Few Years Builds: DeAgostini Samurai Armour Kobayashi Kougei: 1/100 Horyuji Kondo, 1/100 Horyuji Inner Gate, 1/36 Muro-ji Five-Story Pagoda, Public Bath House of Showa, Model Shipyard: 1/72 Los Morrillos de Cabo Rojo Lighthouse. 1/72 Kermorvan Lighthouse Woody Joe: 1/150 Azuchi Castle. Building: Kobayashi Kougei: 1/100 Himeji Castle, 1/70 ji Kinkaku. Received but not started: Woody Joe 1/50 Ishiyamadera Pagoda
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 Nice review as for the stained parts easily and quickly resolved by replacing in walnut and using a jig-saw to cut out  Current builds:-C57,Zero, Lamborghini Countach, Caldercraft HMS Agamemnon,Robi,R2-D2, MFH Cobra .
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Very nice looking kit Jase and I'm sure you will do it justice..... Look forward to seeing it come together.... Regards Alan
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 Rank: Super-Elite      Groups: Registered
Joined: 30/01/2013 Posts: 4,604 Points: 13,607 Location: Monmouthshire UK
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Looks a nice one Jase Look forward to you making a start Steve
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Rank: Super-Elite   Groups: Registered
Joined: 31/05/2010 Posts: 5,679 Points: 17,011 Location: Wiltshire
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Jase Went for this one myself (the reason the pennies would not run too the San Francisco). Was ott when it arrived until like you I came across that printed paper decoration sheet which seems a common thing in the occre kits as that is exactly what the tram kits contain. Understandable for text but not areas of colour Not sure how easy it would be to use but I guess the majority could be re- made using this marquetry type wood but that coat of arms looked like a casting in the pictures on cmb and other sites and looks to be the main stumbling area too me. Although would I be correct in thinking ships of that period did use painted coat of arms? All the disappointment I had initially has eased and looking at the kit I think it has some great potential. Hope you get on well with your build. Happy Modelling
BUILDING: Hachette Spitfire Mk 1A, Constructo Mayflower
SUBSCRIPTION COMPLETE (Awaiting building): USS Constitution, Sovereign of the Seas, 1:200 Bismarck (Hachette)
COMPLETED: Porsche 911, E-Type Jaguar, Lam Countach
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Thanks all for looking in and sharing an interest, obviously the proof is in the building “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
-Mark Twain
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birdaj2 wrote:Jase
Went for this one myself (the reason the pennies would not run too the San Francisco).
Was ott when it arrived until like you I came across that printed paper decoration sheet which seems a common thing in the occre kits as that is exactly what the tram kits contain. Understandable for text but not areas of colour
Not sure how easy it would be to use but I guess the majority could be re- made using this marquetry type wood but that coat of arms looked like a casting in the pictures on cmb and other sites and looks to be the main stumbling area too me. Although would I be correct in thinking ships of that period did use painted coat of arms?
All the disappointment I had initially has eased and looking at the kit I think it has some great potential.
Hope you get on well with your build. Hi, most of the paper decor could be painted on yourself, which is how it was done in real life. And you are certainly correct much of the decor of Tudor and Elizabethan periods was painted rather than carved, you see many examples of this surviving in period housing so likely to have been used in ship decoration. I have yet to find a model kit of any description you could not improve but i think you get a really good start on this one. Jase “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
-Mark Twain
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Rank: Super-Elite Groups: Registered
Joined: 31/05/2010 Posts: 5,679 Points: 17,011 Location: Wiltshire
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Jase Quite agree with you that you can put in as much as you need but this kit does give a really good start. I do like the little plastic boxes they use for all of the small component parts. If it's like the other kits they do you should be able to request one of those laser cut name plates with the kit name cand your own as the builder which is a nice touch. Hope you enjoy your build. Happy Modelling
BUILDING: Hachette Spitfire Mk 1A, Constructo Mayflower
SUBSCRIPTION COMPLETE (Awaiting building): USS Constitution, Sovereign of the Seas, 1:200 Bismarck (Hachette)
COMPLETED: Porsche 911, E-Type Jaguar, Lam Countach
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