For my first and, so far, only paper boat model you may find SMS Sachsen, by HMV Verlag, an odd choice. However I think HMV has an interesting and growing family of models, modern and historic, military and civil. I also wanted a model with not too many parts, and 760 is somewhat modest for a boat. Finally the model should not have a complicated rigging. This kit filled all the requisites but I forgot to check its age and you will find out that it didn�t make my life easier�
The kit is for a waterline model and no parts are provided for a full hull. This seems typical of HMV�s models, apart from the latest ones. The boat is a pretty one with a rather beamy hull and striking black and yellow colours � see Pictures 1 and 2.
Picture 1 � Side view
Picture 2 � Top view
The model is around 380mm long, excluding the flag, 75mm wide and 130mm high, to the top of the mast.
The kit comes in eight pages of good quality paper and the printing is good. There are six more pages of instructions but they are in German, which I�m not able to read � see Pictures 3 and 4.
Picture 3 � Front page and German instructions
Picture 4 � The kit, after removing the parts
A dictionary was useful but not too much because Germans use to build words like Meccanno sets. As far as I know, newer HMV kits have instructions both in German and English and I find that a big improvement. All that is left is a small number of very sketchy diagrams and some pictures in the front page of the kit. These were most helpful but I�m not really sure that every part is at the correct place. I somehow managed to use all the parts provided so maybe they are all where they should be!
Many of the parts are supposed to have double thickness but I found out that, more often than not, an additional sheet of paper or card would be useful. The kit is printed on one side only and some parts will have both faces exposed. I choose to paint their back face before cutting and leave the edges to paint latter, before gluing � see picture 5.
Picture 5 � Back painting and card reinforcing
You can check on Picture 4 that there are some reasonably large parts and many very small ones. A lot more are not apparent because some groups of small parts with double thickness leave large rectangular holes on the pages.
Pictures 6 and 7 are two more general views of the model. I found it rather hard to build, but don�t forget this is my first boat. After the next one I may revise my judgement...
Picture 6 � Upper front view���������������������������������� Picture 7 - Upper rear view
A photo review is never complete without detail pictures and that is exactly what Pictures 8 to 12 are about.
There are no less than 7 life saving boats, as you can see in Picture 8. The rear port and starboard ones, as well as the one in the stern, are suspended by very thin strips of paper. I just could not keep the ordinary sewing thread used for rigging straight, as the boats weight is next to nothing � see Picture 9.
All the 6 guns are mounted on simple mechanisms that allow them to rotate. The mechanisms are defined on the diagrams and different thickness cards are needed for them to work properly.
I exchanged the parts to support the upper deck with paper ones having a very thin wire inside. This gives them strength and were easier to put together.
Picture 8 � Stern detail, with life saving boats
Picture 9 � Paper strips suspending the life saving boats
Picture 10 � Upper deck and four rotating guns
Picture 11 � Front guns and chimneys
Picture 12 � Centre detail
Making the model was pleasant and the end result is quite pretty. This was my first boat model but certainly not the last!
