I just finished the Rolife TG307 Japanese Diplomatic Ship. This is an older, smaller model and the fourth in the series that I have completed, so I now have the full set.
It was quite fiddly, as these little models tend to be. The small parts and thin, splintery plywood make it much more challenging than the one star difficulty rating suggests. I had quite a few problems fitting the sides of the boat and needed a lot of sanding and Durabond filler to get them where I wanted them.
I replaced the supplied anchor and chain with my own, changed the flags to red cloth, and added finial globes to the tops of the masts. The flags are facing the correct direction. With the sails billowing forward, the flags would be blowing in the same direction.
I also added some simple rigging, mainly to stabilize the masts rather than for the pleasure of tying knots with tweezers.
This was my first model painted predominantly with acrylic paints and brushes, and I am very happy with the result. I added a pic of the paints used , tip of the hat to my wife as always who helped my color challenged self pick the colors.
Overall, I enjoyed the build, and it should look good displayed at work beside the other three ships and my Seahorse barque.
That looks great! I like the anchor replacement and the flag going the correct direction. That is something that always bothers me. I never thought of replacing it. I’ll certainly consider it from now on.
@GWVan60 oh man what a great kit! I love the colors and changes you did. I’ve seen this one a while ago and never seen it built. Thanks for the review and the colors you used!
Excellent job. This is one boat that I don’t have in my stash unfortunately. I love the red and white colours. The red looks awesome with engraving on the cabin(?) and really gives it an authentic vibe.
Yes I did do the Seahorse it tool a loooong time, so many black and gold edges and I added a lot of browns to the deck. I also added some things like metal anchors and chains an a lifeboat built from a tiny kit I got on a model ship site. This one will join my boat collection at work tommorow, and I have the titanic yet to build
Nice choices of colors.
