Why is it so hard to get the Zvezda's 1/72 Black Pearl? And her English Instructions.

This is definitely one kit I want. But wanting it and getting it .. well, she's proving to be as elusive as she was with Captain Jack Sparrow whenever he keeps loosing her. Rumour has it that Disney pulled the licensing from Zvezda, hence the company can't sell the Black Pearl kit in the open. I'm not sure how true this rumour is, but it is certainly hard to get this baby. My own Local Hobby Store has been waiting on my order and its coming 2 months now. In fact, I'm not really sure if he can get her at all - both hands with fingers crossed here.



So I decided to take the plunge and order her via eBay, sold by a Russian Seller whom so far have received very good reviews. I'll let you know if she's a good seller when I receive her. Be prepared as the shipping is the real killer. The kit cost USD110 and if you want the kit to come with the original box, then be prepared to pay another whopping USD120 (that's USD230 total). Otherwise do what I did, I went for the Standard Airmail option which will set me back only USD40, so that makes the kit more affordable, but you don't get that nice fancy box. Don't ask me how the kit is going to be packed as I myself am curious.

So while waiting, I realised that the instructions was going to be in Russian (says so at that eBay page). Wait a minute, I don't speak or read Russian, so this is going to be a problem. Thanks to the Internet, and to michaelstrong.com, he had posted the English instructions but they are in PDF files. I have taken the liberty to save them as bitmap so those who don't have Adobe reader can also access them.


Zvezda's 1/72 Black Pearl English Instructions

Well, I may not have the kit with me yet, but at least by looking at the instructions, I have a pretty good idea on how I'm going to build her ..... when I get her. Which brings me to another point of interest. Who exactly is currently building her?

See what others have done after the jump

I have been following two particular forums on this. The first would be at hobbytalk forum, from an esteemed scale modeler called drmcoy. He has done a wonderful job on the hull colour, and had been invaluable with some of the fittings issues. I present to you a few images from his WIP, but to see and know more, go there.

Those 1/72 figures are from Orion - Haron Miniatures called "English Pirates". Pretty good idea there ... and the funny thing is that I too had the same idea before I saw his build. Only problem .. We both have the figures, but drmcoy already has his Black Pearl. Sigh!!!

Another forum you want to go to is called HMS Victory Resource Forum, a site dedicated to period and modern ship modeling. But before you can enter, you need to sign up first, and provide the SURNAME of Nelson's Captain at Trafalgar (I am giving you a hint there in case you can't get it right- just want the surname, not the whole name). This modeler pstanfield, is not only building his Black Pearl, he is actually accurizing her. Check out his build and painting talents.

I wonder if he is using oil paints. Those look really good. And very inspirational. And talking about inspirational, do sign up soon to join that forum, then take the opportunity to browse around the other threads. There are a lot of tips there on how to get things done beautifully. I actually learned a lot just browsing around. Well, my current 1:196 USS Constitution is my very first Sailing ship .. so I'm literally a greenhorn in this area.

And of course there is also a build done by the Japanese. Check this guy's work out .. Oh wait, almost forgot to tell you. You'll need to go google translate the page first, then follow all those links that has the name "Black Pearl" on it. I wish I know that guy's name cause I doubt plaza.rakuten is his actual name. Here's some sample of his work (this guy actually reworked the details, and re-casted them)

Man, I really, really hope mine can get here soon ... like this year. Feeling kind of left out whenever I see others already making progress with theirs .... so please, please pretty please let mine come in this year ...... sigh!