Zvezda 1:72 Scale Black Swan

Black what??? Not familiar with that ship? Well, you shouldn't since she doesn't really exist. Zvezda's Black Swan is technically the Black Pearl, but since Disney has pulled the licensing rights from under Zvezda, the kit had to be repackaged as something else.

That would also explain why so many people had problems trying to buy her. I had to resort to eBay (from a Russian lady seller) before my local hobby store came through for mine. And with the repackaged kit, that would also mean that some time in the future, the original Black Pearl kit is going to be a collector's edition, that is if you manage to get her in her original box.

Its funny that someone from a scale modeling forum mentioned that it would only be a matter of time before the kit is repackaged so that she can be sold in stores worldwide, and true enough, here she is.

As far as I can tell, the only difference I see would be on the figure head, that statue thingy you see at the front of the ship, an additional structure at the bow to support the figure head, and the nameplate on the base.

And I already know of a few people who are keen on this kit as well. At the time of writing this post, I only know of a few places that offer them

1. Whatever Hobby , a relatively new hobby store owned by Bart Van der Taelen and his wife, Anne. I have written to him and he has mentioned that he has sent kits to as far as US, Australia, France, and Germany. He has a Facebook account under the name De Tempeliers Scotty, and is among the first few to advertise the Black Swan. Kits are sold in USD$.

2. Super-hobby.com, another superb store but they charges in Euro. There are also a number of shops in the UK who are already selling her, like emodel.co.uk and Modelzone and these are in GBP.

So if you are still looking for the Pearl, this would be a good alternative as you would only need to either scratch build the figurehead, or have on re-casted by someone who already have the Black Pearl (don't look at me though, I'm no pro with recasting).

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

Which is the Ultimate "Black Pearl" Scale Model kit?

While anxiously waiting for my Zvezda's 1/72 scale Black Pearl from Pirates of the Caribbean to arrive, I decided to see if I could get more images of her off the net (and its looking like I'm going to need to screen capture images of her upper and lower decks). Its a little confusing as in some images, I can't tell if those images are that of the Black Pearl, or another sailing vessel.

But I did find something very interesting. And what I found instead nearly blew my mind away.

Yup, I found me another kit of the Black Pearl, abet this one has laser cut wooden parts and metal pieces, and the details on her ... WOOT! Mind staggering! And so's the price. I do believe she is about the most accurate kit of the Black Pearl that's out there.

And here's the surprise, its made by a China based company called Z.H.L from Wuhan Poseidon Technology Co., Ltd (WPT).

I don't know anything about this company as this is the first time I have heard of them, nor have I ever seen the kit nor her parts. But if they are anything like what I see on their site, Z.H.L's Black Pearl (she's listed as 1/43 scale - that's huge) then that would make her the ultimate wooden kit for the Black Pearl, and of course I am talking about those that you need to assemble and paint. According to the product list, she's a double plank on frame construction kit.

From their product range, I could see several versions of the Black Pearl kit with each successive new kit coming in with more upgrades. The interesting part about this company is that the old kits are also made available for sale. Here's an image of the very first Black Pearl offered to the mass market:

Now note that in the above images, there are no lifeboats, the entrance to Capt Jack Sparrow's cabin is different and lacking details, and the cupboard and barrel is missing in front of the Ship's huge Steering Wheel. Other differences lies with the details on the bow of the ship. The below images are from the 2010 version which has incorporated more upgrades, including three lifeboats and more refined parts.

OK, here's the curious thing. Where can you buy her? Apparently if you were to google "Model Black Pearl", and followed through some of the links given, you'll find a lot of these offered in something like eBay called "aliexpress", and some sites have even listed her as much as USD$500 plus plus. When I went direct to the main site, the ship is only listed only at USD$258 and that is for the most recent version which is still available (They call it "Black Pearl 2"). Looking at the history of the kit, she just keeps getting better and better.

More images of the parts after the jump

Screen Cap References of the Black Pearl and Flying Dutchman from Pirates of the Caribbean

The good news is that I have found a supplier that may get me a Zvezda's 1/72 scale Black Pearl. Bad news is that I hear she's going to be expensive and may take a while before I actually have her in my hands. So I'll work on the assumption I'll have her before the end of this year, hence I'm putting up whatever reference images I have on the Black Pearl, as well as the Flying Dutrchman.

You can actually see quite a few differences of the Black Pearl between the first and the second and third movies. Do take note that only the first three movies will be highlighted here since we don't see much of the Black Pearl on the fourth, and none of the Flying Dutchman at all.

Lot of screen caps after the jump.

Zvezda's 1/72 Black Pearl from "Pirates of the Caribbean"

For such a popular ship to be made into a kit, and to have that kit remain as mysterious as the ship itself in the movies, that must have been some kind of feat. I have been waiting on news of her and believe it or not, I didn't find out that the kit is already out until I found out by chance. For your information, Zvezda is an up and coming Russian brand that is slowly but surely breaking into the world of fine scale modeling.

The problem is that all my favourite shops did not have her in stock, nor were some of them aware she was even released. I managed to find a few sites that sold her online but because I have never bought anything from them let alone hear of them, I decided to put word out if any of my favourite hobby stores would carry her. I'll let you all know of the outcome later.

As far as I know, most scale modelers who successfully got this kit got them from eBay from a seller from Moscow. Feed backs suggest the seller is reliable. Or you can try to get her from Hobbyterra.com or Scale-model-kits.com but don't ask me how these shop are as I have never shopped with them before.

So how does this kit actually look like? Well, according to the articles I've read, the Zvezda's Black Pearl is as good as any wooden panel model ship kits that is available out there. Looking at the sprues layout, this kit does hold a lot of promises besides looking challenging and good - I'm referring to all that rigging and rag tag sails you're going to need to emulate. Here are some images of a preliminary build up of her.

Another point to take note about the Black Pearl, this ship technically does not exist in the real world. In the first movie, the "Black Pearl" was build over a barge using camera angles and CGI to cover up revealing areas, while a miniature model unit was used for the overall scenic shots. In the second and third movie, the "Black Pearl" was build over an existing sailing ship. We didn't see much of the Black Pearl in the fourth movie as the ship was captured within a bottle, trapped on a perpetual angry sea by Blackbeard.

Here are some behind the scenes images of the Black Pearl. If you look carefully, you can see remnants of a Barge at the stern of the ship (that means the rear). Look for them after the jump.