Revell 05699 Black Pearl Model Kit, 1:72 Scale, 50 cm, Multi-Colo

My daughter is a huge fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and has announced her extreme dislike of me as I have a nice wooden model of the Black Pearl and she doesn’t. Considering how much of a challenge the Pearl was to build I didn’t think it was a good idea to get something like that for an absolute beginner. Then while browsing here I stumbled on this.

I don’t often buy models from Revell as I have had an awful lot of absolute garbage from them. So many if their models are poorly moulded, poorly designed and covered in flashing and errors that require a huge amount of work to fix. But, as it is just about the only model of the Pearl that is available and doesn’t cost a fortune I figured what the heck. Give them a try. After all. I can always return it in disgust if necessary, right?

Turns out my fears and previous experience meant nothing here. This is actually one of their better models. It is moulded in a neutral grey colour, all of it including the sails are this colour so you will need to make painting decisions before making this kit. I would suggest a base white undercoat as that will allow you to pick out the brass and copper work on the boat, the various wood parts and you can then paint the sails with an off-white or canvas colour, and then dry brush black over that to give then an impression of dyed sails. Or, just paint the whole thing black if you can’t be bothered to fiddle.

Personally I’ve always had a bit of a problem with Disney’s “all black ship” as it’s not accurate to the period. Black sails are like a Black Knight. They demonstrate no heraldry or alignment – so free, unmarked, untied or “black”. You may recall Spanish ships being marked with a large red cross on the sails, British ships flying an enormous ensign on the tail and other similar decoration adorning the mast tops. The black part comes from the non-aligned flag flown – usually a moniker designed by the crew to identify themselves on a black field. The tv series Black Sails dealt with this very nicely. The skull and crossbones has become associated with Pirates due to Hollywood ironing history to suit their movies. Anyway, you’re not here for a history lesson, you want to know about the model.

The parts for this are reasonably well moulded, some flashing but surprisingly little and not nearly as much as usual. Detailing is similarly pretty good and there is only a relatively small amount of surgery necessary to correct parts and fitting. Mostly this goes together quite well. The sails are plastic unfortunately, but at least they are not that awful old plastic they used to use which ripped as soon as you look at it. This time the sails are moulded from the same plastic as the rest of the model. This plastic is a decent quality – again a surprise – and flexible enough that it won’t crack or snap during building, provided of course you are careful.

There are a lot of small pieces included so this is not suitable for young people or inexperienced modellers. For instance the eyes and parts for the rigging are tiny and will require a great deal of care when handling so you don’t lose them. Three reels of thread are provided, two tan/gold and one black. Neither of these is thick enough for the stays which hold the masts up, but that may not matter to you. No crew are included which is unfortunate considering the scale. I suspect though that Revell or an affiliated company have a 1/72nd (or around 15mm) scale pirate crew in their collection somewhere. I really think they made a mistake not including some figures with this to be honest. It would have helped to set the model off for fans of the franchise.

There are also dozens of small parts for the cannon. Ideally you will want to paint most of these parts before building, leaving a small amount of work touching up parts left unpainted when snipping things from the sprue and fixing.

On this note, I would like to suggest that you get a good pair of fine nosed side cutters, there are a couple well priced items here on amazon that are worth having. These will allow you to cut pieces away from the sprues without cracking or damaging the pieces by twisting or pulling them off.

Fitting is the usual method for Revell – small pins and holes on the main parts, notched holes for the masts and similar pieces. Rigging is simply a matter of running the thread around the ship following the plans provided. You may need to drill some small holes on some parts in order to rig them, but this is one of the larger challenges with the model and the one which makes it look authentic. You don’t need to rig the ship, it’s a fine model without it, but, well, it will be instantly noticed that something is missing. I mean, let’s face it, that mass of rope on one of these ships is one of the things that sets it apart from any other ship. The more careful you are with the rigging, the better this model is going to look. There is a lot of information available on the Internet to help with rigging, tying knots and setting the ropes. You can go as nuts as you want with it. Remember though that the plastic in this model is fragile, so will snap if you apply too much tension.

In order to prevent the thread provided from fraying and growing hairy, you might want to invest in a beeswax block and draw the thread through that to coat it. This will help to preserve the thread, and will help prevent it from fluffing up and catching every speck of dust in the atmosphere.

A pack of cocktail sticks and superglue are also your friend here, as you can use the superglue – in small amounts, applied with the tip of a cocktail stick – to secure the thread and lock knots, thereby stopping them from coming undone. Obviously where superglue is concerned you absolutely must be careful. An old glass jar, upended, tiny amount of superglue placed on the base of the jar, dip the cocktail stick tip and apply to your thread. Do not attempt to apply it direct from the tube to the model or to thread.

Just a thought.

Another thing that will prove very useful if not indispensable, are a good set of fine tipped, long nosed tweezers. These will enable you to reach parts of the model where your hands will not go when rigging this model. They will help you a great deal.

No paint or glue is provided so you will need to purchase these separately. In respect of this I would suggest a bottle of Revell Contacta precision glue. It comes in a blue bottle with a long yellow cap. There is a metal tube which allows you to place small amounts of polystyrene cement very accurately and precisely. Also, unlike their models, the glue is an excellent product. Possibly one of the best model glues on the market.

The box is quite large, unnecessarily so to be honest as the model barely fills half of the available space. I’ve never understood this need for companies to use big boxes that are not utilised fully to sell their over-priced plastic kits. Big box does not equate to value. The value is in the contents, make an excellent product and people will buy it. Where this logic of large price equals large box came from is beyond me. I mean, take Tamiya for instance. Excellent quality models that fill the smaller boxes they use. People pay tamiya prices because they are a known excellence. This though, with a model barely filling half the box, is ridiculous.

I won’t say that this is value for money because it is a lot of money for a few pieces of plastic. However, factoring in the costs of the franchise and the demands made by them, I understand why it is expensive even if I don’t agree with it. I just don’t see why they couldn’t have used a smaller box that fits the kit and prevent it from flying around inside the box putting it at risk of damage during transit.

Now, with all that said, my daughter was very pleased to have the kit, and I know she will be careful making it. I’m only sorry that Revell didn’t see fit to add some crew.

bis auf die segel aus plastik -die knnten aus stoff sei

This one was mighty tedious, especially assembling the 20+ cannons but then again what model kit isn’t right lol? Super proud the way it turned it out! Also added a candlelight led to really give it the pirate atmosphere!

Regalo preso per Natale per il nostro bimbo di 8 anni a cui piaciuta moltissimo! La nave risulta costituita da molti pezzi anche piccolissimi per cui risulta certamente adatta ad un’et superiore come scritto sulla confezione. Ciononostante con un po’ di aiuto riuscito a portare tutto a termine ed contentissimo!
Comprate tanta colla!

This is a great model that will test your patience at times but defo worth the effort. I spent 3 months working on it (had the occasional week off to relax after it pushed the limits of my frustration! The main ship build isn’t too bad, but the rigging is the fiddliest thing ever! Need child sized hands and the steadiness of a brain surgeon to be able to do a lot of bits without breaking everything near what you’re working on.
Tips for anyone who undertakes this project is the following :
1) Ignore the string measurement when the instructions tell you how long to cut it, there is so much spare you can double it and still have some left over at the end, plus this makes it easier when trying to thread through the maze of string!
2) invest in some tweezers and small bonsai scissors, this makes it much easier to get into the gaps to trim stuff down.
3) it is very tricky keeping tension in the string when tying it so a tiny dab of super glue instantly bonds it and allows you to tie the knot after.

Good luck to anyone who makes this model 😀

La nave bellissima, ho dato 4 stelle per la delusione perch mi aspettavo una nave di legno invece tutta plastica.

very detailed and I would say well worth the money, can’t wait to finish i

War ein Geschenk alle Teile da nichts beschdigt sehr zufriede

Good model but hard to find the paints for it.

Christmas present for my father, he absolutely loves it, great detail. Will keep anyone busy for a while. Not an entry level model by any means.

Also fr Anfnger ist es nicht gerade aber war super cool, man braucht eben ruhige Hnde. Ist halt alles kleiner Fummelkram. Aber ist alles in allem super klasse.

a good kit to make. All the part trees were individually bagged unlike some kits which is a good thing, includes 3 different types of ropes for rigging the sails ( sails are plastic but well moulded). Only downside is instruction booklet, it seems very old school and not always clear but it’s still readable. I’m still building mine at the moment and so far I’m really enjoying it, was a good investment 🙂

Excellent quality model and not for beginner. Found it easier to assemble in sections then paint otherwise you have to keep touching up. Well pleased !

Voil une maquette qui vaut son pesant d’or ! Elle est magnifique, avec une multitude de pices assembler, et avec quelques amliorations de mon cru, je pense que le montage de ce superbe btiment va tre intressant au plus haut point ! Je suis impatient de m’y mettre, vraiment !!

Very pleased with quality and contents. Quite a substantial comprehensive model to build; especially when you get to masts and rigging.
Very pleased.

Received as a present looks good and hope to get round to making it soon and was a very nice surprise from a very good friend