by Doug Hallet
1/125 Thonier Amor (Heller)
This is the Heller 1/125 Thonier Amor, a non-motorized tuna fishing boat of the type still commonly seen in French fishing ports. I found this kit at a yard sale for 50 cents and decided to make it as an exercise in doing something completely outside my normal preferences. Except for a few small pieces of .020 brass wire, everything, including the rigging, is out of the box. I experimented with giving the kit a severely weathered hull, where the black hull color has faded to gray. Never having made a sailing ship before, I did not realize how much attention would be focused on the sails, and perhaps if I ever do this again, I will replace the plastic kit sails with stiffened fabric. Anyway, it was a nice diversion from making gray warships and interesting in it's own right.
