I believe this was created with FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) printing, not any of the liquid resin/laser methods. So, its support structure was extensive, and "alien" to what I have encountered from the liquid/laser items. I sat down to work on it last night, and altogether by accident discovered how to free it in only about a couple of hours, not the days I'd predicted.

It sat up to the waterline in a "bed" or "base" of latticed material, with huge thick structures extending up from that amidships to the top of the mast (and curled around portions of the mast top.) Trying to cut away the bottom portion with cutters produced discouragingly poor results, only taking out little pieces, which made the job seem slow and formidable. I sort of gave up on that and turned my attention to the midships mast supports. They had some holes in them, and cutting there quickly separated them about in half. I then discovered they were designed to break away from the mast cleanly by simply lifting them up. Satisfying.

I turned my attention back to the lower "bed." I took my knife and pushed it into the tiny waterline gap between hull and bed. It went in smoothly, and when I pried away from the hull, it peeled away. Aha! I ran my knife all along this gap, then grabbed the bed bottom amidship on either side and pulled down. No longer connected to the mast by those big supports, the whole thing peeled away in satisfyingly large sections.

I was left with a mess at the bow, where I had not run my knife well, and stern where I had not run my knife at all because the detail was totally obscured. The knife cleared the bow okay. The stern took work, cutting some with nippers to see in and find the details, then some careful knife and peeling work, in small chunks. But, bit by bit, it all cleared away. Very satisfying. It needs sanding where peeling was not totally clean, and some tiny ridges remain, and the stern detail being complex, that will need considerable clean up still. However, the amount of progress I made last night, and the time it happend in, vastly exceeded my intial estimates.

The .50 caliber gun barrel is worse than at first glace. It just plain printed poorly. It can be replaced by aftermarket easily enough.

I like this purchase! I will enjoy it immensely.