Biggest novice ship building mistakes!

[HughLo]

OUCH!
Glad you were able to fix it. It looks great.

I liked saying my Buccaneer turned into the Titanic although it recovered

 

[sevish]

For me n

The biggest (and saddest) mistake I see beginners do is starting with a kit they are not ready for thinking "How hard can it be? I'm a (insert professional title here) and I can build this toy."... They end up getting frustrated with it and drop out of the hobby never to be seen again.

Sooo true.
As a beginner i never got to finish my first wooden model ship and jumped right in to my second build that i got form someone that thought probably "How hard can it be" ,because i thought "How hard cab it be"....

now it's near completion

 

[DARIVS ARCHITECTVS]

For me n

Sooo true.
As a beginner i never got to finish my first wooden model ship and jumped right in to my second build that i got form someone that thought probably "How hard can it be" ,because i thought "How hard cab it be"....

now it's near completion

Just as many beginners, if not more, say "I could never do that".

 

[Alan56]

Absolutely! I drop parts and I hear them hit and bounce but I never find them! So somewhere there is enough parts to build another ship model…but darn if I can find them!

I call this " never never land, never to be seen again".

 

[sevish]

I call this " never never land, never to be seen again".

It's the floor/carpet monster praying for Model parts ,and eat them as soon as they falls to the ground.

 

[Alan56]

I have managed to recover 6 out of the 7 small parts which have fallen through the deck hatch into the hull. That's a better than average score. Yes, it's frustrating enough to keep count. However, the brown carpet claims 15% of all the blocks and belaying pins dropped onto it. Carpet wins.

Early on in my build I dropped a small chunk of wood into the hull & can not recover it. I now cover the hatches with blue painters tape. Lesson learned.

 

[Alan56]

As a biginner my biggest mistake would have to be not being totally satisfied with the way I applied wood finish to the deck. I practiced on scrap wood & thought I had it down pat but it still did not turn out the way I wanted it. It looks OK but I know it could be a lot better.

 

[Ab Hoving]

In my opinion the worst mistake a beginner can make is to throw himself into a project of an era or part of the world he doesn't know anything about.
I did the rigging of a Chinese junk and after I finished it, an expert told me that the sails should be totally different. I used fake bamboo for a bat-shaped sail, not realizing that they never could be folded, unless the material used was fabric. I had to do it again, although I like the looks of the first ones better.
And thanks god for weathering. Everybody thinks I give my ships an old, dirty and battered look, but in reality it's just my clumsiness that makes them look that way. Please don't tell anybody...

 

[Steef66]

I just make 1 big mistake. Starting this hobby, it's more addictive then alcohol and drugs.
And the worst part are tools, you never can get enough of them. Always wanting more and more........

 

[Corsair]

OUCH!

I just make 1 big mistake. Starting this hobby, it's more addictive then alcohol and drugs.
And the worst part are tools, you never can get enough of them. Always wanting more and more........

And there is no cure !

 

[Short John Bronze]

I have managed to recover 6 out of the 7 small parts which have fallen through the deck hatch into the hull. That's a better than average score. Yes, it's frustrating enough to keep count. However, the brown carpet claims 15% of all the blocks and belaying pins dropped onto it. Carpet wins.

My model of Mary Rose is ballasted with a 6mm drill bit that I was using, hand held, to clean out a mast hole. It slipped out of my fingers.
And I agree that carpet mites (or nano goblins) regard dropped blocks and deadeyes as a bonus feast. As the area of spare room (shipyard) carpet in front of my bench was getting seriously trashed by my captain's chair I thought to solve two problems at once by covering a patch with some left-over laminate floor boards. Bad idea! It was very noisy and my chair was wont to shoot off in unintended directions. So I added a layer of some textured rubber sheet and all is well. Most dropped blocks, pins etc. show up clearly. Except of course when I drop blackened brass eyebolts.

 

[Masters Mate]

In my opinion the worst mistake a beginner can make is to throw himself into a project of an era or part of the world he doesn't know anything about.
I did the rigging of a Chinese junk and after I finished it, an expert told me that the sails should be totally different. I used fake bamboo for a bat-shaped sail, not realizing that they never could be folded, unless the material used was fabric. I had to do it again, although I like the looks of the first ones better.
And thanks god for weathering. Everybody thinks I give my ships an old, dirty and battered look, but in reality it's just my clumsiness that makes them look that way. Please don't tell anybody...

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I love your weathered look and mine is developing in a similar way.... There's always dirt and dust about and my model always looks "weathered", which is fine by me because I'm trying to create a working warship rather than a museum model.

 

[John Hendrix]

Putting blocks and pulleys on upside down. The hole should be closest to the seized end of the pulley

...guilty..

 

[KeithLyall]

Totally agree with all comments above. I am a practical person and had built plastic models as a kid, but never tried a wooden model. I asked in a model shop what was a good model for what I perceived my ability as beginner/ intermediate. I was recommended Mantua’s HMS President which I found a great model to learn on. Also developed skills and knowledge looking at builds on SOS and asking lots of questions which I still do as members are very forthcoming with advice and support.