A Word of General Encouragement for My Fellow Ship-Modelers

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I would like to share something I struggle with in the hope that I could encourage you not to do what I have done in regards to ship modeling. I lost count, but I believe I have 12 or 13 ship models! Some of them have not been started. Sometimes I look at all that I have and I feel so overwhelmed that I end up not working on any of them--all day. My point is this: 2 or at the most 3 is one thing--12 or 13 is another. Besides, all that money! If I just purchased 2 or 3 I would have had quite a bit of money to purchase more needed ship modeling tools! I acted in an undisciplined way because "I just have got to get that ship model!" Grant it, due to the time element in building a ship model 2 or 3 I believe is a wise move. While one is drying from paint or glue, 1 or 2 others could be worked on. It's not unheard of for a ship model to take over a year to build (years ago it took me 15 months just for the hull work of Sergal's "Great Harry"). So 2 or 3 is a wise move. But I believe I went overboard money-wise because "I just had to have it". The money--and time--could have been used more wisely. So my ship modeling brothers/sisters--for what it's worth I hope you'll use your time and money more wisely than I have. Andy from Kenosha.
 
Thank you for this post. For me personally, both financially,, and time-wise, I can only handle one ship at a time. Not only that, I just do not have the room for it. Even though my shop takes up an entire guest room in my house, all the bench power tools just eat up space. I can see that I could manage my space better by putting up on a shelf power tools that I do not use, but just getting around to do that is a job within itself.
I think the main thing with me, I simply just like to focus on one project at a time. I also do not like the idea of having several kits just sitting there. I know, not everyone is the same and that is ok too. I probably have missed a lot of good sales because I only like to buy what I am going to build.
With myself still working full time, I usually can only put in about 1 to 2 hours max per evening. Due to life, I might even have to skip a few nights in a row.
 
Andy, I can fully relate to you are situation, but I learned how to turn it into my favor.
At the moment I have over 15 models but had toooooo many before.
I also needed a good table saw and others tools...so what I did is SELL.
I took an inventory of my most wanted models to build and the rest I started to sell.
Besides that, I keep hunting EBay for good deals and we can always find them.
If I can buy a $500 model for $200 or less I grab it because I could resell it and make a little profit after all.
Her is a sample: I bought a Mamoli MV21 Sao Miguel Caracca Atlantica that usually sells for $450.00, I got it for $120.00.
Besides liking this model very much and I might keep it for a later build, this is also a model that if I am ever in the need of buying tools, I can always sell it and make a some “tool money”. LOL

Hey....if any body wants it, I’ll sell it for $250.00 free shipping.

871F784C-69A7-4EDB-B6BD-75812B83B029.jpeg
 
I have around 30 or so kits on the shelf. Some I bought at garage sales and such, some were given to me by someone that decided they would never build it, some I bought "on sale". Most all are ships or boats, basically, anything that floats. Plus, a couple wood aircraft. I don't build cars, trains, plastic aircraft, sci-fi. Just "floaties" for the most part. I did a couple of the metal etch kits for practice on PE and once a paper ship kit that I botched up big time. That's an art in itself.
I usually have 2 or 3 under construction. one or two wood builds, one or two plastic builds. I sometimes get frustrated with the work at hand on a model, move it to the side for a while and work on another, often switching from wood to plastic and back to wood. For some reason, when I get to the very end of a build, I have a tendency to not finish the last bits.
On wood ships, it is the rigging and sails. At 79 years of age, I'm not as steady-handed as I used to be. Also, I know little about the process. All the terms and uses for each line or sail are greek to me and I seem not to be able to retain the stuff I read in books regarding the subject, so I long ago stopped doing sails. I still try to do the standing rigging and what running rigging would be left in place when the sails were taken in and stored while tied up to the dock or pier. For this I rely on pictures as much as I can.
On plastic kits it's the photo etch details. Especially the railings. That stuff has gotten so advanced and delicate now. It really looks great if done well, but amateurish if not.
Painting is my Achilles heel. It must be ok right out of the can for me. And applied with a 9" roller :D . Really, I usually brush paint or clearcoat wood builds, as slight brush texture in the paint looks more realistic to me. On plastic, I have much better luck with an airbrush. The smaller scales in that medium require a smoother finish I think. I've tried some of the "weathering" techniques, usually with poor results, so I avoid that. Besides, to a Navy man, a freshly painted ship, right out of the yards is a work of art.
Main thing is - HAVE FUN!! Skills improve as you build. Plus, these forums are a huge help, not just with technical advise and suggestions, but with the encouragement and camaraderie of the members here.

EJ
 
my problem was not collecting kits my problem was collecting sets of plans and books more and more plans and books until i filled an entire room. I had plans i never looked at twice and books i used once and put them on a shelf.
Not saying it is a bad idea to collect research material but there is a limit and what is considered a good research library may just be a case of hording.
 
A bit of de ja vou here! I also am sometimes tempted to think about the next project and purchase it, before completing the current build.
I haven't succumbed to the tempation, though and are staying disciplined. Is the collection of excessive amounts of material, books, etc combined with a feeling that the next book may contain just the info I need, although it could be in a publication already standing on the shelf?
We are hunters and gatherers and always looking for that little bit extra. It is human after all, otherwise the boat yard wouldn' t be so cluttered.
I would like to build the Alert, but the orders or the availability of the next batch of kits from China seemed to have dried up. Maybe I'll go for the Gorch Fock or the Endurance.

Have a great May day.
 
i joined this very interesting site a few weeks ago and have enjoyed following the many threads. This particular thread made me chuckle as it is so true to my own circumstances.

i started model ship building decades ago and like most people it was a start and stop hobby during my working years. Now I’m into retirement, I started back up again a couple of years ago. Over many years I too have purchased way too many kits as well. There’s about 15 boxes on shelves, two models on the go, a rapidly increasing collection of sailing ship reference books ( I partially blame your member Uwek for that :) ) and tools, more tools and yikes even more.

I look at it all somedays and wonder where all this “stuff” came from but as I tell my wife - “it’s just a hobby but I need this or that or the other”. Tolerance is obviously key, hers not mine :)

Regards,
Roger
 
i am in my 70s and fellow older builders are passing on. I found out what they thought was a valuable library or collections of journals and magazines end up as just "stuff" the family has to get rid of. I stopped and looked at the stuff i collected. Been moving a stack of Nautical Research journals from one spot to another, in boxes in storage, same with other magazines. Then i came to the realization the sheer volume and space these took up was not worth the amount of information they provided. So, i tried to sell a complete collection of NRG journals and no one wanted them, could not even give them away. They ended their days in a paper recycle bin. As far as the other publications journals and magazines , well, the articles that interested me were far and few between and any general information can be found on line. Plans are like kits at first you are interested in them and think hum? some day i might want to build that ship, 10 years later and there they still sit.
Even tools at one time i thought i could not live without an small lathe or a 4 inch table saw,, i used them on a project or two and now they sit collect rust and dust.
 
As a retired commercial builder I don't have a lot of my past creations sitting around. However I agree with Dave from Lumberyard, as we get older it's important to have the things (ship models) we love around us, however I find that not that many friends or relatives will ever be inclined to display my work after I'm no longer around.
 
As a retired commercial builder I don't have a lot of my past creations sitting around. However I agree with Dave from Lumberyard, as we get older it's important to have the things (ship models) we love around us, however I find that not that many friends or relatives will ever be inclined to display my work after I'm no longer around.
As long as they make me happy, that's all that matters.
 
As long as they make me happy, that's all that matters.
Years ago I was building the Scottish Maid (I think it was either Mamoli or Corel), but it was one of my very first tries at ship modeling and I botched
it up so bad I threw it out (but I kept the strip wood). When I'm more experienced I would love to buy the Cutty Sark to build. Do you have (a) picture(s) of your Cutty Sark? I would love to see it/them. Andy from Kenosha.
 
Years ago I was building the Scottish Maid (I think it was either Mamoli or Corel), but it was one of my very first tries at ship modeling and I botched
it up so bad I threw it out (but I kept the strip wood). When I'm more experienced I would love to buy the Cutty Sark to build. Do you have (a) picture(s) of your Cutty Sark? I would love to see it/them. Andy from Kenosha.
You have access to FB. If so,,,, they are all on there.
 
Many of you might think that what I am about to write is sacrilegiously blasphemous. As much as I love ship modeling, there is one part of it which I consider boring, namely, planking the decks. But I tried something different rather than applying titebond III to each plank. and glue it in--one at a time before applying glue to the next plank, etc. I applied DAP Weldwood Contact Cement to several planks, then to a large portion of the false deck. I waited about 20 minutes and then, one after another, I quickly bonded the planks to the false deck. Since it is a quicker process, there is no boredom along for the ride. So that's my plug for contact cement relative to ship modeling. Andy from Kenosha.
 
I would like to share something I struggle with in the hope that I could encourage you not to do what I have done in regards to ship modeling. I lost count, but I believe I have 12 or 13 ship models! Some of them have not been started. Sometimes I look at all that I have and I feel so overwhelmed that I end up not working on any of them--all day. My point is this: 2 or at the most 3 is one thing--12 or 13 is another. Besides, all that money! If I just purchased 2 or 3 I would have had quite a bit of money to purchase more needed ship modeling tools! I acted in an undisciplined way because "I just have got to get that ship model!" Grant it, due to the time element in building a ship model 2 or 3 I believe is a wise move. While one is drying from paint or glue, 1 or 2 others could be worked on. It's not unheard of for a ship model to take over a year to build (years ago it took me 15 months just for the hull work of Sergal's "Great Harry"). So 2 or 3 is a wise move. But I believe I went overboard money-wise because "I just had to have it". The money--and time--could have been used more wisely. So my ship modeling brothers/sisters--for what it's worth I hope you'll use your time and money more wisely than I have. Andy from Kenosha.

This is a common affliction known as "SABLE" (Stash Accumulated Beyond Life Expectancy). There is no cure.
 
OUUUCH! Doc you give me no hope (although you're almost certainly right--as a compulsive person I find it very hard to change--I have not purchased a ship lately, because of a lack of money, not because of self-discipline).
 
What I am saying here isn't a response to anyone; it's a small irritating gripe, so I'm just blowing off some steam. One of the ships I'm working on is ZHL's Le Soleil Royal. Thus far I have not needed to use any small pins that are supplied in all model kits. Now as I need one--lo and behold--there aren't any in the kit. I never heard of such a thing. Now when I first got the kit I did the usual inventory count of all the items. However, I never count the little pin-nails. I am not going to count something that tiny to see if all 350 of them are there! Every model I've ever owned comes with those little nails in abundance. Excuse my ranting, but it really miffs me that 1 or 2 dollars worth of tiny pin-nails are not in a kit that I spent almost $400 dolars for. I'm glad I have other kits--I can use some nails from one of those. There, now after blowing off some steam to my brother and sister ship modelers feel better. In the light of my experience I will no longer take the kit for granted. Andy from Kenosha.
 
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