Greetings from drydock! My name’s Ryan, and I’m a relatively new—but thoroughly hooked—model shipbuilder. I’m an aircraft mechanic by trade, so I’m no stranger to precision work, but let’s be honest…nothing tests your patience quite like trying to plank a tiny hull without gluing your fingers together (which I've already done more than once).
I started my journey with a simple dory and recently set sail on The Skiff by Model Shipways (currently about 75% complete). I’m intentionally working through smaller kits to build up my skills before tackling a fully rigged ship-of-the-line. Along the way, I’m documenting my process in what I call my “Boat Book”—tracking lessons learned, build stats, and a personal achievement system that turns each finished model into a kind of nautical milestone. I even award myself digital “bottle badges” for completed builds—think miniature achievement trophies in the form of sealed bottles, each one representing rarity, complexity, and number of ships launched. (Yes, I know, I’ve turned shipbuilding into an RPG.)
Why bottles? Well, while I was starting this hobby-turned-obsession, I took a short detour into the world of ships in bottles. Surprisingly, I didn't actually make one, but I did take it one creative step further and attempted a Duck in a
. It took some interesting and sometimes frustrating solutions, but I finally did it! Since this was just a test to see if I could do it, I bought a cheap bottle, which had really bad waviness. That's why the photo is at such an awkward angle. It's the least distorted view I could get.
I’m here to learn, be inspired, and share the occasional win—or laugh—over misaligned bulkheads and rebellious rigging. Looking forward to sailing alongside this fleet of builders and picking up all the tricks I can along the way.
Steady hands and sharp blades,
Ryan
I started my journey with a simple dory and recently set sail on The Skiff by Model Shipways (currently about 75% complete). I’m intentionally working through smaller kits to build up my skills before tackling a fully rigged ship-of-the-line. Along the way, I’m documenting my process in what I call my “Boat Book”—tracking lessons learned, build stats, and a personal achievement system that turns each finished model into a kind of nautical milestone. I even award myself digital “bottle badges” for completed builds—think miniature achievement trophies in the form of sealed bottles, each one representing rarity, complexity, and number of ships launched. (Yes, I know, I’ve turned shipbuilding into an RPG.)
Why bottles? Well, while I was starting this hobby-turned-obsession, I took a short detour into the world of ships in bottles. Surprisingly, I didn't actually make one, but I did take it one creative step further and attempted a Duck in a
. It took some interesting and sometimes frustrating solutions, but I finally did it! Since this was just a test to see if I could do it, I bought a cheap bottle, which had really bad waviness. That's why the photo is at such an awkward angle. It's the least distorted view I could get.I’m here to learn, be inspired, and share the occasional win—or laugh—over misaligned bulkheads and rebellious rigging. Looking forward to sailing alongside this fleet of builders and picking up all the tricks I can along the way.
Steady hands and sharp blades,
Ryan
Suffice to say that, as much as I loved NM, I also love the water. To get to any lake would be "an event". Now, as I type this, I can look out our front window at the lake right across the road and I'm happy. 
