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AI Is Here To Help

The only problem I see is that AI has never built a model ship. It can only report the experience of others.

It certainly got it wrong about " high-cost timber packages", particularly in Model Shipways kits.
Vanguard " Surprise " would be the exception.
 
DocTom said:
I did a little experiment where I told the Google AI which kits I have built (the Model Shipways 3 boat set and their Harriet Lane), as well as which kits are in my stash, and asked it in which order I should build them if I want to hone my skills. I mentioned I own the Bob Hunt practicums. I should also add I have a lot of kits in my stash. The result:

THE MASTER SHIPWRIGHT WORKSHOP ROADMAP
A Sequential Syllabus Aligned to Bob Hunt's Practicums & College Courses

PHASE 1: PREP SCHOOL & BASELINE CALIBRATION
Focus: Master baseline hull geometry, edge-bending, and transition to complex rigging mechanics.

[ ] 1. NRG Hull Planking Project (1:48 Scale)
Focus: Zero distractions. Purely isolates the physics of lining out a hull, plank tapering, and edge-bending.

[ ] 2. Model Expo: Bluenose (1:64 Scale) — With Bob Hunt Prep School Course
Focus: Your first major fleet ship. The long, flat hull lines minimize complex twisting, allowing you to learn Hunt's drafting, sanding, and hull fairing workflows smoothly.

[ ] 3. Vanguard Models: HM Armed Cutter Sherbourne (1:64 Scale)
Focus: Your introduction to premium pearwood and Vanguard's perfect laser-cut slot-and-tab framing.

[ ] 4. NRG Mast and Rigging Project (1:48 Scale)
Focus: Isolates mechanical rigging tasks—serving lines, stropping blocks, and turning in deadeyes—before tackling multi-mast networks.


PHASE 2: SOPHOMORE YEAR (THE CORE COURSES)
Focus: True traditional hull construction, structural modifications, and early American architecture.

[ ] 5. Model Shipways: Armed Sloop Virginia (1:48 Scale) — With Bob Hunt Sloop College
Focus: Designed strictly around Hunt's core college syllabus. The comfortable 1:48 scale is ideal for learning advanced timber construction and internal structural details.

[ ] 6. Vanguard Models: Fife Lady Eleanor (1:64 Scale)
Focus: A major planking test. The blunt bow and spherical stern force you to utilize advanced plank-stealing techniques on a high-end pearwood hull.


PHASE 3: JUNIOR & SENIOR YEAR (THE ADVANCED PRACTICUMS)
Focus: Managing comprehensive square rigging, dealing with complex timber conversions, and heavy warship mechanics.

[ ] 7. Vanguard Models: HMS Speedy (1:64 Scale) — With Bob Hunt Brig Practicum
Focus: Your first major 2-masted square-rigged test. Combining Vanguard's crisp engineering with Hunt's advanced line management produces a museum-tier showpiece.

[ ] 8. Mamoli: American Privateer Rattlesnake (1:64 Scale) — With Bob Hunt Practicum
Focus: A true artisan milestone. Hunt's text shows you how to completely re-engineer this traditional European kit's bulkheads, scratch-build parts, and rig a full 3-masted ship.

[ ] 9. Syren Ship Models: Cheerful (1:48 Scale)
Focus: Premium artisan kit. Requires sharp scratch-building intuition, high-level manual carving, and pristine attention to detail.

[ ] 10. Vanguard Models: HM Brig Harpy (1:64 Scale)
Focus: Expands directly upon your Speedy knowledge with a heavy, highly detailed 18-gun brig layout.


PHASE 4: THE GRAND MASTER EXHIBITION KITS
Focus: Open these boxes only when you are completely confident in your ability to process elite, high-cost timber packages without making crucial errors.

[ ] 11. Caldercraft: HMAV Bounty (1:64 Scale)

[ ] 12. Model Shipways: Charles W. Morgan (1:64 Scale)

[ ] 13. Model Shipways: Flying Fish (1:96 Scale)

[ ] 14. Vanguard Models: HMS Surprise (1:64 Scale) — The Workshop Masterpiece

[ ] 15. Model Shipways: USS Constitution (1:76 Scale) — The Fleet Crown

It's actually not far off from what I was thinking, at least for the next couple of models. My plan was to do the Rigging and Masting kit before I tackle the rigging on my Harriet Lane, but other than that it makes sense to me. I didn't ask how long I needed to live to do all that :)

Any thoughts? I find the currently available AI easy to manipulate, but I didn't prompt it very much about this.
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Interesting project to ask AI. It looks like a logical progression and it gives a rational for the steps. Of course it looks like it assumes you will live about 50 more years at least (at the rate I work at)

Rob
 
I admin several groups on another platform and ban all posts that are AI generated or contain colorized photos. The reason is simple: they are almost always garbage in terms of accuracy and the illustrations do not even remotely represent what they claim to depict.
 
alross2 said:
I admin several groups on another platform and ban all posts that are AI generated or contain colorized photos. The reason is simple: they are almost always garbage in terms of accuracy and the illustrations do not even remotely represent what they claim to depict.
Click to expand...
So true. AI output contains lots of errors, often strange ones. It's distracting and annoying how many history videos on YouTube use AI for the video, and the images are hugely inaccurate. Sometimes they can even be comical.
 
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Actually, there were only 1-1/2 American three deckers ever built, and only one Launched, USS Pennsylvania, and she never sailed in active service. The other was USS New Orleans laid down on Lake Ontario, but never launched.

The defeat of Napoleon ushering in the era of Pax Britannia largely ended the need tor these very expensive warships. A few of the American ships of the line built following the War of 1812 sailed as fleet flagships in the Mediterranean but most were never commissioned.

Hence, no model kits.

Roger
 
Pepite 1/60 said:
Maybe, for that AI, three deckers seem too easy ;) o_O. Or it got digital Alzheimer's and just forgot about them.
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Actually, they're not on the list because I don't own a three decker kit. This was a thought exercise with kits I actually own, to see if AI would come up with a building order similar to my own ideas. It didn't do too bad a job, but given that, I always use it with extreme caution.
 
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