Am I mad?

[Odd Job]

hello Odd Job

Greetings and a welcome from a fellow Brit.

Well, you started something there. Everyone has opinions on how best to help someone onto the greased slope of model making, and it’s a delight to read the differing viewpoints and suggestions. You and I sound not too dissimilar, and I have the idea that I appreciate where you are coming from.

If we were in t’pub with a jar we’d be chatting about modelmaking and life choices.

To answer the question - no , you aren’t mad. Square rigged ships are seascape enhancingly pretty, so of course you’d like to make one. People like us think of making things before buying something someone else made. Want a bird box that’s worthy? Make one (an outstanding build, you could make a living selling them in the right places). Want a model ship' made of wood’ - make one. Something that you can do in the house? A ship model would work. Needs a decent table/workbench of course, with a rail round the edge to stop things escaping. You’ll need a few new tools to do very accurate work on very small parts in tight grained timber. Nothing else apart from an interest in ships and how they are made.

As for what you build, it’s completely up to you. Large and complex ships with many masts, sails, guns involve probably thousands of small parts, each needing a high degree of accuracy. Large scales demand even higher detail, because people expect to be able to see the nails.
An early choice is whether to buy a ‘kit’ or act like a shipbuilder and start with a drawing and some suitable seasoned, fine grain timber. Maybe considering looks if you feel like leaving it unpainted. You’ll know enough about timber to make good choices.
Most of this forum is concerned with kits, and from what I’ve read, they are often either not well fitting, or not accurate, or both.

You need to consider what’s the main thing; is it the model at the end of the process, the process itself, the research and reading to make an accurate model, the time in front of the fire instead of in the cold workshop, or I find that the mental focus on the work in hand is good therapy in taking my mind off other unwanted stuff. Making bits of ship is good at that, when a few thou error can become cumulative.

Me? I’d read Harold Underhill’s “plank on frame models” to get a feel for the process, for the marking out, for the detailed work in building your own choice and getting it right. His techniques are the basic skills whether you work from a kit or pen, pencil and timber so it isn’t time wasted.

Of course, being a Yorkshireman, I think these kits that use widely spaced ‘frames’ are overpriced anyway, and by their nature there are hundreds of models just like the one you put together. I’d prefer something no’one else has in their window.


That’s my two pen’orth.

Jim

Oh, when I hit send on this I just found your post saying that you’ve gone for something, so you can ignore the ramblings above.
Good luck!

Hi Jim

I too am in Yorkshire near Wakefield, so maybe we might be able to have a jar together at some point.

 

[RussF]

Well I've made an executive decision and gone for this. I found it on offer at a reasonable price so this will be my entry into the world of model ship building. I intend to create a build log and will post about my experience. I will no doubt be asking for help along the way and know I can rely upon the experts on here to provide it.

Thank you all for your comments, I have appreciated them all. And maybe one day I will get to build the San Felipe.

Cheers everyone

Graham, I think the Beagle is a fine choice. One thing OcCre has in its favor are the clear building instructions with photographs (also available on their site in PDF so you can zoom right in), as well as build videos (also on their site). I look forward to following your progress.

 

[Watson]

Hi Jim

I too am in Yorkshire near Wakefield, so maybe we might be able to have a jar together at some point.

Somebody say Wakefield, I'm South elmsall.

 

[Kurt Konrath]

And why would anyone with your imagination and abilities even want to be a serious kit modeller? Why not trying to build a ship like you build your bird feeders, with your own fantasy, from whatever materials that fall into your hands and from scratch? Something like this. No one is mad just for being somewhat imaginative and otherwise agreably deranged, for doing his own thing, his own way. There's your 'plan', the length on deck is about 4 breaths... The rest is up to you.
View attachment 568576

A ship built based on what you want it to look like would sell well in the retail market, look at all the fantasy works being sold for home decor use, who said it had to be build to specific plans and design.

 

[Kurt Konrath]

Well I've made an executive decision and gone for this. I found it on offer at a reasonable price so this will be my entry into the world of model ship building. I intend to create a build log and will post about my experience. I will no doubt be asking for help along the way and know I can rely upon the experts on here to provide it.

Thank you all for your comments, I have appreciated them all. And maybe one day I will get to build the San Felipe.

Cheers everyone

Use the search tool and input the ships name, and see what others have posted and built. Review of this builds may reduce issue you come across as other have already identified them and hopefully come up with answers. That is one of the best reason I like SOS folks, always willing to provide help or humor when needed.

 

[Odd Job]

Somebody say Wakefield, I'm South elmsall.

Just up road. Looks like that jar or2 could be on