Glue Vs Nails

[Horace]

Personally, I think one aspect of getting older is realizing your own limitations—and being at peace with them.

The project I’m currently working on will probably never be finished.
But that doesn’t matter; I build for my own sake, and it’s simply enjoyable to sit and tinker with the models.

For me, model building has never been about improving my skills or achieving something extraordinary.
I call that "work," and it’s not something I want to spend any more of my time on.

Perhaps the forum should be divided: one section for those who strive for perfection, and another for those of us who just build for a bit of relaxation?

Shouldn't be divided, but both groups should certainly be aware that it takes all kinds.

One purpose of this forum is to get more people into ship modeling, but there can be a vague undercurrent of attitudes that don't really seem to want that. That's not a majority and barely meaningful, but you get a sniff every now and then.

 

[Roger Pellett]

The nails vs glue debate appears to be focused on kit builders using strip wood to plank POB hulls. I’ll leave the pros and cons to them as I don’t build this kind of models.

At its best ship model building can encompass a wide variety of modeling subjects and techniques. So, as we veer off the beaten path, nails can be useful modeling tools. Nails have long been used by loftsmen to fasten battens to the mold loft floor and likewise they can be used by modelers in securing bent wooden splines when drawing curves. I am currently using both very small headed nails and glue to fabricate molds for a model. These molds will either be removed once the hull is planked or buried deep inside the hull. With a diameter of 1/32” (less than 1mm) I might also use these nails to temporarily secure planking to the molds. With a piece of thin scrap wood under the nail head, they can easily be removed and the hole plugged with a wooden or bamboo peg, or a dab of Durham’s Water Putty. The nail holes will be invisible once the hull is painted.

Different modeling subjects lend themselves to different techniques.

Roger

 

[POPEYE_DA_SAILOR]

Different modeling subjects lend themselves to different techniques.

I do believe there are significant limitations on the use of driven fasteners (nails and pins) that are imposed by small scale work. For example, few models have the structural strength to withstand being hammered. Many scale pieces of wood are just too small to accommodate spreading by a driven nail or pin and are too prone to splitting to be nailed or pinned. Many scale pieces simply don't have enough "meat" to hold a nail or pin. Holes must be drilled and pegs cemented in place, rather than "nailing" or "pinning" in those instances. The smaller the work, the less role there is for nails and pins to play. Wooden pieces should be shaped to fit rather than tortured to fit. Wood species and grain type and direction all are important considerations which become ever more important as the scale of the work becomes finer.

For me, model building has never been about improving my skills or achieving something extraordinary.
I call that "work," and it’s not something I want to spend any more of my time on.

Perhaps the forum should be divided: one section for those who strive for perfection, and another for those of us who just build for a bit of relaxation?

I fully realize others may take a different approach, but when I post something, I'm talking about "best practices" and "state of the art" craftsmanship as I have come to know it and as close as I might be able to get to achieving it. I'm fully aware that there are many who are not particularly concerned about things like historical accuracy, archival materials, model engineering design and technique, and "high-quality scale ship models." That's neither here nor there to me. I'm not intending to address the folks who build ship models "for a bit of relaxation" without any interest in getting better at it because we are actually doing rather different things entirely and that's perfectly okay. Where I realize they aren't interested in "the pursuit of excellence," I generally don't bother engaging with them, because our interests are simply not aligned. I regret when I sometimes misperceive the original poster's interests and respond as if they were interested in doing the best possible job on a model when instead they are just interested in "having fun," however they may subjectively judge that objective. I have different interests in scale ship modeling than many. For example, I have no interest in kit model building whatsoever. Neither do I expect those who build kits exclusively to have any interest in the type of scale ship modeling that interests me. We are each about the pursuit of our own unique interests.

I don't see any need to divide this forum. If it suffers at all, it suffers from a surplus of good advice and information. There's no need for those for whom "model building has never been about improving (their) skills or achieving something extraordinary" and who "just build for a bit of relaxation" to get their panties in a bunch when anyone suggests something more than they feel like putting into their modeling. It shouldn't bother them in the least if they are honestly not interested in "improving their skills" and "just build for relaxation." It remains a puzzlement, however, why so many inexperienced modelers will on the one hand post questions about how to do this or that and then, on the other hand when provided with a clear explanation of how to do something correctly, will then argue that they don't want to go to the trouble to do it correctly because they are "only interested in building models for a bit of relaxation." I mean, if somebody really doesn't care about "improving their skills" or "achieving something extraordinary" and is just building "for a bit of relaxation," why are they asking questions in a forum like this one to begin with?