Hello from Brian

[Brian]

Hello to all on SOS and thanks for letting me join.
I am 60 years young and retired from work due to Arthritis and was in need of something to take up my spare time so have only recently taken up model ship building.
I am now on my third build, the first 2 being plastic ones (plastic maybe but still very intricate)
The first one was the "BATAVIA" by Revel and the second one "HMS Victory" by Airfix, I must add that the quality of the Revel kit was much better than the Airfix one.

I am now building my first wooden kit which is Artesania Latina's "San Juan Spanish Galleon S.XVI" I am currently at the stage where I have the main part of the ship completed and have started on the masts (currently stuck on how to thread the double pulley's with the thread that is supplied)
I shall be posting a build log once I have got my head round resizing all my images, I have resized some to 800x600 pixels giving a file size if around anything from 50kb to 300kb, not sure yet how these will look when posted, any help here would be appreciated.

Oh well that's all for now back to photo editing

Brian

 

[Brian]

Thanks for the reply Popeye,
Yes plastic, well we all have to start somewhere, only really did the 2 plastic ones to see if I could manage them, what with failing eyesight and a shaky hand when doing intricate stuff like that.
Really enjoying working on the wooden one, I have worked with wood almost all my life in one form or another and can create something from just a photo, but these ships are another thing altogether, I thought I was doing ok, with good comments from anyone who looks at my work so far, but looking at some of the build logs on this site puts mine to shame, but that is why I am here to look, listen & learn from others who have been in the game a lot longer than me (and some who haven't) the quality of the workmanship really is excellent .

 

[Donnie]

Hi Brian - welcome to SoS. I am glad that you found us. that makes me third I guess, because I started with two plastic ships from my wifes hobby store at the time. I thought I could not do wooden, but found it not so bad. My first (completed) wooden ship was the Model Shipways Sultana Solid Hull.

I do have some tips for you on the threading (Rigging). You really need (must) get some beeswax. Not all beeswax is the same and as a matter of fact, some stores claim so, but in reality is nothing more than candle wax.

I look forward to seeing your build and progress.

Donnie

 

[GaryM]

I got started by building plastic cars, airplanes, and ships. When I had enough money as a kid to buy the Revell Cutty Sark and USS Constitution, I built them and decided I really like the look of sailing vessels. In 1968, I bought my first wooden models of the Billing Wasa and Norske Love. Once I started wood models, I was hooked. Back then, the models were very crude compared to now. We are so lucky to live in an era where so much information and great kits are available. Hope you enjoy this hobby and get the taste of the real rewards of having a beautiful completed model to look and and say look at what I created from a few pieces of wood and some string.