Hello from Peterborough UK

fourseas said:
Almost every part of this Province is named after a location in the UK. I live right on the River Thames.
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Well, Chatam Kent should be on the Medway!

In all seriousness, the Thames, Medway, Crouch and Blackwater are pretty close together on the coast. My eldest son has a little cabin yacht moored at Burnham on Crouch, and the sailing is good - a whole landscape of interlinked rivers and creeks, salt marsh and sandbanks, strange concrete installations dating from WW2, seals and seabirds. And the water beneath you covers some secrets too, one minute there's 10ft under the keels, next there is 60ft. Magical light too.
 
Graham_T said:
Going to be a bit of a culture shock as plastic modelling is all I have done in the past.
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Welcome to the World of Wood (and brass, and cordage, and canvas...).

I was a plastic modeller from the age of about eight until 65. I found the change to the old school modelling in wood to be a cultural delight. It was as though I'd lived on dry ham sandwiches for a lifetime and then learned how to cook and eat five course meals. More challenging to make and more time consuming, but infinitely more satisfying. I bet you have shown your plastic kits to non-modellers in the past and probably they have said "Oh that's interesting." When you've built your first wooden boat they suddenly start saying "Oh my, that's beautiful!"

That's the vital difference between plastic and wood as I see it, and feel it. Old school materials have soul and old school ships have even more of it. Looking at some of the completed builds on SoS can bring a lump to the throat, they are such beautiful objects and you can really understand where the work went in.

I think it's because we have had the old materials for thousands of years, as well as wind and muscle powered ships - we understand them instinctively. Plastics and modern vessels are so relative new to us that there's no emotional reaction to them.

Of course, nothing is for nothing, and you will find the hobby very frustrating at times. This forum is a brilliant place to share the experience and get support and technical advice too.
 
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Smithy said:
Welcome to the World of Wood (and brass, and cordage, and canvas...).

I was a plastic modeller from the age of about eight until 65. I found the change to the old school modelling in wood to be a cultural delight. It was as though I'd lived on dry ham sandwiches for a lifetime and then learned how to cook and eat five course meals. More challenging to make and more time consuming, but infinitely more satisfying. I bet you have shown your plastic kits to non-modellers in the past and probably they have said "Oh that's interesting." When you've built your first wooden boat they suddenly start saying "Oh my, that's beautiful!"

That's the vital difference between plastic and wood as I see it, and feel it. Old school materials have soul and old school ships have even more of it. Looking at some of the completed builds on SoS can bring a lump to the throat, they are such beautiful objects and you can really understand where the work went in.

I think it's because we have had the old materials for thousands of years, as well as wind and muscle powered ships - we understand them instinctively. Plastics and modern vessels are so relative new to us that there's no emotional reaction to them.

Of course, nothing is for nothing, and you will find the hobby very frustrating at times. This forum is a brilliant place to share the experience and get support and technical advice too.
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This very much reflects my experience so far :)
 
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