model ship kits referenced scale

[bandido]

I know and understand that model ships built from scratch and from plans are most likely to whatever scale they decide to build then at but when it comes to kits you depend and go by what is advertised on any kit. as with the ZHL La Soleil, they advertise a 1/90 scale and it scales in some areas in the 1/70 scale has anyone else run into this issue with other MFG kits when it comes to advertised scale? in talking with Gilbert he had mentioned it to me and I agree with him. Just interested?

 

[zoly99sask]

I know and understand that model ships built from scratch and from plans are most likely to whatever scale they decide to build then at but when it comes to kits you depend and go by what is advertised on any kit. as with the ZHL La Soleil, they advertise a 1/90 scale and it scales in some areas in the 1/70 scale has anyone else run into this issue with other MFG kits when it comes to advertised scale? in talking with Gilbert he had mentioned it to me and I agree with him. Just interested?

Most of the kits are not correct ,for exemple all the Victory kits scale are wrong

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

just about all the manufactured kits have different scales in the same model. This is due to the fact manufactures do not make scale fittings for every kit they produce; they use off the shelf parts.
is it possible when you go from inches to millimeters there is a rounding out of the numbers so there is no exact scale?

 

[fourseas]

I agree, I believe a lot of the problem is due to the fittings. Not sure about the rounding off of measurements between standard and metric though as either one can be calculated out to within 1/1000 of an inch or 1/100 of a mm if the kit manufacturer wanted to. I suspect the problem is due more to tooling and mass production of kits that are slightly off scale to each other and using the same parts.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

hum interesting? so the scale between standard and metric may not be it as opposed to rounding out scale so the same fittings can be used in different kits

 

[fourseas]

hum interesting? so the scale between standard and metric may not be it as opposed to rounding out scale so the same fittings can be used in different kits

Yes I believe that's it exactly. Makes mass production of kits a lot easier for manufacturers. In my opinion the only way to get a model to exact scale to the prototype is to build it from scratch from the original drawings. I have been fortunate in my past commercial jobs to work from the original drawings as well as walk around the vessel and take measurements as she was being built. Unfortunately we do not have that luxury when building models representing ships from centuries gone by. But on the bright side, no one is alive from the 16th century to look at your work and say "that's not exactly right" so we are allowed a certain amount of poetic licence in our building.

 

[bandido]

I know and understand that model ships built from scratch and from plans are most likely to whatever scale they decide to build then at but when it comes to kits you depend and go by what is advertised on any kit. as with the ZHL La Soleil, they advertise a 1/90 scale and it scales in some areas in the 1/70 scale has anyone else run into this issue with other MFG kits when it comes to advertised scale? in talking with Gilbert he had mentioned it to me and I agree with him. Just interested?

yes kits are not scaled the same throughout the complete kit, especially in the small parts blocks riggings and etc. I just thought that an advertised scale of 1/90 and in actuality is 1/70 seems extreme?

 

[J Merton]

Here is another reason to scratch build. There are numerous books with boat and ship lines that cost less than a kit. Some have enough deck details to complete an accurate mode. Free wood is available if you keep your eyes open. I have a collection of over a dozen species of model grade wood that I paid zero dollars for. There are also numerous authorities, including members of this forum, that are knowledgeable enough to point out inauthentic details. This does matter to a serious builder. There are many posts as to these details on this forum, and many who are willing to help. (I'm not an expert, so I need books.) Models are lofted in the same exact way as a full size vessel. I do know how to loft; it can be tedious, but is not that hard once you get the hang of it. Please do not forget that the two hundred year old models in museums were built without power tools.

Please do not use this knowledge to fashion scale models of conflict vessels. Please build models that represent joy and production, not fear and destruction. Please do not show war implements to children.

 

[HPeterB]

Really interesting discussion. I’ve noticed that in some plastic ship models also. I’m currently building the Revelle 1:72 scale Snowberry and I’m not expert enough to check but to my eyes it looks like the rigging that is included with the kit is way off. Since I only build models for myself I just want them to look good. I’ll leave the exact measurements to the experts.