Projects

I remember what one of the guys who taught me model ship building
bob told me right from the start you need to not only learn how to BUILD a ship model but also how to take one apart because you will be doing a lot of that in the beginning. over and over
 
Dave Stevens (Lumberyard) said:
keeping in mind the time it take to build, adding lessons on "how to" so a builder can carry that on to the next build, keeping in mind shipping cost so it is important to consider weight of materials and send nothing extra.

some builders have no interest in a certain subject BUT if that build project is a learning experience the subject is secondary to the methods and lessons learned.

the focus is "learning" this art form and not buying a kit that takes years to build. Fast easy builds are better than long drawn out builds that you struggle with.

we are well aware of the pro and cons and working out the details.

to offer plans, building projects or semi kits or wood packages still leave a big gap it is still up to the builder to figure it all out. So now it is a shifting of focus of learning modeling skills.

it hurts my brain to think a group would focus on things like absolute historical accuracy, milling wood to within .0005 thousandths of an inch, using the most expensive wood you can buy, polish the model to a mirror finish. you are catering to the 1% of the builders in the hobby stupid in my opinion. Shunning the use of plastic, or resin casting or 3d printing used in wooden ship modeling really?
There is nothing wrong with "folk art" or even a totally made up ship, common available wood is just fine you do not need some rare exotic wood that only grows on the northern slopes of a mountain range is some tiny corner of the world.
Groups the advocate perfect blemish free wood and reject anything else. Wood is created by nature it is never perfect if you don't have the skill set to work around a blemish of finish you own wood try another hobby
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I am pleased to see you use the expression: "learning experience." As folks comment on my possible Bellona build I keep stressing it is a learning experience...the process and the practices in days of yor
 
Pathfinder65 said:
Wow. Love all the comments. I'm also in the "Old F___" club. Got some of the same health problems as other members and refuse to give up and sit still. I've always enjoyed trying something new. I've build, repaired, programmed PC's for years and spent many a day building some of networks that so may people take for granted. I've built rubber band powered balsa planes, RC planes, plastic planes, plastic ships, dabbled in HO, O, N scale trains. I currently have a indoor G scale layout thats been a work in progress for the last 20 years. My foray into shipbuilding was the gift of a wooden ship kit. I'm enjoying the process and have used this site to gain a lot knowledge, swap ideas and I just love log in the morning with a cup of coffee and browse the various topics.

I don't know if the the younger generations appreciate what's offered here or even has any interest in this type of hobby. But I have observed that those who were in the younger generation in the late 60's, 70's, 80's are now driving the updated muscle cars of those years, playing the LP's and tapes of those years, because their incomes allow them to buy now what could not buy back then. Things change over time and I think leisure time will once again be in the forefront as "new" older people find that creating something unique by hand gives one a lot of pleasure and satisfaction.
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From my experiences with my grandkids I can tell you that young ones don't have the patience for this or any hobby that takes longer than a New York minute. Like you I grew up in the 50's when every kid built some kid of model. Planes, cars , trucks you name it. I even built one of the first radio control for a model airplane. From there we went on to fixing cars and building hot rods. Sadly those day's are far behind us now. I'm 75 and it's the last quarter and the 2 minute warning is getting close. We old farts just have to plod along and do our best.
 
I came to ship model building via a different route. My father had a nice set of tools (that I still enjoy using 70 years later). There was also a pile of scrap lumber in the basement left over from a full sized boat building project (by him, not me). There were also a lot of houses being built nearby where scrap lumber could be scrounged. When I was about 10 years old I got a vibrating blade jig saw for Christmas. You could literally touch the vibrating blade without getting cut.

With these tools and without plans I began to build ship models. These were crude and had little or no resemblance to the real ships but I felt a sense of accomplishment. I very very slowly developed the necessary skills. By my mid 20’s and after building my one and only kit model, I had developed the research skills via Chapelle’s great books to begin scratch building realistic ship models.

IMHO, nothing beats just jumping in and making sawdust. If you are unsatisfied with the results you have not invested in an expensive kit. You can dump the results and start over. Adequate drawings are much more available via the internet and widespread availability of copy machines than when I started.

Kids nowadays are so scheduled with planed activities, do they really have the time like I did to just learn by doing?

Roger
 
Roger Pellett said:
Kids nowadays are so scheduled with planed activities, do they really have the time like I did to just learn by doing?
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Roger keep in mind it is very difficult to handle tools safely when you constantly have a smart phone in your hands. Like driving licenses, maybe it would be a good idea if smart phones are not allowed until reaching a certain age. I get it to have a simple cell phone for safety, etc. Yeah, I know that is not going to happen, but an interesting thought.
Allan
 
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I firmly believe that cars should be made in a manor that cellphone's can't be cant be used when driving
Heck I remember back in 1960" cop would pull you for using as CB radio when you were driving
 
Roer keep in mind it is very difficult to handle tools safely when you constantly have a smart phone in your hands.

OR using tools if your left-handed being 93% of the population is right handed everything is made for right handed people.
when i was shopping for a digital Nikon camera and picked it up with my left hand it is impossible to use. Chain saws are a dangerous tool even for right handed people imagine if your a lefty it is not designed to be used left handed.
i once got a gag gift of a left handed hammer.

living life as a left handed person is like looking into a mirror everything is backwards. Must be why left handed people are more creative and smarter they have to learn to adapt to what the rest of the world sees as normal.
 
Tool Safety for kids- A number of years ago my wife and I attended a 50 year class reunion for graduates of the elementary school that I attended. One guy showed me a broken front tooth and reminded me that it resulted from an accident in my dad’s workshop. I have no idea why he never got it fixed! Anyhow it happened when he let go of the lever on the drill press and it popped up and hit him in the mouth. At that age, most of my interactions with my father regarding his workshop were stressful. He outfitted my with my own workbench and tools but the temptation was always to use his, resulting in damage or loss. I once cut up some plywood that was stowed up in the overhead. When he got home, I found that it was some of the lofting for the L. Francis Herreshoff H-23 sailboat that he had built several years earlier!

Dispite these early misadventures I still have all of my teeth and ten fingers. And, my Dad’s encouragement of my creativity resulted in a near failing elementary student achieving things that my classmates considered impossible.

Roger
 
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