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Renaming

Joined
Aug 26, 2020
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To avoid criticism from those who consider kits to be historically inaccurate (Canon that are anachronistic by six months, masts that are 5% too thin, hull shape wrong, sail cloth too thick etc) why not rename a kit built ship when submitting a build log? Eg: RSN (Royal Swiss Navy) Nonesuch, RSN Gandalf. Who then can quibble?
 
If you are going to spend your life worrying about criticisms, especially criticisms of a kit you have no control over, you would more easily avoid that criticism by not posting it at all. Or you could try to identify what's wrong about a kit and endeavor to make it right. But ultimately, even if you just make it exactly as it was designed to be built, but made it to the utmost best of your abilities, it will be your skill that shines, rather than whatever the kit is lacking. If you are going to polish a turd, make it so g*****n shiny that people will marvel at how you could possibly have polished a turd to that level of shine.

edit: And don't worry about what other people think that much. As David Foster Wallace once said, "You’ll worry less about what people think about you when you realize how seldom they do."
 
Criticism is not necessarily negative. From the Oxford Learner Dictionary, definition 2, the work or activity of making fair, careful judgements about the good and bad qualities of something. I find that when someone is pointing out an error in my work I do not take it as a personal slight. I assume it is given in the spirit of helping, not belittling me or my project. Our goals are all different but I would bet most of us want to do the best that we can, and happy to find out how to do something better even if it has to wait for the next project.

why not rename a kit built ship when submitting a build log?

A good idea. There were many ships that had sisters lesser known than the name on the box so why not rename it? Three examples:
Instead of building the Enterprise 1774 , name it Siren (1773), Fox (1773), Acteon (1775), Medea (1778), Serpine (1777), Andromeda (1777), Aurora (1777), et al
Instead of the Diana 1794, how about Artois 1794 Apollo (1794), Diamond (1794), Jason (1794), Seahorse (1794)
or instead of Agamemnon, go with Ardent,1764 Nassau 1782 et al

At least for English ships I doubt if every ship of a given class was exactly the same as the others within the class even when the shipyards started with the same design drawings and contracts if built in private yards or drawings and Establishment scantlings if built in His Majesty's shipyards.

Allan
 
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