Some of my model ships

I am continuously amazed at your builds. Fantastic work, and especially considering the small scale a lot of these are done at - the details are super impressive! Plus the water effects too......

I build for myself right now - but have been being pushed (in a good way) to start building to sell, but I am not sure if that is something I am comfortable doing yet.
 
Bill-R said:
Wow! Your build of the Bulolo is amazing. That is a beautiful ship. The Bulolo would be a great subject for a larger build also.

Bill
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Thank you - Bulolo was the type of ship that I used to sail in myself, and I always found them infinitely more interesting than warships, with their many different designs, colours shapes and sizes. An account of one sea battle was pretty much like another to me. If you like that sort of thing, merchant ships were always in the thick of it when wars came along, but generally, we were a peaceful bunch. This is one I sailed in myself - RMS Edinburgh Castle.

Edinburgh Castle 2 (Large).JPG
 
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I have only built two of them, and I haven't got a photograph of the other one. I only built this because of the name. It is not either of the two St Helenas that I sailed in for 13 years, they were both passenger liners. I tend to keep clear of ships that have been modelled to death, preferring the obscure or semi obscure, because they were easier to sell. Also, I have never really appreciated the so-called "romance" of warships and warship modelling, and kits were too big, too expensive, and way beyond my capabilities.
 
shipbuilder said:
I stopped sending models to auctions years ago. And I stopped even building them a year ago, but have become more academic on the subject now, devoting myself to merchant navy research and plan drawing. But looking at the views for this particular topic - 6,469 this morning, indicates to me more than a passing interest. Lots of ship modellers tell me that they would like to build them, but "could never do anything like that!" Where the truth of the matter is that using special techniques, they are nowhere near as difficult to build as kits, it is simply a matter of trying. There are no knots in the rigging, as it is lots of short lengths of copper wire glued on.

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I think it's the thought of building such tiny models that people shy away from building them themselves. With small scale models getting the hull lines correct must be a real challenge when working from just a photo or drawing. Modern kits come with lots of instructions and the number of different models available these days is actually very small so there are plenty of builds out there to refer to and get some help. Personally, I'm all fingers and thumbs with rubbish eyesight so making and fitting tiny parts is the reason I would fail ( the smallest scale I would work to is 1/75 simply because anything smaller is beyond my dexterity limit!).


I really enjoy looking at your models because they are so diverse (and now forgotten ships). I used to love going into the maritime museum in Liverpool when I was a student and looking at all the different builders models of ships built on the Mersey but it is sad that they are no longer on display and people have lost there appreciation of the skill and work that went into them - c'est la vie!
 
I have always found it easier building small. I very rarely use my fingers, the fine detail is put on using tweezers. My eyesight is not very good either, having had glaucoma for over 30 years, and macular degeneration in the left eye for quite a few years as well! I find it hard to read the normal print here, and also all these websites that favour light grey lettering on a white background. That is why I post in bold at a larger font size. The demand for miniature merchant ships seems to be insatiable as far as collectors are concerned. An average model takes about 50 hours spread over a few weeks, and that includes making the display case and carrying case.
 
Hello John,
Thanks for postimg your lovely model of Glenmoor, moving at speed. Great model, and it gives me great satisfaction to see the results of someone benefitting from my downloads. So many just make the firm decision that it is beyond their capabilities to make miniatures, and leave it at that But the ones that do give it a try are usually amazed at what they can do by using the special techniques.
Best wishes
Robert
 
Your books are really well written and make modelling this scale a lot of fun. The best part is that everything that you see in the above photos was built from scratch and that gives me immense pleasure.
I completed the Lauro Line's Roma using your practicum for the Kenya as a guide. It turned out much better than I could have ever hoped for. I think we spoke about that years ago. I know I must have posted the pictures somewhere (perhaps on another forum) however I don't have any of the photos anymore as they were lost on an old computer. I have also completed a model of the Stella Polaris for a friend- this was my favourite build so far- it was my 3rd attempt using your guides. For this model everything was easier, faster, better quality and I generally liked the look of that ship.
 
Thank you John,
Yes, it was a long time ago, and I do remember you building the Roma from a very small plan that I sent you, and I was absolutely amazed at the fine model that you produced of a fairly complicated ship. Although I think it was your first attempt, I really couldn't fault it in any way - Robert
 
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