geoff

Welcome back to MSW Pete . All the best, Geoff

Thank you, everyone!
 
Ccoyle, that’s incredibly helpful! Looks like the club has a meeting this week. Hopefully I can swing by and check it out. 
 
Xken, it’s a great looking kit and excellent to know there are figures available as well. It’s be great to combine both hobbies when I can. 
 
Well, you all have me tempted to start with something a bit more ambitious. I plan to order a kit in the next few weeks... so I’ll have to mull my choice over a bit more. 🙂
 
-David

Reading your introduction you didn't just paint those figures, you made them as well. They are absolutely great.
In my humble opinion, if you are capable of that, don't worry about a beginners kit. Jump straight into a more complex one to your liking.
Just make sure you get one with decent instructions to help you out understand the different processes.
Just my 2 cents.
Cheers, Peter
 
 

Great painting on the figures! The armed longboat would be a good choice given the scale and Shapeways has naval figures the same scale. It would be a good choice and I did design the kit with beginners in mind. All the plans are full scale as well so no conversions needed. Welcome aboard!
 
Here is are pictures of the figures available. Here is one painted and the others as they came from Shapeways. I had to break a couple of legs to get them to fit properly.

 
Here are the raw figures; the guy at the rudder had his legs broken to set on the deck.
 

 

 
I am sure you could do a much better job at painting these guys than I did. That would be a great painting tutorial for you to post at some time.

If you can do that on those figures you can certainly complete even an intermediate kit I reckon. Fantastic work on those. Congratulations.
 
Cheers
 
Chris
 
Oh, can you please tell us your name?
 

The South Bay Model Shipwrights is the closest club to you that I know of. Some MSW members are regulars there. As for the dory kit, you really can't go very wrong with this simplified type of kit. They're great for an introduction to working with wood and won't set you back much in either $$ or time. Jump in!

Wonderful work on the figures.  You have an eye for the details.

Impressed with painting on figure models.  

Hello, everyone!  I've been a hobby modeler for many years now, though my focus has been building and painting scale figures.  I love the look of a well done wooden ship and have always wanted to try building them.  A little over 20 years ago, back when I was in high school, I purchased the Model Shipways kit, the Fair American.  I had high hopes, but could see I was in way over my head and never started it.  I still have the kit and want to build that ship one day, but I know I need to work up to it.  I think it's past time I found a good beginner kit and started working my way up to more complex ones.  I've had a look at some of the suggestions on this site and I think I'm going to start with the Grand Banks Dory from Blue Jacket.  I also had my eye on the Revenue Cutter from Blue Jacket and the new 18th Century Armed Longboat from Model Shipways.  But, I think the Dory is probably a better choice for the first project and perhaps I'll take on one of those others afterward.
 
What do you all think?  Is the Grand Banks Dory a good beginner kit or would you recommend something else?  I saw Midwest Products mentioned in some posts.  It looks like they're no longer in business but I still their kits sold here and there.  I'll start a build log once I get the kit, so I can hopefully get some feedback and advice as I go.  Also, I'm located in San Jose, CA.  I tried to see if there were any ship modeling groups nearby.  I found some up in San Francisco, but would love to find a group a little closer to home.  If you know of anything active in the area, I'd love to hear about it.
 
Oh, and in case anyone is curious, here are a couple of my recent figures projects (1, 2, 3, 4), all 1/35 scale.  I'm a novice when it comes to ships, but I've got a bit of experience with figures. 😉

I fully intend to share a build log.
 
I have been taking photos at regular intervals, and making notes. I plan and hope to share them at regular intervals when there is enough to show, and not be followed by a months long interval.
 
 

Hi Mark,
I do hope you'll start a build log of your Serapis.   I vaguely remember that kit and I think I might have built it as kid.  Too many years, too many miles to remember, alas. 

Sometimes it is hard to fathom.
 
My name is Mark. I sign on as Serapis 1779, because it is that old Aeropiccola kit of HMS Serapis that motivated me to attempt building in wood, almost 40 years ago.
 
As a young adult and kid I built all kinds of plastic models, mainly because that was what was most easily avaible and obtainable. Back in those days there were hobby shops everywhere.
 
I describe myself as a newcomer to this group, but I just checked my profile and see that I joined in 2013. Five years have passed since then, but I resumed work on Serapis, which I bought in 1989, and didn't begin until 1997 or so and have worked on sporadically for 20 year
 
It was not until the first of April that I began working on it ever day.  Steady progress is being made.
 
I guess I had a lot of irons in the fire; other similar hobbies, priority projects, adult responsibilities, same as everyone.
 
As mentioned, I work on the Serapis every day, and visit the forum everyday.
 
I appreciate being part of this group and am grateful for all that it is possible to learn here.

Hello, and a warm welcome to the forum from 'Down Under'.
 
John

Thanks to the advices, I think I will go for the Cutty Sark then. Maybe I will post a build log too, when I get it 🙂
Thanks everybody for the help.

I would steer clear of both of those options, though if I had to choose one or the other, I'd go for the Revell kit, for the reasons already stated above. There are some great kits coming out of Eastern and Central Europe these days that should fit your needs and budget. Have a look at the links in the "List of kit manufacturers" topic.
 
Cheers!

Personally, between these two, I would go with the Revell 1/96 scale Cutty Sark.  For two reasons.  The first and probably most important is its larger scale.  Even at this scale there will be a lot of very small pieces to contend with, especially for the rigging.  You will find yourself trying to reach into some very cramped areas with the rigging and the larger scale will allow you more room. 
    The second reason would be that you will have much more of the type of detailed instructions that you are probably already familiar with.  You will learn familiarity with many new terms not found in your previous kits, especially in the rigging.  Once you understand the nuances of a tall ship you will be much more prepared to brave a wood version of them. 
    With the plastic version of these ships, you are basically just making an assembly of pre-made parts.  But with the wooden kits you will have to make most of these parts from raw materials before assembly and most wooden kits with their scanty instructions, will have you on your own trying to make components that you are not even familiar with yet. 
    So, (my two cents worth) the plastic kit will make you better prepared to tackle a wooden kit, as at least you will have a working knowledge of the components that you will have to fabricate yourself and what all is entailed in making a tall ship. 
    One other consideration would be to at least go with a much less complex and larger scale wooden ship kit as shown in Peter Ys' post above. 
Dave

Hi Arctic,
 
Have a look in these two topics:
 

Greetings,
I'm from Hungary, and until now, I built mainly WW2 ships and planes from plastic kits.
Now I decided to build a tall ship, and I ended up with two kits, but I can't decide which to buy.
One is the 1/96 plastic model of the Cutty Sark from Revell (Nr. 5422), and the other one is from wood, the 1/124 Thermopylae model of Sergal.
Which of do you recommend to a beginner in sailing ships, and why?
If you know alternatives for a maximum of €80-100, in the category of XIX. century ships, I would appreciate it too.
Thanks in advance.

Given the complexity of the Morgan . I have decided to back off the whale boats for awhile and due a few long boats from Model Shipways and the Providence from Arestania Latina as it is considered an entry level kit .Then maybe the Kate Cory .  Some of the articles point out one could get discouraged very easily . The thaught of giving up is just not acceptable .  The Shipways kits are the little bread and butter kit and planking kits of long boats . For $9.00 each how could I go wrong trying something new ? I will post some pictures as I go and again thank's for the info .

David , thank's for the great ideas . 
 
Jim , I could not find any Master Korabel "Beetle" boats like the ones used on the CWM . 
 

So I decided on what I want to build. Just not on a start date. I want to build the USS Kidd DDG 100. Does anyone have a lead on a quality kit. I know I will have to outfit it specifically for the Kidd. I got stranded in Chennai India and got to sleep on the deck of the galley. Super cool ship. Thanks in advance you guys have been great.

Hi Jake,
Welcome to MSW.
 
There's some pinned posts at the top of this forum: https://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/forum/10-build-logs-for-ship-model-kits/
Also here https://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/forum/3-new-member-introductions/
There's kit reviews here: https://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/forum/72-reviews/
 
Your best bet is look around and there's more here in the database: http://modelshipworldforum.com/ship-modeling-articles-and-downloads.php.
 
If you have questions, do ask as there's no such thing as a dumb question.

Thanks for the advice gentlemen.  Jake is the short name. I have been looking at POB builds and want to get all the main skills, rigging, planking, painting, fabrication.  I agree no large scale builds. I'm sea duty on the USS Nimitz. I have already learned alot just by reading through the build logs. Do you reccomend the starter kits that include the tool kits?

Welcome to MSW. "theangrysailor". Do you have a shorter name!? All the best, Geoff

Sorry John I have to agree with the previous suggestions. Welcome to MSW nevertheless! All the best, Geoff