geoff

Welcome to MSW Keith! Good to have you with us. I know you are looking at keeping both sand dust and costs down so you can always hand sand things. Working with wood will mean that you will have sanding and sawdust unfortunately. I would recommend getting a small vacuum to help keep the dust under control. If you get one with a long enough hose you can always rig it, (use tape to hold it to the table) so that it acts as a dust collector when sanding.
 
If you think this may be something you really want to get into, I would recommend spending the money on a Dremmel. No need to buy the expensive sets with hundreds of bits, just get the basic drill with a couple of sanding drums to start off.
 
If money is tight even for that, there is nothing wrong with hand sanding. The paper is cheap and you can easily make sanding blocks out of scrap wood or buy cheap ones if you prefer that. Honestly, even with al the power tools I have, the majority of my sanding on a model ship is still done by hand either with a block or free form.
 
Both of the models you are looking at are great starters. There are many logs for both and they will give you a good fundamental of the basics.
 
Good luck to you on your maiden voyage into this great hobby! I look forward to seeing what you decide to start with and sharing this adventure with you!

Welcome aboard Keith,
 
It doesn't matter if you're a beginner or an advanced builder, this a great place to learn and share tips and techniques.
When you have made your choice and when you're ready, feel free to start a buildlog.
If needed, you'll find plenty of advise, help and encouragement from everyone.
 
I wish you smooth sailing and happy modelling.
 
Regards,
Anja

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

Apartment dwellers on limited budgets who want to avoid sanding are excellent candidates for paper modelling. (And yes, tall ships can be modeled in paper: see here and here.)

Greetings Keith!
 
I watched another 1st time builder over the pat couple of months.  He built the Batelina by MariStella.  There are a couple of build logs  (Pierre Tessier and Don Robinson) for two.  Batelina is a possible 1st build for you - It is a beautiful kit,  can be build in a month or two elapsed time, has support (build logs) on this site, pretty inexpensive kit ($75) and don't appear to require much in the way of special tools.   It will introduce you to planking but in a friendlier hull design.  No rigging though (which would be an advantage for me right now!!!)
 
Whatever you choose I'm betting you'll enjoy it!
 
Doug

I did the Longboat a while back. It's a very good kit, bit challenging at times, but not overly challenging for a beginner. In addition the kit contains a Practicum written by Chuck Passaro (admin here on MSW) which is an excellent manual on how to build it. There are also an number of build logs here on MSW to use as reference. So I would say YES, go for it.  Start a build log here and ask questions. There are plenty of people who can help you.
 
Welcome aboard.

Hi all,
 
My name is Keith, and I've decided to get into model ship building. My grandfather was a modeler, and I grew up fascinated with his models (particularly a beautiful little xebex); I've also long been a fan of the Aubrey/Maturin novels. I'm a graduate student in the midst of a dissertation, so a hobby that lets me work with my hands and get off the computer/away from my research for a bit is a needed distraction.
 
To ease myself into model building, I started with a couple of plastic models. I completed the Revell PT-109 in a weekend and am currently working on Revell of Germany's North Sea fishing trawler. These have been useful to convince me that it is a pastime I enjoy and have time for (on occasion, at least). I am, however, chomping at the bit to work with wood.
 
I see that many people use the Model Shipways Phantom as an entry point, and for a couple of weeks I was planning to do the same. But after reading through a few build logs, it looks like the Phantom always requires lots of sanding and often requires a dremel. I'd rather avoid both of these for now. I live in an apartment that doesn't have space for a dedicated workshop area, so I don't have a good set up for producing lots of wood dust. Likewise, I'm trying to keep my initial investment somewhat reasonable, so I'd rather not purchase a dremel yet.
 
So, I've been considering the Model Shipways 18th Century Longboat (http://www.modelexpo-online.com/product.asp?ITEMNO=MS1457), which is a plank-on-frame. It seems like it would be a good intro to planking (which is what I aspire to) and rigging, and it's pretty cheap. Before committing, though, I wanted to see what you all think. Would the longboat be a terrible beginning model? Am I going about this wrong? Or is it a reasonable intro build?
 
Thanks for any thoughts. I look forward to being a part of the MSW community.

A Warm   to you, Dan!

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

Welcome Dan I look forward to reading your build log on the Phantom as it was something I considered doing myself. Good luck!

welcome to MSW Dan. All the best with your Phantom. Geoff

Welcome to MSW Danielle. All the best, Geoff

welcome to MSW Dan. All the best with your Phantom. Geoff

welcome to MSW Dan. All the best with your Phantom. Geoff

Dan,
You really should start up a build log under the model ship kits section here.
It helps to keep all the logs in the same place and you will get better answers to your questions in there. When you get it going we will follow. There is a post at the very top of the page that gives instructions for setting up your log.
 
While you are here though I will say that that Dremel and a bottle of wood filler will become your friends along with lots of sand paper. The effort is worth the pain though so hang in there and push through.
 
One of our members, Elijah, is almost done with his Phantom. He had similar problems when he started his too, so you might want to take a look at his log and see what he did or even just ask him as he has recent first hand experience with it. His log is here.

Howdy Dan L,
 
Welcome to a wonderful website and welcome back to the hobby.  It is a very friendly, supportive, smart and TALENTED crowd around here. 
 
Ciao for now
Rob

Hi Dan,
 

Welcome to MSW Dan! Great choice to go with the Phantom. That model will give you opportunity to learn many of the basic skills and set you up well to move onto bigger and more complicated builds. Best of luck to you on your first wooden ship build. I look forward to seeing your work!

hello dan 
welcome in this nice forum and remember they say there are no stupid questions, only  stupid answers

Hello Dan. We all started with the first kit.
 
There are several horror stories about starting with an advanced kit as a first project. ( I have my own) so your change in direction from the Connie to the Phantom is a wise move. It will tell you if you have what it takes to tackle the Constitution or Victory in the future.
 
My best wishes in your project.
Don't be afraid or shy to ask questions.

Hello Dan and welcome aboard.
 
It doesn't matter if you're a beginner or an advanced builder, this is a great place to learn and share tips and techniques.
When you're ready, feel free to start a buildlog.
If needed, you'll find plenty of advise, help and encouragement from everyone.
 
And remember, the only stupid questions are the ones that you don't ask.
 
I wish you smooth sailing with our gallant crew.
 
Regards,
Anja

Hi everyone. I've been lurking and reading old threads for a while and thought it was time to register and say hello. My name is Dan, I'm 58 and live in the Dallas, TX area.
 
I've built several kinds of plastic models at various stages in my life but always wanted to try making a wooden model ship. I recently found out that a coworker is a model ship builder and after talking to him and seeing his work it brought the urge back and I decided to finally give it a shot. My first thought was to dive into the deep end with a complicated build like the Constitution, but common sense prevailed and my first attempt will be the solid hull model Phantom that I got from Model Expo.
 
I haven't actually started the build yet, I've been reading a lot about the hobby in general and the Phantom in particular. I think I'm about ready to start work now so I've got the model kit, a starter tool kit, a printed copy of Chuck Passaro's practicum and my working area kind of organized so I am going to start on the hull shaping today. I'm not that confident with my carving ability so my dremmel will probably be used a lot and hopefully I won't have to use filler to fix to many mistakes.
 
I'm sure I'll have some stupid rookie questions so please bare with me and wish me luck.
 
Dan
 

Welcome to MSW Danielle. All the best, Geoff

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome  
Hi Kurt , already a couple of people suggested me about the Rocky mountain shipwright and unfortunately until now i had no chance to attend to any of the meetings , but i will do my best to be at the next meeting .
i think i will be ready to start the build log around 2 weeks as  i will leave soon for DC , were i have plan to visit the National museum of US navy ( any other suggestion for naval museum in the area are very welcome ) .
 
Daniele

Welcome aboard Daniele,
 
When you're ready, feel free to start a buildlog.
If needed, you'll find plenty of advise, help and encouragement from everyone.
 
I wish you smooth sailing and happy modelling.
 
Regards,
Anja