ccoyle

Don't worry about the deadeyes being loose, because the shrouds will hold them in place once you attach them. What you will need to be careful about, though, is that your wire strop is sufficiently long enough to form the little hooks at either end; you'll need those to keep the strops firmly attached to their chainplates.

Wow, look who's back! Just in time for Christmas! Great to see back at work on this project. Cheers!

Oops! Yes, you are correct on that point.

Oliver, I would think that if you are successful with your Santa Maria build, then Terror should be something you could expect to pull off. Perhaps a bit challenging here and there, but it wouldn't be much fun otherwise, would it?

Certainly, and I know that there are a lot of people who will agree with you on that point. On the other hand, I have made about 20 or so purchases (not a lot, I know) on eBay and have never had any trouble. My intention in publishing this post was not to discuss the perils of online auctions, which are real and not to be taken lightly, but rather to show what can be had for those who feel comfortable using the medium. Cheers!

PART 2: How to Spot a Good Deal Okay, despite what some people believe, there are still good deals to be had on eBay, if you know what to look for. In Part 2, we'll look at some potentially good deals. CAVEAT: As some comments have pointed out in this thread, there are inherent dangers in shopping at online auction sites. I should have written in my lead-off post that I was writing under the assumption that you, dear reader, already knew about those dangers. But if you didn't, now you do. Back to the shopping! Potential Good Deal #1 Here's a potentially great deal, especially for a new modeler. There's a number of reasons why this could be a great deal. First, it's Artesania Latina's Swift pilot boat. It's not a particularly sexy model, but it is a great beginner's model, and there are a bazillion build logs of finished examples here at MSW. It's a model the average beginner has a high probability of completing. Second, the seller posted a lot of photos showing that the kit contents are all there and in good shape, plus a beginner's book is included. Third, the starting bid is only $20. Granted, shipping is also $20, but still -- $40 all together is a good deal. The point worth emphasizing with this example is that pretty much any beginner's model is going to set you back at least $50 if you were to buy it from a dealer, so getting it for less than that is good. If a bidding war were to develop over this kit, and the price were to go over $50, I'd probably let it go, because the Swift is one of the most common models sold on eBay, and sooner or later another deeply discounted example will turn up (in fact, I found several better deals on this same model while researching for this post). Potential Good Deal #2 This next potential good deal is a candidate for essentially two reasons. First, it's a Midwest Products kit. Midwest is now out of business, but their kits still turn up frequently on eBay, and Midwest made the closest thing to fool-proof model kits as one could wish for. The first two wooden models I ever built were from Midwest, and there are literally dozens of examples in our build logs and galleries. Second, the starting bid on this kit is cheap, cheap, cheap. Assuming that the seller doesn't ream you on the calculated shipping charge, this could be a great bargain that will provide any newbie with valuable experience in working with wood. Midwest kits are good examples of kits whose prices are low simply because there are a lot of them still in circulation. They're good kits regardless of the low price. Remember my warning from Part 1: the fact that a kit is claimed to be "rare" doesn't mean that the kit is inherently valuable. Potential Good Deal #3 This next example is potentially a steal for a modeler who is feeling a little more ambitious and has a hankering for riverboats. Amati is a quality kit manufacturer, and the seller has set the starting bid at $150, with free shipping. Here's where doing the homework pays off: the MSRP on this kit is $439, so a buyer could potentially acquire this kit for up to 66% off the MSRP. That, my friends, is a deep discount. Whereas most sellers seem inclined to set their starting bids too high, occasionally a seller, like this one, will set the starting bid quite low. Knowing what the kit retails for is the key to spotting the deal. Potential Deal #4 -- or Not (Toss-Up) Whether this next deal is a good deal or not depends on how badly you want to save $5.00. This example happens to be from an eBay store. No bidding is necessary -- you can simply snap this kit up for $168 plus $29 shipping, for a total of $197. Your model will be shipped from Russia, which means it ain't gonna arrive tomorrow. However, you can order the same kit from Model Expo using their current 25% off promo (as of 22 Dec 2018) and free shipping -- for $202. It's pretty much a toss-up. I mainly included this example because it shows that there are legitimate sellers on eBay who are not trying to bilk you. They're selling their wares at prices that are competitive with more familiar retailers. So that's basically it. If you do your homework, know what to expect to pay in advance (and don't allow yourself to over-bid), and check listings over thoroughly, you can find some good deals on eBay. I found others besides the ones shown here, but they were essentially further examples of the scenarios already illustrated. Have fun shopping!

To drive this particular point home, I received an email from Model Expo this morning featuring a new promotion -- 25% off any order with no minimum. That makes the $419.99 Constitution kit now only $314.99, plus free shipping. In this instance, it really pays to have an idea beforehand of what you should reasonably expect to pay.

PART 1: How to Spot a Bad Deal Hey, there! It's Christmas time, and I am off work for two weeks. Hooray! I'm also out of town, so I don't have lots of time for modeling. What I do have time for is knocking around on the Internet, including doing some window shopping at eBay. Ah, eBay ... once upon a time, not so very long ago, eBay (the Internet auction site) used to actually be a place where people disposed of unwanted stuff. It was like a gigantic yard sale. Back then, a person could find some real deals. But then someone discovered that they could make a lucrative career out of selling stuff on eBay, and now most sellers are either bona fide retailers or folks seemingly hell-bent on extracting retail prices (or higher) on yard sale merchandise. To borrow a line from Obi-Wan Kenobi, eBay has become a "wretched hive of scum and villainy." Which brings me to the topic of this post. There are still a few good deals to be had on eBay, but you have to wade through a bunch of garbage to find them. Sadly, if you're new to this hobby, you may not know how to separate the true deals from the crazy efforts to simply part you from unjustifiable gobs of your money. So, I thought I would take some time and show you some real examples of the good, the bad, and the ugly of Internet auction site ship model kits. Are you game? Then let's get started! 1. First Things First: AVOID PIRATES LIKE THE PLAGUE! Regrettably, eBay has become a haven for unscrupulous retailers with no regard for intellectual property rights. MSW considers these folks to be beyond the ship modeling pale (see topic here). The first thing to look for is the words "From China." If you see that phrase, then speedily move on! 2. Clueless Sellers eBay is just chock-full of clueless sellers, i.e. people who are deeply ignorant of their kit's real value, as opposed to its imagined value. Have a look at the following example: This seller is asking for a jaw-dropping US $1098.00 for a Constructo HMS Pandora. I happened to read elsewhere why this seller thinks that this kit is worth so much. They think that this kit demands a premium price because it is rare and out-of-production (OOP). They are wrong. If you're a newbie and interested in buying a kit off of eBay (or any online auction site, for that matter), you really need to do your homework beforehand. This seller didn't do his homework, and that's why he has attached a ridiculous price tag to this model. Here's some things you need to think about before hitting the bid button: Is this a reputable kit manufacturer? In this case, the answer is yes. BUT ... that doesn't necessarily mean that this is a good kit. Constructo makes kits, this is true, but they've never been considered one of the premier kit makers, and they're certainly not one of the innovators in our hobby, either. WHY is this kit OOP? If it's such a great kit, why did Constructo stop making it? Consider this analogy: Chevrolet made over 2 million Vegas between 1970 and 1977. The Vega is now both OOP and (thankfully) rare. Chevy Vegas don't command premium prices because they are rare and out of production. Neither do Constructo kits. 3. Why Buy Used When You Can Get It New for the Same Price?? Some clueless sellers are easy to spot (like in the previous example) because they are asking way, waaaay more than what the kit is worth. Other sellers are clueless because they are asking the unwary buyer to pay as much for a used and possibly OOP or "new old stock" (NOS) kit as that same kit would cost new, like this one: The first thing you need to know about this kit is that it is a Mamoli kit. Mamoli is out of business. The Mamoli line of kits, including Blue Shadow, is now being made and sold by Dusek. Word on the street is that the new Dusek versions are better than the old Mamoli versions. Worse still, this seller is asking for a starting bid of $175, which is about what a new Blue Shadow will cost you straight from Dusek (taking into account exchange rates and VAT), so why would anyone want to buy an older, lesser-quality version for the same price? Caveat emptor! 4. Yeah, It's "Vintage," But So What? What do sellers really mean when they say that something is "vintage"? Vintage just means that something is old, but the word "vintage" has less of a pejorative connotation. Check out this example: There's a reason why you don't see new Scientific wood model kits anymore: they're bad kits, comparatively speaking. Sure, they were okay back in the day, but kit design has progressed far, far beyond carved balsa hulls and printed or die-cut parts. Another reason to avoid "vintage" kits is that wooden kits don't age well like fine wines. Old kit wood gets dry and brittle. Old kits also usually have inferior fittings and instructions. Best to leave the vintage kits to the collectors. 5. Too Close for Comfort Lastly, here's a sneaky example. This one looks good at first glance. It's a current, well-designed kit from a reputable manufacturer. The "Buy It Now" price is $69 less than what the manufacturer, Model Expo, is asking for the same kit at their website. BUT ... Model Expo offers free shipping on orders over $150, and this seller doesn't. So the real difference in price (ignoring for now any promotions that Model Expo might be running -- they usually always have something going) is only $22.20. For that slight bit extra you'll get the peace of mind of buying direct from the manufacturer PLUS getting their iron-clad replacement guarantee for any missing or damaged parts. Suddenly that $350 price doesn't look quite so attractive. So those are some examples of pitfalls awaiting unwary newbie modelers at eBay -- it's a dangerous e-commerce world out there! But fear not! In Part 2, I will show that there are still a few good deals to be found, even if they are now fewer and farther between. Until then!

Great little model there! Being originally from Northern California (the REAL Northern California 😉 ), I frequently saw drift boats in action. Back-trolling from a drift boat is a particularly effective way to fish for salmon and steelhead. I only ever fished from shore and could only look on with a bit of envy. Cheers!

So of course the Big Question is, How many times to did you inadvertently grind from first gear into reverse? I won't say how many times I did. 🙄

Well, this puts you in a special minority. Personally, I think that era is fascinating, too, but most modelers seem to think that ships of that time period tend towards the "ugly" side of the aesthetics spectrum. I disagree. But then, I also think that the rapidly transitioning Golden Age of Aviation is more interesting as a source of modeling subjects than what came before or after. I look forward to seeing some of your projects!

Steingraeber kit from the 1970s, 1/90 scale. See link for pics of one listed at auction. One sold on eBay in 2012 for $89.99. https://nazya.com/ebay/single/4946477/orig_desc.html

I once owned a '64 Ford Falcon wagon that was affectionately (?) known as "The Bondo Special."

Wow! You are really making some quick progress on this!

Angle girder, yes indeed. Have fun!

I work with a guy from Finland, which I dare say isn't all that common on this side of the pond.

Hi, Adrie. For perspective, the blue squares on the cutting mat are 5 cm on a side. Not trying to be unduly modest, but a lot of the "smashing-ness" of the model is really due to the excellent design of the kit and not so much to any great skill on my part. Thanks for commenting!

Hull planking completed and sanded. This is as far as I will get before traveling over Christmas break. Construction will resume in the new year.

Just remember, Jeff, that there are two components of any completion ratio data set: those who don't finish, but also those who do. We do occasionally see some of the latter, so keep at it, and hopefully we'll see you join that select group. Cheers!

I don't know, but try searching (either here or on the Internet in general) for build logs of Shipyard kits. You might find how they plan for that task. Good luck!

Yup, you have a challenging kit there! Fortunately, there are a lot of Victory build logs here, and you should be able to find what you need. Cheers!

Now there are seven!

Scott, If a sail was not bent (i.e. attached) to its yard, any running rigging that attached directly to the sail would be down as well.

Hmm. This one is a little different than what we usually see around here. I have a few preliminary thoughts. 1. I don't believe that this is a mass-produced decorative model, as those tend to be purported reproductions of famous ships, and K. D. Echoes is definitely not a famous ship. 2. On the other hand, someone could have purchased just such a model and then endeavored to personalize it by adding the name. 3. The rig on the model is odd, because the topsails have gaffs. This might have been seen on early 19th-century schooners, but almost certainly not on one in 1930. 4. So my "educated" (for whatever that's worth) guess is that this is a scratch-built model based on someone's idea of what a schooner looks like (as opposed to built from plans or a kit), and that the name and date have some sort of personal significance to the builder; e.g. "K.D." could be someone they knew, and 1930 might be the year the model was built. The true story is probably lost to history. Thanks for sharing!

Can't hurt.