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Slog, I have used contact cement with some success (I mentioned it in the V108 tutorial), but like you said, it is pretty much a one-chance deal. I like it for mating large surfaces together, but I haven't tried it on anything quite so large as your model.

The reason why his inbox is full is because he hasn't logged in for 18 months. For the present time, MSW is not the best means for trying to contact him.

Outstanding! Score another one for card modeling!

Yes, no problem. The sealer is not fool-proof, either -- it just makes little boo-boos easier to clean up.

Slog, I use Krylon Matte Clear spray to prep my parts sheets. I don't find that it affects the workability of the paper at all. I use about three light coats. Your tubes came out very nice -- long tubes are definitely one of the harder card tasks.

I just want to echo what Slog said about trying to emulate Doris -- she's like the top 1% of the 1% of card modelers, and she has a ton of experience. The same advice about starting simple goes for card same as for wood, perhaps more so. Fortunately there exits a large number of interesting models available that are well-suited to novice card modelers.

Andrew, I don't think they're the same thing. You can see a brief description of drafting linen here. It is presently very hard to come by. I have a small stash myself. It has to be prepared in the manner previously described -- kind of labor intensive. The sails on my HMC Sherbourne in the gallery are made from it.

The best way I have found to find suitable sail material is to go to a fabric store, like Jo-Ann's, and look through the remnant bins for the cloth with the finest weave you can find. You should be able to find very inexpensive bolt end-remnants with enough material to do several models. They'll certainly have stuff that is better than the standard-issue kit material.

Nope. Go right ahead.

Glenn, we also had a software glitch just over a year ago that affected some photos -- some lost, some not. There's nothing for it but to re-upload. I had to do a bunch myself.

Sorry to hear about your injury, but glad to see you are back on the horse. And congrats on the new little one as well!

Doesn't hurt to ask them. Worst case scenario is you have to buy another kit somewhere, either from ME or on eBay, and it's a pretty small outlay of additional capital.

I like the tab-and-slot concept. HMV, of course, don't subscribe to that particular design philosophy; it eliminates the need for buying the extra laser-cut set (or cutting the formers from heavy card -- ugh), but it means that there is more capacity for error when putting one of their hulls together. A good substructure can make or break a build!

Hi, friends! I want to give you a preview of a new feature we are adding to the build logs section. Right now we are in the process of adding the word "FINISHED" to each completed build log immediately after the builder's username. Titles of finished logs will now look something like this: HMS Doohickey by allthumbs - FINISHED - 1/50 scale Why are we doing this? Because it makes it easier for you to use our search feature to find only finished models if you wish to do so. Plus, it eliminates the need for a separate forum for finished models. Here's how to do it: 1) Start in the Build Logs for Ship Model Kits forum. 2) Up by the search window in the upper right corner, click the little gear symbol to pull up the advanced search options. 3) Enter the name of the ship you're looking for and the word 'finished'. 4) Select the "all words" and "only search in titles" options. 5) Hit the SEARCH NOW button 6) Presto! You'll get a list of finished models. Wanna test drive? Try searching the term Constitution using the above directions. If you want to see all finished models, just search the term 'finished' by itself. Narrowing your search to finished builds is useful for finding builds that illustrate later steps of construction, such as rigging. That way you can skip past builds that end at earlier stages of construction. Once we get all the kit builds tagged appropriately, we will add the finished tag to the scratch build section as well. We added the word in all caps so that finished build logs will stand out if you decide to browse logs the old-fashioned way. Enjoy!

Awesome! Love your choice of subject and the fact that you're going all-in with the after-market details. The one thing I wish the Russians/Ukrainians would add to their offerings is laser-cut detail sets, such as those produced by HMV. These are both cheaper and infinitely easier to work with. This should build into a very nice model. Good luck!

Check this link for articles on kits at the NRG main site.

It's worth pointing out that beginner over-reach is not unique to our hobby, nor is cautioning zealous newcomers. Just today I stumbled across a video with the same message aimed at beginning fishkeepers. No doubt a concerted search effort would turn up many more.

One last update: Please remember, the target audience for the original post was FIRST-TIME Modelers. It was intended as a cautionary tale and no more. It was not a grievance about unfinished build logs. Unfinished logs are what they are -- unfinished logs. We don't need (or even desire) to cull them. We have plenty of room for them. I have heavily edited my original post to 'soften' its perceived tone a bit, and I have deleted portions of a few other posts that referenced portions of the original post that have been removed. When this conversation has run its course, I will probably further prune this thread a bit simply to make it more relevant to new members. None of my posts were intended to give offense, and I have taken none in return. If you feel the need to post in this thread, I only ask that you keep it civil, and try to keep it on-topic (and yes, I know I made the comment about corgis -- that post will be pruned, too). Cheers, everyone.

At the risk of stirring the pot further, I think some members are missing the point I intended to make. The original post wasn't aimed at modelers who have lost interest in a particular build but are still active in the hobby. Many of us have such models in limbo somewhere. Heck, I have three of them myself. The intended audience is brand-new potential builders, many who are entering the hobby with palpable enthusiasm, as evidenced by the following quotes culled from several dead build logs: These folks chose the hobby after much consideration, were eager to get started, and hoped to continue beyond their first build. But they didn't. As I stated previously, these builders never got past the hull. Most of them barely got started, and most are now inactive. Is it possible they finished, but maybe didn't post progress for whatever reason? Sure - but you guys know as well as I do that that is unlikely. The title of this thread says cautionary tale. That's really the purpose of the thread -- to get new modelers to stop, think about what ship they may be considering building, examine the abundant evidence of newbies attempting too much in a first-time project, and get them to seriously think about setting their sights a little lower. Perhaps even lower than a Sultana or AVS -- those are still pretty complex projects, even if they are marketed as beginner models. How many of those modelers might still be in the hobby if they had exercised some caution, backed away from the big three-masters, and started with a dinghy, longboat, or small sailboat? Am I saying that a newcomer can't try to tackle the ship of their dreams? Of course not. But they should know going in that if they do in fact finish it, they'll be a member of a very small club.

But you have a corgi, and that more than makes up for any modeling deficiencies.

Jud, I think you misunderstand my motivation for starting this thread. I'm not trying to 'judge' anyone, and I'm not saying a beginner can't complete a complex model (we've all seen it done). But in the pages of MSW 2.0, its predecessor MSW 1.0, the old Dry Dock Models forum, and the anecdotal evidence provided by manufacturers, we have overwhelming evidence that newbies regularly attempt more model than they are capable of handling. We don't send first-time skiers to the black diamond runs, and we don't let first-year medical students do heart transplants -- the same principle applies to ship models: try something commensurate with one's skills. I'm really not trying to turn people away -- I'm trying to help them make a choice of first model that will increase their chance of staying in the hobby. Success breeds more success. And haven't we all read about the much-bemoaned demise of the hobby? Hundreds (quite literally) of people quitting their attempts at building certainly doesn't alleviate that problem.

Dear prospective ship modeler, Welcome! If you're reading this, it's probably because you are ready and raring to get started on a first ship model. But before you do, allow me to share the following with you. We get a lot of first-time builders on this forum. People who are eager to build a first ship model are attracted to the hobby for a variety of reasons. Perhaps you were captivated by a stunning model of the USS Constitution or the HMS Victory. Maybe you have a beloved relative who was a modeler. Or it could be that you just have a love of the sea, even if you've never sailed on anything larger than a rowboat. All of us came to MSW with similar motivations. Those of us who have been at this for a while not only love the hobby, but also love passing along our experience to new builders. It's a special treat to see a new modeler persevere through the joys and sorrows (and often tedium) of building a ship model and arrive successfully at the end of a build with a finished model to be proud of. Unfortunately, many of those eager new members also turn out to be last-time builders as well. There are lots of reasons why a first-timer might give up. Building a nice ship model requires the learning of many new skills, a not inconsiderable amount of tenacity, and usually a significant time investment. Some new modelers get bored, others get overwhelmed, and some get overtaken by things like career changes, cross-country moves, babies, sudden illnesses -- that life stuff we all have to deal with occasionally. We understand those things happen. We get it. This post, though, is written for a particular kind of first-time modeler: the modeler who takes on more ship then they can handle. Unfortunately, this kind of modeler is all too common. Bewitched by a clipper ship or sailing man-of-war, this kind of newbie believes that they can jump right in and build something similar. Allow me to use an analogy. I'm not a pilot, but I love old warbirds. Suppose I go to an airshow and, having been awed by the spectacle, decide to go out and buy a P-51 and take her up for a few high-g maneuvers. All with no flying experience, mind you. I don't have to tell you how that first flight is likely to end up. Sadly, many of the newcomers to MSW have a similar experience with model ships. They come brimming with pluck and determination, convinced that they can build a Constitution or Victory. In most instances, these bright-eyed neophytes wind up like the over-zealous new P-51 owner -- dead. Well, unlike the pilot, the would-be modelers are probably still alive, but their dreams of nice model ships have certainly gone to a better place. Now, before I go any further, allow me to make a few things perfectly clear. Am I saying that a new modeler should never attempt a complicated model or that newcomers never finish such models? No, I'm not saying that. There are a few modelers who have attempted such projects and completed them, so it is certainly possible. But those modelers are very few in number. And we don't have any rules about what kind of model you can or can't build around here. If you absolutely, positively have to have a crack at a three-decker or frigate, then have at it. We'll be glad to help you along the way. But just be aware ahead of time how much of a challenge you are getting yourself into. Let me throw some numbers at you to illustrate my point. One of my jobs here at MSW is to comb through old build logs and edit the titles of completed builds to show that the model has been finished (it makes searching for finished models easier). Obviously, as I sift through the builds I find many unfinished ones. On just one page that I was recently checking, I found twelve unfinished build logs started by first-time builders. In ten of those build logs, the new builder never made it past completing the hull of his ship. In the other two, the builder never started the model at all. Nine of those twelve modelers are no longer active on this site. I did not include among those twelve modelers any who gave a life-got-in-the-way reason for suspending their build. They're simply twelve modelers who eagerly started their project and then, usually quite early on, just gave up and quietly disappeared without giving any reasons why. Those twelve builds all had one thing in common: each modeler had chosen a model that posed significant challenges for a first-time builder. Some of those models would have been a challenge even for a skilled builder. Simply put, they doomed their attempt at modeling by choosing a model that was over their head. All of us ship modelers know how real the temptation is to skip an entry-level model and go straight for lots of guns and lots of sails. But here's the whole point I want to make: seriously think twice about caving into that temptation. The evidence speaks for itself - literally hundreds of abandoned build logs begun by modelers who bit off more than they could chew. Many of them not only abandoned their build, they also gave up on the hobby entirely. It didn't have to be that way. Making a good start by honestly appraising your skill level and deciding to go with a simple first model is one of the surest ways to success in this hobby. Most true beginner models -- those actually designed for beginners and not merely labeled as such -- don't require a lot of money, time, or expensive tools. In a few weeks you'll know if this hobby is for you without having gotten yourself worked up over a model you couldn't realistically complete. And you know, most of us here enjoy watching the progress on a relatively 'easy' model, like a small sailboat, just as much as we enjoy watching the progress on an HMS Victory -- especially when we see those models being finished and proudly displayed. And you know what? Success breeds further success. For more information on choosing a first model, check out the NRG modeling resources page. Choose wisely, enjoy the journey, and I look forward to seeing you complete your first build log. Respectfully, Chris

Check Loyalhanna Dockyard. I have no personal experience with them, but they've been around for a while.

Por favor, que es necesario para publicar mensajes en Inglés . Utilizar un traductor de Internet, si es necesario. Gracias.

Read the article here, if you wish. I'm only sharing this because it is a shining example of extremely poor journalism. Contrary to the assertion that the story of the Cap Arcona's demise in 1945 has lain secret for 70 years, the story has long been known to those of us with an interest in the history of that period. HMV have offered a very nice model of the ship for at least a decade. Sigh ... another news 'story' that's really no story at all.