vossy

you can buy really good professional painter's masking tape with super advanced edge lock technology now days. make sure the wood is sealed so the paint will not absorb into it too much. also, brush away from the tape, not towards it. this tape is expensive but it works 100%.
 
cheers chris

hey mike. our big hardware stores stock it here. but a dedicated paint store will definitely have it. essentially what you need to ask for is long life tape (means it can stay on for a specified period of time before it will pull the underlying paint off. about max now is 14 days. so you want that, but you also want what they call edge lock technology. this is a very thin (less than a millimetre) edge of ultra sticky and stiff coating. paint will not bleed under it. brands in australia are scotch, bear, haymes etc. i would be amazed if a similar product could not be bought in america. if you have a paint store nearby i would go there. but as per my previous post it is VERY advisable to first seal the wood, and then brush away from the tape. i said it was expensive. over here i can upwards of $20 for a 1/4 inch 25meter roll.
 
chris

you can buy really good professional painter's masking tape with super advanced edge lock technology now days. make sure the wood is sealed so the paint will not absorb into it too much. also, brush away from the tape, not towards it. this tape is expensive but it works 100%.
 
cheers chris

thanks for the help and advice guys. there is much to learn and do! but for now, at least, its dinner time!
 
chris

sucks eggs our dollar is so low but i want be getting anything till i get the mckay book anyway. that may or may not be for xmas. i know it is ordered. will give me plenty of time to search out suppliers, quantity, and size etc. i am still a bit confused as to whether or not to go with single plates of copper strip? anyway i still have to complete first planking so a final decision is a ways off.

hey hornet. i'm 100% with you on modeller's shipyard prices on anything! i have been to the float a boat store and dealt with them before. they are terrific people. they where the ones who told me that mckays bounty book was not available in oz. i have ordered a copy from the uk. looks like i may have to do the same with the plates.

thanks brian. now just have to find somewhere in oz to buy them? still have a few more questions though? is copper tape better than plates? how much of either will i need? what size for a 1:60 model should the plates be?
 
i really am a copper novice i am afraid!
 
chris

sucks eggs our dollar is so low but i want be getting anything till i get the mckay book anyway. that may or may not be for xmas. i know it is ordered. will give me plenty of time to search out suppliers, quantity, and size etc. i am still a bit confused as to whether or not to go with single plates of copper strip? anyway i still have to complete first planking so a final decision is a ways off.

hey hornet. i'm 100% with you on modeller's shipyard prices on anything! i have been to the float a boat store and dealt with them before. they are terrific people. they where the ones who told me that mckays bounty book was not available in oz. i have ordered a copy from the uk. looks like i may have to do the same with the plates.

you can buy really good professional painter's masking tape with super advanced edge lock technology now days. make sure the wood is sealed so the paint will not absorb into it too much. also, brush away from the tape, not towards it. this tape is expensive but it works 100%.
 
cheers chris

hey hamilton, thanks for the swift reply. the amati bounty 1:60 does not call for a coppered hull. but i am lead to believe the vessel had such a hull at the time of the mutiny. this is when i want my model to depict . also i put my usual xmas order in for my family present today. Mckays anatomy of the ship. unfortunately after numerous calls to many shops throughout australia i was told the book is out of print here! one has been ordered from uk but who knows when that will arrive?
 
i am pretty certain i will give her a copper bottom. i just need to know what i am going before i start.
 
cheers chris

at sea i would strongly suspect they would be covered.
 
chris

everything covered on Torrens. who has time to put plugs back in?
 
chris

for a start i would not spray your paint onto a wooden model. it will just sit on the surface of the wood and not penetrate. when new houses are sprayed inside they are always back rolled so the paint penetrates into the new plaster. also when using tape, get some that has a 14 day life. when you have a length you want to put on an area, first of all run the sticky side of the tape over the leg of your jeans etc. it will further reduce the tackiness of the tape and eliminate the risk of pulling off required paint underneath it.
 
cheers chris

everything covered on Torrens. who has time to put plugs back in?
 
chris

everything covered on Torrens. who has time to put plugs back in?
 
chris

only power/electric tools i ever use are Dremel and electric soldering iron for plank bending.

i have built, or am in various stages of building, models from Billings, Corel, Amati, Mamoli and a rather large Trumpeter kit.  Leaving the plastic aside, i would say all have instructions that could be improved from an English speaking person's perspective. it would be interesting to know what our Italian friends here think of the written instructions?
 
Personally i would rather better quality in the materials in the kit itself than better instructions. As Brian said, after a few builds the instructions are really only there for a bit of light comic relief reading when you discover you are missing all stern decorations and half the second planking strips! i actually had this problem with my Mamoli Golden Hind. Clear, concise instructions written by my University English Professor would not have helped overcome my problems!   
 
I would 100% recommend Frank Mastini's book as mentioned earlier in this thread.  It is a resource i use just as much as i use this forum. i can't begin to tell you how invaluable it is to me and i think would be to almost all modellers of any ability. btw, i'm not related, i just think it is as valuable as any tool i have for this hobby!
 
cheers Chris

i have built, or am in various stages of building, models from Billings, Corel, Amati, Mamoli and a rather large Trumpeter kit.  Leaving the plastic aside, i would say all have instructions that could be improved from an English speaking person's perspective. it would be interesting to know what our Italian friends here think of the written instructions?
 
Personally i would rather better quality in the materials in the kit itself than better instructions. As Brian said, after a few builds the instructions are really only there for a bit of light comic relief reading when you discover you are missing all stern decorations and half the second planking strips! i actually had this problem with my Mamoli Golden Hind. Clear, concise instructions written by my University English Professor would not have helped overcome my problems!   
 
I would 100% recommend Frank Mastini's book as mentioned earlier in this thread.  It is a resource i use just as much as i use this forum. i can't begin to tell you how invaluable it is to me and i think would be to almost all modellers of any ability. btw, i'm not related, i just think it is as valuable as any tool i have for this hobby!
 
cheers Chris

i have built, or am in various stages of building, models from Billings, Corel, Amati, Mamoli and a rather large Trumpeter kit.  Leaving the plastic aside, i would say all have instructions that could be improved from an English speaking person's perspective. it would be interesting to know what our Italian friends here think of the written instructions?
 
Personally i would rather better quality in the materials in the kit itself than better instructions. As Brian said, after a few builds the instructions are really only there for a bit of light comic relief reading when you discover you are missing all stern decorations and half the second planking strips! i actually had this problem with my Mamoli Golden Hind. Clear, concise instructions written by my University English Professor would not have helped overcome my problems!   
 
I would 100% recommend Frank Mastini's book as mentioned earlier in this thread.  It is a resource i use just as much as i use this forum. i can't begin to tell you how invaluable it is to me and i think would be to almost all modellers of any ability. btw, i'm not related, i just think it is as valuable as any tool i have for this hobby!
 
cheers Chris

i have built, or am in various stages of building, models from Billings, Corel, Amati, Mamoli and a rather large Trumpeter kit.  Leaving the plastic aside, i would say all have instructions that could be improved from an English speaking person's perspective. it would be interesting to know what our Italian friends here think of the written instructions?
 
Personally i would rather better quality in the materials in the kit itself than better instructions. As Brian said, after a few builds the instructions are really only there for a bit of light comic relief reading when you discover you are missing all stern decorations and half the second planking strips! i actually had this problem with my Mamoli Golden Hind. Clear, concise instructions written by my University English Professor would not have helped overcome my problems!   
 
I would 100% recommend Frank Mastini's book as mentioned earlier in this thread.  It is a resource i use just as much as i use this forum. i can't begin to tell you how invaluable it is to me and i think would be to almost all modellers of any ability. btw, i'm not related, i just think it is as valuable as any tool i have for this hobby!
 
cheers Chris

Generalizing all Italian as having bad instruction kits does a disservice to kits like those of Amati's Victory Models line. And if you look at say, a Mantua kit, is it really any worse that 70% of Caldercraft kits? Only three Caldercraft kits that I am aware of have excellent instructions. The majority have 6 printed pages and half of those are parts list.
 
I think the real dividing line is between old products and new ones. Many of the newer kits have better instructions in general. However, you're almost never going to find great written instructions in a European kit because they have to be made to serve a large population of diverse languages. As a result, they have to rely on a great deal more visual instruction.
 
People in the USA are a bit spoiled because it's easier for manufacturers here to write instructions as they only have to care about writing in English. It's not the way of the world.
 
Also, there's a tendency to think that it must be easy to write instructions and that it doesn't cost much. But just writing an article or two on building a model, I can tell you that it's time consuming. It's a bit of a struggle to decide what needs to be included and what to leave out, because you can't give complete instructions on every little step. Then to have to get it translated into multiple languages and make sure the translation even makes sense? 
 
The trend seems to be to move further toward the visual guide – follow the photos. No language issues to contend with. No writing, typos, editing, translating. It's just the way things are. 
 
The best way to learn is to start with a simpler model and figure out what kinds of issues you run into a as a ship modeler. As has been said before, after a few models, you can pretty well just work from the plans. I agree that Midwest are the best to start with, but sadly they're going to be increasingly harder to find.
 
I usually recommend getting a couple ship modeling books like Ship Modeling Simplified by Frank Mastini to start with. But, of course, if you're already here on MSW, then just ask questions, post build logs and soak up the knowledge!
 
Clare

i have built, or am in various stages of building, models from Billings, Corel, Amati, Mamoli and a rather large Trumpeter kit.  Leaving the plastic aside, i would say all have instructions that could be improved from an English speaking person's perspective. it would be interesting to know what our Italian friends here think of the written instructions?
 
Personally i would rather better quality in the materials in the kit itself than better instructions. As Brian said, after a few builds the instructions are really only there for a bit of light comic relief reading when you discover you are missing all stern decorations and half the second planking strips! i actually had this problem with my Mamoli Golden Hind. Clear, concise instructions written by my University English Professor would not have helped overcome my problems!   
 
I would 100% recommend Frank Mastini's book as mentioned earlier in this thread.  It is a resource i use just as much as i use this forum. i can't begin to tell you how invaluable it is to me and i think would be to almost all modellers of any ability. btw, i'm not related, i just think it is as valuable as any tool i have for this hobby!
 
cheers Chris

only power/electric tools i ever use are Dremel and electric soldering iron for plank bending.

hello jerry and Charlene, I am really loving your log. this cutting tool. can you buy one of these? it appears to be really helpful.
 
cheers chris