Kenna

Chris, Eric, MTaylor, DrPR, Chuck and Jaager - WOW- I am blown away at how many people want to help and give of their time. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Chris: thanks again for the direction and yes, we are excited to get going on the Golden Hind. We now have everything we need to get started and hope to start sometime yet this week or this weekend. My dad and I looked at the build log of the 1:36 scale brig you mentioned and that was fun and educational! Eric: thank you for understanding my chemical sensitivities and giving me some good advice on that front! MTaylor: my dad was originally thinking of fiberglassing the boat like a cedar strip canoe but we will have to look into shellac- might be a better option? Something he will have to do either way because of the fumes. DrPR: When it comes to what I want to do you really get it! When you described your first build, I was like, “Yup, that’s it!” BTW my dad has always loved the Chris Craft cabin cruisers and it has been a dream of his to own one. We live in a 100 year old brick house on a lake in MN and he thinks it would really fit it. Chuck: are you saying I will need clamps? Jaager: my dad likes to cook and has been meaning to learn how to sharpen his blades and use a strop so maybe now he will!

Hi everyone, Kenna here- thanks again for all the help and support so far! I now know a bit of history and understand what it means for a ship to turn turtle means or to "vasa" per the shipwreck. (by the way, here in MN we honor kings who commission failed ships by naming universities after them: https://gustavus.edu/_ ) My Golden Hind arrived yesterday and it appears we have all the tools recommended for this model. We have a set of exacto knives in a cool old wooden box that my grandpa had (he would be 101) - does the group recommend a specific type of knife/blade set for modeling or would a standard exacto knife set work? Also, for glue- do I use a variety of different glues for different purposes or would something like this work for this model? Also, I very sensitive to VOCs so if anyone knows a low or no VOC glue I could use, I sure would appreciate it, Glue Master's Cyanoacrylate . https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Grade-Cyanoacrylate-Glue-Masters/dp/B00WHEM0UA/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=2X5Z39H049LE2&dchild=1&keywords=modeling+glue+for+wood&qid=1590152990&refinements=p_85%3A2470955011&rnid=2470954011&rps=1&sprefix=modeling+glue+%2Caps%2C180&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyNlI2UzczUk1LMUpEJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNjA1MDIyMjRVOUFEWkUwQkw1TiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMTM5MDQ1M1cwQjVBWFQzS0gwSyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

Hi Bob, Eric, and Chris- Bob- you are certainly pointing us in some very interesting places- while that pirate ship build that carries people and "sails" is super cool, that might be swinging a bit more to the opposite side of the pendulum of what we are aiming for- we'll want to float it, but riding in it is not our goal- (we are thinking something around the 6 foot long range) Eric - yes, I think you have it dialed-in as far as the scope of our project- we want some level of accuracy, which is why we were looking at buying plans so we would have templates to build ribs to get the shape right. (Like I have done in the past to build cedar-strip canoes) Chris- you had suggested the Dusek Golden Hind... are you thinking the Golden Hind is a years-long project for a beginner as Eric suggests? We already ordered the Golden Hind with the thought that starting with that would give us a feel for the elements involved in a ship, from which we could pick and choose just how accurate/level of detail, we would want to pursue in our scratch model. Thanks! Kenna and Ron

Hi Bob! Ron here, Kenna's Dad- we read through your post together- - first let me say that I have never read such a well-written post (leaving the content aside for the moment and focusing on the sheer poetry of your reply "leaving the beginning modeler to run hard aground upon the rocky shores of Reality and their enthusiasm for modeling drowned for all eternity. " Kudos - I may have to peruse your other posts for the reading pleasure alone. So- to your actual advice. WOW- this has been a great lesson in generosity for my daughter to have a total stranger take this kind of time to help steer someone new to a hobby in the right direction. So thank you thank you thank you! Kenna has been reluctant to respond because she feels incapable of drafting an adequate response to such a detailed post packed with so much information. Also, she feels a bit bad because she thinks she should have been more clear about her ambitions from the start as it might have saved you from spending so much time explaining in detail how hard this project would be. Her goal is to create a large ship that, yes, floats and maybe could be fitted with a little electric prop motor and a rudder that steers that we could toss in the lake and drive around during the parties we have on our dock on calm days. She wants the shape to be authentic, but her goal is by no means to create something that is an authentic reproduction of the San Felipe. She loves messing around on the lathe and has the patience to crank out a ton of cannons made of wood and perhaps painted black, but much of the detail outside of the basic structure will be her own creation. Perhaps she will catch the bug to want to really get into creating an authentic model, in which case more of your content will apply... and she would be well-cautioned not to bite off more than she can chew. In the meantime, she has checked out Sherry and Doris' work...amazing and inspiring! Thanks again! Ron and Kenna

Thanks Chris! Just ordered the Dusek for $139 and free shipping! Great tip!

Thanks again everyone for all the advice- here is our plan so far... We are going to take Chris' advice and get the Golden Hind as the smaller kit model to start with. If anyone is aware of the best deals on the Golden Hind, we are all ears. We liked Chuck's advice of starting with the smaller model, (for us, that would be the Hind) and building our larger scratch model in tandem. For the large scratch ship, we are looking at the San Felipe plans from Cornwall- see the link below. Their website talks about how the plans work for building a scratch model as " the majority of plans include the frame profiles in addition to the hull plans, general arrangement details, mast and rigging plans." https://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/San-Felipe-Construction-Plans-Set-976.html#SID=137 These plans sell for about $60 and the corresponding full kit sells for about $600 and is about 38" long. We want to make it from scratch and double that length. I am wondering if anyone has had experiencer with cornwall and their Panart plans- we haven't contacted the company yet. Are these plans typically just on paper or do they give you an electronic version so you can double the scale? We have an architect friend who could print large plans for us - or, we could draw the plans by hand using graph paper to enlarge the plans. Does this sound like a good approach? Thanks! Kenna

Wow! These are so fun to read! I wish I could respond to each post separately but I don't think that is how this works. But thank you to Chris, Mark, Chuck, Bob and Jonny for all the great advice! Getting this feedback makes it seem possible to get started and make sure I am taking the right steps. I will be sure to post what I decide to build first and also post our progress! Thank you!

Hi! I am a 15 year-old girl from MN who has wanted to build a ship with my dad for a couple of years now! I am new to model ship building, but have done a lot of other time-consuming hobbies such as 4000 piece puzzles, elaborate creations out of zen magnets, etc. so I think I have at least the patience for this hobby. My goal is to build a Spanish Galleon from scratch to a large scale (5-6 feet long) that is functional- for example - I will want the rudder to operate, actually float, etc. I am looking for plans I can follow . My Dad and I started working on this and we tried creating our own design making ribs for the ship by trial and error, adjusting the shape of the ribs to try to get the shape of the ship right. (Dad and Mom built a cedar strip canoe many years ago and he was using the same principles) Rather than doing a lot of trial and error to get the shape right, we want to spend our time actually building the ship. It would be great if we could find a design that is electronic so we could plug in the scale we want and print templates accordingly. We have lots of tools in my Dad's shop and he will help me with some of the basics.. for example, I have used tools such as the lathe, band saw, chop saw, etc. I read the cautionary advice to new members from Chris and although my dad wants to jump right into the Spanish Galleon project, I am suggesting we take Chris' advice. What would anyone suggest I start with to prepare myself to undertake the ultimate project?