Stevinne

I envy you. I've been fishing three decades, mostly on the East Coast, but also in Montana. I started tying flies and eventually built a bamboo rod from a blank. I do use some of my tying tools when rigging ships.

My advice for a first build is to pick something simple that is double planked. The first layer of planking is relatively thick planks that let you learn how to plank a ship model. The second layer are usually a paper-thin veneer that lets you easily cover up your first mistakes and gives you a good looking model. One plus of Model Shipways kits is that the instructions are usually better than most other kits, usually written by folks to whom English is a first language and their are sometimes free practicums that you can download that provide step-by-step instructions on how someone else built the kit.

Welcome! Look forward to seeing some of your work.

Don't ever lean on the car battery while wearing a metal-band watch, unless you'd like a nice circular brand on your wrist.

I have an earlier version of the AL Renard, and it has a windless built into the rear of the mainmast pinrail. Not sure if it is accurate, but that's how it was handled by AL at the time.

I built this kit and glued the channels onto to the side at the bottom of the top rail (if that makes sense). The two-point gluing and the chains add support and I've never had any issue with them, though I don't do much with my completed model other than look at it and occasionally dust.

Just curious, would Model Expo sell kits not acceptable on this site? I've always figured buying from them means I'm buying a kit from a reputable manufacturer. If not, things are very confusing.

It's a shame. I built the AL Renard. It was a bit of a slog in places, but I got the kit for something like $35 from Model Expo many years ago and it turned out to be a nice-looking model once completed.

I used to love the Aurora tanks when I was a kid. They were pretty high-quality models for the time.

Hello and welcome to the group. Don't be too intimidated, people have been building wooden ships for hundreds of years. They did it, so can you. Someone here has a signature that says something along the lines of "The wood is patient," and I've always taken that to mean that no matter how bad things are going, with a wooden ship model there is the chance of salvaging it. Before you start, I'd recommend getting your hands on Frank Mastini's "Ship Modeling Simplified," which is a great book for the beginner modeler and really lays out in easy-to-understand terms and illustrations a step-by-step guide for building a wooden ship model. It's a great resource, particularly for someone who is starting to build a wooden ship kit where the instructions might not be translated too well into English. I've given a couple of ship models as gifts to family members and always included this book. Each time the ship has been built. You've also come to the right place. This site is filled with folks who are pretty much experts in the field and are more than willing to offer advice. Do start a build log, so folks can follow along and see how you are progressing. That way, they will have a better idea of what problems you might encounter. I'm interested in seeing how your ship turns out. I love vessels from this period, and we don't have many logs for this particular kit, so good luck, enjoy the journey and remember, everyone started out like you.

Thanks!

Very nice. It seems the Hunley is no longer available as a card model, which is a shame. I've visited the museum in Charleston, S.C., a couple of times and watched as they restored her and converted the museum from basically a warehouse to a really nice facility. I would have liked to do her in card.

The Nautical Research Guild has plans for the Washington Galley, one of Arnold's fleet and, while not a gunboat, not a bad-looking two-masted vessel. https://www.thenrg.org/the-galley-washington.php

Welcome aboard, I'd love to see some photos of the yachts.

What is this taping method of which you speak?