von_bednar

*** INTRO *** Custom Tramp Steamer inspired by the SS Venture from King Kong This is my first build log on here and my first nautical model. I come from wargaming hobby and pretty much by accident got interested in model ship making (bit more info about it in my intro post). So, for my first model I decided to go with something that would fit with what I already made for my long-term wargaming project, which is alternative history pulp adventure themed. Tramp Steamers are iconic in pulps and not too difficult to put together, so it was a no-brainer this should be my entry point to this hobby. After some research I found a 3d printable model of SS Venture from the 2005 version of King Kong and I will be modifying it to fit my needs. Apart from scaling it up (it comes in 1/200 scale "out of the box") I'm changing the shape a bit (making it a little wider and a little shorter) and redoing pretty much everything above the decks (with similar elements, but still). Some of the changes are done to make it fit my 3d printer better, others to accommodate the miniatures better. The plan is to make it a playable "terrain" piece that can also work as a nice display piece. I will be using mainly my wargaming tools and materials, which might not always be perfect for the job (currently using coffee stirrers for wood planks for example), but I'm hoping this will be enough for now. We'll see how well that works out 🤞 Because it's my first attempt at building a ship model, I'm not hoping to match the level of realism seen in so many builds on this forum. Not only my nautical knowledge and model ship making skills are not up to snuff, but I also don't have solid references or plans to follow (after all, I'm starting with a model of a fictional ship, and I'm using it more as a loose inspiration on top of it). Instead, I'm shooting for something I would call "cinematic realism" - as long as it would look correct on a movie screen, I'll be happy. This means that I might change and/or exaggerate some details and hope it won't anger anyone (I know as a retro computing enthusiast, I can be very pedantic about inconsistencies I see in movies when it comes to old computers ). What I want the most of this project is to give the ship a "character" worthy of pulp adventures it hails from. Saying that, I don't want to deter anyone from giving critique and advice on this project. Call me out if I'm doing something wrong, tell me what detail would fit better, etc. I want to learn more about this hobby, so my next model can be even better! I know I will be asking bunch of questions on here anyway, so feel free to chip in whenever you see that I can be doing things better

That looks really interesting! I'm just starting in the hobby, also with an early XX century ship, so will be following along hoping to pick up some tricks. Not to mention I find that era quite fascinating and now I discover work boats I never imagined existed - like this and your previous build. Looking forward to seeing it come to life!

Thank you all for a warm welcome! Looking at work of people like Katarzyna Manikowska makes me want to try my hand at making dioramas using card models. So now I kinda hope your assumption is correct and it is some inert Polish skill, but it develops later in life like puberty and I just tried too early. So there still might be hope for me yet

Thank you John - glad to be here!

Dzięki! I didn't know those card modeling magazines were even known outside of Poland (and some Eastern European countries). I remember picking one, a model of a submarine when I was a kid (it was somewhere mid 90s I think). Sadly, I was way too young to tackle it. I tried, but I gave up after my hull looked like a big mess full of holes from bad cuts and seeping glue elsewhere Might need to give one of them a try in the future. Also, if you'd (or anyone else) would need a help with translating anything from those Polish magazines, I'm more than happy to help. I will make my build log topic in scratch build section on the weekend. Then I will have some time and good light to shoot at least some semi-decent photos and write in more detail about the project.

Hi! I'm Fred (well, not really, but my true name is pretty much unpronounceable in English, so I go by Fred ). Grown up in Poland, lived in UK, now I'm in the US. On the beginning of 2020 I stumbled into wargaming as a hobby, but pandemic being what it was I moved from playing the games with others, to just enjoying the diorama-like aspects of the hobby with making terrain and miniature painting (while planning and playing some solo games). Then few months ago, I don't remember how exactly, I stumbled upon the story of HMS Terror which lead me to ship modelling through Tom's Modelling in Motion HMS Terror videos. I kinda got hooked. However, my skills being what they are, it will be a while before I can attempt something that complex. Instead, I decided to start with something different - I found a 3d printable model of SS Venture from 2005 King Kong that would fit with the miniatures and terrain I'm currently making (kind of alternative history pulp adventure). So, I printed the hull scaled to 1/100ish (what I use for miniatures) and plan to make my own decks/rest of the ship through a combination of scratch-building and 3d printing. I hope to make it a playable piece, but closer to an actual diorama/model in detail and finish. Currently the first hull part (I'm splitting the hull into top and bottom to make it more usable for wargaming) is drying its primer and I'm researching more about tramp steamers so I can model some of the details (will probably ask for some help/resources on this front, as I'm pretty much a layman when it comes to maritime things). Also, looking through the builds on this forum - I'm already learning a lot great stuff! Now my first question is, if I'm redesigning/kit-bashing this 3d printed model, should I put my build in Model Kit or Scratch built projects? Edit: Now thinking about it, I hope that the above project is within the scope of this site. While I'm definitely shooting for realism in the build, I will make some concessions to make it a bit more playable (e.g. making the ship a bit wider than the 3d model linked above to have more space for miniatures). I can always wait with my first build topic until the next, more proper, model.