Foreward
Hello and welcome everyone. This is my first build log of my first wood model ship build. I have years of experience building plastic models, mostly jets, but this is a new frontier for me. I have always admired the beauty and artistry apparent in a well constructed wood model. I believe they are elevated to works of art in a way that plastic models rarely are. Although I have been modelling for many years, and although I find old men o war and wood ship models very beautiful, this is my first attempt to actually build a wood ship because the dreaded rigging always intimidated me. But I was getting burnt out on plastic models and I wanted to try something new. Plus I'd like to build something that I can display as a work of art; Something fellow modelers and average houseguests alike can examine and appreciate the effort and skill it takes to create (most of my plastic models go underappreciated by the average person. Alas they may be accurate, but not everyone finds a weathered old jet an aesthetically pleasing addition to a room).
As for the structure of this blog, I would like to be fairly thorough and cover some things that others may not in the hope that this can be a helpful resource for others who may just be starting out in the hobby.
In conclusion, please be kind, and I would like to give a special thank you to @hollowneck and @ibozev. Hollowneck's Sphinx build log is stunning in detail, skill, and advice. Ibozev's Polaris log is excellent and I have used it as my bible for my own build. I do not have the patience he has though, so I'm sure my results will vary somewhat. Both of these authors also stand out for the positive tone and humility they maintain throughout the challenges of their builds, which makes them very motivating to read. Anyway, enough with the foreward, lets get into it!
Introduction
You may very well be wondering, "Jack if this is the start of your blog, why do you already have so much done on the ship?" Well my friends, it's because I was nervous. I wanted to make sure that my work would be up to par with my own expectations and with the excellent examples seen around this website. I now feel confident that my work at least meets my own expectations. You might also be wondering why I have the deck and accessories done before the hull. Well we will get to that...
These pictures are the build as is currently stands. Note that the pieces are not glued to the deck, so they are not perfectly positioned. In my next post I will rewind and start from the very beginning.
