Hello! I'm writing from my current home in Tanzania, but originally from Virginia.
One of my grandfathers was a model ship builder himself, the other was a naval architect, and one of my uncles is a nautical painter, so it was somewhat inevitable I'd try picking this hobby up at some point.
I'm currently working on my sixth ship. The first was a very old-school model with only vague instructions, and I had to give it up after the first planking. The second and third turned out just ok, and I ended up throwing them away to conserve space in my house. Finally, my fourth was the Artesania Latina Endurance, which I picked because of the comprehensive instructions and design for lighting. It may offend purists a bit because I ran out of time before moving overseas, and had to leave off the lanterns, ship's boats, and a few other details.
Next, I completed the Occre Endurance, which I picked for the subject:
Now moving on to the Artesania Latina Bounty, which is a monstrous kit. I'm looking forward to getting help from the experts here as I work through it!