BurgundyModels

In addition to the advice of the above posters, don't give up! It took me 4 or 5 plank jobs that looked like a disaster before it finally clicked, i.e. thinking of the planks in 3 dimensions. The video that @Ronald-V linked above helped the most to understand. Don't give up!

@bigcreekdad I suffer from the same decision paralysis when I get to researching new kits and builds. I will echo @ccoyle though in that most of these kits have some level of PE/tiny parts. I find that good tweezers and magnifying glasses help with those quite a bit! Just picked up the Syren as well. I think you'll do justice to any build you decide.

This is a beautiful boat! Following along

I appreciate the input! These are exactly the sorts of examples I'm looking for. My fear being that perhaps basswood isn't a great medium for staining. Was considering going for a Shellac or Oil approach, or even using stain conditioner first.

I do not! Was going to use the one that was published here, along with the guide itself. Hopefully that's enough for me to create a beautiful boat!

@ccoyle it's one of those practicums that I'll be getting more familiar with shortly, I plan to build the US Brig Syren after I finish up with the current Sherbourne. Wanting to get ahead of some of the research, I was considering doing a finished hull instead of the coppering provided with the kit.

@bigcreekdad looks fantastic! I've found OcCre hard to get a good finish on with those veneer strips! Is gun oil like a tung oil or linseed? @Ronald-V that planking is exquisite, the effort really shows in the final product. I'm following along your Sphinx build, are you planning on painting the hull of that one? Definitely examples of what I'm looking for!

Hey guys, I'm going to be taking on my next project soon, and trying to gather some ideas for hull finishing. The ship calls for copper plating, however I simply love the look of a finely planked hull. Assuming I can do a good enough job on a single planked ship (my last planking attempt was actually decent enough to give me some confidence), I was considering a finished hull look, instead of the copper. I've looked through quite a bit of logs, but wanted to get some input as well. I know there are plenty of good tutorials here on the steps to produce such a hull, I was hoping for some examples of logs that might point me in the right direction, or even serve as inspiration for what I'm trying to achieve. The kit itself appears to have basswood planks, and I was considering using a natural stain instead of paint. Since I may go natural, might also be a great opportunity to learn shift patterns in the hull planking. Any input is appreciated on the matter. Thanks,

@bigcreekdad sorry to hear about the ship accident! Could always turn it into a diorama of a shipwreck or something! I do love shopping for new projects, however I have the tendency to overthink the options, but at end of the day I find trusting one's own instinct helps to decide these things. For anyone still following this thread, I decided to embark on the US Brig Syren. Ultimately, I decided on this because it's a fantastic teaching boat, exhaustively documented with wonderful resources. My logic being that the Syren will be the "end" of my "beginner" phase, hopefully taking the foundational skills I've learnt so far to the next level. I might even start a build log this time Thanks everyone!

I'm definitely no expert, but wasn't anywhere close to this for my first build. Love your log and all the Newbie Tips. They help a lot in understanding things really fit together, and after all it's the mistakes we learn the most from!

Your build is fantastic! Really enjoyed going through that log.

All the responses are appreciated, thank you everyone for contributing, I love chatting kits! This is my second post looks for kit recommendations, and I've gotten some really great insights from the wonderful community here. @palmerit thank you for the input! I've followed quite a few of your builds, and love the amount of thought and detail you put into your kits. I think you're on the right track. The "old school" nature of the Syren and the amount of scratchbuilding needed is somewhat daunting, but I might keep it as my "white-whale" for now. When I finally do jump into it, I may go all out and order up all new blocks and line as I've seen others here do. @Ronald-V I think this is what it's going to come down. I'm certainly ready for the challenge, and probably put some of these kits on a pedestal. Skill-wise I'm fairly sure I'll be able to dive into anything at this point, but sometimes I get too caught up in what kit I "should" do for learning purposes, and lose sight of the fact that building something you love and enjoy should be the primary driving factor. Syren might be my future project, because I love the history of it to a point where I want to do it right. @brunnels love your Beagle build! I learned quite a bit just going through the log. The attention to detail is superb. After looking over the Speedy, it shot very high up my list! And who can forget the amazing little history of that ship. In short, I'm going to choose a kit with good historical relevance while offering a good challenge. May be another stepping stone on my way to building out that fully kitted Syren of my dreams! Thanks everyone. -Ron

@Ronald-V hey thank you! Those aren't so bad. I've heard a mixed bag about Caldercraft stuff but have never built one of their kits myself. Your Sphinx build is coming along great. I am eager to develop the skills to tackle something like that! @GrandpaPhil the really good things are certainly true. Granted my experience is somewhat limited only having bought kits from a few companies now, the Vanguard stuff really does stand out.

@ccoyle I absolutely appreciate the $.02, and what you wrote certainly tracks with a lot of the posts I've been reading here. I was afraid that when I picked up a Vanguard kit it would spoil me in terms of design and quality! Badger certainly grabs my eye for the historical quality, and while definitely not on par with the Vanguard stuff, I'm hoping a decent enough experience? I wasn't able to find the instruction manuals like the ones readily provided by OcCre and Vanguard. I once read here that the Syren doubles as a teaching kit, which also has me leaning in that direction. @tmj I appreciate the vote of confidence! Anything new we take on is certainly daunting at first, but as I've seen with so many build logs here, anything is achievable with some patience and practice.

Hey guys & gals, Hoping to get a conversation going for some advice on my next kit, or maybe just point me in the right direction? I have a few kits under my belt now (Occre Polaris & Golden Hind, Model Shipways 3-part collection, and about 75% done with the Vanguard Sherbourne). My goal when starting this hobby initially was to work upwards in terms of scale and complexity, and every kit has been challenging it its own way so far. Can't say enough good things about the Vanguard Sherbourne, the precut parts and lines make construction simplified. For my next build, I was leaning toward something Brig sized, and was looking at a few options that might be in my wheelhouse both size and complexity wise: Caldercraft's Brig Badger (LOVE the history with this one) Caldercraft's Brig Supply Model Shipways Brig Fair American Vanguards Brig Flirt Vanguards Speedy US Brig Syren (LOVE the history on this one too. I'm from the US so leaning this way). Overall I'm leaning toward the Syren, and have gone through quite a many build logs here. Some of the logs give me confidence, while some give me pause. Is it wise to build something "intermediate" before tackling something like the Syren? Or just dive right into one? I know what it takes now to finish these kits, and am not daunted by time or cost. Quality of materials and instructions is also important to me, as I'm not quite new, but also not experienced enough to take things on without proper resources and good quality material. Happy to replace any lackluster parts with "aftermarket" additions as well. So maybe hoping that someone tells me that I'm crazy for diving into something that complex, or validates. Either way. Appreciate you guys taking a moment to read this, I love the community here! Thanks, Ron