popeye the sailor

I'm a fan of yours (only just joined the forum, though) since I was viewing Billings Wasa builds not too long ago and saw many of your useful comments.  My Wasa is an old kit my Dad gave me as a teen in the 70s, and despite not knowing what I was doing, got through the hull planking and rough deck installation.  College interrupted work, and now as a retiree I see what was inaccurate in the original kit (tons have been learned in the decades since, so I do not fault Billing at all).  I intend to finish it as an Admiralty model - so 2/3rds of the work is already done.  Now my Dad first gave me a Revell 1:96 Cutty (which I had no trouble with) and then a Scientific 1:124 Cutty with a rough shaped solid hull - and I did OK on that, so he didn't just throw the Billing kit on me unprepared.  I stumbled on your build of the Mantua 1:124 Thermopylae, and I plan on scratch building one in a slightly larger scale - likely either 1:111 or 1:96.  I have the lines and scaled them to those sizes (as well as 1:124).  I vastly prefer planking to carving, and can make as many bulkheads as desired for ease of fairing - with the spaces in between the bulkheads filled with basswood with the grain running fore and aft for easy fairing.  If I choose 1:96 (or thereabouts), I can get an old Revell kit (complete or not) to draw on certain components that are in the right scale like the bilge pump, wench, etc.  My late Dad left me several kits that have a large number of useful parts and great planking.  One kit he started, so is incomplete but great for parts.  Two others I have no intention of building but will use the parts and wood.  Another kit is a Steingraeber version of the Fair American, which I have extra info on, so eventually I'll try building it.  I'm in no rush and still work per-diem as a hospital pharmacy tech.