Bob Cleek

It depends upon your pocketbook. In order of lowest to highest cost, I'd advise one of the following. Don't waste your money on Asian knockoffs. Only buy the name-brand stuff below.
 
Dremel Moto-tool. The bottom of the line model starts at $40 and they go up from there. Expect to pay $75 to $85 for a top of the line model. Spending a bit more for a model with variable speed is probably a wise move. Buy the self-centering chuck adapter accessory.  Dremel 100-N/7 Single Speed Mini Rotary Tool Kit with 7 Accessories- Hobby Drill, Small Pen Sander, Garden Tool Sharpener, Craft & Jewelry Drill, Black - Power Rotary Tools - Amazon.com
 

 
 
 
Proxxon Rotary Tool. Starts around $115.00. Like the Dremel but probably better quality construction and its ergonomics are preferred by some. Likely more readily available in the EU than the Dremel. proxxon rotary tool - Bing
 

 
 
Foredom Flex-shaft tool. Serious money at around $300 and up. Extremely versatile. Industry standard for heavy duty rotary tools. Used by commercial jewelers and dental labs. Everything you'll ever need in a rotary tool. Many different handpieces available. Get the drill chuck handpiece and the collet chuck handpiece (shown) for the greatest convenience and flexibility. The foot pedal is a big plus. Comes in a bench base model or for hanging from a bench-mounted hanger. Your preference. Sometimes available used.  Amazon.com: Foredom 2230, SR motor, Jewelers Kit
 

 
 
Dental lab engine, any brand. (Wells Model shown.) Expect to pay close to a grand retail for one of these ($750 with foot pedal speed control and handpiece arm plus $250 and up for the handpiece,) but your dentist may have one that he's replaced with an air-turbine handpiece unit and would be willing to give to you. They are a lot of them on the used market as air-turbine and micromotor units have come on the market, and they are sometimes at great prices. (E.g.: $400  Belt Drive Wells Dental Engine set Dental laboratory Model EURI Hobby/Carving | eBay and $100 Super-Dent Rugby Dental Laboratory Engine w/ Arm, Handpiece | eBay) The advantage of the "old school" dental engine is that it has a tremendous speed range (40,000 RPM downward) and good torque at low speeds, unlike other rotary tools. This rotary tool is still the workhorse of dental laboratories and parts and service are widely available, if needed. It excels at very fine work (like filling cavities) with it's wide range of very ergonomic handpieces, including angled ones for working in tight spaces.  It can be rather difficult to do fine work while holding a heavy, fat, Dremel or Proxxon rotary tool. It does what your dentist does inside your mouth, so you should have no problem reaching inside a framed hull to sand and bevel frames! And, if you ever tire of ship modeling, it will always be handy to have around the house to use for "enhanced interrogation techniques."  
 

 
While others' mileage may differ, I would recommend staying away from 12 volt rotary tools and anything running on batteries. They lack the power to really hog off the material when you want to do that. The same is true for the relatively new "micromotor" rotary tools. As much as they try, the laws of physics just won't permit replacing torque with speed. When it comes to power tools, the emphasis has always to be on power. 
 
As for burs and abrasives, note that the quality of those made for the professional jewelry manufacturing industry and the dental professionals will be of much higher quality than anything that uses the word "hobby" in their advertising and they will often be less expensive and longer lasting. Look for them in the online catalogs. They don't sell them in brick and mortar stores.
 
Shop around. This stuff goes on sale regularly. As interesting as it is to read their catalogs, the "hobby" mail order outfits are the most expensive retailers of all with this stuff, although, once in a blue moon, they do offer significant discounts.
 
Don't forget, always buy the best tool you can afford. It will last you a good long time, maybe even longer than you do, and if you find you don't need it anymore, you can almost always sell it for something reasonable. Cheap tools actually cost you more because you have to keep buying them over and over again. (Don't ask me how I know this!  )
 
Oh, and did I say, "Don't buy Asian knock-offs of Dremel and Foredom-type tools." There are lots of them on the market these days.  They may look identical and be a quarter the price, but they aren't the same. ("Cleek's Law" #27: "Never buy anything with a cord from Horror Fright!") Rotary tools live hard lives and if they are to live long lives, they have to be made of quality materials. There's no point in spending the money on a machine that will burn its bearings out in six or eight months of occasional use!

After having the opportunity to get a closer look and feel at a variety of brushes I purchased Princeton Velvetouch synthetic blend brushes. They were a bit expensive but Blick gives a substantial discount if one purchases 5 or more brushes. I picked out 11 and paid $58. Without the discount they would have been $110.
 
By the way, my prior brushes were Dynasty Set #25 gold nylon. That set of 10 brushes set me back $15, so these Velvetouch brushes are quite an upgrade for me.
 
I also picked up a container of The Master Brush Cleaner and Preserver.
 
Thanks to all for your advice, comments and support.
 
Dave

Well now, that would depend on the size of the rabbet, wouldn't it?  
 
Just pick a size that's comfortable for you. The most important thing is that the tool is sharp. The best way is to cut the rabbet at the base of each frame using a fit stick to take up the angle of the face of each frame and then connect the notches by cutting out the rabbet between the notches. That's the easiest was to develop the rolling bevel so your planking will lie fair against the frame faces and the back-rabbet.

If you are spending money on good brushes, it's important to remember that natural bristles (sable, badger, squirrel, etc.) are for oil-based paints only. Synthetic bristle brushes are for water-based paints only. You can get by with either, but you will ruin a natural bristle brush using it in water-based paints because the bristles will absorb the water and the brush will lose its shape and "snap." Oil-based paint doesn't work so well on synthetic brushes because the synthetic bristles don't hold the oil-based paint as well. 

Thanks! I was just researching synthetic vs natural for acyclic paint. Looking at soft taklon in a quality made brush.

For a first model, you'd be well-advised to take a pass on any model with square yards and "lots of string." For a second model, assuming you continue on from your first, do not attempt any model which has square yards on more than one mast. After that, you should have a good feel for your abilities and you're on your own. The kit manufacturers sell lots of big, expensive, highly detailed models to beginners who never finish them. Lots and lots of them. Don't bite off more than you can chew.

If you are spending money on good brushes, it's important to remember that natural bristles (sable, badger, squirrel, etc.) are for oil-based paints only. Synthetic bristle brushes are for water-based paints only. You can get by with either, but you will ruin a natural bristle brush using it in water-based paints because the bristles will absorb the water and the brush will lose its shape and "snap." Oil-based paint doesn't work so well on synthetic brushes because the synthetic bristles don't hold the oil-based paint as well. 

Well now, that would depend on the size of the rabbet, wouldn't it?  
 
Just pick a size that's comfortable for you. The most important thing is that the tool is sharp. The best way is to cut the rabbet at the base of each frame using a fit stick to take up the angle of the face of each frame and then connect the notches by cutting out the rabbet between the notches. That's the easiest was to develop the rolling bevel so your planking will lie fair against the frame faces and the back-rabbet.

Look after a good quality sable and it will last you years. I have some over 30 years old and they are still in good shape. Cheap brushes are a snare and delusion. You have to keep buying them over and over and they will shed hairs in your beautiful fresh coat of paint!

For a first model, you'd be well-advised to take a pass on any model with square yards and "lots of string." For a second model, assuming you continue on from your first, do not attempt any model which has square yards on more than one mast. After that, you should have a good feel for your abilities and you're on your own. The kit manufacturers sell lots of big, expensive, highly detailed models to beginners who never finish them. Lots and lots of them. Don't bite off more than you can chew.

The amber colored shellac is called "orange" shellac. It's the same thing, just unbleached. (You can get orange dewaxed shellac, also. For ship modeling purposes, in fact, for most purposes, it doesn't matter if shellac is "waxed" or "dewaxed." Clear shellac has much less wax in it than darker colored shellac. The only issue with the natural wax in shellac is that it can sometimes cause problems with oil-based over-coatings such as gloss varathanes.) The "orange" shellac builds up to a very deep dark brown and is useful for classic furniture finishing. The "white" (clear) shellac is colorless. I buy Zinsser pre-mixed in the can. You can buy dry shellac flakes and mix them in your own denatured alcohol, but that's an extra step. If you want thicker shellac, just pour a little into an open container and let the alcohol evaporate until it's the consistency you want. Thick ("gooey") shellac is a good adhesive for some purposes. 
 
Shellac replaces a lot of adhesives in ship modeling. It's particularly useful in "gluing" rigging knots. (Nothing's more frustrating that tying off a line and cutting the tail, only to have the line come loose from a belaying pin, or whatever.) A drop of shellac on the knot will set it forever, but if you need to untie it sometime later, just a drop of alcohol will melt the shellac and easy untying or repositioning. Let the shellac dry before cutting off the end. It's similarly useful for preventing thread ends from fraying and, by applying shellac to a length of line, it can be formed to a catenary while drying and will stay that way when fully dried. Shellac is perfect for fixing hanks of line and gun tackle coils so they appear to hang naturally and don't move. It's also good for "hardening" soft woods like basswood. Lay on a generous coat of thinned shellac and let it soak into the wood. When dry, you can sand the surface easily without raising "fuzz." I'd put shellac right up there with sliced bread as one of the world's great inventions.

What Jaager said. If you are going to put your glass of scotch on the rocks on your model, use a coaster!  

An alternative to joggle sticks ("pick up sticks") which is often helpful in tight spaces is to bend a strip of lead or annealed copper or brass against the shape to be picked up. The "dead soft" metal strip will hold the shape when bent and, when turned on its side, will serve a template against which the shape can be drawn with a pencil. 

Lee Valley has dry shellac flakes.   It is packaged in two weights   1/4 lb  for  $8.50  and 1 lb for $27.00      Three colors  light amber - which super blonde or clear ( or about as clear as shellac gets
Amber  which is regular (I think)   and dark amber which I thick is ruby.
I have light and dark.    The solubility of shellac in EtOH is inversely proportional to the wax content.  That is, the darker it is the more soluble it is.
I make up a 10% solution =  10 grams in 100 ml of EtOH.   that is close to 1 lb cut and for light is close to saturation.
Dry flakes do not store for 10 years.  The new went into solution quickly,   Some old Tiger Super Blonde flakes that I have had for about 10 years only partially dissolved.  Take home lesson:  if the flakes do not quickly dissolve, buy a new batch.  Buying the larger and lower cost per weight quantities is false economy.
For our uses the 1/4 lb is enough for the small surface area that we produce.
 
All of the negative factors for shellac as a final finish relate to full size furniture.  We are not going to set a wet glass with condensation on a model.  We are not going to abrade it in daily use.
 
My HMS Centurion is framed using Hard  Maple.  The Maple is a bit lighter than I wish. -  It is my intent to prime it with 5% super blonde  and then use as many coats of Dark as it need to get it looking like the NMM models done using Boxwood.
A rag with EtOH is a quick reverse gear if I go too far.

I note that professional art movers pack ship models in a very sturdy wooden crate (at least 1x 3 faming and 3/4" ply),  secured well to its base but with a good volume of air around them, not packing materials such as styro peanuts or whatever. Should a side get pushed inward (unlikely due to the sturdiness), the force is absorbed by the wood, not transmitted by the styro to the model. These crates are fitted with large labels, with shock and tilt meters that will record any 'incident'.

For a first model, you'd be well-advised to take a pass on any model with square yards and "lots of string." For a second model, assuming you continue on from your first, do not attempt any model which has square yards on more than one mast. After that, you should have a good feel for your abilities and you're on your own. The kit manufacturers sell lots of big, expensive, highly detailed models to beginners who never finish them. Lots and lots of them. Don't bite off more than you can chew.

The amber colored shellac is called "orange" shellac. It's the same thing, just unbleached. (You can get orange dewaxed shellac, also. For ship modeling purposes, in fact, for most purposes, it doesn't matter if shellac is "waxed" or "dewaxed." Clear shellac has much less wax in it than darker colored shellac. The only issue with the natural wax in shellac is that it can sometimes cause problems with oil-based over-coatings such as gloss varathanes.) The "orange" shellac builds up to a very deep dark brown and is useful for classic furniture finishing. The "white" (clear) shellac is colorless. I buy Zinsser pre-mixed in the can. You can buy dry shellac flakes and mix them in your own denatured alcohol, but that's an extra step. If you want thicker shellac, just pour a little into an open container and let the alcohol evaporate until it's the consistency you want. Thick ("gooey") shellac is a good adhesive for some purposes. 
 
Shellac replaces a lot of adhesives in ship modeling. It's particularly useful in "gluing" rigging knots. (Nothing's more frustrating that tying off a line and cutting the tail, only to have the line come loose from a belaying pin, or whatever.) A drop of shellac on the knot will set it forever, but if you need to untie it sometime later, just a drop of alcohol will melt the shellac and easy untying or repositioning. Let the shellac dry before cutting off the end. It's similarly useful for preventing thread ends from fraying and, by applying shellac to a length of line, it can be formed to a catenary while drying and will stay that way when fully dried. Shellac is perfect for fixing hanks of line and gun tackle coils so they appear to hang naturally and don't move. It's also good for "hardening" soft woods like basswood. Lay on a generous coat of thinned shellac and let it soak into the wood. When dry, you can sand the surface easily without raising "fuzz." I'd put shellac right up there with sliced bread as one of the world's great inventions.

The amber colored shellac is called "orange" shellac. It's the same thing, just unbleached. (You can get orange dewaxed shellac, also. For ship modeling purposes, in fact, for most purposes, it doesn't matter if shellac is "waxed" or "dewaxed." Clear shellac has much less wax in it than darker colored shellac. The only issue with the natural wax in shellac is that it can sometimes cause problems with oil-based over-coatings such as gloss varathanes.) The "orange" shellac builds up to a very deep dark brown and is useful for classic furniture finishing. The "white" (clear) shellac is colorless. I buy Zinsser pre-mixed in the can. You can buy dry shellac flakes and mix them in your own denatured alcohol, but that's an extra step. If you want thicker shellac, just pour a little into an open container and let the alcohol evaporate until it's the consistency you want. Thick ("gooey") shellac is a good adhesive for some purposes. 
 
Shellac replaces a lot of adhesives in ship modeling. It's particularly useful in "gluing" rigging knots. (Nothing's more frustrating that tying off a line and cutting the tail, only to have the line come loose from a belaying pin, or whatever.) A drop of shellac on the knot will set it forever, but if you need to untie it sometime later, just a drop of alcohol will melt the shellac and easy untying or repositioning. Let the shellac dry before cutting off the end. It's similarly useful for preventing thread ends from fraying and, by applying shellac to a length of line, it can be formed to a catenary while drying and will stay that way when fully dried. Shellac is perfect for fixing hanks of line and gun tackle coils so they appear to hang naturally and don't move. It's also good for "hardening" soft woods like basswood. Lay on a generous coat of thinned shellac and let it soak into the wood. When dry, you can sand the surface easily without raising "fuzz." I'd put shellac right up there with sliced bread as one of the world's great inventions.

Bob
Thanks for the clarification,note that your can is identified as "clear" which identifies it as wax free.
Seems that in my area stores only carry amber which is not wax free. Bummer.
Bridgman Bob

Happy news! 

An alternative to joggle sticks ("pick up sticks") which is often helpful in tight spaces is to bend a strip of lead or annealed copper or brass against the shape to be picked up. The "dead soft" metal strip will hold the shape when bent and, when turned on its side, will serve a template against which the shape can be drawn with a pencil. 

Happy news! 

Dewaxed shellac is indeed a universal undercoating for any overcoating I've ever encountered. It's one of the least permeable moisture barrier coatings around and non-toxic. (Shellac is what they coat jelly beans with to make them shiny.) It's easily sanded, rubbed, and polished, as well. "White" (clear) shellac is invisible. One of the biggest advantages of shellac for those using water-based coatings is that it does not raise the wood grain like anything containing water is prone to doing. There's nothing not to like about the stuff... and it's relatively cheap. $20 a quart, $13 a half pint.
 

No, Bob I’ve had a Jim Saw for many years.  I kept the Preac since “it might come in handy” and did like it for some things.  My current project, The Lake Freighter Benjamin Noble requires extensive metal work not the least being 8 steam deck winches.  To produce these required a major upgrade of my Sherline equipment, so I just spent $$ with them.  This included a rotary table.  I have now decided to add an xy Base to add to my milling column to take advantage of the larger and heavier built table.  Before my wife says “Enough already” I decided to get rid of some little used gear.
 
Roger

Finally making the leap to a JimSaw, Roger? You'll love it.