Bob Cleek

It's a lot like sex: Everyone shares your initial reaction the first time they see it, but most quickly figure out on their own that "Just viewing" can't hold a candle to actually doing it.    
 
The biggest differences between a kit and a scratch built model are that 1) Scratch built models are unique and 2) people react to them the way you just have. (And, of course, if it matters to one, they're generally worth a lot more money than assembled kits.) Beyond that, the challenges and skills required are really no different than building a high-quality kit.
 
Experience starts when you begin. Start small and work up to the more complex stuff. Start with a less challenging, but high-quality kit or three. The only difference between assembling a kit and building a model from scratch is starting with plans instead of starting with plans and an expensive box of unsuitable wood, useless string, and poorly cast parts. (Except, of course, for the exceptional modern laser-cut kits offered by some of the advertisers on this forum like Syren Ship Models and Vanguard Models. See: MSW's Ship Model Kit Database for what's available: http://mswshipkits.ampitcher.com/)
 
Don't let the pros intimidate you.  A lot of the builders posting great stuff on MSW have forty or fifty years of doing it under their belts and it shows. You don't need to play like Arnold Palmer to enjoy golf. Most MSW members posting incredibly good work started back in the pre-internet days when it was really hard to even learn the basics of ship modeling. Now, with a resource like MSW, the learning curve has accelerated immensely and the beginning modeler can learn in a few years what it took the older generation decades to acquire. You can do it, too. 

Depending upon which Swift kit you are building, there may be more detailed plans available than the ones the kit manufacturer provided. As Allanyed mentioned above, there is a ton of information available on some of the Swifts. If yours isn't one of those, you will have to exercise some judgment based on independent research and extrapolate using some "artistic licence" to add detail to your kit model. (This is the first sign of infection with the "scratch-building virus." It is highly contagious and fast moving. There is no known cure.)
 
Your structural drawing above is basically correct. Either horizontal or vertical tongue and groove planking is correct, depending upon the builder's taste. Lower cabin structures tend to favor vertical planking. Taller cabin structures seem to favor horizontal planking. Corner posts are necessary, of course. The corner trim will vary according to taste as well.
 
Check out the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) of the Library of Congress on line. There are many extremely detailed historically recorded plans and photographs of various historic vessels. Unfortunately, the best way to search is by the name of the vessel. Their index and search engine isn't so good. If you know what you are looking for, though, you'll find a gold mine of plans and construction drawings. The one vessel with wooden deck houses that I can think of off hand which has a very good series of drawings for the aft cabin and forward deckhouse is their report on the lumber schooner C.A. Thayer, which can be found starting at https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/hhh.ca1506.sheet.00016a/ HAER documents are also available in "high definition" TIFF format (click on the option above the picture or drawing) which can be enlarged on your computer without degradation of the smaller drawing. Very convenient for model makers.
 
The C.A. Thayer is a larger and later ship and her aft cabin is rather fancy.  Her forward deckhouse, while larger than anything on Swift, is more "rustic" and you should be able to extrapolate construction details from that. If you want to spend hours searching HAER, you may find a vessel closer to Swift in age and appearance. You will find construction details for sliding hatches in Howard I. Chapelle's Boatbuilding and Yacht Design books, and in many other wooden boat building and design books.
 
Again, to enlarge the below drawings, click on the link to get to the Library of Congress HAER site, then click on the "TIFF" format option above the picture.  You can then enlarge the picture greatly by holding your "ctrl" key down and rolling your mouse wheel up or down. The TIFF format has a much higher pixel rate than the PDF format, which will blur the lines quickly as they are enlarged.
 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/hhh.ca1506.sheet.00016a/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00017a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00018a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00019a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00019a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00021a/resource/
 

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00022a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00023a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00024a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00025a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00026a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00027a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00028a/resource/
 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00029a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00030a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00031a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00032a/resource/
 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00033a/resource/
/
 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00034a/resource/
 

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00035a/resource/

 
 
 
HAER cabin drawings of the San Francisco scow schooner Alma, a smaller vessel about Swift's size: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=alma scow schooner

Well said Bob.
 
Michael

Sounds like you're good to go. I'd suggest you do some research (or ask the MSW forumites) and see if you can get some good plans for the Swift you are already building. Then build to those plans, using what's useful in the kit (which may be little) and toss the rest. You'll learn as you go. I may be dating myself in saying that I learned manual drafting in high school fifty years ago and stayed with it throughout my lifetime and, while I'm "computer literate," I've decided that CNC laser-cutting is much more suited for kit manufacturers making dozens or hundreds of the same model, than for one-off building, but, in the power tool department, with the "Byrnes Trifecta" (Byrnes saw, thickness sander, and disk sander,) a decent small drill press, a decent scroll saw, and a small 7X14 lathe with a milling attachment, you'll be equipped to do just about anything you'll see anybody doing in here in wood or metal. You can pretty much do it all with the "Trifecta," and some sharp quality hand tools, along with the knowledge of how to use them, but the other stuff makes it a lot easier.
 
What nobody can buy, though, and what really "separates the men from the boys" is the knowledge and understanding of how real ships and boats are built and how they work. Precisely, that's what knowing "what it is in the underlying structure that makes it in that form." Nowhere more so than in naval architecture does "form follow function." The wind and the sea and the engineering limitations of wood, metal, and cordage, are the constants that define it all. Techniques and practices evolve over time, of course, and, when building period ship models, it's important to keep the specific practices of the period in mind, but, generally speaking, it's all very similar over the centuries because the wind and the sea and the wood, metal and cordage used to build ships don't change. 
 
There are many books on "how to build wooden ships and boats" and "how to build ship models" and many have "pearls of wisdom" not found in the others, but most aren't really worth the money because they simply repeat information published previously. That said, for good reason Chapelle's Boatbuilding is still in print after eighty  years and covers the entire process from drafting plans and lofting patterns to launching, most all of which is applicable to scale modeling as well. Harold A. Underhill's two volume set, Plank on Frame Models and Scale Masting and Rigging, Vol. 1. and Vol. 2. also still in print after over sixty years, in conjunction with Chapelle's Boatbuilding, will cover just about anything you'd need in a very basic reference library. All of these books are available used online inexpensively. If you get hooked on a particular vessel or period, Nineteenth Century British Admiralty ships, for example, there are many period-specific books such as C. Nepean Longridge's The Anatomy of Nelson's Ships, but you can collect those as the need arises. If you just learn what's in Chapelle and Underhill, you'll be light years ahead of the pack. 
 
Study Druxey's just-about-finished build log 28 foot American cutter by Druxey - 1:48 scale at https://modelshipworld.com/topic/28379-28-foot-american-cutter-by-druxey-148-scale/ for inspiration. Druxey's log illustrates what can be accomplished when somebody who instinctively knows how a boat is built scratch-builds a model, in this instance a very small and highly detailed one, keeping in mind that he's not following a set of instructions written for model builders. He's working from the same plans a boat builder would use to build the full-size prototype, albeit with some techniques tailored to modeling. Druxey shows how it's done. 

Sounds like you're good to go. I'd suggest you do some research (or ask the MSW forumites) and see if you can get some good plans for the Swift you are already building. Then build to those plans, using what's useful in the kit (which may be little) and toss the rest. You'll learn as you go. I may be dating myself in saying that I learned manual drafting in high school fifty years ago and stayed with it throughout my lifetime and, while I'm "computer literate," I've decided that CNC laser-cutting is much more suited for kit manufacturers making dozens or hundreds of the same model, than for one-off building, but, in the power tool department, with the "Byrnes Trifecta" (Byrnes saw, thickness sander, and disk sander,) a decent small drill press, a decent scroll saw, and a small 7X14 lathe with a milling attachment, you'll be equipped to do just about anything you'll see anybody doing in here in wood or metal. You can pretty much do it all with the "Trifecta," and some sharp quality hand tools, along with the knowledge of how to use them, but the other stuff makes it a lot easier.
 
What nobody can buy, though, and what really "separates the men from the boys" is the knowledge and understanding of how real ships and boats are built and how they work. Precisely, that's what knowing "what it is in the underlying structure that makes it in that form." Nowhere more so than in naval architecture does "form follow function." The wind and the sea and the engineering limitations of wood, metal, and cordage, are the constants that define it all. Techniques and practices evolve over time, of course, and, when building period ship models, it's important to keep the specific practices of the period in mind, but, generally speaking, it's all very similar over the centuries because the wind and the sea and the wood, metal and cordage used to build ships don't change. 
 
There are many books on "how to build wooden ships and boats" and "how to build ship models" and many have "pearls of wisdom" not found in the others, but most aren't really worth the money because they simply repeat information published previously. That said, for good reason Chapelle's Boatbuilding is still in print after eighty  years and covers the entire process from drafting plans and lofting patterns to launching, most all of which is applicable to scale modeling as well. Harold A. Underhill's two volume set, Plank on Frame Models and Scale Masting and Rigging, Vol. 1. and Vol. 2. also still in print after over sixty years, in conjunction with Chapelle's Boatbuilding, will cover just about anything you'd need in a very basic reference library. All of these books are available used online inexpensively. If you get hooked on a particular vessel or period, Nineteenth Century British Admiralty ships, for example, there are many period-specific books such as C. Nepean Longridge's The Anatomy of Nelson's Ships, but you can collect those as the need arises. If you just learn what's in Chapelle and Underhill, you'll be light years ahead of the pack. 
 
Study Druxey's just-about-finished build log 28 foot American cutter by Druxey - 1:48 scale at https://modelshipworld.com/topic/28379-28-foot-american-cutter-by-druxey-148-scale/ for inspiration. Druxey's log illustrates what can be accomplished when somebody who instinctively knows how a boat is built scratch-builds a model, in this instance a very small and highly detailed one, keeping in mind that he's not following a set of instructions written for model builders. He's working from the same plans a boat builder would use to build the full-size prototype, albeit with some techniques tailored to modeling. Druxey shows how it's done. 

The Ernestina is also recorded by HAER. There are tons of photos and plans  begin here: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ma1719.sheet.00001a/
(Hit "next" from the menu above the picture to run through the drawings.
 


 
 

 

 

 





 
 
 

Depending upon which Swift kit you are building, there may be more detailed plans available than the ones the kit manufacturer provided. As Allanyed mentioned above, there is a ton of information available on some of the Swifts. If yours isn't one of those, you will have to exercise some judgment based on independent research and extrapolate using some "artistic licence" to add detail to your kit model. (This is the first sign of infection with the "scratch-building virus." It is highly contagious and fast moving. There is no known cure.)
 
Your structural drawing above is basically correct. Either horizontal or vertical tongue and groove planking is correct, depending upon the builder's taste. Lower cabin structures tend to favor vertical planking. Taller cabin structures seem to favor horizontal planking. Corner posts are necessary, of course. The corner trim will vary according to taste as well.
 
Check out the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) of the Library of Congress on line. There are many extremely detailed historically recorded plans and photographs of various historic vessels. Unfortunately, the best way to search is by the name of the vessel. Their index and search engine isn't so good. If you know what you are looking for, though, you'll find a gold mine of plans and construction drawings. The one vessel with wooden deck houses that I can think of off hand which has a very good series of drawings for the aft cabin and forward deckhouse is their report on the lumber schooner C.A. Thayer, which can be found starting at https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/hhh.ca1506.sheet.00016a/ HAER documents are also available in "high definition" TIFF format (click on the option above the picture or drawing) which can be enlarged on your computer without degradation of the smaller drawing. Very convenient for model makers.
 
The C.A. Thayer is a larger and later ship and her aft cabin is rather fancy.  Her forward deckhouse, while larger than anything on Swift, is more "rustic" and you should be able to extrapolate construction details from that. If you want to spend hours searching HAER, you may find a vessel closer to Swift in age and appearance. You will find construction details for sliding hatches in Howard I. Chapelle's Boatbuilding and Yacht Design books, and in many other wooden boat building and design books.
 
Again, to enlarge the below drawings, click on the link to get to the Library of Congress HAER site, then click on the "TIFF" format option above the picture.  You can then enlarge the picture greatly by holding your "ctrl" key down and rolling your mouse wheel up or down. The TIFF format has a much higher pixel rate than the PDF format, which will blur the lines quickly as they are enlarged.
 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/hhh.ca1506.sheet.00016a/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00017a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00018a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00019a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00019a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00021a/resource/
 

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00022a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00023a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00024a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00025a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00026a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00027a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00028a/resource/
 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00029a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00030a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00031a/resource/

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00032a/resource/
 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00033a/resource/
/
 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00034a/resource/
 

 
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1506.sheet.00035a/resource/

 
 
 
HAER cabin drawings of the San Francisco scow schooner Alma, a smaller vessel about Swift's size: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=alma scow schooner

Hi Tim
Which Swift?  There were/are 17 HMS Swifts between 1697 and the last built in 1984 so the structure of the cabins obviously changed over this time period.  Brian Lavery gives a lot of information in The Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War including permanent cabins and moveable cabin structures.  A lot depends on whether you are asking about the captain, officers, and other members of the crew that warranted their own space. 
 
If you are building the Swan Class HMS Swift 1777, David Antscherl's four volume set of books for building a Swan class ship has a ton of information that may be of help overall.  
 
Allan

It's a lot like sex: Everyone shares your initial reaction the first time they see it, but most quickly figure out on their own that "Just viewing" can't hold a candle to actually doing it.    
 
The biggest differences between a kit and a scratch built model are that 1) Scratch built models are unique and 2) people react to them the way you just have. (And, of course, if it matters to one, they're generally worth a lot more money than assembled kits.) Beyond that, the challenges and skills required are really no different than building a high-quality kit.
 
Experience starts when you begin. Start small and work up to the more complex stuff. Start with a less challenging, but high-quality kit or three. The only difference between assembling a kit and building a model from scratch is starting with plans instead of starting with plans and an expensive box of unsuitable wood, useless string, and poorly cast parts. (Except, of course, for the exceptional modern laser-cut kits offered by some of the advertisers on this forum like Syren Ship Models and Vanguard Models. See: MSW's Ship Model Kit Database for what's available: http://mswshipkits.ampitcher.com/)
 
Don't let the pros intimidate you.  A lot of the builders posting great stuff on MSW have forty or fifty years of doing it under their belts and it shows. You don't need to play like Arnold Palmer to enjoy golf. Most MSW members posting incredibly good work started back in the pre-internet days when it was really hard to even learn the basics of ship modeling. Now, with a resource like MSW, the learning curve has accelerated immensely and the beginning modeler can learn in a few years what it took the older generation decades to acquire. You can do it, too. 

It's a lot like sex: Everyone shares your initial reaction the first time they see it, but most quickly figure out on their own that "Just viewing" can't hold a candle to actually doing it.    
 
The biggest differences between a kit and a scratch built model are that 1) Scratch built models are unique and 2) people react to them the way you just have. (And, of course, if it matters to one, they're generally worth a lot more money than assembled kits.) Beyond that, the challenges and skills required are really no different than building a high-quality kit.
 
Experience starts when you begin. Start small and work up to the more complex stuff. Start with a less challenging, but high-quality kit or three. The only difference between assembling a kit and building a model from scratch is starting with plans instead of starting with plans and an expensive box of unsuitable wood, useless string, and poorly cast parts. (Except, of course, for the exceptional modern laser-cut kits offered by some of the advertisers on this forum like Syren Ship Models and Vanguard Models. See: MSW's Ship Model Kit Database for what's available: http://mswshipkits.ampitcher.com/)
 
Don't let the pros intimidate you.  A lot of the builders posting great stuff on MSW have forty or fifty years of doing it under their belts and it shows. You don't need to play like Arnold Palmer to enjoy golf. Most MSW members posting incredibly good work started back in the pre-internet days when it was really hard to even learn the basics of ship modeling. Now, with a resource like MSW, the learning curve has accelerated immensely and the beginning modeler can learn in a few years what it took the older generation decades to acquire. You can do it, too. 

It's a lot like sex: Everyone shares your initial reaction the first time they see it, but most quickly figure out on their own that "Just viewing" can't hold a candle to actually doing it.    
 
The biggest differences between a kit and a scratch built model are that 1) Scratch built models are unique and 2) people react to them the way you just have. (And, of course, if it matters to one, they're generally worth a lot more money than assembled kits.) Beyond that, the challenges and skills required are really no different than building a high-quality kit.
 
Experience starts when you begin. Start small and work up to the more complex stuff. Start with a less challenging, but high-quality kit or three. The only difference between assembling a kit and building a model from scratch is starting with plans instead of starting with plans and an expensive box of unsuitable wood, useless string, and poorly cast parts. (Except, of course, for the exceptional modern laser-cut kits offered by some of the advertisers on this forum like Syren Ship Models and Vanguard Models. See: MSW's Ship Model Kit Database for what's available: http://mswshipkits.ampitcher.com/)
 
Don't let the pros intimidate you.  A lot of the builders posting great stuff on MSW have forty or fifty years of doing it under their belts and it shows. You don't need to play like Arnold Palmer to enjoy golf. Most MSW members posting incredibly good work started back in the pre-internet days when it was really hard to even learn the basics of ship modeling. Now, with a resource like MSW, the learning curve has accelerated immensely and the beginning modeler can learn in a few years what it took the older generation decades to acquire. You can do it, too. 

I am deeply honored! 

Yep. It sure does beat memorizing sports statistics, doesn't it?  

It's a lot like sex: Everyone shares your initial reaction the first time they see it, but most quickly figure out on their own that "Just viewing" can't hold a candle to actually doing it.    
 
The biggest differences between a kit and a scratch built model are that 1) Scratch built models are unique and 2) people react to them the way you just have. (And, of course, if it matters to one, they're generally worth a lot more money than assembled kits.) Beyond that, the challenges and skills required are really no different than building a high-quality kit.
 
Experience starts when you begin. Start small and work up to the more complex stuff. Start with a less challenging, but high-quality kit or three. The only difference between assembling a kit and building a model from scratch is starting with plans instead of starting with plans and an expensive box of unsuitable wood, useless string, and poorly cast parts. (Except, of course, for the exceptional modern laser-cut kits offered by some of the advertisers on this forum like Syren Ship Models and Vanguard Models. See: MSW's Ship Model Kit Database for what's available: http://mswshipkits.ampitcher.com/)
 
Don't let the pros intimidate you.  A lot of the builders posting great stuff on MSW have forty or fifty years of doing it under their belts and it shows. You don't need to play like Arnold Palmer to enjoy golf. Most MSW members posting incredibly good work started back in the pre-internet days when it was really hard to even learn the basics of ship modeling. Now, with a resource like MSW, the learning curve has accelerated immensely and the beginning modeler can learn in a few years what it took the older generation decades to acquire. You can do it, too. 

It's a lot like sex: Everyone shares your initial reaction the first time they see it, but most quickly figure out on their own that "Just viewing" can't hold a candle to actually doing it.    
 
The biggest differences between a kit and a scratch built model are that 1) Scratch built models are unique and 2) people react to them the way you just have. (And, of course, if it matters to one, they're generally worth a lot more money than assembled kits.) Beyond that, the challenges and skills required are really no different than building a high-quality kit.
 
Experience starts when you begin. Start small and work up to the more complex stuff. Start with a less challenging, but high-quality kit or three. The only difference between assembling a kit and building a model from scratch is starting with plans instead of starting with plans and an expensive box of unsuitable wood, useless string, and poorly cast parts. (Except, of course, for the exceptional modern laser-cut kits offered by some of the advertisers on this forum like Syren Ship Models and Vanguard Models. See: MSW's Ship Model Kit Database for what's available: http://mswshipkits.ampitcher.com/)
 
Don't let the pros intimidate you.  A lot of the builders posting great stuff on MSW have forty or fifty years of doing it under their belts and it shows. You don't need to play like Arnold Palmer to enjoy golf. Most MSW members posting incredibly good work started back in the pre-internet days when it was really hard to even learn the basics of ship modeling. Now, with a resource like MSW, the learning curve has accelerated immensely and the beginning modeler can learn in a few years what it took the older generation decades to acquire. You can do it, too. 

I am deeply honored! 

Yep. It sure does beat memorizing sports statistics, doesn't it?  

It's a lot like sex: Everyone shares your initial reaction the first time they see it, but most quickly figure out on their own that "Just viewing" can't hold a candle to actually doing it.    
 
The biggest differences between a kit and a scratch built model are that 1) Scratch built models are unique and 2) people react to them the way you just have. (And, of course, if it matters to one, they're generally worth a lot more money than assembled kits.) Beyond that, the challenges and skills required are really no different than building a high-quality kit.
 
Experience starts when you begin. Start small and work up to the more complex stuff. Start with a less challenging, but high-quality kit or three. The only difference between assembling a kit and building a model from scratch is starting with plans instead of starting with plans and an expensive box of unsuitable wood, useless string, and poorly cast parts. (Except, of course, for the exceptional modern laser-cut kits offered by some of the advertisers on this forum like Syren Ship Models and Vanguard Models. See: MSW's Ship Model Kit Database for what's available: http://mswshipkits.ampitcher.com/)
 
Don't let the pros intimidate you.  A lot of the builders posting great stuff on MSW have forty or fifty years of doing it under their belts and it shows. You don't need to play like Arnold Palmer to enjoy golf. Most MSW members posting incredibly good work started back in the pre-internet days when it was really hard to even learn the basics of ship modeling. Now, with a resource like MSW, the learning curve has accelerated immensely and the beginning modeler can learn in a few years what it took the older generation decades to acquire. You can do it, too. 

It's a lot like sex: Everyone shares your initial reaction the first time they see it, but most quickly figure out on their own that "Just viewing" can't hold a candle to actually doing it.    
 
The biggest differences between a kit and a scratch built model are that 1) Scratch built models are unique and 2) people react to them the way you just have. (And, of course, if it matters to one, they're generally worth a lot more money than assembled kits.) Beyond that, the challenges and skills required are really no different than building a high-quality kit.
 
Experience starts when you begin. Start small and work up to the more complex stuff. Start with a less challenging, but high-quality kit or three. The only difference between assembling a kit and building a model from scratch is starting with plans instead of starting with plans and an expensive box of unsuitable wood, useless string, and poorly cast parts. (Except, of course, for the exceptional modern laser-cut kits offered by some of the advertisers on this forum like Syren Ship Models and Vanguard Models. See: MSW's Ship Model Kit Database for what's available: http://mswshipkits.ampitcher.com/)
 
Don't let the pros intimidate you.  A lot of the builders posting great stuff on MSW have forty or fifty years of doing it under their belts and it shows. You don't need to play like Arnold Palmer to enjoy golf. Most MSW members posting incredibly good work started back in the pre-internet days when it was really hard to even learn the basics of ship modeling. Now, with a resource like MSW, the learning curve has accelerated immensely and the beginning modeler can learn in a few years what it took the older generation decades to acquire. You can do it, too. 

It's a lot like sex: Everyone shares your initial reaction the first time they see it, but most quickly figure out on their own that "Just viewing" can't hold a candle to actually doing it.    
 
The biggest differences between a kit and a scratch built model are that 1) Scratch built models are unique and 2) people react to them the way you just have. (And, of course, if it matters to one, they're generally worth a lot more money than assembled kits.) Beyond that, the challenges and skills required are really no different than building a high-quality kit.
 
Experience starts when you begin. Start small and work up to the more complex stuff. Start with a less challenging, but high-quality kit or three. The only difference between assembling a kit and building a model from scratch is starting with plans instead of starting with plans and an expensive box of unsuitable wood, useless string, and poorly cast parts. (Except, of course, for the exceptional modern laser-cut kits offered by some of the advertisers on this forum like Syren Ship Models and Vanguard Models. See: MSW's Ship Model Kit Database for what's available: http://mswshipkits.ampitcher.com/)
 
Don't let the pros intimidate you.  A lot of the builders posting great stuff on MSW have forty or fifty years of doing it under their belts and it shows. You don't need to play like Arnold Palmer to enjoy golf. Most MSW members posting incredibly good work started back in the pre-internet days when it was really hard to even learn the basics of ship modeling. Now, with a resource like MSW, the learning curve has accelerated immensely and the beginning modeler can learn in a few years what it took the older generation decades to acquire. You can do it, too. 

I am deeply honored! 

Yep. It sure does beat memorizing sports statistics, doesn't it?  

It's a lot like sex: Everyone shares your initial reaction the first time they see it, but most quickly figure out on their own that "Just viewing" can't hold a candle to actually doing it.    
 
The biggest differences between a kit and a scratch built model are that 1) Scratch built models are unique and 2) people react to them the way you just have. (And, of course, if it matters to one, they're generally worth a lot more money than assembled kits.) Beyond that, the challenges and skills required are really no different than building a high-quality kit.
 
Experience starts when you begin. Start small and work up to the more complex stuff. Start with a less challenging, but high-quality kit or three. The only difference between assembling a kit and building a model from scratch is starting with plans instead of starting with plans and an expensive box of unsuitable wood, useless string, and poorly cast parts. (Except, of course, for the exceptional modern laser-cut kits offered by some of the advertisers on this forum like Syren Ship Models and Vanguard Models. See: MSW's Ship Model Kit Database for what's available: http://mswshipkits.ampitcher.com/)
 
Don't let the pros intimidate you.  A lot of the builders posting great stuff on MSW have forty or fifty years of doing it under their belts and it shows. You don't need to play like Arnold Palmer to enjoy golf. Most MSW members posting incredibly good work started back in the pre-internet days when it was really hard to even learn the basics of ship modeling. Now, with a resource like MSW, the learning curve has accelerated immensely and the beginning modeler can learn in a few years what it took the older generation decades to acquire. You can do it, too. 

It's a lot like sex: Everyone shares your initial reaction the first time they see it, but most quickly figure out on their own that "Just viewing" can't hold a candle to actually doing it.    
 
The biggest differences between a kit and a scratch built model are that 1) Scratch built models are unique and 2) people react to them the way you just have. (And, of course, if it matters to one, they're generally worth a lot more money than assembled kits.) Beyond that, the challenges and skills required are really no different than building a high-quality kit.
 
Experience starts when you begin. Start small and work up to the more complex stuff. Start with a less challenging, but high-quality kit or three. The only difference between assembling a kit and building a model from scratch is starting with plans instead of starting with plans and an expensive box of unsuitable wood, useless string, and poorly cast parts. (Except, of course, for the exceptional modern laser-cut kits offered by some of the advertisers on this forum like Syren Ship Models and Vanguard Models. See: MSW's Ship Model Kit Database for what's available: http://mswshipkits.ampitcher.com/)
 
Don't let the pros intimidate you.  A lot of the builders posting great stuff on MSW have forty or fifty years of doing it under their belts and it shows. You don't need to play like Arnold Palmer to enjoy golf. Most MSW members posting incredibly good work started back in the pre-internet days when it was really hard to even learn the basics of ship modeling. Now, with a resource like MSW, the learning curve has accelerated immensely and the beginning modeler can learn in a few years what it took the older generation decades to acquire. You can do it, too. 

Yep. It sure does beat memorizing sports statistics, doesn't it?