Mercator
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My first wood ships models were the Artesian Latina Swift then the Dutch fishing boat Botter. Then Two more smaller boats by Vanguard the Lady Eleanor and the Nisha. I wanted to be familiar with all aspect of wood ship modeling ( what glue to use, paints, etc,) then I decided that I was ready and build the Duchess of Kingston, 3 masts, not too many guns and became familiar with the rigging which took me the most time. I am glad that I started small. Also made a jig so I could practice ratlines before attempting on the model. I have over 50 years experience building styrene kits and painting figures but nothing made me ready for wood ship models, except a lot of patience.
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Old Collingwood reacted to a post in a topic:
Best paint for wooden ship models
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Zocane reacted to a post in a topic:
Best paint for wooden ship models
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Personnellemet, vous êtes invite a converser en Français, Swahili, ou Flamand. And even English!
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Keith Black reacted to a post in a topic:
Hello from Oregon
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JeffT reacted to a post in a topic:
Hello from Oregon
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Vlax reacted to a post in a topic:
Hello from Oregon
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mtaylor reacted to a post in a topic:
Hello from Oregon
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Welcome from neighboring Idaho. I started with the Vanguard fishing boats (I build two) great instructions and good warm up for bigger model. Just finished the Duchess of Kingston.
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JeffT reacted to a post in a topic:
Hello from Waterloo (Belgium)
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Old Collingwood reacted to a post in a topic:
Hello from Waterloo (Belgium)
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mtaylor reacted to a post in a topic:
Hello from Waterloo (Belgium)
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Keith Black reacted to a post in a topic:
Hello from Waterloo (Belgium)
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Welcome to the site, originally from Uccle, Bruxelles. I have a good friend who reside in Braine l'Alleud who is also a modeler. Great site with people with a lots of experience, depending of the type of ships the rigging can vary . There are books tracing on the subject, some are out of print but easily available on line from use book dealers.
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. I found the high grade sanded 1/4" plywood from Home Depot to be very useful . Not too thick to be cut into shapes with a hobby scroll saw. Also easily available and not too costly.
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I have the Imai kit, excellent in my modest opinion. Difficult to say which one is the best because there are no accurate description of the Santa Maria. Except for the rigging upon which we have a good description of the 3 ships of Columbus. Everything else is a conjuncture based onpaintings of ships of that era.
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Welcome from landlocked Idaho. Like you I have been modeling for many years but only recently started on wood models. Indeed some people do plank over solid hulls. I, personally , never did so. Instead started with an "easier" and smaller kit which had a hull form that I could tackle. Also double planking is a must for beginner. Good luck it is a challenging but rewarding hobby.
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Indeed plastic offer more details than metal casting, 3D printing can be costly and time consuming. There is a plethora of paints to reproduce metal, from Vallejo to Alclad (one of my favorite being lacquer based). Those paint applied with an airbrush produce much better result than any cast metal canons . I have build a couple of Vanguard fishing boats, a nice way to get into wood ship building. Now I have almost finished the Duchess of Kingston, someone nervous about starting on the ratlines (there are so many of them). So taking a break and working on a 1/8 scale of Joan Of Arc figurine, I am use Alclad magnesium for the armor, very happy with the result. They recommend to prime first but I sprayed over the resin parts without problems (it is a 3D figurine available in 1/16, 1/12, 1/10, 1/8 and 1/4 scales). Keep up the amazing work Chris, there will always be someone complaining about something that is the downside of running a business, you learn to have a thick skin.
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Welcome from an expatriated Brusseleer! Love your models, very impressive.
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New member with questions about first kit options
Mercator replied to HeyIwanttolearn's topic in New member Introductions
I would highly recommend Vanguard kits, they are more expensive but for a beginner they are perfect. Great instructions and quality material. I build a couple of fishing boats to learn some of the techniques before taking the proverbial plunge and got one of the larger model. Get a quality kit that will not frustrate you. As a plus he is located in England, so easily available in continental Europe. I did purchase one kit in England and the other two in California. The shipping from England to the US was cheaper than from California to Idaho. Current build: The Duchess of Kingston (Vanguard models) -
Airbrush Paint
Mercator replied to CLovehitch's topic in Painting, finishing and weathering products and techniques
To seal the wood I use Decoart sealer which is inexpensive, easily available and water based. Like everyone I miss the Floquil paints, then Model Master went by the wayside also. I do still have a few Floquil including their gold paint. Humbrol (acrylic and enamel) are great paint, also been using Tamiya. For wood models and figurines I use Liquitex in tubes, Liquitex has their own airbrush thinner, I did purchase a small book that teach you how to mix the different colors that achieve what you want. Being made for hand brushing you can retouch very easily. When I mix with the airbrush thinner I try to achieve a consistency of milk (not the 2%). The Liquitex airbrush thinner does contain a thinning agent and a retarder, you could make it yourself but the Liquitex is inexpensive and goes a long way. For cleaning water does the job. -
Welcome from Idaho.
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I build a couple of Vanguard fishing boats and the Bluenose from AL, then took the plunge and bough the Duchess of Kingston, a big step but finished the hull with all the decorations, my biggest problem was with the rudder PE fiddly little things, end making my own. Will make a practice mast so I can play with those ratlines before tackling the ones on the Duchess. Those fishing boats are great for first time builders, a little more $ but well worth it. Usually I do not purchase anything on eBay which is still available from the original manufacturer, only get kits or parts out of production
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Hikawa Maru from Hasegawa in 1/350. I believe it is also available in 1/700.
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Maybe the reason why it was bad luck to have bananas on a ship come from the banana clusters sometimes harbor snakes or some unwelcome bugs. The refrigerated hold on modern banana boats are on scary place.
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