Ever wanted to know what kits are available for 17th Century British Frigates?
How about what kits are beginner and which kits are advanced?
Worried about space and want an easy way to find out what ships are available which are a certain
lenght or height?
Read on my friends, read on!
Since joining Model Ship World, I have continuously been impressed with the quality of its members and the level of help people get with their hobby. It is incredibly refreshing to find a place where people of all skill levels and interests, from all over the world, can come together in one place and help, encourage and applaud the wonderful works which can be found from its members new and old.
There is one trend I have noticed, with regards to questions and requests for advice, and that is related to the kits themselves. Questions regarding quality of kits, availability, types, subjects and overall level of difficulty.
We have great resources for that, several articles, build logs etc.; but I got to thinking it may be helpful to have this information in one place. Not to replace what is on MSW in its various forms, but to supplement it.
While not an expert modeler by any means yet, I am a code jockey =) and enjoy doing techy codey things (that is a technical term by the way), so I decided to try to put that to use.
This is to announce a project which I am working on and am making available as of tonight.
The Model Ship World Ship Kit Database
What is it?
Well, it is a database of Model Ship Kits. A central repository for what is available out there along with as much data regarding each kit as I can scrape up.
Secondly, Model Ship World Ship Kit Database is a living project. This basically means it is intended to grow and expand based on feedback and contribution from the model ship world membership.
What does it do?
Right now, it allows you folks to search for ships. As of this evening you can search for available ships based on Manufacturer, Scale, Type of Kit, Type of Ship, Period of Ship and the Ships Nation of origin.
You can search for these ships based on one of the above criteria or build out the criteria to get as refined a search as you want.
So, for example, if you want to see all the ships Model Shipways Currently has available – you can do that.
If you want to find all the ship kits which are 19th Century French 1:64th scale Plank on Bulkhead Frigates – you can do that too.
Is that all that it does?
As of this evening, yes it does. Is that all it will do? No. I actually have big plans for this and was going to wait to announce it until much more was done. However it will take a little time to get everything in so I wanted to “release” it in stages. Mainly to get it out there and let people get some hands on it and start giving me feedback.
The idea is to make this as useful to the MSW community as possible. I think it is in a good starting point, but really want to hear from you guys regarding it so I can develop it over time to make it as great as it can be.
I can’t promise all suggestions will make it in, or that they will go in overnight, but this in my mind is for MSW so I look forward to collaboration and the discussions to do as best we can.
Where does it stand right now?
Currently I have identified the following manufacturers for inclusion in the database. Some have their kits added while others are queued to be completed over the next week or so.
A.J Fisher: Data not started
Artesania Latina: Data started, 80% complete
Billings: Data not started
Bluejacket Ship Crafters Inc.: Data Complete
Caldecraft:Data not started
Corel:Data not started
Constructo:Data not started
Dusek:Data not started
Mamonli:Data started, test entries only
Mantua Models UK:Data not started
Midwest Prouducts:Data Complete
Model Shipways:Data Complete
OcCre: Data started, test entries only.
You said there was a lot planned so what else is there?
I am so glad you asked
Not only is this meant to be a list of what is available but it is also a place where people can come and find out about the ships. Here is what is on deck....
More refined filter parameters:
Ability to filter on length and height
Ability to filter on skill level
General Search: Ability to type part of a kit name and search for all related kits.
Data page: This will be a drill down into the kit including a picture of the kit completed and important details regarding the kit itself. Some of what is currently in the data view will be moved here to make the data view a little less cluttered.
Reviews: The ability for those of you who have built some of these kits can review them for others. The reviews will have scales for the quality of materials, documentation and plans as well as a way to rate the kit for accuracy and skill level. It is one thing for the manufacturers to say it, it is more meaningful when those who actually have worked with it say it.
Links to related build logs. Just another way for the MSW to find build logs related to their ships or for people to get a preview of what they may be in for.
Manufacturer Data Page: Just a quick data sheet on the company itself, where it is, contact information etc etc.
Search launch: A simple mechanism for people who may have found a ship they are interested in to one click google search for the kit in question.
That is what I have on my list, the best part (as is usually the case) what comes out of the community.
As I mentioned, my hopes is this becomes a think tank project and grows from ideas provided by the MSW Community.
Why announce it with so much more to do?
Feedback.
Like it, Love it, Hate it I can take it; let me know.
Whether you like it or not; let me know. What people like I will continue with and what they don’t I will try to change so that they do, but I can’t unless I know.
I can promise to take all suggestions and comments under consideration, but can’t promise all will be done.
I will do my best to address concerns and questions as quickly as possible; after all if you take the time to lend a suggestion I can at least take the time to acknowledge it =)
My only goal is to make this as useful as possible and make it a solid resource for the Model Ship World community.
We can use this thread (I think) as the think tank for this project. I will post updates to the database as I do them as well as keep a running list of ideas and where I may be at with them.
Where is this database hosted? I see it doesn’t have an MSW domain.
This is true,
this project is hosted on my own hosting service.
I have been using them for quite some time and have not had any issues so am fairly confident it will have acceptable uptime for us to use this.
The ampitcher.com well, ampitcher is me =)
There is no link behind the scenes to MSW so your MSW information is safe, and this database does not require any sensitive information for you to access it. If you have any concerns please PM Me I will be glad to address them.
This is however an MSW resource, meaning I am doing this for MSW and the MSW community.
People from the outside may find it in a search or what not, but all efforts are to grow from within MSW and to drive TO MSW from the outside. =)
Anything we can do right now to help?
Kit companies and information
I have several in there (see list above) but I know there are more. If you see any companies that are missing please let me know. Right now I am focused on wood kits, but will be adding in plastic and card shortly.
Likewise, while in the database you will see many entries have blank data. This is because of one of several things; either I could not find it, couldn’t figure it out or had conflicting information so wasn’t sure what to put.
IF anyone has any knowledge they can lend me towards those empty slots please PM me with ID (first column) and the information. I will edit them asap! And thank you heartily!! =)
Take a look, let me know what you think and I want to thank you for your time.
Updates will be coming so stay tuned!
For now, if we can limit data error information to PM and leave the forum topic for discussion related to the database, new ideas, feedback and updates – it would be appreciated!!
Thank you again, hope you like it and looking forward to creating the best model ship database on the web – with your help I know we can do it!!
As always
ENJOY!!
I see you have AJ Fisher as a resourse -I drove by his "factory" in Royal Oak, MI and it was closed -is it located some where else
Announcing the Model Ship World Ship Kit Database Project
in Wood ship model kits
Posted
I see you have AJ Fisher as a resourse -I drove by his "factory" in Royal Oak, MI and it was closed -is it located some where else