Another member

[Surcouf]

Hello all, I am a 21 yo student from France. I have some previous experience with modeling (wargaming and science fiction) but I never really worked on one intricate scale model. When I was looking into trying that sort of stuff, I realized that ship modeling appealing to me and particularly wooden ships, as wood seemed much more enticing to me than plastic.

 

I have not built anything yet but I saw some nice, relatively simple models online. I intend to stick with various rather simple fishing boats models to develop the skills to tackle more ambitious projects. I will also be looking into small models as size is an issue since there is not much room where I live.

 

The community here seems really amazing so I hope to learn a lot from the more experienced modelers  on the forum. On that note, I know I will have to buy specific tools for wood modeling but there are so many of them I don't know which one are necessary and which one I can buy later on, so it would be nice if someone could give me advice on that.

[ccoyle]

Welcome!

 

For tools, the best advice is don't go overboard on buying a lot of them to start with, as very often you will acquire many that you don't often use later. If you are starting out with essentially no tools at all, it may be a good idea to start out with tool set, such as those that are sold by X-acto. These are sometimes marketed for different kinds of models, i.e. one specific for trains, another for ships, etc. I started out with a "train" set but found that most of the included tools were equally useful for ships. Another good idea is to hold off on buying tools until after you actually purchase a model, since many model kits will give you some idea of what tools are needed to build the kit. Also, as you read through the instructions, you will get an idea of what is needed to complete each particular step of construction.

 

There is a lot of individual tastes involved in tool selection as well, since there is often more than one way to do a task, and not everyone agrees on how best to do it. It's all part of the journey!

 

Cheers!

[Jim Lad]

Hello Surcouf, and a warm welcome to the forum from 'Down Under'.

 

John

[mtaylor]

[spars]

Hello. Here's a suggestion. Model Shipways is an on line maker of kits which will replace parts you mess up. You need to keep the documentation to get the right parts. Go to Model Expo for more info. They have great sales.