Newbie just starting needing help

[NomaD7801]

Hi I'm Damon. I'm totally new to this. I have experience making cars, gundams, and planes. My grandfather left me a 1978 German Revell pirate ship, wooden model kit. The parts are not cut out of the wood boards, they are just printed on them. One board, for the deck, is cut all the way through. Should I bother trying to cut these boards out. They look like they should have been cut out, as I have seen the same types of board used. 

[mtaylor]

Back then, they did things one of two ways as there was no laser cutting.  They either printed the parts or die cut them with metal die that usually went dull pretty quick.  As for cutting, it looks like you'll have to cut even the big pieces as they're not cut all the way through.  Sort of like scratch building except the parts already drawn on the wood.

[Dr PR]

Back in the mid 20th century many (most, all?) kits supplied sheets of wood with the part outlines printed on them. You had to cut out the pieces one by one. Looks like someone started cutting out the center/keel part.

[PopDavid]

Those were the days!  I would recommend cutting and sawing until you get close, but not into the printed lines.  Then sand and file as needed to fit. Sand any left over ink off.  I never did figured out whether to finish to the line, middle of the line or all the line.  Any other opinions out here?   

[NomaD7801]

2 hours ago, Dr PR said:

Back in the mid 20th century many (most, all?) kits supplied sheets of wood with the part outlines printed on them. You had to cut out the pieces one by one. Looks like someone started cutting out the center/keel part.

I started cutting the center, just outside the line using a bow/coping saw. It's those tiny parts on the printed board that are going to be the worst.

[ccoyle]

Hmm -- that's an interesting photo. It's curious that this was called a Schnellbaukasten, or "quick-build kit", considering that one has to cut out the printed parts. Typically, "quick build" (one also sees "weekender" kits on the market) means that a kit is a simplified design intended to make construction easier at the expense of fidelity to the subject. In this case, the subject is a flight of fancy, since the makers are conflating the terms "pirate" and "slaver". Either way, the hull form doesn't look right for the 1840s. 

 

Enjoy building this little bit of modeling history -- I'll be interested to see how it turns out.

 

Cheers!

[GrandpaPhil]

Welcome!  

 

That kit looks like fun!

[mtaylor]

22 hours ago, PopDavid said:

 I never did figured out whether to finish to the line, middle of the line or all the line.  Any other opinions out here?   

I read somewhere (maybe a woodworking page) that either or but be consistent. 

[Jonny 007]

If I can add a bit of advise, one newbie to another here.

The first ship kit I intended to make was an early kit, that, like yours was printed on the wood and not laser cut.

I found it incredibly frustrating to build with many of the smaller parts breaking and also very very time consuming.

In the end I managed to get the hull planked and that’s where I left it. It was a poor kit with poor instructions and it would involve a lot of ‘kit bashing’ (making bits from scratch) to make it a presentable model.

Like you, I was no stranger to model making, and I am a carpenter by trade (with a vast array of tools) but I still found it a steep learning curve.

 

So, here is my advise. Put this kit to one side for now and start with something newer and more modern. Build your skills and then once you have a kit or two under your belt come back to this.

That way you will be able to do your Grandfathers kit justice and build it into a great model.

 

Just my $0.02