Hello from Arkansas

[TheRedGnome]

Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening!  My name is Dan and I'm happy to have found such a wonderful community.  These forums are a treasure trove of knowledge and ideas, from both amateur and veteran builders.  As a youth I would build cars & airplanes (both plastic) due to my asthma preventing me from doing a lot of physical activities, so the basic concepts of modelling aren't foreign to me.  My dad was also super handy with tools and wood working... I'm even lucky enough to have a hobby vice that's been in my family for generations (it was my great great grandfather's), just needs some cleaning and a fresh coat of paint.

 

At the time, I lived in Maryland near Solomon's Island not far from the Pax River Naval base.  I always wanted to start building wooden ships, but startup costs were considerably higher compared to the plastic kits that I could get over at the local general hobby store like Micheal's.  In 2002 when I turned 13, I moved to the middle of nowhere northeast Arkansas with the rest of my family leaving the nautical world behind.  I try to surround myself with anything that deals with the ocean... my work office is decorated with a couple paintings of ships and has various things I've picked up through the years of living by the Atlantic (including part of a whale vertebrae that I found on the beach one day), my home has a fresh water aquarium and I'm working on constructing a salt water aquarium.  My home office is rather small, especially since my wife and I share it for the time being, so it hampers the space I have for decor here... and I also have a toddler, so shelf space to store things out of reach of little fingers are a high value commodity.  As such, my current working space is also small (just the L portion of my computer desk).

 

I can finally start getting into building the models I always dreamed of building now that I'm well into my career (software programmer for 12 years), life is pretty stable (at least, as stable as it can be in these turbulent times), and have the financial means for it (you can't deny that it does cost a fair amount to start up... but what hobby doesn't really?).  I started out with the Model Shipway's Skipjack, since that ship originated from the area I grew up in.  I'll get a couple pictures of it up to this thread later, they're currently sitting on my phone.  There's a build log up for my current work in progress, Artesania Latina's Mayflower, that I'll keep updated weekly

[TheRedGnome]

The vice i was talking about above (pics were taken by my father before I was able to pick it up), as well as the skipjack I've already completed. The skipjack was also my first real attempt at airbrush painting.

 

[MEDDO]

 

very nice first build there.  The mayflower is a good choice and I am sure there are many who will help with any issues you come across.  

[TheRedGnome]

Thanks for the welcome Meddo.  I've already learned a lot about what others have done for their own Mayflowers, as well as others that were built around the same time period.  It's nice having so many people to talk about the little things.

[Ryland Craze]

Welcome to Model Ship World Dan.  You did a good job on building your skipjack.  I am glad you started a build log on your Mayflower as it will be nice to follow your progress.

[JeffT]

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[mtaylor]

Welcome to MSW, Dan.   

[allanyed]

Hi Dan,   Welcome to MSW and thank you very much for your introduction.   Feels like we now know you a bit  and that is a good thing.    Don't fret about being too near the sea, you are less than 500 miles up river from Pilottown at the delta.     :>)   Be very happy to have your heirloom vise.    I have the very good fortune to have my grandfather's  work bench which is just over 100 years old now.  Again, welcome aboard.

 

Allan

[TheRedGnome]

Thanks again for the warm welcome everyone. Also thanks for the remarks about my skipjack Ryland and Meddo, I learned a lot while making it... especially when it came to applying CA glue.

 

Allen, I'll eventually be moving back out towards the ocean within the decade, it's something my wife and I are saving up for.  I planned on getting the vice cleaned up this weekend.  I know there's a number very faintly stamped into the metal, hoping to find out the manufacturer during its restoration.

[Old Collingwood]

Welcome  aboard, you will find planty of help  (if you need it)  and all round wonderful chatter.

 

OC.

[TheRedGnome]

Thanks for the welcome Old Collingwood. One thing I've been seeing is that a lot of people build their ships in relatively the same amount of space that I have available to me, and the other half have power tools and a full blown shop.  The wife has started seeing me looking at workspace setups and asking if I'm about to head to the hardware store and buy a bunch of lumber to do the same. 

[Old Collingwood]

43 minutes ago, TheRedGnome said:

Thanks for the welcome Old Collingwood. One thing I've been seeing is that a lot of people build their ships in relatively the same amount of space that I have available to me, and the other half have power tools and a full blown shop.  The wife has started seeing me looking at workspace setups and asking if I'm about to head to the hardware store and buy a bunch of lumber to do the same. 

I think it depends on the size of your project  and the available space you have, also with the project  - it also  depends on the  scale of difficulty  of the kit  and range of your skills, this would affect how many tools  and other things you need to  work on your project.

 

As a kind of example  - my work space is our dining room table that I have commondered   and use just for my model building now, it gives me an area  of about 4 x 3 feet  but it does the job.

 

OC.

[TheRedGnome]

Of course, of course.  I guess I should have put a /s in there somewhere, but thinking back on it I'm sure y'all see a lot of newer modelers going out to buy a bunch of tools and such that they don't actually need (or know how to use), and then fall out of the hobby.

 

At most, I'll be purchasing some wood to make myself a basic tool holder, one of those shelves with a bunch of holes in it that the tools sit in, so they're not all over my desk.  I might also get some stuff to fabricate a better building board, since right now mine is just a flat/smooth 2' by 1' ceramic tile that I got at Home Depot on clearance.  The only major purchase I'll be making in the near future in regards to this hobby is something to hold my plans better.  I've been looking at magnetic white boards on rollers and will purchase one later this fall/winter.

[Old Collingwood]

8 hours ago, TheRedGnome said:

Of course, of course.  I guess I should have put a /s in there somewhere, but thinking back on it I'm sure y'all see a lot of newer modelers going out to buy a bunch of tools and such that they don't actually need (or know how to use), and then fall out of the hobby.

 

At most, I'll be purchasing some wood to make myself a basic tool holder, one of those shelves with a bunch of holes in it that the tools sit in, so they're not all over my desk.  I might also get some stuff to fabricate a better building board, since right now mine is just a flat/smooth 2' by 1' ceramic tile that I got at Home Depot on clearance.  The only major purchase I'll be making in the near future in regards to this hobby is something to hold my plans better.  I've been looking at magnetic white boards on rollers and will purchase one later this fall/winter.

Sounds like a plan, dont foreget to start a build log when you deside what you want to build.

 

OC.

[TheRedGnome]

Already have one going. Decided on the Mayflower from Artesania Latina. I had picked it up from a hobby shop in Memphis back in July.  If you have the time, feel free to take a gander at it.

[GrandpaPhil]

Welcome!