Book Collection for a Newbie

[tomsimon]

Hi Team MSW:

 

I am interested to discover what other books I (a newbie) should read to acquire the best know how and how-to, before I dive off into my first build.  Here is my existing book collection, and what other books should I add?  Thanks

 

Ship Modeling Simplified: Mastini, Frank

Lusci's Ship Model Builder's Handbook: Lusci, Vincenzo

Period Model Boat Manual: Conte, J.D.

Ship Modeling from Stem to Stern: Roth, Milton

Planking Techniques for Model Ship Builders: Dressel, Donald

Period Ship Kit Builder's Manual: Julier, Keith

[trippwj]

That's a good start.  Any particular style of model or time period?

 

While older, you may also want to look into books by Charles Davis or Underhill. 

[allanyed]

I agree with Wayne, but if you know what model you want to start with, be it scratch or kit, POB or POF, rigged or unrigged, and approximate year of the vessel, that would narrow down the list to something a lot more affordable.

Allan

[tomsimon]

Thanks for your help. Kits would be 1600-1700, rigged, plank on bulkhead. Looking forward to further book suggestions. 

[Roger Pellett]

Your choice of books depends on what you want to do.  Are you satisfied with buying kits and assembling them using kit supplied parts?  Do you want to replace some parts with those that you make yourself?  Are you interested in “kit bashing” to produce a more historically accurate model?  Are you interested in scratch building?

 

Different approaches to modeling require different reference and research materials.

 

Roger

[tomsimon]

Hi Roger: I am satisfied with buying kits and assembling them using kit supplied parts.

[allanyed]

Tom,

 

Good kits are not cheap so you may be better off asking here at MSW which kits have the best materials and which are closest to being historically accurate.  Some kits offer neither.  Start a build log once you begin and you will likely get more and better help from members here than most books which tend to be more appropriate for scratch building and even for kit bashing as mentioned by Roger.    

 

You mention you are a newbie, so is this your first wooden ship model?  If it is, I would urge you to start with something small and not as complex as most of the 17th century kits available.   

 

Also, as a newbie, be sure to read the forum here at MSW on pirated kits before you make your purchase so you do not get stuck with one of these illegal knockoffs.

 

Allan

 

 

Edited December 25, 2020 by allanyed

[bolin]

I started with model ship building a year ago, and I got some of the same books as you have listed. Specifically I got the ones by Mastini, Roth and Julier. None of them has proven as useful as Underhills book though, and I haven’t even finished reading it yet...

 

What I have read, extensively, though are build logs here at MSW. Together with actually getting experience by building models, the build logs have taught me a lot and showed many different ways of doing things.

[tomsimon]

Thanks for the info. I’ll be sure to lookup Underhill’s Books, as well as posting to the build log section for guidance. 

[Roger Pellett]

The worst ship model is one one not built.  I have been attempting to build quality ship models for more years than I care to remember and in the process have built some that were bad beyond belief.  I still have some purchased fittings in my stash that were stripped from the models before they were trashed Over time my skills have gradually improved to the point where I now have a collection of models that I am proud of.

 

My advice is, decide on what type and period of ship that you would like to build that involves the skills that you would like to develop.  Buy the simplest kit that meets these criteria.  Get busy and build it.  Don’t worry if you make mistakes.  Everyone makes mistakes and remembers them.  Finish the model and move on.  Knowledge and skills will only improve over time by doing.

 

 

[tomsimon]

Thanks, Roger. I am grateful for your guidance Since I am focusing on plank on bulkhead models, would it be wise to read up on Underhill’s books Vol 1 and 2, as those seem to be about plank on frame?  Thanks. 

[Jaager]

Just now, tomsimon said:

 Since I am focusing on plank on bulkhead models, would it be wise to read up on Underhill’s books Vol 1 and 2, as those seem to be about plank on frame?

As far as Underhill, Davis, Petrejus, Longridge, Frolich are concerned as regards POB,  the great danger is that you will be seduced over to the dark side = scratch building. 

But once POB reaches a first layer being planked stage,  everything from there on - the actual hull planking, decks, furniture, etc - it is all the same irrespective of what the underlying hull structure is.

The goal of books that focus on scratch building is excellence and historical accuracy.  It is better to learn from the best.  I am pretty sure that the build logs here in the POB kit forum have in total way more useful instruction than can be found in books that focus on POB.   Why I think this is inherent in how and why POB books come to be, is probably best left not expressed.

[mtaylor]

You might also have a look in our database as there articles on many if not most of the processes we use in model ship building.

 

https://thenrg.org/resource/articles

[Roger Pellett]

Buy a simple kit, read the instructions, make sawdust and finish the model warts and all.  Experience is the best teacher.

[Landlubber Mike]

Look at some of the very detailed construction manuals like the one Chuck did for the MS Confederacy.  Probably one of the best resources for folks fairly new to the hobby.

[Cathead]

I'm going to be a bit of a young curmudgeon here and say that I did not find most of the standard books on wooden ship building particularly helpful when I was getting started 4-5 years ago. Most of them felt very out of date, frankly, and really weren't relevant to the quality and development level of modern kits. And this is coming from a voracious consumer of books who loves to learn by reading. 

 

As Roger says, a well-designed modern kit, with good instructions, will likely teach you at least as much as a decades-old book, and you'll be doing while you learn. As will spending time engaging with this forum and reading others' build logs. Even as references, books may not be as handy as the internet for a beginner; eventually you may want the definitive tome on 18th century rigging practices, but at any level of introduction to the hobby you may well be better off learning from others online and searching for the specific answers you want. Not to mention that videos are often better teachers these days than old books.

 

Everyone learns differently, so this may not apply to you. But at the very least, you might consider requesting a few books through interlibrary loan to see if they are actually good matches for you before you splash out lots of money for a library. I quickly outgrew what little I did learn from the books I bought, and now wish I'd put that money to better use as the books now gather dust since they became irrelevant within a year, especially once I found MSW with its far broader scope of far more up to date information and advice.

[Bob Cleek]

I've been keeping my powder dry, but now that It's been said before, I'll pile on. Start simple. Those who provide you with such advice usually have decades of highly involved interest in ship modeling and all have the experience to verify that modeling is a craft, and indeed an art, in which one's skill and ability always increases in the doing of it. This forum is probably the premier ship-modeling forum in the world. There are some amazing artists and craftsmen posting build logs here and the concentration of master modelers in this forum may mislead the beginner into thinking such work is the norm. Their work certainly isn't commonplace and it definitely isn't easy. 

 

Others certainly have more experience with kits than I do, but I am familiar with what has hit the market in close to the last fifty years and I feel confident in saying that I know of no kit model of any fully-rigged Seventeenth Century vessel of the type you are contemplating that I would consider suitable for any but the most highly-experienced kit-builder to undertake. I know there are those who have done so and succeeded to one degree or another, but they are rare exceptions indeed. A beginning modeler is well-advised to select a kit suitable for beginners. These less complex kits are capable of producing every bit as elegant a model when done well as are the "monster" kits. I wouldn't advise a beginner to attempt to build any planked kit other than the high quality ones of recent vintage which provide laser-cut planks. A beginner has enough of a learning curve to deal with besides doing their own lining off and spiling the shapes of the planks and, it should also be mentioned that the shape of a hull in large measure determines the difficulty involved in planking it. A transom-sterned longboat is much easier to plank than an apple-bowed and counter-sterned warship. The beginner is also well-advised to steer clear of square-rigged vessels until they have two or three fore-and-aft-rigged kits under their belt. The increase in the complexity of square rig is exponential. The way to success is first "Do the common thing uncommonly well."

 

Read up as much as possible on any specific kit you are considering. This forum has extensive kit review data available. Be aware that many kits are wholly incapable of producing model in the color glossy picture on its box's cover. That model was built by a highly experienced modeler who almost certainly did not limit themselves to the parts and materials contained in the kit and honest kit manufacturers will disclose that in the fine print somewhere. Most experienced kit modelers who have not "gone over to the dark side" and abandoned kits entirely routinely at least replace all the kit-supplied planking wood and rigging blocks and line because they are simply not up to their standards. (The after-market for such materials and fittings is testimony to the shortcomings of many kits!)

 

A last bit of advice to a beginning kit builder is to select a kit that has been well-covered in the build logs section of this forum. They will provide a very valuable source of instruction as a new builder builds the same kit. Others' mistakes can be almost as instructional as our own! You don't have to re-invent the wheel.

 

While I doubt there's any reliable data available on the subject, I believe most experienced modelers would agree that the percentage of kit models completed is but a small fraction of those purchased, which is pretty remarkable considering the price of many of the more complex kits. There's no point in encouraging the undertaking of a project which is beyond the abilities of the builder. The whole point of the exercise is to enjoy doing it.

 

If you want to get an idea of what a top of the line kit suitable for a "determined beginner's," first and second builds, I'd recommend you check these two out. Their entire "how to build it" monographs are accessible from their websites. The longboat also has a "group build" project posted on this forum and linked from the webpage.

 

https://syrenshipmodelcompany.com/medway-longboat-1742.php

 

https://syrenshipmodelcompany.com/revenue-cutter-cheerful-1806.php#

 

 

 

 

[Roger Pellett]

One last piece of advice in addition, not instead, of the above.

 

Try to pick a subject that will hold your interest.  Whatever you decide to do this, by today’s way of looking at things, will be a lengthy project.  If in a burst of enthusiasm, and seduced by the box art, you buy something and then lose interest later your kit will join the majority of those never completed.

 

Roger

 

 

[popeye2sea]

I will take a different tack here.  Instead of just focusing on the how to technique books you have listed you should also look into some of the go to period references that will educate you in the ways of ship fitting , masting and rigging.  The more information you can get about how and why things are the way they are on a ship the easier it will be to model them.

 

Regards,