Where to start?

[Nixa Jim]

On 1/11/2023 at 11:54 AM, Jaager said:

OcCre HMS Beagle is 1:60.

Cotton is not a fiber that can come close to scale sails as a fabric at 60 times smaller.

No cloth fabric that is a practical choice will fit to scale.   You have to be willfully delusional to see the OcCre sails as scale realistic,  if academic and historically accurate is your standard,  but that is not the majority standard.

 

The paper that is used as covering on aircraft models - one brand is SilkSpan - is more realistic.

For a kit model, this is best done as a scratch addition.  It is not easily done well as an assembly line product.

The cost of materials probably comes closer to $5 per model, when spread over the number of projects that the minimum size of each component will serve.   Of course, the cost of your labor will exceed $50, even if  minimum wage is the basis. 

 

For most ship models,  if you do manage to sell it, the return would probably barely cover the cost of materials - if that.  It requires real artistic skill, an outside reputation, and ruthless efficiency plus economy to get any return on your labor.

 

Plastic models are far more focused on fine details and an exacting finish than with a model made of wood.  Because it is wood,  if the original subject was also wood,  doing much more than what is minimally sufficient for a finish is lost to view and overpowered by the natural material.

 

It sounds like I have to get a pretty good feel for ship building w/o sails and then hone my skills and start on sails. Thank you for the info.

[Nixa Jim]

Thanks for the info. I don't plan to sell any of my models, at least for now. It's just a hobby to keep me busy. 

I did purchase the Beagle and the sails came in the kit.

What type of glue has anyone found to be their preference and what glue not to use? I do have quite a bit of yellow wood glue available. Any reason not to use this? 

[RossR]

No reason not to use it.  There are some applications that CA glue is appropriate.  Some people use one or the other exclusively, but most people use both I believe.  The Occre instructions will say to use contact cement or cobblers glue for some items. I have had good luck with this, but I think most people on the forum avoid contact cement.  I use CA when I can, because I get a little impatient waiting for glue to dry. 

 

When you get to rigging, dilute some white glue or your wood glue with water 50/50 and use a drop to help secure your knots. 

 

My first kit was the HMS Beagle and If you haven't started watching the youtube videos that Occre has available I would recommend it.