A newbe.... another one!

[bnw]

Hi you all, greetings from The Netherlands!

I am thinking of entering this beuatiful hobby of wooden ship building.

 

I am 52, but from childhood always busy with all sorts of craftwork, drawing, and so on. Plastic model kits, RC planes, electronics, etc. At home, I also do most of the maintenance and work myself. I work as an Industrial Product Designer and regularly make prototypes of my new designs.

 

So I am used to all kinds of materials, tools and different work.

But I am new in wooden Ship modelling and I am aware that I will have to learn a whole lot and will make mistakes when building my first ship (end second, and third....)

 

But I think I will manage to learn this great hobby! I also like to do small and precise work and my (first) project does not need to be finished within a few weeks, so I will not set deadlines! Just enjoy, learn and be amazed by the designs of great ships, build during the history!

 

I know, If I ask what the best beginners ship will be, several different opinions can lead to several different ships.

The last weeks I have read a lot of Forum threads, here and on other forums. I already learned a lot of that and I am sure, I'm sure I will use a lot of those threads and build  logs, when starting to build on my own.

 

I know it is important to start building a kit, which is doable, but I find it also important to build a ship which I like by design. Because that is one of the motivations to build it.

 

At the moment, I am looking for 2 or 3 kits:

- Mantua Arm 82

- Artesania Latina Bluenose II

- Artesania Latina Harvey

 

The Arm 82 is a nice piece of Dutch ship history. I have read several times, that this is a great kit to start with. The hull does not need to be planked. That will be a bit easier, but actualy I would like to learn planking also.....

 

Even if the Arm 82 is a great ship, I really like the design of ships like the Pen Duick and the Bluenose II more (I know, both are not exactly the same).

 

So I am also interested in the AL Bluenose II. It is not mentioned as a beginnersship, but I have read several build logs where this kit was the builders first one to build.

It has a double layer planking. So I can practice planking twice with this ship! And am I right that a double layer is a bit easier for the final finish because the final layer has a better surface (of course if you put enough effort in the first layer).

 

How do you feel about this?

Other alternatives with about the same design as the Bluenose, same kind of ship?

[Y.T.]

Age of 52 is too young for wooden ship building. 😊

[bnw]

12 minutes ago, Y.T. said:

Age of 52 is too young for wooden ship building. 😊

Haha, tnx!

On another forum they were only discussing that almost no young people do this kind of work/hobby, but with my age I cannot change that!

[Y.T.]

I was just kidding. Myself had started the hobby about that age.

[Jim Lad]

Hello, and a warm welcome to MSW from 'Down Under'.

 

John

[bnw]

1 hour ago, Jim Lad said:

Hello, and a warm welcome to MSW from 'Down Under'.

 

John

Thank you!

Thinking about it, centuries ago, we met new friends whole over the world by sailing the big oceans with nicely crafted ships, nowadays we make new contacts worldwide by contributing to a forum about building models from those same ships!

[ccoyle]

Welcome aboard!

[GrandpaPhil]

Welcome!

[palmerit]

Did you also check out Vanguard Models? Beautiful and great as a first model (the Novice kits). Great materials, detailed instructions, lots of build logs here. My first was their Sherbourne. 

[Ronald-V]

Welkom!

 

If you really like to have more answers about which ship would be good for a beginner, you should consider start a new thread for this. But it is always a bit of a difficult question to answer, because it depends how handy you are to begin with. 

 

I don't think you have selected really difficult subjects...and with starting a build log you get also help with questions etc. I think it's indeed important to select something you find interesting... that makes it easier to finish, instead of something you not really like.

 

Also try to find similar build logs for the models you have chosen...you get a good idea skipping through those if something is doable.

 

And yes...double layer hulls are a bit easier, because you learn a lot with the first layer, which you can correct with the second.

 

And I agree with Palmerit his suggestion. Vanguard Models is really good in terms of quality but especially their manuals.

But not sure if you like the subjects they offer.

 

Have fun here! 🙂

Edited 5 hours ago by Ronald-V

[bnw]

Thank you all for your warm welcome!

 

I understand it is difficult to advise someone when you don't know hers or his skills.

And for me it is a bit difficult to estimate which ship will be doable because I have to build my first ship yet....

 

But all advice is helpful and the existing build logs are great.

 

And yes, when starting to build it may be wise to start my own build log.

Because the building will take some time, it can also take a while for new episodes in my build log, but on the other hand, I am probably not the only wo may take it easy and will take a lot of time, so I can learn and get the nicest result as possible.

 

But a building log will hopefully results in help from others and good advice. As others say: better ask questions first before gluing!

 

I will take a look at the Vanguard models if there is a model I like and if they are sold overhere.

Edited 28 minutes ago by bnw