Looking for ship idea!

I agree with most of the advice already offered in this thread.  I'll take the liberty of offering a few additional, personal observations.

The biggest, most common mistake that newcomers to ship modeling make is to pick a kit that's too advanced and/or of low quality.  Most of the plank-on-bulkhead kits from continental European manufacturers (Mamoli, Artesania Latina, Occre, Amati, Corel, and their ilk) fall into both those categories.  (There are exceptions; you'll find plenty of discussion of the subject if you do a search of this Forum on the word "HECEPOB.")  I strongly recommend that newcomers avoid those kits.

The Midwest kits are excellent.  The company specializes in small craft, rather than big, glamorously decorated sailing ships.  I'm afraid many people turn up their noses at small craft models, but they offer a great deal to the beginner.  Midwest kits contain good materials and excellent, thorough instructions; the company believes in doing whatever it can to ensure that its customers actually finish their models.  (That can't be said about the HECEPOB companies.  HECEPOB, incidentally, stands for Hideously Expensive Continental European Plank-On-Bulkhead.) A Midwest kit won't cost an arm and a leg, and won't take long to build.  The time and money spent on a Midwest kit will be an excellent investment; building it will teach the builder(s) a great deal about techniques, tools, terminology, etc. that will pay off in later, more advanced projects.  (It makes far more sense to learn such things by spending a week or two on a model of a dory than to plunge into a more advanced kit, mess up part of it due to lack of experience, and have to tear it apart and start over.)  And small craft, such as flatties, sharpies, dories, and canoes, actually have a great deal of interesting technology and attractiveness to offer, once you get to know them a little. 

There are three American companies that make good, well-designed, solid-hull sailing ship kits:  A.J. Fisher, Model Shipways, and Bluejacket.  A.J. Fisher is an extremely old firm that went out of business several years ago and has recently been resurrected under new management.  I haven't bought any of the Fisher kits, but on the basis of what I see on the company website I can say that they look excellent.  I've dealt with Bluejacket for many years; it's a fine company that produces genuine scale model kits and provides excellent, personalized service.

Model Shipways is part of the ModelExpo operation.  Like the other American firms, it concentrates on subjects that are attractive and historically important, but less ornate than the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century warships that make up much of the HECEPOB lines.  

I have no idea what caused the problems Snoopy was having with searching the Model Expo website; when I call it up ( http://www.modelexpo-online.com/ ) the box marked "Search" appears immediately in the upper right corner.  Model Expo has indeed deleted some manufacturers' lines recently, but in my opinion they're small losses. 

I can join in recommending either of two Model Shipways kits for starters:  the nineteenth-century pilot boat Phantom and the eighteenth-century colonial schooner Sultana.  Model Expo offers both of them in "special offer" packages containing tools, finishing materials, and copies of George Campbell's outstanding book, The Neophyte Shipmodeler's Jackstay.  As of a few minutes ago the Model Expo website indicated that nineteen of the Phantom "everything you need" kits ( http://www.modelexpo-online.com/product.asp?ITEMNO=MS2027WP ) and twenty-two of the Sultana "build for free" packages ( http://www.modelexpo-online.com/product.asp?ITEMNO=MS2016CB ) were in stock.  (You can also buy the basic kits, without the bonus stuff.  And when dealing with ModelExpo always click on the "E-mail special of the week" box on the homepage.  At the moment, many of the kits in the catalog are being offered for 20% off.)

The Sultana is more expensive and has considerably more elaborate rigging, but is on a larger scale.  (Another of my useful, but almost invariably ignored, suggestions:  start with a small ship on a large scale.)  The Phantom is an exceptionally beautiful little ship with less rigging, but, being more modern, requires the modeler to make up some rather delicate "ironwork" for the spars and rigging.  For what little it's worth, here's a link to some photos of mine: http://hmsvictoryscalemodels.be/JohnTilleyPhantom/index.html .  (In fairness I should mention two things:  that model is based on the resin-hulled version of the kit that was sold a few years ago; the one on the market now has a solid basswood hull.  And I did add some details to it that weren't in the kit.  Just about every ship modeler does that.)

Hope that helps a little.  Good luck.  It's a great hobby.

Yankee Clipper wrote:

If this is your first wooden ship, I would offer some different advice. Take a look at some of the Midwest Kits. They are wood w/ sails if you wish, and are very well done with excellent instructions. If you do not have many woodworking tools on hand these kits still are easy to understand and construct with minimum tools.They provide a basic understanding of putting a wooden ship togather and would be an excellent beginners couse to anyone.

I would agree with Yankee Clipper.  I wanted to build a wooden ship and went with the Midwest Chesapeak Bay Flattie.  The hull went together very easily and the only tools I needed were the Xacto knives and sandpaper I already had (you'll need sealer if you want to paint).  I lost interest in it with only the mast and boom needing to be shaped and the rigging done.  Besides, the Midwest kits are a lot cheaper than most wooden ships so if you decide to bail, you won't be out too much money (about 40.00-50.00 bucks).  You can use wood glue or super glue, I used both.  If you want to learn how to plank, they offer some canoes to build.  Maybe I'll dust mine off soon and finish it.

check out this link. on this kit they have deal that if you completed it within 6 months and sent in a picture of the completed kit you get $69 back in store credit towards any model-shipways products. i've been thinking about doing this one myself just to get started on wood ships.

http://www.modelexpo-online.com/product.asp?ITEMNO=MS2027WP

also here is another website that i came across some time ago. they have some good looking kits. i've been thinking about getting the Latina 1/90 San Francisco II kit but have heard that the planking that they use is rather thick, hard to work with and breaks easily. so i'm hesistant too try but still think it's a good looking kit for the price.

http://www.towerhobbies.com/modelships/index.html

Hi Snoopy,

The best advice I've read is to start with a solid hull model. Try one of the sailing vessels from A. J. Fisher.

Check Model Expo's web site for the Sultana . Here's a link to it.

In fact, go to Model Expo's web site, and do a search for "solid hull." You'll find a lot of good links.

I'm sure others with far more experience than I have will chime in too. This is a good forum. 

Regards,