Any tall ship model builders?

[Buck Rackham]

Anyone out there building these gems? I'm a rather novice at the hobby, having build only two, the San Francisco, a galleon and the CSS Alabama, a rather famous confederate war ship. I am at present building the Mayflower and my goal is to finally build the USS Constitution. However, the price of this model keeps going up and up and is now well over $350. Anyway, the wench wants me to build the Black Falcon, a pirate ship, but I'd rather build Drake's Golden Hind.

[Patrick Hand]

Did you buy them as a "kit" (OK.... I kinda know the ansewer...)

I looked at some of the wood ship kits..... WOW... the prices..... (guess the time spent and the finished product would be worth it.....)

Think it would be fun...... but I spend to much time playing on the computer to do any "real" hobby................

[Buck Rackham]

All my life I was into model building, mostly cars as a youth, then into aircraft and race cars as I got older. The older I got, the more into the various models I got. I quite building models about 13 years ago and never thought much about it. However, about three years ago, because we only had one computer at that time (now we have way too many), I decided that because my wife wanted to use the computer as much as I did, I needed something to keep me busy while she was on the PC. I went to the local hobby store and looked at the wooden ship models. I was shocked to see the price of these models, but was determined to buy one and put it together. The ship I chose was the cheapest and ran a mere $130 at the store. I later found that I could purchase this ship for around $80 on the internet, but it was too late. Anyway, I loved building the San Francisco and learned an awful lot about ships. It took me nearly a year to build this beauty and though I know and can see countless mistakes in the finished product, everyone who sees it just marvels at it. I then purchased the CSS Alabama and built that model for my son and his wife. That ship took a little longer to build but it is simply beautiful and again, I learned lots of history not only about this ship, but many others as well. I am now working on my third ship, the Mayflower, which is very similar to the first ship. This model goes to my daughter and her husband.

While it is true that these models cost a lot of money, the rewards are much more with the finished product. I've noticed that of late, the price of the models throughout the internet have really gone through the roof, I am still wanting to purchase and build the USS Constitution which will run me probably around $350 or so for the kit. These are not models that one would see in a childs room, hanging from the ceiling, but are museum pieces that take not only time, but precision to build. I've got probably about $500 worth of tools that I've purchased to help me make them better.

There are those who build their ships from scratch and they not only pick and choose which wood they want, but also cure, slice and cut the wood from the start. Some of this will take years to accomplish. The many fittings can be purchase on line, or as some of those old pros do, they cast and make them themselves. I guess I don't have enough life left in me to try to accomplish some of that, but just building from a kit gives me plenty of satisfaction. One thing about it though, it's addictive for sure. :)

[Patrick Hand]

WOW... I guess it would be worth the time....

I just wouldn't want to start such an expensive project and not finish it..... I've only seen one person that tryed to make a wooden model ship..... but there is so much to do... so the finished project "hopefully" would be worth the efffort.....

[Buck Rackham]

In deed, it's a work of love. I might go a month or so without working on the ship (I'm in that stage right now) but working with wood keeps it real so to speak. One can purchase cheaper ships than those that I've been wanting for much less than $100 and if you catch them on sale, you can pick one up for close to $60 and less. There are also "mini" models that will run less than $40 but they have much less detail. But it's the detail that makes these beauties. At times, I have to wear not only strong reading glasses, but a magnifyer headset that has not one, but three settings. I also have to use a needle threader when I'm working with the rigging. That's where it really gets fun. You should give it a shot sometime.

[Scupper]

I be an award winning model maker meself. I build armor, aircraft, sci fi, figures and now I've started ships. I build in plastic, resin or white metal. Figure one day i'll work my way up to the complex wood models ye be talking about. I've seen plastic models that have had alot of handmade parts added as wella s realistic sails. You are hard pressed to tell them apart from the wooden ones expect at extreme close up.

Scupper

[Buck Rackham]

Aye Scupper, and them plastic models can be just about as expensive as well. The beauty of this hobby is that it has given me a wonderful education about the old tall ships. The instructions assume that the builder knows the meaning of every name and part on the ship. Also, sometimes, and this is often as the models are mostly made overseas, the instructions are very hard to understand and that's why they are rated like they are (experienced, advanced, easy, etc.) One day I would love to build a ship from scratch, but I'm just not sure if I ever will. Those that are master builders can take a picture of a ship at a few angles and reproduce it beautifully. That's a bit beyond what I want to do. :)