At 3:31, I mention the Crabtree collection with respect to Princess Royal (Legacy of a Ship Model), I meant to say Rogers collection. Thank you to Vincent McCullough for pointing out the error.
I'm in my early 70's and trying to build models for a long time. Tom's an inspiration. Hope I can use a fraction of his knowledge in my efforts. This is impressive. I've got tons to learn. The concept of scale is something I'll be paying lots more attention to. Keep up the amazing work!
I'm glad you were able to take something from them. Hope you keep watching. I'm planning another video on the subject in the near future. A couple of comments from someone led me to new insights on the topic and I think they might be worth sharing.
@@shipmodelguy I've seen all your videos, Tom, and occasionally go back to them for reference. Bring a cargo ship sailor, ship models have been a window into the imagination and adventure since I was a young boy. The sea still beckons. . .
Excellent video. You have stirred my interest in revisiting this craft. I built a Billings Boat,French tuna fishing vessel, many years ago and it turned out quite handsome.I gave it to my father for his 60th birthday. I am now 60 and yearning to have another go at building something . Thanks.
Tom, excellent presentation. I particularly liked the comparison between accurized and standard commercial blocks. The impact if tapering the sheave hole was dramatic. I’d never seen a comparison like this before.
Outstanding video, Tom. Good philosophy, the discipline of detail. Hope to see many more videos, possibly a start-to-finish series covering a particular model. Just ordered the Steel book online. Thanks for the great info.
Sure hope you stick around and make more videos, really love the content you share and the instructions you give are some of the best I have found on the web and I have been hunting for good videos now for more than three years.
Thanks, Kevin. Yes, there are more videos planned. They should start to show up in the next two weeks. So, as they used to say back in the good old days, "Say tuned to this channel".
Tom, as you well know, one of my favorite subjects! I have not explored all of your videos so I don't know if you have talked about oars, but that is one of my pet peeves with many modelers. I have assessed some really fine models that failed miserably because the modeler's oar representations were way our of scale. Keep preaching scale and compelling impression my friend.
The collection at the Naval Academy Museum in a Annapolis is the Rogers Collection. Th Crabtree Collection is at the Mariners Museum in Newport News, and is a collection of (exquisite) models built in the 20th century by a single modeler, August Crabtree.
ahhh colors and scale... thats one for the everlasting forum debates. Personally I prefere to paint all my models with a color as accurate as possible, and then weather it, blending it into a scale appearance. If you start scaling it out of the tin, you have to take into consideration the time of day, and what month and so on. And light differs alot and will effect how you percive the color., and if the lighting in the room you are displaying the model is not consistent with how you "scaled" your color, its gooing to look "off" anyway. But i totally agree that more builders need to put more into their painting. Generally speaking, the wooden boat building community can take alot of leasons from the plastic building community when it comes to painting and weathering models. Really good stuff on the blocks, i think that most people that build the boat kits, are using the supplied blocks because they are there and paid for already. (i work in a hobbyshop in the weekends and generally speaking, Convinience and price are factors when customers pick out models. ) Im looking forward to your rigging video.
I agree with your point about the plastic model community's approach to painting. The ship model guys could certainly take a page from their book, especially where weathering and washes are concerned. I've seen fishing schooners that are finished like yachts instead of working boats. I do disagree with your assessment of colors looking 'off' due to different lighting conditions. I've had my models displayed in public places with varying degrees of artificial and natural light and in museums where the lighting tends to be more subdued. I have not noticed any appreciable effect on the paint job. As you would assume, that would be the kind of thing I would be hyper sensitive to. I appreciate your comments and your passion, Claes. Keep the comments coming!
@@shipmodelguy yes, an expansion would be great. The information you give in this video is invaluable. I have now watched it twice. I have even added some of the information in a book I am writing for myself on model making.
I hated metric when it was introduced in the UK back in the seventies. Need I say more? Video shared on my forum, hopefully I can prevent further gloss Bluenoses? Thank you.
I’ve often sad the when a casual observer looks at a ship model they won’t necessarily notice each and every detail but they will notice the overall lack of detail. And just an aside. Syren Ship Models is owned by Chuck Passaro in New Jersey, not Connecticut. One other comment, you gave an excellent and clear presentation.
With the right books to guide you, it isn't magic. I think rigging has become my favorite part of the process. And, I always try to make the next one more true (i.e. fewer mistakes) than the last.
The comparison of the blocks demonstrates your point amazingly well. Even though I knew you were right, I found it difficult not to think that you might be being a bit too picky. But the amount difference it makes is insane. Do you have a recommendation for a brand that makes kits with good quality materials, I want to get into building model ships and I'd love to have a recommendation from someone with your experience.
The whole concept of "Compelling Impression" is based on perception. When a person looks at a ship model from across a room, it looks like a ship. How close do you get before it stops looking like a ship and starts looking like a ship model. The idea behind compelling impression is to keep the viewer in the bubble in another reality as long as possible. And if you do it really well, they will never realize they are looking at a model. That bubble is a very delicate thing. It can be burst by any out of scale or poorly done component on the model. Am I being picky about the size of blocks? Absolutely and here's why: errors in or deviations from scale fidelity have a cumulative effect. The average viewer may not be able to tell you when a specific part has been incorrectly made or has been made too big or too small, but they will register something as perhaps being "not quite right". The more of those seemingly insignificant errors or deviations are on the model, the easier it become to burst the viewer's compelling impression bubble. My goal as a model builder is to keep you in that bubble until someone comes along to drag you away. So to some, it may seem like picking nits, but to me it's the reason I build the next model: to become better at keeping you that that bubble
Bluejacket Shipcrafters in Searsport, Maine and Model Shipways/ModelEpo are two of the best kit purveyors I know of. I tend to steer clear of the European kits because of a different aesthetic. Bluejacket's aftermarket "Britannia" metal blocks are the closest in appearance to the real thing, but because they are cast, they still require a bit of hand work.
We've been metric in the UK for so many years dealing with fractions seems howlingly complicated. One US guy asked when we we're going to scrap it, he couldn't cope with it, it 'makes no sense'. I asked him if he had trouble with American currency!?
I flip back and forth between fractions and thousandths. I personally find thousandths easiest to deal with, but making the videos, I'm never sure how familiar with that format most viewers are, so...
@@shipmodelguy Europe is all metric of course. UK changed about 1970 when we stopped using pounds, shillings and pence. 240 pence to a pound, makes no sense now but I was used to it back then and had difficulty converting to the new system. When I use American tools, drills etc, I measure with my vernier in mm.
If you're used to expressing measurements in thousandths of an inch (ex: 1/8"=.125"), then there isn't much advantage to switching to metric. It would also mean converting plans from imperial, which most of them are drawn in, to metric. It would probably introduce another layer of confusion and opportunity for errors. A long time ago, I memorized decimal equivalents of fractional dimensions, so it makes sense and is highly accurate for me to stick with the imperial system.
how come 9" on the right side of the picture (view side of the block) is .184 and on the left side the same measurement ( the front view) of 9" give you different value of .157? . my regards Bob
At about 23:55, I mention that the slot in the block is actually .157" (or 7-1/2 inches in real life), which I say is a little under the .188 we need. But, better to be a little under than over. The 9" measurement on the side is .184", just .004 under. Not bad! The entire measuring process was just an academic exercise to see how close the the block maker came to real dimensions. And, in this case, they came very close. Hopefully, it also illustrates that as model builders, we need to constantly check our materials and processes to insure scale fidelity.
Kevin Deleon I would need a bit more information to answer that question. What kind of a ship is it? What country? What time period, etc. Once you have all that data, you can look up the size you need in the tables of a book like Steele's Elements or Underhill's book on Masting and Rigging the Clipper Ship and Ocean Carrier. If your ship carried 12" dead eyes, the size of your dead eyes would be 12 divided by 60 and then converted to mm's
great vid! love the attention to detail. but sir. you just destroyed my vision of my model sitting in a gallery some day... LOL!. guess im having a hard time finding my "niche"... it seems ship modeling is one extreme or another. one end of the scale I just have no interest in and at the other end I just don't have the skill set. so here I am....
The longer I do this, the more I realize that findings one's niche is a very dynamic process. There is a TH-cam channel called, "Clickspring" . This guy is lightyears ahead of most folks who do metal working. I know I will never come close, but in the few weeks that I've watched his videos and tried to do what he does, my scale metal work has visibly imporved. A high tide truly does lift all boats. Glad you are enjoying the videos and thanks for writing.. Tom
Please start using metris scale, this is a nightmare for europeans. We buy in litres, kilos and only use imperial for oldies , i think in inches but bever used thousands. I buy chain in inches, but rope in mm
Sorry the imperial measurements are causing you so much trouble. There are a couple of things you could do to ease the pain that won't cause too much loss of scale fidelity. The scales I work in are all based in inches, ex: 1:48, or 1/4"=1'. And, they were established long before either of us were born. Case in point: British Dockyard models were generally built to 1:48 scale. There are plenty of metric/imperial conversion tables on the web. Here's a link to one; www.epsilonengineer.com/inch-to-metric-table.html There are plenty more if this one doesn't fit your needs. I have one I keep for reference and it does come in handy from time to time. As far as dealing with thousandths of an inch, the solution for that is pretty painless also. You can buy an inexpensive pair of digital calipers, either from the local hardware store or online. I have several pair in my shop. They all measure in thousandths of an inch, or hundredths of mms. If you need to know what .061" equals in mms, just hit the little button, and faster than you can say "Bob's your uncle", you'll know it's 1.55mm. As far as my including or converting to metric for future videos, that is not very likely, since I am no longer producing any more tutorial style videos. If you need more info or clarification, feel free to contact me through my website: tjlauria.com/contact
A new Dollar bill is three thousandths. A used Dollar bill is four thousands. My dovetail saw is 20 thousands. And I wouldn't understand a thing if you spoke in metric!
At 3:31, I mention the Crabtree collection with respect to Princess Royal (Legacy of a Ship Model), I meant to say Rogers collection. Thank you to Vincent McCullough for pointing out the error.
Outstanding video. I have greatly enjoyed your expertise in every video I have viewed.
I'm in my early 70's and trying to build models for a long time. Tom's an inspiration. Hope I can use a fraction of his knowledge in my efforts. This is impressive. I've got tons to learn. The concept of scale is something I'll be paying lots more attention to. Keep up the amazing work!
Thanks. Hope this helps. Tom
Thank you, Tom, for teaching me the value of scale of color, texture, and detail. My models will certainly benefit from your wisdom.
I'm glad you were able to take something from them. Hope you keep watching. I'm planning another video on the subject in the near future. A couple of comments from someone led me to new insights on the topic and I think they might be worth sharing.
@@shipmodelguy I've seen all your videos, Tom, and occasionally go back to them for reference. Bring a cargo ship sailor, ship models have been a window into the imagination and adventure since I was a young boy. The sea still beckons. . .
Excellent video. You have stirred my interest in revisiting this craft. I built a Billings Boat,French tuna fishing vessel, many years ago and it turned out quite handsome.I gave it to my father for his 60th birthday. I am now 60 and yearning to have another go at building something . Thanks.
Tom, excellent presentation. I particularly liked the comparison between accurized and standard commercial blocks. The impact if tapering the sheave hole was dramatic. I’d never seen a comparison like this before.
Outstanding video, Tom. Good philosophy, the discipline of detail. Hope to see many more videos, possibly a start-to-finish series covering a particular model. Just ordered the Steel book online. Thanks for the great info.
Great work Tom! Loved it!!
Glad you enjoyed it. More to come.
Sure hope you stick around and make more videos, really love the content you share and the instructions you give are some of the best I have found on the web and I have been hunting for good videos now for more than three years.
Thanks, Kevin. Yes, there are more videos planned. They should start to show up in the next two weeks. So, as they used to say back in the good old days, "Say tuned to this channel".
Thanks Tom, I know what a challenge it is to make videos and appreciate all your efforts!
Tom, as you well know, one of my favorite subjects! I have not explored all of your videos so I don't know if you have talked about oars, but that is one of my pet peeves with many modelers. I have assessed some really fine models that failed miserably because the modeler's oar representations were way our of scale. Keep preaching scale and compelling impression my friend.
Thanks for the input Tom (deck planking), it was indeed a help. Happy Holidays to you and family! David M Brancato.
Same to you!
Excellent points. Thank you
The collection at the Naval Academy Museum in a Annapolis is the Rogers Collection. Th Crabtree Collection is at the Mariners Museum in Newport News, and is a collection of (exquisite) models built in the 20th century by a single modeler, August Crabtree.
You are, of course right. I stand corrected. I had several brain farts during the taping of this video. Thanks for the comment.
ahhh colors and scale... thats one for the everlasting forum debates.
Personally I prefere to paint all my models with a color as accurate as possible, and then weather it, blending it into a scale appearance. If you start scaling it out of the tin, you have to take into consideration the time of day, and what month and so on. And light differs alot and will effect how you percive the color., and if the lighting in the room you are displaying the model is not consistent with how you "scaled" your color, its gooing to look "off" anyway. But i totally agree that more builders need to put more into their painting. Generally speaking, the wooden boat building community can take alot of leasons from the plastic building community when it comes to painting and weathering models.
Really good stuff on the blocks, i think that most people that build the boat kits, are using the supplied blocks because they are there and paid for already. (i work in a hobbyshop in the weekends and generally speaking, Convinience and price are factors when customers pick out models. )
Im looking forward to your rigging video.
I agree with your point about the plastic model community's approach to painting. The ship model guys could certainly take a page from their book, especially where weathering and washes are concerned. I've seen fishing schooners that are finished like yachts instead of working boats. I do disagree with your assessment of colors looking 'off' due to different lighting conditions. I've had my models displayed in public places with varying degrees of artificial and natural light and in museums where the lighting tends to be more subdued. I have not noticed any appreciable effect on the paint job. As you would assume, that would be the kind of thing I would be hyper sensitive to. I appreciate your comments and your passion, Claes. Keep the comments coming!
So true. You gave a great explaination of color definition and perspective
Thanks
I'v seen the Crabtree Collection ... Scary impressive!!!
It's on my bucket list.
This is AWESOME! Thank you so much!!
Good explanation. Thanks Tom!
Thanks. Since I've had three years to reflect on the subject, I'm thinking about an update, or more correctly, an expansion.
@@shipmodelguy yes, an expansion would be great. The information you give in this video is invaluable. I have now watched it twice. I have even added some of the information in a book I am writing for myself on model making.
I hated metric when it was introduced in the UK back in the seventies. Need I say more? Video shared on my forum, hopefully I can prevent further gloss Bluenoses? Thank you.
I’ve often sad the when a casual observer looks at a ship model they won’t necessarily notice each and every detail but they will notice the overall lack of detail. And just an aside. Syren Ship Models is owned by Chuck Passaro in New Jersey, not Connecticut.
One other comment, you gave an excellent and clear presentation.
Thanks for the correction, Barry. I'm not sure why I thought they were in Connecticut. Seems I mis-spoke more than once in this one.
Brilliant
Enjoying this immensely. As elsewhere in life, the devil is in the detail. Thank you. (Just a small tip: not all your viewers are north american ; P)
Very good thank you
I model this way.
Most kits need help.
I admit not tackling rigging just yet!
With the right books to guide you, it isn't magic. I think rigging has become my favorite part of the process. And, I always try to make the next one more true (i.e. fewer mistakes) than the last.
The comparison of the blocks demonstrates your point amazingly well. Even though I knew you were right, I found it difficult not to think that you might be being a bit too picky. But the amount difference it makes is insane.
Do you have a recommendation for a brand that makes kits with good quality materials, I want to get into building model ships and I'd love to have a recommendation from someone with your experience.
The whole concept of "Compelling Impression" is based on perception. When a person looks at a ship model from across a room, it looks like a ship. How close do you get before it stops looking like a ship and starts looking like a ship model. The idea behind compelling impression is to keep the viewer in the bubble in another reality as long as possible. And if you do it really well, they will never realize they are looking at a model. That bubble is a very delicate thing. It can be burst by any out of scale or poorly done component on the model.
Am I being picky about the size of blocks? Absolutely and here's why: errors in or deviations from scale fidelity have a cumulative effect. The average viewer may not be able to tell you when a specific part has been incorrectly made or has been made too big or too small, but they will register something as perhaps being "not quite right". The more of those seemingly insignificant errors or deviations are on the model, the easier it become to burst the viewer's compelling impression bubble. My goal as a model builder is to keep you in that bubble until someone comes along to drag you away. So to some, it may seem like picking nits, but to me it's the reason I build the next model: to become better at keeping you that that bubble
Bluejacket Shipcrafters in Searsport, Maine and Model Shipways/ModelEpo are two of the best kit purveyors I know of. I tend to steer clear of the European kits because of a different aesthetic. Bluejacket's aftermarket "Britannia" metal blocks are the closest in appearance to the real thing, but because they are cast, they still require a bit of hand work.
@@shipmodelguy thanks
I wonder if scale blocks could be fabricated with a microlight 3D printer?
We've been metric in the UK for so many years dealing with fractions seems howlingly complicated. One US guy asked when we we're going to scrap it, he couldn't cope with it, it 'makes no sense'. I asked him if he had trouble with American currency!?
I flip back and forth between fractions and thousandths. I personally find thousandths easiest to deal with, but making the videos, I'm never sure how familiar with that format most viewers are, so...
@@shipmodelguy Europe is all metric of course. UK changed about 1970 when we stopped using pounds, shillings and pence. 240 pence to a pound, makes no sense now but I was used to it back then and had difficulty converting to the new system. When I use American tools, drills etc, I measure with my vernier in mm.
Tom did Erik Ronnberg write a book or paper about blocks? Thank you
I wonder if it would make things easier to work in metric instead of inches and feet?
If you're used to expressing measurements in thousandths of an inch (ex: 1/8"=.125"), then there isn't much advantage to switching to metric. It would also mean converting plans from imperial, which most of them are drawn in, to metric. It would probably introduce another layer of confusion and opportunity for errors. A long time ago, I memorized decimal equivalents of fractional dimensions, so it makes sense and is highly accurate for me to stick with the imperial system.
@@shipmodelguy Thank you. Makes sense
how come 9" on the right side of the picture (view side of the block) is .184 and on the left side the same measurement ( the front view) of 9" give you different value of .157? . my regards Bob
At about 23:55, I mention that the slot in the block is actually .157" (or 7-1/2 inches in real life), which I say is a little under the .188 we need. But, better to be a little under than over. The 9" measurement on the side is .184", just .004 under. Not bad! The entire measuring process was just an academic exercise to see how close the the block maker came to real dimensions. And, in this case, they came very close. Hopefully, it also illustrates that as model builders, we need to constantly check our materials and processes to insure scale fidelity.
How many millimeters should my deadeyes be for 1/60th scale?
Kevin Deleon I would need a bit more information to answer that question. What kind of a ship is it? What country? What time period, etc.
Once you have all that data, you can look up the size you need in the tables of a book like Steele's Elements or Underhill's book on Masting and Rigging the Clipper Ship and Ocean Carrier. If your ship carried 12" dead eyes, the size of your dead eyes would be 12 divided by 60 and then converted to mm's
great vid! love the attention to detail. but sir. you just destroyed my vision of my model sitting in a gallery some day... LOL!. guess im having a hard time finding my "niche"... it seems ship modeling is one extreme or another. one end of the scale I just have no interest in and at the other end I just don't have the skill set. so here I am....
The longer I do this, the more I realize that findings one's niche is a very dynamic process. There is a TH-cam channel called, "Clickspring" . This guy is lightyears ahead of most folks who do metal working. I know I will never come close, but in the few weeks that I've watched his videos and tried to do what he does, my scale metal work has visibly imporved. A high tide truly does lift all boats.
Glad you are enjoying the videos and thanks for writing..
Tom
Please start using metris scale, this is a nightmare for europeans. We buy in litres, kilos and only use imperial for oldies , i think in inches but bever used thousands.
I buy chain in inches, but rope in mm
Sorry the imperial measurements are causing you so much trouble. There are a couple of things you could do to ease the pain that won't cause too much loss of scale fidelity.
The scales I work in are all based in inches, ex: 1:48, or 1/4"=1'. And, they were established long before either of us were born. Case in point: British Dockyard models were generally built to 1:48 scale. There are plenty of metric/imperial conversion tables on the web. Here's a link to one; www.epsilonengineer.com/inch-to-metric-table.html There are plenty more if this one doesn't fit your needs. I have one I keep for reference and it does come in handy from time to time.
As far as dealing with thousandths of an inch, the solution for that is pretty painless also. You can buy an inexpensive pair of digital calipers, either from the local hardware store or online. I have several pair in my shop. They all measure in thousandths of an inch, or hundredths of mms. If you need to know what .061" equals in mms, just hit the little button, and faster than you can say "Bob's your uncle", you'll know it's 1.55mm.
As far as my including or converting to metric for future videos, that is not very likely, since I am no longer producing any more tutorial style videos.
If you need more info or clarification, feel free to contact me through my website: tjlauria.com/contact
A new Dollar bill is three thousandths. A used Dollar bill is four thousands. My dovetail saw is 20 thousands. And I wouldn't understand a thing if you spoke in metric!
I struggle with it constantly. Guess I'm just an Imperial kinda guy.