Wise words, born of years of experience. Start small, start simple, learn the basics - fundamental advice for just about anything in life. I'll be getting my first wooden model kit soon, and it'll be very basic/beginner level. However, once it's built I'll have something that is gorgeous, and I'll be proud to display, and I'll have learned a lot and taken my first steps in this fascinating and rewarding hobby. Thanks for making this excellent video!
Start small! Now he tells me lol 😆 😂 Great advice, mate. I often wish I had started with a small beginners kit instead of a 140 gun ship of the line 😉 there have been numerous times I have felt overwhelmed simply due to the huge amount of time involved. It's only due to channels like yours that have encouraged me to keep going.
My first model was an OcCre HMS Endurance, now I will be starting on OcCre Titanic. Their instructions are beautifully presented and have videos you can watch to assist you. Enjoy.
Hi Grant, As a newcomer to wooden ship modelling but made plastic kits for years would like to add my thoughts. For my first model I got bought Vanguard Models Sherbourne as a couple of TH-cam videos suggested that it was suitable for beginners. What attracted me to it were the superb instructions, which can be downloaded before buying the kit. I built the frame but found I was a bit out of my depth with the planking. I think I over sanded the frames around the bow, so I stripped off the planks I had applied and put it on the shelf of doom temporarily. I then re-thought what was considered a beginners kit. I the found the Model Shipways 'Dory' but had trouble finding one here in the UK and eventually got one from the US Amazon site. I then found Model Expo who make the kits had an offer on their shipwright combo set so ordered that and it was with me in 5 days from the States, most impressed. So now have two Dorys. I have successfully built the Dory and am well on my way with the second model in the set the Norwegian Pram. If I have one complaint about the models is the Basswood in the kits is very soft and easily marked. I also found another TH-cam channel (Home Harbour) who was building the Occre Polaris and converting it to a pirate ship. I decided to get one and follow his build and this is now ready for it's second planking and I am more than pleased with the first planking layer. I do wish their instruction sheets were a slightly smaller format. I am also slowly redoing the planking on the Sherbourne but am still struggling to get the planking neat around the bow but am doing better the second time and have built up some of the formers round the bow. Of course the rot as started and I have added a Billings boats Will Everard (Thames Barge) and an Artesania Latina San Fransico II to the stash. The instructions are minimal in the Billings kit and are on 2 CDROMs on the Artesania kit which isn't very practical as A: you don't want a laptop on the workbench, well I don't as I don't have space. and B: how many PCs actually have a CD/DVD drive in them these days. I had to buy an external one to view them. Surely they could put them on a USB stick but still leaves you the problem with viewing them on the bench. The first part has over 80 pages to it and would work out expensive to print out. Anyway that's my twp pennyworth. Regards, Mark
Hi Mark, well it certainly looks like the hobby has taken ahold of you, Hull planking is definately the hardest part of a build to master, I have done a video on hull planking which you may find interesting, the best advice i can give is take it slowely dont rush. With regards the instructions I agree totally with you, though I know its too late as you have bought a Cdrom, Artesania Latina do have downloadable instructions on their website, view any of their kits and you will see an instructions download link. Ive found Artesania Latina do tend to have more detailed kits, but quality of parts is not quite as good, Occre have quality parts but not so detailed, Billing boats im not a fan though ive only bought one of their kits, instructions are next to useless, quality of parts is poor, it was supposed to be a wooden model kit 90% of the kit was plastic including the hull. The best kit I have had todate is Caldercraft, but they do tend to be a bit pricey.
@@g-kip I've watched yours and other videos on planking but nothing beats experience. The planking instructions in the Occre Polaris are great but probably not prototypical. As I said the instruction sheets are huge. If you fold them in half they are A4 size. It looked as if the ones in your comparison video were smaller. The only reason I got the Billings kit was the fact they did a Thames barge, which I love. I do actually have one more kit that I got in the late 1990s when I was doing model engineering and that is the Caldercraft Joffre tug kit. I have a Cheddar Models Pintail steam plant for it and I recently retrieved it from my ex wife's garage ( we are still on good terms) so keep looking at that. I thought I had lost the instructions for the steam plant and was sad to see that Cheddar Models are no longer in existence. Luckily they did come to light. Keep the videos coming that Victory kit is very impressive.
Pleasant vid to watch. Well done Grant. After years of plasticmodels, my 1st big serious model was AMATI`s Bismarck, published by Hachette Part Works. Sinds it was a subscription, monthly costs were low, and there was no need for a one time big investment. The model had great step by step explanations, accompanied by foto`s. After 3 or 4 models, i consider myself capable of a scratch-build, though that needs a lot of research. As for space: You will end up needing more space to display your models, then you need space to build them. It is a thing to think of. And as Grant mentioned, there is an ocean of info about paint, glue, shaping, customising and other subjects out there. Bring some patience, and the right mindset, and you will succeed. Every model is unique, even when you build the same one 10 times. Just sharing my history, hoping to motivate and encourage new builders, just as G Kip does.
@@GregWilson635 The one i have build, also had an R/C option. I do not know if the current Amati model still has that. I cannot confirm that the Hachette one is the same as the Amati one, even when the building instructions and basically the model were from Amati. As you may know, materials do change over time even in the same kit. But when build, i had a 1.2 mtr ,5 kg Model, including balance weight and battery. When you choose that option, my advice is to make sure you glue both the inner and outer planking maticulously. The model will need the hull strength. If you would like more detailed info, i will be happy to answer questions, but the answers would come from my model, the Hachette Part Works one.
Hi I would recommend anything from either Artesania Latina or Occre in there beginners to intermediate range, it depends what type of vessel interests you, Occre are currently doing a promotion of the Santa Maria, you get a free tools set.
my first build is deagostini hms victory, im 6years in and the the hull is complete and painted the masts are done and im now on the yards, its been rewarding and extremely stressfull lol. i also have hermione lafayette the Montanes and the occre Albatross which will be next, my weakness is definately hull planking there is not enough content on you tube with step by step guide
A great model, definitely not an easy build, I know the feeling with planking, there is very little information available, I think the best advice I can give is not rush, take your time.
*sigh* it is very late and the thought of making model ships has never crossed my mind until now I have school tomorrow what am I doing here Very cool though
Hi the music volume has been reduced in later videos, this is one of my first videos with voice as opposed to captions, and I hadnt got the volume sorted out.
How did i not know about this hobby before? This is exactly what ive been looking for
Its a great hobby, word of warning time flies by when your doing it.
Wise words, born of years of experience. Start small, start simple, learn the basics - fundamental advice for just about anything in life. I'll be getting my first wooden model kit soon, and it'll be very basic/beginner level. However, once it's built I'll have something that is gorgeous, and I'll be proud to display, and I'll have learned a lot and taken my first steps in this fascinating and rewarding hobby. Thanks for making this excellent video!
Hi Erny, thank you, you will have to let me know what you decide to build, have fun, take your time and enjoy it.
Start small! Now he tells me lol 😆 😂 Great advice, mate. I often wish I had started with a small beginners kit instead of a 140 gun ship of the line 😉 there have been numerous times I have felt overwhelmed simply due to the huge amount of time involved. It's only due to channels like yours that have encouraged me to keep going.
Haha, but your building 3 big ships and more in the pipe line lol
@g-kip I figure I started big, so I may as well keep it going 🤣🤣
My first model was an OcCre HMS Endurance, now I will be starting on OcCre Titanic. Their instructions are beautifully presented and have videos you can watch to assist you.
Enjoy.
Hms Endurance is one I would like to do,
Hi Grant, As a newcomer to wooden ship modelling but made plastic kits for years would like to add my thoughts.
For my first model I got bought Vanguard Models Sherbourne as a couple of TH-cam videos suggested that it was suitable for beginners. What attracted me to it were the superb instructions, which can be downloaded before buying the kit. I built the frame but found I was a bit out of my depth with the planking. I think I over sanded the frames around the bow, so I stripped off the planks I had applied and put it on the shelf of doom temporarily.
I then re-thought what was considered a beginners kit. I the found the Model Shipways 'Dory' but had trouble finding one here in the UK and eventually got one from the US Amazon site. I then found Model Expo who make the kits had an offer on their shipwright combo set so ordered that and it was with me in 5 days from the States, most impressed. So now have two Dorys.
I have successfully built the Dory and am well on my way with the second model in the set the Norwegian Pram. If I have one complaint about the models is the Basswood in the kits is very soft and easily marked.
I also found another TH-cam channel (Home Harbour) who was building the Occre Polaris and converting it to a pirate ship.
I decided to get one and follow his build and this is now ready for it's second planking and I am more than pleased with the first planking layer. I do wish their instruction sheets were a slightly smaller format.
I am also slowly redoing the planking on the Sherbourne but am still struggling to get the planking neat around the bow but am doing better the second time and have built up some of the formers round the bow.
Of course the rot as started and I have added a Billings boats Will Everard (Thames Barge) and an Artesania Latina San Fransico II to the stash. The instructions are minimal in the Billings kit and are on 2 CDROMs on the Artesania kit which isn't very practical as A: you don't want a laptop on the workbench, well I don't as I don't have space. and B: how many PCs actually have a CD/DVD drive in them these days. I had to buy an external one to view them. Surely they could put them on a USB stick but still leaves you the problem with viewing them on the bench. The first part has over 80 pages to it and would work out expensive to print out.
Anyway that's my twp pennyworth.
Regards, Mark
Hi Mark, well it certainly looks like the hobby has taken ahold of you, Hull planking is definately the hardest part of a build to master, I have done a video on hull planking which you may find interesting, the best advice i can give is take it slowely dont rush. With regards the instructions I agree totally with you, though I know its too late as you have bought a Cdrom, Artesania Latina do have downloadable instructions on their website, view any of their kits and you will see an instructions download link. Ive found Artesania Latina do tend to have more detailed kits, but quality of parts is not quite as good, Occre have quality parts but not so detailed, Billing boats im not a fan though ive only bought one of their kits, instructions are next to useless, quality of parts is poor, it was supposed to be a wooden model kit 90% of the kit was plastic including the hull. The best kit I have had todate is Caldercraft, but they do tend to be a bit pricey.
@@g-kip I've watched yours and other videos on planking but nothing beats experience.
The planking instructions in the Occre Polaris are great but probably not prototypical. As I said the instruction sheets are huge. If you fold them in half they are A4 size. It looked as if the ones in your comparison video were smaller.
The only reason I got the Billings kit was the fact they did a Thames barge, which I love.
I do actually have one more kit that I got in the late 1990s when I was doing model engineering and that is the Caldercraft Joffre tug kit. I have a Cheddar Models Pintail steam plant for it and I recently retrieved it from my ex wife's garage ( we are still on good terms) so keep looking at that. I thought I had lost the instructions for the steam plant and was sad to see that Cheddar Models are no longer in existence. Luckily they did come to light.
Keep the videos coming that Victory kit is very impressive.
Pleasant vid to watch. Well done Grant.
After years of plasticmodels, my 1st big serious model was AMATI`s Bismarck, published by Hachette Part Works. Sinds it was a subscription, monthly costs were low, and there was no need for a one time big investment. The model had great step by step explanations, accompanied by foto`s. After 3 or 4 models, i consider myself capable of a scratch-build, though that needs a lot of research.
As for space: You will end up needing more space to display your models, then you need space to build them. It is a thing to think of.
And as Grant mentioned, there is an ocean of info about paint, glue, shaping, customising and other subjects out there.
Bring some patience, and the right mindset, and you will succeed. Every model is unique, even when you build the same one 10 times.
Just sharing my history, hoping to motivate and encourage new builders, just as G Kip does.
Thanks Martin I didnt realise you have built the Bismark, I would like to build the Prince Eugene one day lol
@@g-kip Wouldn`t it be awsesome to have both? They come in the same scale as far as i know.
I've built 5 Bismarks so far, and I'd like to build the Amati one also.
@@GregWilson635 The one i have build, also had an R/C option. I do not know if the current Amati model still has that. I cannot confirm that the Hachette one is the same as the Amati one, even when the building instructions and basically the model were from Amati. As you may know, materials do change over time even in the same kit. But when build, i had a 1.2 mtr ,5 kg Model, including balance weight and battery.
When you choose that option, my advice is to make sure you glue both the inner and outer planking maticulously. The model will need the hull strength. If you would like more detailed info, i will be happy to answer questions, but the answers would come from my model, the Hachette Part Works one.
Sage advice, indeed.
Thanks
I've been thinking about starting this as a hobby for a while, what kit would you recommend for a beginner?
Hi I would recommend anything from either Artesania Latina or Occre in there beginners to intermediate range, it depends what type of vessel interests you, Occre are currently doing a promotion of the Santa Maria, you get a free tools set.
my first build is deagostini hms victory, im 6years in and the the hull is complete and painted the masts are done and im now on the yards, its been rewarding and extremely stressfull lol. i also have hermione lafayette the Montanes and the occre Albatross which will be next, my weakness is definately hull planking there is not enough content on you tube with step by step guide
A great model, definitely not an easy build, I know the feeling with planking, there is very little information available, I think the best advice I can give is not rush, take your time.
Congratulations, an appropriate statement.
Thanks Wolfgang
better finish off the HMAS Endeavour, started it 10 years ago
Hi Gregory that's a bit of break, it took me about three years on and off to complete my first kit.
*sigh* it is very late and the thought of making model ships has never crossed my mind until now I have school tomorrow what am I doing here
Very cool though
@@theoneandonlysarachnicrabitor Thank you, its a great hobby
Stop the music
Hi the music volume has been reduced in later videos, this is one of my first videos with voice as opposed to captions, and I hadnt got the volume sorted out.