How manny boats from kits do you have to build to make one from scrats

Pat71

Pat71

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Ik was wondering when you are ready tot built boats Just from
plans. Ik was able to buy aan lot of wood for Just 35 euro. And some brass stuff.
 
Pat71 said:
The wood i bought. Good deal?
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you can never have enough wood......this is a natural law
(created by modelers and not Newton......Newton was yesterday, or? your accident with your leg)
 
Pat71 said:
Ik was wondering when you are ready tot built boats Just from
plans. Ik was able to buy aan lot of wood for Just 35 euro. And some brass stuff.
Click to expand...

That's not an easy question to answer. It depends on your skills. I started building model ships over 30 years ago. The first wooden model ship I ever built was HMS Victory by Mantua. I built 6 Victory's over the years and 2 Wasa kits. However, I started building plank on frame from scratch in my first year of building. Even to this day, I still build kits but I also build from scratch. I have designed 5 POF kits and used to produce them. I'm currently building a Navy Board model of the Dutch Yacht Pegasus which is similar to the Dutch Yacht Utrecht. I've lofted all of the frames and have started making them from scratch using boxwood.

That being said, I am probably the exception to the rules. I have always had good woodworking skills and computer skills. I am self taught and do all of my own CAD work for scratch built models because I have found that most plans for scratchbuilt models are inaccurate. I loft my own frames so I know I will only have to build the framework once. I got burned too many times relying on inaccurate plans when I spent months making frames only to find out that the frame drawings were inaccurate.

So best answer I can give you is that you're ready for scratch building when you think you can do it. If you can look at a set of ship plans and understand how to read them and you can make parts accurately from scratch following those plans, then you're ready. Of course you'll need all kinds of tools including power tools so it's more than just skill.

Take care,

Bob
 
Now we know, that Bob received the kit of the Dutch Yacht.......
....we hope to see your built in a building log here in SOS !?!
 
Tnx for Your answer. About 10 years ago i started drawing in zbrush and wanted to learn cad drawing. Maybe this is a good uppertuni to start learnin it. Hope i can pick it up. Sometimes foggy head because of morfine. You know good way to learn it?
 
hallo Pat de enige manier voor mij is ( denk ik ) is oefenen, is het mis begin opnieuw tot je het onder de knie hebt en altijd in het achterhoofd hebben dat de wereld ook niet in een dag gebouwd is.
groetjes
willy

the only way for me is (I think) is practice, it is wrong start again until you have mastered it and always have in mind that the world is not built in a day
Greetings
willy
 
I was never any good with kits - far too difficult for me, as well as being too large and too expensive. I just got a book telling me how to scratchbuild, and never had any problems with it! That was more than 50 years ago, and I am still building them!
Bob
Port quarter (Large).JPG
 
Ik think i am going to experiment in between the 2 kits i am building now. Espescialy the hull.
 
Yes it does, because it speeds up the cutting of the wood, but you can manage without one and use a hand saw. I am often told that the cost of tools puts modelmakers off scratchbuilding, and then off they go and spend several hundred dollars on a kit! Once you have the tools, you can use them over and over again.
Bob
 
Pat71 said:
Ik was wondering when you are ready tot built boats Just from
plans. Ik was able to buy aan lot of wood for Just 35 euro. And some brass stuff.
Click to expand...
Pat71, personally I have not built a ship from plans, but have built other things from plans and even no plans where I had to make plans from photographs of the real thing. So what I am about to say has some bearing towards scratch building a ship from plans.

If you can read plans, you can draw plans too. By reading plans, you can't get lost. If the plans are wrong, you will notice it and make your own plans (of what is wrong) to correct it.

If you can determine/feel the timber you are using, you will alter your approach to dressing that piece of timber to your will. If not, you will find much will go against the grain for you. If so, STOP, and alter your approach to what you want to do.

If you are prepared to research, learn, and do lots of experimenting before attempting on the actual model. You increase your chances of being very successful.

Lastly, which is my main concern about your question, is your own holding onto doubt. Please let me explain. There is nothing wrong with doubt. In fact it can be a temporary advantage which allows you to determine what is true. Doubt is a form of fear, and the only way to overcome fear is to face it, and do it anyway. Holding onto doubt means one is not prepared to overcome by facing it. So here is a tip. Experiment. Experiment to overcome your doubt. Models may consist of many experiments to eliminate doubt of what is needed to be done on your model. It is repeated experiments until you feel confident. It is in this way we limit the chances of becoming too disheartened to continue, or complete the model.

If you are prepared to be continually challenged, continually learning, and do many experiments (and have many of them go wrong), then you are ready.
 
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What Swabbie says is correct! Most modellers talk themselves out of scratchbuilding by simply deciding that they cannot do it! Bob
 
Tnx for all the time you all spend on my question. I want to learn always with everything in do. I find the hull a difficult part so maybe i can begin with making one and see how that goes. I was a selftought airbrush artist and with every painting i had my problems and a little fear if it was good enough when popstar Prince died i got an email from a magazine in Amerika if i could Do a portret for a tribute to Prince magazine. Then the fear came if i was good enough. At the end they published 4 of them.
 
and I am the odd ball I started with scratch building never did build a kit, well except for the ones I designed from scratch.

you really do not have to start with simple kits and work your way up to harder kits and finally into scratch building.

If you have skills in woodworking some machining skills or modeling skills at building doll houses, model railroading, model anything then you can jump right into scratch building model ships.
as bob said it comes down to your skills in model engineering. I believe if your goal is scratch building then start with scratch building, Starting with scratch building you get a better understanding of the model because you are in square 1 you learn, design and build in steps as you go. I do suggest starting with a simple model there are a couple projects you can build over at MSB, starting with a complex model requires a sharp skill set.

go ahead jump in the deep end this forum is the life guard at the pool we wont let you sink.
 
Hello Pat,I have built 3 kits so far and move on to first scrach built ship ,Hms Ontario,I believe that not much harder than built from kits if you have a good set of plans.
 
Uwek said:
Now we know, that Bob received the kit of the Dutch Yacht.......
....we hope to see your built in a building log here in SOS !?!
Click to expand...
Actually I didn't. I'm building it from scratch. I've already lofted all of the frames and am in the process of building the hull, one frame at a time, using the same methods I used to build my two HMY Fubbs models. Here's a photo of the first 5 frame pairs glued up.

20180603_032019a.jpg
The keel and keelson are added after the model is framed due to tolerance creep which you'll get in this type of model because it's impossible to get every single frame with glue exactly the actual width drawn in CAD. The model is being built out of boxwood and the carvings are swiss pear.

I bought the carvings on taobao.com for about $150.00. The dealer on eBay wants $450.00 for them. They are absolutely gorgeous and extremely detailed in 1:50 scale which is the scale of my scratchbuilt model.


Take care,

Bob
 
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