Brewerpaul Posted December 28, 2020 Report Share Posted December 28, 2020 Hi-- I'm currently building a 1/64 Pride of Baltimore II from a kit. Working on the ship's boat,I've found that I'm enjoying working on these small boats. Does anyone make kits for small scale wooden sailing ships? Is scratch building pretty much the only way to go? Thanks. Chasseur and IgorSky 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSiemens Posted January 4, 2021 Report Share Posted January 4, 2021 You know. I know ship in bottle kits are hard to come by but I haven't explored miniature ship kits. In general scratch is the way to go. There's a lot of freedom in building what ever you want. I understand the hesitancy though. I'll have to have a look around and see what I can find as far as miniature kits. For real small I know there's the war gaming models. One could paint one of those up and model out the masts and sails and have a really good looking miniature ship. Maybe that's the place to look. Chasseur 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exwafoo Posted January 5, 2021 Report Share Posted January 5, 2021 Langton Miniatures do a very good range of 1/1200 ships, mainly from the Nelson's Navy period. These are white metal castings, with a choice of sail sets in either white metal or brass and with photo etched shrouds and extras. There are some 1/300 ones as well, but these are pricy. http://www.rodlangton.com/ Their book on assembly, painting and rigging is pretty good. You would have to rethink assembling masts, sails and rigging to bottle them though. Their are some utube videos on these if you search. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewerpaul Posted January 5, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2021 Those metal kits are pretty, but not what I was looking for. I'd like to find wood kits to build small tall ship type models.Like a Schooner about 6-8" long. I wouldn't want to bottle it,just have a nice little model to display. As someone posted, scratch might be the only to achieve this, but I don't know anything about scratch building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exwafoo Posted January 5, 2021 Report Share Posted January 5, 2021 (edited) If you want to start in scratch building smaller models, may I suggest you have a look at some of the e-books by Robert Wilson FRSA at this link. Robert A Wilson - Payhip 'Scratch building Merchant Sailing Ships - A Dying Art' is a good one (£2.49) Likewise '900-ton Barque Part I - Building the hull' and '900-Ton Part II ' . ( £ 1.49 each) Lots of others well priced as well. He also has a couple of freebies such as how to build a display case. Edited January 5, 2021 by exwafoo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSiemens Posted January 5, 2021 Report Share Posted January 5, 2021 Been doing some digging but I'm not finding anything in six to eight inches that's wooden. Lots of plastic but not wooden kits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shipbuilder Posted January 6, 2021 Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 (edited) Hello BrewerPaul I rarerly come here these days, because I am totally lacking in patience for things like ships in bottles, but do quite a lot of miniature work. As far as I know, there are no kits for miniatures, and this is about all that you will find written on the subject. https://payhip.com/b/T98k Scroll down a bit after it opens to read the synopsis. Then, if you wish to purchase a download, a button for Paypal or cards is provided for £1.49. Here is a Utube presentation of the build. This is as simple as they get, and very few hand tools are needed, especially if you use balsa wood. https://youtu.be/j5ESlw72qHY You will find some more of my builds here on Bottled Shipbuilder. https://www.bottledshipbuilder.com/topic/444-small-topsail-schooner/ These models do not cost much to build, but they do require a bit of practice., but acceptable results are normally obtained on the first attempt as long as you can dismiss the thought "I could never do that!" There are no knots at all in the rigging, and special methods make it relatively simple. I have given up on most forums, but felt that you were quite keen to start miniatures. Edited January 6, 2021 by Shipbuilder JesseLee, Bernard Kelly and exwafoo 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewerpaul Posted January 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 12 hours ago, DSiemens said: Been doing some digging but I'm not finding anything in six to eight inches that's wooden. Lots of plastic but not wooden kits. Thanks. I appreciate your efforts. Small models like this all seem to be solid hull, and that eliminates my biggest fear of scratch building. I couldn't imagine going from a plan and doing a bulkhead and strake build of a hull. Carving I can do, especially if I use balsa. There have been some excellent links posted here, so I may give it a shot. It'll be a while anyway since my current "big" ship Pride Of Baltimore II will still be a long time in the shipyard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewerpaul Posted January 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 3 hours ago, Shipbuilder said: Hello BrewerPaul I rarerly come here these days, because I am totally lacking in patience for things like ships in bottles, but do quite a lot of miniature work. As far as I know, there are no kits for miniatures, and this is about all that you will find written on the subject. https://payhip.com/b/T98k Scroll down a bit after it opens to read the synopsis. Then, if you wish to purchase a download, a button for Paypal or cards is provided for £1.49. Here is a Utube presentation of the build. This is as simple as they get, and very few hand tools are needed, especially if you use balsa wood. https://youtu.be/j5ESlw72qHY You will find some more of my builds here on Bottled Shipbuilder. https://www.bottledshipbuilder.com/topic/444-small-topsail-schooner/ These models do not cost much to build, but they do require a bit of practice., but acceptable results are normally obtained on the first attempt as long as you can dismiss the thought "I could never do that!" There are no knots at all in the rigging, and special methods make it relatively simple. I have given up on most forums, but felt that you were quite keen to start miniatures. Thanks Shipbuilder! These are exactly what I was looking for. I'm browsing all of your plans and may well download something soon, even though it will be a long time before I complete my current Pride of Baltimore II. Hmmm...it might be fun to do a simultaneous miniature version of her. I already have highly detailed plans, and the real ship is a mere hour from where I live. Some years ago I visited Mystic Seaport (HIGHLY recommended for anyone with a love of the sea and ships). In their museum shop they had several astounding small models of sailing ships. The ones I recall were maybe twice the size of yours but were unlike anything I'd seen before or since. They were set in "seas". One side of each of these models were fully planked and detailed but the other side was unplanked,revealing details below decks. There were even tiny seamen at work below decks,on deck and aloft. I dearly wish I remember the name of the modeler so I could find pictures of these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shipbuilder Posted January 6, 2021 Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 Models like the Sicily take only a few hours to buid. Ones like the one pictured take a little longer. For anyone into Facebook, I have a group: Merchant Ships in Miniature - Link https://www.facebook.com/groups/1841532386133008 Over 4,000 members, and very active, with both sail and steam, but merchant ships only - Closed group, but one can apply to join. Many techniques are supplied by members almost on a daily basis- JesseLee, exwafoo and Bernard Kelly 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewerpaul Posted January 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 Just applied to the Facebook group. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shipbuilder Posted January 6, 2021 Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 Approved your request a few minutes ago - welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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