USS Constitution

This would probably be the better place to ask as it is devoted to wooden ships. snipped-for-privacy@yahoogroups.com John
Zman wrote:

: : I've been thinking about a wooden model of the USS Constitution or : somthing similarly time absorbing. : Which one were you considering? I seem to recall on in plastic, and at least one in wood. The wooden one would be more, umm, authentic. :-)
The biggest problem I have with the plastic kits is the spars are so easily distorted by the rigging.
Bruce

Wooden boat modellers do lurk here ! Great hobby as long as you have the time and LOTS of patience. You'll also end up boring the pants off your friends about the history as well.
Choose your first kit carefully - try a smaller easier one to keep your interest and enthusiam, then move on to something more challenging like the Constitution later. I've read that your second kit will be twice as good as your first which is often true! Get the best quality kit you can afford. If you are going to spend that much time and energy on one model then a few extra £$? aint going to make much difference, but a poor quality kit can be a real downer !
Good luck
J

Which one were you considering? I seem to recall on in plastic, and at least one in wood. The wooden one would be more, umm, authentic. :-)
How authentic would that be? I read a review of a frigate made from the same kind of woods as the actual ship--the end point being how bad it looked. The best wood for a ship model would probably make a pretty crappy actual ship. Wooden ships are fine if you've a couple of years with nothing else to do, and a certainty that you're not going to lose interest in those two years.

This group is okay, several sailing ship modelers here. However, a better bet is the shipmodeler's mailing list. Go to seaways.com and find the signup info, or go to snipped-for-privacy@yahoogroups.com
However, before you even do that, how much do you really want to build a wooden sailing ship model? This is the most difficult genre in modeling, and you must plan on spending a couple of years doing one, even if you are an experienced modelers. Most kits bought end up unfinished. The shipmodeling list will be a good support group if you want to stick with it.
A three master such as the Consitution is NOT a beginner's model. I'd recommend you either build the Revell plastic one first, or if you really want to build a wooden one, start with a single masted sloop model.
There are two really daunting tasks on these models- rigging and hull planking. To have to tackle both on your first kit is asking for trouble. That is why I suggest the plastic Revell kit, so you only need to face rigging. Or, with a simple sloop you face hull planking, but just simple rigging. Either hull planking or a full ship rigging is a multi-hundred hour task by itself.

I concur that many of the European wood kits are NOT that authentic. The Revell kit is not bad for accuracy even if it is plastic. The American kits, such as model shipways, are much better researched and accurate than the Spanish and Italian ones.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - don't put all the European ship modelling kits in the "same boat" !!
Try J

How about all Spanish and Italian ones?

Waited long enough to respond to your original post. As with any kit, it all depends on the skills you have when you start the kit. My recommendation is to start with an entry level model, then graduate to the more complex ones. All wooden boat model makers have entry level kits. Artesania Latina has the Swift, a very nice kit. Even though it is an entry level, you'll find some difficulty building it. Try the web sites that some of the other posters gave you, they are helpful. Get a few reference books also. I could name a few that come to mind, but they are still packed from my move from Virginia to Texas about a year and a half ago.
As to European models being more difficult to build or instructions not too understandable, I compare them to AMT/Ertl and Revell-Monogram to Tamiya and Hasegawa plastic kits. On the one hand Tamiya and Hesegawa (imports) makes excellent kits, on the other hand, I stopped building AMT/Ertl and Revell-Monogram because of the many flaws in their kits.
My two cents, if you have any questions, please write to my email address.
Ray Austin, Texas ===
Zman wrote: