Model Wooden Ship building question

[Vinda-Lou]

As I'm slowly getting into the Patrick O'Brian "Master and Commander" series, I'm also getting interested in building a model ship.  I saw on Amazon there were a couple of very cool looking kits, but they were in the $300 range!  As I have no experience in building ships, and I surely don't have $300 to spend on them, I'm curious if any of you guys have built wooden ship models.  If so, what would be a decent brand/model to start with, and about how much would they cost?  If I enjoy it, I would quite possibly move on to the more expensive, more complicated ones.  Thanks in advance.

[MonkeyFinger]

Do you actually mean a wooden model, or a model (as in plastic) of a wooden ship? I've done the latter years ago, a rather large version of the USS Consitition complete with hand rigging that I did. It was quite a lot of fun doing all the work and when my brother built a large glass display case for it, it was pretty darn cool. Left it behind when I moved out of state. Pretty sure it was this 1/96 scale kit. Based on the prices you're talking about, I'm guess you mean an actual wooden model, those can be considerably more expensive than a ~$60 plastic kit.

[Ironrod]

I sell a few very basic kits here. The manufacturer sent me an assembled Pirate Ship with my last order. It's cooler than you'd expect from such an easy kit. They're sold as puzzles, but the historical ones that I carry are really more like models.

[Crusis]

If you go for the wooden ship model, get one that has the hull already built.

I purchased a $300+ kit about 6 years ago and have yet to finish it. The planking on the thing is a monster to try and put together. You have to soak the little wood slats in water and mold them onto the hull as you go. You need a ton of tools, add at least $100 for all the extra stuff. Saws, hammers, clamps, vices ... And once I had the damn hull pretty much done I ran into problems. I had to take slats of wood and cut them to force them to mold around the front of the ship. ARGH!

I have at least 100 hours in this thing and all I have completed is the hull and decks. I wish I would have listened to the guy at the hobby store who said to get one with a hull. It might be done now.

I'll see if I can get a picture of the hull so you can see what 100 hours of work looks like.

[Vinda-Lou]

Do you actually mean a wooden model, or a model (as in plastic) of a wooden ship? I've done the latter years ago, a rather large version of the USS Consitition complete with hand rigging that I did. It was quite a lot of fun doing all the work and when my brother built a large glass display case for it, it was pretty darn cool. Left it behind when I moved out of state. Pretty sure it was this 1/96 scale kit. Based on the prices you're talking about, I'm guess you mean an actual wooden model, those can be considerably more expensive than a ~$60 plastic kit.

This looks like a good place to start!  I'm going to check my local hobby store for something like this.

I sell a few very basic kits here. The manufacturer sent me an assembled Pirate Ship with my last order. It's cooler than you'd expect from such an easy kit. They're sold as puzzles, but the historical ones that I carry are really more like models.

Cool website!  My son LOVES these kinds of puzzles.  I'll tell my wife to check it out, as she has been ordering all the gifts online.  Thanks for the link.

If you go for the wooden ship model, get one that has the hull already built.

I purchased a $300+ kit about 6 years ago and have yet to finish it. The planking on the thing is a monster to try and put together. You have to soak the little wood slats in water and mold them onto the hull as you go. You need a ton of tools, add at least $100 for all the extra stuff. Saws, hammers, clamps, vices ... And once I had the damn hull pretty much done I ran into problems. I had to take slats of wood and cut them to force them to mold around the front of the ship. ARGH!

I have at least 100 hours in this thing and all I have completed is the hull and decks. I wish I would have listened to the guy at the hobby store who said to get one with a hull. It might be done now.

I'll see if I can get a picture of the hull so you can see what 100 hours of work looks like.

Wow.  I had no idea it could get this complicated.  It's more alluring and more daunting at the same time.  I'd love to see some pics if you get the time. 

[Vinda-Lou]

Here is the pdf instruction manual for the Constitution from Revell.  Looks suitably complicated. 

[godhugh]

My Dad and I built a pretty complex wooden model ship a couple years back. It probably took around 300 hours of work and a hefty investment in some good Dremel tools. It's very difficult (especially the rigging and the soaking/bending of the hull planks) but very rewarding. I'll try and post some pics later.

[MonkeyFinger]

Here is the pdf instruction manual for the Constitution from Revell.  Looks suitably complicated.  

That it was. I wanted to build a model of a boat, not a teeny little boat boat. 

[Ironrod]

I sell a few very basic kits here. The manufacturer sent me an assembled Pirate Ship with my last order. It's cooler than you'd expect from such an easy kit. They're sold as puzzles, but the historical ones that I carry are really more like models.

Cool website!  My son LOVES these kinds of puzzles.  I'll tell my wife to check it out, as she has been ordering all the gifts online.  Thanks for the link.

This is my opening to call attention to the link in my sig. Tis the season, folks.

[Vinda-Lou]

Ordered the Constitution from Amazon with a gift card.  1:96 size.  I'm assuming I need paints, but what else do I need for a kit like this? 

[kronovan]

I've only made plastic model boats in my youth, but I had a roommate that made traditional boats from wood. I helped him many a weekend because he often got behind. I can imagine making a very authentic model would be similar to the real thing. The advise that Crusis gave is very good, don't every try planking until you're more experienced. That and ribbing are by far the most difficult processes in boat building. Awesome that you're considering it as a hobby though.