So very well said T.B.
I think the main problem with the model builders is that they stay away from building ship for many reasons. It’s different to build, it’s a challange in mind. I think ships must be more encouraged, that’s why I like Finescale better when a ship is on cover.
I find here in my Home Town of Brisbane Australia we have some Hobby Shops that are very well stocked with Ship Kits from most Manufacturers. They can get expensive but you pays your Money and get what you want. I look at it money well Spent versus the Time to build a Ship Kit. I usually work in 700 and 350 Scales. It is up to each individual Modeller to decide how much work they wish to put into a Kit. This could be A/M Sets and a Great Paint Scheme or simply OOB… Agreed that they can take longer to build then some other Genres but the decision of the Builder what they want to buy and what to build is entirely up to them. I know that the % of Ship Modellers is very small in the general Model Community but I find some of the other Genre Builders come up and say that it is too difficult for them to build a Ship Kit to a great standard due to the Size and the complexity.
While I build all genres of models, I consider ships to be my specialty. But in spite of this, I build fewer ships than models of other genres. Why? Because ships are major projects. I have built ship models with over two thousand parts. I can finish most models in four to six weeks, or even quicker. But ships take me anywhere from two or three months to as much as a year. Thus, the length of time it takes me to build a ship model means I buy fewer. If other ship modelers face the same problem, it seems reasonable that hobby shops would sell fewer kits than other genres.
While the shelf areas in my LHSs are comparable to other genres, the boxes are quite a bit bigger, so they do contain fewer kits, and fewer numbers of kits of same item.
Also, in my model clubs, I find some folks stay away from ship models due to the long build time.
All this being said, I am thrilled with the quality of modern ship kits (I have been building ship models for over sixty years), and the wide range of subjects compared with long ago. Certainly better to be a ship modeler today than half a century ago. The one area where I notice a decline is in scratch building of ships, especially sailing ships, reflected by difficulties in buying fittings like blocks, deadeyes, belaying pins, small eyelets, etc.
Rick,
I didn’t say that all shipmodeling had to be held at a higher standard from the point of view of an individual modeler. That individual can be his model anyway he wants.
Shipmodels are held to higher standards than most other types of available kits, etc.
Don is correct, I believe, in saying that ship kits don’t “feed” the industry as well as aircraft and vechicles precisely because building ship models take longer. Fewer kits are sold because each project tend to be a long one.
Compromises in ship “correctness” will always be with us. Without some heavy scratch work, which maybe beyond the individual’s skill level, showing that Fletcher-class at a given point in its career, may not be possible for a given build. More often than not though, the builder, when displaying his model or posting photos will list his reasons for the differences.
It doesn’t mean it HAS to be that way with ships, but the trend to explain the compromises is there. Aircraft, etc., modelers can be as detailed too, but the tradition doesn’t seem to hold them to the level of detail and accuracy that ships are held to.
Perhaps the hobby is worse off for it, but I can’t deny that it is there and personally subscribe to it.
A modeler building the cruiser Newport News for a relative that served aboard the ship after the Vietnam gun turret explosion would be motivated to show the turret with the missing gun barrel. Would the same modeler have the same motivation to model the parking lot dings on a model of the same relative’s '57 Chevy? Probably not, although it maybe fun if he did.
Bottom line is for everyone to keep modeling fun.
that’s funny. i live in colorado and ROCKY MOUNTAIN SHIPWRIGHTS is one of the largest ship clubs in the country.
I am more bothered by the ratio of naval vs commercial ship kits than I am the number of ship kits vs other genre. But then, it is probably about the same as the number of civil aircraft kits vs military ones. I like to build the stuff I see around me, not the exotic stuff only seen at a few military bases. There are some landmark historic civil aircraft that have no decent kits available, while about every possible version of fighter planes is available. Same thing with ships- there are ships/boats in wide everyday use that must be scratchbuilt if you want to do a model.
Rick;
You said what needed to be said as well . I see no rant here . I can safely say that the example you gave was good . For a beautiful model .The Revell ARIZONA oob.or the Buckley or Forrest Sherman begs this opinion . Just build them , they are beautiful right as they are . T.B. P.S. There is a terrible shortage of civilian subjects in suitable scales though .
The large 1/350 German warships and Japanese ww2 made a big impact in ship modeling.It will take about five years to complete one of those to I.P.M.S. Standards.
I have seen a little 1/48 scale super detailed P-47m beat out a large 1/350 scale super detail Bizmark.The thunderbolt got best of show.The same person built both and entered them .
Yeah Silver ;
I have seen that too .Tis a shame but it does happen . T.B.
Ships just aren’t really in the news at all these days. It’s not like anyone thinks about them. And they’re fiddly to build, and don’t really have that “macho appeal” of a tank. They don’t go really fast like a muscle car, and they don’t have the lines of a high speed jet, nor the historical appeal of many other genres. I’ve built one–the USS Constitution, but have no plans to revisit the genre.
I have 4 of them in my stash and honestly, it’s the time it would take to build one that has me balking at it. I look at all the antenna wire detail I’d need to do to do it “right” and that alone has me focused on planes. Especially with the 1/350 USS Missouri.
There sure are a lot of kits out there though. Even a new USS Texas, which could fun as a few short road trips to verify real world detail, etc. could be done. A luxury I’ve never had before.
mitsdude:
When I worked as a HVAC engineer in the Pierre hotel in NYC in the 60’s there was this tennant who I had repaired her air conditioner was in her 80’s at that time had about seven rooms full of ship models that her late husband built, he was the captian of the last whaling ship in the U.S. and he build all of his ships by hand made of wood, along with full sizerd ship figure heads he aquired from ship yards it was quite a museum that I visited several times as she saw I wsvery interested in her collection and like you any model ship I’d built would be a joke by comparison to this craftsman’s work so I fully understand what you say. Karl
Personally, I love to build ships. Tanks and airplanes are too easy, and there’s no real point in building a car model.
Bill
Well, they certainly not everybody’s cup of tea. And yes they can be quite fiddly to build, especially when you start adding PE, metal gun barrels, wood decks, rigging… Some builds require the skills of a micro surgeon.
As for the rest of your points I respectfully and strongly disagree.
Macho? Hard to get more macho than a battleship. Bristling with guns in a most warlike fashion and the ability to project hurt for miles and miles while taking fire. Sounds pretty macho to me.
Historical Appeal? USS Arizona and USS Missouri. For the USA, WWII arguably began with the Arizona, and certainly ended on the decks of the Missouri. Or USS Hornet venturing deep into Japanese controlled seas to launch the Doolittle Raid. Numerous other ships have put their mark on history. The Golden Hind, the Niña, Pinta & Santa Maria, RMS Titanic to name some non warships… And so many others.
Sleek lines? To my eye IJN cruisers such as Atago and Takao had some lines that were truly graceful and sleek. Angles and sweeping curves of design that made them look like they were at full speed even when anchored. And not even mentioning small racing craft or similar vessels.
In the news? Well 1, that depends upon your news source, and 2, what’s going on in the world. Maybe not today, although I did read of a ship in the news today. But certainly in news of the past, and certainly in news from the future, there will be ships, civil and military.
Oh that’s all there and more…
I have interest in ships, WWII US aircraft carriers in particular, but to do some ships right, you need to do rigging, and I cant stand doing that. One reason I dont do WWI aircraft.
Another thing to add is that no aircraft model can out detail a ship model.