We’re excited to announce that FSM and the Nautical Research Guild have partnered to create the FineScale Modeler Special Issue: The Ship Modeler’s Handbook.
This 100-page perfect-bound special edition of FSM contains the ship modeling advice and from some of the best model shipwrights to ever lay a plank to a bulkhead, including Kurt Van Dahm, Toni Levine, Bob Steinbrunn, Steve Wheeler, David Antscherl, and many, many more. Due out in March, we are working hard editing it even as I take a moment to let you know that it’s on the way. Already, we’re incredibly proud of this special issue and the how-to advice in it. Our want this to become an indispensible reference at your workbench, no matter if your preference is wooden or plastic ships–there’s plenty in here for both!
FYI: I preordered the ship handbook and am now getting loads of emails from Trains.com which apparently runs the online store the new publisher uses. It’s very annoying but I’m reluctant to block it because I don’t want to screw up my order. Be prepared in case you want to order the new book.
Sure can! This special issue will cover a wide range of topics, including tools of the trade, an overview of building a plank-on-bulkhead ship model, modeling a 1/350 scale battleship, and tips for thinking strategically when building a model ship (what to tackle and when). Other stories include scratchbuilding a boat based on a description in a novel, choices for providing a base for your ship models, modeling the rough seas of the North Atlantic, building scale gratings and hatches from scratch, and a glossary of nautical terms often used in ship modeling.
A HUGE thank you to the reception thus far for the Ship Modeler’s Handbook. I just want to remind anyone who hasn’t taken a gander that it is still on preorder for a discount. It will be available in stores March 18. I’d love to see this thing outperform expectations, so if you know anyone who like ship modeling or has been thinking about getting into ship modeling, let them know about it. Social media is great, but so too is word of mouth.
We just finalized the cover for the “Ship Modeler’s Handbook” this morning. We’re going with Ron Neilson’s “Swan” and the tumultuous seas of the North Atlantic, as seen in the initial post above. All that’s left is the final looks and then it’s off to the printer! Extremely proud of the work we did with the Nautical Research Guild to pull this special issue together. And I hope you’ll all enjoy and find it useful, too.
