Models of sailing ships, with their towering masts and billowing sails, have always held a special fascination for model makers because they capture all the romance of the sea, shipboard life, and a fighting spirit. However, many would-be modelers are discouraged by the inherent complexity of the subject – especially the masts and rigging, as well as the often-sumptuous decoration. Plastic kit manufacturers were quick to capitalize on this interest and produced kits that were advertised as easy and reasonably quick to assemble, featuring ready-made detail that is easily tackled by modelers of varying skills and ages with the promise of a good result. Plastic sailing ship kits are affordable, especially in comparison to wooden ship kits, and building a fleet of the most famous ships in history is easily achieved. Despite their ease of assembly, plastic models of sailing ships, like the ships themselves, remain complicated to build. Manufacturers devised several simplifications of the most difficult aspects, such as molding the lower, upper, and topmasts in one piece, offering preformed molded plastic shrouds and ratlines, or sails in vacuum-formed plastic. However, modelers have long complained that these simplifications, the physical limitations of injected plastic moldings, and the very medium of styrene plastic itself have resulted in often crudely detailed and unrealistic finished models. This book is the remedy. It describes and demonstrates techniques unique to plastic sailing ship models that overcome these limitations, allowing the construction of authentic and personally satisfying models. Each modeler has a different expectation for their model. Some will want a simple build with some straightforward refinements, whereas others will want a more detailed build that takes advantage of the many new aftermarket items, and there are those who seek the most accurate and detailed replica possible. Sailing Ships from Plastic Kits aims to give every modeler – regardless of skill and experience – a range of fundamental and advanced techniques to choose from when transforming a plastic kit into an authentic sailing ship model. Heavily illustrated in color throughout, this book is an ideal addition to the purchase of any plastic ship kit.

The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich houses the largest collection of scale ship models in the world. Many of the models are official, contemporary artifacts made by the craftsmen of the Royal Navy or the shipbuilders themselves, ranging from the mid-seventeenth century to the present day. As such they represent a three-dimensional archive of unique importance and authority. Treated as historical evidence, they offer more detail than even the best plans, and demonstrate exactly what the ships looked like in a way that even the finest marine painter could not achieve. Now available in paperback, this book tells the story of the evolution of the cruising ship under sail. It includes a large number of model photos all in full-color as well as close-up and detail views. These are captioned in depth, but many are also annotated to focus attention on interesting or unusual features. Although pictorial in emphasis, The Sailing Frigate weaves the pictures into an authoritative text, producing an unusual and attractive form of technical history. While the series will be of particular interest to ship modelers, all those with an interest in ship design and development will be attracted to the in-depth analysis of these beautifully presented books.

Models of sailing ships, with their towering masts and billowing sails, have always held a special fascination for model makers because they capture all the romance of the sea, shipboard life, and a fighting spirit. However, many would-be modelers are discouraged by the inherent complexity of the subject – especially the masts and rigging, as well as the often-sumptuous decoration. Plastic kit manufacturers were quick to capitalize on this interest and produced kits that were advertised as easy and reasonably quick to assemble, featuring ready-made detail that is easily tackled by modelers of varying skills and ages with the promise of a good result. Plastic sailing ship kits are affordable, especially in comparison to wooden ship kits, and building a fleet of the most famous ships in history is easily achieved. Despite their ease of assembly, plastic models of sailing ships, like the ships themselves, remain complicated to build. Manufacturers devised several simplifications of the most difficult aspects, such as molding the lower, upper, and topmasts in one piece, offering preformed molded plastic shrouds and ratlines, or sails in vacuum-formed plastic. However, modelers have long complained that these simplifications, the physical limitations of injected plastic moldings, and the very medium of styrene plastic itself have resulted in often crudely detailed and unrealistic finished models. This book is the remedy. It describes and demonstrates techniques unique to plastic sailing ship models that overcome these limitations, allowing the construction of authentic and personally satisfying models. Each modeler has a different expectation for their model. Some will want a simple build with some straightforward refinements, whereas others will want a more detailed build that takes advantage of the many new aftermarket items, and there are those who seek the most accurate and detailed replica possible. Sailing Ships from Plastic Kits aims to give every modeler – regardless of skill and experience – a range of fundamental and advanced techniques to choose from when transforming a plastic kit into an authentic sailing ship model. Heavily illustrated in color throughout, this book is an ideal addition to the purchase of any plastic ship kit.

Tells how to select a kit and set up a model making workplace, demonstrates the techniques for building the hull, masts, and rigging, and shows how to add the finishing touches.

The United States and Europe. Whether you're a beginner or an expert, and whether you have hours to spend on a project or years, you'll find money- and time-saving ideas on every page. Book jacket.

An anecdotal, highly personal course through America's nautical history features nearly 140 images of ships from the 18th through 20th centuries: quoddy boats, fishing schooners, clippers, packet ships, frigates, and other vessels.