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Title: Ship Modeling Simplified: Tips and Techniques for Model Construction from Kits
ISBN: 0071558675
Author:
Frank Mastini
Publicate Date: 1990-03-01
Publish: 1990-03-01
List Price: $18.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $10.16
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $9.25
Amazon Merchant Price: $12.89
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| Customer Review: |
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1: model ship building
Great book for the first time model ship builder. Full for great tips and short cuts. It's worth the money just for the time you will save and the mistakes you would have made.
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2: Review of Ship Modeling Simplified
I have never built a model ship before, but I got one at a garage sale. The instructions that came with it were skimpy at best. So when I saw this book I bought it. It has been a great help. My only regret is that I didn't read the book before I started building the model. There were a few things that I could have done better. The book is great for the beginner. Sometimes I get confused with the terms used, but between re-reading and the glossary, I figure it out. I highly recommend the book!
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3: Good start to reading library
Over the past year or so, I've been tempted to adopt wooden ship building as a new hobby. I've modeled for years in other media (plastic, paper) and am also a woodworker, so it seemed like a good fit. Also, my son has been really getting into the Napoleonic wars and life in naval ships, so that was an added inducement. My typical method when becoming interested in something is to read anything I can about the subject. Consequently, I noticed on the net many references to this book and how good it is. So, I bought it.
After reading it, I understand much more about the whole process of building these model ships. The author is (was?) obviously very familiar with the process and had developed many techniques that worked for him. Would those same techniques work for someone else? Maybe...
One of the main problems for a novice looking to get in to this hobby is that the terminology of the time was unique and not necessarily logical. Nor, are the terms carried through to our own day. So, you have to put up with a fair amount of bewildering words. For instance, did you know that the Vangs connected the Gaff in the same way as a Stay?
My biggest two criticisms of the book is that the author used these terms repeatedly and that some of his techniques appear easy but are not. I suppose the use of the proper terms is a good thing, I just wish the approach would have been more descriptive - i.e. add more diagrams or a pictorial dictionary of the terms; this was started with the naming of the various sails and masts, but stopped there. As to the techniques mentioned, some of them were really set up to allow you to build one model after another - but I am not sure that I want to spend the time and money to build these fancy jigs when I might only build one model ship in my lifetime!
Another, more minor nit, is the loose organization of the logic flow in the book. At the beginning of each part, the author gives an overview of the flow. Unfortunately, in the body of the text, he then bounces around and does not necessarily follow his own order. Also, the overall sequence I think is flawed. The last two parts have you attach all the rigging and then add the various boats and their connections. But, in those models that I've seen it seems like adding the stuff on the deck would be easier to do before the rigging is all attached so you do not have to maneuver around that mass of fine wires.
Please do not take these criticisms as reasons not to buy the book. I thought I learned a lot from reading this brief book (only 115 pages). I am now looking at the actual model I purchased and can visualize a lot better what needs to be done and why it needs to be done in the order he recommends. So, I would concur that this is a good book - although not a great one.
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4: Good instructions
Better than the instructions that came with the ship model I was building. Straightened out a couple of misconceptions before they cost me a lot of headache. Wish I'd read it before I started.
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5: A must have book.
This is one book I believe every new ship modeller, and the experienced, should have in their library.
Frank.
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