Hello from the "Ancient Modeler"

[Franky]

Ancient modeler eh. Does that include me a 63 year old ex Royal Naval Diesel Submariner for my sins.

Thank you for letting me join this select group of modelers. I shall now adorn the house with card and paper models just to cheer the wife up.

All the best

Franky

[Peter Walker]

Eugene,

Glad it was some help. I hope you are able to put together the ship. When you do, please post your build photos so we can see you progress and never be afraid to ask for help. As I said before, I'm new to this as well and have found a lot of help here from some very friendly and knowledgeable folks.

All the best to you!

[Ancient Modeler]

To both you Peter and Franky, thanks for the replies. Yes, of course Peter, when I start my build (paper or wood) I will post the results. So far all the guys have been really helpful and I do appreciate it.

Franky, yes my friend, you're more than welcome here, sins and all. You're talking to a 67 year old and I discovered the other day, that the remaining twinkle in my eye is just a reflection from my bifocals !! I'm sure there's a section or forum here somewhere for flowers, dolls and "frilly things" to impress your wife with ... just kiddin' (LOL). Like some other members here in this forum (and elsewhere) have done, why don't you get your wife involved in one or two easier models (paper/card that is)??

I am in two minds between a card/paper HMS Victory or an Artesania Latina 1:84 wood scale. If I order now (by next week) I should have my AL Victory here by 1st/2nd week in December. I am busy with an HMS Pandora at present and have attached a couple of photos for comment. She's a Constructo Kit and I've been busy with her for a long, long time due to poor quality instruction/assembly manual, which is printed in black+white from under exposed photo copies. In places where I look for rigging detail, it's just a black "blob". Very disappointing kit from Constructo, especially for a beginner.

I'm pretty confident that the AL Victory quality will be much better. When I've made up my mind, I'll let you guys know and I promise to start a building log, which will also be a new experience for me. I am also going to build myself a display case and have already started gathering information to help. I'm going to use the case from the beginning, since I have a "moggie" (a Calico Tabby Female) who's quiet likely to shreds and turn into toothpicks and splinters, the entire model in one fell swoop !! So, lots and lots of things to do and report back on.

Thanks for all the good wishes and encouragement. Your friendliness is truly appreciate. And for now, I'm off to try and enjoy my newly acquired rocking chair ............. if only I can get this darn thing going !!

Best. Eugene.
(Ancient Modeler ... and Madam, me "moggie").

[Vermin_King]

That is gorgeous. Thanks for sharing

[Bionic Modeler]

From one old fart to another, welcome aboard. We all love newbees. It is fun to watch them quickly become expert modelers. We have some of the best here at PM and I am always learning from them. I hope to be as good as they are one day.

[Jim Nunn]

Ancient Modeler
AKA Eugene

Welcome aboard. There are quite a few of us who could qualify for the "Ancient" title around here.

Where to purchase models, as you already know there are lots of excellent models for downloading. If you are looking for commercial printed kits I would suggest the following sources. This is just a short list of suppliers there are many others. Most will take PayPal the main disadvantage is the shipping cost. Shipping can be a good percentage of the cost of the model. I tend to purchase several kits to lower the shipping costs.

GPM has just about everything in paper models.
http://www.gpm.pl/eng/index.php?akcja=moduly&test=1

Halinski is known as having the highest consistent quality models and sells direct
http://halinski.com.pl/indexgb.php

ShipWorks has some very fine ship models. These kits are expensive but they are supplied with laser cut frames.
http://www.shipworks.ru/

And lastly Shipyard which has published the HMS Victory in 1/96. Shipyard is not listing the model in their catalog so I assume it is out of print. GPM however has the model in stock. do a search for the victory on the GPM site and you will see several Victory models. The shipyard models require the skills of a wood ship modeler to build them. They build up as plank on frame models.

http://www.model-shipyard.com/html/kartonoweuk.html
link to photos of the model
http://www.model-shipyard.com/html/galeria/victoryuk.html

Jim Nunn

[Franky]

Thanks for the welcome folks, much appreciated. I have a JSC book of 1:400 Monitor HMS Roberts in front of me and thinking that it needs to be glued onto a more robust card before cutting. This is my very first project so will probably sink right after launch.

HMS Pandora eh. Isn't she the vessel that sank with mutineers from HMS Bounty aboard or are you building the 1930s British submarine HMS Pandora? That too sinks by the way.

It's nice to be an old fart by the way LOL.

Regards

Franky

[Ancient Modeler]

To all you guys, Vermin_King, Bionic Modeler, Jim Nunn and Franky, thanks for all the encouragement and information.

For the benefit of Franky, go have a look at the thumbnail attachment I've posted with photos of my Pandora and here's a short, sharp summary of the history associated with HMS Pandora; (by the way I forgot to mention the scale of the model by Constructo, which is 1:85 giving her an overall length of 750mm, Height about 600mm) - Franky, just get your mouse pointer on the thumbnail and leave it there for a few moments. Pretty soon you'll get the whole "monty" !! ... LOL.

HMS Pandora is best known as the vessel sent to capture Fletcher Christian and the mutineers of Captain Bligh's HMS Bounty. Pandora was wrecked on the Great Barrier Reef on 29 August 1791 just over 200 years ago. Wow !! I do remember that time very well as I was just beginning to shave !! (LOL) So, it looks like I've got myself stuck with a bunch of old farts, but hey, these days, the best I can muster is to get my pace-maker to open the garage door every time a pretty girl walks past (ouch !!). Ok, back to the history lesson ... before she ran aground on the reef Captain Edwards managed to capture the majority of the mutineers at Tahiti and then spent several months searching for the rest but eventually gave up and set sail for England.

Thirty-one crew members and four mutineers went down with her. Captain Edwards with the ninety-eight survivors sailed 4 of the ships lifeboats 1200 nautical miles to the Dutch settlement of Coupang in Timor and eventually made their way to Batavia (today known as Djakarta). The story ends with 3 of the mutineers being hung at Portsmouth from the foremast of HMS Brunswick. The fate of Fletcher Christian and the others who had sought refuge at the remote Pitcairn Island was not discovered until 1808. By then, all but one were dead. OK, that's the end of the history lesson.

HMS Brunswick ?? ... now there's another historical model to contemplate, if available in kit form. Thanks again you guys.

Be blessed ... all of you !!

Best.
Ancient Modeler (aka Eugene)

[Franky]

I can't find HMS Pandora Eugene, probably sank in the depths of this site LOL

HMS Brunswick, now there's an idea eh

Regardss

Franky