i gave up building 1;48 th and 1;32 scale model tugs and trawlers some years ago because of arthritis in my fingers and back, and moved over to model lifefoats at 1;12th scale…………this was in 1995, and apart from 3 models at smaller scale between them and now i have never looked back..

i still put as much effort into building smaller scale models……….but it just took me much longer to build.

Edited By neil howard-pritchard on 31/10/2021 17:08:19

At whatever scale you are working with you can still take the detail to the level that suits you. Larger scales may have some bigger bits but they will include details that smaller scales may leave out.

Your best approach is to decide on what size of model suits you from the perspective of lifting it and space in the car etc, then decide on what level of detail to incorporate.

Also worth considering is that certain types of vessel tend to have less detail than others. A warship will always have lots of detail opportunities no matter what the scale but something along the lines of a cabin cruiser will tend to have less.

All true advice.

Larger scale models demand more detail to be added. Warships are a good example.

The 6 foot destroyer I have (which I didn’t build!) has railings all the way round for a start, and on a model that size and scale (about 1/40..ish) you could not leave them out.

However, the 1/96 scale HMS Manchester which although is not far off the length at 57 inches is a much smaller scale and in order to finish it (as the hull/superstructure had been hanging about the shed for 25 years) I purchased just sufficient fittings to complete it, no railings and it looks ok.

Conversely my 1/200 HMS Nelson has very little actual detail on it even at 4 foot in length. The detail would be so tiny as to be invisible once on the water..not only that, a battleship deck would be strewn with ephemera…spars, rope…stuff, and I tried to add a few bits but at that size they did not look convincing. In addition, although you can get etched brass detail, it is very easy to damage, and on a “working” model, that is to be avoided!

Ashley

Below. An example of absolutely minimal actual detail, masked by distance.

Ashley

Which is precisely why I suggested that approach in my post above.

Thanks Ray.

Tim

It's a beautiful ship, but have you considered that it's 1/70 scale, so all the blocks and other fiddly bits will be very small. It might be worth re reading what my esteemed colleagues on here have said about scale.

Charles.