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Hi, I'm new to this forum and to sharing my build process on-line, hopefully what I'm doing is of interest. As background, I've been (mostly) a ship modeller for over 20 years, in between other projects. I am a scratch builder. Wherever possible, I make every part, meaning the projects take a long time each. Over the years I've finished 8 projects, which doesn't sound a lot, but the longest took me 4 years and ~3,000 hours, so fitting this in with a full time job that takes me abroad a lot is tough. I build mostly in wood and brass/copper, rarely plastic. In general I try to follow full scale practice, it the full scale item was metal, I model it in metal, if wood, then wood. My scale of choice is 1-48th, following ship-builder's model practice though I've also build models in other scales, see below. I produce drawings to scale from the many books I've acquired over the years and build from my own drawings. I have exhibited a 4 models and the old International Model Engineering Exhibition (is it still going?) and each time been fortunate to be awarded medals. I've also written a build article for Model Shipwright (20 odd years ago). The scratch scale models I've completed (in date order) are: Gun-boat Amarpa built by Thorneycroft for the Brazilian navy around 1905, 1/24th scale - Silver HMS Medea - M class destroyer 1915, 1/48th scale - Gold. My grandfather was an engineering petty officer on Medea, modelled just before Jutland in black overall Darby Hydroplane - post-war, working model, 1/6th scale Saunders-roe flying boat launch - 1/12th scale. This was the launch that took passengers out to the flying boats in the Solent between the wars - Silver 40 ft CMB WW1 - 1/48th scale Admiral's Launch WW1 - 1/48th scale Turbinia 1894 - 1/48th scale - Bronze WW1 ML210 - 1915 - 1/48th scale So, that's me, the sum of many mistakes, re-tries, impatience, and determination. I simply love ship models, as long as there are not too many knots. This thread is about a Fairmile B (#188), see https://laststandonzombieisland.com/2016/11/01/want-a-rn-coastal-forces-ml-from-wwii/motor-launch-ml-188-dazzle-painted-and-on-patrol-duty-in-fleet-anchorage/ that I started over a year ago and is now heading towards final making and assembly of parts and painting. Again, at 1/48th scale, intended as a companion model to the WW1 ML, really to show the evolution of the class and purpose from one war to the next. I chose this particular vessel because I like the dazzle scheme and the picture is very clear so the equipment fit is relatively certain, 3pdr forward, Holman projector amidships, Y gun and Rolls-Royce 2pdr aft and 6 depth-charges down each side. The challenge for me with this model is painting. I don't get much practice painting and so I'm not very good at it. I hope on this model to change that. The model is based on the coastal forces books and Lambert's plans, re-drawn to 1/48th, these are listed on another Fairmile B thread here so no need to repeat Once I work out how to load pictures, I'll post some images, but I don't have that many to date. I will try to take more if there is interest in my little project

Holt 150 ton Field monitor Let me introduce my entirely 1/48 scratch-built whopper – the Holt 150 ton Field monitor. During the Mexican boarder war (or was it the Mexican revolution – it's so bloody confusing) the Americans seriously considered building these monstrosities, and arming them with two 6” naval guns. It seems the main reason they decided not to, is because the metal monsters wouldn't be able to keep up with the cavalry horses. There are no contemporary pictures or diagrams and only a pretty confusing written description, from which a modern side view has been cobbled together (see WIP thread). My model is mainly (but not slavishly) based on these. I've had a stern word with my camera ( words like “get a grip” and “snap out of it” were used) and managed to get some pics. As I said in the WIP, I'm aware the base looks more like Blackpool beach than the Mexican desert and I know it's a bit of a let down that it isn't displayed as a Whopper versus Mexican donkey stare-off, but hope you like it anyway. Thanks for having a ganders. This is the work in progress, although at 17,000 words you may need to wait until you retire before you tackle it.

At the beginning of this thread, let me issue a warning, I may not finish. I've never done any scenic work at all so this whole thread is an experiment and my experiments go wrong more often than they go right. Still, I've been watching a lot of Youtube videos and I've decided to have a go, time will tell. The subject of the diorama is an Admiral's barge I build ~ 9 years ago in a temporary workshop while building the house we live in. When I finished it, I could not make up my mind how to display it and so it has languished in the new workshop getting buried in dust and damaged since them, accidents happen! The model is OK, but needs quite a bit of cleaning up to improve the finish. Its sitting in a box I made that is supposed to show it in a waterline setting, really a bit rough all round. It was built based on these lines, I had a more complete drawing but it seems to have walked off in the intervening years This is what it looks like now It almost has an antique look about it, that brass need a good polish... My original plan was to mount it floating against a quayside but then I found this painting on line And I couldn't resist it, just look at that slipway trolley with all those I beams, lots of interesting brass work possibilities! But a slipway is still a bit simple, so I'm going to put a boat shed behind it and build out a bit of the boatyard. In the boat shed, I'm going to have a 16ft clinker boat under construction and I may add a dinghy tied up in the river next to the slip, Time will tell I started yesterday by drawing a kingpost truss boat shed and as you can see, the construction has come along fairly fast There will be a small office at the end, it will have an open side and end and be roofed in corrugated iron (O gauge) It looks a little low as the frame wall plate will sit on a dwarf wall of bricks (1:48th scale individual bricks, I can't wait...) and be clad in feather boarding The legs at the front are not too short, they will sit on stones. So, excuse me for posting a small framed building on a boat thread, the boat is still the main event, but I have a lot of ideas about adding detail to the boatyard the possibilities are (almost) endless