Basics of Ship Modeling: The Illustrated Guide [Paperback]

Mike Ashey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2000

Hundreds of step-by-step photos guide you from basic assembly techniques to painting and weathering, detailing, masking, and display of your model ships. Now you can develop even the most expert skills!

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Kalmbach Publishing Company (May 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0890243727
• ISBN-13: 978-0890243725
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.3 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #191,416 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mike Ashley is a great modeler; this is a helpful guide, August 8, 2007

By 

William A. Hensler (Holt, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Basics of Ship Modeling: The Illustrated Guide (Paperback)

Mike Ashley is a very good ship modeler. He is a writer for Fine Scale Modeler magazine. Also, Mike blogs at steelnavy.com; he's a nice guy and will answer modeling questions if you put them to him directly. I'm one of his bigger fans and buy nearly every issue of FSM that he writes in.

Now, is this book worth it? Yes, it's a four star book. Mike give several models types to review. They range from resin ships to some classic ships, such as the Glenco's USS Oregon or very tried and true USS Arizona of the Revell line. Pretty much all the "classic ships" have to be updated. Some, such as the Revell Buckley class destroyers in (about) 1/250th scale, will need serious updates to their guns, debth charges, and torpedo tubes. Mike gives clear instructions on how to improve the old kits. Just for the scratch building instructions this book is worth about twenty dollars. Mike builds a resin 1/350th scale USS Tennessee. He does a good job but the kit's a little weird. The 1/350th scale Kingfisher scout plane looks like a cross between a Kingfisher and an F6F Hellcat. Yuck. Conversely, Mike makes an excellent cagemast for the Tennessee out of the Gold Medal photo etch parts that come with the kit. What is the lesson, fix a bad mistake because it will detract from an other wise excellent model.

Mike makes it clear that the basics work in making a model. If you're going to build the Oregon then the modeler should install railing on the ship. Mike shows that "jigs" are the only possible way this can be done on a consistant basis. You have to paint a ship to add realism. Ships must have flags to "bring them to life".

Also, Mike writes all the items that a modeler will need. A punch tool is most necessary. Why? There are all sorts of things that can be made with punched disks, from portholes to aircraft tires. With the new Trumpeteer USS Hornet, Lexington, and Essex 1/350th scale model kits it's necessary to put a lot of work in your aircraft. It's insanity to make a beautiful ship and not put the effort into improving the aircraft. Anyway, Mike give the list of "stuff" you'll need to build a model. You would be wise to follow it.

Mike also covers "Photo Etch". Let's be honest. If you make a ship that's 1/700th scale or larger then it needs railings. That means a modeler will need photo etch. Mike has clear instructions on how to cut, fold, bend, and mount photo etch on a ship.

Now, a bad thing about this book is it has not been updated. So, you need to know at least two web links. First, a good modeler should go to Steelnavy.com. You'll see some of the best ship models that are made in the world. Second, you'll get links to some fantastic sites that sell ship models or supplies. The second best place on the web for ship modelers is [...].

So, fellow ship modeler, this book is worth its money. It's well written and shows a person how to 1. correct parts; 2. put the model together; 3. work with resin; 4. work with photo etch; 5. paint; 6. add-the-small-stuff; 7. make a proper display base.

Yes, I took a star for it's not being upto date. There isn't a review of one modern 1/350th scale kits. Hasegawa will be coming out with the 1/350th scale Akagi in late 2007. Mike, update your book!!! :)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not Worth the Money, June 16, 2011

By 

Robert C. Bickle "Flightdog" (New Hope, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Basics of Ship Modeling: The Illustrated Guide (Paperback)

Summary - I would NOT recommend this book to others. This a collection of incomplete examples and ideas with little that can not be found in a magazine or on the internet.

Background - I purchased this book to help me build 1:144 scale ship models for RC Combat. The ships in this hobby require some scratch-building of the superstructure. I would like to add details it a realistic look on the pond before my foe sinks me from a viewing distance of 6 to 15 feet.

Examples - For each section there is a short description of the concept followed by a series of photographic examples with captions. Many ideas are very basic and fill most of the space. The examples and tips are often basic, incomplete, and still require the reader to figure out how to properly implement the idea. The pictures do not always have the detail required and force the model builder to experiment to achieve the desired result.

Guides - Very minimal. The author gives an idea, like adding rust and corrosion to WWII ships, but then does not provide a drawing of the areas that would benefit most form the additional paint technique. Worse, there is very little advice on how to create the proper corrosion effect. Another example is to scratch building the superstructure. The author skips critical steps (like how to scratch build a exhaust stack) but tells the reader that in order to proceed from one step to the next, they should have completed scratch building the item.

Quality - The picture quality for most of the examples is fair. The exception are the pictures of the finished products. The book quality is also fair and this is basically a high quality magazine with a better binding.

Value - Minimal. The cost is not justified by the content.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for folks who build IM or resin kits of WWI+ warships, October 30, 2009

By 

David C. Filmer "David Filmer (http://davidfi... (Portland, Oregon USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Basics of Ship Modeling: The Illustrated Guide (Paperback)

If you want to find tips to build "Old Ironsides" then look elsewhere. You won't find a single sail in this entire book. But, if you prefer more modern ships (WWI era and newer), then this is the book for you!

The book seems a bit thin when you first pick it up - 112 pages (about a quarter-inch thick). But it is packed with information.

It is divided into five parts:

- Injected-molded (IM) kits
- Resin kits
- Scratch-build ships (you need MUCH more info if this is your passion)
- Working with photo-etched accents
- Painting, masking, and decals

My primary interest was in techniques related to injection-molded kits. I have recently started work on a Tamiya 1/350 Missouri, which, by happy coincidence, seems to be the model most favored in the injection-molded section of the book (though the author includes details of several other kits/scales/timeframes in a similar state of construction). But the book is an overview - it did not get into the nitty-gritty details of any particular kit (for example, the Tamiya USS Missouri uses the USS Iowa hull, which has scuppers, but the Missouri (and Wisconsin and New Jersey) had internal gutters and did not have hull-mounted scuppers, so these need to be scraped off for the other three Iowa-class battleships).

Fortunately for me, the first section (regarding injection-molded kits) is the most thoroughly developed, and contains many useful hints (especially the use of white glue for various purposes - I had previously supposed that white glue had no place on IM kits).

I would feel comfortable building a resin kit based on the information in this book, but I would never attempt a novice scratch-build based on the rather skimpy chapter. Maybe I could attempt a very simple superstructure (which is rather well described), but I'm pretty sure that most ships actually have decks and hulls, and the information to construct these components was noticeably lacking (I don't really care, because I don't scratch-build, but I mention it here in case a reader actually does).

The detailing chapters are superb.

The book is packed with photos illustrating the build sequence. Most of the book consists of these "photo pages" (six photos per page, each with a descriptive paragraph). These photos are all black & white, and some are rather washed out, but overall they are very good. There is a 16-page full color photo gallery of a wide variety of models though I questioned why some were included).

I was disappointed that there was no mention of techniques to create a diorama. I see many models in fantastic-looking ocean scenes (and some such models are featured in the book's photo gallery). I was hoping to learn some techniques, but alas there are none here. Perhaps this is considered an "advanced" subject, and thus falls outside the book's purview.

I learned many valuable tips from this book - any one of which is worth the price of the book (especially considering that one can spend hundreds of dollars and hours to build a high-quality model).