Where to start?

huiceari

hi all, new to this and was wondering if anyone can help on where to start?
i'm plannin to build a model galway hooker. would like to know best place to source wood and other materials for modeling from. Also tips on how to.. would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

coolwings

huiceari wrote: »

hi all, new to this and was wondering if anyone can help on where to start?
i'm plannin to build a model galway hooker. would like to know best place to source wood and other materials for modeling from. Also tips on how to.. would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Maybe you didn't notice it yet, but there are lots of links, sources etc in the General Guide thread:
General Guide - sources, links, model info, clubs, shops, etc
Hopefully there is something there that helps.

Are you planning to make from plans, or scratch build from your own drawings?

coolwings

No reply. I wonder if huiceari is still with us?

I've actually helped several people do their own models of hookers over the years.
The Galway Hooker and currach seem to be a not unusual choice of model for people with a traditional yachting or sailing background somewhere in their family lineage.
I even went to the trouble of making up a little currach kit for some of them. Never did it for the hooker though.

huiceari

Sorry, unfortunately don't have the time with work to check in more frequently. Thanks coolwings for those sites, have seen things for later on in the project. I'm planning to build from plans that I got my hands on a few years back, aiming for a 1:10 scale which will put the model at a little over 3foot long and then rigging out for R/C. Sara I am totally new to this so still learning the ropes, thanks for your pointers. If I leave something out that may be relavant please say; only way I'll learn!

milanomosher

Try to get yourself a copy of “Na Saora Bád – The Galway Hooker” by Cian de Buitléar (ISBN0-9549023-0-0), which details the process of building a real Hooker (Star of the West) from scratch. The book comes with a lovely set of detailed plans and a DVD detailing the building of the same boat, apart from being interesting in general it has loads of great shots of the structure etc.

I started my plank-on-frame build about 10 months ago but has been on hold for a while until I figure out solutions to some construction problems. I´m building in 1/12 for static display, trying to keep as close as possible to the original construction method. For this build I sourced my wood from the Model Dockyard (www.model-dockyard.com) in England, but on hindsight it´s expensive, especially shipping, and for any extra wood I need I´ve found a local supplier here in Spain that is much cheaper.

I´ve found the computer invaluable in all my scratch-building projects, in particular I use CorelDraw. Starting with a set of printed plans I scan these in as bitmaps, import into CorelDraw, and if necessary stitch them together. Once imported, I can resize to any scale I want, print out sections of the plan to use as templates for cutting etc. This also helped me put together an inventory of wood that was going to be needed for the project.

Let us know how you get on with your build, and shout if you´ve any questions.