The Ship Model Forum

Hello Les here. I have finally received plans for an active Canadian ketch. I am having trouble deciding on a scale and sourcing the required deck fittings. Some of the plans are 1/4" per foot and some are 3/8" per foot. Most fittings are stainless and block and tackle are modern. I am struggling to decide a good scale for this boat. At 1/4" it would be fairly large. If I can't get what I require would it be appropriate to finish this kit with wooden cleats and other deck fittings. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Well, in other modeling terms, you're talking 1:48 vs. 1:32 scale, comparatively large scale for ship models. About the only thing I know about a ketch is that it's two-masted, about what, 75' long? Do the math not only on how much display space you have both vertically and horizontally, but also for a display case if the model is to be so kept. Of course you can scale whatever plans you have down to even smaller, more manageable scales, all depends on what you're comfortable working with, displaying. If you do stay large-scale, fittings would be more readily found for RC modeling (I think there's a section on this forum, I'm not into RC so really haven't looked). Some suitable suppliers might be Dean's Marine, Bluejacket Shipcrafters, I'm sure there are others. You can also do a search under "ship fittings 1:48 [1:32] scale" and I imagine you'd come across a number of sources.

Take a look at the parts that you can't scratch build and research if they are commercial available.
There should be a lot of stuff available in 1:48 scale as it is also "O" scale railroad stuff
I don't know about 1:32

Take a look at Bluejacket to get some idea of whats available for sailing ships
http://www.bluejacketinc.com/

James