That leads to the search for a fresh prototype - perhaps from outside the overworked American frigate and clipper ship eras. Such searches can offer both invigorating challenges and serious problems. Building a model based on inadequate information is a waste of effort for the serious craftsman and will leave a false impression in the minds of those who view his or her handiwork. Shoddy and inaccurate foreign kits flood the hobby shops. The new science of nautical archaeology, coupled with new finds in archives and their more thorough analysis, have been introducing spectacular new subjects for modelers and making some previously known ships more accessible, while a re-evaluation of our generally accepted model building parameters opens even more authentic subjects for modelers' consideration.
Parameters Let's look first at the parameters.
From about 1650 to 1750, only a limited number of named European and American warships, Indiamen, naval auxiliaries, and a few other ships, have substantial bodies of information available about them. Before 1650, very few ships anywhere are documented well enough to meet this standard. Only if large, partially planked, and fully framed models of specific ships are the goal. Once those caveats have been taken into account, the accumulated research does make many additional ships available for accurate model work. As certain modeling techniques are generally applied to building classic models of larger, decked vessels, while other techniques are applied to modeling smaller, open vessels, the following suggestions are divided into these two groups.