Period Ship Kit Builder's Manual

I will give this 5 star even though, like others had mentioned, the photos were not that brilliant. I am currently building, and nearly finished, my first period ship from a kit, Black Pearl from the Hatchette part works. I made numerous errors along the way and the solutions to those have been found in this book. As I am starting a new project, HMS Victory from a part woks series, I am sure that the new build will have fewer errors thanks to this book.

The book was written about 15 years ago and it shows it. Anything that is not time dependant, such as technique, is very good. However, there are references to tools and use of library to find out more which might have been relevant post 2000 but no longer. As mentioned in other posts, photos are black and white, low contrast and often poorly focussed.If you accept these limitations the rest of the book is helpful for a beginner.

The book was written about 10 years ago and all the pictures are in black & White.Unfortunately the figures are not on the same page as the descriptions so it is difficult to read.It is mainly a written description of the methods advised without sufficient pictures to assist.I gave up and decided that it is better to use the internet as that gave me a far better idea of the best procedures.

I bought this book as a confidence builder - and that it has proved to be. I haven't built a model boat for around 40 years and I wanted something to remind me of what tools are essential, of the best ways to tackle things, pitfalls to watch out for and so on and so on.The initial chapter (with regards to which kit to buy - you pays your money and you takes your choice) was a little disappointing but after that the book is full of little hints and tips many of which do make life easier or which cause you to rethink how to approach the construction of some aspect of your model.The book was obviously written some time ago but nonetheless it is still valid. As some other reviews have said, the photographs are not of the highest quality but I have found them perfectly acceptable and I have found that they do illustrate the various points made by the author quite well.All in all, for me, a worthwhile purchase.

I have purchased several books before embarking on my first ship kit. This one stands out for its logical no nonsense approach. In particular it tells you what to do in order and when to check things to avoid problems later in the build. As some reviewers have said the quality of the pictures is not great, almost like they are out of focus, but on the whole they are OK to see what the author is explaining. The text is so good it gets a 5 rating from me despite the poor picture reproduction. I'm getting to understand there is no single book that will explain everything about this hobby, but if it is wooden period ship kits that appeal you will not want to be without a copy of this book.

The book was easy to follow and there were some useful tips in it. Unfortunately at the time of ordering it I did not realize that it had been up-dated by the New Period Ship Builder's Manual. However I found this edition most useful mainly because it was profusely illustrated. There is no doubt that illustrations in this context are vital and in this regard this book does not disappoint.

I have spent a awful lot of money trying to find a book to suit my needs and answer my questions.......This book is by far the best so far, it not only answered my question, but posed questions I had not thought of, it answered those too. Both book by Keith Julier are worth having

This is a great book with lots of hints and tips on period ship modelling. I am building a large plastic model of HMS Victory and this has enabled me to add in extra features on my model. Recommended for modellers of plastic or wooden kits