Links – The Virtual Factory

The modelling industry has changed. Where there were once a few large companies designing and manufacturing models, there are now thousands of individuals and small businesses all over the world that use a variety of technologies to produce parts and accessories.

This links page attempts to mimic my view of the evolution of the model-building industry and I look forward to adding new and interesting websites as I hear about them. 

Inspiration – where to find subjects

In my opinion, the most important criterium in model-building is the subject matter. Cost, complexity, size, and construction materials should come after the subject is chosen. An interesting subject, one that holds a modeller’s attention, will encourage a modeller to learn skills, become adept with various technologies, and will take the modeller to the end of the project. In my opinion it is less costly to spend money on a project that will get finished than buy a project on cost alone, and have it languish forever. 

This area includes some of the sites that have given me inspiration over the years. 

• www.modelmotorcars.com – Check the museum sections for colour and detail ideas for your Pocher Classic models
• USNA Model Ships Photograph Gallery – A shareable gallery of pictures of some amazing ship models
• USVMYG.com – A group of Vintage Model Yacht sailors. This is a good site for people who may want to restore and old pond yacht. 
• SFMYC.org – The San Francisco Model Yacht Club has been in operation since 1898 and has some interesting large scale models. 
• The Real Jolie Brise – One of the Pilot Cutters that is very popular as a subject for R/C sailing. 
• The Hart Nautical Collection at MIT – It’s not easy to find your way around this website, but there are zillions of documents to wade through. 
• The Craftsmanship Museum – One of the first places that showed me how good some modellers are out there. 

Building Materials

Yes, we can supply most building materials, but we do feel some people do a great job and we are quite happy to grow the Virtual Factory; we do what we do best and we like to see others do what they do best. 

• www.northeastscalelumber.com – When you just need that special material in the right size
• Prime Miniatures – UK – Some great nuts and bolts here
• Midwest Model Yachting – I think this is the best source for rigging, blocks, and other fittings
• Thunder Valley F1 – Some interesting parts for large-scale cars models. 
• Eh Sails – Most of our clients are getting our sails from two places. Brian Kerrigan is one of our clients’ good suppliers. 
• Astro-Flight  Motors – Some interesting pages explaining the technical differences between motor types. And great motors, too! 
• The Lumberyard – another interesting little shop that makes supplies for modellers. 
• Cap Maquettes – zillions of interesting parts

Modeller’s Workshop Build Logs

If you do decide to build one of our kits, we would encourage you to have a look at some of these build logs. We like to use RCGroups.com for some of our build logs, as they encourage community involvement with our models. Each build log allows us to learn from expert modellers and helps us improve the design and engineering of subsequent models. 

Note that some of these build logs are started by the builders themselves, and you can do the same! We encourage all our clients to create a build log of our models somewhere, in order to help modellers see what they are getting into before buying a frame set. 

• MW135 – Schooner America in 1/20 scale on RCGroups.com 
• MW269 – J-Class Lionheart in 1/24 scale on RCGroups.com
• MW191 – Charles Mower Powerboat in 1/8 scale
• MW233 – Friendship Sloop in 1/8 scale 
• MW139 – Maltese Firilla in 1/6 scale 
• MW133 – J-class Velsheda in 1/16 scale
• MW205 – Aphrodite Commuter Launch in 1/12 scale
• MW312 – Malabar VI schooner in 1/12 scale
• MW104 – Frank Paine “A” – Topaz – J-class yacht in 1/16 scale
  • MW104 – Frank Paine “A” – the design process – for those who might be interested
• MW116 – J-class Enterprise in 1/16 scale

Some kits we would love to build!

There are so many models out there! Here is a small selection of websites that have some of the kits we’d like to build, if we had all the time in the world!  

• www.proctor-enterprises.com – When you just need that special model in the right size