Getting Started

I wanted to build a model of the ship my dad served on in WWII. His ship was the Artemis Class USS Sarita AKA-39. This was a cargo/transport ship and, thus, not a very popular subject with historians or model builders.

I had a hand full of photos from my dad's war album and that was about all. I did most of my research on the web and eventually found plans for the Artemis Class ships through Windjammer Arts.

With plans in hand, it was time to select a scale; I chose 1/350 because the ship would be just over 14" long and there are a number of parts suppliers in that scale. There is a kit for the Artemis Class ships available in 1/700 scale from Loose Cannon Productions but, 1/700 scale is a bit too small for me.

In preparation for the build, I have been reading The Ship Model Forum and learning many new techniques related to model ship building. It is a great source for information, answers, and inspiration.

I will be scratch building the Sarita using mainly styrene plastic. I have used this in model railroading and am comfortable working with it. I don't know how well it will translate to the hull lines but, why not give it a try.

To this point I have scanned the plans into the computer and scaled them to 1/350. I redrew the hull lines and keel in Adobe Illustrator and printed them out to use as patterns for cutting the plastic stock.

Thus begins my ship building journey. Stay tuned for the progress reports.......