Our book, “Fundamentals of Model Boat Building”, has received many excellent reviews from some very knowledgeable people, but I don't think that any is more meaningful than this one. It's not a review in the standard sense, but I think that it speaks volumes.
I am going to let Joe Szymanski do the talking through the email that he sent us, along with the photos of the model that he made, the first model boat that he has ever done, after reading our book.
I am going to let Joe Szymanski do the talking through the email that he sent us, along with the photos of the model that he made, the first model boat that he has ever done, after reading our book.
“JOHN - Back in 2011, I picked up a copy of Fundamentals of Model Boat Buildingwhen you were at the PRAD Festival at the Calvert Marine Museum. I enjoyed reading the book last winter, but then just added it to my library. Then late this summer & fall, I kept paddling by a pretty like crab skiff on St. Johns Creekand your book came back to mind -- I thought "that would be a fun little boat to try to model from scratch..." So I remembered my camera on subsequent paddles, and tried to snap some pictures of the boat in the water. I had some extra time over the Christmas holidays, so I launched into the effort of trying to estimate dimensions, develop 3-view scale drawings, etc. After several matboard prototypes, I was happy with the basic hull shape and proceeded with a wood model. (See the attached picture for the model in its current state of completion.) I had never built a model boat before...”
This is the photo that he sent with his email...
He continued...
“...it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience & mental exercise to go through the process as guided along by your book. Thanks for the inspiration and hopefully I'll see you back at PRAD some year in the future.
Sincerely,
Joe Szymanski”
Here is Joe's finished model:
Here's a shot of the subject boat:
We think that when you look at the original boat and look at the first model boat that Joe ever made, he deserves an excellent review. 5-Stars!!! Thank you, Joe!
Joe and I have corresponded by email following this one and he offered to send more photos of his model during the phases of building it. Here are some of them...
Click on any photo to enlarge it.
Have you made a model after reading our book? We'd love to hear from you with photos or not. Our emails are johninto@intothings.com and nancyprice@intothings.com.
