Waterline Guide
One of the best resources for model ships in 1250 or 1200 scale is the Waterline Guide by Kelvin Holmes. By now the 11th issue has been released in the form of a 158 page strong pdf file. It contains vast amounts of information about almost all producers of model ships in our scale and combines them with many exemplary photos. The highlighted models tend to be those which are of interest to the british collector. A 'required reading' for every collector who wants to dive a bit deeper into the hobby.
With thanks to MARINE MODELLING INTERNATIONAL magazine and of course Kelvin Holmes the Waterline Guide can from now on be downloaded right here.
Download (19MB) (Right click -> save as, otherwise the file might open in your browser instead of downloading)
SMSC - Society of Miniature Ship Collectors
The SMSC has a good description of themselves on their homepage, so I'm just quoting it here:
The Society of Miniature Ship Collectors (SMSC) is a non-profit organization incorporated in 2009 to serve the interests of small scale ship modelers and collectors. The goal of the SMSC is to promote the advancement of the study of Maritime and Naval History, Art and Science through the medium of small scale model ships.
All actions of the organization aim to promote fellowship and the sharing of knowledge among persons interested in all aspects of building, collecting and displaying model ships; to preserve the heritage, techniques, and traditions of crafting miniature ship models; and, to participate in model related projects that are of educational service to the general community.
One of the primary goals of the SMSC is to promote and support national and regional meetings that bring together collectors, dealers and producers of 1200/1250 model ships and the general public. The intent of these meetings is to provide the individual collector with the opportunity to forge relationships both within and beyond the collecting community. To further this end, the SMSC will also work to facilitate greater contact and communication among the collecting community through organizing and promoting the formation of Communities of Shared Interest among its members to foster education, fellowship, and the sharing of modeling knowledge.
The SMSC encourages cooperation with other groups and organizations that share similar interests, including collectors of smaller scales, and encourage the general public’s awareness and participation in all its activities. The SMSC will continuously work to promote the hobby of 1200/1250 collecting and other small scales and to encourage new collectors to join the hobby and /or to become members of the SMSC.
The membership is free and without obligations.
Besides membership their website offers vast resources on information about producers, past and future collectors meetings, the history of the hobby, a list of notable museums
around the world and more. One of the best resources one can find on the internet.
Forums / Messageboards
I am aware of three notable messageboards one can use to communicate with other collectors and even some manufacturers. German friends of small scale models will want to visit the Müncher Rundbrief. English questions will be answered as well. The Dockside Messageboard is more frequently used by british collectors, while the 1250 Scale Messageboard is more often frequented by US collectors. You can find information about local collectors' meetings on all three of them.
Books
Here I'd like to forward you once again to the SMSC website as they have put together a nice list of books that have been published on miniature model ships. The link will directly take you to their books section.
