Hi Dave,

While the subject of scales is mostly a personal choice, 1/700 offers the widest variety of subjects, however, it does require a bit more than gluing the kit parts together to arrive at a detailed finished subject. Photo etched parts, brass parts, and resin parts supplement a rather limited set of kit provided parts and does require a bit of practice to work out. 1/350 scale at twice the size offers a bit better detail, but you still run into the need for photo etched pieces as well as the rest to put it into a well detailed finished project ballpark. In the paper model game you still find photo etch, brass and resin at larger scales, 1/250, 1/100 and 1/72. In the largest scale of 1/35 you will still find that aftermarket photo etch offers better detailing possibilities. No matter how you cut it, to produce the highly detailed models requires more than what normally comes in a kit box.

As to your question of waterline models, it is exactly that, a model of the vessel from the waterline up, no lower hull provided. Many modelers prefer to place their ship model on a sea surface and this style of kit presentation eliminates the parts that are not required. It makes for a less expensive kit. There are still kits provided with lower hulls available in most scales, you just have to search them out. If a kit that you want to model is not available as such, you can still cobble up a lower hull with wood or styrene sheet, it just takes a bit more work and some reliable references.

I wish there was a quick and easy answer to all of this detail oriented stuff, but lots of practice, trial and error and some skull sweat is about the only way I know to go about it short of buying a completed model from another modeler. Spend some time going through the threads and features checking out how other more experienced modelers have done it and try to emulate what you see and read. If you have questions, feel free to post them, that is what the forum is all about. We rarely keel haul here.