SawdustDave

SOS UPDATE....

So here's a shot of the total progress since Friday's update.

It looks like it also represents the progress I will be making over the next several days.

It may be some of my best work yet.

(So sorry guys.... I'm really bored right now)

You are a very special person Nenad. Life seems to be testing your strength these days and you are clearly standing strong. We all appreciate your friendship.

Dave

Should know more tomorrow.... Fingers crossed.

Ken.... UNC Chapel Hill Hospital.

Thanks all. I'm comforted by all your support, along with the blessing of having the top team of experts in the country managing my rare case.

Someone once said "That which does not kill us just makes us stronger."

SETBACK Report:

Had to shut down the shipyard temporarily.

They suddenly decided to put me back in the hospital (UNC Chapel Hill).... Very aggressive IV's round the clock since Friday.

MAN! This really sucks.

MSW prayers welcome.

Yep Nenad..... Anything you do incorrectly on your model will be automatically corrected by this new "auto correct" tool. The way it works is amazing. When you turn out the lights in the shop each night, any mistakes made during the day will be completely fixed overnight.

Really cool huh!

You guys make my day.

I'll just have to start paying more attention when I post using my iPad. The strong meds I'm taking to combat this ear infecting keeps me a little on the foggy side.

I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer these days.

So I went back and corrected the term in the several places I had used it.... And now this little discussion of the term makes no since to anyone just joining the log. Arr arr arr

"companionway" is correct Patrick. I have no idea where I came up with the term I was using. I appreciate the correction mate.

Another 50 or so balusters for the other two companionn ways. A mini-duplicator would be real nice.

Great job on the sails Frank. I love this exciting stage of a build when all the hard work starts to come together.

Completed the hanging companion way this morning....

There will be two more of these.

Early to rise this morning.

Began developing the first companion way with small grating that will fit into the opening on the quarter deck.

There will be 20 of those baluster turnings.

The stringers are cut from heavy card stock and I'll have to come up with a way to hang the stairs below the opening. I don't see that as a major problem.

Treenails... David, I simply use toothpicks on the deck planks, after turning the tip down using a Dremel. For the bamboo hull planks, however, I use bamboo treenails pulled through a draw plate. Been thinking about the hypodermic needle approach, which appears to be a really cool method, but doubt I'll go there. Guess I'm kinda set in my comfort zone on this one.

George.... Most any of our really gifted modelers will quickly advise you that "flying through" a build is not a good thing. Chuck Passaro told me flat out.... "You need to slow down!"

Yes, I do work much too fast, and will never achieve the level of our friends Piet, Remco, EdT, and Danny because of that.

My reasoning.... At my age, I really don't feel like I have the time to spend two or three years on a project.

I build ships for personal pleasure, and the satisfaction of seeing raw lumber turn into a piece of art as majestic as a tall ship.

I cannot imagine it possible for me to get any more pleasure from it than I currently do.

Then, there's the dozens of wonderful modeling friends, like yourself, from every part of the globe.

This really is fun stuff, huh?

As for the trip to visit the Spanish galleon.... great trip with my baby brother and first cuz.

Although I took a dozen or so photos, I found that you can simply Google "El Galeon" and find many more great photos currently posted online along with very nice video.

First, I'll restore the update postings for the SOS.....
The evening light was a little better, so I took some new shots.
Port side view....

All decks have been planked and the bulwarks have been planked and painted.

Here's the newly created forecastle bulkhead, with the belfry I just completed this morning.

A closer look at the belfry.

And finally, the quarterdeck and poop deck bulkheads.... A little more work to do on both.

Guess I will begin working on gratings, and companion ways next. Then lots of tree nailing.

Well.... I saw where my early morning update was double posted, and when I attempted to delete one of them, I blew the whole thing away. I'll get those pics back up shortly along with some photos from my trip to tour the Spanish Galleon in Wilmington.

OK, here's a few shots taken this morning before I head out to Wilmington to see the Spanish Galleon docked there this week.

Port side view.... all rails now installed.

Starboard side view....better view of the rails.

View of the new bulkheads created for the Quarterdeck and Poop Deck.

The next two shots show the belfry just completed this morning.

Great to see you back to the bench my friend. Beautiful work as usual.

Sorry for going on about my personal health issues here mates. I understand that ship modeling is the focus of this forum.

I think my intentions of explaining the reason why my SOS progress postings were stalled out may have gotten a little "Facebookish".

Nonetheless, thanks all for your concerns and well wishes. I'm still tough as nails and will be fine.

As for ship modeling....

After spending more time than normal going through my favorite MSW build logs, particularly Danny's, and Remco's, and EdT....(could name many more). I am now mixed with feelings of both inspiration and frustration. I'm betting I am not the only one with the same feelings. Damn! Those guys are amazing.

Thanks Patrick, George.... Still fighting the ear infection, but improving a little each day.

Really scary for a while as it was getting worse with each passing day. Didn't realize how serious until my Thursday follow-up appointment with my surgeon.... He informed me that the extreme degree of my condition had become "life threatening"....

Knew it was painful as hell, but had no idea I was in deep do-do trouble.

Still not able to do more than 30 minutes at a time in the shipyard at this point and that's killing me. So I manage to get out there four or five times a day.... Adds up over several days.

I think I may have really lucked out. A friend in Raleigh who I met at the show in Fayetteville, ran across a partially completed HMS Vic model at a garage sale. Only about 50% completed, no plans, no parts to complete the very old kit. He asked if I might be able to finish the model, since I have built the Vic twice.

I visited him last week to take a look.... What I found was what appears to be a 1/64th scale Vic .... Cannot tell who the kit manufacturer was, or how old it is. Determined that, although possible, completing the model would require considerable ripping out of very poorly completed work, and then mostly pure scratch building everything from the deck up.

He said "forget it"....Since he only paid $25 for the mess.... No big deal.

HOWEVER....

The good news is, there was a box of brass cannons and trucks in perfect condition.

I paid him $25 for the cannons and he is very happy.

Since I was either going to buy cannons for my SOS, or create them from molds and paint them black, this is going to save me many hours of production time down the road.

What luck!

Pretty bad George.... Not sure it could have been much worse. Believe it or not, this shot did not catch his most extreme exposure. Let that feed your imagination. Hahaha