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Landlubber Mike

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About Landlubber Mike

  • Birthday 08/17/1973

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    Northern Virginia/Washington DC area

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  1. Mike,

    As you've seen, the Pegasus became a Swan. Both can fly, but the Swan took flight first! Thanks for checking out my pics. This was quite a project - not only the build itself, but adding nine set sails and of course, the water of the North Atlantic.

    Interesting how I passed on the Pegasus a couple years ago and then later decided to build it.

    The Swan ships are beautiful; I felt compelled to do this exemplary kit model justice by portraying it in a setting that emphasizes it's grace. I know this might be an odd sentiment to express about a warship that's designed to kill humans. I believe many members on this forum would understand this point of view. 

    Ron

    1. Landlubber Mike

      Landlubber Mike

      Hey Ron, thanks for the note.  Sorry to not get back to you sooner, I read your note at work and we aren't supposed to post on message boards from our government computers, so figured I would wait until I got home.

       

      Your Swan is incredible.  The sea is one of the best I've seen, amazing!  You make me want to scrap my Pegasus!  I know that people have differing opinions on adding sails to a build, but to me, sails (plus in your case, the sea) really bring the model to life.

       

      Amati hit a home run with these kits.  The subject really hits the sweet spot in terms of size, detail, and ornamentation, not to mention the kit components.  And the fact that there are such detailed plans available from the NMM helps with the authenticity factor to the extent people think that is important.  I have the Pegasus plans from the NMM and Amati was consistent in all respects except for a few minor simplifications - I forget the terms of the parts, but on the Pegasus plans the cross bar on one of the rear bitts faces aft, and one set of bitts goes through the gratings (Amati moved the gratings slightly to avoid builders having to do this).

       

      Completely get your thoughts on it being a "warship" - I'm building the Charles Morgan, and think that the whalers are really interesting subjects with a lot of history and cool detail (plus you don't have to rig cannons with 2mm blocks).  At the same time, I certainly wouldn't condone their purpose.  I would just say that as model builders, we aren't celebrating the use of these ships (whether for war, whaling, carrying slaves, etc.), but just representing subjects that at one time played an important part in history.

       

      Glad you decided to build the kit!   To me, it's the best model I've seen out there on the Swan class, and that's saying a lot with some of the heavy hitters that have built ships of this class.

       

      Mike

    2. hollowneck

      hollowneck

      Whoa. Thanks, Mike. I'm glad I decided to build this kit too.

       

      As I mention in my current NRG Journal article, after spending quite a bit of time looking for one, I couldn't find a historic or contemporary model of the Swan - lots of her sister ships, obviously (including Fly, Atalanta, Vulture, etc. I even checked-in w/David Antscherl on this and he too has concluded the same.

       

      I've got a 10-page article in the current issue of the NRG Journal, appropriately entitled: "HMS Swan." You can check it out online if you don't get the dead tree Journal as the NRG has just gone digital (online PDFs). I offer some Swan and related era history and a little about my build (there are pics but the ones I've posted here are actually a lot better; larger, higher res than the digital edition.) The NRG needs to revisit this and improve the image resolution. My article is also appearing in the December (Winter) Journal as "Swan, Part 2" and it is a LONG article about how I made my set sails as well as the water - which I wrote bpth taks as step-by-step tutorials; lots o' pics of hands, tools and detailed materials info, etc.

       

      The NRG has wisely folded-in the now demised Ships In Scale and are focusing on ALL LEVELS of builds and will be mostly dedicated to how-to's now...which is an interesting shift. Much less on nautical research (and history)- which will bum some members out (but not me since my wife and I are both skilled online research animals). Also, the folio is dramatically expanded: this Fall's edition has 100 pages! All color, too. I haven't received my Fall issue magazine - which is mildly ironic...

       

      I've had a number of queries on how I made my water and I am referring people now to check out my Winter NRG Journal piece. I hope the editor doesn't slash it too much. My current Swan Part 1 piece took quite a hit - even at 10 pages.

       

      I am a history buff and relish this aspect of our hobby, learning about nautical history. I thought you might understand my sentiments about the aesthetics of these warships we both love to build. I also agree about your point on whaling ships, slavers, etc.

       

      BTW- A tip: the New Bedford Whaling Museum (in MA) is not to be missed, if you haven't visited already. Combine this with a trip to Mystic! Make it a Road Trip with the family. Seriously. If you'd like I can give you lots of info, good tips on how to make this adventure work (I have lots of children and g'kids who do these road trips).

       

      After my Dec article, I'm writing another piece for the NRG on votive/nave ship models which will have lots of pics and a kool story about this European history. How did I learn about this arcane subject? I was commissioned to build a votive model for a church in NY! I'll include photos on this aspect as part of this feature story.

       

      Good to hear from you and thank you again for your kind compliments.

       

      Take Care,

      Ron

       

      PS Pic attached (preview) of my votive model, HMS Godspeed.

       

       

      GodspeedStJohns.jpg

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