Landlubber Mike

These are amazing! The heron is really incredible. You’re a true artist!

Looks great Mark!

My set from Mikhail arrived this week. Got stuck in customs and took about 6 weeks, but well worth the wait: As everyone said, they are really well made and at a nice price. I bought some micro gouges and other tools from Dockyard years ago, but these are much higher quality. As you can see, I opted for the more decorative handles and glad I did so. The tools are almost too beautiful to work with and dirty. Mikhail is a very nice guy, and google translate worked very well for our communications. He stayed on top of the delivery to make sure that the package got to me and periodically checked in. I’m sure some may have misgivings about communicating in a foreign language with someone halfway around the world, but it was a very smooth process, customs delay aside. I believe he makes batches of these twice a year, so if you are interested, it’s best to contact him sooner rather than later. Mine was the last set for this batch, otherwise I would have had to wait until the fall. Thanks Mikhail!

To get the hang, I added a weight to pull the slack down. I forget what I used - it might have been a toothpick or a pin - something heavy enough to pull it down yet light enough so the rope would naturally hang without looking sharply angular at the nadir. Then a couple of coats of well diluted PVA to set things.

Very nice Mark!

Those anchor buoys are looking awesome. Not at all easy making that rope basket - I had a lot of choice words when trying to get them on the buoys for my Badger.

I think there are already a lot of Chinese GRS knock-offs on eBay.

Cool project. I always thought the Blandford was a nice subject.

Pear takes stain very nicely I've found.

Yeah, I would definitely tie them to the ring bolts and then insert the ring bolts into the bulwarks. Not sure I see doing it any other way. Use the one you have now to test out lengths of the breaching rope to get to the proper length to have adequate sag, etc.

A beautiful gift! Really kind of you. Hard to tell which looks better - your LN or the knife. Both are works of art. 👍

Hey Mark, sorry to hear about things. Hope 2019 is treating you a little better. Everyone is different, but for me, having multiple projects going on of various lengths works. I find I get excited by a project, then eventually that enthusiasm dwindles, or I get stuck or feel overwhelmed. Then things stop being fun and the project turns into a chore. Having something else to turn to, even if it is a different pursuit, keeps my spirits elevated and i’m in a much better state of mind approaching whatever it is I’m working on. These long projects that run years do require a particular personality and mindset to get through I think. That’s why having some short projects in the mix where the finish line is measured in days or weeks really helps. I just started playing around with turning pens and am having a blast. Turned a few pencils for my girls and I’m a hero to them. I’ve also started looking at other things, including ships in bottles which take significantly less time to complete and you don’t have to worry about absolute perfection at such a small scale (especially when the glass provides some distortion). I also think that coming to MSW and seeing the incredible artistry is mostly a blessing, but sometimes is a bit of a curse. I get inspired for sure, but there are times when I feel like it becomes a lot of self imposed pressure to build the model at a high level. For me it’s not that I would feel embarrassed to post my work, just that you come here and see what can be done and want to do the same. In some ways it would be nice to just open a kit and build it from the box without really mentally torturing myself to get things perfect, historically accurate, etc. Anyway, sorry for getting philosophical on this. Take care of yourself my friend. Looking forward to seeing whatever you end up doing.

That's really beautiful work. Wow, very impressive! Funny about gluing brass - if you find a solution, I'm all ears. Gluing brass on my first model led to a lot of nasty words and visions of testing it out as a glider by throwing it out the window. 😳

Welcome back! Your Pegasus was one of the builds that inspired me to start this kit. Coppering looks great!

Funny, I actually prefer a darker wood hue on models. To me, looks more realistic and more "patina'd" than something in very light woods. Very light woods like using holly for decking just seems to almost impart a painted plastic look. Certainly nice, but not my taste. All that being said, I think offering upgraded wood options is a great idea. I wish more kit makers would do that. It's why I have bought my last few kits second-hand for substantial discounts off of retail (since I would replace the visible wood anyway) rather than purchasing direct from the manufacturer.

Welcome! This site is a friendly place with great people with lots of knowledge and experience. I believe there are a few threads on here asking about good first kits. Different manufacturers have different reputations when it comes to kit wood, kit fittings, instructions, historical accuracy, etc. Spend a little time asking questions and looking at various build logs to see what mix works for you. Depending on your comfort level, I'd start with something with decent instructions as a first kit to build. The Model Expo/Model Shipways kits are usually pretty good when it comes to instructions, but the fittings are pretty rough. I started with the Caldercraft Brig Badger, which had a 60-page manual, with great fittings and for the most part, really good wood in the kit. Good luck!

Looks great Bob. Might have been a poor kit, but sure turned out to be a beautiful model in your skilled hands. Hope 2019 treats you better

Very nice, looks great! Congratulations!

Very cool work Dave. Love the enhancements and following all your creativity! I saw you mentioned you build the Wanderer in wood. Do you have a picture of that one? I'm working on the Morgan at the moment, but have thought about scratch building another whaler like the Wanderer once I'm through the kits on my shelf.

Beautiful work Vince!

Thanks Paul. I'm leaning too towards the "gangway" theory with the gratings flush with the deck - makes more sense to me, and seems to be consistent with Chapman's Plate XXXII and Venus plans. I still have some time to mull things over. Many thanks for all the thoughts!

Many kits, including Amati, unfortunately have different colored sheets, even of the same wood. As Chris said, it should be fine if you are planning to use paint.

Thanks Mark and Keith - dissipation of smoke does make sense. Seems like there is no definitive answer here. Unfortunately there is not much information on Swedish ships out there, and few models. I have a little bit of time before I get to the main deck, so I'll stew on it a little more. PiratePete, who is putting together very helpful build notes for the Euromodel kits, and I had extensive discussions over the weekend about these gratings. Maybe some of this information can go into his build notes. Many thanks for everyone's thoughts on this topic! Very interesting!

Putting aside the kit, the plans shown above (Plate XXXII and of the Venus) were drawn by none other than Fredrik Henrik af Chapman, who was a naval architect, dockyard owner and manager, etc. and was the author of Architectura Navalis Mercatoria (1768). He was kind of a big deal, and my guess is that the plans in the Architectura, including Plate XXXII, were pretty carefully drawn. That's what gives me a little pause. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fredrik_Henrik_af_Chapman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_frigate_Venus_(1783)

Thanks Jud. That echoes exactly what Mark said. It's odd though in that (1) the plans suggest no coamings, and (2) there really seems to be no purpose for them other than possibly cosmetic (no need for ventilation when that wide open waist is sitting there). I also think that it would be odd to have them flush with no coamings given that there is the ladder hatch opening - seems dangerous to have an open hole in the floor like that without at least coamings to protect people running around on the deck.