Piet

Very nice progress mate. Yup, I understood what you were up to and it worked out great for you. I agree, working with wood feels great, natural stuff but plastics and styrene have their place too. Cheers,

Thank you fellows for your kind comments and to those who clicked the like button. Yup, life gets in the way of pleasure but the unpleasant parts will ease off some. Still busy with domestic chores, garden mostly and haven't even touched my neighbor's chair for a few weeks. Well, in between all the busy stuff I have been able to finish another sketch of a lion head. It's still not quite right but I'll keep massaging it some more. Right now he looks like he's yawning. I have another one started and hopefully he looks acceptable to ise as a model. then i need to draw one up in profile, which is more important for the carving. Here is pic, just so all yuns know I'm still alive a kicking Cheers,

Ah yes, all the do-overs is part of the deal but the final mast looks really very handsome. Splendid work my friend. Cheers,

Ahoy Dan, glad I caught your build and with your permission I'll draw up a chair to watch. My father was a submariner in the Dutch Royal Navy and served from about 1923 till 1942 when he was killed in action against the IJN. As my signature shows I have completed a scratch-build of my father's WW II Dutch sub, the O19. I have also come into the possession of a 1:350 scale WW II era Dutch sub kit of the O18 from Pacific Cross Roads out of St. Petersburg, Russia. My father did not serve on that one but knew the crew. I'll be starting this kit soon and plan to place it on the display board next to my father's boat. I am extremely impressed by the quality of the Pacific Cross Roads parts and photo etch. www.PacificCrossRoads.net I like your idea of a diorama, it always brings so much more interest and life to a model. Cheers,

Interesting Nils but I have no idea what you are talking about with "bag feet buttons" with "fastening clip devices." Remember, I'm an airplane kinda guy and them things don't have vents like your ship Fortunately my VOC ship Surabaya doesn't have vents either, they just opened the gun ports Can you show us a picture of the complete clip assembly so this ignoramus can understand it? Cheers,

Looking good Kevin. Cheers,

Nice going Hennie and a great looking blow sprit. What kind of lathe do you have? Cheers,

Very nice work Sjors. Impressive build! Cheers,

Very n ice looking carronades JesseLee and not to forget to splendid those splendid miniature blocks! Cheers,

Thank you Lawrence for dropping in and your very kind words. To put your mind at ease, the Surabaya build is just half way to completion. There is still a lot of carving to be done, the ship's boats and then the rigging. It'll be finished before I go to Davy Jone's locker I have been very busy in the last few weeks, no time to devote at the bench. I started to draw out the ship's boats to fit the ship, 1:80 scale. The boat will be 30 Amsterdam feet long and 8 feet 6 inches in the beam. The sloop will be 26 feet 6 inches long and 7 feet in the beam - also in Amsterdam feet. I plan to install the anchor winch and fully rigged. That way I can put it next to the ship on the display board. When I wanted to use my 1 1/2 year old Epson printer it would not print. I tried to clean the printer heads but that didn't help. In the meantime weeds and extra growth started to take over the yard and needed a lot of work. The lawn is being attacked by bugs and now also fungus. Off to the store to by "stuff" and hope to safe the lawn. Then two weeks ago a very good friend of ours told us that she has breast cancer in both breasts. One is already quite advanced. The oncologist kinda scared the daylight out of her and wanted to immediately do a double mastectomy. I urged her to get a second opinion which she did and may start on an estrogen hormone protocol. I am not familiar with that one and am a little concerned. I spend the last two weeks digging through my cancer archive and gave her pages full of proven natural herbal protocols that have a proven 99% survival record. She may go to a holistic MD type for another opinion. She is right now rather down and scared. She is the primary caretaker of her husband who is struggling with severe type II diabetes with one amputated leg. Okay, sorry for this long off topic cry story and back to ship building. While I am trying to make up my mind about what to do with my printer (probably buying a new one) I started to make a few sketches of bow lion version 2.0. I told all yuns that I was not happy with the first try so it was back to the drawing table I made one face on that still needs to be developed some more but thought to let yuns know that I didn't fall off the earth. Life has a way of throwing monkey wrenches into the works. Once I am satisfied with the looks I plan to make a sketch from the side. I kinda used our little cat as a model and a small plastic lion I picked up at the arts and craft store. Okay, here is the pic of my draft sketch. Cheers,

Ooooooh, yes! Another beauty on the slipway and fully detailed too. I'll expect that big dining table, dressed with porcelain flat ware and crystal goblets, armored warrior artwork, two runabouts, lots of chairs and umbrellas. That'll keep you off the streets for a while Patrick. Safe some room for me, okay? Cheers,

Beautiful Daniel, just beautiful. Cheers,

Happy belated birthday Dennis and very nice work on the ladder and railing. Cheers,

Great progress Nenad and fantastic research. You'll get it right my friend, I have no doubt. Cheers,

Just got caught up on your build Igor, just fantastic. I'm taking notes my friend, for my future build. Cheers,

Nice progress Mark and who cares about a little sanding, you get paid by the hour - - - - right? Cheers,

Very cute little boat Denis. Nice progress and fast. Enjoy watching her being build. Cheers,

Nice progress Nils. Cheers,

Great looking props Patrick, what diameter are they? Very rarely have I seen contra rotating propellers on multi engine aircraft. I think there was one but forgot now, too long ago. Cheers,

Nice going Denis! Cheers,

Awesome work Nemad. Lockers and ladders look great. Cheers,

Beautifully done Pete, a real gem. Cheers,

Looks like you settled on the 7 mm mast Nenad. My personal guess was something between 7 and 8 but who is quibbling about a fraction of a mm. It'll look just right after all the other things are attached to it and the rigging is on. Great catch and fix on the mizzen hole. Cheers,

Nicely done Patrick, she looks stunning! Cheers,

For sure well done on the gun ports Sjors. And yes, languages can generate smiles from those of another tongue but in the end all of us understand what's being said. I take my hat off to all who are not as proficient in English as others but still banter along with the best of us. That's another reason why this organization is the best. Yes, John, that should be "alone in the world." After having lived in the USA and speaking exclusively American English for 59 years I still get confused and make mistakes and the sad part is that I do the same now in Dutch. I even speak Dutch with an American accent. I just can't win Cheers,