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captainkangaroo

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Everything posted by captainkangaroo

  1. Today is the roughest day I've had so far. I'm getting very sharp pains in my stomach as well as nausea and extreme bloating, I look like I'm in the early stages of pregnancy. Any exertion, even walking puts me completely out of breath. I have some medication coming this afternoon and I hope it will help, Some from the pharmacy and some from nature . I'm having trouble with my eyes blurring and my hands shaking-not good for modeling. I'm working on the gallery right now and the starboard rubbing strakes. The gallery is different than any I have seen and I will post some pictures. The first wooden model I made was the Spirit of Mississippi by Ocre. I am very pleased with how it came out and I am ordering a case for it and putting it in my will as a family er loom. Still want to get that motorcycle but fear I may not feel good enough even with meds to handle it. I would like at least one ride when the leaves turn. Again thanks for every bodies support and kind words. By doing this I am able to spare my family at least a little.
  2. Thanks so much to all for the kind, encouraging words and insight from your personal experiences on my situation. I have two more tests, a PETscan and a GI to go and then they should have a feel for how long I have and how things might play out. In a way I feel like I'm no longer part of this world or at least the world I used to know, it is truly bizarre knowing ahead of time that you are going to die and really hard when your not sure when. I still can't wrap my head around it and it just seems so surreal/unreal. All those little things that seemed so important everyday-not at all. I work on the ship constantly now to bury my thoughts. The black strakes seem to make it look longer and more substantial and I will leave the nail heads as is.
  3. Thanks Lou. More pics-nothing you haven't seen before. I put the rubbing strakes on one side now so I stained and clear coated (more coats later) to see how it looks. They are on slightly differently than instructions call for. Any opinions on the "nail heads" showing?
  4. Looks like I have a.few months or slightly more. I'm not going to seek treatment other than meds to help with the physical trauma. So ironic that my birthday is Wednesday. I've missed having a motorcycle (been about 15 years) and I think I will get one. Fall is beautiful in the north Georgia mountains. I have a miniature poodle and I would like to rig something for him to ride in if it can be done safely. I don't want to spend to much of my money because I want it to go mostly to my nephew who just bought a house and is going to be strapped. I'm going to keep modeling to keep my mind off things and I hope I can finish SFII. I don't know why I like modeling so much but I always have. I wonder if I could have a model shop in the hereafter I need to post some pics soon. Any bucket list ideas? I'd like to do something that isn't just for me. Thanks everybody for your kind words.
  5. I've been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. I could live 3 months + no way to know-depends on whether I want to receive treatment like chemo to prolong things, I will know more Monday. I don't want to prolong this if it is just going to be miserable for me and my family and it probably will. I am thinking about ending it quickly but don't know if I have the courage to take that step and then, is it better to do that or have my family watch me die? I watched a close friend die of this so I know what is coming. I am discussing this here so I can say things that I can't to my family. The odds of beating a terminal diagnoses are pretty much non-existent, a few have done it though. Being relative strangers the impact on anyone here should be minimal and maybe I can get some feed back. I hope it doesn't offend or upset anyone.
  6. Thanks Robbyn, I am pleased with it. Congratulations on your beautiful wedding and best wishes for your future. "We were given two hands to hold, two legs to walk, two eyes to see, two ears to listen. But why only one heart? Because the other was given to someone else for us to find."
  7. Da planking boss, da planking boss, Da planking is done boss! I'm pleased with the over all result but not with the my method of planking. Better next time? I will be anxious to stain and clear coat it to see what it looks like finished but first I need to attach the rubbing strakes and other strips that attach to the hull. I am going to paint all the strips black for contrast. Planking is hard and tedious but if you achieve a good result from all that hard work there is a great feeling of accomplishment-after the will to live comes back.
  8. Just an FYI. When bending mahogany hull planks I learned to sort the ones that will bend easily from those that won't. If the grain looks like the left picture they will bend easier than if the grain looks like the right picture. if the grain looks like the right picture it will be more prone to breaking. The straighter the grain over the length of the plank the easier it will bend without breaking.
  9. Thanks for the compliments. In my career as a machine designer/drafter I was responsible for creating assembly drawings for a given product that made the assembly as easy and economical as possible. The question I asked myself at every turn was "is there a better or easier way". That is the question constantly on my mind as I assemble model ships. Haven't yet answered that question regarding the planking process and since I don't have all the resources of a fabrication shop at my disposal maybe I never will. I guess it just has to be looked upon as a labor of love.
  10. Well there it is for better or worse this portion is completed. It still needs to be sanded smooth. It was quite a journey!#*!#**!! and a lesson in persistence. I am going to do the other side by starting at the bulwarks and going down to the keel all in one direction. I will spile all the planks so they will curve upward toward the bow. Starting at the bulwarks and the keel and moving toward the middle really created some hard to cut, hard to clamp planks when nearing the middle, the last plank was nearly impossible to cut correctly. I don't know if I am doing the right thing but as I said this is my learning ship and if the other side doesn't turn out so well then I will display it with that side toward the wall, lesson learned. If anyone has done it this way and lived to regret it please tell me your story. Thank you DesertWolf for your compliments.
  11. Hello everybody, Its been awhile, busy etc.. I'm almost finished with one side of the hull planking. I have one last piece that will be tough to cut and shape. When I finish I will put up pictures. It would be okay if I never had to plank another ship, maybe I will feel differently down the road. I haven't put pictures up as I went along because I don't think I will do it the same way again. That is why I completed one side before I did anything on the other side. The other side will be done differently, in what I hope will be an easier and less tedious way (maybe). Normally I wouldn't be to fond of having the model planked differently on each side but this is my learning ship so I'm going to be OK with it. The way my ships are displayed you can't view both sides of the hull at once anyway, their on a built in shelving unit. pictures to come.
  12. Anybody have a good electric mini-sander? Like a small palm sander or even a belt sander I've seen them but don't know what is best. Thanks, Jim
  13. Forgot to mention the shields (shields?). I filled them in with paint and when dry I turned them over and sanded to get the results shown, sorry the picture isn't real crisp.
  14. Well the planking is going along fairly well. At this stage I am pre-bending a small portion of the plank at the bow, gluing that end in place and then steam bend it on the hull, clamp it and when dry glue the rest of the plank in place. I made my own bending fixture. I'm finding it hard to get clamps in a position to hold the plank properly. Been working on the cannons and the cannon doors in between planks. The cannons are not quite the color in the picture, I used a red primer. I took thread and tied it around the wheels where they join the carriages to make them look separate. I used beads to look like the axles. I decided to cheat and not cut openings in the hull for the cannon doors but rather I built a frame on the door to fill the extension that would normally go in the cut opening. Then after I get the rubbing strakes in place I can glue the doors in exactly centered no matter what happens while assembling the strakes. Happy Fathers day to all you Daddy-o's.
  15. A complete and necessary bonding area. As I plank one above and one below, repeat, repeat,.... working toward the middle of the hull I will have not have sufficient surface area to glue the bow end of the planks to. But I'm fixing that. If your new like me and wondering about the need for balsa as they say...JUST DO IT! Has anybody used bass wood instead? It would hold a push pin but harder to sand to shape. Maybe use a mini sander?
  16. A comment about using balsa to fill in the bow for planking. I didn't use it but rather added some supports similar to a knight head. While those work fairly well I can see that it would have been better to use the balsa-so I would definitely use the balsa next time.
  17. The real beauty of the steamer is you don't have any soaking or pre-bending to deal with.
  18. The steamer takes about 3 to 5 minutes to get up to temp.. If you just filled it you have to blow out the air for a few seconds so you get pure steam. As far as time to bend a plank, there are a number of variables, size/type of wood, size of model and type of hull. I am building the San Francisco II and steaming a plank into final form takes a few minutes on average. Some planks bend easier than others. I hold the nozzle directly against the plank and run it back and forth until the plank bends easily, I go slowly but it never takes very long. Most of the time you will be steaming the plank while it is away from the other planks and then bending into the hull. I use white glue so if I am steaming right near another plank I stick a piece of foil under it then pull it out when ready to bend. Other than protecting the white glue on the previous plank it has no effect on the hull or anything else in the area. As I said before, after you fill it it will spit water and air for a few seconds before you get a nice clean stem jet. I spray it into the trash can to clear it. Hope this helps you. Jim
  19. I use a Bissell Steam Shot steamer to bend my planks on the hull (http://www.walmart.com/ip/14320774?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227010307543&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=&wl3=30081043150&wl4=&wl5=pla&veh=sem). I clamp the plank to a straight part of the hull and then use the steamer to bend it to the curved area, clamp it and let it dry. I gently pull on the end of the plank while running the steamer back and forth until I can feel it bending and keep steaming and gently pulling until it is fully formed around the curve. Remove it when dry and glue in place. There is no soaking or pre-bending required. Good Luck! Jim
  20. Your right Keith, there are a lot of things to do while planking, I made a list and it is rather long. I don't think I could do two ships at once-my brain might explode (it would be a very small explosion). Thanks for the compliments. Jim
  21. Thank you Robbyn n' Randy, for your kind words. Randy, how are they doing at WKRP? We lived in Cincinnati when I was very young when people lived in caves and models were carved from stone. I've never had anyone around me that was really interested or could relate to my modeling hobby so its nice to have people who can relate and appreciate. Before I got this model I saved a few build logs as favorites to study and refer to and both of yours as well as DesertWolf's helped me the most. This is a really cooool site. I'm beginning to adjust to the idea that it is going to take quite awhile to finish the planking but there are other things I can work on like the hinges. It's the journey... as they say.
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