jml1083

I have a slightly longer version of the bender Captain Scott shows and I love it. The edge where the bending takes place is rather sharp which allows you to be VERY accurate where you place your bends. I use a single edge razor blade slipped under the PE to make the bend once it is securely in place in the bender.

Superb work Maury! I got all the frames raised when I tackled this the first time but didn't like the way the finished product looked so I stopped there. A big part of the decision to do a second attempt is your wonderful model which is a joy to look at.

The Ship Model Society of NJ is doing a group build of the Echo and I've told everyone to check out your build log for inspiration.

First rate job Jack, Congratulations!

Beautiful work Ryland.

Beautiful work Rusty!

Are you spiling every plank or just the ones at the bow and stern with straight planks for the long runs amidship?

If you are going to St Louis will you bring your Winchelsea with you?

Hi Brian,

Your AVS is looking sharp! I had a lot of fun building mine and learned many lessons that I apply every day in the shipyard.

I think your idea of cutting recesses into glue blocks so you can inject glue is genius.

This will be my second Echo cross section. After raising all the frames on my earlier attempt I was not satisfied with the quality of my work and decided not to take it any further. The Echo makes a very nice looking model as is evidenced by build logs like Maury's and others and I contemplated a second effort.

I am a member of the Ship Model Society of New Jersey and I brought my Echo with me to a meeting after the last of the frames was raised. There was so much interest that the club voted to make it a "group project" where everyone builds their own version of the same model. 12 of us have signed on for this project. We placed a bulk order for wood with Jeff Hayes at Hobby Mill which arrived last month. We meet once a month to discuss progress and group problem solving. I hope others from the club will start build logs as well. Build logs help the builder and the modeling community so it is a win-win in my opinion.

I haven't started work yet but that should happen this weekend. The goal of this project is to build and fit out the model according to the plans posted by David and Greg. The first effort was a great learning experience and I'm sure this one will be as well. Can't wait to get started.

Very impressive work Rusty. Really a nice job.

Really beautiful work Ryland!

I like your idea of using the wide sanding sticks to keep the cap rail square. I've used coffee stirrers in the past but using something wider is definitely a better idea.

Beautiful work Pete, as always. Thanks for reposting.

Roy - Bill - Jason - Barry - Tom - David - Ken - Jim - Tom - Larry

The SMS-NJ recently had a custom Admiralty Models workshop on rigging. This very successful 2 day event was hosted by one of our members at his house. We covered a lot of the same ground as their most recent workshops in Baltimore and NOTL but also added some custom material tailored to our needs. Everyone came away from this workshop with a deeper understanding of advanced rigging techniques. Having the workshop locally enabled attendees to save the cost of hotels and restaurants.

We have been advocates of David and Greg since the very beginning because of their ability to make difficult modeling concepts more understandable to ship modelers of all skill levels. In our group we had modelers that are working on their very first kit, others that are kit bashers as well as several scratch builders working on ships like the Warrior and Liverpool. If you are looking to advance your modeling skills you owe it to yourself to check out Admiralty Models.

If you are a member of an active club with members that would like to better their ship modeling skills contact Greg or David about a custom workshop in your local area.

E&T,

Great job, very methodical! I'm doing a Tech Session at the next monthly meeting of The Ship Model Society of NJ and your analysis will be very helpful.

Thanks for taking the time to document this process so well. I'm sure this topic will get many hits in the years to come as this is something many people struggle with.

Jack,

Congratulations on a fantastic job, well done !! I will refer to your build log as I start back to work on my Bluenose after about 15 months of idle time.

Jim

Ed,

I really study your posts. As Michael said, it is like watching a real ship being built. Your attention to detail is a lesson for all. Your photographs and the accompanying explanations make clear the mysteries of this type of ship construction. Thanks for taking the time and effort to maintain this log, it is a resource of many of us.

Another vote for Jeff Hayes at HobbyMill. Dealing with Jeff is always a pleasure.

Very nice Maury, very nice indeed!

I've got to get back to mine one of these days. Too many irons in the fire right now.

Hi Rusty,

Yep, I'll be at the show. I send in my check about a month ago. Looking forward to seeing you.

Hello Alexander. Let me add my praise to that of the other people posting on this forum. You work is magnificent! Many thanks for sharing the photographs, they make it easier to understand your techniques.

Respectfully, I would counter that your attention to details such as realistic fastening is exactly what award winning models should be about. Note the trend in aircraft and railroad modelling with regards to weathering and realistic finishes.

Ed,

I have to second what Greg says. I can't imagine anyone who understands how these ships were really built having anything but the highest praise for the quality and accuracy of your work. In my opinion your work raises the bar for the rest of us. Whether we consciously realize it or not, we all build to a certain standard, an ideal we hope to achieve. A critical part of this is knowing what that ideal looks like. I think we now know and I thank you for that.

Nice work Rusty! I'll be following along.

Thanks for sharing the link. The Nautical Research Guild visited Patriots Point on the Charleston Harbor in Mount Pleasant, SC last October during its annual meeting. Along with the USS Laffey DD-724 was the USS Yorktown CV-10 and the USS Clamagore SS-343. It's worth a visit if you are in the area.

Alan,

You have my condolences on the loss of Eli. This will be a wonderful tribute to him.

One of these days I have to get back to my Echo. Like many others on this forum a little thing called "work" keeps me out of the shop more than I would like.

Good luck with your build, I'll be watching and learning.

Paul, many thanks for posting. Very helpful info in a nicely done video. I picked up a number of tips that I will use in the future.

Seeing is believing and I've been lucky enough to see Chuck in action at one of our club meetings. Everyone was sort of "yeah, right" when Chuck told us how fast he can crank out rope using the Model Expo version. He set up the rope walk, attached a cordless drill and about 7 or 8 minutes later we had 21 feet of perfect rope. He actually had to slow things down for us so he could explain what he was doing. Everything is easy when you know how and a lot of trial and error went into perfecting his technique but now that he has it's like watching a magic show.

There are many, many disadvantages to living in New Jersey.You have snow, ice, Jersey drivers (grrrrr), potholes that 18 wheelers routinely get lost in and mosquitoes large enough to file flight plans at Newark Liberty International Airport.

On the other hand we have Chuck so that other stuff really doesn't matter

Now that I've seen it done I'm pretty sure I could do a fair job of making my own rope but my feeling is why bother. I'd rather buy the rope from Chuck and spend more time on building models which is what I really enjoy.

Hi Bob,

It's been awhile since I left any comments but I HAVE been following along. Your workmanship is outstanding. I've learned a lot following your log and I suspect I have many more lessons to learn. Keep it up!