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EJ_L

NRG Member
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About EJ_L

  • Birthday 03/29/1984

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Wichita, Ks
  • Interests
    Obviously I enjoy scale model building, ships and my HO scale railroad layout are my main areas right now but I still do the occasional car model for people.
    I also highly enjoy wood working, especially lathe work. I make many things from pens and ornaments to bowls, plates, vases and goblets. Always experimenting and trying new ideas as I see them.
    Outside of these I also enjoy my wife, two dogs and outdoor activities like biking, camping and fishing.

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  1. Lower foremast shrouds are in place. Ratlines are up next.
  2. All three masts are topped out and Royal Louis has reached her full size at 33 inches tall and 43 inches long. This is another massive model. I will be working on attaching more blocks to the masts, tops, and crosstrees then will begin installing stays and shrouds.
  3. Finally getting back into the shipyard. Should be much more regular with updates again and I am ready to build! While I have been busy over the past few months, I have managed to get in small bits of build time and have been particularly active this week resulting in all three lower masts and tops built. Neither masts nor tops are glued yet, just rough fitted. I will build all the masts, caps, crosstrees, etc. then switch to rigging. After all this time it will be nice to start going vertical.
  4. Bowsprit assembly complete and installed. Missing a few blocks still but those will install when the rigging commences. Foremast up next.
  5. Some work on the bowsprit mast. As with all masts and yards, I’m trying to attach as many blocks and other components as possible before securing to the ship. This is made trickier as I intend to have sails but of course the rigging plans do not include that information. To figure out what is needed, a lot of consulting other books and examples is taking place for each sail to try to find all the components needed. Even more fun is that I am used to building ships with spritsail topmasts, and this one has a jib boom and sail. My accumulated knowledge of the former is not helping right now…
  6. Marc, Vic, thank you very much. Still very busy but I've managed to get in some build time and finished installing the gun port lids and canons. A couple more items and Royal Louis will be ready for masts and rigging.
  7. Wow! It has been a while since I’ve updated this log. Been busy with many different things including starting a new HO scale railroad and my bonsai club has been a bit more active lately with new members which has been exciting. Also I have decided to return to college to complete my degree, so that has been taking up a lot of my remaining free time and will till the end of next year. Still, I have been working when I can. Channels have been installed and now I am constructing the gun port hatches and getting ready to install them and the gun barrels.
  8. I will echo Kevin in his statement of your ability to see all of these compound angles and layers and translate them from 2D to 3D. I work in construction reading 2D plans to visualize 3D buildings, but even with all of that practice, I struggle to see what some of these artists try to convey in their pictures. Your model, aside from being simply astounding, has done a lot to help me understand the make up of these vessels complex curves and angles and how they interact to form the complete picture. You pick out details that are easily overlooked and workout incredible ways of making these difficult pieces look, maybe not simple, but doable. Bravo!!
  9. Been a while since I have updated but I have been slowly making progress. All of the exposed guns have been rigged. Next up will be the channels and then gun port lids.
  10. I feel your pain! You know I love to chop up the framing on kits to allow for interior build-outs and other modifications, and what seems a simple change at first, later reveals itself to be a major issue. I now have a hefty pile of kit decks that would no longer fit the structure as intended, especially balconies. Almost all of mine end up being scratch built to either align properly with the interior decking or to fit the curves of the hull. I think your plan to extend out the framing to add more hull will work fine... just a lot of frustrating work. I have watched you recover from "whoops" before beautifully. I believe you will do so again. You do have an added bonus of the hull being black in this area which will help hide mistakes or imperfections easier than natural wood. Otherwise, she is looking great!
  11. Upper-work planking installed. Caroline is now ready to take a trip to the wood shop for sanding and finishing. Once the finish is complete, I can start fitting trim and painting the areas that will be painted. Deck planking and interior planking will follow. While the finish work is taking place, I will be switching back to Royal Louis for a while. Thank you all for the continuing interest.
  12. Thank you Marc! It is from people like yourself and the work and effort that you put into a project that inspire and push me to continue to try to improve. Well, the last few weeks have been busy ones as I have been working on installing the second planking layer. As of today, I have finished from the wales to the keel. The wales are in walnut as are the keel, stem and stern post. The lower hull has been planked in cherry. None of this has been sanded or finished yet so it is a bit uneven and faded in color. Next up I will flip her over to continue moving up the hull with planks. Still working through some of the upper color scheme and deciding if I want to represent the colors with natural wood or paint. This will really come down to what colors are chosen.
  13. Sometimes it is for the best. You are not alone in shelving a model project for any number of reasons. I've got a few unfinished ones myself. Maybe one day you will return to it, maybe not. In either case, life is too short to be unhappy in a hobby. I will keep an eye out for your Surprise build log. Good luck on that build!
  14. With understanding my ally   My old pappy was fond of telling me " If all else fails read the instructions" 

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