FriedClams

Really nice progress, Paul, and nice start on the deck house. Your prep and pre-planning work is very admirable. Gary

Excellent work, Keith! The crane turned out very nice and the two models look great together. Gary

Happens to all of us, Jack, but it's good to see you coming back to it! Gary

Keith, I hate to think how many times I've stared directly at situations with predictably unfortunate outcomes and walked right into them anyway. Many of which had nothing to do with model building. Gary

Nice progress on the Mary Day, JD! Stanchions and covering boards are one of my least favorite things to do in boat modeling, so fussy and time consuming. Your work here is clean and precise. Looks great! Gary

This model is looking really sweet, J.C. Very nice. Whenever I'm unsure, I always wait until I am sure because it can be so difficult to undue. After the chainplates and rudder hinges are on, the decision may be easier. Gary

Such graceful lines - beautifully built, Siggi. Gary

Great start to an interesting project, Eric. Looking forward to following along. Gary

Nice to see an update on this model, Dan. Absolutely ditto that! Gary

Keith B, Paul, Chris, Druxey, Bowwild, Glen, Keith A, Andy, Marc and Rick - I thank you very much for the compliments and support. And thanks for all the "thumbs up" and to those watching quietly. A brief update. The wave break diverter that I installed in the last post has been removed and replaced with one of a different design. The original one is something that might have been installed on a metal hull boat, but never on a wooden fishing vessel of this era. The Pelican’s plan set shows a side view of the diverter, but no details or even a top view and what I ended up building was simply wrong. Further research showed the wave breaks on these wooden draggers were built directly onto the deck and not constructed in a shop and then bolted on. The images below show the before and after. Creating the new wave break was the easy part. Fixing the deck after tearing off the old one was the hard part because chunks of the “rubber membrane” tissue came off with it. Heavy sigh. Moving on, I built the galley stove stack and the only info I have on it is the outboard profile. I lifted dimensions from the drawing but placed an alternative cap on top instead of the conical diamond shaped one shown on the drawing. The lower half of the stack has a double wall which allows hot air to travel up between the two pipes and exit at the beveled cap where the outer wall terminates. This helps protect the crew from burns when brushing against it. It's made from brass and two modified plastic pieces from a Grandt Line boiler stack. Solder and glue. Once I knew how it would stand above the deck, I soldered on a deck collar. Then blackened, oil paints and pigment powders. A hole was cut through the deck and the stack inserted. It still needs a support bracket off the doghouse and some butyl or tar at the deck. But deck wear patterns around it and deck weathering in general will be done after all other objects and details are in place. Meaning, not for a while. Thanks for stopping and take care. Gary

Fantastic work, Marc! I agree, and from a modeling perspective a little asymmetry just looks right. Your eye for detail and nuance is exceptional. Gary

Excellent progress, J.C. That bowsprit looks great and your light hand on the weathering is very realistic. Gary

Interesting updates, Wefalck. Hmm, a little adjustment time would be useful. Me too. Gary

Nice update, Brian. I like your louvered vents, and I agree the open position is more visually dynamic. Great little bollard jig. Gary

The water and steam piping turned out very nice, Keith. Tricky indeed and fiddly as well, especially in 1:120. I mostly use phosphor bronze wire now instead of brass because it’s harder and resists kinking and slumping. Tichy Train sells the stuff in 8” and 3’ lengths - .008” up to .04”. Just an FYI. Gary