FriedClams

Nice progress on the inflatable Keith. Looking good. Gary

Beautiful grills - and they even flip up. Nice. Gary

Beautiful work EG, thanks for walking us through the process. Very interesting log. Gary

Thanks to all for the wonderful comments. You are so kind, and I truly appreciate it. And thanks for the "likes" and to those who have followed along quietly. Hello Kev - great observation and yes, you are correct– it is too short. In full disclosure, it was several scale feet longer before I snapped the end off. The rod is made from birch and is considerably thinner than a toothpick, even at the rods thickest end. The tip was long and absurdly fine and my intent was to put a slight tension on the line and arc the rod tip gracefully downward. It looked great for about 10 seconds, then . . . click. I may give it another go using a different material at some future point, but the lazy slug in me says to replace the fly reel with a spinning reel instead. Thanks Eric and Wefalck. Yes, it is a fine rock and actually the model began with it. I sat there staring at the rock and thinking, “it needs something more, it needs something on top of it” - like a pulled ashore open boat or . . . Kidding, of course. Thanks for looking in. Be safe and stay well Gary

You are probably right Keith, I forget that many folks have a far greater discretionary income than I. But I'm guessing that Baldwin Locomotive also has a much larger pool of potential buyers than Madawaska does. Anyway, it wouldn't hurt to watch it. Gary

Hello Keith. That is a cool name plate for sure, but the seller is dreaming and notice that it hasn't sold. I would keep an eye on it. When it doesn't sell, he may put it up for auction. Never know. Gary

Nice progress Roger. Very nice metal work. Oh, and I am officially stealing your ladder making jig - great idea. Gary

Catching up after some time away and I see you have been busy and doing some amazing 3D modeling. Excellent work! So glad to hear your medical procedure went well. Even when the say the procedure is routine, it’s still stressful. It’s routine for them - not for the patient. Looking forward to future modeling updates. Gary

Just catching up OC. Very nice progress. Really like the cart and as usual, your figure painting is superb. Gary

Nice tutorial on the painting Dan - it looks terrific. Gary

It is good to hear you are well Valeriy. Your work is simply exquisite. Looking at images like the one above, I have to remind myself of the small scale that I'm looking at. Every detail is just so perfectly executed, clean and precise. Inspirational. Gary

Just catching up after some time away, and dang it Tom that is some beautiful craftsmanship and a great display to go along with your other ship component projects. Congratulations on its completion. I really like the whole concept of building a series of detailed ship components in a larger scale. It's such a great idea and I'm going to go back and read your previous two projects. Wonderful work - so crisp, detailed and precisely done. Gary

Just catching up on this build and I see more amazing modeling as I knew I would. I look forward to watching your progress on the sub-atomic ship’s boat. Gary

Beautiful work on the launch Keith. She is looking really sharp and the brass on mahogany is very rich and elegant. Clever process in creating the wheel, and what a great result. Gary

Greetings fellow modelers. A belated thank you to Keith, Kev, Andy and Ron, for your comments. How has an entire month gone by unnoticed? I am sure you are correct on this point Kev. It wouldn't take more than one or two complaints from clients about a sore bottom for the guide operators to fix that. Thanks for checking out my log and for the nice words. Hello Ron. Thanks, I didn't know about these epoxy rivet decal sheets, but I can think of many possible future uses. Finished I've been working on this Rangeley model in fits and starts between outdoor projects and other activities. But it is finally complete. A couple of minor details have been added. A fly rod and reel made of wood, brass and paper. And a tackle box of wood, styrene and brass. Exposed rock ledge is visible everywhere in Maine and I reasoned it would make an appropriate base for the model. Both ends of the boat got stern/bow lines. I chipped high points off the rock until it sat flat without rocking and then attached felt feet to keep it from destroying our furniture. Also, I epoxied a label to the underside. The hull received a final coat of paint and everything was epoxied to the rock. Thanks to all for stopping to take a look and for the “likes”. And I especially want to thank everyone who has left comments. Your thoughts, suggestions and support are always greatly appreciated and I thank you so much. Be safe and stay well. Gary

Keith, this is such heartbreaking news. I am so sorry for your loss. My heart goes out to you and your family. Gary

How small and intricate! Beautiful work indeed. Gary

Ouch and Phew! Gary

Very nice work Keith - they look terrific! And like Brian, I don't see this clutter you speak of either. Gary

Great work John. That last photo on post #43 is amazing. Clever process on the deadeyes - thanks. Gary

Excellent Keith! That body color really makes the brass and aluminum pop. Gary

Thanks to all for the likes and for stopping by. Thank you, Tom Thanks Keith. All I had to do was execute someone else's design, and a voice in my head kept whispering to me “keep it simply stupid”. So that's what I tried to do. It's true, I'm being something of a fussbudget on the outer hull – but just one more thin coat of paint and . . . Oh, and "a rippled blue surface of cattails and waterfowl" sounds wonderful. Hello Wefalck, and thanks. Yes, the seats are different and virtually every period boat had them. I have read the intention was to keep inexperienced customers centered in the boat. Having never sat in one, I can't comment on the comfort, but I imagine the comfort level was inversely proportional to how 'broad across the beam' the customer was. I'm always amazed how many working boats that were designed and built to be strictly utilitarian, are also handsome and appealing as well. I'm not sure how much you would enjoy fishing the Rangeley Lakes – there are no 'Great Whites' there you know. Thanks FF. Thanks Druxey - It's been a fun model to build. Thanks so much Keith - if only it had rivets. I'm in the middle of several "landscape improvement" projects, but still hope to have a completed model posting in a week . . or so. Thanks and stay well. Gary

Thank you, Keith and Richard, for the nice comments. And thanks to all for looking and for the thumbs up. This update begins with the two thwarts. They were straight forward to make and mostly a file and fit affair. The fore and aft edge pieces form a tray and keeps fishing gear from sliding off. It also structurally strengthens the thwart to accept the seat. The seats are a scale 12” in diameter and slightly concave. The cutting surface grid is 1/2" To create the smooth circular depressions, I first made the holder below to chuck in my portable drill. Two layers of 1/32” basswood were laminated together with the grain positioned 90 degrees to each other and glued with PVA to the holder. A fat thumb with sandpaper creates the depression and the piece is released from the holder with alcohol. In addition to short risers which are fastened to the ribs, the thwarts are also supported by hanging rods. These rods are placed where you might normally expect to find wooden knees. Each thwart has four of these metal rods and they are made from .02” diameter phosphor bronze. They are treated with Jax Flemish Gray and each one gets a bolt head. Risers, thwarts, rods and seats are added to the boat. The staining on the decks and gunwales have been re-applied after being sanded off in the fitting process as mentioned in a previous post. They received an India ink/alcohol wash followed by a raw umber chalk/alcohol stain. It was topped with a rub down of wax which adds a degree of depth and richness to the wood and also protects the surface . In fact, all the unpainted wood on the model was treated in this same way - ink, chalk and wax. A set of oars were made from 1/8” dowel. Their lengths were determined from this formula: [(D/2 +2) divided by 7] x 25 = length, where D equals the distance between oarlocks. The oarlocks are brass - soldered together and finished with Jax Flemish Gray. They are pinned to the oars. They can be placed at any of the four sockets and positioned in any orientation. Four oarlock pads are fashioned from basswood. They are 12 scale inches long. Some stain, some bolt heads and holes for the sockets. The brass sockets are added and attached to the gunwales. Placement location of the pads varies by boat builder, but typically the socket is 12” to 14” aft of the thwart edge. These guide boats usually provided a stern seat/chair for the comfort of the paying customer. Here is the present state of the model. There is some cleanup work yet to be done on the outer hull followed by a final coat of paint, but the boat itself is close to complete. Next is a display base/stand, some assorted accessories and the final photos. Thanks for stopping by to take a look. Gary

Nice update Brian. Good solution on the davit sockets - looks great. Polymer clay such as Sculpey or FIMO that will harden in a 230 degree oven in 25 minutes, is also a useful product. Gary

Nice progress on the launch Keith. The engine is an unexpected detail. Gary