FriedClams

She's looking great Eric - extremely nice work! Gary

Much nicer Keith - a great improvement. It now indeed looks symmetrical, clean and orderly. Gary

Wonderful work Jean-Paul - this model turned out beautifully! Congratulations on its completion. Gary

How true. When I have a brain fart, I usually correct the mistake quickly and then set the model aside and out of my sight. Otherwise, the error just stews and I resist returning to the model. But I always do. Take a breather and enjoy your beverage Mark. Gary

Wonderful work as always Siggi. Happy holidays to you and yours. Gary

Simply outstanding Valeriy! Jewelry! Gary

Keith, you are selling yourself way short. I truly enjoy watching you work through modeling challenges and solving problems. Your log and methods are a great contribution individually and to the whole of what can be learned here at MSW. I personally like the casks you made – nice and crisp and they look good on the deck. On post #176 you welcomed other approaches, so here is how I would go about it. I would use paper for the banding. On small stuff like this I always use the sticky edge of a Post-it note. I stick the note onto the cutting mat, mark it and then slice off the width that I need with a scalpel. When slicing off 1/64th of an inch of paper it helps to not have the paper move while you're cutting it and that is one reason I use a Post-it note. I then run a black permanent marker down the length of the strip before I peel it from the cutting mat. The second and more important reason I use a Post-it note is that it helps in placing the band on the cask. I place a minuscule dab of CA on one end, attach it to the barrel/cask, let dry and then wrap the band around the barrel. The tackiness of the paper keeps the band from slipping toward the narrow end and it also allows me to lift the band or nudge it sideways for better positioning. Another small dab of CA secures the opposite end and a scalpel trims the length. Once I'm happy with the look, I brush on a very thinned out PVA/water mix (like milk) and the banding isn't going anywhere. Wefalck is correct of course stating that banding around a conical object is not a straight strip but rather a mild arc, but on something this small and a strip so narrow, you can get away with it. On larger scales, automotive pin striping material works nicely. Here it is, yet another way to do it. It's roughly made to Keith Aug's dimensions. Your model is looking sharp Keith – keep at it. Like the chest too. Gary

I bet that took a while! And it’s a great eye catching detail. She is progressing very nicely Keith. Excellent work! Gary

Excellent workmanship Brian and a wonderful result. Your model is looking fabulous. Gary

Beautiful work on those anchors. As said many times before yet worth repeating - extraordinary detail at this scale. Excellent. Gary

Hello Dan, Great to see you starting a new project. This is a very interesting vessel and logically its design and the theory behind it makes perfect sense to me. It will be interesting to watch it take shape. Gary

Catching up on your schooner Allen and she's looking very nice indeed! The rigging looks terrific. I too have never had much luck with stainless cable when applied to smaller scales, because so much force is required to keep them tensioned on a model that moves around with humidity. As others have stated, you are moving fast, but the workmanship has not suffered in the least because of it. Beautiful work. Gary

Such a wonderful log Keith, so fun and educational to read. I love the ships bell, but making even the liferaft clamshells look good - well that's just modeling mojo. Terrific work. Gary

Hey Eric, I’m sorry to hear of your loss. Loosing someone so close is always such a difficult time. I wish you and your family peace. Gary

Just catching up Paul and I want to congratulate you on your fine model. It turned out excellent and in no way looks like a first build. It’s cleanly made and nicely fitted together. Good paint too. Gary

Just catching up Ekis and I see the superb work continues. Your village is coming along beautifully! Gary

Really nice work on those tracks Keith. I agree with Keith and Pat - no one will ever know the tracks are a hair wider than prototype. I certainly wouldn’t have known. I bet that was time consuming laying them down and getting the all those curves to sweep naturally. And they contrast nicely with the wood deck as well - great visual appeal. I like it! Gary

Thank you all so much for the wonderful comments. It is so great to share a hobby with like-minded folks. Hello Druxey and Allen. Thanks for asking and your interest. When I began this Stonington boat, I always had it in the back of my mind that this would be a trial run of sorts leading up to a larger and more complex Eastern-rig vessel. I always figure the scar tissue developed during one project will benefit me in the next, or at least help in avoiding a total face plant. There are numerous weaknesses and flat-out errors on every model I've ever made and that tradition will continue, but I hope to make new mistakes and not repeat ones made before. There are very few wooden hull Eastern-rig boats still floating today. They have mostly been replaced by steel hull stern trawlers, but in mid-century New England, they were ubiquitous. Based on my interests and being a mid-century New Englander myself, an Eastern-rig scallop dragger out of New Bedford seems a natural next project. I didn't have much in the way of plans for the Stonington boat and I spent ridiculous amounts of time scrounging around in search of tidbit information. I'm not going to do that on the next model, so I need to hunt down comprehensive plans and I know who has them. The research library at Mystic Seaport is a rich resource of plans for vessels of all types, but the vast majority of the material is undigitized and requires on-site research. Their archives contain the original drawings for dozens and dozens of Eastern-rig boats – but the library is closed to visitors due to Covid. When they re-open, I will travel down to Connecticut and see what they got. In the interim I'm going to work on some non-floating modeling and make another 1:87 mini- diorama. Early on in this log I posted photos of one of these small dioramas – a small boat building shop. That was the second in a series. The first was this old Fordson tractor emerging from a barn. Both dioramas are the same size. The third will be a 1920s auto repair shop and will keep me occupied until I can begin work on the scallop boat. Hello Wefalck. No, it's not in the tidal zone and your question is a good one. I looked at many photos like this and though “how did that boat get there”? What was confounding to me is that the boat stands, props and cribbing are in the way of whatever placed there. How do you hold the boat up and pull the transport out from under it at the same time? I then found this video and the “well, of course” moment happened. The video is from a manufacturer of boat stands and it demonstrates the ease of how it's done. The first 45 seconds or so is product sales pitch. Brownell Boat Stands Demonstration - YouTube And there is always plan “B”. Thanks again everyone. Stay safe. Gary

Thanks to all for the comments and the likes – it is always greatly appreciated. Hello Ron. I'm glad you found my log and thank you for the kind words. Thanks also for the comments regarding the dory, but I'm going to respectfully disagree on the dory's purpose for the following reasons. First, as I researched these small western-rig boats, I found references to the roof mounted dories as indeed being lifeboats. I agree with you that present day F/Vs mostly do not carry lifeboats, only inflatables. But even as late as the 1970s they did. In Peter Prybot's book, White-Tipped Orange Masts: (Gloucester's fishing draggers in the 1970s), the author states that the eastern-rig boats carried two life boats atop the pilothouse and smaller boats carried one. Here is an image of eastern-rig boats in Boston in the 1960s/70s all carrying dories painted in the same high visibility color. The image above doesn't prove anything by itself, but it shows that the boats were common in an earlier time. As the decades passed and the dories became increasingly rare, it must have been due to the movement toward CO2 canister inflatables. If the dories were part of the fishing gear, they would not have vanished because the basic method of trawl fishing during this period didn't change. A second reason I believe the dories on these small draggers were not part of the fishing gear is that I have never read where auxiliary boats have ever been used in conjunction with otter trawl gear. I don't see how the dory would assist in that process or what it could do that the winch or boom hoists could not, especially considering the weight of the gear (wire rope, otter boards, roller gear, etc). And my final thought is that without a davit, getting the dory down off the roof and back up routinely seems impractical. Of course I could be totally wrong about all of this, but certainly without some way out of the frigid New England water, a person would quickly suffer from cold incapacitation followed by hypothermia in short order. Thanks again Ron. Finished This simple diorama base has been a painfully slow slog. I re-did it several times with each version being tossed into the trash. But I have surrendered and it is done. I began with a framed platform that measures 7.5” x 13.5”. Like the model, it shows signs of wear. I then made a landscape foundation of Hyrocal. This is great stuff – mix with water and it cures hard as a rock, doesn't shrink, crack or flake apart. I poured this mix onto a piece of waxed paper so I could work the stuff away from the base in anticipation of do-overs. The rock out-crop is also Hydrocal that I formed in a flexible mold manufactured by Woodland Scenics. Trailer tire tracks are laid in. I glued the slab onto the base with crazy amounts of PVA and filled in around the perimeter with a fresh batch of the Hydrocal. There is an interval of time before it has cured (hours) where the stuff is “green” - hard, but very workable with carving tools. I then cut and glued down the wood blocks that will support the boat. Slide switches and a battery holder for the LED lighting are mounted to the underside. The Hydrocal was painted with a brown gouache and then landscaping materials are added on top. The rock out-crops are also colored with gouache. The “dirt” is pulverized cat box absorbent (unused mind you). It's placed into a plastic zip bag, smashed with a hammer and then sifted into piles - powder, fine and course. The scant vegetation is dry bits of things from the flower garden that were then painted with acrylics. And the scattered rocks are, well - small stones. Once things were arranged to my liking, I sprayed wet water (more like a heavy mist) over everything until good and wet. This helps the adhesive to flow. Before it had a chance to dry, I used a craft style syringe/eye dropper and applied a 50/50 PVA/wet water mix over the entire diorama. A lot of this mixture was applied- everything soaked but no puddles. Below is how it looks when dry. I can shake it vigorously upside down and nothing falls off, but that's not a recommended practice. I make up a few details. An extension ladder colored with acrylics and pigment powder. And a step ladder. A 55 gallon drum filled with scraps. The drum is injection molded plastic from Tichy Train Group. It is based painted rust enamel then over-painted with acrylic, chipped and pigments applied. So I grab the boat and bring it over to the base for final mounting. Before I make it to the base, I sneeze violently and the boat jumps from my hands like it was possessed. I watched in slow motion horror as the model pitchpoled end over end and landed on the floor like a cat, right side up and flat on its keel. I could barely believe my careless stupidity or my undeserved good fortune. The model remained in completely undamaged condition with only the engine stack having been slightly loosened. Sometimes the gods smile upon you. The LED wiring is run down through holes in the wood blocks and the boat is attached to the base. Details are glued on and boat stands are added. A worker in a pensive moment contemplates the world and his place in it. The figure is by Arttista. And at the last minute I decided the scene needed saw horses and a couple of planks. And some other direct lighting shots. Some indirect lighting photos. Well, this model is finished and it has been a pleasure sharing it with you. I thank everyone who looked in on the build and all the folks that clicked the “like” button. And to all of you who have generously given comments of support, suggestions, information and expertise – I thank you so very much. Be safe and stay well. Gary

Hey Eric, Another way of adding rivets is to purchase injected molded rivets. I use them quite often and have a selection of sizes. Tichy Train Group manufactures them and they range in rivet head diameter from .02" to .08". They are available with round or conical heads - $3.00 for a package of 96 or 200 rivets (depending on rivet size). https://www.tichytraingroup.com/Shop/tabid/91/c/o_nbw-rivets/Default.aspx The largest ones shown below are the .04" size. Just another option. Gary

Ditto, Ditto, Ditto Your model is looking very good Paul. Gary

You never disappoint Keith - in the creativity of the process, or in the beauty of the result. Great stuff! Gary

Wonderful work Ekis! You seem to be ever raising the bar on your own work. Each new post is more detailed and more perfectly executed than the last. Nice. Gary

Wonderful work on the pumps Richard! Simply superb sub-miniature machine work. So realistic and crisp - love it! Gary

More beautiful work Valeriy! I ditto Druxey's remark - "That is the nicest miniature shackle I've seen." Thanks for showing us how. Gary