FriedClams

Hello Roger. I was cruising around the Library of Congress website and came across the two images below from the Detroit Publishing Company. I'm sure you've seen these before, but I didn't see them in your log so . . . Below each photo is a link to the high-res images. Launch party - Benjamin Noble – Detroit Shipbuilding, Wyandotte, Michigan – April 28, 1909 Launching party, Ben. J. [sic] Noble, Wyandotte, Mich. (loc.gov) Benjamin Noble on the ways – Detroit Shipbuilding, Wyandotte, Michigan – 1909 Str. Benj. J. [sic] Noble on the ways, Wyandotte, Mich. (loc.gov) Gary

Catching up, Keith and terrific progress on the planking. Very nice indeed. Thanks for sharing the photos of the Sutton Hoo Ship. Such an elegantly shaped hull! Gary

Nice progress, Andy. I also agree with the above statements, it does look like the real thing. But of course it is the real thing, only smaller. The color tone of your home-harvested wood is wonderful. Gary

Looking good, Paul - excellent work! Are you sure this is your first scratch build? I like the scale of the grain on the cockpit floor. Gary

Good find on the figures, Keith. Awfully small. So, the brush you used to paint them - what are we talking here, one or two hairs? No wonder you need 6X spectacles. Gary

Excellent result on the thatching, Jacques. Your perseverance certainly paid off. Gary

Nice update and a great result, Marc. Thanks for sharing your process. Gary

Peerless is looking good, Eric. And a very interesting discussion on the pusher bars/tow knees. Great shots of the Missouri and I especially like the second photo with the crescent moon. Gary

Quite intense work fitting those frames, Andy. I can see how leaving a little more meat on the bone could be advantageous. Handsome fish - looks like a good time! Gary

Always a pleasure catching up - such nice work! Gary

Good to have you looking in, Kurt! I always value your input and encouragement. I ordered some ground glass online in 3 different grits that I'm guessing will be close to a correct scale. They sell it in small sample size quantities, so it was inexpensive and I don't end up with a pile of it left over. I've seen railroad modelers fix things like a pile of coal with just a PVA/water solution that seems to hold together quite well, so I think I'll give that a try first. But yes, a resin or epoxy may end up being the way to go. Once the glass is delivered, I'll post what the stuff looks like and how it sizes up. Thank you, Andy. Gary

Nice updates, Keith! Good to hear Maggie is progressing even if at a slower pace. I agree with all the above comments - would never have noticed a thing wrong if you hadn’t pointed it out. Looks perfect to me, but I understand how some things can just bug you when it’s your own project. We modeler’s are our own worst critics. Have you ever considered Optivisors? I have their plastic lens model that I simply couldn’t do without. I understand the glass lens models are even better. Gary

That’s a good idea, Druxey. Depending on how the ground glass looks, I might give that a try for size variation if nothing else. Thanks. Gary

Thanks to all for your comments, feedback and "likes". It is so appreciated. I do apply it to raw wood and yes it can get blotchy if I try to add too much color in one wash, especially on soft wood such as basswood. Typically, I lay down one or two very diluted washes rather than one heavy wash and I don't mix the chalk/alcohol to a gain a paint-like solution. It's mostly alcohol with a tad of chalk added in. I dip my brush into clean alcohol and then pick up some of the powder that I scraped off the side of a chalk stick and brush it on. If it's too much color, I wash on more clean alcohol to dilute and blend it. When I'm doing a quantity of wood at once, I'll scrape the sides of the chalk directly on to the wood and then with a sopping 1/2" brush of straight alcohol, slop it all around. But that is an on-bench process only - never on the model itself. Play around with some scrap wood and you'll quickly see how easy, forgiving, controllable and versatile it is. For deeper richer colors, the same process can be used with pigment powders but that is not as forgiving. Thanks Paul. Thanks for the tip on the ground glass. I found a vendor that sells several grits in small quantities so I'm going to order some to take a look at it. I'll report my findings. I've only ever seen crushed/flaked ice used. Thanks, Wefalck. Jerome and Keith, thanks for your input and I agree - crushed ice and I think mostly flaked. Especially today - what they used in 1943, not sure. Good suggestion Jerome. Thanks. As mentioned above, I'll be looking at some ground glass and see how sparkly (or not) that is first. @Keith Black Thanks for the link on the snow/ice modeling, Keith. I don't know if those products will work for me here, but I'll keep them in mind and add them into my info folder. Night Shift is an amazing modeler! @Paul Le Wol @Keith Black @Jim Lad @FlyingFish @TOM G @Glen McGuire Thank you for your kind words on the work in progress. Stay well, Gary

Greetings Fellow Modelers Thanks to all for your fine comments, for the "likes" and to those watching quietly. More Fish Hold Stuff Continuing on with the fish hold, the next step was to build the back walls of the bunker partitioning. In the drawing below, the hold is defined by the yellow cross-hatching and the back wall partitioning by the green lines. The back walls are individual bunker partitions, but for this model I've simplified it as a single one-piece wall. The blue dots are the vertical posts used to segment the hold into individual bunkers/pens. To begin, I created a paper template of the area to be walled. Planking was glued directly to the paper template. Styrene channel was glued on at each post base location. The proper depth channel needed for this is not manufactured, but I found an “H” column that was close enough once modified. The back wall pieces were then glued on. A corner torn from a Post-it note makes a hands-free right-angle square. At this point, I became aware of two errors that needed to be addressed. First, the height of the perimeter partition walls, and the bulkhead end walls were too short. This would allow a view through an open hatch to see above the walls. It would be an extreme angle view to be certain, but a deck mock-up proved to me it was possible. The second error is that the forward bulkhead end wall was placed 12 scale inches forward of where it should be. That's a problem because it interferes with the proper placement of the mast, which is unacceptable. So, a second end wall was installed 12” aft of the first one. In the image below the new (taller) end wall is on the right. One would now expect that the two forward bunkers are 12” narrower than the other bunkers, but they are not. The post spacing is correct from the aft bulkhead forward and only the forward wall was misplaced. Indeed, I caught this error because the forward bunkers appeared to me a tad wider than the others. Extra work caused by working carelessly. Next, the four-sided posts for the bunker partitioning were made. They are a five-piece styrene construction. A construction jig is assembled. The styrene is modified “H” columns and strips from Evergreen. Solvent cement keeps the posts from being inadvertently glued to the jig. A channel is placed into the jig. A flat strip is cemented on top of that. Two of these channel/flat piece assemblies are made for each post. The center rectangular strip is added to one of the above assemblies. Then both assemblies are cemented together. The posts are glued onto the post bases. One of the back walls is heightened, a channel extension is glued on, and a partition is installed. The partitions are cut from blanks of edge-glued wood strips. A paper template of the partition is placed on the blank and the shape is cut free. They are stained with chalk and alcohol. I use alcohol to liquefy and apply the chalk because it penetrates the wood and evaporates off quickly leaving no time for the thin wood strips to warp. I used “super thin” CA to glue these partitions in. With the partition already in place, a drop of the CA at the top of the post races down the channel and glues most of the plank ends. I have an extension tip on my bottle to help control the flow and I use the watery glue infrequently and cautiously. When I do, I keep a can of fresh acetone at the ready. A mishap will glue your fingers together instantly. The partitions are all in. I'm considering partially filling a few of the bunkers with ice. What do you folks think and what would make a convincing 1:48 ice? It would have to be a non-soluble material. I've installed 8 surface mount LEDs (one over each bunker) to light up the hold. That seems like a lot, but they are small and their output will be adjustable. Two wood strips holding four diodes each are assembled. These LEDs are SMD 805 warm white and are attached to the strips with a clear (when dry) version of Gallery Glass. For scale, the grid on the mat 1/2” (12.7mm) Both strips attached over the bunkers. Thanks for stopping by. Be safe and stay well, Gary

Just catching up, OC. Looking really good and I agree with the others that your weathering is not overdone. I think it's controlled and very realistic. Love the wet, sloppy looking road ruts. Gary

Nice start on the planking, Keith! For me, there's always a level of inner tension when planking begins. Not only does the hull define the vessel, but it's also one of the most scrutinized elements. I know this will turn out fantastic. Gary

Great progress on the sharpie, Paul. Nice deck crowning process! You never know when a stirring stick will come in handy. Gary

Wonderful work, Albert! Gary

Looking great, Nils. Interesting lettering process and the results turned out very nice. Bet that still took some patience placing them over the rub rail. Gary

So glad to hear Maggie is doing much better - wonderful news Keith! It's also good that your lives are becoming less chaotic and stressful. Much needed "Keith Time" - excellent. Everything pointing to the positive. Gary

Another fantastic model, Glen! Congratulations. Ditto all the above comments. A very difficult subject to model but it came out great. Gary

Druxey, Glen, Keith, Roger and Tom – Thank you for the positive and encouraging comments. I sincerely value them. And thanks to all for clicking on the "like" button. Druxey and Glen. Too bad about the cloud cover - disappointing no doubt. Here in Maine, early April is a time of year when we expect fast changing and unsettled weather. In fact, four days prior we had a late snowstorm – wet heavy stuff with strong winds that dropped many trees and limbs and left us without power for several days. The day of the eclipse was some of the nicest weather we had seen in weeks. Unbelievable good luck. @Glen McGuire @Keith Black @TBlack Thanks for the comments on the eclipse photos. I shot about 20 photos with a cable release during totality. All were exposure bracketed sets of three - so 60 images total. All were very over exposed, and the three I posted were the most interesting of the lot. Never thought I'd be grateful for lens flare. Hey Keith - yes, because I'm not sure one would see anything down there without it. But it will be on the dim side. Thanks everyone. Gary

Greetings Fellow Modelers After a busy month with little time for modeling, I've finally begun work on the fish hold of this dragger. But first, please allow me a quick diversion. The path of the recent solar eclipse tracked over Maine on a day when there was barely a cloud in the sky. My wife and I traveled several hours north on country roads to get close to the center of totality. A total solar eclipse is such an astronomical coincidence that it's hard for me to get my head around it. That from a moving 100-mile diameter shadow on earth, two spheres appear to be the exact same size because one being 400 times larger is 400 times farther away, and that they line up precisely with the smaller sphere blocking all the direct light of the larger while leaving the entirety of its corona visible. Perhaps I'm a simpleton, but I find this extraordinary. To be honest, I thought this was going to be an interesting but ho-hum visual event, but when it went dark and I took off the glasses to see where the sun had gone, I was mesmerized. I had a DSLR mounted on a tripod with 200mm of lens. I promised myself beforehand to enjoy the experience and not spend the few minutes of totality tinkering with camera settings. So, I preset the camera and hoped for the best - manual focus, aperture priority, exposure bracketing, cable release and crossed fingers. I pushed the cable release quite a few times without ever looking at the results. Later, I found most were completely blown out and a few were just terribly overexposed. But I'm not disappointed. The lens flare image below is my favorite. A lousy eclipse photo, but an interesting image just the same – kind of surreal. Fish Hold My decision to display the boat with the hatches open and maybe a bunker plate or two, requires that the entirety of the hold be modeled as I can't predict what will be visible through each opening and view angle. Mainly that view will be small fragments of individual bunkers and planked partitions, so this modeling will be on the quick and crude side. Before I started in on that, I first washed the hull exterior with India ink/alcohol to give it a little age. About 2 parts ink out of a hundred. I've yet to decide on how the hull will be painted/weathered, but this small amount of coloring doesn't narrow my options, and the alcohol tends to remove shiny sanding spots and helps to unify the overall look – at least to my eye. I then penciled on the water line. I placed the hull back onto the base and used a squared scrap of construction lumber with a pencil glued to it. The fish hold uses up almost 17' (5.1m) of hull length. The area is partitioned off into 20 individual bunkers/pens as shown below in the top-view drawing. The pens with green dots hold the ice/fish and the red dot areas do not. The blue dots are the stationary posts that hold the wood slats which make up the partitioning. The four pens in the center over the keel functions as a walkway but can also be partitioned to hold ice/fish. Shown below is the lower half-section at station #7. The open space against the side of the hull is the area identified by red dots. This area is empty and begins at the lowest bilge ceiling strake. This drawing detail is actually from the “transverse section” plan sheet of a completely different boat by the same designer a few years prior to the Pelican, but it is labeled as the “type plan” for the Pelican. Consequently, the dimensioning is incorrect for my boat, but the structural construction is the same – presumably. The bases for the posts are 6” square timbers and on the model the six center bases are mounted on wood strips that span the entire length of the fish hold. The six bases away from the center are beveled to reflect the changing shape of the hull as it narrows toward the bow. The drawing below shows the bevel for the posts in the area near station 6A. And for the posts in the area near station 4A. Note that the bevel has changed due to the base sitting higher up in the hull. This is necessary because the interior space is narrower yet the distance between posts must be maintained. I print out spacing guides to locate the center line for the wood strips the post bases will sit on. I mark the center line for the inner and outer strips on each station bulkhead. The strips are placed, and the outer post bases are beveled and glue on. As per the plans, there are three planks below the lowest bilge ceiling strake and below that is concrete. Although they are not yet glued down, the image below shows those three planks in position. The six inner post bases have been added as well as some styrene sheet material to act as a support floor for the “concrete”. Also, note how the post bases (top of photo) incrementally sit higher from left to right as the hull narrows. It would have been easier to place the two lowest bilge ceiling strakes as one piece and mount the post bases on top of that. But, I didn't and decided instead to piece it together around the posts for reasons that in retrospect make absolutely no sense. But that's water under the bridge and in the end it won't show anyway. I smeared on some Hydrocal to form the floor of the main fish pens. Colored up the bulkhead planking with chalk/alcohol (burnt sienna, raw umber and black). Made up the grating to place over the keel and gurry trough. I'll be placing some dim-ish lighting in the hold, so a gloppy PVA mixed with black acrylic paint is slathered onto the hull to prevent light leaks. All of this mess will be hidden by the wood plank partitioning. Next – posts, partitioning and completing the hold. Thanks for taking a look. Stay well. Gary

Another terrific and imaginative SIB, Glen. Looking forward to the final presentation. Gary