FriedClams

Hello Cisko,
as you can see in the picture, the stand is made of 3 parts. I haven't found more parts in the trash bin anymore. In this case, the stand itself must first be dressed. That's the difficult part. Everything else will explain itself, hopefully.

Normally when folks take closeup photos of their work it's none too kind. With Siggi's Gokstad, the closer the photo taken the more beautiful it is. Case in point are the third and second to last photos in post #125, those are just remarkable images.  

Hello,
the first stand (?) is installed. This is the fourth version of it. 😟  I worked here after a drawing from Frederik Johannessen, he reconstructed the ship.



And at least the whole ship

Hello and thank you for your kind comments and likes
today I finished the knees. That was a nerve-consuming process. But now it's done. The next not so easy work would be the stand, standing in front of the mast.

Hello,
today a short update. The mast fish is installed and also the first knees

Hello,
now the mast fish is more or less ready. All the corners who brocke off yesterday are repaired, and the whole thing glued to the ground plate. In reallity this is one great block of oak! So when all is settled tomorrow, I think I could start with the knees who hold the mastfish in place.

Hello, and many thanks for your comments and likes
Over the weekend I oiled the outer part of the ship the second time, and today I build the upper part of the Mast Fish.

Thank you very much for yours comments and likes, photo Anson.

I'm continuing on blocks..🔥

Last batch of 3 mm size..

Gradual waxing...

Hello Again,
Thanks for the comments, Keith Black, Jim Lad and Canute.  Thanks all for the likes.
A small update: I have been working on the boat crane of which I can only see the top 1/3 in the pics that I have, so I must 'imagineer' the lower parts.
It is made of a tapered brass rod with roller, hand crank winch, etc. soldered to it.
First picture is under construction, second is with rigging temporarily attached.  Last pic is 'Blairstown' as it is now with all the superstructure and dust sitting roughly in place.  Nothing is permanently attached except the boom pedestal.
Next, I will have to make a list of all the remaining items to be made and/or attached.
Soon I will remove the windows on the pilot house and winch house and make better scale replacements.
Last difficult task (I think) will be the railings and stairs which I believe should consume the summer months.
Thanks for looking,
mcb
 

St. Roch is now mounted on her display base...
I still have a list of about a dozen items to make and install before the hull is complete, things from the ship's boats to the decals. Much can be done off the model and completing these items will be my goal for the rest of the summer. 
That's one of the things about scratch building... you have to think ahead and make up your instructions as you go along, and hope Part A fits into Assembly B before Widget X gets in the way (as it inevitably will)!
I have also made some decisions as to St. Roch's display. Apart from some old Revell kits I made about 50 years ago, this is my first model sailing ship. I have decided to show her sails furled, so as to include all the running rigging while not impeding the view of the deck. New skills to learn, and I have picked up David Antscherl's Appendix on sail-making for some light bedtime reading! St. Roch has a very simple rig which I hope even a tyro such as myself can handle!
I have also decided not to weather the ship, or clutter up the decks with odds and ends, as the ship is displayed today. This is a model, and my focus is to display the ship herself. Anyone who has followed this build log will have seen the warts on my hull and paint; but St. Roch is (or was) a working schooner that saw hard service, so to that end I am leaving the divots and scratches, as these were, and are today, present on the hull. Despite that she was well maintained by her crew of R.C.M.P. Constables, who took a great deal of pride in their ship, so I am leaving the hull free of rust and detritus.



Keen eyes will note on the two previous pictures the zinc anodes, installed on the forged steel rudder reinforcements. Also the various inlets, discharges, and exhausts have been drilled through the hull and lined with pieces of brass rod.

So now I am going fishing, then in June I'll be getting my other knee replaced, and making a pilgrimage to France in August (my Grandfather was with the 38th Bn at Vimy Ridge, and my wife Dale's father came ashore at Juno Beach), so I will be away for most of the summer but I will check in from time to time!
 
Thanks for following along; I would appreciate hearing from others how you arrived at your decisions as to how to display your models... 
Regards,
Bruce
 

Moving right along, the stern area of St. Roch is now complete!
I fabricated the rudder brake from styrene channel, shop made turnbuckle and shackles, nut and bolt details, and basswood...

Taking up the turnbuckle presses the shoe against the quadrant, useful if the linkage breaks... 
The quadrant is limited to 40 degrees, I made the stops from basswood.

The whole rudder area is protected by a wooden platform cover, which I made using offcuts from my hull build. The pictures show it being test fitted to the ship, and installed after painting...


Finally, here is the same area on St. Roch today, photographed by myself during a visit about 5 years ago...

Entering the home stretch as far as finishing the hull goes!
Thanks for looking in, and as always comments and critiques are welcome!
 

Couldn't agree more than with Mark, she looks like a newly built model BUT retains all of her character.  Nice work John.
 
cheers

Pat

I think she stopped looking like that a long time ago, John!

A landmark day (of sorts) on Monday, with half the square sails now rigged (apart from their braces, of course). I should get the main lower topgallant crossed either Friday or Monday, so she's looking more and more like a sailing ship and less like an abandoned wreck!
 
John
 

Congratulations on the completion of Lula, Keith!  I agree with all the previous statements and have little to add except to thank you for your efforts in giving us such an interesting, informative and fun log to follow.  She's a delightful and charming little vessel and masterfully built. 
 
Gary

Knowing how inventive you are, I was wondering what you might do for a base.  Never expected bonsai driftwood, but what a great choice, Glen.  Looking forward to seeing the final completed display. 
 
Gary 

Congratulations on the completion of Lula, Keith!  I agree with all the previous statements and have little to add except to thank you for your efforts in giving us such an interesting, informative and fun log to follow.  She's a delightful and charming little vessel and masterfully built. 
 
Gary

I's pretty solid so it must be the Bundaberg!  
 
 
They are forbidden to get near my Bundaberg.  I am very stingy with it!

Now that is one unusual and interesting display base Glen. Kudos mate, it looks great. I am sure those pesky penguins would also agree (that is if you have managed to keep them away from the Bundy supply ;))
 
cheers
 
Pat

That is amazing, Glen. Great idea to use bonsai driftwood, I'd never heard of such. It looks tipsy or is that the Bundaberg whispering in the background? 

That is soooo cool! 😎

Working on the display base now.  In keeping with the Japanese theme, I wanted to have elements of Japanese culture in the display base.  I had this idea of mounting the bottle on a live bonsai tree, but @landlubber gave me a quick education on bonsai trees and let me know that they should be kept primarily outdoors rather than inside sitting on a shelf.  Obviously, that would not work.  I tried to come up with some other ideas, but I could not get rid of the bonsai idea. 
 
So I started googling around and found that bonsai driftwood is used somewhat commonly as a decoration in aquariums and terrariums.  I went on eBay and found this amazing piece that looked like it might be able to hold my bottle.  It reminded me of the banyan trees you see in Maui.  I bought the piece and it arrived a couple of days ago.

 
 
For the bottle to rest on top, I needed to carve out a cradle.  I used some flush-cutter snips and my battery Dremel-like tool to do the trick.  The wood was surprisingly hard.  When I first got the piece, I was almost afraid to handle it because it looked so fragile.  But it is quite durable.

 
 
 
Here's a side view of the cradle afterwards.

 
 
Even with the cradle, the bottle would still be resting on the ends of small shoots or little branches or whatever you want to call them.  I wasn't sure if that was enough to safely hold the bottle in place.  To secure the bottle on top, I wanted to have as much surface contact of the bottle as possible.  So I filled in the middle portion of the cradle with air-drying modeling clay.
   
 
 
 
Here's how it looks with the bottle in place (but not glued down yet).

 
 
The last piece of the puzzle is the actual base - what the bonsai piece will rest on.  TBD.
 
 

Thank you, @JacquesCousteau, @Keith Black, @Knocklouder, @FriedClams, @GrandpaPhil, @gjdale, @BANYAN, @lraymo, @Coyote_6 for the kind words and for following along.  I've got some ideas for the base that I'm messing around with, so I've still got a little ways to go on this thing.  But at least the hard part is done and my blood pressure is back down to normal.
 
 
 
Now there's an idea, Pat!  I'd like to know what a tipsy longhorn would look like.  Or maybe I don't!
 
 
 
The funny thing is, Lynn, that I'm actually a very impatient person.  That's probably a big reason why I do these ship in bottle projects - because I can usually get them done in 3 months or so.  My mind just cannot fathom spending 3, 4, 5 plus years working on a single project like so many of the builders out here that do real ship models.  Their patience astounds me!