Keith Black

Herring is big deal in Bristol Bay. Crazy times, at least one mid air every year as each boat had a spotter overhead. I wonder what impact drones may have added in that fishery?

Ian, welcome to MSW. Did you ever driftnet in the Bearing Sea along the Alaska peninsula for salmon? I fished one season out of Egegik, July 4th was always fast and furious.

Eberhard, a elegante solution. I'm always amazed with your problem solving at this scale.

Steve, welcome to MSW.

Eric, I retired. we were moving from Texas to Michigan, and cars had run their course. It takes a lot of money to pour down the drain when it comes to messing with old cars. Going from getting a paycheck every week to being on a fixed income, it was no longer a viable hobby. I never got into making car or airplane models, this wooden ship biz is my first foray into modeling. Your hull is looking super but I hope you haven't caused a potential problem for yourself. When you start coppering the hull, if the tiles won't stick to the paint, you'll need to seal the hull bottom. I seal my paint with polyurethane and I'm able to use CA on the poly with good results.

Mark, Gary, Pat, Brian, Keith, Lynn, and Keith......thank you so much for your kind and supportive comments. Thank you to all for the 'likes' and taking the time to follow along. Here's how I strop blocks with wire. This is the wire used. Tools used to form the wire. For blocks that require a thimble I made a wood form (stick) for the first step in forming the wire. The different block sizes required. Top row, left to right, in inches, .12, .15, .175, and .19 Bottom row deadeyes, left to right in inches, .11 and .16 The doubles and triples used (not pictured) are the same size as the top row. I cut and form enough wire to strop as many blocks possible as I can before I have to give my eyes a rest. The wire on the left is for a block without a thimble, the one on the right is for a block with a thimble. Block stropped with a thimble. First step in forming wire for a block without a thimble. I've marked the jaws of the pliers for the different block size widths. The wire is bent over the jaws. The wire is squeezed to set the width. The wire is the squeezed at the top to square the shoulders. If the 'legs' aren't at 90 degrees to the top, they need to be pulled till they are otherwise the top will not be square when the wire is twisted. The blocks I purchased are single sheave hole blocks. The sheave hole closest to the block end always goes to the twisted end of the wire. When twisting the wire the block must be held firmly but gently. the .175 and .19 blocks can take a bit of pressure, the .12 and .15 not so much. They WILL crush if too much pressure is applied with the pliers and will also split if the wire is over twisted. Once I'm satisfied with the twist length and tightness I give the block a final squeeze to even the wire height along the block's sides. I am drilling a hole where a block needs to be placed, cutting the twisted end to length, and CA glueing in place. For larger scale projects the twisted end can be made with eyes or hooks. That amount of detail for this scale is not feasible. Again, thank you to my MSW family for all your kindness.

Durning our life in Alaska we discovered Caribou tongue which was a considered a delicacy. It was boiled, peeled, cut into medium chunks, and used as an horderve. Served along with smoked salmon made for tasty treats on a snowy afternoon.

Marc, the question should be in the past tense. I stopped messing with cars in 2010. It was a drug habit I finally managed to kick but while still an addict I mainly messed with British iron. I did some American cars....1919 Model T fairground racer (real deal out of Wisconsin), 27 Nash rumble seat roadster, and 32 Model A set up for the Great Race. The British stuff was a 1937 MGTA, 49 Morris Minor convertible, 58 Triumph TR3A, 59 MGA, and a 64 box Sprite. Got too old to twist wrenches, only thing I've still got is a 48 Farmall Cub tractor. Marc, I love tours. Do you throw in a free lunch?

Short kid, bout inch tall, freckles, name Lochie. He's OK but his mother is a bit flighty.

Chris, welcome to MSW. I look forward to seeing your build log.

Chris, that all appears to be a bit fiddly, well done.

Marc, thank you. As I said, I've not a clue but I've always wondered how they managed to cook on deck without burning more than the Captain's supper. There had to be embers aplenty flying about?

Marc, because the ship would be sailing with the wind, with the stove under the forecastle, wouldn't wind be a problem? If the stove was under the stern castle, wouldn't that afford more protection? I know nothing of ships from this time period, just trying to understand the why of things. I look forward to seeing the stove painted, lovely bit of work.

Gary's dioramas are relatable. I've never set foot on an 18th/19th century ship but I have been in that garage.

Brian, I just came from Gary's (FriedClams) log and coming here I get gobsmacked all over again! The boats turned out fantastic but then everything turned out fantastic. You are one of the top builders I've been privileged to watch who has the ability to use styrene to create such believable realism.

Gary, each update is a grand experience, almost time to let this little bird fly.

One on the right and the middle one, the middle one looks the best IMHO.

You're welcome, Rick. Unfortunately that log was abandoned and we're left not knowing the reason why. From reading the log, he and his wife had just bought a house and that's where the log stops. Abandoned logs and unfinished builds seems to happen far too often. It's sad and I wish that somehow there could be 'build medics' that were able to rush in and save a modeler and their build before a model is abandoned. Brain's Niagara build held a lot of promise but we'll never know how good it could have been and we're all left the worse for not knowing.

Eric, no I don't but I enjoy looking at pieces of those that do. My dad carved but for whatever reason that bug didn't bite. I enjoyed painting and clay sculpting but that's been what seems like a long time ago. Classic car restoration consumed the better part of my productive years.

Rob, if can make a suggestion......why not spread the eye of the eye pin and slip the end chainlink onto the eye, providing it fits.

And the same to you, Rob. May God bless you and yours.

Eric, hull progress looks very good. As you said, a little filler and those gaps disappear. Thank goodness you were able to save your tools, that would have been costly should you have needed to replace them. You've got a couple of sweet carving knifes in that group, makes me wanna go to the internet store.

I'm lazy so I cheat by adding poly over the paint, brush marks are never to be seen again.

Gary, spot on with the transmission. Now, someone may say, you can't pull the engine with the shift lever still attached and they'd be correct in saying so. But once the top plate and the forks and lever are removed and the engine pulled, and engine palletized, all would be reassembled onto the transmission for the obvious reasons.