John Allen

Dan, Thank you for the kind comments. John

Pat, Have looked in since the beginning. This is a fine example of a masterful, clean, and pristine build. Kudos X 2

I really enjoyed this build, learning the history, religion, language, of a proud people and was as enjoyable as the build. When I can cut myself some slack I will try to create the research I conducted it was quite extensive and were some good side notes. I learned a lot on the way to dos and not do dos Popeye, Lou Cog, Jack 12477, G.L., LandRotten Highlander, Haliburton and all who checked in. Thank you. We can finish Victory and start CSS Hunley thinking of a drop down cut-a-way showing interior and crew

Carl, Thank you for the likes and kind comment.

Well, I am finished. What I learned (like eating) sometimes yours eyes are bigger than your stomach. To do over would cut it down 36 in. to 24-26 inch range. Plan to due several more at a later date. I would use boxwood for the bow and stern carvings. On the gunnels above the stringers I would use a boxwood panel then inset it. I think it would really pop. I would probably eliminate the sail, I sewed 4- 3 out of burlap and 1 out of linen was not pleased with any. All said I am happy the way it turned out, made a lot of mistakes it was a large learning curve.

Patrick, You travel where no man has gone before, will be an awesome build 2 Kudos for sheer guts!

Thanks for the like Phil Lou You forgot the first commandant What is mine stays mine, What is yours is mine and there is no ours.

Lou, The canoe is 36 inches long, the dining table is the only place to take a halfway decent pic. You wood have seen my name in the obituaries if I attempted any work here. Could barely do this build at my work table in retrospect I should have made this in the 24" range. There was an inspection after the pics for scratches, all good but was ordered to pick up 3 loose feathers. Thanks Mark, Cog, Pat, CDW, Landrotten Highlander, GrantGoodale for the likes. Helper is much smarter than I am, sad thing is he knows it.

Hello to those that are following this madness here is the latest incoherent update (as Paul Newman said as Cool Hand Luke what we have here is a failure to communicate) The sail is in place temporarily , still may make another not tickled pink with the way it looks. The following picks depict the feather streamers on the stern piece, feathers placed on the head of the monster. Mother of pearl were placed in the eyes of the bow monster and the small head on the stern. Streamers attached to the sail, and abalone shell interspersed down the outboard stringers between the flowers. The aft streamers with flowers 9Accordin to Cook's account) were long enough a to trail in the water. Side view feathers and shell inlays. I believe originally shells would have been drilled and tied to the stringers Forward side view sail tie down lines 2 more will have to be added as stated earlier the sail was only used downwind. When not in use was folded and laid in the thwarts between paddlers. Forward view beasts head covered in flowers, anchor and line stowed forward. Anchors were large rocks that were grooved or had a hole drilled in the center to take the anchor line. Another method was a large stone or a group of smaller stones wrapped in a basket made of flexible twines or a wicker type material. The next two pics show a mother of pearl inlay in the eyes of the stern face and bow beast. Next pics different views of canoe. Finally we have Daddy's little monster "er" helper. If I am missing something first i go to his bed and blankets and usually find it. He he is as silent as a sniper when he is skulking around, and the other half is a pack rat. I have found pencils, knives (with the cover still in place), cannons dead eyes numerous pieces of wood strips chewed into kindling. I had a rolled up paper I called his beat stick, and would pop him on his but say no after the 100th time just gave up. He would wag his tail and look at me and his smiliing eyes would say "is that all you got" Thats it for now , please make any suggestions as what to add, what to take , what changes should be made. I am a big boy let it fly. I think changes could be made but others might have a better insight. Hev to finish stand, it is mahogany. Was going to leave it Au natural but think a darker mahogany stain will look better. Still have to make a display paddle and a Maori fighting stick here is a 3 or 4 part video in making one and wielded by a big dude. I would have to bring a gun to that stick fight. Authentic taiaha making, //wholistichauora.greatproductsconnections.com/

Lou, Kudos on all the refinements got dizzy trying to imagine all in my minds eye. If i started cutting and rearranging bulkheads and shortening transoms and bows I'd probably make so many mistakes I'd end up with a rowboat. Keep on it's really turning out well sticking to the end.

Auggie, I admire the way you started (and mentioning your depth perception) you saw it in your minds eye penciled it out and bang started. I think you will end up with a very nice build. 1 kudos

Igor, You never cease to surprise. The boat, painting of the figures (perfect), to all the accessories. You get 2 Kudos

Lou, Nice start re: pics I can never get them right I usually post a copy of 2 at the end that were in the beginning yours are fine.

Lou, your right about the 12" had made the first that size didn't look right hence shorter. I lost my explorers diaries of Tasman, Polacks, Cook and D'urvilles. All noted and a few drew illustrations of sails on the war canoe. Since none were closely inspected or measured who knows they could have been at this scale 8' I'll just have to muddle thru I tend to do a lot of that. Thanks Patrick re; you and Lou on the nautilus, I have a stockpile I have kept over the years of marine items rare and common shells and corals. Had a gift shop on Dauphin Island AL. was to be my retirement from enforcement, short story a hurricane blew that away. Footnote we probably contributed to the damage of the reefs and over harvesting of shells. In the 80s we refused to purchase corals, sea life or endangered shell species becoming aware of the over harvesting damage to marine life and started a boycott other stores would not join in (you know the mighty dollar). I had probably 25 nautilus and Paper Argonauts (what octopi lay there eggs in) This nautilus had a bad crack so the ultimate sacrifice was OK. We used to polish them cut them in half. Teachers would buy them to show kids where the idea for subs came from the shell in the 1700s, in each chamber there is a small hole the shell would take in water to sink and blow water out to rise (pretty cool). Keith right on happy wife if I had said what did you do you ruined hrs of work, well the response would be icy and I 'd be told Oh you should have known this could happen and should have done where there was no fan harumph (like outside). No I wanted to eat tonight. Pat , Steven thanks for the likes and to all others that hit the like button.

Thought better post an update before I get kicked off. Have added sail, anchor, began constructing base, added carvings to prow and stern, took acid to abalone to bring up polished iridescent colors , and gave the nautilus an acid bath to bring out the mother of pearl and split it in half. Constructed feather streamers for aft decoration and the beasts head on the prow. Settled on this piece of mahogany for the base, I will probably clear coat only This is my 5th attempt on making a sail. Sails were constructed from linen or woven raupa leaves, had made one from linen and 3 different weaves of burlap. I think comes the closet to a woven leaf look? In historical accounts, logs, and illustrations a sail was employed in sailing downwind only, due to the roundness of the bottom and the canoes being very narrow. They would roll it up and place it down the middle of the thwarts when not in use. To me the sail appears too large but is based again on records that sails were 1/3 the height of the canoes length. I have a 36 inch canoe sail should be 10 inches which it is. I have to think about this one not comfortable with it To get the abalone and mother of pear discs I had to create a wash of 20% muraitic acid and bring out the colors of abalone and pearl of the nautilus, then cut the nautilus in half. Then breaking down a lot of pieces was able to shape into 42 ovals to place in between feathers on outside stringer (placed one in between feathers pic blurry. Was able to accomplish this with a hemostat and nail polisher machine (was amazed hemosatt did not break under pressure fro shell or sanding into shape. On the head of the beast will be placed a streamer of white feathers (according to accounts) ignore the anchor have to redo doubt they would have line in a coil but just piled loosely)the problem was to attach feathers in sush a way it was realistic working with small items. Solution to cut a huge pile of feathers get the thinnest white line coated with PVA and roll taut line in feathers. This was not fun the boss turned on the ceiling fan and started snowing putting me back hours (she said did that cause a problem I said of course not that will help me separate the biguns from the littluns) I did the black feathers the same way (sans fan) these will be the streamers placed on top of the fantail re: a previously posted pic Have a long way to go canoe needs a lot of touch up prow to stern, base assembled, assembly of fighting sticks and paddles. Mother of pearl and abalone disks need to be added, and also inserted in beasts eyes. Sail I do not know to add or not to add a conundrum. What put me behind good old XP which I use for a lot of defunct programs that will not work with newer OPs had to be switched to AOL shield Okay what they did not do was give warning that favorites would not transfer and be eliminated, well sad to say all my research in excess of at least 40 hrs. history and content and contacts was flushed before I could save elsewhere cest la vie till the next post.

Hey Lou, Was not up long missed this first posting, go get em, very ambitious, Kudos on that first big step

Patrick, I got dizzy following Shadow, this one is really going to test by depth perception. Kudos to be able to work at such a small scale with such precision. Question what wood are you using for the hull? Will follow until the launch.

Was kidding should have put ha ha at he end or a maybe

Denis, Stairs redo redo redo, look good. Man they all put you in front of a firing squad with no escape you had no choice but to redo looks great will make a big difference. Kudos

Popeye, If the net was made from mono filament it would not lay straight and tend to bunch up. If it was cotton the weight from water after retrieving would make it lay straighter. Add the cork line and lead line with catch both would be lay straight when being retrieved. Now it looks like it is being retrieved by the winch rollers if the net was partially over the side with the weight of catch it would be straight. The catch as you know would be taken out as it is hauled in by the winch. If it is displayed like you have it I am assuming all catch has been removed and the deckhands have plied out some net on deck to straighten it out then rewind that portion back onto the winch rollers after a hard days fishing before they return to the dock. Use whatver strikes your fancy. Very nice build KUDOS

rtropp, A member posted a series of pics. He purchased one to see if it would ease the pain of tying ratlines. If I remember (and its a big if) He said the loom material appeared sturdy, (there was a plastic loom a line that was worthless) he followed instructions and posted step by step pics. It seemed like much more trouble than its worth. I am not an expert model builder. I put myself in the mediocre class, one thing I am an expert on is ratlines. When doing the Victory I tried different methods card with lines, clamps with wood spacer etc. Had finished all shrouds and ratlines looked horrible. With input from members and finally gathering up enough courage I grabbed a pair of scissors and cut everything out the whole shebang, shrouds ratlines futtock shrouds. My courage came from MR. Jack Daniels. I freehand them breaking the shrouds in quarters. I find it faster and not as tiring, and there are other methods all posted on this site in a addition to the item you brought up. Most builders like Jesse Lee use the lined card review what he just posted, his are perfectly spaced and spaced exactly according to his plans his shrouds and futtocks are perfect.

Jesse Lee, Just caught up, what we have here is a great build it gets better every post Kudos

Spider, Follow all above advice, no the line supplied by Mamoli is not near enough could use 10 times that. I was wasteful and used much more line than needed, For me it was much more comfortable and easier on the back, hands, and fingers when tying anything not to scrimp and try tying a clove hitch at the end of a ratline with 1/16 piece of line using magnifiers 2 tweezers and a handyman. cut more than you think you need. By the way In addition to other modelers, Grant was a huge help and took the time to answer a lot of my stupid questions. Whatever he says do! Upgrading the line and blocks is going to be very expensive but will make a huge difference in the appearance, wish I had but cost was a factor.

Doris, Carvings are exceptional what material do use wood, clay, wood composite. Thanks

Patrick, Well its a beauty, waiting for you to break the bottle and send it down the ways with flags flying and the band playing then on to Monte Carlo find a slip and wait for the young beauties saying Sir, may I have a tour of your beautiful boat. Ah what sweet dreams are made of. Again from beginning to end a very nice detailed build