lmagna

Nice work OC. Do you have anything newer?

CJ2S I don't know if your limiting circumstances are financial, physical, or work related but hopefully you can figure something out. If time is not an issue you could even break it up and take it all a little slower. I was thinking a small U-Haul van but you can rent RVs too. AT least they have the advantage that you can camp in any rest stop and skip most stops for food.

If I was to have to deal with two ships that important to me I think the only way I would do it would be to fly out and rental car back with the models under my personal care. I would not be able to trust an irreplaceable model like that to anyone but the very best and I could only guess how much they would cost. The fly/drive would probably be cheaper.

Well I suppose they had to make something challenging! Might as well be the language issues. I can never understand why foreign manufactures can't hire native language people who speak THEIR language as a second language to write instructions instead of the other way around! AL gave it up all together, all I would have if I was actually building the Independence from the kit would be pictures and a list of woods! Don't go too fast. I can't interpret pictures that fast!

Looks like you got a lot of time in today Jim. Are you pretty much following the instructions or just doing what seems sensible?

Nicely done and very precise. A job to be proud of. Thanks for showing

I agree Rodger. For the most part I have been trying to use the term "fast" in regards to the fact that almost everyone who commanded the Providence/Katy commented about her speed. I the case of John Paul Jones, he did not consider himself a master of the sloop rig and twice turned down the command of the Providence for this reason even though he desperately wanted a command of his own. So when he finally accepted command he relied heavily on one man who not only had experience on sloops but on the Providence in particular, John Rathbun. The combination of the two men and ship almost made them unbeatable. When they found themselves being overhauled by the Frigate Solebay, after trying everything they could think of to escape, Rathbun came up with the idea of making a sudden change of tack at the very last minute and evading the Frigate on the new bearing. This and a couple of other episodes in the life of the providence showed that she could be caught, (Although she never was). The Lady Washington is considered to be a kind of sister ship to the Providence by some and while still rigged as a sloop, beat the Columbia not only around the horn, but to the Pacific Northwest by several weeks. The Constitution was considered fast for her day but we all know how narrowly she escaped capture from the British fleet in light winds. Thanks not only for dropping in but for the comments.

Hi John I think your experience is not limited to hobby shops these days. I think it happens in virtually any store you go into if you choose the right time and place. I think it has happened a little less in hobby shops around here, at least for me, as most of the hobby stores are kind of Ma and Pa types of establishments and #1 they want to stay in business. #2 they tend to hire people who have some knowledge about the hobby. And #3 they realize that customer relations and service are a good way to achieve #1. Unfortunately getting a shop to carry an extensive line of ship kits and parts is probably not going to happen outside of the plastic stuff available. Not all that many owners have the money to buy a large stock for what amounts to being an niche market and have tens of thousands of dollars of his capitol tied up in stock that moves every few years. You have to admit that this is not normally a fast moving hobby, (Unless you are Popeye). So I tend to buy local what I need if they have it and on line when they don't. I don't feel guilty for buying online or even buying from over seas if that is what it takes. I do have a bad habit though of acting as my own hobby store and stocking kits, parts, and supplies for projects that i would like to build someday rather than take the chance that I may not be able to get them at my store, or even on line at the price I found when the time comes to actually need them.

Hi Al i have one about two blocks away that used to be almost strictly trains but over the years has had to expand it's inventory. It has an OK selection for what i need and I am pretty sure that he would order stuff if I asked. Then we have a Hobby Town a couple of miles down the road, and a pretty good size hobby shop in Lynnwood that was started by a friend of mine years ago, bought out a few years ago by the son of another old friend who died a number of years ago and is still doing pretty good business even though it is not a chain. In fact it might be the best stocked store in the area. I don’t go there much anymore as there is really no need for me to go that far. Oh yeah, and Hobby Lobby at the south edge of town.

A lazy man will always achieve more than an ambitious man. As he will find a more efficient way to do it.

Hi Mark The only problem with that is that Hobby Lobby prides itself as being a Christian organization and NONE of their stores are open on Sunday. Thanks for the encouragement Piet and Al It really dose mean a lot to me.

Yeah OC that's what my wife keeps reminding me! The only problem is that it appears that my special talent is Bad Example. According to her that is about all that keeps me from being useless!

Very impressive Piet. Not only a model builder but an artist in multiple mediums as well! I can't even make a good picture using a camera!

Great progress Jim You have almost caught up to where I am in my build and you have been at it only one day!

Jim You mean you don't have it built yet! I'm going to take my favorite place in the rafters along with the bats so I can keep a watch on how you do it! REMEMBER....... YOU ARE BEING WATCHED! Looking forward to this one.

It's amazing how much just two tones of gray can do in bringing a subject to life. This is looking really good in my humble opinion.

Thanks Dowmer I went to the hobby shop to get the wood and guess what? Closed! How dare them be closed when I was able to sneak out unsupervised for a few minutes! After all it's not like us retired people get all that much time each day!

OK here it goes. Time to show some of my pathetic progress. I was going to do it last night but the kids and puppy got in the way and before I knew it it was nappy time. I pretty much went over it above but mostly all I did was correct the width of the wales and alter the quarterdeck so that when I plank the sides the the deck will be at a more proper height above the main deck without having to run at a steep angle to the stern. I only have the old quarterdeck banded in place as I was unable to get the time yesterday to get a new piece of ply. As soon as I get the new piece and mount it I will start planking in earnest. I am much happier with this deck arrangement and think it is more period authentic than what I had before. Hopefully i can start doing some doing instead of redoing for a while. Thanks everyone for looking in and bearing with me.

Really moving along Jobbie Starting to look more and more like a ship. Nice work.

Hi Dave I have this transom, in fact I posted about it a number of months ago, and you are right it is very impressive to say the least. Like almost everything else on my build I will have to alter it but the results will probably still be far better than anything I could do from scratch.

Nicely done. You have such a nice wood tone on your hatches and gratings that it would almost be a shame to paint them. Just my opinion.

I agree. She is looking very nice Ken.

About 62 at the high, (17 C) with cooling mist for us room temperature sensitive people in the Pacific Northwest! Bar-B-Que weather! (At least that's what I get to do per Admiralty orders today).

Thanks Dowmer and OC, Glad to see you drop by again Dave and Piet. One of the possible problems is that I am not really following any plans such as you would in a normal kit or even scratch build. The Independence kit did not have wide wales and the only contemporary painting of the Providence indicates that she did, so I had to do my own and of course made them too wide. Dowmer and Al provided me with the correct information and as the difference was too much to ignore so I had to do a mulligan. I was really quite happy with the original planking except that I had done it wrong! The second problem is that I am hoping that I will not have to do a second planking. I know blasphemy, but as this will be a painted model and I am not using anything but kit wood, it seems a waste of time to do a second planking unless I totally hose the first.